 As we move into a day of spookiness and spirit activity, of black cats and pumpkins and yes...
bats in the house!.... I wanted to share with you my own little Halloween story, created by the talented Patrick Keller at Big Seance Blog and Podcast. Finally: Halloween does not have to be a spooky time. It's a time when the veil is thin... but this is also an opening into the Divine. If you are faced with any darkness, all you need do is lean toward the Light: call in a guide or angelic being, hold the energy of the Divine in you mind and heart. All is well, and all will be well.  Photo courtesy Dr. Steve Koc When I’m working with people for the first time, one of the questions I ask is this: Do you have a spiritual belief system?
Most people are happy to talk very clearly about their relationship to God/One/All/Divine/Universe, or whatever name they might use for the infinite ineffable. It is lovely to hear profound, well-considered manifestos from people all over the globe. “I used to be this religion, now I follow my own path.” “I believe in God, but not the way I learned it as a kid.” “I know there are Divine beings who help us.” “I believe I am fully supported by the Universe.” “I don’t know what I know, but I know there is more than me.” “Everything is one infinite soul.” And on and on. I love these statements of belief! But my next question: Do you have a regular spiritual practice? often meets with a sort of head-hung, I’m-so-ashamed kind of response. People feel guilty if they don’t meditate every day. People feel guilty if they have trouble sitting still to meditate. People feel ashamed if they don’t pray regularly. Sometimes people think that having a spiritual practice means have a consistent, daily practice: prayers and study at dawn, yoga every day, a particular diet or routine. This is a path for some. Others think that having a true spiritual practice will leaves no room for anything else. That to be spiritual means to live as a renunciate: to leave behind family, friends, interests and move into monkhood high in the Himalayas. This is a path for some. But for most of us. spiritual practice is the aspect of life that we somehow squeeze into the hubbub of everything else in our lives. We’re “householders,” in the Hindu term: doing our dharma in the every day of work, family, chores, community… the big ALL of life. Spiritual practice as a way of being Now, my question is never meant to invite shame or guilt over what we’re doing or not doing the “right” way. And it is true: some people are very consistent in their habits: Some do yoga at break of dawn, every single morning. Some read daily, studying the teachings of the great mystics, saint and sages. Some are true bhakti: they sing and dance and celebrate daily, a regular part of their lives. Some go to community services weekly or more. But for most of us… spiritual practice is often catch-as-catch-can. And I’d like to say—with one small caveat—that this is a fine way to run your spiritual practice. That caveat? That instead of thinking about your spiritual practice as something you “should do”, or as something that must be done “a certain way” or at a “certain time,” instead consider your spiritual practice as your way of being. Not something separate from yourself. But how you show up in the world. Now what you do at a certain time or in a certain place. But how you are all the time, everywhere. You are Divine, all of the time In this way of being, of living from consciousness, of living as a luminous, radiant, being of love, you would naturally be drawn to all the practices that help you to open and expand: studying, reading, praying, meditating, walking, journaling, singing, dancing, being in nature… all of it… because these are all the ways that help us open our true self, and become One with our oneness. You would naturally be drawn to connecting with the Divine beings and helpers who are continually surrounding us in other dimensions, layers and levels of Universal vibration. You would naturally be committed to learning the language of the cosmos, because this is the language of living from soul. You would naturally be curious about ways to “open” into more presence. And of course, in leaning toward the light, you automatically notice yourself leaning away from the dark. You would naturally begin to turn away from all those things that shut down consciousness: many habits of modern society, so many old belief systems that belong to others and to you, and certainly anything that brings you shame or guilt or unworthiness. When you begin to think of spiritual practice as the way you are being in the world, it becomes a great joy to create space for things that help you to feel yourself as one of One. Living as Divine human Each of us enters this world as soul, packaged in a human container, and organized with a particular personality. We’re not going to change any of it very much: the spirit, body and mind have to learn to work together in this lifetime. So… don’t fight your personality so much! If you are a consistent, regular person who does best with an organized practice, go do that. If you are a wiggly, in-the-body person who has trouble sitting on a meditation cushion, don’t sit. Go for a walk, or go dance, or do chi gong. Move through your meditation. If you are a person who loves to study and read, do that. If you are a person who likes to work from audio, do that. And so on. My own practice has become like a strand of pearls: a very full day, with each break from work or family dedicate to being one of One, to the fullest extent I can. When I have three minutes, I might breathe, deeply and gratefully. When I have ten minutes, I might meditate. When I have twenty minutes, I might head out into nature. When I have an hour or more, I might do yoga, or dance, or write or head to a community service or… so many ways to open to the Divine. If I have a lot of time, I might head out to the nature around us: the forest, the Pacific ocean, all the beautiful places here in the Northwest. I don't worry about a regular, consistent schedule, because life isn't arranged that way. Instead, I focus on showing on connecting as often as I can: if I have a little time or a lot, I will dive deep, into that space where everything is healed, renewed, become whole. The more room we make for such a life, the more such a life arrives to us. And while I’m not yet able to live every minute conscious… I am able to bring consciousness to many, many more minutes of my day. I invite you to let go of all shame, guilt or unworthiness about how your spiritual practice “should be.” Do what you can. Connect where you are. Begin to live in Divine space, in the way that is best for you.  When you hold that strand of pearls once worn by your grandmother, do you sometimes imagine you can smell her perfume, a subtle lingering impression of the Blue Grass she kept on her dresser?
When you sit in that chair you bought in that antique store so many years ago, do you sometimes sense the places that chair lived before: in other living rooms, with other families? When you walk past that historical home and peek in the windows, do you sometimes feel you can sense the entire household, right down to the children playing in the living room, the parents reading in the parlor, the toys sprawled in joyous array on the floor? We tend to think that we can only ready other people, or animals, or at the very least, other living things. But objects hold energy. So do buildings. So do places. In fact, everything: living or non living, holds its own energy. In this article, we’ll look at how you can learn to sense the energy of objects and places in your world, and to receive the information that is there. In future teachings, we’ll look at how to look at buildings, places, even environments and regions. Later still, we’ll look at things that aren’t physical form or matter. It is all available to you! With practice, you can sense everything that you can recognize, living or non living, matter or beyond matter. The approach is the same. It’s all about becoming conscious. Everything is a Universe The first thing to understand is that everything is a Universe of energy, and everything is One. A stone is a Universe of stone energy. You are a Universe of “you” energy. A house is a Universe of house energy. A city is a Universe of city energy. And so on, from small to big. Within each Universe, we find all the energy inherent in the object, place, person that reflects the beingness of that object, place or person. We understand the past of that Universe. We can see the future. We understand all emotional content. We understand the different energy levesl from other Divines. We “get” this all at once, when we tune into the Universe of an object, place or person. Our Oneness allows connection The true nature of our reality: our Oneness, is what allows us to connect or tune in this way. We are all souls, part of collective Soul. We are all one, part of One. This way of being—that we are a part of everything while also being everything at the time— means it’s very easy for us to tune into other objects, places, people. In essence, we can tune into something, because we are also that something. Thus, in order to sense a stone intuitively, you simply become the stone. In order to read a place, you become the place. In order to know a person, you become the person. You don’t do this permanently—you always return to your own particular Universe or container of your self. But you learn how to simply inhabit, become or be whatever it is you’d like to look into. Your spirit or soul self merges with the spirit or soul or energy self of the object or place, if only for a short moment. But in that short millisecond of sharing space, of inhabiting the same Oneness, you immediately KNOW all there is to know about that object, place. Of course, it works with people, animals, guides and so much more. We’re just working on objects and places, right now. Matching vibration One of the ways we learn to sense objects, is by inhabiting the vibration they are existing in. We learn to match their vibration. Of course, it’s very hard to put the HOW of this into words. As humans, we are new to this work, and we don’t have easy ways of describing how this works with language. But the core idea is this: if you want to understand a stone, where it has come from, how it feels, what it would like you to know… simply become the stone. In your human form, simply match yourself in all the ways you can, to the stone’s vibration. What I have found in my own practice of vibration matching is this: • Usually, stone vibration is quite still and solid. It’s very dense. • Usually, crystal vibration is quite busy, buzzy, electric. It’s dense too, but in a charged, buzzy way. • Usually, wood vibration is very mellow; it’s lively without being irritating or pushy. • Usually, animal vibration is very lively: there’s a lot of heat and feeling. • Usually, machinery vibration is very cold, with a sense of death or separation. • Usually, computer vibration is super buzzy, yet also with a coldness or irritation. Simply begin to sense and sort this vibration, until you can easily feel and recognize what “stone” feels like, vs “computer” vs “dog.” And, then begin to practice matching your own vibration. Simply go within, and become the object you are reading. Allow your soul self to simply inhabit this Universe or container for a moment. You’re still coming back to your human form. You’re not staying there very long. But one moment as a piece of wood, for example, and you will understand all there is to know about it: where it has been, what it has seen, the energies around it. Sensing the energy of objects Let’s go back to the idea of sensing the energy of objects. The key would be to step aside, and allow your spirit or soul self to sense and match the vibration or frequency of that object, and to become that object. Let’s say you want to sense the energy of your grandmother’s string of pearls. You might hold the pearls in your hand, and simply enter into Divine space: you might enter into that psychic sweet spot where you are can most easily access visual information, language, symbolism, emotion, future thinking and so forth. Go into that sweet spot, not too far in the ethers, not too close to earth. And then, simply sense the energy of the pearls. As you sense this vibrational quality, begin to match in with your own body. Sink into a place where you are one with the pearls. Now, go a step further, and simply as to become the pearls. You may feel a transition in your body, such as your chest expanding, or skin tingling, as this happens. Your body will stay where it is! Your spirit will experience the shift. It is very subtle. If you do not have much practice with meditation and spiritual intuition, you may find it hard to find this sweet spot at first. The more you practice, the easier you will be able to go there instantaneously, simply upon the breath. As you become the pearls, you will begin to see and sense and hear from the pearls point of view. You may find yourself going into the pearl’s memory: seeing or sensing places the pearls have been: in a house, in a drawer, around a neck. You may find yourself going into the pearl’s energy, which we might call emotions: you might sense sticky, happy, clear, loving, sentimental energy, that show the relationship of your Grandmother, as she was in relationship to the pearls. You may find yourself going into the pearl’s past: in the ocean, forming in the oyster, the salt and brine of the sea. You may find yourself attaching to a memory of your own, in which some message, vision or understanding presents itself: a way for you to relate an event in your own life, to the pearls. You may find your grandmother arrives in your consciousness, and has a message or vision for you. Stay in. Explore. Allow what arrives to arrive. When you are complete, call your own energy back into your own body. Come back to this reality. Write down what has been revealed to you. You may be surprised and even shocked by how much you receive, when you do this practice of becoming the object. Practice on other objects, and see what arrives.  We all know that the animal world communicates with us: we have either experienced this directly in our own lives, or seen it happening with others.
Sometimes, this communication is astounding: we've all heard the tale of dolphins saving a person struggling in rough surf; an elephant who cries upon being rescued from chains; the dog who welcomes a family member home. These are beautiful, heartwarming methods of communication with other mammals: part of our extended family. Sometimes, this way of communicating with animals is less direct and more mystic: the wild deer or cougar or eagle who appears seemingly out of nowhere as a totem or messenger, sent by the Universe to provide a clear and direct sign. Even the reptilian world shows up to give us Universal direction: the snake on the path in a region where there are no snakes, the chameleon who suddenly appears. But does the non-animal, non-reptilian world—by this I mean the sentient plant world—communicate directly with us? What about the non-sentient aspects of this earth environment: the natural forces of air, water, fire, earth? Do they communicate directly with us as well? The answer of course, is yes. In fact, I would add that all objects, all matter communicates with us, though for purposes of this discussion, I will limit to the natural world, and all the animals, beings, plants, environments and weathers that this includes. Scientists might refute this. I say: not everything that is true has been proven yet by scientific process. Scientists seek to solve hypotheses: by this I mean they seek to solve questions that they have asked. But what happens when we are not even at a place where we can think of the question? When the question is so far outside of our thinking process, that we can’t even begin to think of it? The questions we are most interest in are as yet unanswered as to “fact” or “fiction.” However, to the person who experiences this level of communication, this lack of proof is of no concern. In fact, it matters not at all. The proof is in the experience. Once you have had this experience, of communicating directly with the natural world, you will laugh at the idea that this is somehow a question. It is so very clearly a reality. Communicating with the natural world Do plants communicate with us? Do trees resonate with our energy? Do crystals communicate with us? What about the earth? Does the wind respond to our emotions? Does water understand our thoughts? If the answer to all of these questions is “yes,” (and the answer is yes!), then how do we make this happen in our own life? Can we become as skilled as The Last Airbender, controlling the elements at will? Here we enter into an answer that is complicated to those at the beginning of their path of soul inquiry, and simple to those who’ve been doing their work for a while. It is not about control; it is about communication, resonance and exquisite sensitivity. It happens by simply becoming really conscious; really aware. Communicating in this way is an astonishingly simple process, if you have been working on your consciousness and doing your spiritual practice and making direct connection to Universe often, if not as much as possible. Full presence is all that is required to experience this level of connection to the natural world. That is because this is simply how things are, when we become one of One: when we inhabit our full Divine reality, even for just a few minutes. In this way, we become able to resonate with all the natural world: everything, anything: even the tree, even the deer, even the wind, ever the water. We are not separate It is common to think of nature or the natural world as something separate from us. That we are human, and nature is nature, and these are different, somehow. But we are the same. First, we are also animals, living in the natural world. Second, we are not separate from nature, any more than we are separate from anything in the Universe. Try this for yourself, by taking a walk out it in the woods. Sit under a tree for an hour and watch the leaves wave in the breeze; or lie your back on the ground and spend time gazing at the sky. In that hour, you will become intimately involved with nature! You will stop your experience of being sanitized, clean and protected “human” and become “animal” instead. Your skin may become damp from where you are sitting. Your skin may become exposed to wind or sun. You may become the highway for various bugs: ants will crawl over you, gnats will pester you. Bees may buzz about. Smaller life forms will also find you in your animal state: seeds, burrs, spores, lichens, mosses and molds will become intimately involved with your clothing, your hair, your skin. Sit under that tree, or lie on your back in the grass for much longer than an hour: for a day, a week, a hundred years like some Rip Van Winkel, and nature will soon invade the organism that you consider “you”: first your clothing, your body, your being. After some period of time, you become so filled with nature that it is hard to know which is which: is the burr in your hair yours or not yours? Is the powdery mold on your ankles yours or not yours? Is the dampness on your skin yours or not yours? Nature communicates energetically Yet it is not only our interaction with nature in the physical form that shows us our connection; it is also our interaction with nature in the energetic or vibrational plane. If you have even sat outside quietly and meditated for a period of time, you will begin to notice that your own vibration changes the longer you are in that space. You become calmer. Your mind clears. You become spiritually aware. Your experience consciousness. You may even move into a state of bliss. These are all things that just happen, when you are simply “being” in the natural world. By “being,” I mean doing nothing. Not hiking to a destination, not doing a sport, not having any other kind of goal. It is fine to do these things, but for reaching consciousness easily, it is best to simply relax and attend, open to whatever happens. But something else very interesting can happen if you become accustomed enough to the vibration of the natural world around you: Nature will begin to respond to your thought vibrations. This is subtle, most of the time; but sometimes it can be very strong. If you have had this experience once, you will probably desire to repeat this experience. It is all about opening up very fully, and simply connecting and alloweing. For example, if you are thinking of a particular charged or active memory, and you are very focused on this, you may suddenly notice that the wind picks up, or the light darkens, or the rustling in the leaves intensifies. This will be enough to make you take notice: to think “what was that” or “that’s something.” If you are working on some particularly important inner work, you may notice this at an even more noticeable level: you may notice a particular thing happening in the natural world that absolutely ties into what you are thinking about. For example, say you were thinking about how to lighten your frantic, pressurized, overscheduled life, and you might suddenly notice a snail crawling slowly across the path, moving in the exact time it needs, without concern for rush or haste. Or perhaps you are thinking about a family relationship that has been conflicted, and you may suddenly find your attention drawn to how the branches in a stand of trees are entangled; they cross and curve over each other. You realize these trees have grown together as a family does; they have entwined and wrapped and cannot be separated. They grow on their own, but they also grow together. In noticing this, you may have a new understanding about your conflicted family relationship. Or perhaps at that moment, there’s more: the wind picks up and the tree begins to rustle in a way that sends you into a light trance of full presence, in which you receive the message and the knowing to release this conflict; this knowing is communicated to you fully, not in words or symbols, but in the experiencing of the rustling leaves. A two way communication with nature What is the most surprising about the way we are One with nature, is not only in the messages of the natural world, but the way nature communicates to us physically and vibrationally: so there is actually a two way communication happening. This is especially apparent when the energy collective is stronger: such as when two or more people are outside together, holding a higher vibration state. This might happen at ceremonies and rituals outside, in meditation, intimacy, deep connection, deep relaxation and play. At times where several people are gathered and joined in high vibration, nature seems to be able to sense us better; to sense or vibration in a more clear way…and to communicate back to us. I’ll often walk with my husband to the small creek on the edge of our property, simply be there by the trickling water and the trees. Sometimes, our llamas and goats will be grazing loose in this area with us. Often; too often to even keep track of, when we are very relaxed and our own vibration is very high, we will notice the leaves suddenly rustling in a new and fervent way, a shaking of the leaves in a way that seems like waving, or like laughter. Other times, if we are in deep discussion, the wind will pick up out of nowhere, the wind will suddenly make itself known, showing that there is another vibrational presence with us. On other occasions, such as while driving home in a very scary windstorm, we have driven under trees while hearing the clear message: hurry, hurry, hurry, we will try to keep you safe, but you must make haste. And today, as I came home after taking my daughter to school, I clearly heard: now is time for you to be still, still, still. This is what is required of you today. There is not one voice; there are many voices that are one voice, not as sound or as hearing, but as understanding. It is not from me, or of me; it is separate. But it is only in our connection as One, that this understanding is possible. I notice the trees and the wind most because there are so many trees where I live. But I have also noticed this near the sea; when it seems the waves begin to mirror the vibration of my own thoughts, of my own vibration… not forever, and not in a huge way. But there will be a time span that is enough that I am able to notice, that I am nudged out of my thought to notice the ocean, and to see that the wave pattern has changed, that something has shifted, that communication is happening right now, and if I tune in I will understand. Surfers know this; it’s one of the reasons they serve. The ocean is alive and conscious, just as the trees, the desert, the snow, all of the natural environments. Resonance takes time I have been living in nature for ten years now. When I first moved to the woods, I could not see the squirrel frozen vertically on a tree limb, it’s body frozen into shape as camouflage. I could not tell one bird’s call from another. I could not see the constant activity on the ground: a moving carpet of vibration and hum, scattering with every step forward, like an earth wave moving under my feet. It has taken ten years for me to get my nature eyes, my nature sense this clear. And this is after a lifetime of finding joy in the natural world. But now, with those sense built in as a part of me, it is clear: nature is no dumb force, separate from us. Nature is communicating with us, in ways both subtle and direct, small and unmistakable. We only must choose to see and to sense. Moving beyond a new veil Just as our relationship with guides and the departed requires us to move beyond the veil, to shift into a new layer or level of vibration, so too are we required dot move beyond a different veil, to communicate with nature. If we consider trees as entities (which I certainly do), this becomes clear. We do not know if trees can see or hear us or feel us on the physical plane. I would guess they do not. Instead, I believe they sense our energetic vibration, and in this way are able to communicate with us in the same way they communicate with each other, and with the natural forces around them. Energetically and vibrationally. As part of conscious Oneness. Consider also, the wind, the water, the weather, in fact all the elements: air, water, fire, earth. All and each of these are entities; universes of energy that contain or hold a particular vibration or resonance. It feels funny to think of a weather system as an energetic universe, but this is what it is. Because we are all One and nothing is excluded from this Oneness, everything is able to communicate with everything else. It’s easy for the wind to sense us, when we are vibrating at a frequency or with an intensity the wind can resonate with. It is easy for water to do the same. Fire seems complex to me; but one of the things I experience in my own life is that I have a tough time with fire: my own vibration inflames it too much and so it goes out of control. Other people might not have that experience. Earth also seems complex to me, so very “grounded” and stable. But if you think of your relationship to some of the higher frequencies of earth: crystals, for example, it becomes simple. Surely you have experienced resonance with the crystalline energies, for clarity or healing or visioning. It is possible also to meditate upon a crystal, and have a clear knowing of the beingness. Our human awareness is just a small part of what is happening here in the Universe. When you begin to explore the ways in which nature is communication to you: animals, plants, elements, both subtle and profound, you begin to experience great comfort and peace in this life. It takes some time to attain your own “nature sense”. It can be difficult to achieve it in this increasingly urban and disconnected life. The more time you can spend in the natural world… not doing, but being, with exquisite awareness to every little thing… the more you can open this particular window of connection. I'm very excited that Aspire Magazine is featuring The Four Passages of the Heart as one of their top ten inspirational books... in the issue that features visionary publisher Louise Hay!
This book is the sequel to The 33 Lessons in Writing the Divine, and continues with the spiritual teachings there. Here's a sampling: The heart is closed four ways: first by the physical body, next by the emotional armor we all carry, next by the physical heart itself, and finally, at the very center of everything, is your inner heart, the heart within your heart. Ananda Khanda. This is what desires to be cracked open to the world. The heart opens over and over again, until the heart within the heart, the Ananda Khanda, finally is able to become illuminated and infused with light. These openings happen in the most ordinary moments of every lifetime. When the inner heart opens fully, this is known as bliss, transcendence, nirvana. There is no going back from this opening; the inner heart, once opened, always remains open. If this happens to you, your life will be forever changed What do we mean, when we talk about the four passages of the heart? What do we mean, when we talk about heart’s opening? Obviously, we’re not talking about a physical opening in the heart; it’s energetic, just as all things are energetic. We’re not talking about a one-time thing, either. Instead, it’s a progressive opening, a series of passages from one state of consciousness to another. Again, it doesn’t happen all at once—that would be too much, too fast, a shock to the system. Instead, our heart opens slowly, when we are ready. We move through each passage as part of our soul growth, in Divine time. Some folks bust their hearts open at a young age, determined from the get-go to live life at full throttle—to accept what life brings without hesitation, and to live their days in love and light regardless of situation. This is a great way to live! Others of us take longer, opening our hearts slowly as we they move through our lessons of soul growth, as our experiences on earth teach us the lessons of wisdom. Still others stay stuck for years, even decades, entombed in anger, sadness and shame. You will find yourself in one of these places, now. Right now, you’ve either got a heart that’s fully open, partly open, or mostly shut. If your heart is fully open, congratulations. Please give this book to a friend! If your heart is partly open, this book will help you open it further. If your heart is mostly shut, you may feel quite vulnerable as you read this book and consider what might happen if you dared to open your heart to the light. |
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Sara Wiseman is an author, mystic and visionary teacher of spiritual intuition. She has taught hundreds of thousands of students worldwide via her books, courses and training.
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