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Chuck’s Place: The Path to Heart

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Wherever your path to heart may lead…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Often, what is experienced as traumatic in the moment becomes the seed of great growth and liberation when viewed from a deeper perspective at a future time.

Maya, a central concept in Hindu cosmology, is considered illusion at the level of everyday life, as events in the moment veil the fuller picture beyond the container of space and time. Yet, at the fully transparent level of the highest spiritual plane, Maya radiates as ultimate truth. The key to accessing ultimate truth is to revisit experience from the fullest and deepest perspective.

Thus, everything that challenges us, no matter how terrifying or painful, ultimately has the potential to lead us into deeper truth as we trod upon our path to heart. However, to benefit from this gift we must allow ourselves to review what we have already lived, by viewing it with a ruthlessly open and conscious mind and heart.

In viewing from a different perspective, we can release the emotions that have protectively shielded us and view the deeper truth that lies beyond our limiting beliefs. With this, the protective chaff falls away, as we now have direct access to the seed of our fuller knowing and future possibility.

One great antagonist in 2020 is Covid-19. At the level of everyday human life, its impact upon the world has been devastating. As a world, we hope to neutralize its impact upon us, even as I write. Many lives have been lost at the physical level, and many livelihoods and life plans have been radically changed through the lethal invasion of this virus.

Beyond personal impact, however, is the interruption it is causing to the energetic flow of the planet. Travel is severely limited. Gatherings of humanity, even the smallest of nuclear families, are suspended in physical space and consigned to connection only at the vibrational level of virtual reality.

The next higher vibrational dimension of humanity, the soul level, operates via thought and feeling, in its energy body, independent of the physical body. Though the virtual reality experience during the pandemic has largely been dependent upon human technology, it has also challenged the physical human being to find mental and emotional connection in non-physical contact. This has been a tremendous crash course on spiritual contact beyond the human body.

Of course, we all crave physical contact, as we also exist in human form. However, we are being ushered, via virtual reality, into another dimension of our human potential. When this potential is more inwardly developed, via the discovery and practice of innate psychic powers—such as intuition, conscious dreaming, and telepathy—the door is opened to unlimited possibility for travel and connection beyond physical reality.

Within the physical dimension, the quality of connection is spiritually enhanced to include greater movement to the heart, in a deeper experience of abstract love; that is, love beyond strictly physical attachment. The legacy of Covid-19 has launched us forever into a greater world of energetic possibility to satisfy our deeper mental, emotional, and spiritual needs.

Donald Trump has certainly presented as both central protagonist or antagonist, depending upon your perspective, in 2020. In fact, as I write this blog, it remains unclear what is actually going to happen at the completion of his current term.

Regardless of one’s perspective, Donald Trump has championed the fact that reality is truly relative. He has shown us that it is consensus of agreement that actually generates a reality. What we believe is true is more powerful than objective reality.

This is most powerfully demonstrated via the placebo effect in scientific medical trials. Many a person has actually been cured of a disease because they wholeheartedly believed they were being administered the curing agent, even if it was actually a placebo sugar pill. Though medicine may dismiss the change as mere placebo, cure is cure! The power of belief can concretely transfigure physical reality.

The power of the subconscious to change our mental and physical conditions is the essence of hypnosis. What we tell ourselves, often via forgotten or unknown subconscious programs, is what we manifest.

Donald Trump, as master hypnotist, has demonstrated the power of repetitive speech to determine one’s belief system. The use of affirmations, mantra, prayer, and suggestion to shift belief and behavior is extremely powerful. The collective massing of such efforts, when attuned to the common good, can spiritually advance the planet.

Donald Trump has also embodied the ego at its me-first zenith, which is a reflection of the collective planetary ego of our time. Every individual human must face that the dominance of the ego within their own personality is their greatest resistance to desired spiritual growth.

On a planetary level, it is the collective human ego that puts the wants and desires of itself above the true needs of the whole planet, presenting the greatest blockade to needed planetary change. Donald Trump has impeccably embodied this attitude of resistance, reflecting humanity’s struggle with its own massive ego entrenchment.

For the planet to arrive at the heart center, the needed perspective for planetary survival, the ego must acquiesce to the needs of the greater planetary whole. It is inevitable that we will get there, but we don’t know how far planetary disruption will go before we arrive at the heart center consensus.

To arrive at the position of unconditional love for all that is, is where we are headed. Begin to practice it now in full unconditional love for self. To love every aspect of self, from lowest to highest, will end the need for projection of one’s personal evil upon other.

To love other as self is indeed the path to heart. May we all take giant steps upon it this coming year.

Love to all,

Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: The Soul of Winter

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Heading into the light…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Today marks the first day of rising above our deepest darkness. With the completion of the passage through the Winter Solstice we begin the daily incremental lengthening of the light. Despite the barrenness of winter, the light will continue to support us .

Light is the essence of pure Spirit, which is our Source, without body. Before we arrive at this ultimate destination, Spirit is housed within the various soul bodies we inhabit, beginning with the densest, the physical body. Thus our soul resides within the physical body for the duration of our earthly tour, generally only sneaking out in our nightly dreams in infinity.

When we depart this dimension of life our Spirit moves on, housed in the soul body, also called the astral or energy body. We remain in that body until we have fully squared with the issues of the physical life we just lived. This region is variously called limbo, purgatory, or bardo states.

Upon release of these denser attachments, the Spirit rises into finer soul body states, as it proceeds on its definitive journey toward its Source. This progression toward the final merger with Spirit, in pure loving light, is wholly dependent upon the release and fulfillment of issues encountered in the denser regions of soul existence.

Winter is the densest season of the earthly cycle. Matter becomes thick, rigid and immobile. In human winter we experience depression, disconnection, and alienation from the light of Spirit. Some people sit beneath or wear light boxes to reconnect to their Spirit, as they rise above their heavy mood into the lightness of being.

Religious traditions, from pagan through Christian, celebrate the Solstice with the birth of the light, a connection to Spirit in the dark night of the soul of winter. Regardless of one’s weighted emotional state, hope is kindled in that which only increases the Spirit in the light.

The human body is innervated with energetic connections to all its finer soul body states through the seven chakras. Chakras one through four—which include the perineum, the reproductive organs, the solar plexus and the heart—deal specifically with life in the physical world, which covers survival, relationship, emotion, and ego concerns.

Thus the densest issues in human life are encountered in these chakra areas. The work of these chakras is in the challenges of physical life, as  experienced through developmental processes that render one progressively capable of autonomy, self sufficiency, and love.

Thus, for instance, the solar plexus serves as the birthplace of the ego that becomes a willful human being with intense emotion. Though largely steeped in dense narcissism at its earliest stage, it must be refined in the furnace of the solar plexus to rise to the lightness of the heart chakra, where it first encounters Spirit and the possibility of true love of another.

The heart actually presents its own furnace of transformation, as love must suffer its own journey from naive innocence to mature innocence in the vicissitudes of fantasy and relationship. Before refined love can rise to the higher Spirit chakras it must release the density of pain and blame.

Many a denser emotion is clamped down upon in the throat chakra. Such stuck energy is sent back down to the heart and solar plexus for further processing before its refined energy can comfortably pass through the throat chakra to the third eye and crown chakras above.

Thus, in human life, much time is necessarily spent in the lower chakras, working on and resolving core issues. In this respect, much of human life, regardless of actual season, can feel like the dead of winter. No blame here; it’s our karma, our core reason for choosing the life we are in—to come to Earth School to refine and rise above a specific issue.

The soul of winter reminds us that at anytime of year, at anytime in life, we do have access to our highest level of Spirit, that burns bright regardless of the darkness of our mood. The light of day, the stars and moon of night, the mere clicking on of a light, are all instant connections to this Source in light.

Inwardly, ask for help and guidance from all the light beings who watch over you and await your call. Ask and you shall receive. Just be mindful that ego must surrender to the Tao of Spirit, that has its own knowing way to truly answer our call!

Honoring the Soul of Winter, with love to all!

Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: The Future Is Fluid*

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Any direction is possible…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

The Spirit journeys while the body sleeps. The physical body  is the densest of all our energy body states, hence our lighter soul body generally waits for its active container, the physical body, to go offline in deep rest before it ventures out into the subtler levels of its existence, where the physical body is simply too dense to enter.

The currency for travel and action at these finer levels of reality are thought and emotion. Thus, for instance, the mere thought of a location at the soul level transports one to that dimension. At these finer levels of reality thought is completely transparent and communicated without the necessity of speech. For that matter, the physical need to eat, excrete, or have sex are absent from the higher Spirit dimensions of being.

For some, the thought of relinquishing these physical necessities evokes fear and loss. Even after final transition from the physical plane, at death, some might necessitate further residency in physical environments, real or imagined, before they are ready to advance to finer soul states. This is like having a sensual encounter in a dream, while the physical body lies inert and asleep.

One of the great teachings transmitted from higher Spirit dimensions to the physical plane is the energetic power of love. Earth has been called the emotional planet due to the dominance of attachment, need, and longing in human relations. The lower emotions of hate, rage, and fear weigh upon the Spirit and typically burden one with depression and physical ailments.

When one is able to release these baser emotions the rarefied result is the finest emotion of love. Love lifts one’s Spirit on the physical plane and allows for greater mobility on the higher Spirit planes of one’s existence.

The challenges of a relationship at the physical dimension can provide one with the developmental opportunity to reach this rarefied level of love. Having reached real love, one is  ready to experience union with all life, far transcending its momentary glimpse in the experience of physical union with another person.

The operating principles of the higher dimensions actually permeate the physical dimension, but we are generally, literally, too dense to notice. We call it coincidence when we think of someone and then have contact with them shortly thereafter.

Actually, what happens when we think of someone is that the energy of that thought immediately reaches their perceptive field. If they are receptive enough they hear/feel the contact and respond in some way. Couples connected at a higher vibration rarely need to talk, as they are constantly communicating through thought alone.

Distance healing works similarly. Sending someone the intent of healing, embedded in love energy, is sure to enhance the healing experience. Of course, the receiver must be receptive to such healing intent. Blocking beliefs are very difficult to penetrate, by both the ailing person as well as by the healing intent sent by others. One must consent to be healed at the deepest emotional and mental levels to reach lasting cure.

The collective thoughts of many can vastly influence the destiny of our planet. As important as physical voting might be at the dense physical level, thought and emotion are far more important determinants of our planet’s future. Positive loving thoughts for our planet’s survival raises the needed healing energy for its cure.

Our world is arguably in a state of great tension, on the verge of chaos. Although we are subject to the great cycles of change, and find ourselves right now at the destructive stage of what the Hindu religion calls Kali- Yuga, the future, like all astrological charts, is not absolutely determined.

The future is fluid, largely because we have the gift of free will. Our greatest power to influence the future rests in our thoughts and emotions. Every time we send out positive thoughts and feelings for all, we imbue our planet with the healing power of the higher vibration of love.

Every time we evoke the attention of higher aspects of our own Spirit, through prayer or thanksgiving, we are enriched with this same higher vibration of love supporting our higher aspirations.

This is not about belief or faith; this is about perseverance, incessant affirmation, mantra and prayer, however self-styled.  See what happens in your own life with such positive devotion. See what happens to the life of the planet. Indulge in the largesse of positivity; there are no limitations to the love you can give.

The future is ours to manifest. Send it love.

With love,

Chuck

*The title of my blog, The Future is Fluid, comes from Soul Journeys by Rosalind McKnight, one of Bob Monroe’s “explorers,” who wrote about her experiences in the lab with Bob in Cosmic Journeys, as well as her life as a channel in Soul Journeys.

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Emotion, Thought & Chakra

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The intricacies of reflection and refinement…
– Photo by Chuck Ketchel

Emotion and thought are often experienced as polar opposites, warring Titans vehemently struggling for supremacy in human life. This is often illustrated in standoffs between thinking people devoid of emotion versus emotional people devoid of thought.

Interestingly, in both Hindu and channelled descriptions of the multiple bodies that comprise the full human form, which includes the physical, etheric, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies, the mental body is depicted at a finer or higher level than the emotional body, as one moves up toward the coveted spiritual dimension.

At first glance this would appear to cement the argument that thought is of superior value to emotion. However, if one observes such a clash of ‘opposites,’ in the form of an argument, one will be struck at how powerful emotion accompanies the ‘thinking type’ in their defensive argument as to the superiority of pure reason, as well as the amount of mental programs that defend the ‘feeling type,’ who digs in firmly behind the value of pure emotion.

Thought that lacks distilled feeling is not grounded or related to real life. This is like intellectual philosophy that dismisses spirituality on purely rational, non-experiential grounds. Intense emotion, driven by unprocessed experience or unreflected thought, overwhelms the circuitry of the central nervous system and also precludes spiritual advancement. To arrive on the spiritual plane, one must refine both emotion and thought, as they become companions on the journey toward wholeness.

Emotion is an energy that comes into prominence at the level of the solar plexus in the human body. This is the coming of age chakra for the ego, which establishes its separate sense of self by creating a moat out of defense mechanisms. Projection is prominent: It’s your fault, not mine. Denial is clear: I didn’t do it. Grandiosity fuels the ego’s narcissism at this early stage, as it takes its first solo steps on the human stage.

Tremendous emotional energy attaches itself to these defensive structures as one vehemently protects the sanctity of the ego. The ego, thus empowered, feels the necessary strength to hold its own as a separate being. As well, the will is established as the ego develops the ability to achieve and create, channeling its energy toward the satisfaction of its own goals and desires.

For emotion to rise to the level of the heart chakra one must first burn off the impurities of unregulated emotion. Rages, tantrums, and moods are heavily laden with disappointments stemming from the ego fixated at the early stage of narcissistic entitlement. This ego must first go through the refining process of controlling its outbursts and safely releasing its emotions. This develops a rudimentary respect for acceptance of the needs of others.

Arriving at the heart chakra with this control, one is impacted by the call to greater connection with self and others. This also manifests as the concretization of the spiritual drive, perhaps in the seeking of relationship or discovering of one’s soulmate. Both ecstatic and sad emotions accompany this pursuit of wholeness through relationship.

The distillation of emotion at the heart chakra—that arrives at pure love for everything and everyone, including oneself—allows this emotion to smoothly proceed to the throat and third eye chakras, the home of the mental body. If the throat becomes constricted as emotion rises, that emotion must return to the heart and solar plexus chakras to process what it is attached to. Until it is released, love cannot rise above its fixation.

Thoughts issuing from the mental body chakras, imbued with love, will act from right action and for the greater good of the interdependent whole, within and without. Thoughts lacking love are either dissociated from the human form or may be serving the wants of emotion at the level of the solar plexus that have circumvented the heart.

To develop the mental body, the home of thought, one must learn control of thought. Here meditation practices can help one develop the ability to control the randomness of thought and the ability to focus attention. Thought, like emotion, is a powerful energy, that must be regulated to journey into the spiritual dimension.

The spirit requires truth and total transparency to navigate freely. Uncontrolled thought lacks the steadiness and sobriety to ground one in spiritual discovery. Unbridled emotion is likely to waylay one in bardos of discontent or illusory worlds on one’s spiritual journey. These are the fantasy worlds that accompany elevated emotional states that end in empty imaginings.

Refined thought and emotion are able to merge at the spiritual dimension, the crown chakra, as one ventures into greater connection and discovery within and beyond the human form. Thought and emotion at this level are hardly warring Titans but true loving companions on their journey in infinity.

Sending loving thoughts,

Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Just To Love With A Blank Check

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Just to love…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

I was present when Carlos Castaneda stated:  “If you truly want to love, love with a blank check.” For many years I struggled to fully understand what he meant. My assumption was, don’t hold back in your giving; be of complete service, of unlimited support.

He often spoke of the merchant mentality as dominating what humans called love. Love, as a commodity, is traded, with the expectation that one is entitled to a higher, or at least equal yield, for one’s loving investment in another. 

Thus, giving a gift is traded for appreciation. To give of oneself comes with the expectation that one be equally given to now, or certainly at some future date. After all, it’s only fair. Why should I do for you if I get nothing in return? It simply isn’t worth the investment!

Carlos made reference to eden ahbez’s songwriting hit Nature Boy as a journey with love. eden refused to capitalize his assumed name, as to him the only words worth capitalizing were God and Infinity. While living outdoors with his family, under the “L” in Los Angeles, he gave Nat King Cole’s manager the song he had written, Nature Boy, which Cole subsequently recorded with overarching success.

The song ends with these lyrics: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn,
is just to love and be loved in return.” Carlos pointed out that eden later stated that the song should have ended after ‘just to love’ rather than ‘and be loved in return.’ This captures Carlos’ criteria for love clarified to its purest.

Who, of course, could deny the exhilaration of a true meeting in the mutuality of love, where love simply flows, no walls. That kind of meeting is a genuine experience of love, as it harbors no contract of entitlements. Nonetheless, it is often a fleeting experience, as need and expectation soon enter the playing field, muddying the waters.

Jan reminds me of a time when we were walking in the dark and I stated, “If you’re going to do a good deed, do it in the dark.” When I thought of this the other day, I wondered if perhaps that was what Carlos meant by a blank check—a check filled out to be cashed, but with no reference to the sender.

The merchant of love is the ego. The ego demands recognition, validation, and attention. With these filters, true love can hardly show through. Thus, the technology of the blank check, and the invitation ‘just to love,’ are valuable steps on one’s personal path of heart.

With a blank check,

Chuck