Most people think of themselves as merely physical while others think of themselves as both physical and spiritual. Far fewer think of themselves as a conglomerate of many lives and many souls. There are so many options, but which is right? And does it matter? Whether or not one has a perspective on life as anything more than what it is, a physical life on Earth, there are many aspects to consider and get into alignment with. Beyond the physical there are the mental, the emotional, and the feeling aspects of being human. These alone add tremendously to human beingness and their balance is crucial to maturing, knowing the self, and attaining fuller experience and potential. So, though there may be much more to life than just the physical, start there and get all that is now in you calm and settled so you can live your best life going forward. Whatever else comes along after that will then be able to fit in nicely!
Develop resilience, the ability to bounce back from anything, to go with the flow of life, to embrace its ups and downs and to know when it is time to rush to action and when to retreat. Resilience entails maintaining a certain presence, awareness, elasticity and always with an eye on the future and the potential it holds. If the path you are on is the right path and the choices you are making the right ones your personal energy will be right there with you as you take your journey, offering you what you need so that you always have enough. If you are on the wrong path your lack of resilience and energy might be showing you that something’s not working. Pay attention to all your energy systems, mental, physical, spiritual and emotional. Are they in alignment and functioning to the fullest?
As the day unfolds, notice your energy. When is it strong and flowing and when is it flagging? When is your mind clear and your intuition strong? Are you naturally more present and alert in the morning and less so in the afternoon? Schedule important things around high energy times and save self-contemplation for quieter energy times. Everyone has a natural ebb and flow of their personal energy. Have you studied your own, and are you going with the flow of it or are you fighting against it?
Center yourself so that you are in synch with nature, so that you feel and adjust to the rhythms of the day and the night, to the triumphs of the light and the depths of the dark, to the moods of the weather and the highlights of the natural flow of each day as it comes and goes. In synch with nature your own soul will become more known, your connection beyond body ego more direct and your place in the world more unified. It’s okay to step back from the chaos and just be.
We live in an age where direct access to the tools of manifestation abound. As human evolution has shifted to the psychic plane, we are all waking up to latent powers that allow us to tap into both elemental and subtle resources to manifest our desires.
One question that emerges as we expand our consciousness and deepen our access to psychic powers is, how we might appropriately use them.
Robert Monroe provided explorers with an affirmation in their journeys, “to Use such greater energies and energy systems as may be beneficial and constructive to me and to those who follow me.”
Clearly, Bob is stressing here that we hone our intent to the benefit of all humankind. In fact, the mission of the Monroe Institute is, “Helping people create more meaningful and joyful lives through the guided exploration of expanded consciousness.”
I participated in a recent intensive retreat at the Monroe Institute where the theme of mandalas emerged in many participant’s journeys. I personally, during one journey, came upon the face of my round wristwatch at the center of a rectangular door. A mandala typically includes the juxtaposition of a circle and a square.
Experientially, this encounter with a mandala coincided with a very powerful vibrational energy that I was experiencing at my heart chakra, which provided the energy, via this sensation, to come to acceptance of a disturbing dream image from the prior night.
Carl Jung brought to the attention of the modern world the archetype of the mandala as the central organizing symbol of life. The circle encompasses infinity; the square, our humanness. For Jung, at the center of the circle was the Self, or Spirit, and not the ego, which is the center only of the conscious personality.
The path toward fulfillment in life requires one to square the circle; that is, to align one’s life with the core intent of one’s Spirit. Expropriating one’s psychic resources for ego gain, which is out of alignment with Spirit, would be considered an ego inflation, where ego assumes the identity and authority of Self. Humans have the amazing tool of free will, which all too often leads to ego decisions that throw them out of psychological balance and negatively impact the world.
Mandalas frequently appear in waking life and in dreaming, as trail markers from Self, as we suffer challenging experiences and make decisions in our lives. The mandala in my experience guided me to raise the vibration in my heart chakra to be able to activate love to accept the unacceptable.
Carl Jung’s Red Book is his diary of his journeys into the collective unconscious, which became the foundation of his contributions to the field of psychology. His communications with entities during his discovery process are documented alongside countless mandalas he painted that enabled him to maintain psychic balance throughout this extraordinary process.
Stan Grof, initially through the use of psychedelics and later through holotropic breath work, has deepened the mapping of the transpersonal regions of the psyche. His protocol strongly encourages all participants in his workshops to paint mandalas as they restore inner balance and recapitulate their soul retrievals and adventures in infinity.
The highlight of the mandala in my recent retreat was a collective reminder to be sure to not forget to ask if it’s right. It refers to one’s intent, decision or ambition for manifestation.
The Self often spontaneously and creatively provides some semblance of a mandala-like symbol to provide guidance. These can take the form of a dirty, heads-up penny on the ground, or a circular or rectangular pool, or a grouping of 4 objects or people—the permutations are endless.
One may also have to wait patiently for this guidance or validation to appear. Sometimes the Self requires that the ego go it alone, taking full responsibility for decisions made. The effects of decisions and actions taken are often the best teachers.
When mandalas do show up, give the ego the worthy job of contemplating their messages. Or, to get in alignment with Self, simply start drawing a mandala. Or use a finger in the sand, and like the Tibetans and Native Americans sculpt a mandala with the intent to align with Spirit.
See what happens. Remember Bob Monroe’s affirmation to make constructive and beneficial one’s use of greater energies and energy systems.
