Tag Archives: mind

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: A Divided Mind

1 Comment
A divided mind is food for thought. The choice? Feed the entities or dip into a pot of serenity? - Photo by Jan Ketchel
A divided mind is food for thought. The choice? Feed the entities or dip into a pot of serenity?
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

The Shamans of Ancient Mexico were definitive in their designation of the mind as an outside entity that has become a permanent member of the human being. In modern biological terms we might view the mind as a symbiotic partner that both preys upon and contributes to our human experience.

The parasitic quality of the mind is most evident in the experience of worry. The Shamans of Ancient Mexico observed how the mind generates empty concerns that are fueled by the fires of obsessive worry. This fiery fury excites the central nervous system and generates an energetic intensity that actually serves as the food for the parasitic entity.

Earlier this week Jan’s dream of the loud knocks on the door reminded me of living on West 86th Street in New York City in my early twenties. I’d lie in bed at night and toss and turn, terrified that someone was going to attempt to break in. We lived in a very secure 24-hour doorman building, yet my fears culminated in my getting up and barricading the double-locked and chained front door with several chairs.

In the light of day those nightly terrors would easily be forgotten or dismissed, but the residue agitation in the central nervous system could lead to attaching to many daytime concerns. The truth is, however, that worry is a product of the mind. Its conjurings impact the body’s central nervous system to generate an excited energy for its own consumption. This action by the mind is similar to a cancer cell that seeks to enter and feed off the energy of the cells around it with little concern for the well being of the host it is destroying.

Interestingly, another function of the mind, rationality, actually provides the necessary tool to counter and overcome the deleterious impact of worry. From an existential here and now place, the rational mind can take responsibility for where we place our attention. In the face of the extraordinary pull to fixate on the conjuring creation, the rational mind is free to decide to shift its attention, i.e.: “I can choose where I put my attention.”

I can sit and gaze at the clouds... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
I can sit and gaze at the clouds…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

I can choose to place my attention on my breath. I can choose to place my attention on a chakra, to tune into the state of sensation in my heart. I am free to breathe into and expand my heart center, my solar plexus, my throat, my head. I am free to say the words of a prayer. I am free to repeat a mantra. No one and nothing can take away my right to place my attention where I want it. And with that I can effect a shift in my central nervous system. I can restore the calm that the predator seeks to disrupt. This may take continuous effort, but if I am persevering the predator gives up.

And so, like most challenges that we encounter, there is a valuable polarity to our divided mind that offers excellent and immediate opportunity for evolutionary advancement. The predator instigates trouble through its worrisome conjuring, yet simultaneously it offers us the awareness of freedom of choice through the rational mind. If we use this tool of choice to subdue the predator we reclaim our power of attention, and a calm central nervous system to boot. Longterm results are increased consciousness and control. With this powerful mindset firmly in place we are prepared for deeper journeys into the ever unfolding mysteries of life, and beyond.

With mind set on infinity,
Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Following The Metaphysical Thread

Leave a comment
I took a journey through a transpersonal realm and emerged anew! - Photo by Jan Ketchel
I took a journey through a transpersonal realm and emerged anew!
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

I took a deep journey in my physical body, one of whole-body ecstatic movement and release. At a certain point, I became the observer as well as the experiencer—a being in two places at once. As the intensity of rhythmic movement overtook my body, I found myself in the midst of the labor of my own birth, discovering newfound freedom.

After this experience, I noticed the immediate onset of intestinal cramping. The cramping continued throughout the night and into the next day, powerfully dominating my experience. My discomfort was so great that I found respite only in crawling into the fetal pose and breathing deeply, where I finally found astonishing relief.

As the day wore on, my mind got more and more involved. “This must be a stomach virus,” it said. “It’s going around. Or perhaps it’s food poisoning.” Before I knew it, I was googling “irritable bowel syndrome”—the symptoms of which fit perfectly. At that point, my mind began to imprison me in the narrow corridor of rational explanations. I decided, however, to suspend these judgments, as I saw how any one of them would lock me into a known world where I would acquiesce to protocol by constructing a diagnosis and treatment plan, a solid world to frame and resolve my experience in.

I chose instead to stay with the metaphysical thread of a birthing experience that begged for new mastery through a recapitulation process. I know that as a fetus in utero, and at birth, I was impacted by violence. In fact, physical violence to my mother caused my premature birth. What came to me during my experience was the call to ride the waves of the contractions and, in conscious awareness, safely bring my body to shore, to, in fact, re-experience my birth. I did just that, riding the waves all day long, and when night came and I got into bed I set the intent to push my body through the final waves of the process. Incessantly stating my intent to calmly heal and relax, I breathed deeply and, before long, the contractions, most amazingly, subsided.

I was then able to sleep, perhaps for a half hour at a time. I’d awaken and repeat my mantra and deep breathing. Countless times throughout the night I did this and found relief. Eventually, I noticed that I’d awaken in a calm state with no need to restate my intent; the intent having taken over. By morning I was completely healed, delivered by my own intent and acquiescence to the process.

We live in a transpersonal reality, that is, many dimensions or worlds simultaneously. In one world, had I entered it, I suffered food poisoning and could have been treated appropriately. In another world, I suffered the collective stomach flu and could have equally been healed with several days of rest. In another world, I lived through and mastered the trauma of my own birth as I entered this life.

Most instructive to me in this experience was the deeper significance of Carlos Castaneda’s oft-repeated maxim, “Suspend judgment.” With judgments we create constructs, the walls of the world we live in, an all-encompassing world with its own set of rules. When we are able to suspend judgment, however, we can follow the metaphysical thread of an experience into transpersonal worlds, where anything truly is possible!

All things are possible,
Chuck

Messages from Jeanne

Readers of Infinity: Energetic Communication

Leave a comment

Today, we present the weekly channeled message, as well as a message to all who knew and loved Jeanne, as well as to those who never knew her in this life. Today is the day that Jeanne died in Heiden, Switzerland, twelve years ago.

Open the energetic lines of communication… and see what happens! - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Open the energetic lines of communication…
and see what happens!
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Here is the weekly channeled message first:

Let the energy of now take you forward. As your journey unfolds, stay informed of the always-changing self. Allow transformation to take place, and with awareness allow the self to change. In awareness that you are indeed a changing being, in constant flux, allow your life to take you now into new levels of consciousness.

Turn your gaze outward each day, even as you turn it inward. Notice where you life is trying to lead you. Listen to your inner self and listen to your body self. These two selves, your energetic you and your physical you, must become true partners on your journey through life. Think of your energetic self as the gas you put into your vehicle, driving your physical self, it’s trusty companion. Your mind intercepts, cutting off natural communication. Quiet the mind and let the two of them communicate once again, directly. Let your gas flow, without blockage, into your vehicle, as you simultaneously learn to accept your life as an ever-changing flow of energy, signs, synchronicities, and messages. In opening to the existence of such universal communication outside of you, you may find that the mind is not as necessary as you now think.

Thoughts often confuse, but your energetic self and your physical self seek only growth, uninhibited. Your partnership, in alignment, will result in a tiptop vehicle to drive through life in, with your energy flowing nicely within. Keep it always in good shape and it will not fail you. Find out what all of that means for you. Everyone is different; everyone must find their personal equilibrium and balance. Take one empowering step on behalf of that partnership today and every day, devoid of the mind’s trappings and old sayings. Clear the mind so that the channel of communication may always be open and flowing. And then see what new happens!

Here is the rest of the communication from Jeanne, as Jan asked her to comment on the anniversary of her death. Here is what she had to say:

Love…The only true means of communication… - Photo by Chuck Ketchel
Love…The only true means of communication…
– Photo by Chuck Ketchel

Although my absence is still felt, those who knew me and were deeply attached to me must not grieve for me, or for themselves and the loss of me in their lives. Life is death; death is life. As I have said many times before, though I do not exist on that plane, I do exist! Take that into consideration as you continue your own lives upon that earth. Sorrow is a manifestation of the mind. If you silence the mind, removing what it tells you from your thoughts, releasing those mind-thoughts from your physical body as well, you will discover your own true energetic form. This energetic self does not exist only in your physical body, but outside of it as well, in eternity. If you can experience this energetic self, even for a second or two, you will know that I exist!

Set your intent to access and experience this self and then you will know the answers to the questions that the mind cannot grasp very easily. Experiences of the energetic self are the means to understanding how I can still exist. Your physical self will grasp this as well, once the mind’s conjuring have been removed. It will “know,” as deeply as your spirit knows. You already know what I’m talking about.

Every night you dream. Begin to dream with intent now. Intend to accept your energetic self and, with awareness, practice using this self more frequently, in waking and dreaming, allowing something besides your mind, and what it thinks it knows, to guide you. Look to your heart, the true organ of communication in each of you.

Energetic communication is what I have been doing, and continue to do. I use my energetic self to communicate and work in all worlds. The practice grows as lessons are learned, as awakenings are explored and accepted. It is a viable means of communication that can be practiced anywhere, even between people upon that earth. It’s called telepathy in some circles, but I prefer to call it energetic communication.

Be open to life in a new way, to the life that lies before your eyes, My Dears. But also be open to life that you cannot so easily see with your human eyes. When doubt arises, ask the self to let it go, to stay with burgeoning awareness, simply for the heck of it. There is no harm in that! Be an explorer! It’s what I am. I explore, try things out, discover how things work, and then I use what I learn to communicate. In the beginning, it can be a challenging and even clumsy process, but over time skills are naturally honed.

I look for you all in energetic form, those I knew intimately in more than one form and those I don’t know yet. I always have been looking for you. Look for me in return. You will know me by my energy! There will be no doubt that it is I!

My love expands upon you all. It’s all that matters, you know, love and loving all beings equally, without attachment.

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Meet The Body Where It Is At!

1 Comment
Startled awake, I am taut and tense, my mind spinning it's tales… - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Startled awake, I am taut and tense, my mind spinning it’s tales…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

I awaken with a start from an action-packed thriller dream. As the storyline reassembles to waking consciousness, I survey the state of my body. My jaw and throat are tightly clenched. The muscles of my legs and arms are tight as well. My pelvis, abdomen, stomach and chest are all frozen. In my stilled state I breathe slowly, lightly, and intermittently from my upper chest. My body lies in utter stillness. My emotions are sadness and fear. My overall body sensation is one of pensive anxiety.

I begin to review the dream, what it means in this dimension of waking life. What are the parallels, the synchronistic implications for life in this day? My mind begins to tell me a story to fit the theme of the dream, to account for the vigilant state I experience in my body. My mind concludes that indeed, bad news must be on the near horizon; I must remain on alert, brace myself.

I remind myself of the many stories my mind has generated in the past to account for similar physical states of heightened alertness. I remind myself how rarely those stories have turned out to be true. I remind myself that the storyteller mind is quite creative, however, its genre is essentially fiction, not to be trusted to guide the daily ship.

These reminders, I notice, have little impact on releasing my body from the vice grip it finds itself in. I appreciate the mind’s attempt to help the body release through these reflective reminders, but I also realize that my body needs a different approach.

I direct my consciousness away from the storytelling center of the mind and enter into the state of my abdomen. I notice the tension of its grip. Slowly, I direct my breath into my abdomen, allowing it to expand like a balloon. With that, I notice the tightness in my pelvis and stomach gladly asking to follow the lead of my abdomen. They all release and my abdominal energy flows in harmony once again. I notice my breath beginning to fill my chest cavity, the muscles around my ribcage relaxing, allowing for deeper expansion as my heart opens as well.

I shift my focus to my still-clenched throat and jaw, releasing the tightness of my jaw, directing air slowly into the channel of my throat, allowing it to expand slightly more with each breath. I notice my fingers and toes spontaneously uncurling. I feel warm blood flowing throughout my body. I notice my mind is quieter, as it listens to my body, how it questions whether there is, in fact, danger at all. That thought sends a spark of alertness through my body. I quickly shift my awareness back to my body and take in a full breath, allowing all parts to release as I exhale. I’m good to go now.

My mind and body at ease, flowing once again… - Photo by Jan Ketchel
My mind and body at ease,
flowing once again…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

I realize that had I not gone and met my body where it was at, I would have held its tension, however, subliminally, throughout the day. It’s message to the mind would have generated an ongoing epic story, reinforcing its conclusion that I must remain on alert. That would have been the dominant experience of the day. Without awareness brought to the body, to release it from its reaction to the world of the dream, I would not have been freed to be fully present to life during the daytime.

It’s not enough to tell ourselves to relax. We must go to the body and meet it where it’s at. We must free it to accompany us through the day, so that it may correctly perceive and communicate its reactions to the here and now, offering a true gauge of the reality of the moment. I know, from years of study and observation, as well as personal experience, that like the animals who sense and communicate the momentarily arriving danger of an earthquake or oncoming storm, that the body will tell me when there is real danger. We can trust it, but must first go to meet it where it may be stuck and preoccupied with old reactions to old stories, which must be cleared if we are to be fully present and aware.

As my dream and subsequent experience reveals, we must go and meet the body where it is at, listen to its findings, and help it release old reactions if we are to fully benefit from its ability to assess and react to real and present danger. To merely shout commands from above, telling it to relax, will not suffice. We must go inward and tenderly treat ourselves to a natural release. Once we have accomplished that, all can proceed from there!

Chuck