Chuck’s Place: The Host & The Guest

Body self, spirit self housed together in life... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
Body self, spirit self housed together in life…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

The body self is a finite creature; it will die. The spirit self, the energy body, houses the infinite part of ourselves, that which separates forever from the earthy host, the physical body, at the time of its death.

The relationship between the host (the physical body) and the guest (the energy body) during our lifetime is our most important and challenging relationship. The physical body knows its days are numbered and seeks fulfillment of its instinctive nature in the physical world during life. Fulfillment in physical terms is connected to security, sex, and power in the material world of people and things.

The energy body enters its host, the physical body, with its intention to sow its karmic seeds through the drama of human life by which it has the opportunity to advance its ongoing journey in infinity at the death of the physical. The truth is, the body is not that interested in soul work. The body, like all animals, is here and now, in its instinctive life, which it so covets. Enjoying and experiencing the joys, pleasures, and triumphs of this life is the sole intent of the physical body; there is nothing more.

The energy body, in contrast, is far more expansive. The energy body is comprised of mind and feeling, and though both become active in the physical brain and heart, they are, in spirit form, of a far more ethereal nature, capable of a far greater expansiveness and abstraction way beyond human boundaries. For instance, love, at the energy body level, can expand to include all interconnected life. At the level of the physical body, however, “love” does not extend beyond me and mine.

At this point, I nearly abandoned this blog. I had drawn a blank as how to illustrate the challenge of the conflicting intent of the physical and spirit selves. I went to sleep and awoke from the following vivid dream experience:

A gangster had seriously threatened a woman. He came to my home to discuss it. I let him in with four of his cronies. I directly confronted him. “You have to go to her and make it right; begin by apologizing,” I said. Then I noticed over my right shoulder that one of his men was holding a bungie cord, awaiting the signal from the gangster boss to strangle me.

A closer look and the details emerge in dreaming... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
A closer look and the details emerge in dreaming…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

I looked into the gangster boss’s eye and said, “So, you’re going to kill me.” A moment before I had seen an expression on his face that was acknowledging the wrong he had done, a glint in his eye. I thought there was a genuine moment of redemption, but now I saw he was really lazy. It was easier to simply snuff out any possible threat to his operation, rather than risk change.

Oddly, I wasn’t afraid of the confrontation, more observant of the true predicament. I somehow knew I would subdue the group of them, though at the moment I wasn’t sure how. It wasn’t the threat that consumed me, it was the disappointment in his refusal to acquiesce to the light of the truth that shone in our encounter. He was choosing to remain cold-bloodedly instinctual, snuffing out the light of spirit, change, and growth.

Awakening from the above dream, I thanked my unconscious for the dream. The dream typifies the inner drama we all must confront with our physical, instinctive body host who remains governed by the archetypes of power and self-centered survival. This is the body self that wants survival, food, sex, and power at a purely instinctual level. This self will cold-bloodedly execute any spirit that asks it to transmute its own instincts in service of a higher cause.

On the other hand, the spirit self, with its own agenda for life in this world, can be a completely ungracious guest, treating its body host like a slave and servant, completely in bondage to the proclivities of the spirit. I defer to Arianna Huffington’s commencement speech at Vassar College, linked HERE, to expand upon abuse of spirit power inflicted not only on the body, but also on the world body that now finds itself in mass revolt at the misguided governorship of humankind.

The symbiotic relationship of spirit and body self while the spirit resides in human form requires responsible leadership based on right action. Right action flows from love centered in the heart chakra. The body is a conservative host to a liberal spirit guest whose quest is evolutionary advancement.

As my dream points out, the body, in its conservatism, would kill off any attempt to elevate its spirit above its instinctive rigidity. On the other hand, a spirit guest that exploits its body host for its desirous intrigues is a leader that breeds revolution and assassination.

In the light of a new day and from a different perspective things can unite in a new way... - Photo by Jan Ketchel
In the light of a new day and from a different perspective things can unite in a new way…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Spirit self must acquiesce, from the heart center, to leadership in accordance with truth—that which is all-inclusive love. Spirit that acts from this place offers a path of evolutionary advancement to its body host, who in turn can acquiesce with support to fair leadership from its guest. A tenuous balance indeed, but not unachievable.

The challenge is to become the gracious guest who leads its willing servant to new heights so that, in the end, guest and host dissolve their apparent distinctions and join in consciousness, as optional expressions of the same oneness, e.g., as body and energy body, spirit and matter, sun and moon, particle and wave.

And so, the journey continues,
Chuck

Soulbyte for Wednesday June 3, 2015

A time of change naturally invites the opportunity for new insights, new behaviors and new adventures. Allow the changes in life, whether small and seemingly insignificant or large leaps of faith, to guide you forward. And yet constantly study your inner environment for signs of progress, for deeper insights, and for the clues that will tell you that you are going in the right direction.

To fear change is to fear life, and to fear life may lead to stagnation. Stagnation may lead to withdrawal, to obsession, to paranoia, and to unexpected occurrences of inner reality abruptly departing from outer reality.

To remain clear that change is inevitable and eventually good for you learn how to let go, not of the mental mind or the physical body, but of that which has you stuck; most likely such things as old rules, old ideas, old thoughts, old lies. Allow life itself, its natural progression, to guide you forward with clear mental mind and new energetic body-self, free to roam in conscious spiritual awareness.

Soulbyte for June 2, 2015

Change is dynamic, alive, progressive, and in the moment. Thus, like synchronicities, change comes at the right time. To avoid being overwhelmed, or to avoid the old phrase that “things always happen to me,” remain alert. As adults it is these moments of change that allow conscious awareness to develop, the hallmark of the warrior. This is not about predetermination, destiny or fate. This is about taking full advantage of what each moment offers.

A warrior does not fall by the wayside weeping and feeling sorry. A warrior takes note of that which has occurred and finds a way to use it for advancement, consciously aware that in its very occurrence it presents something meaningful. And so, a warrior studies what happens and, like a good student of life, asks: Why is this meaningful for me at this time in my life? And then a warrior takes the time to find the answer.

In this manner, the warrior soon learns that every occurrence in life, bidden or unbidden, comes at the right time. In knowing this, the warrior’s conscious awareness is honed and ready to receive future changes with a keen sense of anticipation and eagerness, for a warrior knows that these are the pivotal moments of advancement, bringing insight, offering the right change at the right time.

A Message to Humanity from Jeanne: The Challenges Of Change

We can see change happening outside of us, but it's happening inside too! - Photo by Jan Ketchel
We can see change happening outside of us, but it’s happening inside too!
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Today’s audio message is a great addition to the recent daily Soulbytes dealing with the changes that have been so apparent and which are affecting everyone in some way.

We are in the middle of some very important and powerful energy. Mercury retrograde, which we have been experiencing for some time now, and will continue to do so until June 11th, is a powerful time to discover what is still sticking around and keeping us stuck. The challenge is to face it in a new way and finally let it go! That’s one way to work with the energy as it winds its way through this time of retrograde. Today’s channeled message offers some great insight on the process! Change how you think and you WILL change!

Soulbyte for Monday June 1, 2015

Change that you have not anticipated or intended is change nonetheless. Sometimes change calls to you rather than the other way around and so you must be prepared to meet it with open heart and open arms. If it has arrived it is meant for you, and so the only appropriate response is to embrace it as it wishes to embrace you. Your greatest challenge, however, is to not be swamped by it but to ride it into new life. That is how to make a change of journey into a journey of change!

Chuck Ketchel, LCSWR