Here is this week’s channeled message from Jeanne:
Our resident butterfly reminds us that no matter how battered we get by life we are still beautiful… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
Proceed slowly and thoughtfully through life. Consider your options and the best method of approach to your problems, your issues, and to life in general as it greets you each day. How do you wish to be in the world? From your heart center will come your answers. Look there.
In all aspects of life seek balance, seek calm steadiness, even while you at times must take quick action and respond without time for forethought. As you more often act from a place of deep contemplation and soul searching, so will your times of stress and reaction be addressed from this place of kindness and compassion too.
As you exercise your balanced self, as you speak from your heart center, so will these aspects of self become more comfortable and more pronounced. Your personal make up will change as you exercise your inner self in your outer world.
In all beings is this possible, for all beings are as one. Do not discriminate or separate the self from others. For in true reality, as energetic life, you are all the same. Seek knowledge of what lies in your own heart and begin to see the world outside of you respond from this place of universal compassion as well. It’s how your energetic make up works!
Be kind to the self today, but be equally kind to others as well. This is how you will begin to exercise a more compassionate self and a more compassionate world.
Your life is vibrantly alive and flowing in the universal energy—if you dare yourself to experience it that way!
Can’t wear it when I go… – Photo of Chuck’s Jacket by Jan Ketchel
We issue forth from infinity, a seed planted with the intent to individuate, to become a unique life with a specific purpose in this world. All seeds share the same fate: to become fully what they are. And when this life ends, we return from whence we came: “Going home behind the curtain, going home without the costume that I wore,” -Sincerely, L. Cohen—from Going Home
All the while we are here, we seek our lost wholeness in the many masks of God we attach to, projections that reflect our infinite Selves. But, while here, we are also on a mission. Our infinite self, Brahman, must stay safely ensconced behind our bliss sheath, beyond our awareness, as we, in turn, seek our bliss in becoming the seed we are intended to be in this life.
Joseph Campbell, like Carlos Castaneda, encouraged us to fully embrace and experience the life we are in. After all, our challenges are experiments from the fourth-dimensional Self, as Jung put it. For Jung, the fourth dimension was the dimension of quantum physics, which grasps the unitary interdependent nature of reality. It’s the dimension beyond space and time, where psyche and soma merge like a particle and a wave, in infinite oneness.
Jung designated our Brahman self, the Self, granting recognition to the part of us that is infinite, that lies behind the curtain. Less than one year before his death in 1961, Jung confided the following in a private letter:
“…one can define a dream as an experiment of a four-dimensional nature. I have never tried even to describe this aspect of dreams, …because I have found that our public today is incapable of understanding. I considered it therefore my first duty to talk and write of things that might be understandable and thus would prepare the ground upon which one could later on explain the more complicated things…” –C. G. Jung Letters, Vol. 2
What does it really mean anyway? – Photo by Jan Ketchel
Here, Jung hints that dreams, in sleeping and waking life, are experiments from the fourth-dimensional Self. The experimenter is the Self that lives in infinity. It is that Self that projects its seed of intent into this life. This higher Self intends the life we are sent to live in this third dimension of time and space, birth and death. Jung suggests that it is this higher Self—seeking to view, enhance, and experience itself in an experimental life—that projects us into this life, to then live that intent, whichever way it goes, bringing back its recapitulated experience to infinity in dying.
The Shamans of Ancient Mexico came to the same conclusion: we are beings projected from infinity, granted awareness that may be enhanced through experience—whatever that might be—in a three dimensional life, which eventually ends and contributes its findings back to infinity.
From this perspective, we can see that we are always in two places at once: Self and ego self, eternal and transitory. Furthermore, the antagonists in our life, our petty tyrants, are necessary players in our quest to individuate. Our petty tyrants rattle our self-importance. In fact, by their merciless actions, they stamp out any flame of ego-worth. It can take years to emerge from the ashes of such abuse. Yet, freedom can only be obtained in accepting the true nature of things—that ego life is an illusive life, partitioned in third-dimensional reality.
If we drop our ego attachment yet maintain our awareness, we enter fourth-dimensional experience: enlightenment now. This is what our petty tyrants offer us. Our encounters with them tear apart any illusions of ego importance. We encounter fully the relativity of our life in this world.
Yup, everything dies. – Photo by Jan Ketchel
We are beings who are going to die, our lives are transitory. No need to build up a trust fund of worth to obtain immortality; it’s all a distraction. Our true purpose is to fully actualize the seed in keeping with the intent of our higher Self, without attachment to everlasting life in a temporary vehicle. This experience of bliss—fully actualizing the life in the seed—aligns us with that higher Self, without need for a protective sheath. We can handle the impact of our immortality while in our temporary vehicle. Here we join with our fourth-dimensional Self in our three-dimensional life, living now.
I’d been swimming along when I decided to stop and look around. All of a sudden I noticed that things had changed! – Art by Jan Ketchel
A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog called Silent Meditation, about my experiences in the presence of a female guru. I had gone to the silent retreat seeking to jolt my yoga and meditation practice to a new level. Now, two months later, I am beginning to string together the unfolding of that intent, coming in many forms of support—in dreams, in continued practice, and in the never-ending experiences of life.
The female guru was known not only for her teachings but also for her singing of the sacred mantras of India. From the time she was a young child she had been recognized for her unique ability. During the meditation session at the retreat, she put on some music and instructed us to focus on the vibration as we silently chanted our mantras and sought inner silence. She hoped that we would find her voice pleasing.
I have always meditated in silence, so it struck me that we would be listening to music. But as I thought about it, I realized that in my weekly yoga class there is always music. There is even a specific vibration in one song that rattles my bones, or at least that is how I experience it. Every time I hear it, the sound vibration seems to enter my body and go right into my teeth and bones and before I know it I’m vibrating. It’s not unpleasant at all, though it has always felt a little strong to me.
The music of the female guru was beautiful, the vibration extremely pleasant, and I found that I could connect to it. Unlike the sound vibration of the music of the yoga class that I also connect with in a different way, her music melodically flowed right into my physical body. I noticed how my muscles and skin responded by going completely relaxed.
Since that silent retreat, I have listened to music during my own practice of yoga and meditation. I’ve tried a few different types of music—drumming, chanting, and melodious singing, as well as other styles. I have settled on the chanting of a Buddhist monk, a man, who like the female guru, was recognized in his youth as being especially gifted in the singing of the sacred music. The vibration of his music strikes in yet another place, right in my heart chakra, matching the energetic vibration of my own heart. His vibratory energy soars right through my organs and then takes me with it, out of my body and into other worlds.
As I look back on these three experiences of musical vibration, I am struck by the three responses I experienced within my own body self. First, there is the skeletal vibration, which I experience each week during yoga class, representing the core of the physical body, the strengthening of which ensures physical stability. Secondly, there is the vibration of the female voice, much like a mother’s soothing touch that my muscles so responded to. The training of the muscles enables physical prowess and fluidity in this world. Thirdly, I find the vibration of the male voice, the Buddhist monk, so deeply penetrating that my heart and emotions immediately respond. Here, in the organs of the body, are the other aspects of the physical self that require honing if a spiritual practice is to be deeply meaningful, fulfilling, and freeing.
As I study these three experiences that have so aligned with my intent to strengthen and deepen my spiritual practice, I am reminded of dreams unfolding simultaneously. One Sunday night, a few weeks ago, I dreamed of a tall man in tails and top hat, the Master of Ceremonies at a three ring circus.
The first night I dreamed of him, I asked for advice. He told me that the first order of business in achieving a balanced spiritual practice was to get the physical body in tiptop shape. This I see as aligning with the yogic vibration of physical prowess. He also encouraged good eating habits and moderation in everything.
The second time I dreamed of him, exactly one week later, also on a Sunday night, he instructed me in establishing a firm spiritual practice and sticking with it. This I see as the meditation practice as encouraged by the female guru, which I have been deepening.
The third time I dreamed of the Master of Ceremonies, last night, I asked for more advice. “Teach me something,” I said. I dreamed of a woman I had known a long time ago. She told me that her mother had died, but that she was always with her, that they connected all the time. This I see as the awakening of the heart chakra to the truth of our vibratory existence, the kind of experience that I have every time I meditate with my chanting Buddhist monk. He takes me soaring. I am one with the vibration, the vibration is one with me, I am one with the energy of the universe.
There are many roads to the sublime… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
When I woke up this morning, I knew that the Master of Ceremonies had shown me the third ring in the three ring circus of this life, as we endeavor to reconcile our human/spiritual dilemma. The third ring of a balanced spiritual practice is to recognize that we are all comprised of energy and, as such, we are fully capable of existing in many realms simultaneously. It is our job to strengthen our awareness of this and open up to it. It is what the Shamans of Ancient Mexico teach as well, that we are primarily beings comprised of energy. We come from energy and we will return to energy. In the meantime, however, we must bear the tension of navigating life in the physical bodies that we inhabit.
Our job is to become aware of our energetic abilities and find a practice that will train us in the use of all that we truly are comprised of. The Shamans of Ancient Mexico offer the Magical Passes. I have always found yoga and mediation to fit my inner vibration most compatibly. There is music, there is art, there is dance, there are sports, and all kinds of other activities that can lead us to experience the transcendent. Joseph Campbell speaks of running track when in college and twice having experiences of the sublime, when he achieved complete and total alignment with the energy of the universe that he just happened to be flowing in at the time. We can enter the flow of such energetic alignment by happenstance, or we can train ourselves to enter it volitionally, as I work to achieve in my own spiritual practice.
As my vibratory experiences with three types of music point out, if we are seekers, if we are open and aware, we will eventually discover just what strikes the right chord with our own vibration. And then the universe will join in our endeavors and help us out in a myriad of ways. It may take some time to discover just what the right vibratory chord is. I stumbled upon what I needed by opening to some new ideas and challenging myself to have some new experiences.
By setting the intent to find our way to our energetic selves, we open the door to going beyond the three ring circus of life to vibratory experiences in other worlds. In fact, it was what the female guru was suggesting as we listened to her music. She was asking us to connect to the truth of our energetic reality. It is the key to everything, to the mystical and the mysterious, the awareness that we are first and foremost energetic beings, vibratory beings. Whether we exist in the here and now, or whether we have passed on into other dimensions, our connection to everything is energetic.
I thank the people who teach me, my dream teachers, the people that have intersected my life, the seekers who teach about another reality beyond this so solid one. I am thankful for all that comes to me, for all that I experience, energetically and otherwise!
Here is this week’s message from Jeanne, on the reality of creating your own life.
Today’s dream… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
Find a center of balance no matter where you are in your life. Even though you may be caught up in the turmoils of life, so will there be a spot within that turmoil to find rest and distance. Set your intent to not only find this place but to recognize it and utilize it, even in the worst of circumstances.
Remember: There is always calm within a storm, even if it is only in the moment before the storm hits or the moment after it strikes. Take the energy of that calmness within, fully experience it, and retain the markings of it within. Draw upon it later, for its experience will reside in you, its memory everlasting.
That is what you seek in order to find balance in daily life, memories of those moments of experience that have shifted you. In your experiences come the ability to control, to a certain degree, the content of your days. I advise allowing the self access to the ability to control the self by grabbing onto the experiences of calmness that have reigned throughout your life, the moments that remind you that nothing lasts forever, that everything changes, that life constantly shifts and adjusts itself. For growth is always life’s intent.
In your own lives, growth too is the intent. With this intent being your personal intent—even if you are unaware of it—be assured that everything that comes to you, each day, is leading and guiding you to grow, to face that which you must in order to move beyond fear and attachment.
Always find your balance within yourself. Pull up your anchor repeatedly as you shift, placing it in a new spot of calmness each day, depending on circumstances, and as you flow with life.
One day your calmness may lie in your dreams, so place your anchor there. Set your intent to learn as much as possible from your dreams. And then follow the guidance that comes to you.
On another day your calmness, your certainty, may lie in your creativity. Place your intent, your anchor there, and allow your creative self the expression it desires. This will send you into new energetic configuration, both mentally and physically, aligning your life more fully with your spirit’s intent. And remember that creativity takes many forms. Where your personal creativity lies may not be yet clear to you, but it’s there.
Seek balance each day. Take moments to sit in calmness and find your peace in where you are, fully aware that each day you are being guided to advance. Pretty soon, the anchoring calmness will become most natural, and you may even find that you are there without having to think about it. Then you will have the experience of your previous turmoil being only like a distant dream.
Remember it’s all a dream anyway. Which dream do you wish to dream today? It’s really up to you.
From the dimly lit living room… – Photo by Jan Ketchel
I open my eyes. I know without looking that it’s time to get up. I pause to review the residue of the night’s journeys. Nothing pronounced.
It’s writing day. The Gods are clamoring as I cast my line into the pool of possibility. Jan and I sit in the dimly lit living room, around the glass table. Jan has a calling to light the candle, the one that lately doesn’t stay lit. I watch it struggle; it’s not going to make it. Jan gets another candle and ignites it from the dying flame. The light is strong and bright.
Slowly, dreams, readings, and world events begin to energize as we talk, to combat, to intertwine and finally, as we bear the tension, the synchronistic dance begins to reveal itself. I have my writing topic.
We step outside. It begins to rain. I realize that I’m being directed to go inward instead, to capture the choreography of this dance before the competing Gods of Light and Day steal the thunder of this revelation so recently come to me in the dimly lit living room.
Lao Tzu writes in the Tao Te Ching:
“Without going outside, you may know the whole world.
Without looking through the window, you may see the ways of heaven.”
Look to the kingdom within, I say. Where is Assad within? Who is he? He is a shadow God. He has gassed his people. Who is the God that poisons us within? Is it a food? Is it a substance? Is it a belief? The toxicity is evident now. Consciousness cannot ignore it.
Assad is a God of destruction. He is a God of dissolution, of death. And yet, he is simply the dark side of God. All Gods come with two faces, one of light and one of darkness, just as we do.
We constellate the God we need to address our current challenge. We are challenged now to face the destructive God that has held reign within us. Can we acknowledge our collusion with that God? Unless we are outright psychotic, we must grant access to that which controls us, however powerless or unaware we conceive ourselves to be.
What are the reigning attitudes, judgments, and compensatory self-destructive behaviors that we give license to every day? What God do we allow to rule our lives?
President Obama emerges as the God of Light, poised to take on the God of Darkness, but the world protests! It’s not about assuming some fervent corrective attitude to stamp out the darkness. The world populace has awoken from its groundhog day of slumber. Jimmy Carter calls for a peace conference. Obama turns it over to Congress. A brighter candle is lit. Let’s shed new light on the process. Consciousness must take responsibility to weigh the forces at work, to discern the truth, to be led to right action.
Don’t let the light go out! – Photo by Jan Ketchel
The God of Darkness, if we are indifferent, will be emboldened. Perhaps this is how we got here in the first place, our child selves feeling powerless, seeking relief and distraction. Clearly, if we allow our ego selves to be so dominated, we will be brought to our own destruction, even death. Perhaps there must be death and destruction of our current ego attitudes. New life always requires the sacrifice of old ways.
The righteousness of the God of Light must be challenged as well. 9/11 was, after all, the inevitable compensation for a world dominated by greed that rejected its own darkness. Eventually, the God of Darkness would need to exact revenge, level the playing field of the truth. That’s where we are today: 9/11—Take Two, with the possibility of consciousness—that faces all sides of the truth—trumping the old attack and root-out the evil “over there” approach with a new approach that takes responsibility for our own darkness.
Inwardly, our warrior selves must employ energy in bearing the tension of our psychic reality, giving way to changes that reflect the true needs of the Self. Each warrior that advances this cause within, synchronistically participates in the advance of consciousness to new frontiers without, with the opportunity for greater stability and new possibility on all fronts.
