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Time Of Great Spiritual Change
April 29, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
There is at this time a massive effort going on to raise the collective vibration of human consciousness and more help available than we imagine. It is important that we ask for help, in many cases it is only when we do that it can be forthcoming in all the ways possible. It is also advantageous if we are really clear on exactly what we want help with. For example if we have an area in our psyche where we experience contraction, fear or any kind of limitation, that is a good thing to ask for help with. As I have written about all over this site we evolve by unwinding and transmuting these energies of limiting past.
There are very real and disastrous potentials if we don’t. So all spiritual endeavor at this time is for the good of all. The ‘reward’ for reaching a certain degree of spiritual
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Opening To The Divine Truth
April 13, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 3 Comments
Our spiritual evolution is a process of opening to the Divine, as the truth both within and without. The egoic personality is a fractured consciousness caught in the illusion of separation. All places of separation are places where we experience limitation - whether it is physical, emotional, mental or at any other dimension of our being. The spiritual process of unifying and healing them will take us out of limitation. There is no limit to how far that can expand. There is no end to the journey of consciousness evolving.
From the position of separation there are only so many possibilities, and they will all be limited. Our level of consciousness dictates the possibilities we can perceive and understand. Erronously when we are bound in identification with the egoic personality we believe our
“You are a Spiritual being having a human experience" Living Liberation is the missing manual Find out moreSpirituality, Responsibility & Transformation
March 23, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 2 Comments
Sooner or later it becomes clear to us that we are responsible for everything in our experience, and it is through denial that we negate responsibility. In the full realization of this there is no wriggle room and no get out clauses. Making anything other than ‘us’, and something or someone else’s responsibility, is denial pure and simple.
When we deny in this way we not only create separation in ourselves, but also from what it is in the external world, reflecting our separation to us. We cannot choose a view where we are ‘separate’ when we don’t like something, and holistic and into unity in a purely idealized way the rest of the time. We have to be living the truth to embody it.
When we remain in the consciousness of separation, there is very little responsibility outside the little pocket of reality that we occupy. This is partly why we have resistance to our evolution, because it requires us taking more and more responsibility and gets bigger, and keeps getting bigger.
Most of us, if we are really honest about it, are looking through spirituality, for
“You are a Spiritual being having a human experience" Living Liberation is the missing manual Find out moreWhat Is Spirituality?
March 10, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 2 Comments
Spirituality, like so many things we refer to and speak of on a regular basis, is not so easy to define when we sit down and think about just what we mean when we use it. I imagine that a survey of this question would bring back as many different answers as the people who took it.
In this time, when so many are turning away from organized religion to find meaning in their lives, and with the vast proliferation of teachers and teachings, many people’s idea of spirituality may be a postmodern mixture of all kinds of different elements.
So here’s what I think. Spirituality is our conscious engagement with the process of our spiritual evolution. It is my experience that life in its very nature is a spiritual process of Consciousness evolving. We, in our individuated forms, are the living means through which
“You are a Spiritual being having a human experience" Living Liberation is the missing manual Find out moreManifesting, The Law Of Attraction & Spirituality
February 4, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 5 Comments
I see the prevalence of information on manifesting and the law of attraction as evidence of some upward movement in the collective consciousness of humanity.
The belief in, and practicing of manifesting can free us in our understanding of, and interaction with life. It can empower us to realize choice over victimhood and open the potential of our creative interaction with life.
However it is just one step up and if only used to gratify our egoic desires it will not evolve us very much further. Indeed it is possible it will entrench us deeper in maya albeit with better skills to play there.
Understood more deeply the law of attraction becomes
“You are a Spiritual being having a human experience" Living Liberation is the missing manual Find out moreKarma & The Evolution Of Consciousness
January 20, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
Karma, held within us as unresolved, unhealed or incomplete past, manifests as external reflections through the law of sympathetic attraction. The degree of intensity of the internal energy of the karma and it’s layers of emotional and mental energy will exactly be reflected by the intensity of energy that manifests as our life circumstances. When we are ‘present’ to our triggered response to the reflections of our karma, we allow the held energy to move and therefor transform. When we aren’t present to it and run our defense and denial scripts/stratergies we perpetuate denial and deepen separation
Each time we don’t allow any movement of the triggered feelings, we not only increase denial of what is held, but we also increase the intensity of the external reflection necessary to vibrate what we are holding. We bury things still deeper, so we need a stronger force to reach them. And if we continue in the pattern of denial, then an external circumstance will eventually come that will be so
Karma & The Law Of Attraction
January 16, 2009 by Ray Baskerville · 1 Comment
Inherent within life, and its great mystery, there is a mechanism to facilitate the expansion of consciousness. This we will call the Law of Sympathetic Attraction or as it is more popularly know now the ‘Law of Attraction’. We commonly know the law of sympathetic attraction as ‘like attracts like’. However, less obviously but equally important, the term also covers the principle that ‘opposites attract’ - opposites being the polarized extremes of the same principle.
In the creation of karma - that which we are holding in denial, in separation, in sub-consciousness, is held at the particular vibrational frequency at which movement was stopped, for example pain, fear or rage. Even held still, that which is denied is held in the magnetic energy field of the emotional body, albeit disconnected from conscious awareness.
Through the law of sympathetic attraction, the separation in us, attracts to us a reflection of a corresponding vibrational frequency to that at which it is held. The purpose being, that the external reflection of what ever it is that we are holding in sub-consciousness (that we are in denial of within us), is attracted to us to create a vibrational resonance. When the external manifestation comes, the resonance begins to vibrate what it reflects within us (that we are attempting to hold still). In vibrating, what is held within us is caused to move. When it moves we begin to feel it: and when we feel it we can become conscious of it; when we are conscious of it, we can then be present to it. We can then allow it to move, and allow it the expression it needs to resume its movement and transformation into expansion and life.
We release what we are holding by allowing the feelings to move - by feeling and expressing them. Allowing them to move, allows what is held in denial of life to resume the movement in the expansion and evolution of consciousness; and to be transformed from the fixed frequency and form in which it was held. As we experience such release, understanding often arises from the feelings of what was held and the scripts and behaviors that have been wrapped around it, and thus the subconscious becomes conscious.
KARMA (Subconscious) > REFLECTION < Resonating / Vibrating > MOVEMENT > RELEASE > HEALING > UNIFICATION > LIBERATION (Conscious)
In this way we can reclaim those places from sub-consciousness and separation, and re-unify them into the entirety of our being. Not only do we liberate the energetic life-force that is held still as denied feeling, but we also liberate the energy that is required to keep holding that place still. So, we reclaim our life-force, our ‘power’ and become that much more present in and to ourselves.
REFLECTIONS OF SEPARATION
The experiences we have in life, that come to us where we experience pain, separation or suffering of any kind, are reflections of places in us where those energies and patterns are held. We couldn’t feel what we feel, unless it was already within us to be felt. Our feelings do not come from outside, they are not created by the external circumstance. The external is not the cause of the feelings; it is simply a reflection of what is already held within us; it serves as the ‘trigger’. It is in fact the mechanism of our healing, the means of our liberation. The external, however painful is putting us in the place where our liberation can occur, right here, right now in the present moment.
Equally, all the unified experiences that life brings us - be they joy, harmony or love - are reflections of what is within us. Scripts arising from separation like “I’m not good enough” or “I’m unlovable” often do not allow us to fully receive, accept or believe the unified reflections, as us.
Very often what is held within us, is painful, traumatic, uncomfortable, distressing, terrifying, all the things that we didn’t ant to feel and probably still don’t. So when an external reflection begins to resonate with those places within us, and we begin to feel them, habitually we put even more energy into holding them still and we put even more energy into denying those feelings. In doing this, we add more energy to what it is we are already holding. So the intensity, the quantity of energy that is held increases, and the energy needed to hold it still, and prevent us from feeling it, increases. We tie up more life force, more of our power, and give it over to denial, give it over to sub-consciousness and lose even more presence. This is how Karma perpetuates and holds our awareness in unconsciousness.
How’s Your Spiritual Growth?
December 8, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · Leave a Comment
The idea of quantifying one’s own spiritual growth, it seems to me is one which lays itself open to a labyrinth of ego centred pitfalls. We are so well versed in justifying our own egoic nature and exaggerating our own self-importance that anything we believe is evidence of our spiritual progress must be Carefully examined. If the issue were one of psychological development then it may seem more reasonable. The criteria there are more clear cut, healthy ego function, good boundaries, self esteem aligned with actual achievements and so on.
But for our spiritual development what criteria of measurement exist? And other than our own intuition what do we have by which to measure? Looking at development in the psychological realm is in no way indicative of development in the spiritual. As Adyshanti said once "I have met people with healthy ego function who are by no means ready to wake up, and I have met people with the most dis-functional egos who are ready to wake up" (paraphrased quote)
For spiritual development there is no agreed framework or quantified criteria that we can measure ourselves against. When such constructs exist they tend to lean towards the formation of systems of moral code, and we probably all carry images and beliefs of what is ’spiritual’ person is like. It seems to me the need to measure one’s spiritual growth could be a sign of a lack of it, as it is a notion so entrenched in logical, linear ‘human’ thought. Probably the construction, indeed the need of such measuring, can only lead to a strengthening of the ego’s belief in the prevalence of it’s own view of reality. For it is only the ego that can serve as the means of measuring. Beyond the ego the status of any such measurement is meaningless.
And yet our journey is through the domain of the relative self, and when you have been doing spiritual practices for some time it is inevitable to wonder if any progress is being made. When first beginning meditation for example progress can seem quite clear and distinct at first. Then after some time it all seems to be the same with little noticeable change in the experience. It is in these periods when the doubt and questioning of progress tend to occur. These are the times when our deep commitment and intention come into focus.
In a period of my own life which was completely and solely dedicated to spiritual practice, I found great relief from doubt of spiritual progress, from something I read that Sri Aurobindo had said. It was in essence this - enlightenment is inevitable, nobody is heading anywhere else. Some time later I realized this truth as a direct knowing rather than received knowledge. My experience of this kind of direct knowing, is that it brings peace and deepens faith. It has probably been eight years now since that experience. In that time doubt has continue to arise from time to time, but has no lasting strength in the face of the faith from that direct experience.
The problem with constructing a measurable criteria for spiritual development is that every person is unique in their own spiritual process. Another aspect of my own realization was that life itself is a spiritual process, and as such everybody is on a spiritual path. All that differentiates us is whether we are consciously engaged with the spiritual process, or not. Either way, it is going on, and progress towards enlightenment is inevitable.
Sri Aurobindo however had a sucker punch for all of us, especially those of us who might have grand ideas about our level of spiritual development. He said - enlightenment is just the beginning!
“You are a Spiritual being having a human experience" Living Liberation is the missing manual Find out moreEgo Desire Or Self Realization?
November 18, 2008 by Alison Miller · Leave a Comment
“Begin with the end in mind.” “Create the life you desire.” “If you believe it you will see it.” These popular new age aphorisms are, indeed, powerful. Popularized by new age films “What the Bleep Do We Know” and “The Secret” it seems many have tried applying these principles or, at the very least, have heard about them. These “new age” concepts applied to create modern day conveniences, situations and material gain are best utilized in partnership with yoga yamas and niyamas (ethical and personal observances).
For instance if you are focused on manifesting a specific job, relationship or lifestyle, check the origin of your desire, see if it is aligned with the ethical foundations of yoga. Or notice if it is simply the ego striving for attention or accomplishment. The great Indian saint, AMMA, tells a story where two men are sitting at a bus stop. The first man is holding his head in his hands crying, while the second man is banging his hands against his head. The passerby asks the first man why he is crying. He says, “Lily, my dear sweet Lily, I have lost her. She has left me for another man.” How horrible the passerby thinks. Next, the passerby asks the second man why he is distraught. He says “Lily, Lily, Lily, I have married a woman who drives me crazy.” At first the passerby is confused. And then, as he has walked away, begins to laugh. The two men are crying over the same woman. The irony shows us that often times the things we think we want are the same things, which will also cause us to go “mad”. When the ego is leading our lives we may find ourselves in this situation often. This story is the inspiration to focus us to go beyond the desires of the material plane and go deeper into focus of realizing the Self. The Self who needs nothing yet has everything. It is not seeking its happiness through something outside itself.
How do we begin to make this shift in our modern day lives? How do we shift from ego driven manifestation to authentic Self-Realization? How do we become aware of the ego, too often in charge, and relegate it to its proper place? How do we invite the Self into a place of leadership and have the courage to trust the Self to guide us? Going back to the place we once began - begin with the end in mind. However, now when you begin with the end in mind, rather than seeing a specific person, place or situation you desire to manifest feel yourself manifesting the ability to surrender to the wisdom of the Higher Self. Typical yoga asana classes close practice with the posture called Savasanna, translated to mean corpse. The translation is not referring to the actual aftermath of the human body once the spirit has left. But, rather referencing the active process of dying to that, which does not serve our highest good. It is the ability to step through the doorway of limitation towards liberation by literally dying to that which does not serve us. Alan Jones, noted for his work with death and dying, eloquently shares “In my tradition we try to practice dying ever day so we may be fully alive. What I understand of my prayer life is to place myself on the threshold of death to participate in my dying so that I may live each day and each moment as a gift – what I cultivate is a grateful heart, each moment then becomes a new thing my gratitude comes from the sheer gift of life itself. Who you are cannot be limited to what’s happening to you just now. You are part of a love story, you are desired, and longed for, there are thousands of witness’s before you that claim you are held in the arms of love.” Apply these words to your daily practice of manifestation. You are loved. You already belong. You are infinite. If you already knew this to be true would you still want the things you want?
Begin with self-reflection. Start simple. The things, which you would most like to manifest, ask yourself – are they aligned with yoga principles? Notice times in the past when you have received things you have wished for have you maintained your original level of enthusiasm once you have obtained them, or have you simply begun to desire the next thing? Once you have obtained your desire did you feel happier or more content? Begin to practice being grateful for what you have, even if it feels like your pretending in the beginning. Imagine just what you have is what you want. This is the practice that cultivates the grateful heart. Dying to the need that some thing in the future will bring happiness. Feeling the present moment is exactly as it is meant to be. Often times death may look like a recommitment to your life–to living and choosing what is essential for ever-increasing experiences of appreciation and joy. Start here.
“You are a Spiritual being having a human experience" Living Liberation is the missing manual Find out moreSeparation Of Spirit & Body
November 17, 2008 by Ray Baskerville · 1 Comment
In its true nature, the body is the manifest aspect of spirit*, and capable of existing in far less density and limitation than we experience it. The body is only limited by what it is ‘holding’. The body holds the subconscious, which holds all the places of karmic separation. This fractured nature of the soul** creates the internally fractured state of egoic personality.
The body then is holding these karmic experiences of separation, including those which have the lowest and slowest vibrational frequencies, our deepest pains and fears. As a result the body’s own frequency is slowed to their level - hence the body’s density and limitation. Because the body holds these places of limitation, it is mistakenly seen as the cause of the limitations rather than simply what is holding them. Spirit is at the other end of the polarity, holding the highest and fastest frequencies where we can experience expansive states of consciousness.
Whole spiritual traditions, philosophies and practices are based on this illusory separation and its judgments of the body/world. We’ve seen the development of traditions where the body is to be disciplined, overcome by penance, controlled, transcended. Also monastic traditions where spiritual pursuit is separate from the world, separate from worldliness and all it’s ‘temptation’. This separation between spirit and body is so old that no written record exists of a time when it was not so. Separation between spirit and body - and how that has become manifest and interpreted through our entire culture - is the fundamental cause of why things have perpetuated to their current level of separation and disconnection. It is increasingly apparent that as human culture has become more and more materialistic we have become increasingly disconnected from the consequence is of how we do things. We have taken this so far now that we have begun to imperil life on the planet as we know it.
In the religious traditions that dominate our belief systems, we find this separation between the spiritual and the worldly, sacred and profane. There is judgment/denial of both the profane and of the body, which are viewed as illusory, unspiritual, even unclean. The body/world are seen as the means of our downfall and the cause of separation, needing to be transcended to attain the true nature, which is pure spirit. The other polarity is the profane/materia, which is viewed as the only dimension of our existence and spirit is denied.
In this fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the body, it became seen as something that had to be overcome to attain liberation and freedom of spirit. Or seen as a transient existence in a random universe to be exploited for sensual pleasure. As a result of this separation, we have become disconnected from both body and spirit from each side of the polarity - and consequently from the planet that supports us.
Because many of the spiritual traditions reside inside this equation, they do not have the complete answers - they hold one polarity and reflect the separation. That is not to say there is not immense value in them and a huge body of knowledge from which we can draw, but we need to be clear as to what they can offer us and the areas where they are limited. In the past this transcendent model has been the primary spiritual evolutionary model. Liberation has been believed to be a progression of ascendance to higher planes of consciousness with the body/world being left behind. Using the chakra system, we can see this as ignoring what is held in the lower three chakras and only focusing on developing the upper four. Spiritual systems of strictly disciplined and dictated ways of life developed to facilitate spiritual development in the model of these misunderstandings. In the potpourri of today’s spiritual materialism there are innumerable distortions and interwievings of pieces from either side of the polarity. The great danger today is the DIY spirituality that is a pick and mix of beliefs that suits us at the time.
*(true nature - eternal, timeless immutable)
**(soul as the vehicle of spirit that carries karmas from life to life)
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