The Imramma: Obstacles
part two
The over analysis of the
Imrammic experience can lead to disaffection and a false
understanding of the experience. It is primarily a mystery, and a
certain amount of “letting go” is necessary. Attempts
to over analyse are usually attempts to control in disguise
– control the experience, control the understanding, control
the environment.
I stress to beginners that
one must view the landscape as extant – as existing
with or without your understanding, knowledge or interaction. It
is not shaped by your interaction but rather it reveals itself to
you, as your learn and explore. Without that act of
acceptance, without a view of the landscape as concrete, (NB that
does not mean unchanging, because it is alive and all live
things change. It means in existence regardless of our input) we
cannot leave aside our egos and our sublimations in order to
explore.
Imramma – like any
other discipline of meditation - is open to personal gnosis and
indeed the individuality of each landscape is guaranteed by the
individuality of each soul, but it cannot be undertaken with
disregard to the Imrammic structure. If you are not willing to
move within the Imrammic structure then call your meditation
journeying or soul voyaging or just meditation: the structure is
there for a purpose.
I encourage people to
transcend the rules, but only after they have learnt to follow
them: this is as true of Imramma as it is of any other esoteric
discipline. Often people run into difficulty in Imramma simply
because their egos are not content to allow them be voyagers,
explorers, within. They demand either spectacular Otherwordly
experiences or they are so afraid of the questions and answers to
be found within that they invent ways to circumvent them –
over analysis, increasingly tortuous observations and questions;
these avoidance techniques are among the more inventive while
others simply feel blocked, or find that their ability to see and
experience Imramma is blocked a specific point.
Otherworld experiences:
If you practise Imramma in order to have experience of deity
– you may run into trouble You may or may not have
otherworldly experiences. The point is, the primary reason to
start Imrammic meditation should be to achieve harmony between
the three “realities” otherworld, physical and inner.
The secondary reason is to know yourself, to explore the
landscape of your soul. The result of honest, and hardworking
exploration may well be direct experience of the otherworlds and
deity/entities from that reality, but if it is your primary
purpose you will never fully understand the purpose of Imramma.
Constantly trying to
“meet” gods, sidhe etc, leads one to ignore the true
messengers and also allows ego to over balance reception.
If we are not prepared to
receive – messages, experiences, as openly as possible and
as honestly as possible – we are not experiencing Imramma,
we are merely imagining things. Putting an agenda in front of
ourselves that flatters our ego, is self defeating.
Avoidance
Everyone
“avoids”
Anyone who feels they have
never avoided, never tried to circumvent unpalatable truths or
questions they find scary, is either lying or is so shallow they
really shouldn’t be bothering !
The first thing to remember
about moments of avoidance is, don’t beat yourself up about
it. In fact feel hopeful - it is a signal that you are getting
closer to something real and meaningful in your spiritual or
emotional landscape.
It can also be a signal
from your brain that you are moving too fast. Often in both the
above cases, taking a step back and relaxing is actually the
correct course of action. (Because over-analysis is in itself an
avoidance technique, using it to overcome moments of avoidance is
usually not a good idea.) Sometimes it requires a huge effort to
set aside ego and allow ourselves to inhabit the inner landscape
in the same way that we inhabit this one. Assume the
physical components are the same: if you can eat breathe and
function in this world, the inner landscape is made of the
same materials. There is no need to assume any different. The
metaphor of the Imramma becomes ludicrous and unnecessary if it
provokes a reaction of over analysis of the material components.
By all means be constantly analytical of the creatures and
archetypes you encounter, of your own experiences, or your
emotions or your needs. That is to the purpose –
worrying about the trappings is not. Allow the metaphor to exist,
set aside ego and inhabit the world of your soul.
If you suspect you know what
it is you are avoiding, then working to confront that issue
outside Imramma can be very useful, using the Imramma as a
barometer of your progress. Alternatively, if one feels trustful
of the Imrammic environment then ideally one can work within the
Imramma and use the tools of Imramma to begin to unblock these
issues (part three)
Blockages:
Again, everyone feels blocked
at times. Sometimes this is merely a temporary “slow
down” message and sometimes it is comes from any number of
reasons. Assuming that you are not really avoiding something,
blockages can occur because of stress, in the physical reality;
lack of focus or purpose; because the actual imagery of your
Imrammic metaphor has not been updated, and at some level no
longer reflects you or often, blockages simply cut off areas of
the Imrammic experience in order to draw your attention to
other areas.
Stress lack of focus etc are
usually easily remedied, relaxation meditation and techniques
should replace Imrammic journeys until one feels better. If you
life and your self-awareness has changed you may need to rework
the imagery of the Imramma, spending time exploring the new inner
landscape, putting aside the imagery that came to you previously
and allowing new imagery to occur, showing you new changes which
you must explore and rediscover. Again relaxing and clearing away
previous impressions and allowing new ones to come will work just
as well if in fact the blockages are there to draw your attention
to new areas.