Hey everybody! We have a lot to talk about so let's get started. If you have started your visualization practice, and have been keeping a journal, you have probably found that your visualization practice tends to raise more questions than it answers. Soon you have too much to think about and you wonder what direction to take your practice in. It seems that you may pursue one idea or interest, only to have it wane and be replaced by a new one.
I think Spirituality is like being on a train; once you get on, you build momentum and have trouble getting off. Things can get confusing. One idea to keep in mind is that it can be helpful to have goals. This means getting clear on what you want. Once you know what you want, start manifesting it. This is purely a mental process and doesn't really require any visualization, unless you want to limit yourself to a specific form or idea of how something should turn out. Then, create your "Spirit Tool", which is like a wrench or multi-tool like the ones you've seen handi-men shilling on tv.
You can keep the idea of this tool being buried in your gut area, and any time you need to access Spirit, you can just imagine you are touching the tool. This will get you into the perfect state of mind to manifest. So, you are holding the "Spirit Tool" [place off-color joke here] and thinking about your goals, and you know what you want. Spirit will ask you for some clarification in some cases, and after drilling you about whether or not you are really sure you want this, it will ask you to start manifesting the goal.
You just "intend" this to happen and it does. You will "hear" mentally a ticking, which means the process has been started. Now, you can move on to your next goal or stop. Now that you have created some manifestation processes, write them down in your journal or post them on a sheet of paper near your bed. These goals can be short term, long term, or whatever. Since you are working with Spirit, you don't have to worry about using "not" or negative phrases, or that kind of thing.
Spirit honors the intention and fulfills that, rather than the exact wording you happened to use. And, as always, Spirit manifests in such a way that your creativity and the creativity of others is not harmed or compromised. So, you now have some direction! Now, you have stress, anxiety, neurosis, etc to deal with! Plus, everybody seems a bit depressed nowadays. Here an idea/plane of existence called "Freedom From Societal Brainwashing, Level 1" comes in handy. Relax and visualize yourself there. Use a "meter", as discussed in the March issue, to see when you are completely there.
See yourself in a park or natural setting. Ask a guide to be with you to explain new concepts. This plane is the introductory or 1st plane of many that deals with overcoming societal brainwashing. The first issue they will deal with is creating a boundary between the internal and external world. People are encouraged to not be able to distinguish between internal and external events. As a result, their self-esteem can crash when others are critical and negative. Creating an internal boundary that keeps internal experience discreet while keeping external experience external is very helpful in reducing depression and lowering anxiety. As a person struggling with depression and anxiety, this information has been personally very helpful, and I wanted to share it.
The surprising thing is that I discovered all this material in the last two days! This is all brand new material. With the freedom from societal brainwashing plane level 1, you can have your guide walk you through old experiences that you found to be stressful, anxiety-producing or depressing. You can relive the experience in this new frame of mind, seeing how you would have felt differently and handled and perceived the situation differently. By creating a barrier in your mind between the internal and external world, you are able to not take everything personally, be less self-involved and give more.
Exercise #11: Create your Spirit Tool and Implant it
(see above)
Exercise #12: Visit the "Freedom from Societal Brainwashing Plane, Level 1"
(see above)
After you have used that idea on a number of memories, and are getting a feel for it, it is time to take that understanding out into the world and use it. When you really feel you have mastered the internal/external world barrier idea, you should be feeling a lot better. Now, you can go to the same plane, but level 2. Here, you will learn new ideas that will relieve even more societal brainwashing.
I would like to stop and discuss the idea of "fetishes". By this I don't mean the fun/naughty kind, but the idea of an object with magical power. I use this word as a broad description of visualized objects that are used in inner work. The "Spirit Tool" is an example of a visualization fetish. If you are trying to change your identity in some way, you could, for example, use a slightly different kind of fetish to help you accomplish your goal. First, you create a fetish that is a static visualized "object" that will be imbedded in your body, or in a visualized space. You will active this object by touching it or saying a keyword, for example. The object will then activate, creating the feelings and understanding associated with that object.
With this object/fetish activated, you will be able to ask it questions, ask for help in your present circumstances, and gain new levels of understanding while applying them to your everyday life. You might see the fetish growing huge and encompassing your body as its power is released. These effects generally will happen in about five seconds of concentration, so they are very convenient to use. And, they effect itself will last about twenty minutes. You have to expend a little effort to draw out the understanding in order to impact how you feel in the present situation. You can reactivate the fetish as often as you like, to keep the effect going over long periods of time. Record new understandings in your visualization journal or on a handy scrap of paper if you can. I will give you an example in a fictional person using a fetish in the exercise below.
Exercise #13: Create a fetish
Bob wants to understand how to bring "love" into his life. He creates an open rose blossom as his fetish form. He places this at his heart level, inside his chest. When he touches the rose, it expands until he is sitting/standing on it. Then, he feels love and can ask specific questions about love and get answers from the "awakened" fetish. He writes down his new understandings in his visualization journal. Go through this process and create a fetish that relates to something you want or an understanding/quality you need.
Well, I have even more material, but I don't want to overdo it, so I will save it for next month. You have a lot to work on here, and I would recommend giving the Spirit Tool and your personal fetish some serious thought and work. Until next time, "Think long and prosper"!
Visualization News - May 2001
Hello and welcome back! I have thrown out two previous drafts for this newsletter, and I hope this version works, because I am OVERIT! Seriously though, it can be tough when you have a ton of material to share but the timing isn't right. It isn't something you can explain, it just is. So, I will tackle the issue of timing in visualization practice. By now, you should be used to counting in and out of states. If you aren't, this will be a good refresher.
Let's make up a state of mind and a setting to experience it in. We will call it "Harmony in Time." Imagine yourself sitting in a porch that completely encloses a beautiful Japanese zen garden. There are pebbles racked into patterns, and large stones. You will count from 1 to 40, and by the time you reach 40, you will be in "Harmony in Time" state of consciousness, here in the zen garden. Do it now. Count, 1, 2, 3, 4� up to 40, slowly. When you reach 40, you will be in "Harmony in Time" state of consciousness.
Don't worry; you don't need to know what the state is in order to enter it. Once there, take in your surroundings. How do you feel? Hear the sounds of wind chimes playing in the breeze, distant sounds of human movement, and some bird song. You examine the garden in detail, including the stunted, gnarled tree that looks like a larger version of a bonsai tree, over in the far corner. Where have you enjoyed this feeling? In the present! Nothing sounds quite as boring as having to live in the present, and yet this is where all real pleasure happens. It is the ability to be present that concentration is really all about.
Many different meditation techniques hinge on merely bringing yourself fully into the present moment. This ability is crucial to developing your visualization skill as well. Although visualization seems like escapism, you are bringing yourself into the present moment in a visualized scene, and it is your ability to stay in the moment that allows you to enjoy and sustain that experience. Being able to concentrate on the present is crucial to our psychological well being as well. When we forget who we are, we lose our ability to deal with stress and the world. We build a false ego or we collapse under the weight of imagined pressure.
Our egos, as mental constructs, only work well when we remember who we are in the world. When we forget, we see ourselves as victims or as a collection of achievements and things. In our Spiritual work, it is our ability to remain in the present that allows us to develop not only awareness, but also the ability to withstand seeing what we don't want to see. In my meditation practice, I often feel like I am a wrestler, struggling to subdue a huge opponent. I have to thrown myself down into my meditation posture, wrench the tv remote from my opponent's hand and then wrestle my mind into submission and into the flow of the present moment.
After I go through all that struggle, I feel bliss and peace and satisfaction in my life. These are all things I struggle for but never find in any lasting way in my social and work life. So, I get what I want out of life, but every day I have to struggle to get back into that meditative space. When who you are as a person is that meditating self, you will let go of grasping, and be calm in the present moment. Moreover, you will be much happier. That's hard to understand until you experience it. I think that there is a lot of unaddressed sadness in our lives, from struggling to get what we want, and failing to various degrees. I sometimes think that movie stars must really feel pain when they are flooded with wealth and attention but are still not satisfied with their lives. Where do you go from there? Living in the moment solves that problem. I think that at this point, I will give you your first long term exercise.
Exercise #14: Meditate Every Day for Seven Days
Pick a good seven-day stretch when you don't have any wild plans, and meditate each day for a minimum of one-half hour per day. Try to do it at the same time each day if possible. You can use the Japanese Garden setting we just talked about if you like, or you can use any visualized object or scene that is static (not running around) and has some positive or Spiritual connotation for you. It can be a diamond, representing clarity of consciousness, or a symbol for the divine, like a rainbow circle. Whatever works for you is fine.
Don't get overly ambitious. Keep it simple and start by focusing on the visualized object. Breath slowly and steadily, and count 1, 2, 3, with the in-breath. Now, count 4, 5, 6, on the out breath. Keep your visualized object as steady as possible. Use relaxed concentration, and don't worry if the object blurs or vanishes occasionally. Just reset your visualization and keep going. Count upwards, in and out, until you reach 150. That should take you approximately one-half hour. Your breathing will slow down to a fraction of your starting speed after a while, depending on how relaxed you get. Don't get impatient and force your breathing. If you want, you can take more shallow breaths after a while, if you want to keep the pace even. Take notes in your visualization notebook if anything came up during the meditation.
I know, you are thinking, "why should I waste that much time every day when I could be watching tv?" Well, like I said before, meditation practice can give you a lot of the things you are looking for out of life, like happiness and peace of mind. If you never change your habits, you won't be able to change your life, and nothing will change.
One good trick to make your life flow better is to send love to time. I have used this trick on jobs where time seemed to drag on endlessly, or where I was rushed and could never get caught up on my work. Visualize a man or woman made out of shining bronze. They have no discernable facial features. They are glowing with bronze light. Say internally, "I love you Time," slowly, sincerely, a total of twenty times. It is best to do this at the same time in the morning, perhaps right before work or when you are crawling from the coffee machine to your cell. I find that it really works. Make it forty reps for particularly bad days. It only takes a couple of minutes, and can really make a difference.
The last time related issue I would like to address is habit. Creating a new habit is like cutting a groove in the fabric of time. So, it helps to establish habits based on times of the day. If your schedule isn't too chaotic, there is a lot you can do by establishing habits and anchoring them to certain times of the day. Not breaking those time agreements after you have set them is the most important element. Habits are the basis for all future change. Well, I'm done preaching now, so go do it. I think it was Sartre, or was it Sinatra who said "Do be do be do!"
