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Rising Up: Spiritual Awakening / Kundalini Awakening
Herb Stevenson • June 6, 2023
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Rising Up
I’ve noticed an increase in requests from people who have believe they have experienced a spiritual awakening. It comes in meditation or a shamanic journey or while standing in the woods.
A common aspect of the experience is complete ungrounding and a desire to stay in the spiritual realms. This desire seems to originate in an ecstatic moment that sparks a movement towards engaging multiple other spiritual practices simultaneously. This might be somatic in nature coupled with psychedelics and shamanic/breathwork journeys or other practices. Interestingly, in some cases, it seems to be as if the people are in a trance-like state, possibly disconnecting from themselves.
Occasionally, such events can lead to the discovery and surfacing of a traumatic event that was lost, forgotten, buried, or forbidden. In such cases, the escalated efforts and focus on more spiritual practices seems to lead to a shift toward healing that is focused on some deep belief to get rid of the traumatic event so all will be better.
From a healing presence perspective, the goal is to support the person to get grounded in their body through body sensation and direct eye contact. Oddly, it is common for them to say they do not want to feel the sensations of their body or do not want anyone to see into them via eye contact or our preferred response, “I have never felt being in my body”.
Recently, I worked with a person who was a self-proclaimed shaman after a few workshops and an ecstatic experience. As I listened to her and encouraged eye contact, it was clear she was waffling between trying to stay out of her body and in the ecstatic energies. I asked her to feel her body, the beautiful life force moving through her, and as best she could remain in eye contact. I handed her hematite anklets and asked if she would wear them. Immediately, upon putting on the anklets her ungroundedness cleared, she maintained eye contact and her story became more vivid. She realized that she felt much better as a presence inside her body. As she described her experience, she realized that her spiritual experiences needed to be grounded inside her instead of taking her out of her body.
Frequently, these experiences can occur when the spiritual practice ignites a kundalini rising. When the mind/body are not prepared, this can be a very difficult experience as the body is unable to comfortably enable the energies to flow, become full of burning sensations.
What causes a Kundalini awakening? [1]
No one knows for sure. For some, a Kundalini awakening can happen after years of cultivating a spiritual practice, doing Kundalini yoga, meditating, etc. But just as well, it can happen spontaneously, with no prior training. The Kundalini rising is an automatic thing that happens—and it can happen under any type of spiritual discipline, any style of yoga." The truth is, there's no one answer to this question.
When I have encountered such situations, it feels like the person is caught between energies. The reason for this is the person may have an ecstatic moment, however, if their chakra, energy centers, are blocked with unresolved life issues, it is more likely that the experience becomes quite uncomfortable such as body shaking, heat in the spine or surrounding different energy centers, and unable to sleep due to feeling supercharged. Kundalini awakenings will be different for everyone, and some say it can feel like a bad drug trip or psychosis.
Working with Kundalini rising, especially unexpectedly, is difficult for the person as it can feel crazy making and there is no medical diagnosis. Too many spiritual hopefuls suggest kundalini rising is a gift without understanding that this is not a goal or something to be suffered through in hopes to attain enlightenment. My suggestion is to reframe the situation into something that they can understand and can feel they are able to work through in small steps.
Step one is to learn how to get grounded and to practice it often every day. Surprisingly wiggling one’s toes often helps this process. Grounding stones like hematite, galena, and pyrite often calms the person and is useful when needing to just sit and breathe. Occasionally, herbal support can be used through different calming teas. Kava Kava calms the nervous systems and can be quite helpful
Step two is to focus attention on the difficult sensation with the intent to calm the energies and restore flow. Often, this will feel scary as the block might be due to a traumatic event or an unwillingness to make a life changing decision. The goal is never to get rid of or to blow through but to sit with and see what emerges. It might be emotional however it is often insightful and the block melts away restoring flow.
Step three is to support the person to use three principles in any spiritual or healing practice.
1. Slow is fast: Cognitively it seems logical to go fast, however slow allows the person to develop safety within themselves.
2. Less is more: most efforts succeed when the urge to do more or the desire to chase whatever is blocking the energy is negated. No marathon efforts to get rid of something. The key to healing is to integrate
3. Small is big: Often restoring flow is sought with a six inch fire hose. In truth, the blockage might be a series of fragmented moments or a massive trauma that will respond and build confidence by going small. Flow and wholeness often come to those with the mindfulness to respect the blockages and to slowly integrate.
As a healing presence, the focus is to support the person by witnessing and support the three principles. Presence begets presence so being with the person will invite them to be more present and enable them to heal themselves in the moment, the only true point of power.
[1] For a more detailed description of Kundalini rising see
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/kundalini-awakening
Resource
Sacred Stories is a website that is collecting an array of spiritual stories they call Common Sentience — An Uncommon Book Series. Give it a look/see https://sacredstories.com/
I have been asked to clarify the principle that the point of power is in the present moment. In basic terms, there is only the present moment even though it would be experienced as an infinite sense of present moments. The critical implication is that reality exists, experientially, moment to moment. It also is experienced sequentially as a sense for what we call time. This creates a sense of a past and a future which then enables us to create a sense of having memories and dreams. Another way to understand the present is to suggest that time is actually a series of places or moments in our many experiences. As such, memories are experienced as a place in time of a moment in prior lived experiences. When we visit these places in time, there is a tendency to energetically, emotionally, physically, and mentally relive the experience as if it were now. When this occurs, our presence is moved to that place in time, fully encapsulated, often, with little awareness of this moment as we are reliving that moment in the past. For example, trauma, when relived, recreates the original experience sufficiently for it to have been described as a trauma trance. Nothing but the original trauma exists while in this trance. In these instances, where we focus all attention, and therefore our sense of presence in the moment to that place in the past, a memory, we do not exist in the here and now. We are locked in that prior lived experience, often retraumatizing ourselves. Examples of this recurrence of trauma trance experiences are triggered either by the sense of energies, emotions, meaning making, or physical incidents that seem to snatch our sense of self, and therefore our presence from this moment. The sense of presence in this moment beyond the trauma recurrence through trance is minimal to none. We are seeing and therefore experiencing through the lens of a prior unfinished incident instead of experiencing the here and now. To release or dissolve the triggering or reflexive energies to leave the present moment and move to the place in time of the prior lived trauma, we need to consider time crystals, moments frozen in a place in time. Time crystals are self-sealed highly charged emotional, physical, mental, and energetic moments in our energy fields, that we are carrying with us…that are frozen. Often, time crystals are the experiential impact of traumas. When time crystals are engaged by a triggering energy, the reflexive act of the time crystal is to release some of the highly charged energies. If a significant amount is released, then the individual is pulled from the present moment into the place and time of the time crystal, potentially triggering a trauma trance. Instead of being pulled into the time crystal, if the individual has developed or is supported by another to stay fully present in this moment, the release of the highly charged time crystal energy does not trigger re-traumatization. Rather, by remaining fully present to the here and now, this moment, the highly charged energy begins to release. In effect, this means that the frozen moment prior lived and unintegrated is magnetically pulled into the present moment, thereby enacting a healing moment and demonstrating that the point of power is in the present moment. This process releases the frozen energy sealing the time crystal and increases the life force often experienced as a sense of aliveness. In our practice, the capacity of the facilitator to remain fully present to the moment and to stay connected energetically to the client is imperative. This is done by constantly engaging the client to focus on their felt sense of their body while making eye contact. Often, a strong sense of anxiety will arise in the client if approaching a time crystal. Staying engaged energetically is critical as it is how the client remains grounded in their body or connected to this present moment.
Hi folks, It is snowing here on the farm with temperatures often below Zero Fahrenheit. It has been nice to sit with the wood burning stove as I watch the snow. It is also a good time to experience the silence of snow by walking in the woods. Both activities nurture one’s spirit. I encourage you to not become lost in the sofa monster and miss the balancing aspects of nature by seeing the beauty of the season and the desire of the soft animal within you to move. Publishing in Journals I decided to publish an article on presence in the Gestalt Journal in Europe. It can be accessed at this open source link that once registered you can access the journal https://www.ceeol.com/search/journal-detail?id=2485 . Because presence is a core aspect of gestalt it seemed like an opportunity to expand the concepts of healing presence to other countries. Podcast I have also begun the process of developing a Podcast that will initially air twice a month starting in February. We are considering the title Living on the Third Side of the Coin or Living on the Edge of Life. The promotional materials will be some variation of the following: In a whimsical ongoing conversation, Sahadeo & Herb will explore the evolving spiritual dynamics of the modern world through asking the obvious questions never asked. The core of the conversations is that life is to be lived and not judged. Therein lively discussions will evolve concerning the power of presence and the ability to be a participating witness to oneself and the rest of the world. Sahadeo is an Indian-American spiritual wanderer that supports honoring human dignity wherever he goes. He lives in New York City working in the health care industry. Known for his insatiable curiosity he has the capacity to ask the most piercing questions often considered undiscussable. Herb is a biracial, multinational semi-sane individual living on an 80 acre horse farm. He is the author of the spiritual series, Thoughts, that reveal the adventures and misadventures of an individual’s spiritual journey. His day job is owner of the Cleveland Consulting Group, Inc. a global coaching and consulting practice. He is the founder of a men’s program celebrating 20 years called Natural Passages for Men and the Healing Den, a program that supports spiritual awakening. The podcast will be listed on all platforms. For those that review my YouTube channel , the videos are being enhanced and will be reposted soon Thoughts I have completed 13 manuscripts for the Thoughts series . Four have been published and 9 are in various stages of editing and formatting for publishing. I anticipate 2 more issues before ending the series at 15. What is significant is that the first book was written 28 years ago and published last Spring. Since then, over 1000 pages have been written. The significance is the saying “yes” to writing the long ago planned series. Might you consider something inside you yearning to hear “YES”. Maintaining Your Sanity Through Presence This is the year of political insanity as more lies, half truths and inane beliefs will be spewed as facts. Such is the State of the USA and many parts of the World. A daily practice of meditation, sitting, standing, lying, or walking, will support staying out of the energetic fray. Your energies will become frenetic , caustic, and eventually feel toxic if you do not maintain your sense of self through being fully present to the moment. If you remain present and simply witness and not engage in the energies, you will see two powerful thoughtforms evolving to create the tension needed for a transcendental shift in awareness. As it stands, the fear-laden energies suffer from their self-righteousness that they project onto the other side. The awakening of human dignity is creating a sense of determination that will continue to form through the November election in the USA. These energies will create a tension that will be sufficient for a lot of people to become active if through nothing more than voting. Human dignity has been the one missing energy of democracy, and it seems it has a good chance to become a reality in the coming years. Power is presence. Presence overcomes fear as fear only works through force. I trust we will all walk together to create the presence needed to bring harmony and the honoring of human dignity to every part of this world.
Recently I came across information on scalar energy or more often called scalar waves. As a concept, they add a dimension to presence that might be insightful. Scalar Energy is a subtle energy that produces healing energy frequencies that can be harnessed through presence. Conventional methods can’t measure it because they don’t stay in a measurable form. They tend to move out of the third dimension and when given a direction move through the fourth dimension as in distance healing and healing prayers. Scalar Energy can carry information and doesn’t decay over space and time. Scalar Energy doesn’t flow like transverse and normal electromagnetic waves, but instead increases in spatial mass as it occupies space. This space occupied is not a vacuum but alive with balanced and checked energies. Scalar Energy, also, is known as zero point energy and Tesla waves that move through liminal space. When we see the waves are like a pebble in water, the most common perception is the ripple of the waves up and down and not that the original energy is echoing outward in ongoing circles as is surrounding clients with healing presence. Another wave (way) to perceive the scalar waves are in the center of the diagram below where we can see that the waves can be focused and directional, such as through prayers or distance healing.
The chaos of the world continues as the disparate energies are creating more and more tensions, made evident by the events in Israel and that continue in the Ukraine, as well as the immobility for Congress to function as a governing body instead of political factions. It is likely these tensions will continue throughout the next two years as the criminal indictments and elections will raise the tension into a crescendo that leads to an emerging and new reality of how the people want to be governed. The tensions will continue in other aspects as the world experiences climate changes and other natural disasters that will continue to affect our sensibilities. Similarly, the social definitions are clashing over women’s rights and all the various forms of discrimination that will shift the sense of power by increasing the number of voters that are expressing themselves. This form of rising power will begin a true sense of democracy.
Recently I have been experimenting with active imagination or if you prefer focused intention during meditation. For those of the shamanic interest, this is the same as journeying for a specific purpose. Over the course of many traditions, medication and other forms of spiritual practices have become less focused on the purpose for mediating or journeying. This has often resulted in amazing images, but none that resonate deep within oneself except to be fun or entertaining. I discovered that when we have a specific intention for journeying or meditation, the results tend to be more impactful. For example, the images or insights tend to be more specific and applicable to our intention. In addition, if we are witnessing the images, it tends to provide insights that will be interesting and will not likely change us. However, if we are actively participating in the images or insights, then we are resonating with the energies, like in liminal (sacred) space and literally will shift our internal sense of self. I suggest you consider using more specific intention during meditation, active imagination and journey works as this example reveals. (Note that this example is an application of the dream exercise which you can find on the resources page .)
Hi Folks, If you pay attention to energy, you may have noticed we are in a period of confusing and often unstable energies. It is reflected in the daily interactions regardless of internal to ourselves or external and in the world. Many have increased their meditations in length or frequency. Others have begun to use stones such as galena, hematite, and pyrite. Years ago, I discovered an interesting stone called Cerrusite. Cerussite is a carbonate mineral. It is a widely distributed and common ore of lead. It is formed by the action of carbonated solutions on galena in the upper, oxidized zones of lead veins. Cerussite forms white or tinted tabular, pyramidal, or prismatic crystals (orthorhombic system) and crystal aggregates, as well as compact or granular masses. Luster is adamantine to vitreous. The color of cerussite ranges from: Colorless, yellow, green, brown, red to black The black crystals are filled with inclusions of galena. A green color is is due to inclusions of malachite. Gray is formed by Galena inclusions. The finest Cerussite are the colorless sharp edged ones found at Tsumeb.
In prior articles, I discussed types of presence. In this one, I discuss the impact of presence through the point of contact or the intimate edge. It is at this edge that presence with the client occurs, and healing can occur. The Intimate Edge Darlene Bregman Ehrenberg coined the phrase “intimate edge” in an article in 1974 and elaborated in her book in 1992. Her focus was on the psychoanalytic interaction between therapist and patient. In other words, it was focused on the interactive edge of the therapeutic relationship. We will draw on her insights to apply a deeper understanding of the intimate edge of presence. The "intimate edge" of being present ideally becomes the point of maximum and acknowledged contact at any given moment in a relationship without fusion, without violation of the separateness and integrity of each other. We are maintaining energetic sovereignty as individuals while connecting to one another. We are focused on creating a healing (therapeutic) presence. Attempting to be present at this point requires ceaseless sensitivity to inner (energetic) changes ( a felt sense) in oneself and in the other, as well as to changes at the interface of the interaction as these occur in the context of the subtle energetic connection with reciprocal impact. This kind of effort, in itself, tends to have existential impact on both participants like an awareness that something shifted energetically, and this in turn influences what then goes on between them dialectically and energetically. When contact is maintained, self-awareness expands within and between each other. When the lack of presence exists, there is an energetic absence to the moment, the person, the situation. There is no felt sense. The "intimate edge" is never static but becomes the trace of a constantly moving experience of energy. The constantly changing moment in time has the potential to create a “moment” of connectivity. This connectivity might be experienced as pleasant or unpleasant depending on the degree of presence to the moment. If comfortable in the presence of self and other, it can be a moment of being “touched” in a pleasant and deep innermost way. When working within the intimate edge, it is never your responsibility to figure things out. You do not have to use your mind to think about how to undo a negative situation. It is the presence of being in the intimate moment that reveals what has been frozen in time. If there is not adequate presence to the moment, the intimate edge can bump into memories of unfinished or incomplete experiences that originally overwhelmed the person, possibly traumatized. Suspended in time and space as an incomplete experience, surrounded by disruptive and painful emotions (energy in motion, it becomes unintegrated. All you need to do is remain present to dissolve the persistent energetic patterns holding everything in place. Energetically, we refer to these as time crystals, moments or unfinished experiences seeking contact and completion. When the underlying energies are freed up (thaw the time crystals), they return to that zero state of oneness, the zero point as noted in most spiritual traditions. Each time the time crystal is touched by the presence of another, it is changed, and as it is touched it either dissolves into an energetic shift of awareness or increases its size and self-sealed protection. The emphasis is on process, on engaging in live experience, and on generating a new kind of live experience by so doing, in an ever expanding way. Energetically, we refer to this as expanding self-awareness and one’s individual presence, as existentially (a felt sense) there is awareness that something shifted into an expanded or greater sense of oneself or disconnects into a form of dissociation. Presence, and therefore self-awareness, expands with acknowledgment and explicitness of the shift in energy. Therefore, the process of acknowledgment increases the moment's dimensions and changes the nature of one's experiences of it. What is achieved is not simply greater insight into what is or was, but a new kind of experience, such as a deeper sense of wholeness. A felt sense of wholeness. Working at the "intimate edge" requires safely sitting on the edge of vulnerability through a clear presence of holding a nonjudgmental energy that creates a unique context of safety and allows for maximum closeness precisely because it protects against the threat of intrusion or violation. Attending to the most elusive interactive subtleties and "opening the moment" actually becomes a way to clear the field for self-awareness. This makes it possible for both participants to engage in aspects of the experience that otherwise might be threatening, even dangerous. In other words, the moment unfolds the felt sense into an healing presence by and between each other. In effect, the "intimate edge" is not simply at the boundary between self and other, the point of developing interpersonal intimacy and awareness of interpersonal possibility in the relationship; it is also at the boundary of self-awareness. In Gestalt, it is referred to as the “point of contact”. It is an energetic point of expanding self-discovery, at which one can become more "intimate" with one's own experience through the evolving relationship with the other, and then more intimate with the other as one becomes more attuned to oneself. Because of this kind of dialectical interplay, the "intimate edge" becomes the "growing edge" or the “healing edge”of the individuals and potentially the relationship. The introduction of intimate edge (presence) to the frozen and neglected moments in time instantly restores peace to any situation, regardless of the underlying conditions. As moment-by-moment shifts in the energetic experience between the individuals are acknowledged, reflected upon, and integrated, self-awareness of individual patterns of reaction and particular sensitivities can be identified and explored. This allows for awareness of newfound choices or release of frozen constructs, often unknown till now, as well as deeper awareness of feeling more whole, as if energy has been released and integrated. Even when the "intimate edge" is missed or bumped into due to inadequate presence in the moment, often experienced as an energetic feeling of danger such as a sense of intrusion, acknowledging the bump begins to restore the necessary presence for the frozen moment in time to return at some other time when the level of presence can support the moment. The "intimate edge" is, therefore, not a given, but an interactive creation. It is always unique to the moment and to the sensibilities of the specific participants in relation to each other and reflects the participants' subjective and unconscious sense of what is safe at that moment. Focusing on the interactive nuances in this way often requires a shift in perspective as to what is figure and what is ground. Forcing on presence or being open to the presence of what is present, can create a safe field for the client to expand their personal energy field. In other words, the focus is to increase the ground of the energetic connection with the client rather than to seek to reveal a hidden figure. This shift in focus creates an energy of safety that invites more presence of the individual. For example, where an individual drifts into a fantasy that energetically takes him or her out of the room (energetically absent), the content and interactive meaning are not as important as the energetic shifts preceding the story telling .The focus becomes to support the re-membering the felt sense of the energetic buildup, often in the form of emotions and bodily sensations, that triggered the release of a story. Exploring what energetically triggered the fantasy by simply acknowledging the emotions as energy in motion, may reveal the subtler patterns of his or her own experience. As Ehrenberg noted, “it can facilitate a shift on the part of the individual from feeling victimized or helpless, stuck without any options, to freshly experiencing his or her own power and responsibility in relation to multiple choices.” Aiming for the "intimate edge" does not support healing presence. It is not our duty to seek the frozen moments or to determine the content. Our presence supports the client to safety experience the release of energy, which ultimately is empowering to the client. We can use our awareness of a shift in energy as a clue that something may need to be acknowledged to support the experience. Hence one’s energetic sensitivity is particularly key where the individual may not be fully in touch with this dimension of his or her own experience. If one locates and relays his or her own experience when the patient cannot, this can help to locate and possibly dissolve the time crystal frozen in time as a significant shift in energy. May Your Day be Filled with Presence.
We are often curious about the healing presence process especially when trying to comprehend and relate to time crystals, moments frozen in time. In basic terms, healing presence is centered in the moment with the client, often experienced as an increased degree of energy(warmth) and a higher vibrational energy. Often the degree of energy begins a grounding process to increase the client’s sense of presence within oneself. This can create a sense of being within oneself, safely. The higher vibrational energy can trigger a sense of wobble internally as the client can experience a wobble or back and forth experience of anxiety and excitement especially if the client has not grounded within oneself (being present to oneself) During the experience of wobbling, often between feeling anxious and excited, unconscious original actions and verbal expression emerge from something "underneath" typical thinking in the form of a deep sense of awareness and bodily felt experiencing, often like a euphoric release of energy. From the healing presence perspective, this is the thawing of the time crystal and when the time crystal encounters adequate awareness and presence, what needs to be discovered occurs first from deep within as the frozen moment in time often experienced in the body is activated and begin to thaw. As the thawing or dissolving of the time crystal occurs, there can be a growing awareness of the shift starting with the body, then the emotional and finally the mental. The mental tends to occur as a deep sense of knowing and not thinking, like a remembrance of the original frozen moment in time no longer separated and inert and now integrated in the person. Hence, presence infiltrates the sense of being to allow the ‘awareness and felt sense’ of something lost or buried to surface. In the diagram, we can see that the time crystal is an inert, moment frozen in time that floats in the auric field of the person. In healing presence, we do not focus exclusively on the cellular energy that holds the felt sense and/or to the unconscious. We see the moment frozen in time having an implicit meaning of felt sense that permeates the auric field as well as the mental, emotional, and cellular energy fields inclusively being within the unconscious. As indicated in the diagram, the moment frozen in time is able to reconnect and be integrated in consciousness through the point of power, the present moment, by remaining fully present within themselves. The Healing presence process supports that presence like a connection to the core self that passes through the various energy fields insulated by the healing presence.
We often refer to presence or healing presence without revisiting it. In the following article, I am integrating three forms of presence often referred to by Buddhist traditions, plus the deeper meaning in Buddhist and many other traditions. As you ponder the four aspects of presence, you will see that where you focus your attention creates a different for of presence. The last, pure presence, is akin to what we teach as healing presence. Types of Presence Active presence invites an open-ended engagement with experience like the spiritual dynamic of surrendering…the allowing-in of the moment without emotional reactions or mental restrictions…simply Being with oneself. Active presence includes the four forms of present-moment attention identified as: 1. In therapeutic presence, you actively choose where to focus your attention. 2. In joyful presence, you actively choose how you react to your experience. 3. In mindful presence, you actively choose how to make sense of your experience. 4. In pure presence, you exist in the oneness as a deep sense of being. Therapeutic Presence Therapeutic presence can fully witness and stay present to oneself and the client/other person. It maintains eye and vocal contact providing support through descriptive comments of what is noticed. One stays fully embodied, aware of energetic connections to the earth and the client energy field. Healing (therapeutic) presence: let go of the past and the future… the future is not here..the past is already over. We must deal with things as they are in the moment... healing and transformation are possible the moment we accept the actuality of things as they are in this moment. Joyful Presence Joyful presence attends to the present moment to cultivate full appreciation of the rich experience available in each moment. Joyful presence is filled with Gratitude in each moment. Epicureans insisted that only in the present moment is happiness possible. What is more, they said, happiness in this one moment is all the happiness one could ever want. Mindful Presence “Mindfulness” (in Sanskrit) means ‘remembering’. This is “mindful presence”—presence that remembers …..itself. “Remembering” here does not just mean remembering to be mindful: it refers instead to remembering what has value, what matters most…that you are pure presence. For example, when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking, and remaining silent, one remains fully alert to the moment while remembering to fully embrace each moment. With mindful presence, then, we move beyond immediate sensory experience and disregard for past and future, beyond joyful and healing (therapeutic) presence into aware presence. Pure Presence Pure Presence is often referred to as the zero-point or the still-point where ones experience of self and other become interwoven as a soothing and piercing experience of oneness or wholeness. Experience tends to shift one’s sense of self and sense of the world as if all perceptual limitations have been eliminated leaving a sense of awe, wonderment, and ease in being. A realization can occur that the self, as known prior to the experience was a series of creative adjustments to life’s experiences that were useful to navigate the social and cultural landmines, no longer exists. Some refer to this as embodying the Self or a full embodiment of our spirit. Active Presence We can only act in the present, not the past or the future. When we practice active presence, choosing how to act in this moment, we also choose who and what we will be. Active presence—choosing how to act in this moment—takes mindfulness out of the range of sitting meditation and inserts it into daily life. Active presence has the potential to go further, for it invites an open-ended engagement with experience. When I am actively present, I choose to fully be present to this moment. It is “Taking the plunge” means fearless presence, total involvement, holding nothing back. The courage to Be. Active presence offers a way into the deeper existential and universal understanding of presence to what is present. If it is difficult for the self to do this, if it (your created self) clings to and defends its own positions and wants, that only underscores the need to challenge the self and the conditions it imposes on experience.
To the spiritual seeker... There has been, and continues to be, an ongoing crisis in spiritual communities globally with regards to ferreting out charlatans. Shared articles across social media platforms of bad trips, botched ceremonies, abuse of power and incompetence signal a warning to spiritual seekers—beware of the person, beware of their training, check up on their authenticity. The remedies I have read, which I disagree with, are that we should ensure that the teacher we work with is “indigenous trained” and/or “doesn’t charge for their services” and/or “comes from an unbroken tradition”. In my experience, the crisis in authenticity cannot be addressed by performing a review of these external criteria. This is personal for me. I have been on a spiritual path for 26 years. It has taken me around the globe (especially to East and Central Asia, the American and Canadian west). I have met many spiritual teachers and seekers, traditional medicine holders and ceremonial leaders. I have had “bad trips,” specifically met people who didn’t use their power appropriately or lacked the maturity and knowledge to hold a safe space. I have also met good teachers, who have done their own healing work and possess the maturity and presence necessary to help others do the same. Based on my experience, I am confident that simply looking for someone who has traditional knowledge or training won’t safeguard from having bad experiences. Collectively, we’re missing the point. To truly promote safety, we need to look deeper, regardless of someone’s cultural background, tradition or training: are they doing their own healing work, and where are they with it? Are they encouraging their students to do the same? And are you, as someone seeking, prepared to be rigorous in your own work? Seeking the Elusive Tradition “Tradition” is a loaded term that has different meaning to different people. I don’t want to get into an academic breakdown of its usage and meaning, however, I do want to state my opinion that what constitutes “traditional knowledge” and/or “traditional practice” is an ideal, a construct. All knowledges and practices are in a constant state of change, even more so today. In the context of a traditional practice, for example, a healing ceremony, there is both the form and the spirit or intent of the ceremony. The form refers to the steps, procedures, invocations, etc. that are carried out by the ceremony leader and participants. The intent is the purpose activated through the ceremony. In traditional ceremonies, the form itself carries the intent and that intent is then intermixed with the intent of the participants. Someone initiated in that tradition understands the form and the intent of the form, they live/embody both. This allows them the capacity to then transmit the practice. The best traditions are living and are able to be adapted to the times because they are embodied by people who understand the traditions enough to safely adapt them. Due to genocide, globalization and generational discontinuity there has been a near total breakdown of form. We can’t close pandoras box on this one. We are living amongst many ways of knowing, many paths, many forms that are in a state of cross-pollination and transformation. Across indigenous communities, traditional knowledge has been at threat of or victim to a kind of mass extinction. When the traditional knowledge is lost, the path to rediscovery may involve going deeper within, looking through the lens of colonial authors, seeking across traditions to find truth, often all of the above. When a community is able to heal and there are people that are healed enough to carry the knowledge, there is hope of renewal, but this challenges the construct of a tradition or lineage of knowledge. It is often multicultural and is founded in restoration and healing— what I am calling committed self-work. We know there have been longstanding problems within Christian traditions concerning misuse of power, but it’s not just those traditions; misuse of power exists everywhere throughout all cultures, traditions and times. We need to be careful not to romanticize a practice or a person because of their background. We need to examine that person and practice closely. Any practice from any tradition can be corrupted due to wounding and/or lack of maturity of the one practicing, which impacts the intent. I have some specific notes here based on my experience: Some people are well-intentioned, but they may either lack maturity and self-awareness, or have some significant blind spots due to their own wounding. This means they haven’t done enough of their own work to be able to hold a safe container for others. Some people and/or practices are not well-intentioned. There are some people out there who have the intention of exercising power over others, stealing from others, or otherwise seeking power for themselves. In my opinion, anyone seeking power other than their own power is misguided. Likewise, some practices have persisted (throughout time) that teach that to gain power comes at a cost—that we live in a limited world where we have to take from to get. Run the other direction if you encounter this. Money itself is not good or bad. In today’s world, I believe that requesting money for service is a form of self-respect and can be a form of fair exchange, so long as the service being provided is someone’s to give and has not been stolen. What makes the difference when it comes to working with a spiritual teacher or ceremonial leader of any kind, from any tradition, is the quality—the character—of the person or people transmitting the knowledge. In our contemporary time, we should prioritize maturity—someone who has set on their own path of committed self-work, and who expects the same out of their students. I know that for me, not only do I expect this out of my teachers, I have come, over time, to want it in any work that I do myself. Committed Self-Work What is committed self-work? First and foremost, I believe the term self can refer to the individual self and/or the collective self, depending on the context. If we are evaluating our participation in a community practice, or ceremony, we can look at the collective as well as individuals within it. Committed self-work, then, refers to wholehearted dedication to healing, self-development and growing awareness. I would expect any leader, teacher, healer or community who is on a path of committed self-work to be engaged in the following: Self-Healing . Across many traditions, healing is a process of becoming more whole, more ourselves, more connected and in harmony with the world around us. Wounds from the past that are unhealed can act like hauntings that color our view of the world. They impact our intentions and the actions that come from them. Our practices must contain the commitment to address our wounding when it is ready to be healed, and to maintain the spirit of willingness to face difficult truths, even if we are scared. Clearing Intentions . What we bring into a ceremony or healing engagement of any kind has a significant impact on the experience. To possess clear intentions, we have to be aware of what our intentions are—committed self-work involves continuously examining what we are putting out and where what we are putting out is coming from within us. Our practices must therefore center on sensitivity and increasing our own awareness. Growing Awareness . The process of awareness is lifelong, it involves the dropping of illusions, the dropping of the lenses through which we interpret our experience. Awareness must be a priority of any self-development work. We need to grow in our ability to pay attention, to track, to look with new eyes at every circumstance, and to learn from it. As we grow in our awareness, we are able to drop our preconceived notions and see the world more and more as it is. I believe that experiencing the world more as it is helps us to be more connected, to gain a sense of being a part of the fabric of existence. Likewise, I believe that as we connect more directly to the world around us, rather than through the filter of our past, we grow in our awareness. Connectedness . Connectedness is about participating in something greater than ourselves. When we disconnect, it is often due to a lack of trust and can result in trying to control—forcing outcomes or "doing onto" others. Our practices should prioritize connection. In this spirit, a humility can emerge that helps to safeguard from grandiosity or causing harm. These are not easy things to vet over the internet or even through reading what someone has written. I recommend that you have a conversation where you can ask the person you would like to learn from or practice with questions about their own self-work and their own intentionality directly— over the phone, on video chat or in person (not via SMS, Instagram, Facebook or email). When you enter the conversation, be honest about your intentions for asking, then go ahead and ask them directly whatever you are curious about. Here are some examples: "I want to make sure that the ceremony I participate in is aligned with my intentions for healing. Can you tell me more about the intention of the ceremony and how that works?” Most ceremonial leaders will talk about the ceremony and intent to help people prepare for it. If they seem clueless, maybe they are. If they seem guarded or act as if they are sworn to secrecy, I would question if it is a good first-time experience with this person. “It’s really important to me that I learn from a teacher who has their own daily practices and is on a path of self-healing. Can you tell me more about who you are and what your healing path has been?” Be sure to listen long and deep. Not everyone is prepared to share every detail of their own personal healing, but most are willing to tell their healing story. If they don’t have much to say here, or something seems ingenuine, note the yellow flag. “I really want to understand what your expectations are for yourself and for your students. What’s the outcome you’re hoping for from this experience for you and for us? What’s required of all of us to get there?” If they expect that they will be doing the work for you, and you won’t be doing any of the work other than to give something to them, that would give me pause. Some healing / spiritual paradigms put a lot of emphasis on the teacher or healer, but pretty much all paradigms concede that ultimately it is the responsibility of each person to heal and grow themselves. Pay attention to how they respond. Do they take offense to you asking questions? That’s a red flag. Most good teachers will have the opposite reaction— they will be delighted that someone cared enough to ask meaningful questions. Also, how well do they seem to listen to what you are asking? If they seem unclear about the questions, do they seek clarification? How present and engaged are they with you? If they are distracted for some reason, do they admit that they are distracted? These small cues can tell you a lot about someone’s level of awareness and capacity to hold presence, which is critical for safety. Presence There is another criteria that I want to put out there, which I think is critical to evaluate with any spiritual tradition, teaching, practice as well as the person transmitting it: Presence. Presence, the act of being present, the practice of cultivating the ability to be present—this is a cornerstone of nearly every spiritual tradition out there. Presence is the key that unlocks the capacity for healing, clear intentions, awareness and connectedness. There are some spiritual teachings that have as a focal point leaving one’s body—leaving to go to other worlds or dimensions, to have a trip, an experience, a journey. These teachings, I think in some cases, have been stripped of the important context of presence that would make them more effective and safe. What you need to know: It is possible to maintain presence while having a spiritual experience. The only thing that exists, that is real, is right here right now. The present moment is the only place/time where healing can occur. It is possible to have fully embodied transcendent experiences. In fact, the safest place we can be is in our own bodies. How present are the people, is the leader, in the community you are wanting to engage with? Does their primary practice involve checking out? Does everyone you interact with have glassy far-out gazes? Or are they present, so present, in fact, that you feel seen/heard/witnessed. So much so that you may even want to squirm out of your seat? If everyone is checked out, or the practice involves deliberately checking out, then there will be serious limitations to what the container can hold. It may even be unsafe. On the other hand, if everyone is really checked-in, and their level of presence is disarming, just know that discomfort is a pretty normal reaction to being with someone who is fully present. Presence, unfortunately, isn’t the norm in contemporary society, and we are so unused to being seen that to suddenly be seen can lead to feeling exposed. Take it slowly, for your own sake, but trust that you may have found a place where you can safely explore and pursue whatever it is that brought you to your spiritual path. Closing Thoughts I still have a long way to go in my own self-development and healing. Overtime, I have come to embrace the path of committed self-work and presence for myself. It’s a worthy pursuit, and if you’re here, and you’ve read this far, I hope you find my remarks helpful to you. A lot of what I have written is grounded in experiences with my teacher, Herb Stevenson, who runs a program called “Healing Den” which is centered on helping others become more of a “healing presence” for themselves and others. You can learn more at https://www.healing-den.com/ . @cspowers Jan 17 2023 Republished with permission from https://www.naturespowers.net/