LuciaLorn Retreats

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I have occasionally written about retreats with Lorn & Lucia Hoff. I’ve been attending them for over a dozen years. Since just before I started this blog, actually. Watching and speaking to people going through stage changes there has heavily informed my writing. They normally held them at a rural lodge where I had my first BATGAP interview. I’ve been low key about them partly because the retreats are limited to about 2 dozen people and typically have a waiting list well in advance. People travel from all over the world to an island off the coast of western Canada. … Continue Reading… →

Soma and Agni

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Fire by Shan Sheehan

Agni is the cosmic fire described in the ancient Rig Veda. It is the first word of the first verse, the force that causes the world to come into being, the outward stroke. Agni has also been associated with the light of consciousness and the sense of sight. It is the digestive fire. It is sometimes represented by the sun and with the masculine. Soma or nectar is the softener and refiner, it is the ocean of the Divine Mother’s milk that draws us within, the inward stroke. The moon is sometimes called soma, and it’s affiliated with the feminine. … Continue Reading… →

The Power of Mantra

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Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Wheel by Jay Galvin

Back on Transcending, I explored right mantra for a meditation practice. I’ve also talked about the language of mantra and how they’re often used. Yet there is a much deeper understanding about mantra that’s largely been lost. But first, some background. People talk today about choosing mantras like they’d choose a chocolate. On Transcending I mentioned the importance of proper instruction so the seed is properly planted and we can connect with the tradition of masters for long-term support. To understand this more, we can go back to fundamentals. Consciousness arises from three fundamental Divine qualities: alertness, liveliness and intelligence. … Continue Reading… →

Collective Growth

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feather

We’re in a time where the unresolved is being pushed the surface to be seen and released. Old structures and routines are being shaken to their core. It’s easy to fall into fear in times like these. But better to use the time for introspection, for letting go of what has not been serving, and for looking at life anew. When the old falls away, new doors open. But if we try to hold to the old, it will drag us down. This is not an end for anyone. Our souls are eternal. But it is a change for many. … Continue Reading… →

Indifference

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Indifference by Damian Gadal

“…The unmanifest Being [pure consciousness, Self] coming to direct experience establishes the reality of oneness of eternal existence: That is the pre-eminent path of gaining knowledge (of reality). “There is no effort, no individual inception of the doer on the path to the experience of the unmanifest Being: Being can only be gained by making use of the thinking process without any reference to any existing thing, without meaning. “With complete indifference (during meditation) to the thoughts relating to activities in the relative world, the direct experience of the Self is gained by one who turns away from all distractions. … Continue Reading… →

Awareness of Becoming

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Becoming! by Janice Marie Foote

A reader asked me to comment further about the field of becoming where manifestation first begins. From the larger context of this blog, there is pure Divinity, the source of the source. The afterglow of Divinity is Brahman. In Brahman, the first Shakti’s express as alertness, liveliness, and intelligence. When liveliness stirs alertness, it becomes conscious, then becomes self-aware and self-interactive. Alive self-aware consciousness is often considered the source. It is the beginning of becoming and the first kosha or “sheath.” It’s self-interaction creates the subtle space of creation. But this space of consciousness is still too abstract for manifestation. … Continue Reading… →

Roles of a Teacher

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Teacher by Valerie Everett

By role of a teacher here, I mean the role they play in our spiritual journey rather than how they may position or present themselves as a teacher. A true teaching emphasizes practical application and direct experience, with the understanding to support that. If it’s just philosophy, it may only make the mind stronger. Understanding should be to serve the path, not be the path. (Yes, Gyani‘s have an emphasis on understanding, but direct experience is still the core path. Otherwise, it’s just mind.) For someone to have the role of a spiritual teacher for us, there is what I … Continue Reading… →

The Range

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San Bernardino National Forest

First a brief review of the natural ranges of each level of experience, the koshas or energy bodies: a) physical, etheric b) energy, emotional c) mental, sensory d) intellect, Buddhi, intuition, fine feelings e) bliss, celestial, causal f) qualified or moving consciousness, flow, the “gap” g) atman or cosmic Self, sat, pure consciousness Understanding the function and dynamics of each level is useful due to the fundamental principles in play: 1) Itself or Denser: Each layer or kosha recognizes what it contains and what is more expressed. For example, mind can recognize its thoughts and incoming sensory information. And if … Continue Reading… →

Energy Healing Viruses

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Golden Dream

Dorothy Rowe posted a fascinating video of her experience using energy healing to explore her relationship with a significant viral infection. Much like our relationship with stress, most of us resist an arising flu, don’t take care of ourselves, and certainly don’t explore it. Here, she explores the purpose of the virus and her relationship with it through feeling and understanding (this is on the causal and intuitive levels), assisting the healing. On YouTube For context, Dorothy wasn’t tested as there were no kits available but she had all the symptoms. It’s widespread in her area but unreported as no … Continue Reading… →

Levels of Simplicity

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Simplicity by Scott Hudson

Recently, I saw a 2010 recording of Lorn Hoff called “Zero.” In it, he talked about levels of simplicity. I enjoyed the approach, so am sharing the principle here. 3: Diversity, our usual waking state, 3D material reality. 2: Duality, a key feature of Self Realization (Cosmic Consciousness). There is an inner wakefulness with a separate outer world. 1: Oneness, Unity, when the world is also recognized to be the same Self, they unite into one wholeness. 0: Brahman. With the Brahman shift we go beyond even the subtle dualities of existence into Nothing, the simplest. It is Zero. That … Continue Reading… →

Saoirse

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Freedom by Josef Grunig

No, not the actress. What she’s named for. “Of all the treasures a person can possess, she says, the most valuable is saoirse [pronounced sear-sha “like inertia”], the Gaelic word for freedom.” Andrew Nikiforuk, interviewing Biologist Diana Beresford-Kroeger “Saoirse, an ancient concept, comes from the original Brehon laws of the Celtic world before the time of Christ. In those days the idea of freedom could not be separated from the community or nature, because it was embedded in the medicine, language and culture of the Celts whose ancient ways influenced people all the way to Russia and Central Asia.” “You … Continue Reading… →

Mind and Cognition

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Shiva

A question came up I thought would be useful to share here. How do we give words to cognitions if they arise from beyond the intellect? First: what do I mean by cognition here? A cognition is a style of experience that is total knowledge about the object of experience, all at once. It tends to be about some fundamental aspect or law of creation. While everyone can use ritam* to experience what a rishi or seer has cognized, only some people have the gift of cognition. I define the types of cognition here. Quite a few kinds of experience … Continue Reading… →