Consciousness, and the role of emotions
There is a commonly held belief that people plan their incarnations, and knowingly choose ahead of time whatever will happen to them, and plan experiences that will give them lessons that contribute to their spiritual growth.
Given that belief system, when people have a horrifying experience, for example, they must have created that experience, or it wouldn’t have happened. Instead of being upset about it, they shouldn’t feel negative feelings like fear or anger, because they asked for it, and intended it to expand their spiritual growth. Now they need to search for the lesson.
The corollary to this theory is that getting upset is a “lower” vibration. Acting from a “higher” position is more objective, and avoids ego-attachments that might create disturbing feelings. This implies that spiritually advanced “high” beings are above the emotional reactions that ordinary humans have, so that feeling less is interpreted as a sign of spiritual superiority.
This sounds like an updated parallel to an old Christian belief: If you never complain, but surrender and submit, then God loves you. This keeps the flock self-abdicating, apologetic, and easy to control. Devoted followers feel shame whenever they feel anger or fear, since they were told that those feelings are “negative.” Smiling and being nice, without much emotional engagement, are the expressions that God approves of. Given that premise, it follows that sweet indifference is, in fact, a spiritual virtue.
There is another premise to consider. It is quite possible that rather than emotional detachment, higher beings feel more intensely than we do. How do we know what they feel, or don’t feel?
At the Balancing Center, our intention is to encourage our clients to feel everything fully. All our feelings need to be acknowledged and expressed appropriately without acting out, without depleting internal energy reserves, or minimizing the emotional impact of the experience by making excuses for the perpetrators.
We often come across clients who are not able to let themselves feel fully. They sometimes have a hard time verbalizing or even identifying their feelings. Rather than congratulating them for being spiritually advanced, we coax them into becoming self-aware enough to identify their feelings, and act upon them effectively.
As suggested by Arthur Janov, in Primal Scream therapy, we invite our clients to go back in time and confront their adversary (just to speak up, not necessarily to scream,) within the context of the time when a significantly difficult event occurred. By doing that, they can reroute incongruent patterns of emotional reactions that have been established, and release outdated strategies that were essential for self-protection at an earlier time. As adults, in current time, these protections can be revised as soon as they are recognized as no longer relevant.
Our authentic feelings, whether hidden or not, are what is real about us. The capacity to feel has been woven into the energy field of plants, insects, animals and humans. All conscious beings have access to feelings that protect them and motivate them. These feelings are referred to as “natural.” Without them, and without interactive emotional connections, the system couldn’t possibly work.
Protective intervention comes from spontaneous concern for one another, as well as from the unseen beings that have chosen to be our guides. Ordinarily our guiding spirit-beings do not intrude overtly unless they are asked, but they sometimes orchestrate surprising protection when they foresee an immediate emergency. They inform us with subtle signals that we interpret as “hunches,” and they guide us through the experiences that our choices—and our non-choices—have created.
Our belief is that the source of consciousness is from the original force-field that floods the universe. It permeates all beings who are holding the charge of self-awareness and interactive caring. The life-force energy is not only internalized within everything that lives, it also flows through the air, the water, and rocks. Water and rocks are not “living beings” as we would define them, but they, too, are saturated with a substantial level of consciousness that many people can discern.
Along with them, we have encapsulated the gift, and we can decide how we want to use it. As our lives unfold, we receive the impact of our choices, give or take a few outside influences and unexpected events that were not of our choosing.
Contrary to the New Age conviction that we create everything in our reality, even though we’re allowing or influencing more than we realize, it seems fairly obvious that we’re not in a position to create everything. Other people and other life-forms live here too. Their choices are as valid as our choices, and they have goals and agendas that may not be congruent with ours.
We live within the context of interactive beings that includes alligators and mosquitos. Some have intentions that conflict with ours, so we need to hold our space, and maneuver effectively among the various peop[e. animals, and other creatures that interact with us.
In the physical frequency, time and space automatically create polarity. There are opinions, judgments, decisions, there/not here, us/not them, receive/reject, stop/go, yes/no, etc.
We spend a great deal of energy trying to reconcile polarities, perhaps because we remember the beauty of that pre-physical vibration. The spiritual journey generally attempts to correlate divergent frequencies, and unify separateness by minimizing comparison and competition. The focus is usually to become less concerned with differences, and more aware of the similarities that will bring about mutual respect and understanding.
As we slip into the density of the physical frequency, we draw around us the lights that will condense our etheric form into a more compact structure. The life-force consciousness comes with us, and it follows us throughout our incarnation without obligation, without intervention,
and without judgment. It continues to charge our meridians and chakras, and fills our subconscious self-awareness with messages of love and collaboration.
The information brought in with the life-force is processed in the amygdala and the hypothalamus within animals, birds and fish, and in the equivalent areas of receptivity within the insects and plants. Even if it has become occluded by damaging circumstances, and people act out in ways that violate the system, it is still there, waiting until they wake up and recognize who they are.
In the non-physical vibration, on the other hand, those who are basking within the oneness of all things sometimes have the urge to become physical. They may have been there before and want to do it differently next time, or they may want to reconnect with certain friends or relatives again who are now physical.
They may decide to take physical form in order to teach, to generate emotional clarity and self-acceptance, and to bring in more awareness of our unacknowledged capacity for loving connections. So many humans experience separation, self-blame and confusion, and those who know how to help them often feel motivated to be of service.
Etheric frequencies act as internal fields, through meridians, chakras, and various auric layers around the body, interfacing with physical structures in interesting ways. Responses among physical cells are transmitted vibrationally, and cells receive information from etheric resources that connect them intuitively to each other, as well as connecting them over distances from one organ system to another, when the need is perceived—intuitively perceived—-in order to orchestrate the organs and interactive systems into a mutually supportive harmony.
By that description, it becomes pretty clear that the physical aspect of reality, usually thought of as separate and different from the non-physical, is in fact totally infused by etheric energy fields, and absolutely requires etheric forces in order to function. In that context it is easy to recognize the life force as it moves through us and through all of life.
To describe this in more detail, there is a network of lighted trails, called meridians, that flow in a predictable pattern around the entire body. They are our closest messengers, bringing information to our physical tissues and systems from our non-physical biofield. They draw the cells into spiraling patterns, and from the first moment of conception they guide the cellular structures as they are forming, so that they will differentiate, and take on mutually supportive roles.
Meridians are the vibrational linkages that bring non-physical knowledge into physical form. They sustain the accuracy of our cellular information, creating epigenetic and biochemical modifications in response to emotional events. They also carry intuitive emotional information, in response to events and relationship connections.
Meridians gather into distinct vortices in specific areas of the body, and are perceived, in that concentrated form, as chakras.
The seven major chakras are the ones we usually focus on, from below our feet to the tops of our heads. More chakras continue beyond the seventh to the twelfth. The twelfth chakra is the chakra that takes us right to the border, to the veil between the physical and the non-physical. We don’t usually go beyond that, starting from our physically grounded vibration.
We may reach beyond the veil in a near-death experience, or in a deep meditation, or perhaps during a psychedelic experience. Some people return from that journey with a conscious memory of having been there, so they have given us information that they have experienced.
On the other side of the veil, in the frequencies beyond the twelfth chakra, there is a non-form, non-space, non-time, non-sound, non-touch reality, bathed in light, and bathed in what is often described as fully loving unconditional acceptance. It is a non-polar frequency.
Upon our arrival, as self-aware beings, we crystallize ourselves into the physical world, mirroring the etheric pattern that had previously defined us. We feel drawn to live within time-space limitations, knowing that even though this is a risk, it will be an interesting experience.
When we realize that we are carrying the materialization of universal caring, rather than experiencing it as an obligation, we can see it as a gift we want to honor by the choices we make. As we become aware of what supports and what violates the galactic system, many of us are motivated to take action, and choose to assume tremendous challenges.
An inborn intention, usually referred to as “instinct,” comes to all of us automatically. This drives our self-protection for survival, it prompts food gathering, the creation of secure living quarters, the search for a supportive community, and it fuels the imperative attraction between sexual partners and the nurturing of the young.
Our life-force extends beyond that to our awareness of pleasure in our aesthetic perceptions of color, the form of a flower, the grace of a gesture, as well as music, art, and dance. It nurtures our intellectual curiosity, humor, and the creativity that differentiates exceptionally gifted individuals from the cultural consensus. And, not to overlook a lovely part of our earth experience, it includes our on-going appreciation of all the sensual and visual delights that are apparently unique to the physical vibration.
Within this emotional context, we respond with appropriate anger when we experience or observe an action that is harmful. Anger is thought of as scary and “negative” if we associate it with the threat of violent acting out. However, without acting out, being aware of healthy anger, and using it well, can be a powerful tool for change. When we don’t like something, we want to change it. When a strong feeling is well contained and holds the appropriate boundary, our desire for change, (our anger) gains strength, so that we can be effective when we decide to take action.
Appropriate fear comes up when we are confronted with a threat we need to respond to. Without keeping us in a state of stressful vigilance, healthy fear informs our intuitive signals to be attentive. We can anticipate a fearful situation and avoid it, or prepare to act protectively when we know it is coming. Our intuition watches for this, both when we’re awake and during sleep. We can sleep through familiar noise, but the soft footstep of an intruder awakens us instantly. Our fear prompts us to respond protectively.
We feel grief when someone we cherish and depend upon leaves or dies. Our loss seems to take a piece of ourselves away, and we need to give ourselves the luxury of feeling it fully until it heals. Gradually it does heal, and although it may always be there, we can eventually begin to regard it as a completion, at some level, along our life path.
Best of all, we open up with love when we feel connected and protected, and enjoy the shared pleasure and mutual affirmation of an uncritical exchange of loving feelings. This can bring with it a renewed trust in the presence of a universal force-field, as an all-encompassing energy field of loving acceptance.
We can guess that universal energy not only fuels the biofield that surrounds us, but enters our cells, and by going through the heart chakra, it sparks the transmission of cellular messages that are sent between the cells. The intercellular surfaces are called gap junctions.
Gap junctions are the infinitesimal spaces between the cell walls, and this interface is where cells transmit information to each other. There are some amazingly complex little structures within these gaps that can send and receive messages, and they generate incredible charges of what has been identified, in physical terms, as “electrical” energy. We could refer to it more accurately as bioenergy, which functions in a different way from electrical circuitry, but calling it electrical is more comfortable nomenclature for many people.
In our inquiries, so far, we have found that the vibrational source that activates and sustains gap junction action comes from the heart chakra, in collaboration with the meridian/chakra network.
If this is true, it suggests that gap junctions may be where we receive information from our sense of being surrounded by a sustaining resource, which is often referred to as universal love. If every cell in the body is surrounded by the vibration of the heart chakra, this ultimately could translate as our positive ego, our power to love, and to function effortlessly within the context of high self-esteem. It may be that this is what generates our self-healing capability, cell by cell, and very likely contributes to the size and brilliance of our auric field.
The next thing to wonder about, after we get here, is how will we get back? What stays and what leaves, when we leave? Dust to dust? What else happens? People who have observed the biofield of a person as they are dying, describe the lifting off of a translucent cloud of pale light, as the spirit crosses through the veil. Apparently when physical beings die, their energy field floats out and slides into a non-physical vibration, while still holding memory and personal identity.
Upon their arrival within the discarnate community, it has been suggested that at first people are likely to encounter exactly what they had imagined.
Many people returning from a death experience report that they found themselves immersed in golden light, and were receiving a sensation of all-encompassing love, and are disappointed to have been “saved” or revived, and returned to physical form. Some recount that they could travel through new aspects of reality. In our clinic, from our work with clients, we have observed that people from the discarnate frequency can easily connect to the earth people they knew, and will come to relatives and friends when they are called in.
If you expected to find the River Styx, then when you arrive, you will be on a raft, crossing the River Styx. The three-headed dog runs up to you, but contrary to his mythological role, he’s wagging his tail, nuzzling three affectionate noses against you, you tell him he is a good dog, pat his heads, and follow him to your first journey in the after-life.
He takes you down into a cave. He stands close to you as you receive the ancient memories within the cave, and admire the beautiful cave drawings that you yourself may have at one time drawn, and are now revisiting. Then the dog takes you to the far end of the cave. You give him a hug, stroke each pair of his ears, say goodbye, and go into your next adventure.
If you think you will come to pearly gates, with Peter waiting to evaluate you, you will come up to a beautiful gate decorated with panels of iridescent abalone shells and gleaming pearls. Peter greets you, tells you that he already knows you. He looks into your eyes. Your immediate feeling might take you to self-blame and regret. He stays with you as you feel it, and finally says “Let go of all that. You’re OK” and he opens the gate with a flourish, as you step into the golden light.
If you believe that you will be welcomed by your family and the animals you have loved, then when you arrive they will be there for you, and show you how to navigate this dimension. You will learn how to pass through the boundaries of time to touch base with moments in history, and slide through “non-space” to be in places you want to visit.
For someone who believes that death is annihilation, dying would be puzzling. This person is aware of being conscious, but he is in silence and emptiness. He can’t feel his hands, or touch his body, his body has disappeared. He talks to himself—but he can’t make a sound—and his unseen spirit guide opens up the light, sends him a vibration that explains what happened, and shows him how to communicate. Very gingerly he considers what she has shown him. Gradually he realizes that he is dead, lovingly enclosed in light. What he had always feared begins to change into what he had always wanted.
Some people may still be holding terror of abusive punishment for infractions of archaic rules. For people who have images of this nature, their expectation won’t show up. Abuse violates Galactic Law. They will find that no matter what they did, or neglected to do, they will be lovingly received.
This puts the issue of Karma into question, to some degree. In the world of polarity it is natural to expect retaliation for past misdeeds. It is a stress-reliever to even the score, and frustrating to think that settling the score is unnecessary. We need to let the feelings come up without rationalizing them, or wishing punishment on others, or pretending to forgive while still maintaining dismissive judgement.
From the perspective of polarity, competition, winning/losing, justice/ punishment, make sense. It is also true that in the non-physical reality, the concept of seeking rewards or wishing retribution doesn’t get any mileage. The perpetrator will be received as lovingly as all other people and animals have been received.
Those on the other side of the veil know that acceptance is perfect for every person who is hiding under the surface of his unknowing. Non-self attachments may have misguided him, biochemical errors, or non-erase trauma may have corrupted his access to what we ordinarily regard as normal feelings. Eventually he will meet the challenge of self-recognition.
If you have been hurt, it’s hard to work around that. Don’t push it. Don’t try to minimize the impact of hostile actions by blaming yourself or trying to psychoanalyze the perpetrator, in order to understand and try to forgive. Let it be what it was, for you. Stay with what feels true. After you process it, then you can resolve it.
One way to lighten our load of anger at misdeeds is to consider the theory that after the initial introduction to the discarnate world, new arrivals will, at some point, feel prompted to review their recent life. There are two sides, here. During every lifetime, there have surely been moments of receiving hurt, and moments of inflicting hurt. Both of these roles are up for review, and the same is true of our adversaries.
Those who have experienced being hurt or injured will go in and feel it as fully as possible. Then they will observe whether they played a role that contributed to it. If they have, they will review the details, learn from it, and move toward self-forgiveness.
This theory suggests that perpetrators, during self-review, will feel the consciousness of the injured one. By doing that, perpetrators would experience the hurt they had inflicted upon each person, animal, bird, etc. as fully as though it had happened to themselves.
This can sometimes be resolved by asking to meet with the victim, one-on-one, and sharing feelings together.
This process isn’t Karmic pay-back so much as it is simply owning the impact of one’s actions, acknowledging the possibility of being forgiven by those they have hurt, and looking at the interaction in a new way. If this is how it works, both sides can engage their gift of feelings as tools for releasing limitations, and enhancing spiritual growth.
One of my dear friends, when he observed that I was making a bad choice, said to me “If I were you, I would do exactly what you are doing.” Then he waited a moment and added “Because I would be you.” That startled me, and made me think differently about my decision. As soon as I felt free to own it, I could choose to change it.
We can celebrate our feelings as reflections of our finest spiritual resource. Once we know our unknown self, the universal force-field can travel through all the frequencies that encircle our auric field. As the energy moves through these auric layers, we are drawn closer to our source.
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None of the statements in this commentary have been reviewed or approved by the FDA nor by any recognized scientific forum for evaluation, and none of the statements in this commentary are intended to diagnose, or offer treatment for any disease. If you have a health problem, see your doctor.