When our bodies get sick, perhaps we catch a cold, get the flu, or run a fever, what are some of the symptoms? Runny nose, high temperature, etc. These symptoms are not actually a problem, as uncomfortable as they may be. They are the body’s way of ridding itself of the crud. It’s part of a sort of detoxification purging process. It’s not comfortable. It’s not pleasant. But it is necessary to release the previously collected junk.

Trying to stop the symptoms actually inhibits the healing. Allowing them to do what they need to do allows for the greatest possible speed in flushing through and out of your system.

Similarly, when you stop eating a familiar food or drinking a familiar drink, the body may crave that food or drink for a little while and you may experience a sense of withdrawl, a sense that something that used to be a part of “your energy” is now missing. It feels like something is lacking, in a sense, and we all know how “off” the feeling of lack can be.

It seems that we can go through the same sort of thing emotional, mentally, physically, spiritually, and energetically.

One thing I’m noticing now is that I’m energetically detoxing within and without.

Within, there’s a lot of negative emotional energy that’s arising. To be honest, I’m not in the greatest of moods and I’m not all that pleasant to be around right now. I actually avoid socializing and being around people right now. It doesn’t feel like what my energy needs. There’s lots of painbody stuff coming up to be made aware of and flushed out.

Without, I’m getting rid of some people in my life. I’ve been pretty open with who I hang out with in real life, as well as who I hang out with on facebook and twitter. There’s this idea I’ve held that since everything is love and light, everything’s okay. All is well. This is true and yet nevertheless, I am finding toxic and draining people in my environment. People who cling, complain, argue, and otherwise bring down the overall vibe, you’re gone. It’s nothing personal. It doesn’t mean I stop loving you. It’s simply setting boundaries and saying no, this energy is no longer welcome as a manifest energy in my presence. I choose to be a manifestation of love and light, as purely as possible. Everything may be love and light, yes, but in terms of physical reality, some manifestations are more purely and clearly expressions of Source than others. Anything inside of me or outside of me that is not a match to the purity of essence, it’s time to let that go. It is necessary in order for me to continue progressing. I can’t hold onto the lower rungs of the ladder anymore, trying to pull them up as I ascend.

There was some energy of “If I let these suffering people into my life, hopefully I can uplift them and be a positive influence in their lives.” It was somewhat of wanting to be a savior. It’s fine to serve and uplift, certainly, but not at the cost of my own well-being. If I’m drained, I can be of service neither to you nor myself.

With all this is going on, I feel parts of my body heating up, as if the kundalini is pushing its way up my spine, hitting a block in a particular chakra, and setting the chakra on fire. It’s like kundalini burns through this energetic presence, torching any resistance that gets in its way. It’s certainly not the most pleasant experience. It is ultimately a movement towards greater expressions of love and freedom, yes, but the roasting of old energy in the process can make one feel pretty insane, especially when it’s resisted and/or judged. Like what in the world is going on with me? This is so not who I know myself to be.

Surrender Surrender Surrender. Forgive. Allow. Let go. Aim for the Love, do your best, and just let go altogether, honoring your humanity as you stumble along the way. Like any marksman, sometimes we hit the mark better than otherwise. Learn from your mistakes, reload, aim, and fire again, hoping to get closer to the mark this next go around. Such is life.

The whole thing about being a loving person… it doesn’t seem like it’s somewhere we finally arrive and then we’re set for life. Like we do something and finally get a medal with “loving person” written on it. It’s more of a way of life, a continued way of being in the world, the sea in which we swim. It’s not about finally getting there and being done with it, but being there and remaining there as you do whatever it is that you do.

Earlier this year I was road tripping across Arizona to photograph the rivers, canyons, slot canyons, landscapes, waterfalls, and all the amazing beauty available in the southwest desert. When I arrived the airport and picked up my rental car to start this adventure, I first wanted to meet up with a friend so I drove to the college campus where we’d be meeting up. I arrived shortly before he did and had some time to spare so I headed over to the main strip with all the restaurants, clubs, bookstores, bars, and everything you would expect as part of the college scene.

I walk along the strip to get a feel for what all is available and as I’m casually strolling down the sidewalk, I notice a bunch of commotion outside some restaurant. As I pass by, I stop and notice a man limply laying back in a chair with his limbs drooping. He had been stabbed in the chest repeatedly, was covered in blood stains, and a medic was attending to him. A police officer was talking to a waitress who was giving him details about what she’d seen and a description of the suspect. I stood back and simply observed what was happening without any reaction. After witnessing this scene for a minute or so, I turned and started to walk away.

I had only taken a few steps when I felt my whole body literally lock up and become incapacitated. At the same time, I felt this incredibly intense wave of energy surge in through my crown chakra, pool into my heart, and like this tremendous current, rush out the body. While it didn’t feel like it headed out in any particular direction, intuitively it was understood exactly what was happening. This incapacitation lasted just 1 or 2 seconds. Intuitively I recognized that this energy had come through me, literally like a straw, and had been sent towards this stab victim to help with his healing.

The energetic transmission concluded and I regained conscious control of my body once again. Recognizing that I had come to this place at the exact perfect time and that my role in this process was now complete, I kept on walking without even a glance back. My job was done.

I didn’t consciously do any of it and there was no volition involved. It was simply a spontaneous transmission of energy. It literally feels like a power flows through this body and “I” am witness to the experience. This body is an instrument to be used by this energy, almost like the pathway of least resistance.

In the Airplane

On one of the flights on this adventure as I did some plane-hopping, I grabbed my seat as we were boarding a relatively empty flight. The man across the aisle from me was in a state of panic. He had lost his cell phone and was from another country so that cell phone was his lifeline back home. He had no idea where it was… perhaps in his checked luggage, or he had left it in the airport. He checked and rechecked all his pockets, the floor of the aircraft, and even got the stewardesses into the action. One went to search around the cabin while the other tried to help calm him down.

I sat maybe 8 feet away and just watched this guy in a state of heart-pounding anxiety.

Sitting in my chair, I suddenly recognized exactly why I was where I was at this exact moment in time. I closed my eyes, leaned back in my chair, and felt the same energy rush down into my body and then dissipate out, again not in any particular direction, yet towards him. As the process completed, I looked over to notice the man feeling much calmer. He was still somewhat uneasy, but the overwhelming feeling of panic had subsided. If he ever found his phone I have no idea.

What Happened?

So what happened here? Was I simply being a pathway of least resistance for healing energy to be received into their being? Intuitively, that’s what I know to be true. Can I prove this? No. Do I take any credit for any of this? Nope. Could this all be in my imagination? Sure. Do I know if either of the guys had actually been healed in any way? No idea.

All I know is that what happened happened. Take it as you will.

Now the experience felt similar to what is experienced when I do reiki, a form of energy healing, but it was intensely more powerful and brief.

Siddhi

Experiences like these, spontaneous spiritual powers, are called Siddhis. Spiritual powers such as clairvoyance, psychic abilities, ESP, and other such powers are simply phenomena that happen when one is open enough to allow it to happen. Siddhis aren’t something you accomplish, pursue, or become attached to. They come and they go as they will, driven by a power far greater than “me.”

So what about you? Have you ever experienced any siddhis?

I have a very special gift for you today.

I’d like to share with you a simple technique to really connect to your own heart. It’s called heart breathing.

Often times we spend so much time in our heads thinking without really getting in touch with this moment and what’s going on in our own bodies. What are we really feeling? How often do we neglect even our own selves?

Let’s honor ourselves and spend a little time coming to know what feelings are really being experienced just below the surface. Let’s accept this often overlooked area of ourselves.

Heart Breathing

• Place both hands over your heart
• Close your eyes
• Relax your body and your face
• Now breathe deeply into your heart and out through your heart
• Really connect to and feel your own heart

Do this for 2 minutes. You may certainly notice changes within even the first few breaths, but keep going and allow yourself to be in this space for a longer period of time. Don’t run away or cut yourself short. Remain in this space and offer yourself this gift.

Prayer can be a very powerful activity, both in terms of making things happen in the world, as well as simply opening yourself up to feeling better.

Group prayer seems to be even more powerful, for when two or more people gather together, the total is greater than the sum of the parts. That is, people are even more powerful together than they are individually.

Something you can do with a group of people is to gather together and spend some time in group prayer. Focus on one person at a time and progress around the circle. For each person, say something like this:

“John, we now send you Divine Love. We set the intention for you to have the clarity and wisdom to see beyond your current level in order to understand how to evolve to the next level of consciousness.”

Notice how we’re not praying for the person to somehow be lifted up. Instead we pray for them to be opened to understanding how to better lift themselves up. (Ego transcendence is something you have to do yourself. No one is going to save you. Nothing outside of yourself will.)

The feeling of prayer seems ever more noticeable when others are praying for you. You can actually FEEL the Love flowing into you.

Love energy is transmitted through the heart chakra in the center of your chest. It is sent out from the front of your chakra and received from the back of your chakra. When praying for someone, you intend to send Love out from the front of your heart chakra.

As you open yourself up to receive Love from others, you can literally actually FEEL the back of your heart chakra starting to well up with beautiful loving energy.

To make the prayer even more powerful, hold the TAT pose while sending energy. In short, TAT is a technique allowing you to release emotional trauma. While holding the pose, we’ve found that it’s much easier to open yourself up to the flow of energy. The “stuckness,” so to speak, is much more quickly let go of.

If/when you pray, how do you do it?

What suggestions can you share with us regarding what has been effective in your own personal experience?

After the latest dark night of the soul that I experienced, a few days later came another temporary awakening to my true nature.

It was the total dissolution of any reality of a separate self, not only the separate “me” existing as an individual person, but the total disappearance of anything as a separate reality in and of itself. There was the realization of existence as only the One.

This actually happened an evening just before I headed out to a party with some friends. The experience that was had was absolutely incredible.

In the awakened state, there is only the reality of the infinite welcoming openness of Love itself. There is only the One, no others. In social situations, there is no social anxiety, fear, worry about judgment or approval, or the desire to do anything other than give and love, to be who “you” truly are..

See, fear only exists as a reality when there is another to fear. If there’s no one else in the universe, there’s nothing to fear. Literally. Fear only exists within a divided state of consciousness.

The experience wound up being a total connectedness, an infinite openness, and a joyful welcoming to be or do anything. Sense of humor is automatic and awesome for it is a natural characteristic of the One’s true nature.

After coming home from the party, “Ariel” sat down and started writing about the experience. Let’s share this experience with “you” now.

——————————-

Awakening

Okay, so awakening.

That which you would call “Ariel” is awakened again.

There is awakening being awakened again. Some people call it enlightenment, but that is not a really good term. Awakening is better. It is an awakening to the True Self.

It is, if there was a word for it, liberating.

Total and complete.

Total liberation of the Self.

Dr. Hawkins would refer to this as the 600′s.

All That Is is the One. There is only the One. Road cones, traffic lights, cars, every person that is seen, lint, musical instruments… they are all the One. IDENTICALLY, 100%, the One. There is ONLY the One.

Chakras

The chakra affirmations are now seen as humorous.

Root chakra: I am and the world welcomes me. I AM the whole world. I enjoy seeing various aspects of the Self.

Sacral chakra: The universe supply my abundance and prosperity. I AM the totality of the Universe.

Solar plexus chakra: I own my own strength. I AM the totality of the universe, the infinite strength of the entirety of the universe. My “own” strength? I am the infinite strength that “you” are. Infinite. All Powerful. Total.

Heart chakra: I am truly loved? I AM the Love of the universe. I AM God.

Throat chakra: I speak my truth? I AM the TRUTH. I share mySelf with the One. I AM the One.

Third eye chakra: I see in various dimensions? I AM all dimensions throughout all time and space. Time and space are illusions.

Crown chakra: I merge with the universe? I AM the universe.

The Experience

This is the most amazing feeling in the world, but there is no “person” to experience it. There is only the Self experiencing the Self.

This experience has been experienced in this lifetime once or twice before, and it is awakened again. It is the most natural experience that exists. Duality is seen as a joke, completely and totally absurd. It is made up, a cosmic magic trick, God’s joke on all of us to pretend that we’re not the Infinite in order to experience various aspects of the Infinite.

It is the greatest illusion ever.

All that exists now is peace, joy, love, infinity, bliss, radiant Oneness.

There is ONLY Oneness.

When the body here that is typing this goes to parties, like it did tonight, it noticed all limitations were blown past. There is no limitation within Oneness.

There is ONLY the infinite allness of the totality. It is amazing.

The Universe Synchronistically Gives You What You Need

“Ariel” has been listening to this Adyashanti program, and it was the PERFECT program that he needed, at this exact moment.

In fact, this whole LIFE has been an example of perfection in synchronicity.

He talks about the egoic downfalls that happen once someone experiences a temporary awakening, which has been experienced in “Ariel” before, a sense of total Oneness.

There is only that experience now. It is the most natural and harmonious feeling that exists. “Ariel” got a standing ovation when leaving a party tonight. All “he” did was Love and be free, totally free. It’s amazing how trapped people feel in the ego, how afraid they are to open up and truly be themselves. Just open up and be yourSelf, regardless of any fears of approval, control, or survival.

There was an article written recently about him being in Hell. That experience was triggered as a result of negating the illusion. The process that was done is described here.

What Triggered Awakening

This is now the second time that awakening has occurred, triggered by realizing the total inability of the mind to recognize Truth.

Basically, “enlightenment” (silly word) is the realization that naturally arises with the total negation of the mind, the realization that the mind simply CAN NOT know Truth. It’s not “trying” to find Truth, but what arises when one naturally sees beyond the illusions of the ego/mind.

Whether this state of Oneness remains is of no importance. There is only Now. This state may remain, it may not. In fact, it very well may not remain. This happens only when the ego is re-energized, when the ego puts up a self-imposed limitation that needs to be transcended.

The Adyashanti program that was posted is a PHENOMENAL link for those of you who have ever experienced Oneness temporarily.

To go back to egoic identification after that is the WEIRDEST thing. It’s like on the deepest level you KNOW that the beliefs and thoughts you have are TOTAL BS, yet for some reason, “you” believe them anyways.

He helps you see beyond exactly what mistakes were being made that create the illusions.

Some of the stuff he said was forehead-slappingly obvious once you hear about it.

There is only the One.

Everything that is seen, everything is the One. Yes it may look different, but the look of it is a joke.

At the party tonight, a strobe light was seen. It was a perfect example of seeing illusion. The illusion was that there were many individual discrete movements that happened every time the light flashed. The Reality was that movement was continuous.

Reality is similar. It is all One, yet the effect is such that it all looks individualized, separate. It is all One.

This is not a theory. This is not some philosophical statement. This is the result of seeing through the ego mind, seeing it well enough to unravel the nonsense that it tells you, the natural result of seeing things as they are, without the ego overlaying its illusions on top of what is.

Do this. Really. If “you” are serious about awakening, it’s the negation of the mind that will trigger awakening.

There is no one to awaken. There is only the unraveling of the ego that leads to “enlightenment.”

Infinite Love to the All and the One.

Namaste.

Really.

Continue reading to Part 2.

Question:

Dear Ariel,

I’ve been reading the descriptions of people’s experiences with their energy or their chakras and it’s more intense than anything I have experienced.

Is it that some people are more sensitive than others?
Or do my chakras need more work?

I meditate 2-3 times a day and go to a meditation class once a week, I copied the affirmations of the lower 4 chakras on some flash cards and keep them in my wallet, I wear a pendant with some crystals in it all the time, and ive been reading lots of Eckhart Tolle.

I’ve been putting in more work than thought.

Thanks,

T.

My response:

Hey T, it sounds like you’re turning spirituality into a goal, a path, a quest. Enlightenment is not a goal.

If you’re looking for enlightenment, ALL it comes down to is Self-realization. Realizing your true nature. That’s IT.

All the “stuff” we try to do is ultimately a distraction in the end.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fjxAZ5ogGM

Working with energy is very similar. You can place your attention there, but it’s not something to grunt and struggle with. Energy flows better when one lets go.

In the physical world, the harder we push, the more work we do, traditionally speaking.

In the energetic domain, it’s the exact opposite. It’s about surrender, letting go, and releasing all resistances. It’s about allowing not pushing, almost like being a straw through which life energy can flow. It’s YANG by intention but actually YIN in operation.

Basically don’t try so hard and just allow it. Surrender to it totally. Live the lifestyle of balanced chakras.

Open chakras, knowing who you are, balanced energy… all that stuff is your NATURAL state. It’s not something we have to do. We only have to STOP doing all the hub-bub that is covering up and blocking our natural state.

You’ve been studying chakras so look at the affirmations associated with the chakras. They’re about letting go of resistance, trusting the universe, allowing yourself to Love. It’s not about trying to do stuff or forcing your chakras to open. You can’t force your way into heaven/enlightenment/balanced chakras.

Things like crystals may certainly interact with your energy body and have a positive influence in many areas of your life, but they’re just one part of the equation.

In my experience, the best “tool” for opening chakras is simply the power of intention.

Mentally and energetically intend to open your chakras, to live from the frames that are associated with each chakra such as abundance, compassion, or inner strength, and then go out and live that life.

As the Law of Attraction teaches us, our energetic experience of life is greatly in tune with our mental thoughts and intentions.

Sure some people are naturally more in tune with their body, but developing these abilities is something that any of us can do. All it takes is some knowledge, practice, and willingness to let go.

Thanks for your question.

Here’s a great technique for quickly opening your heart chakra. It is especially useful in times where you’re feeling a bit low or not as compassionate as you know you could be.

Along with an open heart chakra comes the energies of acceptance, compassion, and unconditional love. Not to mention, it feels fantastic!

There are a number of excellent heart chakra meditations and visualization techniques to help you open your heart chakra, but today we’re going to focus on one technique to help you open it on the spot.

This technique is sometimes called “The Thymus Thump” because it activates the thymus inside your chest. Metaphysically speaking, you’re activating your heart chakra.

Here’s how you do it. Simultaneously,

• Smile
• Think about someone you love
• Make a fist with your hand
• Thump on the center of your chest in 3 sets of 3 while saying, “ha ha ha, ha ha ha, ha ha ha”

That’s it!

With this one simple technique, your chakra will start to open and you’ll immediately start to feel more loving and open with the world.

One cool thing I like to do is after the 9 thumps, keep thumping until I completely bust out laughing. (This usually only takes a few more thumps.) Spontaneous genuine outbursts of laughter for no reason at all is a great sign of an open heart. It arises simply from feeling good.

Question:

Dear Ariel,

How do you meditate?

Thanks,

F.

My response:

Life itself IS meditation.

The stereotypical sitting cross-legged in a corner just a first stage. It evolves from there.

First you DO meditation. Continue to do it enough and you eventually BECOME meditative. Anything and everything you do becomes imbued with the meditative state because it’s simply a reflection of what you are.

So there’s a lot of value to “doing” meditation, but realize that it’s not an end in an of itself. That said, there are many different types of meditation including chakra meditation, kundalini meditation, watching your breath, being fully present in the Now moment, watching your mind, merging with anything such as people or animals, and so forth. In my experience, all of these techniques have proven themselves to be very valuable and effective, but a few are better suited for those who are interested in enlightenment.

Chakra meditation:

You, and your physical body, are composed of raw energy, clustered around 7 centers called chakras. The lower level chakras have to do with more survival-based concepts such as security and sexual reproduction while the upper chakras are more associated with spiritual concepts such as intuition and universal energy.

Interestingly, learning how to open these chakras provides you with a blueprint for how to run your life in a healthy manner in alignment with the universe.

Insecurities, neediness, scarcity mentality, icy heartedness, fear of others… all these fears vanish once the appropriate chakras have been opened and balanced. Opened, the chakras become a guide for how to live your life from a place of true Love and compassion.

Surrender:

Surrender is one of the most important and life-changing practices one could possibly adopt.

Surrender is a constant process of not resisting or clinging to the moment but instead, continuously turning it over to God. The attention is focused on the process of letting go and not on the content of ‘what’ is being surrendered.

The trick is not to completely turn off your ego, at least not at first, but to simply disidentify from it altogether.

In meditation, simply watch your mind think its thoughts. Do not become the thoughts and identify yourself as “I am the thoughts.” Instead, be the silent witness and watch the thoughts go by on their own.

Doing this, you operate from a state of enlightenment. You merge with the field of consciousness, becoming the awareness in which all things happen.

God is the silent witness that is aware of everything unfolding within itself.

It is both the field AND the content within the field.

So, the trick is simply to watch your mind and everything that happens in life as if it’s some autonomous play that’s happening on its own while identifying with nothing within the play, not even the parts you think you control… especially those parts.

With the practice of this meditation, your field of awareness starts to expand.

Your peripheral vision starts to expand naturally. Instead of focusing on one thing at a time, which is how the ego functions, you begin to see everything all at once, becoming the silent witness.

Focusing on one thing at a time actually takes effort.

Colors become brighter as the filter of the ego drops away. Sensations go straight in without being dulled by the ego’s thoughts and judgments.

Food tastes so much better, richer.

Everything starts to glow, both inanimate objects and animate.

You begin to understand that everything fits together perfectly as part of the totality. Separation becomes completely foreign. The reality seems to be that everything comes together as one magnificent symphony.

The ego operates by concentration, by selecting one individual point and analyzing everything about it, judging it, criticizing it, labeling it, categorizing it. It’s like listening to an orchestra and tuning out every musician except for one single person. You miss almost EVERYTHING by trying to focus on something.

When you surrender the ego, you reach a state of bliss because suddenly, you hear the symphony that’s been going on all around the entire time.

You don’t have to think about or analyze the symphony while listening to it. If you do, you start to lose the richness of the experience. Nothing is lost when you stop thinking and listen to everything as a whole.

This is what enlightenment is all about. It’s SO beautiful when you drop the mind and hear the incredible splendor and sheer gorgeousness going on all around you. It always has been and always will be. EVERYTHING is Love.

The high notes and the low notes, the fast notes and the slow notes all come together to produce the whole symphony. Both the bass and the treble are necessary, and everything in between. The totality is a state of absolute perfection.

Thanks for your question.