Create the Life You Imagine ~ June 2019
The Practice: Soul Awareness—How do I see the deeper truth of things?
“We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the Divine is shining through it all the time.”
~ Thomas Merton
As we continue to move from the crown down, after we plug into that seventh chakra connection with the stream of Universal Love, Wisdom and Power, we drop into our sixth chakra and recognize that we are all Souls that are forever in relationship with this Divine stream. At the sixth chakra level of our Soul, we are able to hold our awareness of that stream and to open our Soul’s eye, or our third eye of CONSCIOUSNESS. Through our Soul’s eye we see life with a unity and a wholeness that is big enough to hold all of our human experiences with a sense of sacred presence and with an awareness of the Mystery in which we all participate. From this perspective we see life with the eyes of our inner mystic and remember that life is an opportunity to embody and activate the energy of the Divine through all of the experiences of life. If we remember that we are always in connection with this Divine stream, if we activate our mystical awareness and we know at a deep level that we are never alone and are never separated from this Divine force, then what will we see?
At the level of our personality, we forget our connection to the Divine and see life only with the narrow vision of our human eyes. As we have described, our personality attends only to what is visible, literal and tangible, and quickly learns to catalog and label everything we see and experience as we move through life with the dualism that is the hallmark of the lower triangle. We see people as good or bad, right or wrong, friend or foe, saint or sinner, and we label our human experiences as true or false, fair or unfair, pleasant or painful, sacred or sinful. In this dualistic consciousness, it is the job of the small self personality to anticipate, protect and defend against anything that might be unpleasant or painful, so it is constantly scanning the horizon for challenges and threats and preparing for the crises and catastrophes that might be lurking around the corner. Because the dualistic small mind of the personality is mired in chronological time and time is perceived as brief and fleeting, it often experiences regret about the past, discontent in the present, and anxiety about the future. When we live life from this perspective, we often exist at a feeling level somewhere on a continuum between low level anxiety and outright dread and despair. We carry a foundational fear about what might go wrong, we engage in co-dependent relationships to garner approval and protection, and we suffer from an underlying insecurity that we may not know enough, or worse yet, may not beenough to really make it.
But if we can practice flowing from the crown down, we can enter into this sixth chakra power center in the flow of that Divine stream and activate our inner mystic. When we see life with the eyes of the mystic, we know that we embody the light of our Soul and we see the brilliant light of the Divine in all things and in all people shining through behind the surface experience of what our human eyes see as “real.” Franciscan priest and contemporary spiritual teacher, Richard Rohr, describes this mystical awareness as the ability to live in “deep time.” When we live in deep time we are able to rest in our awareness of the sacred and the eternal and consequently experience a deep sense of contentment in life. We trust that despite the conditions or circumstances of our life, a deeper Mystery is unfolding that our human eyes cannot see or comprehend. When we live in deep time we are willing to take a pause from the duality thinking of our small self as we consider the passing events of our lives, our day-to-day irritations, frustrations, challenges, and struggles, and discover with practice that from the perspective of deep time, much of what we worry about or suffer with falls away inside a deep trust in the unfolding process of life.
I like to talk about this experience of deep time as looking at life with “soft eyes.” When we watch our lives with soft eyes we have a deep sense of knowing that there is always something bigger, deeper, fuller and more meaningful glistening in the background of life that goes unseen if we only watch with our human eyes and with the limitations of chronological time. When we see life with soft eyes and live in deep time, we intentionally connect with “The Eternal Now” that streams through the very fabric of the Universe. When we watch our lives with soft eyes, we are able to live in the present moment with a sense of connection to the wholeness of life and from that perspective every moment becomes a holy moment, even when we are living inside a difficult human struggle or challenge, because every moment is full with a sense of that Eternal Presence. This knowledge that we are always and eternally connected to the stream of Divine Light and Love is the perennial truth that runs through all of our faith and wisdom traditions, and that truth has the power to transform our lives.
If we are only watching life from the small self dualism of our lower triangle, it is no wonder that we develop habits and patterns to escape from this level of feeling and thinking. Most of us can identify habits, patterns and addictions, that are designed to help us escape these small self feeling states. We may overuse social media, television, shopping, eating, alcohol, drugs, exercising, working, controlling, sleeping or even spiritual practices to disconnect from these feelings. Even healthy behaviors like sleep and exercise can be used in a compulsive pattern to escape our angst about life, and despite the momentary relief, these patterns generally just lead to deepening our feelings of anxiety, isolation and separation. If we move through life from the insecurity of our lower triangle small self, we have a tendency to turn away from our life as it is and toward inner fantasies, distractions and illusions. We get disconnected from the ever present light of our Cosmic Awareness and are satisfied with transitory escapes from our shadowy small self reality. These various forms of escapism are like going through a fast food drive through window when what we really hunger for is the five-course organic meal served with deep intention and attention – its fast and at the ready but it is not long lasting or deeply satisfying.
In contrast, our inner mystic rejects the dualism of the lower triangle and lives inside the wholeness sensibility of the Divine consciousness. Our inner mystic lives in unity consciousness rather than the dualistic, either-or consciousness of the lower triangle. Our inner mystic looks to include and enfold all of our human experiences inside our larger sense of cosmic awareness, rather than escaping from the difficulties and challenges of life. Our inner mystic uses the concrete realism of the lower triangle consciousness but knows it must operate against the backdrop of the deeper Truth or deep time wisdom of the mystical self and within the deep Mystery of Being that we participate in as human beings. Our inner mystic is patient with the process of life because it accepts that both the pleasant and the painful experiences of life will move us toward our highest possibilities. Our inner mystic accepts that pain and suffering are predictable parts of life but also knows that that suffering can be a doorway into deeper awareness and mystical consciousness if we engage our deep time awareness. If we want to activate our inner mystic and live life with a deep and sustainable inner joy rather than transient moments of happiness that depend on our outer conditions and circumstances, we must resist the surface awareness of our small self and choose to live inside the ever present consciousness of our Soul. As Richard Rohr reminds us, “The deeper you go, the more you fall into the Mystery.”
Wishing you the blessings and light of the Soul, as you create the life you imagine.
Tracy
Stepping Stones:
A characteristic of living in your inner mystic is a deep experience of joy that comes from living in the present moment without the gnawing anxiety of the small self. Great spiritual teachers demonstrate deep awareness and compassion in the face of human suffering, but also display a counterbalancing capacity to connect deeply with the joy of life. Joy is a quality of the Soul that reminds us to look for the light of the Divine shining through all things and that restores us in both mind and body. Medical studies tell us that people who laugh regularly are 40% less likely to have a heart attack and that joy increases the immune system, lowers our blood pressure and extends our life. When we connect with our Soul, joy is our natural state of being and this may be illustrated by the fact that children laugh over 150 times a day while adults laugh less than 20 times a day.
So this week your practice is to use your mystic mind to flow from the crown down and to actively look for the light shining in all things. See if you can shift your awareness to your sixth chakra Soul level and engage with life from this sense of deep time presence where you trust that whatever is happening in your life, all is well. Choose to spend some intentional time in joy and pay attention to your own mind-feeling state this week by contemplating these questions: How many times a day do you let yourself laugh and be present in the moment? When do you notice yourself getting mired down in the anxiety of the small self? Who are the people that activate your joy? What are the activities that bring you joy? The more you practice your joy awareness, the more you will activate joy in your life.
To inspire you this week, click below to find Kate's original song Ready to help you open your channel to your Soul. The signature line of this song is "My Soul wants to Lead, I surrender to Love." Let this energy fill your meditation practice and your week. You might use it in the background during the breathing meditation, by going to the Products Page on my website and just scroll down to the Transcendence CD and click the track. Both of Kate's CD's are available for purchase on that page.
