Authors: Unknown Author
Untitled (25 page)
As instructed by my guide I held the little stone figure (a Mountain Lion carved from stone) in my right hand and addressed it by its role in traditional Zuni thought, that is, "Guardian of the North." The communication was very powerful and very direct—I would say visceral rather than verbal—as if I could connect with every cell of the animal's body, occasionally being that body rather than observing it. In a moment I received a clear mental picture of a beautiful, sleek, very dignified lioness standing almost hidden in a clump of high grasses at the edge of a canyon.
Mountain Lion approached me cautiously, pacing back and forth in a relaxed zig zag pattern as she came. Her eyes seemed to regard me lazily, yet I was aware of what I can only describe as an energetic connection between us. If I moved or even had any aggressive thoughts or feelings about her she would sense a shift in this energetic connection and instantly bolt. I was aware of feeling fear and respect for her but something within told me I was safe in her presence as long as I maintained my present state of mind, which was simply to learn from her.
When there was no more than six or eight feet between Hal and the animal, the mountain lion stopped, looked directly at him, and suddenly grew tense, every muscle in her body alert and ready. She stared at him, and it seemed to him that "she was targeting my very soul." For perhaps as long as a minute he sat transfixed, fearful that she would spring at him at any moment, and he imagined her tearing him to shreds with her sharp claws. Hal continues:
She suddenly thrust her neck forward, bared her teeth and shrieked at me, a deafening, bloodchilling howl that sent tingling, electric waves up my spine. Then she stopped and I was flooded with feelings of love and appreciation for her, no longer fearful but in absolute awe of her. Then she lay down, groomed herself briefly, then turned her head and seemed to be gazing past me, as if it was of no concern to her whether I was there or not.
I heard a wonderful rumbling sound from deep in her body and it took me a moment to realize she was purring, as a domestic cat might do except with greater volume, a deep, rumbling tone that resonated in the trunk of my body in an almost sexual way.
As I say, there were no words between us, yet in that moment we were together I received a new perspective on maintaining individual boundaries and territories, as well as a reverence for hunting and a deep, sacred respect and love for the spirit of your prey. Mountain Lion had a profound understanding of nature and related to it not as a place but as an awesome force within which every individual took part, be they hunter or hunted or be they creatures who somehow lived outside that system of animal life.
For several days in a row, Hal returned to this place in his mind, each time learning more about the mountain lion and her perspective on life. She has since become his main spirit counselor when issues involving personal boundaries or the right use of power arise.
Encounters with Spirit Guides and Suprahuman Beings
Perhaps one of the most rewarding experiences in the transpersonal realm is meeting spirit guides. The guides are perceived as suprahuman beings who exist on higher planes of consciousness and higher energy levels. They may appear in recognizably human forms, speaking to us as a person might speak to us in a dream, as radiant light, or a powerful energy field. Only rarely do these guides communicate to us with words. Instead, information is conveyed telepathically through channels other than our five senses.
Many people who have spirit guides that assist them in their lives say they appeared quite spontaneously. They may emerge suddenly during a period of inner crisis, during a serious illness, after a physical injury, or through spiritual practices. Some spirit guides introduce themselves by name; others remain anonymous.
Spirit guides offer many different kinds of assistance. They may intervene and provide advice in the face of danger, or offer their counsel to us when we are going through difficult periods of psychological or spiritual growth. After they have served us through a crisis or emergency they may never appear again, or they may continue to serve us in our everyday affairs.
There is a wonderful story about spirit guides that C. G. Jung relates in
Memories, Dreams, Reflections.
One day Jung received a visitor from India. The visitor was a spiritual leader in India, and because Jung was very interested in Indian thought, they had a long conversation. When Jung asked the man the name of his spiritual teacher his visitor replied that it was "Shankaracharya." This name was familiar to Jung as Shankaracharya had been a great Vedas commentator. However, Jung thought it impossible that his visitor could have had this same man as a teacher since Shankaracharya had been dead for centuries. Wanting to clear up this question, Jung asked his visitor if the Shankaracharya he was speaking of was the one who had been dead for several hundred years.
Memories, Dreams, Reflections.
One day Jung received a visitor from India. The visitor was a spiritual leader in India, and because Jung was very interested in Indian thought, they had a long conversation. When Jung asked the man the name of his spiritual teacher his visitor replied that it was "Shankaracharya." This name was familiar to Jung as Shankaracharya had been a great Vedas commentator. However, Jung thought it impossible that his visitor could have had this same man as a teacher since Shankaracharya had been dead for centuries. Wanting to clear up this question, Jung asked his visitor if the Shankaracharya he was speaking of was the one who had been dead for several hundred years.
"Yes, I mean him," the man replied, to Jung's amazement.
"Then you are referring to a spirit?" Jung asked.
"Of course it was his spirit," the man replied. "There are ghostly gurus, too. Most people have living gurus. But there are always some who have a spirit for a teacher."
Throughout the ages, people have received information from suprahuman entities and spirit guides. Sometimes the recipients keep the information for their own use; at other times they act as mediators, sharing the communications with others. In recent times, such shared communication has been referred to as "channeling." In some cases, communications of this kind have become meaningful for millions of people the world over. It is generally accepted that the Vedas, which belong to the oldest religious scriptures of the world, were based on revelations channeled by ancient Indian sages and seers. Similarly, according to the Moslem faith, the Koran
was channeled by Mohammed in visionary states. In the United States, the influential Church of the Latter Day Saints, or Mormons, has as its source revelations channeled by Joseph Smith during the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Those who have read the works of Alice Bailey will know that many books that bear her name actually came to her through an entity who called himself "The Tibetan." Bailey herself acknowledged this spirit guide as the true
author
of a number of her writings. The highly esteemed psychologist Roberto Assagioli communicated with the same entity, crediting him with the key principles of the system of personal growth he called "psychosynthesis." In some instances, spirit guides provide a pragmatic, useful service, such as directing the channel to passages in books that provide necessary information about a specific subject.
author
of a number of her writings. The highly esteemed psychologist Roberto Assagioli communicated with the same entity, crediting him with the key principles of the system of personal growth he called "psychosynthesis." In some instances, spirit guides provide a pragmatic, useful service, such as directing the channel to passages in books that provide necessary information about a specific subject.
During his lifetime, C. G. Jung had many powerful transpersonal experiences. I have already mentioned a dramatic episode in which he channeled his famous text
Seven Sermons for the Dead:
the entity that inspired this channeling introduced himself as the Gnostic Basilides. Jung also had experiences with his spirit guide Philemon who taught him much about the dynamics of the human psyche. Upon reflecting on this channeled material in the last years of his life, Jung said that most of his work had been derived from information he received in this way, and he was doubtful that his personal achievements in the study of the human psyche would have been possible had he limited himself to information he acquired by more traditional means.
Seven Sermons for the Dead:
the entity that inspired this channeling introduced himself as the Gnostic Basilides. Jung also had experiences with his spirit guide Philemon who taught him much about the dynamics of the human psyche. Upon reflecting on this channeled material in the last years of his life, Jung said that most of his work had been derived from information he received in this way, and he was doubtful that his personal achievements in the study of the human psyche would have been possible had he limited himself to information he acquired by more traditional means.
In the past two decades, channeling has become popular and has attracted the attention of large audiences. Jane Robert's popular series of writings received from an entity called "Seth" is among the books based on channeled information from spirit guides. There are also Pat Rodegast's
Emmanuel's Books,
Yarbo's
Messages from Michael,
and David Spangler's
New Age Transformations: Revelations.
One of the best known of the channeled texts is the best-selling book
A Course in Miracles.
It is very highly acclaimed by many lay people as well as nationally recognized professionals, such as Hugh Prather and Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D., who use it as a basis for their lectures and seminars. The original work was channeled by Helen Schucman, a traditionally trained psychologist, atheist, and disbeliever in the paranormal with a solid university position and excellent professional credentials.
Emmanuel's Books,
Yarbo's
Messages from Michael,
and David Spangler's
New Age Transformations: Revelations.
One of the best known of the channeled texts is the best-selling book
A Course in Miracles.
It is very highly acclaimed by many lay people as well as nationally recognized professionals, such as Hugh Prather and Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D., who use it as a basis for their lectures and seminars. The original work was channeled by Helen Schucman, a traditionally trained psychologist, atheist, and disbeliever in the paranormal with a solid university position and excellent professional credentials.
Contacts with spirit guides, or channeling, belong to the wide spectrum of transpersonal experiences that can occur in non-ordinary states of consciousness. The following example is an account by a philosophy professor's experiences during a consultation with an entire group of spirit guides whom he perceived as a council of cosmic elders. It occurred during a session in which he entered a non-ordinary state of consciousness.
The intelligence that brought our universe into existence is enormously sophisticated and the workings of this intelligence are far beyond human comprehension. If you want access to its knowledge, this intelligence has to teach you how to receive it. Since this intelligence is nothing other than your own being, it is a matter of learning how to be awake at more and more levels of "your" own being, or Being itself. Today, I was given a number of visions of the universe and instruction in how to take in these visions. It was mediated by a council of elders.
The elders were the guardians of knowledge, the knowledge of what has been going on in the universe for billions and billions of years. Because I sought this knowledge, I was brought before the council of elders to get it. This knowledge is not just given to you, you have to work for it. You first have to reach this level of awareness and then you have to work to sustain the concentration necessary to receive the knowledge that they can make available to you.
I was sitting with the council of elders at the primal core of the universe, the bowels of the earth where the guardians of physical existence conjure and make things happen. I wanted to understand, I wanted to know things. When an idea of something that I wanted to understand would come into my mind, the council immediately knew it and accepted it as a formal request. The head of the council bellowed a thundering chant: "He wants to know that"; then the others joined in and started an invocation. They chanted to gather power which is necessary to gain access to knowledge.
According to the philosophy professor who had this experience, the council of elders gave him access to "experiential knowing" and allowed him to "see many pieces of how the universe works." He felt that he could "know anything" he wanted to know, if he had the strength to endure it. However, he felt that to endure it, he had to be able to "go flat out with existence," that is, to expand to the size of the reality he wished to know. Somehow his being able to see the universe in this way answered a longing so deep in him that he knew "it had been driving me for thousands and thousands of years." He continues:
Sometimes I would make a mistake; I would get distracted while the elders were chanting. When this happened something would grab me right down to my bones and say: "Listen! Listen! Will you grow up?! Listen! That's not what this is about. Now pay attention!" Those big monks came grinding at me: "Listen! All of these things have their place. But if you want to understand the structure of the universe, you've got to be able to take it on at deep levels. You've got to be able to experience it!"
Visits to Other Dimensions and Parallel Universes
On occasion, transpersonal adventures seem to occur in alien environments, worlds with realities very different from our own. Often these worlds seem to be located on planes of reality that are parallel to, and which coexist with, our own. The entities that inhabit these other realms tend to possess bizarre forms, unlike anything we know in our physical reality; they often operate according to laws that are equally strange to us. Although many of these entities are intelligent creatures, they may have emotional and intellectual processes that bear little or no resemblance to our own.
People describing their adventures in these other universes often liken them to ingenious science fiction stories, such as George Lucas's
Star Wars
movies or the most fantastic sequences from the American television series "Star Trek." The adventures themselves may be perceived as dangerous, sometimes owing to the hostile nature of the creatures involved, at other times owing to fear or uncertainty about the unknown. When the situation seems dangerous, it is because the visitor finds him- or herself in an environment that is completely foreign, a world in which one false move seems to promise disaster.
Star Wars
movies or the most fantastic sequences from the American television series "Star Trek." The adventures themselves may be perceived as dangerous, sometimes owing to the hostile nature of the creatures involved, at other times owing to fear or uncertainty about the unknown. When the situation seems dangerous, it is because the visitor finds him- or herself in an environment that is completely foreign, a world in which one false move seems to promise disaster.
In this category of transpersonal experience, the boundaries between objective reality and the mythical realm of the collective unconscious are particularly blurred. One can be quite unsure whether one's experience is an actual visit to a remote planet within our cosmos, interdimensional travel to a parallel universe, or a visionary state involving the collective unconscious. The same problem of interpretation can exist with experiences involving UFO visitations from worlds outside our own and encounters with alien intelligences. As you will see in the discussion of UFO phenomena, experiences of this kind have an unusual quality that places them into a twilight zone between consensus reality and the world of consciousness and archetypes.
Journeys into Mythic Realities
Most of us think of myths as fictitious, made up stories about adventures experienced by imaginary heroes in non-existent countries—the products of fantasy and imagination. However, the pioneering work of C. G. Jung and mythologist Joseph Campbell, to name just two, has shown that this understanding of mythology is superficial and incorrect. They have demonstrated that true myths are manifestations of fundamental organizing principles that exist within the cosmos, affecting all our lives. Jung called them archetypes.
These archetypes express themselves through our individual psyches, but they are not human creations. In a sense archetypes are supraordinated to our psyches and represent universal governing principles at work within our individual lives. According to Jung, powerful archetypes can influence not only our individual processes and behavior but large cultural and historical events as well. Archetypes are universal and they cross historical, geographical, and cultural boundaries, though they may appear under different names or show variations from culture to culture. Since myths involve archetypes, they can truly be said to have autonomy, and they are in no way dependent on us to create them. They exist in that vast sea of human knowledge that Jung referred to as the "collective unconscious," as real as the birds that fly in the sky or the marine life that swims in our oceans.
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