Into the Mist

It is not the teacher before you that manifests what you perceive as an awakening, but the awakening within you that manifests what you perceive as a teacher. *
 
For most of my years, I sought my idea of a traditional spiritual teacher to provide me with truth, teach me knowledge. I sought that rarefied being, flawless and wise who could give to me the connection to the Absolute that I imagined I was living uncomfortably without. In the end, much to my dismay, I repeatedly found my appointees inadequate. Over and over I concluded that I had not found the right person, but I have come to realize that it was the “right perception” I was lacking.
 
Not that my efforts were in vain—I am thankful for them. Obsessively staring into a mirror, trying to focus on the horizon, can induce some pretty profound results. The horizon seen turns out not to be “out there.”
 
“The fool who persists in his folly will become wise.”  William Blake
 
I found that it was my criterion for a teacher that was flawed, not any of the individuals that I tried to project the title onto. My efforts eventually brought me to the realization that in subtle mysteries like wisdom and spirit—the student/teacher relationship is not linear or well-defined, but more amorphous in nature. One moment I was comfortable in the compliant role I imaged to be a student and then I was scared to death to realize that the roles had reversed…and then back to being ‘student’, and then reversed again.
 
In truth, we all teacher and student—involved in a multi-faceted process, perfectly balanced as every one of us being teacher to and student of every other, simultaneously. To consider oneself as more one aspect of the process than the other is an illusion, and limits our collective experience.
 
Many of my best teachers—those who have given me lessons that have remained as significant tenets of my belief system—are people I no longer allow to have an active part in my life. There are two distinct reasons for this:
1.     One does not have to be wise to instill wisdom, virtuous to promote virtue.
2.     Once you complete the 1st grade, you do not continue to go back to that teacher’s classroom. There is undoubtedly more the teacher could teach you, but it is a matter of diminishing return—the final lesson of the student is to move on. Not to do so is to fail the teaching.
 
I do not discount those remarkable individuals that have obtained conscious levels of awareness of their connection to the Absolute that I do not consistently maintain at this time. They do indeed exist, I can feel the uniqueness of them whenever I encounter such a person—even those who do not, themselves, know of the power of their connection.
 
Even with such a person universally acknowledged as a teacher, my perspective is that instruction is offered most often because it is what ’students’ expect/demand. It is like getting someone about to panic to focus on your moving finger—a hypnotic induction to calm, allowing the student to return to a natural state of their own knowledge/wisdom.
 
It is not the mystic’s perspective that changes our reality, but experiencing their reality that changes our perspective.*
 
The real change comes about within us from spending time in the higher vibrational field of a true teacher…either directly in their presence or indirectly in the rhythm of their teaching (as a mantra may introduce peacefulness in meditation). They have seen the ‘face’ of the Absolute, they remember it, and the memory of that experience radiates from them—within or without word. One way or another, a true teacher holds open a sacred, safe place for the student to explore and lay claim to their own truth. A teacher reawakens one to the resonance of the Absolute so that the student can–on their own–find their way home to the Absolute, to their true Self.     
 
A teacher, or at least a skilled teacher, is someone with perceptive enough to comprehend the information most needed by the student, intelligent enough to purposely construct the means of the instruction, adept enough to elicit the learning without being intrusive on the student’s experience, and wise enough to realize he or she was the led in the process by the spirit of student.*
 
A teacher should not give so much of self or knowledge, but give to the student themself.*
 
A true teacher does not impart wisdom or learning, but draws forth the student’s own wisdom. The act of who is drawing forth—and not any defined role—shows us who is teacher and who is student at that moment.*
 
The order of need is no respecter of hierarchy.One may follow a path without a teacher, but to be a teacher, One needs a student.*

 Spiritual teaching is not something that you can choose, but rather something that chooses you.
 
copyright 2008 CG Walters
 
* Strike a Chord of Silence—CGW (a 20+ year old, unfinished manuscript still teaching me) 

C.G. Walters primarily writes fiction that focuses on the mystical, metaphysical, and mythical insight that we all possess. His current novel, Sacred Vow is first and foremost a metaphysical love story, a tale of soul mates—twin flames—a journey toward our one true love…in its infinite expressions…bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness. 

Receive new editions of Into the Mist through a reader  http://feeds.feedburner.com/IntoTheMist  

Get the full length FREE PDF of Sacred Vow by going to www.cgwalters.com/spirit_story.htm and clicking on the link in the page to download the eBook. This will allow you to save the book to your disk. Purchase a signed paperback copy from http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com/ – or buy from your favorite brick and mortar, or online store (Amazon.com ).  

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and complete by line is included. 

A common “suggestion/implied obligation” encountered in one’s spiritual study is to “overcome the ego.” The idea seems to be that one should subdue, train, or even eliminate the ego. As a tool to avoid misidentifying myself as only ego, it has often been suggested to me to consider “the watcher” that remains outside the psychodrama of any moment of my mind or life—a marker to bring my awareness to the true, higher self.

I, however, would suggest that as long as there is a “watcher,” there is ego. Coming to awareness of the watcher merely brings my attention from one level of ego to another. Perhaps the nature of this next level of ego is something the (egoic) mind would consider less objectionable, but it is still ego. Does the Tao ‘watch’ the unfolding of its infinite manifestations? Does it care? Caring and watching (more “considering what we see”, in this context) is an anthropomorphic—human-like—characteristic. ‘Human’ is by definition ‘self-aware.’ Self-awareness is interdependent with—the soil of—ego.

I am by no means in disagreement with this long-established practice—focusing on “who is watching”—to pull oneself from the mire of immediate obsession. Nor do I question the benefit of this method. I have already suggested that we might better define where our attention has arrived when considering this watcher, and I would also suggest we reconsider our intention of subduing, training, or (especially) eliminating the ego.

First and foremost, I would disagree with eliminating ego. This is contrary to the entire nature of our experience here…much like coming into a physical reality for the purpose of experiencing that which requires physicality, yet disregarding or pursuing the elimination all things physical and sensual. Even the experience of “disregarding/pursuing the elimination” requires the antecedent physical environment and experience.

Another flaw in the idea of eliminating or confining the ego is that in this dualistic reality, whenever you try to eliminate or restrict something, you make it stronger. In the unmanifest Tao, neither black nor white exist. When you extract white—bring it into existence—you create black. The more you try—the more energy you apply—not only do you create your intention, but you also create what may seem to be the opposite of your intention.

I agree that our identity is not limited to the any level of the conscious definition of self, though the experience of that ultimate identity sometimes requires we become lost in our very limitation. Our true essence, the state that is without ego and identity, exists eternally—it is the prerequisite canvas for the painting of life and ego to exist. We always know that Ultimate Nature intuitively, and become acutely aware of it now and then. Even knowing that Nature requires ego in order to achieve this perspective. One cannot look into our own eyes without a tool or trick. The tool to perceive OurSelf in this space is ego—that thing that segments us (gives us a sense of experience separate) from the Absolute, from All That Is.

So, the ego has long been defined as a liability. Somewhere it was suggested to me that if you have a characteristic that has consistently been pointed out to you as a liability, find a place or a perspective where that ‘liability’ can prove to be an asset. The ego has invariable characteristics.

You can count on a core pattern of behavior from ego. We can trust it to express its ‘flaws’, and therefore we can benefit from its fixedness.

The ego is a master in working toward its own survival. It will morph into infinite expressions—fooling even the most adept onlooker into thinking it no longer exists or is not actively expressing itself—when it has merely changed form. Historically great benefits to humanity and spirit have been achieved under the mask of ego. Yes, quite a bit of damage has also been done in the expression of ego. But would you eliminate horses because they have a predisposition to kick in certain situations? As with the horse, the ego seems to do most harm when feeling threatened.

One does not need to try to master the ego or eliminate it, but rather co-opt the ego into using its tremendous talents of self-preservation and perpetuation to achieve what you (from your current view point) would consider a higher goal. Sell the ego on how it benefits from your humanitarian effort, your monastic seclusion—anything!—and that intention will immediately have access to a vast reservoir of focus and energy. The ego is a powerful vehicle that will be in motion and will always exist for as long one has even the desire of a spiritual path—that desire also springing from ego. Rather than fight something that is our nature as much as is seeking the divine, place the cargo of your “highest” aspirations onboard this natural powerhouse…and may we all benefit from the ego’s next (”higher”) manifestation!

By the way, I am not saying that one can never escape ego….just that one will not be in a position or inclination to contemplate the achievement when it happens…you will have moved outside duality.

Copyright 2008 CG Walters

C.G. Walters primarily writes fiction that focuses on the mystical, metaphysical, and mythical insight that we all possess. His current novel, Sacred Vow is first and foremost a metaphysical love story, a tale of soul mates—twin flames—a journey toward our one true love…in its infinite expressions…bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness.

Receive new editions of Into the Mist through a reader http://feeds.feedburner.com/IntoTheMist

Get the full length FREE PDF of Sacred Vow by going to www.cgwalters.com/spirit_story.htm and clicking on the link in the page to download the eBook. This will allow you to save the book to your disk.
Purchase a signed paperback copy from http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com/ – or buy from your favorite brick and mortar, or online store (Amazon.com ).

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and complete by line is included.

After last week’s article, “Finding your center,” I was asked to give some detail about my own personal tools for connecting with my center, my higher self. First of all, anything I say here is strictly (as always) my opinion. In things of the spirit, the reader/individual is always the one who knows what’s truth for them.

Over time, I have put together a collection, a practice that helps me be healthier, happier, and generally a better person than I would otherwise be. I gladly share my history and centering activities, but must say that though some of these very same activities may be of great help to you, there is no inherent value in any of them, except that they are “the right key for my lock.” 

Unless you prefer trial and error, the first step is to spend some time in introspection, becoming familiar with your core nature—the essence of your consistent needs and motivations. This self-discovery may always have been as natural to you as breathing, may come by an intense period of independent study (some sudden, driving need—a dark night of the soul) or by structured study  (an established religion, method, or teacher), or it may sift slowly into your consciousness over years without even a conscious intention or your awareness. However it comes, each activity or item must be verified as being something that matches your personal nature— an experience that makes you feel more complete, content, and at peace. In identifying these tools, you are already performing a process of centering.

We are always getting hints concerning our keys—our strongest connection to Spirit—sometimes from the most unorthodox sources. It’s easy to miss the hints, especially when some of the points of connection to your interior can be things that may seem completely foreign to you. The strongest points of union cannot always be logically anticipated via your empirical experience, background or training. Sometimes the most remarkable insight is delivered to me via the most unlikely sources.

 “You’re quoting Snoopy the dog, I believe?”
“I’ll quote the truth wherever I find it, thank you.”
Richard Bach, “Illusions ” 

Of the personal points of connection that I have found, many were initially a surprise to me, being contrary to my immediate background or experience. But every one identified has proven itself to be an intrinsic part of me. In fact, in “retrieving” these connection points to my center—these things that I never knew that I had lost/forgotten—I was doing a form of “soul retrieval,” recovering splintered aspects of myself—making myself more whole.

Now, let me give you some idea how I made my way to my own personal methods of centering.

I was raised on a work-ethic obsessed family farm that—from my personal perspective—had little spiritual awareness (or need of such a thing), except indirectly, via the experience of the animals and the land. Gaia is—without question—a very spiritual vehicle, but you can make the journey without ever becoming aware of the connection. Anyhow, because of the farm experience, I have always had an acute connection with nature. It remains one of my strongest bonds with myself.

As a very young child, I loved books and stories, and would listen as long as someone would read. Later on, I—very unintentionally as far as I can remember—found out that I could allow a story to flow from me and in doing so would stumble upon the most remarkable place of inner connection and wisdom. The only problem was the initial information that I accessed was not compatible to my life environment at the time. As a result of initial unfavorable responses, that connection was put away and ignored for very many years…long after the incompatible environment was no longer the limiting factor.

As a teenager, TV delivered one of those seemingly unlikely tools of awakening while I was in high school. The show, titled Kung Fu , was about a wandering Shoalin priest exercising his remarkable philosophical and the martial skills through the 19^th century Wild West (US). Most of my friends were captured by the previously unimaginable possibilities of physical power. I was completely spellbound by the periodic vignettes of Kwai Chang Caine’s metaphysical training by the Taoist monks. 

The picture of reality that these little bits of philosophy introduced was unbelievably different from anything imagined by anyone I knew of. Yet it seemed perfectly “correct” to me. “That’s the school, I want,” I thought over and over. But being a teenager without any real tools of focus, girls and general confusion managed to take precedence.

My first real venture off the farm came when I enrolled in college. I stumbled onto a group that was teaching Transcendental Meditation. This experience took me right back to the fascination for internal exploration that the Kung Fu show suggested as a possibility.

In time, I started variations on the initial “mantra-based” form of meditation I was taught. First I realized that any word possessing a suitable rhythm—so long as one’s association with the word did not distract—could be used as mantra. Next, knowing that words have power, I collected a string of words that formed a beneficial cadence and delivered—I suspected—a subliminal message toward desired goals. I started each meditation with a slow, constant mental repetition of this string of words. As I became more and more relaxed during a sitting, I noticed the pace of my mantra would become slower and slower. Over the years, the various repeated mantras began to stop whenever I came to a particularly deep stage of my meditation.

Now, the mantra is only used whenever I find that my thoughts do not otherwise subside. My meditation is currently whatever experience arises during a time of just sitting. I usually start by psychically sending my energy into the earth and into the Universe (connecting myself to Mother Earth and the Tao). After that, as long as I feel an increasing sense of connection to my core, increased peacefulness and wholeness, I do not consciously direct the experience. During the course of a session, there is frequently a sense of drawing to my center, the occasional imagery, perceptions of my sense of self expanding like energy, energy arising from a psychic center, etc.

As beneficial and central to my centering as my mediation is to me, I have to say that meditation alone would not bring me to the sense of center that I have come accustomed to. Though any list can never be all-inclusive, these additional ‘keys’ are also vital and dear to me.

Minor things I make a point to do just about every day:

—Consistent small rituals can be beneficial for relaxation and centering by the activity itself, as well as the calming effect of a regular ceremony signaling body and mind that at this time ‘we are coming to center.’

      A few of mine are:

• Tea and toast, definitely first thing in the morning, but other times as needed
• Feeding the birds—medical science has proven repeatedly that interaction with animals is meditative, healthy for people. For most people this benefit comes through interaction with pets. For me, it’s caring for the wild animals, particularly songbirds.
• Time sitting with Kathy at the end of the day—the value of being in a healthy relationship or experiencing human companionship has been identified as providing health benefits and increasing longevity.
• Red wine and dark chocolate at the end of the day—both having proven health benefits

 Items that have proven to be a great benefit periodically:

—These are things that I don’t always practice or use as often as I know I should—time constraints, etc—but I have found them, and each time I return to visit them I am guaranteed immediate benefits.

• Tao Te Ching   – for me, this little book says all that really needs be said. The rest is elaboration or just for entertainment.
• Tai Chi

 Less obvious forms of centering that I do as often as possible:

• Watching uplifting, romantic, affirming movies—it just happens to be my nature, and sharing them with Kathy is an added benefit
• Reading books of the same character
• Music of the Classical period or older (Mozart, Johann Christian Bach, Joseph Hayden, Boccherini)—this was initially very surprising. My environment, studies, and life could not justify this connection when I first noticed my instant attachment.
• Singer song-writer music, blues
• Current movie productions of the works of Shakespeare’s plays—another thing that had no empirical justification in my life, but was immediately familiar to me and very much needed.
• Walking the mountain, especially for a number of hours—medical science agrees that interaction with nature is beneficial physically and psychologically. A study by Duke University concluded that regular exercise did more for maintaining positive emotions than drugs like Prozac.

Exercise is also vital to the spirit. Through the body, we experience the Spirit. That is the nature of  human life.

• Being in nature, in general
• Writing, especially poetry and fiction—journaling is often suggested as a process of self-development. My journaling just happens to be fiction—then Robert A. Johnson points out (in Inner Work ) that nothing is made up. Fantasy is merely the way of the subconscious communicating.

I wish you all good fortune in finding the keys to connecting with your deepest nature. For some it may seem a strange experience initially, but you will soon find out that you are satisfying a need that you were not even aware you had, healing an ailment that you had not even realized you were afflicted with. Based on the experience of myself and many others that I know about, merely re-inviting these ignored or forgotten aspects of yourself—the fuller definition of yourself—back into an active place in your life will bring you immeasurable joy and benefit.

Peace and centering,

CG

Copyright 2007 CG Walters

C.G. Walters primarily writes fiction that focuses on the mystical, metaphysical, and mythical insight that we all possess. His current novel, Sacred Vow is first and foremost a metaphysical love story, a tale of soul mates—twin flames—a journey toward our one true love…in its infinite expressions…bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness.

Receive new editions of Into the Mist through a reader  http://feeds.feedburner.com/IntoTheMist

Get the full length FREE PDF of Sacred Vow by going to www.cgwalters.com/spirit_story.htm and clicking on the link in the page to download the eBook. This will allow you to save the book to your disk.
Purchase a signed paperback copy from http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com/ – or buy from your favorite brick and mortar, or online store (Amazon.com).

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and complete by line is included.

All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.” Pascal

Of all the practices that one can pursue to provide health, clarity, stress reduction, psychological resolution, and emotional and spiritual growth, the most consistently powerful method is that of “centering”—bringing yourself to your true energetic core—to what you are before and beyond your familial, societal, and egoic restructuring and reshaping.

This centering is similar to maximizing your strength and balance by bringing your stance to a physical axis in Tai Chi or other physical arts. We all know what happens when something or someone pulls us off center…we “fall” or we act in a way that is “just not like” us—at very least not like what we would wish to be. What would we become if we could spend more and more time balanced, centered daily?

Not all the paths to centering are as structured as Tai chi, Yoga, or some forms of meditation. The methods for coming to this emotional/psychological/spiritual center are as varied and infinite as the individuals that may pursue balance. The most productive path for you could be dancing, walking in nature, cooking, watching the children, fishing, or contact with anything that deeply inspires—even digging a ditch works for me on occasion. The important thing is to realize what activity makes you feel most connected to yourself, your life and everyone and everything around you. In that state, you are nearest your center…in a mystical communion with the Absolute, God, Tao, your source by whatever name.

I find that such activities that “bring one to their center” will cause a vibrational change in us (i.e. the way we feel inside just after a peaceful experience versus what our body feels like after a stressful day). After a centering experience, we operate at this more beneficial vibrational level (lower blood pressure, clearer thinking, more open-hearted responses, greater sense of well-being, generally better health). We drop from this level (like a battery losing charge) toward our “set point” as the time since the centering passes. Therefore, a periodic recharge is necessary to keep us spending more time near that centered state.

Our “set point” is the state of mind that we generally function at without any experience of centering or “off-centering”. On any given day, we may fluctuate over and under the set point, depending on what we are responding to. Over time, repeatedly returning to the “center” raises the set point, raises our base day-to-day operating consciousness—which in turn provides a baseline for reaching consistently stronger connection with one’s center, which raises the set point…..

Just one thing: I for one seem to generally (not always) require some time “practicing”/living outside of the “centering” experience to make the increased set point take hold.

May you find your centering practice, and be at peace.

copyright 2007 CG Walters

C.G. Walters primarily writes fiction that focuses on the mystical, metaphysical, and mythical insight that we all possess. His current novel, Sacred Vow is first and foremost a metaphysical love story, a tale of soul mates—twin flames—a journey toward our one true love…in its infinite expressions…bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness.

Receive new editions of Into the Mist through a reader  http://feeds.feedburner.com/IntoTheMist

Get the full length FREE PDF of Sacred Vow by going to www.cgwalters.com/spirit_story.htm and clicking on the link in the page to download the eBook. This will allow you to save the book to your disk.
Purchase a signed paperback copy from http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com/ – or buy from your favorite brick and mortar, or online store (Amazon.com ).

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and complete by line is included.