Tree04

Hello Tao Bums! I'm writing this because I recently had a manager move in from out of state and has been wreaking havoc on my psychic energy and spirituality, along with my fellow employees. He's what I call a 'psychic vampire' meaning that he gets his kicks out of making people "below" him feel miserable. I am in good with his Manager and my other 4 bosses, so even though he attacks me, I know my job is not in jeopardy. However, he had continued in recent months to scrutinize my work (which everyone else thought was just fine), to the point where I wound up snapping viciously back at him on several occasions, telling him to just eff off, and leave me alone! Upon further contemplation, I realized I wasn't getting much satisfaction out of my aggressive behavior and that I was in fact stooping to his level, so I turned to an alternative method. My brother Birch Tree has been trying to get me to give meditation a chance, but emptying the mind just didn't work. I got too distracted. I'd have to itch my foot, my arm, my leg was uncomfortable and falling asleep, etc. But I began to feel that if I didn't meditate, if I didn't become a Zen master of some sorts before I went to work, eventually, this man would destroy me. And that wasn't fair. I'm a good person, I try to do the right thing. I know I'm ignorant on many things, but I knew I didn't deserve the treatment I was receiving, and I love my job, I didn't want to quit. A few weeks ago, I had a feeling that I would be psychically attacked by my manager. It lingered on me pretty much all day. So after a few hours of fear and dread I decided that I wasn't going to let it happen and that I had to prepare myself. I sat down on the couch in half lotus(?) position with my hands cupped upward with one hand resting on the other with thumbs touching. Okay so this is what happened. I tried first to empty my head but that didn't work very well so instead I decided that perhaps it would at least be of some benefit to focus on something like trying to open my lower dantians (although I will refer to them as chakras because I used 7 points instead of 3). So I first thought of "connecting" with the energy that is most predominant in body, and to no surprise to me at all, immediately I "felt" or was "aware" of my Vishuddha (throat) chakra. I then attempted to channel the energy up to my Anja (third) eye, and I felt a tingling sensation not on my forehead but in the back half of my head (perhaps the pineal gland?). Surprised and excited that it was actually working I let the energy flow up to the crown (I couldn't feel much there physically but was just aware that it was there) and then took it back down. I let it flow through the entire 7 chakras, up and down, twice. Interestingly I could feel it at the third eye, throat, heart, and even on the second time in my solar plexus I got a slight tingle. My lower dantian or the 2 lowest chakras I felt absolutely nothing. So after I had completed my energy cycle twice I then concentrated it on the solar plexus (2nd dantian) and held my energy there (Again a slight tingle occurred.) I then imagined my energy field as a shield of protection, and I said to myself that no negative energies could get passed my shield. I meditated on that thought and tried to push the energy in my solar plexus out to my energy field as reinforcement. I'm not done with this story by any means. So after I felt I had indeed reinforced my energy field I asked my Spirit Guide if I could just get a glimpse of my aura. So I opened my eyes and held out my hands and I literally saw my aura as I have never seen it before! I saw wisps of light coming out of my fingertips (not the ends of my fingers, but at the inflection point on my finger, where it starts to turn) and all of them were tingling at that one, very specific point. That was at the base of my fingers, then around my hands about 1/4" out I saw a little thin white aura. I have seen those before, but what really amazed me was about 6" away from my hands and arms I caught a slight rainbow. Not very big, only maybe 2" in length. I don't know how long I stared at it, maybe a couple of minutes or so. I think I said "cool" out loud. I should also mention that I didn't see much red in it, actually it was mostly yellow, green, blue and purple. When you think about colors in terms of wavelengths, red has the longest and purple the shortest so that's backwards intuitive. But I suppose when you think of energy reinforcement and if each charka has a color, it starts to make more sense. Then my alarm went off and I was amazed at how much time had passed. A half hour felt like seven minutes. But I felt great! As I was getting ready for work I went through some of my old Buddhist sayings like "Life is as fleeting as a rainbow, a sunset, knowing this how can we quarrel?" and "My enemy is my friend, my teacher, my pupil as we are all human beings and we all experience the same feelings. We are all one." So when I got to work my manager was there and I immediately did a binding spell. I also, against my "poorer" judgement decided to send him positive thoughts. I specifically thought of the word Tranquility. Everytime I think of that word I think of a deep, dark, clear lake surrounded by mountains with a sunset. He started yelling at everyone immediately but oddly enough he started to open his mouth when he got to me, stared at me, closed his mouth, and moved on. I actually considered attempting to put protective barriers around everyone, but decided against it because I didn't think it would be effective and I selfishly didn't want to lessen the energy field around myself. Besides, if I gave my energy to the other staff members almost none of them would channel it correctly, I'm sure it would have just been absorbed. Anyway, I'm curious if anyone has had a similar experience. I've seen the thin white aura before, I can see it on command actually, and I can read auras generally but I don't visually see them, not like I did that day, that was new! Also if anyone who has done binding spells or protectinve barriers I encourage you to share your experience. I'm an ameteur at most of these spiritual things, but I love them and I want to get the most knowledge out of them. Thank you for listening. Best Regards, Tree04 PS. - I'll be the first to admit, I'm a bit of a simple person, meaning, that I appreciate answers that are on my cognitive level. As much as I appreciate answers, technical jargon and references to people/books I've never heard of will do limited good. So please regard me as a student, and don't overburden me with texts that I need to read and references I need to look up. Talk to me accordingly. Thanks! I appreciate it!

I really appreciate everyone for their comments. I'd like to address them separately. Vortex, Thank you so much for the link! When I talked about the white layer close to the skin, I had no idea what it was! I'm so excited to have found out what it is (the Etheric layer) because I've never seen any texts or books on it so for you to show me that just confirms what I have been seeing for years! And for the link to confirm that it's the easiest layer to see, because I can see it on command; just having that validation is worth gold in my mind. I cannot wait to research this more. You have my sincere gratitude. Kate, I think you're right, and I like your positive approach. It infers that I have a level of control over the future but in a positive reinforcement kind of way; I like that. I am going to utilize it from now on. Thank you! Hey Birch Tree, brother! I like the metaphorical symbolism in your post. It reminds me of fish swimming upstream But I think you're right, if he is more powerful than he could overtake my binding spell, but why do so when there is plenty of game downstream? Which explains why he still attacks everyone else. Like I've said before, I would never use it for harm, just defense, so perhaps my intentions alone keep the karma police at bay. By the way, did you read vortex's post, and click on the link? That's EXACTLY what I've been seeing! We've talked about it several times and I told you I swore I could see my aura. Well it turns out it's not all of it (base chakra) but that's what I've been seeing! I cannot wait to research this! Tree04

Thanks for your comments Vortex. I completely agree with your affirmations and with your views on issues: that they will repeat themselves until you learn to get past them. I'm curious about the white you've seen and the ancestral orb. If you wish to elaborate on your experience, I'm all ears. I wonder if the white is the same as the one I've seen at the fingertips and around the skin, or was it bigger than that? And the ancestral orb, did you have a paranormal encounter with an ancestor? Sorry, I've never heard the term before. As for being lucky bastards I am under the 'belief' or 'idea' that we all get there eventually. I really need to work on my lower chakras though because they don't just feel low, they feel impenatrably shut off at times, which is a major frustration to me because I don't feel whole and I know I need to work on them. Best Regards, Tree04 PS- Thank you moderators. It's my first post so I'm sorry for all the problems. I think I got it figured out now. Thanks for your patience with me.

Birch Tree, Yeah, I wonder if the binding spell you did on the mice is the same as the one I do on manager-guy. I mean, didn't the mice die??? May not be quite the same thing:) My binding spell is pretty simple: I concentrate on the person, and I say in my mind, "You are not allowed to harm me, you are not allowed to attack me. I bind you, I bind you, I bind you." That's pretty much it, but everytime I do it, it works. Not just on people, but anytime I feel like a low-life energy is following me around I do the same and it usually goes away within a few hours. I hope I'm not racking up karma points for doing that because I mean the person no harm, it's just a way of keeping them from harming me. Like I said before, manager-guy still yells at everyone else, so he's still free to do as he pleases, he just can't do it to me. I never saw it as a freedom restriction before, just a defense mechanism, but you bring up a good point that even though it's effective, perhaps it would be better to just focus on my protective auric barrier. As for doing binding spells recently, yes I do it about once every two weeks to him, but perhaps I shouldn't and just focus on the right mind/action method. Hmm, this has given me a lot to think about. As always, I appreciate your insight. I do not work tomorrow night (Wed night) so feel free to call me. Just don't do it during Ghost Hunters (8 pm). -Tree04

Thanks EagleShen for your advice. I will try this method. My brother Birch Tree also mentioned to me recently the importance of 'grounding' your energy. The situation in which it came up was I decided (both he and I) to help a friend of mine who was going through a series of tough situations, and asked for our help. So we decided to both meditate and send this person our energy. We were successful; the person had things turn out much better than what we expected. (Of course, this is all subject to criticism as there is no scientific proof that our collective energies made a difference, but my friend swears by it.) Anyway, my brother grounded his energy, and I did not (I didn't know I was supposed to). The result was I felt really sick for a week, just tired, exhausted like I've never experienced. Is the method of grounding perhaps the same thing, or will it perform the same function? Just curious. Best Regards, Tree04 Thank you Sloppy Zhang and Marblehead for weighing in. I completely agree with you that being aware of your actions is very important. Usually I am guarded in speech, or I try to be, but this guy was the one person who just broke through that barrier and made me snap. That tells me that I have to increase my tolerance so I can continue to achieve right action and speech. Like you say, the better I get at doing that, the closer I get to letting go. So in a way, this is a learning experience. Funny you mention Chi, Marblehead. I just recently was given the I Ching and have been reading it in spurts, basically when I get the chance. I've done a couple of divinations and almost always I get yin energy, rarely do I get yang. I can't wait to read more about the Chi. Thank you. Best Regards, Tree04

I love him! The first book I read from him was the Alchemist, but my favorite is the Devil and Miss Pryhm. Veronika Decides to Die was good, but I really wasn't a hug fan of the Zahir; it started out good enough but then it was like he didn't know how to end the story(?) I don't know, I got bored with it and I had to take a break from him. I recently purchased 11 Minutes and Down by the River Pierda I Sat Down and Wept, so I'm hoping those are better than the Zahir. I love how his books all contain a lesson; it's fiction yet thought provoking, but not so in-your-face the way Daniel Quinn is where really there is no plot so why bother. He's a much deeper author than most. What's your favorite? Best Regards, Tree04

Hey

I'm paraphrasing Robert Monroe, so excuse me for not giving an exact quote: The world is cruel and predatory by nature, down to its basic components. It's kill or be killed in the animal kingdom, so is it a surprise that we humans fall back on the same nature? The world is cruel and predatory by nature, but that is what makes it an excellent teaching machine. -paraphrased by Robert Monroe Best Regards, Tree04

I'm glad you got the answer you needed, brother. I think you knew it all along, deep down, this forum just solidified it for you:) Catch you on the tele! Your sis, Tree04

In regards to a balanced approach I have a few words for you: You are ready. Tree04

Hey Bro! Whew! Now I see what you mean about border wars! Honestly, what a bunch a BS!! You know, people on this forum can sit here and make fun of the Lama Shenpen Drolma all they want, but the truth is half of them don't lift a finger for their own elderly neighbor who is trying to take the trash out. And so they can spew their technical jargon until the cows come home but that doesn't change one thing: if they are wiser than we are, why are they still here? You know brother, if you feel like something is a good idea, go with your gut. Forget Buddhism, vs. Taoism. If we fell back into the us vs. them mentality, we are no better than any other religions out there, or mom and dad and their views of Catholism! When you shut the mind, you stop learning, you start scrutinizing and you think you're better than everyone else, and then you become bitter, which, from my humble observation, is furthest from learning the Tao that you can be. When you recognize wisdom, whether they be Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Moslem you can still tell when they are close to enlightenment. Look at Mother Teresa, a woman, who had her doubts about her Catholic views, but never faultered on doing what is right, despite that. Who would dare condemn her? Who dare call her an evil, unwise person? Getting back to the honest question you ask, about one's motivations. I think Horton gave the best answer, and one that I hadn't even considered before:

One last thing brother: "There is no place that the Tao is not." Just something for you to think about: do you know how many people don't even know themselves? So if there is no place that the Tao is not, then even if you don't feel you know yourself, then perhaps you can find it in other people, situations and therefore reveal the Tao in you by discovering it in others? I'm not enlightened, because I'm still learning things about myself: a work in progress, I call it. Tree04

Sorry for the spelling errors, you know how fast I write. I should learn to proofread. Tree04

Hey Bro, I wish I could have been there, that sounds awesome! I bet the energy in the room was just radiating! Funny you mention border wars: it reminds me of Plato and Aristotle; both studied under Socrates' philosophy. Plato focused his philosophy inward (predominately on the nature of truth, for example, when you use a ruler to draw a line, it is not a true straight line, because of the imperfections of the ruler, made by human hands. However, the idea of the the straight line is in our minds, and it is the Ultimate Striaight Line). Whereas Aristotle, having a doctor for a father, focused on outward virtue (the Nichomachean Ethics) as a means towards truth in action. Is one right and the other wrong, or are they just focused on different, yet complimentary things? I don't know what border wars you (Taoists) have with me (background predominately Buddhist), but I think the two are mutually inclusive and necessary, from my experience. That's why I like spending time on this forum. Taoists bring to light the importance of focusing on the self, and Buddhists concentrate their energy on right action towards others to allieviate suffering. It's like you tomato, I say tomato:) Perhaps this border war generally depends on what each indiviual needs in order to progress. For example, at times I care so much about the world that I forget I need to take care of myself, that's when I know I need to look inward through meditation to rejuvenate my inner energy, and use a Taoist approach. On the other hand, sometimes I get so self involved that I become depressed because I am a social being, and then I use a Buddhist approach, and I again, rejuvinate my inner energy, but by focusing it outwards through good deeds. You mentioned that you felt selfish about learning the Tao, but when you say that I think of what Buddhism says: there is either foolish selfishness, or wise selfishness, where foolish selfishness describes those who are over-involved in the Earth-Life System as we know it: life feeds on life in order to survive, or wisely selfish, were we cultivate our spirituality, for our own gain but also help those that we pass. I know you brother, and I don't think there's anything intrinsically selfish about your motivations: which is the search for truth, Tao, enlightenment, for the spirit to live on and to not let the house builder build any more houses for you, am I right? My goal is the same, and I love how me being from a Buddhist practice and you from Taoist, we continue to learn from eachother. So there are no lines drawn in the sand here:) I always thought that was a dangerous mentality. We have the same goal, same wish for understanding, yet we are two different people, we have different, yet parallel paths and make use of what we have to get to the same goal. I would like to also note, when the speaker asked if it realizing the Tao is for the betterment of other sentient beings, she brings up an interesting point. Perhaps you could see Taoism as you're internal training, where Buddhism allows you to excerise, or test what you have learned. And then from that, you can see how much you actually have accomplished. It's like a doctor who read from a textbook and knows the body inside and out, but until you've actually operated on someone do you know how skilled you are. As the Buddha said, taking refuge in the forest and hills to meditate is not always the best way to enlightenment. They may help you to focus, but it may be wiser to surround yourself with those who are wiser than you, so you can learn, and then next time you interact with the spiritually immature, you will act correctly. You cannot ignore the spiritually immature world around you. You are part of it, and you have a choice on how you interact with it, but interaction is most certainly inevitable. These are just my humble thoughts. Tree04

Wow. It sounds like an OBE. I've had three of them in the past 4 years. Here are my experiences, and I'm curious if you had similar. I would rise up about 3 ft from my body and feel pulses on the "skin" of my spiritual body, like light waves hitting but it wouldn't hurt it would just feel uncomfortable, or unnatural. And when I would slam back into the body I would do it with such a force that I would actually feel the back of my head when I "woke up" to make sure there's no damage. In my case, I would levitate until the vibrations freaked me out to the point where I couldn't go on. I'm curious if this is the same as your experience. If it is, it would be nice to know. I've been studying Robert Monroe's OBE techniques for years now and I had some crazy stuff happen to me. I don't expect anyone to believe me; you need to experience it for yourself. If this is what is happening to you, the best advice I can give you is to not be afraid. I was afraid, and I have no idea how much information I missed out on because of my fear. Best Regards, Tree04

I don't know if I would consider my third eye completely open, but I occasionally, visually, see shadow people. And I met my spirit guide once. Mostly my experiences are more physical like skin sensations and intuitive, like hunches. I can't control what I see, they just pop up every now and then. Hope this helps. Best Regards, Tree04

I came across your site by my brother, "birch tree" who recommended that I may be able to focus my energy in a more productive way. A little about me, I have been seeing ghosts since the age of five; I see them periodically but I wouldn't consider myself a psychic by any means, although I have been able to predict the future in some rare cases, but I always tell people not to really believe me. Even when I say it I don't have any confidence that I'm right. I can read most auras immediately, that's one thing I'm really good at doing. At the age of 19 I had what I think was a non-human spirit follow me for almost three months and it scared me half to death, after that I turned off my abilities for 4 years until I became curious again, especially when my brother "birch tree" confided in me that he was having paranormal experiences. In short I have focused on two main things in the last four years: Out of body experiences (which I have successfully induced through meditation 3 times), and aura readings. On a side note, I have been experiencing random paranornal activity, which I also hope to develop. I guess in short I feel that I should utilize my potential but I feel my brain is so unfocused, and perhaps my energy needs to be focused differently. That's why I'm here: to learn. Anyway, I'm open to advice from someone of equal or greater knowledge than my own. Thank you. Best Regards, Tree04

Thanks bro! I had a fanastic experience yesterday that I wanted to talk to you about. In short, I was having a really bad day yesterday, I mean, really bad. Andy was home with the flu and his grandpa died and so he has to take off 3 days. I have seen him cry twice before, that's it. So I was doing dishes and I was crying silently to myself because I had lashed out at him for not spending enough time with me, which isn't his fault at all; you know how busy he is. So I was doing dishes and I was crying silently to myself and I decided to address my Spirit Guide, because I felt like I could have dealt with the situation better, so I said under my breath, "I'm sorry." When I said it I had a cold blast chill my arm and my hair stood on end. And there was this pressure over my forearms. I was kindof self-absorbed at the time and so I noted it and I continued thinking about everything else wrong in my life (which is really nothing but you know how it is when things start to avalanche unneccessarily. Plus I'm a girl. Enough said.) I prayed the only prayer I ever say. Not to God but to my Spirit Guide and I asked for strength or courage (not for everything to be fixed because I would learn nothing). When I asked, I got the same cold chill around my arms and the pressure, that's when I realized it was like someone was hugging me! It may have been just my own mind inducing the feeling, I know, I just wanted to share it with you. It didn't feel like my mind, because my mind was crazy but then all of the sudden there was this calm, (cold) loving embrace from nowhere. I felt better, and Andy came into the kitchen and we made up instantly. I know you'll ask, was it Andy's grandpa? I don't think so. For one, I only met the man once and it was at my bridal shower to pick up JaJa and he didn't even come to the wedding reception (to ill). I do have to say though at his funeral on Tuesday I will definitely try to talk to him. Maybe it was him, because this happened an hour after he died. Anyway, thought you might like the story about the hugging. Made me feel better. Hi to the fam! Tree04

Thank you for your helpful post Vortex. I had to look up "dan tians" so I believe (?) you are talking about the lower body chakras, as I know them (the first three). I'll be honest with you I thought the point of progression was to continue upward in charkra energy but I suppose that if you consider all matter being subjective to a center of gravity, the lower energy levels need to be sound in order to progress... Interesting. I will look into your Quanzhen technique. I appreciate the helpful post. As for having my third eye open, I don't think it's fully open, but that's what I was hoping to achieve. I think my Anahata and Vishuddha are open, with my Anja is peaking on the horizon. I say that because I can't control by Anja, but I feel I have control over the other two. But perhaps I have neglected my Muladhara, Swadhisthana and Manipura. My self taught menality of these lower chakras has built a parallel between them and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, (from when I first became interested in chakras). And so the "stereotpyical" level of the MHN carried into the chakra levels and posed them as a matter of progession, without paying much attention to how important the fundamentals are. Sorry if this doesn't make sense I'll will explain more. Anyway, I appreciate the positive, helpful post. It's nice to be able to talk to people about this instead of whether I spelled "amateur" correctly:) Best Regards, Tree04 PS. It's funny you are are not the first to ask if psychic abilities are inherited! I should mention that my brother "birch tree" is a Scorpio and the I'm a Leo but the Sun was in Scorpio the day I was born. Don't have a clue what that means, but of the eight of us, we are the most clairvoyant. My mom's not that bad though, and we have a little brother that shows some promise.