Distinguishing Reality During Meditation - Inner/Chakra Landscapes

[DreamBliss]

This is a very hard thing to put into words clearly. Briefly I will start by giving you some background. Some months ago I had an experience, in my mind, after an experience I had, a feeling, after reading a book, that, essentially, messed me up. I won't go into details. Basically I thought I was in love with someone and it turned out to (most likely) not be what I thought. More study and some time since I ended this has provided a few possibilities:

 

1. The magician's perspective - I was dealing with power which had manifested in this form.

2. The Yogic/Buddha/Tao perspective - I was dealing with Kundalini energy manifested in female form.

3. The alternate Buddha perspective - I was dealing with a Tulpa I had created.

4. My original perspective - I was really in love and energetically connected to an alien being on another world.

 

This thread is not to talk about that, only to give you background. You know the saying, "Once burned twice shy." Before this experience I was exploring the inner landscapes of my chakras with a spirit animal named Ayhunna, who came to me during a dream re-entry session to shamanic drumming. He left as suddendly as he came, aging before my eyes and disintigrating for lack of a better word. Now he's back. This brings me to what I need help with.

 

Before with Ayhunna I would meditate on my chakras, enter its landscape, and then Ayhunna would lead me to something I had to deal with there. Usually this was done playing his favorite game, "Chase the fox." I have since ceased to meditate on my chakras.

 

Now I do ZaZen when I get up and try to do Deep Meditation using the mantas, "Release, Flow" or "(my real name) a Center of Consiousness." With this last mantra I was trying to see myself as a center of consiousness per the first lesson in Raja yoga.

 

Recently with Ayhunna's return he usually sort of tells me during ZaZen through a sort of glimpse of him in my mind's eye or a sense of his presence that he wants me to follow him. Generally he comes during my last meditation of the evening. But I am having an issue here.

 

I need to figure out how to seperate that which my mind is manufacturing to distract me from meditating and that which is truly Ayhunna wanting me to follow him. I feel it is an honor to have his guidance and help once again, and I want to honor this by following his guidance. But I also need to make sure I'm not getting disracted by thoughts. You could argue that it's all thoughts. But for now let's try to keep it simple. There are thoughts generated by my mind, and there are thoughts my mind either locks onto or is given, like a message. I want to seperate what is message and what is just mind drivel. Understand?

 

So how do I do this? How do I make sure that I am not getting lost in thoughts durring meditation? How to I tell when Ayhunna is genuinely calling to me? How can I distinguish a mental distraction from a summons? I need to be sure so if it is a mind distraction, I can simply ignore it and focus on my mantra. But if it is Ayhunna, then I must follow him.

 

My inner landscape/inner world/chakra landscape - whatever the heck it is - is seriously f-d up right now. Hope nobody gets mad at the swear word. But it is very apt. With the loss of Ayhunna and the confusion around this, this relationship and its recent and raw end, as well as the fact that I was, not even a year ago, a simple church-going Christian with a few questions so this is all brand new to me, well I'm a mess. Ayhunna is trying to help.

 

I had one other indivdual who was trying to help me, but we have unfortunately sort of come up at odds to each other. My problem is I never really understood a lot of what he said. I tried and for the most part I followed his instructions. But so many things he instructed me to do just didn't feel right, or I didn't want to do them or something. But he did direct me here, so perhaps someone can help me out.

 

One last thing... As I read, "Magical Knowledge I" by Josephine McCarthy I am seeing much that could coorelate to my experiences. Later in the book she discusses meditation and inner worlds. I think I might have to drop my Raja yoga studies for now and adopt some sort of Inner Stillness Meditation based on her training as my last meditation of the day, and the time at which I work with Ayhunna. So this is what I tenatively plan to do. However I wouldn't mind getting some other viewpoints and advice here.

 

I mean what is the best way to go inside and work with your spirit animal? Maybe the answer is to somehow have a session devoted simply to Ayhunna and inner working, seperate from meditation. That may even be the answer to my problem. Simple enough, just train him, as much as that seems like the wrong way to think about it or say it, that meditation time is seperate from our time and ignore any glimpses or senses of him I recieve.

 

If there is a practicing shaman somewhere in here I would dearly love to hear from you. Above anyone else you would be able to shed light on a lot of this stuff. So please post if you can help me!

 

OK, off to meditate then sleep. Thanks everyone, and Namaste!

- DreamBliss

Edited November 8, 2012 by DreamBliss

[Jetsun]

Sounds like you are mixing up shamanic practices with meditation, if you get some spirit or voice talk to you in meditation you are meant to give it as much attention and valuation as the voice which starts thinking about what you are going to cook for dinner ie not very much at all, you recognise it is there and let it go or come back to your meditation focus. Typically in meditation spirits etc are just a distraction. The only method I know of contacting your spirit animal is drumming or maybe some dream practices.

 

But a lot of what you describe will sound quite out there strange to the average reader, I hope you are aware of this, if not I would think about going to talk to someone more regular like a councillor.

[ragamor]

I think I might have to drop my Raja yoga studies for now and adopt some sort of Inner Stillness Meditation based on her training as my last meditation of the day, and the time at which I work with Ayhunna.

 

If this is your instincts then follow it and see what happens. Worst case scenario is some lost time.

 

I'm not a expert on spirit animals, but my advice would be to take take notice of what happens during your stay with Ayhunna and take some time after the session to go true what happened.

[DreamBliss]

But a lot of what you describe will sound quite out there strange to the average reader, I hope you are aware of this, if not I would think about going to talk to someone more regular like a councillor.

 

All I have to say to this is, "I love you" and send you a big smile

 

To be clear... I do not hear voices in my head, I have no need of any sort of councillor or headshrink, and I couldn't afford one anyway I was hoping that this forum may be the sort of place where strange folks like myself could get together, but if it is not that's fine. I'll just have to find another place.

 

You have made a possible useful and valid point about the possibility I am confusing my meditation time and shamanic practices, and a good recommendation for how I should contact Ayhunna. Thank you.

- DreamBliss

[DreamBliss]

If this is your instincts then follow it and see what happens. Worst case scenario is some lost time.

 

I'm not a expert on spirit animals, but my advice would be to take take notice of what happens during your stay with Ayhunna and take some time after the session to go true what happened.

 

In the end, barring recieving any other advice, this is what I will do. I already keep a journey of my time with Ayhunna and I was posting about it at my blog (accessible through my profile.) Fell a little behind though, will try to get back on it.

 

Thank you for posting!

- DreamBliss

[Fū Yue]

Best way not to get lost in thoughts during meditation? Let go of the convention of thinking during meditation. Don't rely on thinking as an object of meditation. Develop the other senses instead, strengthen the sense of smell, the sense of touch, the sense of hearing, et cetera. Redirect all of the awareness and attention you put into the brain back into the body. Then center everything in stillness and watch the silence. You need to develop internal stillness if you want to really be able to discern the origin of certain thoughts.

 

Also, if your fox companion is powerful enough to pull you into spirit journeys through your psycho physical landscapes, chances are it can hear your thoughts and understand them. You probably don't have to 'train' him to do anything. He's probably 'training' you.

[Birch]

I would suggest not mixing all these things up at the same time. I would suggest that with time and practice, all of these things will take their 'correct' places and you will be able to recognize what and why they are.

I'm with the 'ignore scenery' people, until you decide it's something you want. But that's just what I've decided. Had you been following a traditional shaman, they'd likely teach you the proper way.

IMO/IME TTB's isn't very 'shamanic'.

[suninmyeyes]

....There are thoughts generated by my mind, and there are thoughts my mind either locks onto or is given, like a message. I want to seperate what is message and what is just mind drivel. Understand?

 

So how do I do this? How do I make sure that I am not getting lost in thoughts durring meditation? ....

Maybe try and meditate and find out how the mind works for yourself. Where do the thoughts come from - how do they form? Who is this you and what are these thoughts , are they seperate?

Is mind really yours?

 

Just sit through whatever is occuring, even through making sure that you are not getting lost in thoughts, or have thinking about work, or gardening or anything, you just think about it as much as you want ,youll get bored of it anyway, but keep on sitting and sitting still, dont move .

Might take a while. Dont mind just sit through that as well.

You will see that thoughts will dissapear by themselves.Than you will be able to understand more the inner dynamics, understanding will come by itself.

 

In general this stuff can be very tricky , there are so many people who are shamans or cultivators meditating day and night for decades thinking they are chanelling and sometimes getting confused not being able to tell what is what.

[Tibetan_Ice]

Hi Dreambliss

I used to channel when I was a teenager. I did not enjoy it. Although it seemed to be accurate to the people that I was channeling for, there was always a nagging doubt and feeling that I was just making it up.

 

About 25 years ago, I met Jesus in a church.. Long story. After that experience, for months after, I had strange experiences. For example, one night after 'praying for two hours' I went to bed. In my mind's eye a small boy floated up next to me in bed. I saw him and then asked him, "who are you?". He said "what does it matter?" So, I said, "I bind you in the name of Jesus Christ". At that moment the little boy disappeared and I found myself looking at some kind of large reptile face, with long white teeth. It resembled an aligator. Then, it turned and was whisked away. For years after, whenever I would see a face or 'being' during meditation, I would either "pray the blood of Jesus" over it or "bind you in the name of Jesus Christ". Most of the time, the face or being would change into something else and then disappear. Sometimes, though, they would not. That is how I could tell good beings from bad spirits.

 

One time I did a full crystal layout while lying down on the living room floor (silk sheet). I was interrupted by a kind of a white man form that appeared on the left side of my face in my mind space. I asked it who it was and it said that it was my guide. So, I asked it to show me a previous life.. Long story short, through a series of meditations with the full crystal layout and my guide, I discovered four of my "previous lives". Whether or not they are true, well, they sure feel true and they explain some present day conditions and influences, but how do you really verify it?

 

After spending quite a lot of time with various meditations, meeting spirits, exploring other planes, I concluded that just because someone is dead or a spirit doesn't make them enlightened or super intelligent.

 

The higher beings feel like they are higher. They emit great amounts of love and pure energies. When you finally meet one, you will know by your reaction. If you are not getting the reaction, it is mostly likely some entity or spirit that is going to suck your energies or waste your time. I've seen two angels, pure white light beings that emitted so much love that it made me cry.. That was when my desire to meet God was so intense that I was using the mantra like a prayer, praying from my heart.

 

I have learned how to distinguish mind-created imagination and thoughts from the real psychic intuitions. The real psychic phenomenon occurs without a seed thought from the mind. If you think of something and then some other thing comes to mind, it is a thought that you created. If something comes to you out of the blue, in the higher clearer part of the mental space, it is accurate. It has taken me years of examining the process to determine this. Usually, if it is a mental creation, the thought will be thick or have a whitish light texture to it. If, on the other hand, it is very clear, crisp, transparent and luminous, and comes from above the lower mental arena of thoughts, it is the real thing.

 

There are many planes and beings all around us all of the time. It is shocking. There is no privacy. At all. It is very interesting to explore them, but it is also a great waste of time. They seem to go on forever. However, it is kind of handy being able to detect when someone is scrying at you or sending you negative energy.

 

You have to know how to protect yourself, or have a high being protect you (like Jesus) once you start shining your light brightly. It attracts all kinds of stuff. One good book on this subject is "Awakening the Third Eye" by Samuel Sagan. However, there are lots of books on astral travel (Robert Monroe, Eckankar, Edgar Cayce) around.

 

For discerning good and bad spirits and entities, you can also use "If you are not from the highest most purist light, then please leave". But you have to believe in what you are saying and intending. Better to pick a powerful universal person or saint to ask for protection from.. The more people believe in a thought-form, the stronger it is.

 

I have no interest these days in exploring the astral planes or psychic phenomenon anymore. I'm just incorporating it in my every day life when it happens.. I also have no interest in becoming anyone's teacher, I'm still a student. I guess I feel happy to just give out some pointers and think I've actually helped someone along the way.. This is probably a self-deception. The universe is living it's own life and we are just specs being blown around by it.

 

One last thing, using crystals, like amethyst, garnet, tourmaline, quartz, emerald, moldavite, rose quartz, etc really helped to get the third eye going. And always remember to put a black stone at your feet to ground the energies and encase you. If you get into crystals, learn as much as you can before trying them out.

 

Also, the only way to get a decent meditation in, is to simply ignore the faces and entities that come calling.

 

Oh, and if your kundalini awakens, you will see visions of the sexiest, most attractive woman that you have ever met in your life. She will dance for your, visit you constantly and entice you. It is so great and seductive. It is just a phase and I think you have to get through it to the point where it no longer interests you. It took me a few years to get over that. Well, maybe I"m not totally free of that yet.. There are many traps and unexplained phenomenon when you get into psychic/astral/etheric/spiritual practices.. It is a lot of fun and at the same time a great waste of time. One rule of thumb, never get stuck on anything for too long. Never lose sight of your goal, which is to know the truth of existence. To know God..

 

Last bit of advice. Your mind is not your friend. Learn to watch it. Don't let it control you. Become the master not the victim. Your mind is what is keeping the realization of what lies beyond away. Don't always focus on forms, focus on the space that surrounds the forms. Don't always focus on thoughts, focus on the larger space that encompasses the thoughts. Don't always look out, look back at the 'you' that is watching. There lies the key.

 

Good luck.

 

TI

[DreamBliss]

@-K-

I know, the title of this forum sort of makes its focus very clear Do you have any shamanic/spiritual forums you would recommend? Anyone else?

 

Hey thanks everyone for all your replies! It sounds like I need to observe my thoughts. If I am focused on my mantra and my thoughts flicker to Ayhunna, and if the image is not clear, then it most likely just a distracting thought. But if he comes in clear and strong, then I should consider that a sort of calling or something.

 

@Tibetan_Ice

I'll look for that book and go over your words a few times. Lots of good stuff there. I don't know how I feel about channeling. I haven't spent much time with Ayhunna trying to figure out if he's good or bad. I guess I just naturally feel I can trust him and so far he seems to only be trying to help me, even at the sacrifice of his own form. Anyhow I will remmeber your advice. As far as protection I infuse myself with my own energy spark from my center every day just before my first meditation. As everyone's energy signature is unique nothing can latch on to me once I am thus protected. Described in detail in Meg Blackburn Losey's, "Touching the Light."

 

Gotta make this quick, need to do a few things on the computer but been fighting a migrain the whole day so my time is limited.

- DreamBliss