Fun and useful tools for practice

Here are some useful tools for seeing as well as general practice:

Counting from 100 to 0 and from 0 to 100 simultaneously during meditation.

Several things happen when doing his - for one thing it is pretty much impossible to think while you are doing this.

You will also generally see the count in front of you - one scaling down and the other scaling up - meeting at 50-50.

As you practice this more the process can become like a mantra somewhat but it tends to require focus.

Close your eyes and imagine your favorite food - or car - or place - something you have an affinity for. 

If you have been having a problem with seeing/imagining things with your eyes closed, or you think you have a problem seeing things/imagining things, this exercise can often show you very clearly that you have no problem seeing things at all.

During your waking state with eyes open

Concentrate on being aware of your widest peripheral vision areas as well as all that is in between.

If you move your awareness from normal to wide you may also notice it affects your hearing.

This practice will affect your focus - not just visually but your thoughts and mindset.

You will notice energy entering the eyes and your energy will be considerably more in your head than out in front of you.

Have your awareness centered in the center of the head or anywhere in the central axis – Taiji pole. It is a far more neutral location and the traditional seal of embodiment.

Copywrite 2015 David A Doyle

Being in a Spiritual Group!

A short bit about “the path”

I am a huge fan of groups - groups with a good intent - (finding a good intent requires too many acres of writing for this post but let me get to the heart of what I am saying).

I have been in a number of spiritual groups and in all cases, it was hard to hide in them - it was inspiring to be in them - and they were all good for my own practice outside the group work.

All of them were political - they all had competition pervading them - energies were heightened - sensitivities open - they were a big squash pot of newness and exploration all the while the fresh beauty and attractions of other members was close and appealing or appalling and repellent - and you were expected to keep it all together with deliberate self-control in neutrality!

In all the cases I learned allot about myself and opened to new ways of looking at something. I felt my limitations, found ground in areas that i used to look at from afar and each time learned to encompass more, live with more and feel more.

Along with meditation I am also a big proponent of Fasting and Qi Gong.

Both fasting and Qi Gong act as a sort of Chiropractic for one’s energy systems.

If you look at the aura of a typical person, it is frequently quite thin in the back and well forward in the front. Most auras do not envelope the person past the knees if that far down and many of the colors are cloudy and patchy.

If you go on a healthy fast, at the end of it your aura will be noticeably smooth, encompass your entire physical body and the colors will be refreshingly clear and vibrant. (and you will probably have softened up quite a bit regarding everything).

This is also true of Qi Gong - a very quick way to increase vitality and clear oneself of knots and compressions of energy blocking the flow of Qi throughout our bodies. The basic exercises can be learned within weeks and the results are excellent from day one.

These simple things can be cast off as diversions to the "great work" but if your head is not clear you can be paddling in a circle for years. Mechanical measures to bring you back to your more authentic attunement have a great place in any practice.

They are perhaps the most important - like a shock - but self-induced - they take all the crayons off the table and put the paper in the basket and when you are done you start from scratch with no dirty dishes in your way.

Copywrite 2015 David A Doyle

The Retreat, the Vacation and a Glorious Day

Have you ever attended a spiritual retreat?

Enjoyed a wonderful vacation?

Experienced a glorious day?

In a retreat you are intentionally coming to your own Being-ness.

On a vacation, you are intentionally setting aside a level of engagement with much of the buzz in your life.

On a simply glorious day, you are swept up in the moment, the beauty, the light!

An astonishing NOW.

In any of these experiences, did you first need to become perfect?

In any of these experiences, did you notice how much “less of you” is more?

As your noise falls away, as the blinders, goals, beliefs and willfulness fall away, your union with One-ness, in the Light that is All and Everything comes into your Presence.

You regain Presence.

Presence, is not being lost in the trance of your own noise.