Spiritual Development

Whispered

Hi, it's been very quiet here lately!! I've recently started down a new spiritual development path, and it has been amazing. I'm intersted in hearing about others development. Perhaps we can encourage and help each other.

18AD

Hey!

I'm not quite sure which direction to take here.

The fiercest enemy I have faced along my path is inertia. I tend to do a fair bit of good work and then get lazy and relapse into doing trivial things. I'm still looking for a fool proof way to get around this... perhaps adopting a new belief system for this, but I haven't quite settled on anything. Acquiring a talisman of some sort has sprung to mind.

I've been practicing zen meditation a good bit in the past month or so. This has gone very well, at least when I have bothered doing it.

Beginner tantric practice has proved interesting to say the least. Although calling it that may be quite incorrect.

And I have spawned a new interest in kaballah. I'm very unfamiliar with the system but it seems to be quite consistent with my outlook as it stands now or at least complimentary to it.

Self awareness has proved to be the most progressive technique, however deceiving the mind can be. I mainly try and change my outlook and surprisingly enough, results do manifest themselves after they have lingered in my subconscious for some time.

And to a lesser extent my visualisation attempts have seemed to improve somewhat in the past week. This is mostly for fun and provides me with some casual entertainment throughout the day.

Hopefully this will prove to be commentable, or it is not quite what you intended.

Good luck.
AD.

Whispered

Oh I know what you mean, laziness is a curse I have great intentions but by the time i get home from work, have dinner, clean etc I'm fit for bed. What's Zen Meditation. I get bored meditating so maybe a new technique might help. I also find it very very hard to switch off completly when giving a treatment or a reading and I get very frustrated with myself over it, which doesn't help!!

The kaballah is probably great but the whole madonna/ashton kutcher thing would put me off, that probably is a very stupid thing for me to say!!!! :mad:

Self awareness!!! Causing me more trouble than anything else, I am now unhappy with loads of aspects in my life but afraid to do anything about them! I feel like i'm thinking too deeply and letting things upset me more than they used to.

I've also been trying visualisation/manifestation but find it doesn't work for me. Probably because it's based in belief and I find it hard to believe that we can have anything we want just by asking!! Seriously, w'd all be millionaires (well I would anyway)

Thanks for the reply

18AD

My own zen meditations may vary somewhat from some descriptions one might find. It ties in very closely with self awareness. It can be done at any time at all, no matter what you are doing. It is doing what you are doing well.
Remember when you were a kid and you'd try and balance while walking along a narrow pathway. That is zen meditation. An important part of it is that you enjoy trying to do it well and you jump right back up if you lose your balance.

Concentration on the task at hand. Try and be in the same mind frame in anything you do and try and do it the best you can.
I like to practice this while walking.

Sorry if this is a somewhat muddled explanation. It's hard to describe...

I've been in that phase of over thinking things many times. The trick is to just do things without worrying about them. Obviously you have to think through some problems, but maybe try and keep emotionally detached from them.
A good outlook I find is experimental method. Try something out to see what happens instead of thinking about what might happen. Trial and error.
A good mantra I've heard a couple of people find useful is f*ck it. This always makes me laugh to myself.

Good luck.
AD.

Whispered

Thanks AD, so basically if i try to find the challenge and enjoyment in verything it's a form of Zen meditation? Pretty good outlook. as for the f*$k it comment!! LOL would never have considered that very Zen!! haha.

Thanks

18AD

Zen is not some kind of excitement, but merely concentration on our usual everyday routine.
Shunkyu Suzuki

ladybirdirl

Good thread guys!

I've something that you may be able to help me with..struggling with trying to access something that I think is buried by using meditation.

Each time I try to access it I get close but don't ever get to it no matter how much I try

Ideas,comments,suggestions??

Ladybird

Whispered

Hi Ladybird, I'm definatly not able to help with meditation, I'm terrible at it. Maybe it has to do with trying to uncover something, if you just meditate with no expections it might work better. Hopefully someone might reply who knows how to help you properly.

Taking a more holistic look, perhaps whatever you are trying to uncover is being kept from you for the moment for a reason, when you are ready to remember whatever it is you will. (when I say being kept from you I mean by a part of your mind)

If it is very important to you I suggest looking at a regression. They're not only for past lives and such but deep buired memories. I got one done recently at the "Mind, Body, Spirit" expo in the RDS and it was great!!

18AD

Meditate without desire for a result - seconded.
If the type of meditation you are practicing is calming the mind.

If it is this, try to think of it less as suppressing the mind and maybe just intensely concentrate on something else, like the feeling in your hands/belly/tree across the road/whatever.

There are many, many meditation techniques. It's a matter of finding that works.

Good luck.
AD.

ladybirdirl

Thanks guys,

I've been trying to take my mind off what I'm focusing on & instead focus on the 'mechanics' of the meditation, the breathing,the imagery etc but to no avail thus far.

Helena...regression eh, don't suppose you got the name of the person?What form did it take?Sounds very interesting

A very close friend of mine also made the observation that maybe I'm not supposed to know this yet but you know when you feel you need to get this thing...anyway will perservere & let oyu know if I succeeed

Thanks guys

Ladybird

Whispered

Ladybird, I'm sorry I didn't get the name, I googled it today and couldn't find that specific one, but i'd imagine they're all pretty similar. It's very interesting how it works, I wasn't hypnotised or anything but could remember things that i thought I had forgotten, she brought me back through things and it really helped. She did nothing but help me remember by asking questions that you wouldn't normally think about, it really brings you back! Would be worth a try.

Also, if it is something that may be painful, perhaps you should try some form of healing. (I would say that being a Reiki Prac, I regard it as a cure all ) but if you are protecting yourself perhaps you could do with some healing before you go ahead with remembering. Reiki is a great way of getting to know yourself, you could find a practitioner close to you and give it a try. It's a great way of relaxing. the only time I can really meditate is when giving or recieving Reiki so it could help.

ladybirdirl

Thanks Helena,

I've done some healing & found it very good at the time. This thing actually didn't come up at the time but now can't move it!!

Will try the regression for a start anyway

Thanks again

Ladybird

Incidentally I got a great CD called flow dreaming which has some great meditations on:)

Shamanic

Hi all,
Its a very good thread that you have going here.

I started my spiritual path about two years ago with a well known Shaman that i've kown since i was 6.
It was hard leaving my partner on a friday and coming home on a sunday drained and on a completly different level but it opened me up in so many ways.
I got my certificate as a Shamanic Practitioner a year later and have never felt a sense of achievement like it before.
There is no feeling like knowing that you can help other people on a level that they cannot help themselves. Or knowing that you can step outside the matrix of time and journey to other places. Only yesterday i went to the glen of the downs and felt such a bond with everything around me that i couldve easily spent the entire day there. But then theres always the reality, the mundane jobs that we have to return to and cannot really speak of spending weekends with druids in old ireland.
And while i am here surrounded by my power animals and guides i have lost touch with what it truly means to be who i am and the power that i have to help people.

So thank you for this tread because it has really opened my mind and opened my heart to embrace what i have.

Love and light.

Whispered

Ladybird, when you try regression I'd be very interested in how you get on.
Shamanic, I was on a reiki course this weekend and was speaking to a man who is interested in shamanism, but i only had 5 mins to ask about it and now have loads of questions! What exactly is it, what is it based on? What are it's main purposes? I've decided not to go to Reiki 3 at the moment, but still want to continue learning and developing. Do you recommend it? I love the idea of working mainly with animal guides.
I'v had the urge lately to quit my job!! I know everybody prob does but I cant get it out of my head! I've finally found what I'm here to do and now I just want to go do it! It's very frustrating! Anybody have any ideas which will get me closer to my goal of working for myself in a holistic capacity? The only qualification I have at the moment is Reiki 2, however I will be dong more, I just dont know what!!

18AD

In reiki are you supposed to be in a clear minded state or are you guiding energy with your mind, thinking happy thoughts or whatever means necessary?

Shamanic:
This is a modern integration of tradition with technology/modernity:
http://www.fiu.edu/~mizrachs/technoshaman.html

It's sometimes also called urban shamanism.

Good luck.
AD.

Shamanic

helena.ryan wrote: »

Ladybird, when you try regression I'd be very interested in how you get on.
Shamanic, I was on a reiki course this weekend and was speaking to a man who is interested in shamanism, but i only had 5 mins to ask about it and now have loads of questions! What exactly is it, what is it based on? What are it's main purposes? I've decided not to go to Reiki 3 at the moment, but still want to continue learning and developing. Do you recommend it? I love the idea of working mainly with animal guides.
I'v had the urge lately to quit my job!! I know everybody prob does but I cant get it out of my head! I've finally found what I'm here to do and now I just want to go do it! It's very frustrating! Anybody have any ideas which will get me closer to my goal of working for myself in a holistic capacity? The only qualification I have at the moment is Reiki 2, however I will be dong more, I just dont know what!!

its not something that can be explained or condensed into a few words but I'll give you a general over view.. Shamanism deals with the spiritual aspect of illness and healing the spirit itself. Illness from a Shamanic perspective can cause power loss, which may lead to depression, chronic illness and feelings of bewilderment. Through Shamanic healing such as journeys and rituals a Practitioner can return lost power to a client.

Soul loss can occur through an emotional or physical trauma such as death of a loved one, abuse, the breakdown of a relationship, invasive surgery or any other traumatic event. When ones body goes through such a trauma part of the soul may leave in a survival effort so the person is not set too deeply in shock.

The results of soul loss can lead to dissociation, depression, addictions, post-traumatic stress syndrome and immune deficiency problems. All of which can prevent us from living the life we want and hold us back from creating happy and healthy relationships.

The role of a Shamanic Practitioner in this instance is to perform Soul Retrieval to track down and return the lost soul parts to the client.

Other ways a Shamanic Practitioner can help people is by assisting them in journeys of self discovery meditations, trust issues and many other parts of everyday life.

Shamanism is a way of life and something that you will always carry with you no matter what. For me it was truly a life changing experience and i couldnt recommend it highly enough. I watched the group i trained with grow and develop into the most beautiful people and come out so strong at the end. Its the most powerful thing i have ever experienced.

Whispered

18AD wrote: »

In reiki are you supposed to be in a clear minded state or are you guiding energy with your mind, thinking happy thoughts or whatever means necessary?

Reiki is great, in that whatever works best for you is how you should do it. Personally I feel a blank mind is best, this allows you pick up on things which might help your client further. It gives you more feedback (well it does for me anyway) but as I said earlier, I have a huge problem with clearing my mind so I find concentrating on the colour of the relevant chakra helps me, gives me something to think about and also focuses your ming on what you're doing. Another technique I was told is, if your mind starts to wander, bring your attention to your palms. I was thought that reiki works not matter what. You could be running through you shopping list, or thinking about what you have planned for later that evening in your head, and it would work so long as you have asked the relevant guides for help. But no practitioner would go in with a busy mind, it feels so much better when you gain an insight into your client. To do this you need an empty or focused mind.

I have read about the idea that in shamanism you travel to other worlds, are these equiv to "heaven" and "hell"? Can you do it without having to go away for the weekend, every weekend? I dont know enough about it to commit myself to that yet. I suppose what I'm asking is where could I get a "taste" of shamanism?

Shamanic

it wasnt every weekend just one weekend a month. You can do an introduction weekend in dunderry park but it is a stay over of 2 nights and cost a bit due to dunderrys large overheads. Or you can go to a practitioner for one on one sessions instead of a group of 35. Dont have the web address fro dunderry handy on me but i'm sure its easily found, just on my phone at th moment so getting charged per download
il google it later and post it up

MizzLolly

Hey Guys!
Kool thread. Helena, I notice you said above that becoming more aware makes you notice the aspects of your life that are not so good. Well what I have to say is loosely related. I notice that whenever I open up to anything spiritual\holistic etc.. I tend to find some negative aspects. I sometimes get the impression that by becoming aware of the good things, you are letting yourself see the bad things aswell. I'm not suggesting that opening up to spirituality is a bad thing or anything of the sort, but I do feel that sometimes it is fear that restricts us from acheiving our goal.
Ladybird, you mentioned meditation. I find meditation difficult too sometimes but it's not the actual relaxation part that is hard. Again, it is my fear that resricts me. I find myself afraid to fully let go. Perhaps this has something to do with you not being able to settle into it. I used to read Angel Cards everyday but I admit I've become totally withdrawn from it after a series of unfortunate events in my own life. It is for this reason that I wonder what exactly stops us from reaching that spiritual goal. There is no logical reason for me to take a break from Angel readings, I just haven't got the same faith that I used to. Not that I don't have faith in Angels but probably that I don't have enough faith in myself. This again, points to fear.

I also did past life regression in the RDS recently. It is interesting that it was not just past lives that were dealt with, but also things that happened throughout my 'current' life. It was by far the most liberating and breathtaking experience I've ever had. I learned a lot of my negative feelings were related to a fear of some sort.

Probably talking rubbish but I'm just trying to show how fear can stop us fully enjoying what's out there. Maybe you'll all see something that has let you down and made you fear the potential answers to your questions. This could be the very reason you can't settle into a routine or constant connection.