Aura of Place 10-26-11

I think places must have auras too -- an electromagnetic field that is just theirs alone.  Most places field -- it seems -- would get diluted -- melded with that of the inhabitants.
Not true in Antarctica.  The place is so big and empty of anything other than itself, that you really feel IT.
I had the absolute pleasure of going to Antarctica a couple of years ago (I say pleasure but there were also moments of extreme terror, crossing the Drake Passage in forty foot seas, being stuck on a rock, literally, at the bottom of the world waiting for a rescue ship).  The trip was a generous gift from my son, Eric -- and I have never felt the impact of place so beautifully and so fiercely, as in Antarctica.  (some big empty deserts would come a distant second)


Seventh Chakra.  Eighth Chakra.  We're in a high and lonely realm.
The way to experience the upper chakras is to meditate.
Antarctica was like living in a meditative state:  vast, unearthly, filled with the Presence of God.

Sit comfortably.  Hands in a gyan mudra, thumbs and fore-fingers touching.  Chant:  Guru Guru Wahe Guru Guru Ram Das Guru, continuously, at a fast pace, for as long as you want.
CONNECT WITH THE DIVINE

RADIANCE 10-13-11

This is a photograph by Walter Chappell -- the leaf of a plant -- the photograph capturing its energy field.  Amazing, isn't it?  Radiant.
And Radiance is the talent of the Eighth Chakra.  We all are Radiant!  We vibrate and glow -- and we can enhance that by doing Kundalini Yoga.

In 1984, I was doing photography in Boston, studying, and in love, with the mystical images of Minor White, the photographer who, during his lifetime, had taught at MIT.  My apartment at the time, on Beacon Street in the Back Bay, looked right out across the Charles River at the main building of MIT -- which has nothing to do with anything other than it was a lovely view.
Also happenstance, I came across an article in a photography magazine entitled:  Walter Chappell, The Poet of Light.  He had been a student of Minor White, and his work too, captured my imagination.

The article said he lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico -- he was alive, unlike Minor.  So, I called him -- woke him up as it turned out -- oops, sorry.
But I was forgiven, and ultimately, after sending him some of my own work, was invited to apprentice with him.  An invitation that changed my life.

Life now seems to have come full circle -- convolutedly perhaps -- but me showing one of his photographs in this blog of mine about Radiance.

Chakra Eight 10-2-11

   The Auric Body  --   Radiance

People lie.  Auras never lie."
                             Yogi Bhajan


We are lit up like a Christmas tree!  If we could see (some do see) the energy waves, the colors, that come from us, we would be amazed!  Undulating waves of vibrations and colors -- and for each of us, it's different, like fingerprints.  Wouldn't it be great to "read" one's own aura?
Well we can read our own auras by tuning into the previous seven chakras -- where are we in alignment, where are we not?  The colors will show the truth, the level of vibrational field will show the truth.  And we can add to it positively by doing Kundalini yoga, by meditating, why even by thinking kind thoughts -- and it's not just ourselves that we're concerned with, but the vibrational field of our whole, our known and unknown universe, our God -- for we are All One. Let's Shine, let's Glow, with energy and life force, with Radiance!


Here is our forty day meditation for the Eighth Chakra:  the meditation for spiritual awakening.
Sit comfortably.  Eyes are one-tenth open.
Raise your arms up over the head, interlacing the fingers six inches above the top of the head, palms face-down.  Elbows are bent slightly, forming an arc around your head.
Deeply inhale and hold the breath.
Exhale fully and hold the breath out.  Be sure to sue long, deep, complete breaths.
Continue eleven minutes, working up to thirty-one minutes.

The Other Side of The Red Door 9-28-11

Back in February, nearing the end of our work in First Chakra, I discovered a Red Door, which had been covered over by a drape, in my husband's shop (check out the blog posting of 2-3-11).  It struck me especially at the time because the color of the First Chakra is Red.  I wasn't sure how or why, but the discovery of this door seemed symbolic -- what threshold was I crossing?  What meaning might this have in my life?
And now, nearing the end of the Seventh Chakra, The Crown -- and after our journey through seven of the wheels of life, I'm seeing the significance of this Red Door.  It was The Opening into my own studio.  I'm now on the other side of the door -- and my archives of the past thirty years!  Writing, photographs, paintings, collected memorabelia, family treasures -- all my stuff in a beautiful, big, spacious, high-ceilinged, south-facing, studio!!!  I am so grateful.

I apologize for not writing the whole month of September and for most of Crown Chakra, but I've been so busy moving into my new space I never seemed to find the time.  I am sorry.  Seventh is a wonderful Chakra!  I guess what I have to say about it is:  meditate meditate meditate!  That's the space of the Crown.

I wonder what doors you've opened in your lives since we began this journey?  And even though we're coming to the close of Seventh Chakra, we are going to continue and do the Eighth Human Talent -- Radiance, the Auric Body -- so stay tuned.

And the question for me, I ask myself, is:  What's next?

The Final Frontier 8-29-11

                 




                   CONSCIOUSNESS
        the crack of light in a void of darkness
  the mystery we embrace in the Seventh Chakra


It is the tremendous experience of becoming conscious, which nature has laid upon mankind, and which unites the most diverse cultures in a common task.              C.G. Jung


Whistle Breath opens the Crown Chakra.  Purse your lips and make a whistle sound as you inhale -- exhale through the nose.  Continue at least three minutes.

Opening to the Mystery of Heaven 8-24-11

Consciousness is the mystery that we embrace in the Crown Chakra -- the thousand petaled lotus.  The Seventh Chakra is about merging with divine consciousness and realizing our true nature.  The name is Sahasrara (thousandfold).
The element is Thought.
The purpose is Understanding.  The issues we'll be looking at during the next forty days are:
Consciousness, Awareness, The Witness, Transcendence, Immanence, Belief Systems, Higher Power, Divinity, Union, and Vision, Meaning, Unity.
The color is Violet.
The demon is Attachment.

In this seventh power center, an easy way to confront our own fear of death and to go beyond that fear to experience the undying existence of our own soul is to practice the technique of held and expelled breath:
Sit in a comfortable position with your hands held palms up in front of you, as though someone were going to pour blessings into your open hands.
Inhale deeply, and hold the breath with your eyes one-tenth open.
Slowly exhale all the air from your lungs.
Once the air is gone, mentally chant "Sat Nam" four times.
Inhale again, slowly exhale, and holding the breath our, chant the mantra five times.  Gradually work your way up to reciting slowly the mantra eight times on each exhale.
Continue for at least three minutes.

Even Oprah! 8-22-11

Even Oprah is talking about Sixth Chakra!  Her latest magazine has a big article on "Intuition" and one's "sixth sense."  It's a worthwhile read!

For us, today is the last day of Sixth Chakra, the world of colors and symbols, dreams and fantasy, archetypes and images.  The possibilities expand through imagination, which stimulates creativity.  Our new vista gives us increased understanding, as we not only perceive the patterns around us, but also perceive our own place and purpose in them.

Tomorrow we move into the Seventh Chakra, and open to the Mystery of Heaven.  Visit the site tomorrow for our forty day meditation and more information on unfolding the thousand-petaled lotus.