In his essay The Doors of Perception, Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) refers to the theory of French philosopher Henri Louis Bergson (1859–1941) whereby the chief purpose of the brain, the nervous system and the sensory organs is to eliminate information rather than produce it.
Therefore, the ordinary or ‘normal’ state of consciousness is a measly trickle of concepts compared to what we are capable of knowing.Each person is at each moment capable of remembering all that has ever happened to him and of perceiving everything that is happening everywhere in the universe. The function of the brain and nervous system is to protect us from being overwhelmed and confused by this mass of largely useless and irrelevant knowledge, by shutting out most of what we should otherwise perceive or remember at any moment, and leaving only that very small and special selection which is likely to be practically useful.” According to such a theory, each one of us is potentially Mind at Large. But in so far as we are animals, our business is at all costs to survive. To make biological survival possible, Mind at Large has to be funnelled through the reducing valve of the brain and nervous system. What comes out at the other end is a measly trickle of the kind of consciousness which will help us to stay alive on the surface of this particular planet.
Bergson’s theory has been developed by several scholars, including Dr Stanislav Grof (Prague, 1 July 1931), a psychiatrist and researcher in the field of non-ordinary states of consciousness. According to Dr Grof, the purpose of the brain is to act as a reducing valve that protects us from the overwhelming excess of information from the cosmos, so we are able to focus on everyday life.
When the reducing valve in our brain loosens, such as during meditation or dreams, things that normally seem extraordinary may appear normal. Hence the importance of writing things down. Otherwise, we might brush them to one side, believing them to be the figment of our imagination, only to find out later, after getting proof of their validity, that they provide information you could not have known any other way.
MEDITATION
Meditation is quite a simple practice, usually performed by sitting in a quiet room or setting, possibly keeping your eyes closed so that your attention is directed inwards, and focusing the mind on something. The most common techniques are listed as follows, as detailed in Meditation for Dummies® - Mini Edition by Stephan Bodian (Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2010):
Repetition of a meaningful word or phrase, known as a mantra; mindful awareness of the present moment; following or counting your breath; paying attention to the flow of sensations in your body; cultivation of loving kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and other healing emotions; concentration on a geometric shape or other simple visual object; visualisation of a peaceful place or a healing energy or entity; reading or reflecting upon inspirational or sacred writings; gazing at a picture of a holy being or saint; contemplation of nature; chanting praises to the Divine.
The technique I personally use is counting my breaths as I listen to a ticking clock we have in our living room.
Meditation essentially calms the mind and encourages concentration by silencing outside distractions.
Before engaging in any exercise I will be suggesting, always ensure you will not be interrupted or disturbed. Although it will already be obvious to some, I would nevertheless like to stress the importance of only practicing these techniques when you are absolutely certain that your safety, and the safety of others, does not require you to be completely alert and awake.
Grounding and Cleansing Technique
Of all the exercises I use, this is the one I recommend doing at the start of every session. Grounding—or earthing—is a technique we can use to anchor ourselves to the present moment, preventing us from daydreaming or getting lost in pointless distractions.
As well as providing us with a safe connection with the physical plane and a form of relaxation, it also helps to rid us of what I once used to refer to as ‘negative’ emotions, but which I now like to call ‘denser’ energy, which does not belong to us.
Lastly, this exercise aims to gently loosen the ‘reducing valve’ in the brain. When you first start doing this exercise, it may take a little time. However, with practice, it should not take more than a minute or two.
Begin by sitting on a chair, with your back straight and your feet firmly planted on the ground. Calmly breathe in and breathe out, focusing only on the quiet flow of your breath. See if you can breathe in and breathe out for the same number of seconds. For example, if you inhale for a count of six, then you should exhale for a count of six. If six seconds seems too long, start with five or four. The important thing is that your breathing be regular so that your autonomic nervous system is balanced.
After three full in and out breaths, visualise strong roots extending from the base of your spine and the bottom of your feet. Visualise the roots growing through the floor and entering the soil below it, going right down to the centre of the Earth.
At the centre of the Earth, visualise a store of pure, clear liquid energy. It may be blue, green, yellow, orange, red or any other colour you feel drawn to. This is the energy of the Earth, the energy of love that brings life; it heals and nurtures the spirit. Hence, the choice of colour is an important element in making this technique effective. As they travel ever closer to this store of liquid energy, you see your roots getting stronger, bigger and sturdier. This ensures you are firmly rooted in the ground and that you may draw upon the plentiful store of energy.
It is important you visualise this liquid in the colour you feel drawn to, and that you feel it filling your roots and then flowing upwards and flooding your entire body. As it is made of spiritual energy, your body will feel much larger than the physical version reflected in the mirror because it emanates an aura of amazing pastel colours.
Visualise the energy from the Earth saturating your physical body and the energy field around it with its purifying vibrations. If you have a particular thought, concern, physical pain, or anything that might be troubling or distracting you, you might find it helpful to visualise it in the shape of ice cubes floating and then quickly dissolving in the liquid energy.
Once you have visualised your body fully saturated with therapeutic energy, turn your focus to your head. Imagine a kind of funnel at the top of your head—the reducing valve.
This funnel expands to form a cylinder that, in turn, gets filled up. The dense or heavy energy you visualised as ice cubes has now dissolved and you feel full of clean, light, revitalising energy.
Now, as you breathe out, visualise a source of pure, golden white light, also liquid like water, pouring down from the spirit world and filling the funnel, the whole body and your roots, sweeping away the energy absorbed from the Earth and any heavy energy dissolved in it. It is important you realise you are not polluting our beautiful Blue Planet at this stage, but simply nourishing it with what it needs, just like any kind of compost or fertiliser.
If you feel particularly energised after visualising this great flow of clean, enriched and revitalised energy flowing out of you and flooding the planet, imagine any remaining energy flowing into a drain—like the one in the shower floor, for instance—and out of the planet, joining the energy of the universe to nourish and enrich it, too.
Breathe in the Earth’s energy through your roots and breathe out the golden white light your body has absorbed through the funnel above your head. Do this for three full cycles, trying to remain detached from any thoughts that might arise in your mind and try to distract you. It is important that you not make an effort to avoid such thoughts, though; it is natural for these to materialise, and you can simply watch them as they float past you, like balloons hovering in mid-air, or like ships crossing the sea in the distance.
In fact, as medium Harry Edwards (1893–1976) says in his delightful booklet A Guide for the Development of Mediumship,
Complete the exercise by breathing in the pure, revitalising golden white light with which the spirit world nourishes and restores us with every breath. There! You should now feel calm, relaxed and ready to focus on the exercise you have chosen.It is quite impossible for a mind to become blank. No one can consciously or purposefully induce this. So long as we are conscious so must the mirror of the mind be occupied in some way.
IMPORTANT NOTE
At the end of any meditation session involving an expansion of your state of consciousness (and therefore not necessarily at this point, but once you have completed any of the following, or similar, exercises), it is important to visualise your roots and the energy field around you retracting and returning to you. By doing this, you are taking back your light and sealing yourself inside it as if it were a protective white suit in which you feel full of loving energy that you can spread around you, both in everyday life and in your dreams. I have found that this process is also helpful in stopping any dense or heavy energy that may be coming your way, which the most sensitive souls often pick up on.
Blue Light Meditation
You may wish to try this meditation after performing the grounding and cleansing meditation session.
Visualise a blue light within you in the space of your heart. The blue light is you, your Spirit, made of pure unconditional love. As you breath slowly, the blue light starts growing and expanding. At first, it will fill your entire body, and then it will shine from the body and fill the room you are in.
If you are outdoors, visualise the blue light expanding to fill the area surrounding you. If you are indoors, visualise the blue light filling the whole building, then the neighbourhood, then the whole city.
Now, regardless of wherever you are, watch the light extend beyond the clouds above and the Earth below you, beneath the ground. It fills the whole planet and grows to fill our galaxy and the universe. This blue light is infinite. Once you have come to fill the universe with blue light, visualise our beautiful planet Earth, which is also called the Blue Planet. It is so tiny from this new perspective that you can hold it in your hand. IT IS ALIVE, it is a living creature filled with love and with billions of people who only desire love and peace.
As several great authors have said, ‘thoughts are things’, thanks to the creative force of thought which also Quantic Physics researchers acknowledge.
Once you have visualised the whole universe filled with your light, focus on this session, remembering that you are Spirit, and the entire universe is Spirit and comes from an infinite source of Unconditional Love. From your current vantage point, space and time do not exist, nor is there any separation from your loved ones or from any loving intention you wish to focus on.
Relax and remain seated in a quiet meditative state.
At this point, you should feel calm, focused and ready to concentrate on the contact you wish to make.