Are You Going to Ascend Soon?

Some time ago I had a person come to me for some spiritual counseling. Let's call him Jack, and he was about forty years old. Jack was not a happy chap. He hated his job and was planning his escape, a nice trip around the world. In particular he was going to visit all the great spiritual destinations out there. 

Nothing wrong with that, you might say. Good on him for having the goolies, so to speak. Yet as I spoke to Jack it became quite clear to me that he was living a fundamental delusion. This delusion is common in alternative spiritual circles, so I am going to discuss it briefly here today. It also mirrors a psycho-spiritual delusion that is the foundation of many religions across the world.

Jack had been told by a certain spiritual teacher that he was going to ascend one day, and this formed the basis of his spiritual belief structure. 'Ascension' is the idea that you are going to be pulled up and out of the body and into a higher dimension. This other place is trypically seen as having a higher vibration, being more blissful, and generally just a lot nore groovy than the mundane world of the earth plane. Sound familiar? Well, to me this other place sounds a lot like the Heaven or paradise of most religious philosophies.

Here's the problem. Ascension is a false teaching. It is not going to happen. There are two reasons why this is vitally important to understand.

Firstly, what generally lies behind the belief in ascension (and Heaven) is the rejection of what is here now. There is a subtle desire to escape. In this sense ascension entails a rejection of the life that is before you, and also the 'you' that you are now. You are saying that this life is not good enough, this 'me' is not acceptable.

Secondly, this rejection of your life makes it impossible for you to be fully present, and it is in presence that the true joy and love of "God" is found. If you speak to those who have experienced strong transcendent experiences they will tell you that they almost always emerge when the mind is in a deeply embodied state of silent presence. Thus the great irony is that the belief in ascension actually cuts you off from presence, from God, and from Heaven on earth.

What is now before you is the truth of life. There is tremendous simple joy to be found in just being here now, in the body. You were not put here to escape. You were put here to be here.

What drives the delusion of ascension is the dissociation of mind, body and spirit - and the trauma this entails. Your mind feels this pain at all times, but it doesn't know quite what is wrong. In fact if you stop and become fully present, you may actually find yourself falling into a state where you begin to feel this pain within you. If you have the courage to give it a voice, it rises from belly and into the throat, expressing itself as a sad whining sound, like a lost child which cannot find its mother. It is the fundamental feeling of being lost and unloved. Empty. This is how I have experienced it.

The mind, in its dissociated state, is unable to recognise that it has created the pain by itself, by not being here fully. Instead of stopping to be here, it runs. It tries to escape. It finds solace in entertainment, fiddling with gadgets, 'romance', eating, drugs and alcohol, sex, gossip, reading blogs like this... Or going on a spiritual journey. It might even believe that it is going to be lifted out of the body and beyond the mundane world into a better place. In this endless seeking it turns toward a hoped-for better future, and away from itself. Yet in all this there is no relief. The pain does not heal.

The quest is doomed to failure, for it merely perpetuates the split, the separation. 

This is what I told Jack. I told him that he was already a being of light, love and compassion. There was no need for him to ascend, merely to deepen into presence. In that moment Jack didn't understand. He didn't want to. His final words to me where that he had arranged the meeting to check to see if my knowledge was coming from a higher plane. But alas my understanding is not higher, merely deeper. He decided to keep aiming for the higher place.

Yet one day, one lifetime, Jack will get it. Maybe that little seed God planted in him that day as we talked will find fruition soon. It is not for me to judge.

The only way to heal your pain is to be here now. That's it. One of the great mysteries of our species is that this is so very, very simple. Yet only a few extraordinary individuals have ever been able to master the process.

Marcus

What a F#*% Up!

Does Spirit have a sense of humour? Some people certainly think so. The way I look at it, if we have the ability to laugh at life, and laugh at ourselves and even at others, then it is part of "Spirit". Here's a little story which leads me think that maybe someone or something up there does have a sense of humour. For those offended by the "F" word, turn away now!

A couple of days ago a friend of mine, Joe, called and invited me for a weekend trip to Macau with two other male friends. It was to be a boys' weekend! Macau is the former Portuguese territory not far from Hong Kong. I had nothing else planned for the weekend, so I said "Why not?" This was not the first time I have been away with Joe. About eight months previously we went for a night away to Zhuhai, another nearby town. On that occasion my friend booked two rooms at a local hotel for us, using his credit card. On this occasion he told me the name of the hotel, and mentioned the price. I said that was all OK for me.

So it was that yesterday afternoon I found myself with my three friends sailing aboard the hovercraft ferry heading towards Macau. The trip is just over an hour, so we all took the time to have a little nap in our seats.

I am blessed - or cursed, perhaps - to have a lot of visionary experience, and as is nearly always the case, as soon as I became drowsy a simple image came into my mind. It was of two words typed into a computer screen: "Fuck up". It was a very clear image, and so unexpected that I dismissed it as some random projection emerging from my psyche. So I just let it go.

We arrived at Macau port, and made our way to the hotel via bus and taxi. We rocked up to the hotel reception in high spirits. Macau is quite a party town and has a vibrant nightlife, so 'the boys' were pumped. Sadly, a couple of egos were about to be deflated.

When my friend presented his credit card at the counter, I asked him if they needed my ID too. He looked at me wide eyed.

"You booked your own room online, didn't you?"

I hadn't! I had just assumed my friend had booked two rooms, just as he had on our previous 'road trip'.

I couldn't believe it. We were in Macau on a weekend, one of the busiest places on the planet, and rooms would be difficult to find. But things were about to get worse. The receptionist then informed Joe that his booking was for the following weekend, not that night! Since he went through an online booking agency, the hotel was powerless to change the booking. 

 Joe turned back to the rest of us.

"What a fuck up!" 

As soon as Joe said the words, I recalled the vision I'd had on the ferry.  I couldn't help but laugh, even though it was a frustrating situation to find ourselves in.

Joe cursed a few more times, but there was nothing we could do. He was adamant he had chosen the right date when he had booked, but that was useless to us now. An over-the-counter booking was three tims the online booking fee.

My other two friends had made their bookings without problem. So they were set for the evening.

The hotel was kind enough to let us use a computer to go online to look for another room. Unfortunately the booking web site (the same one) showed all rooms at that hotel booked, so we had to make a desperate search for another hotel that wouldn't cost the earth (late bookings are usually more expensive, as cheap rooms go first). Luckily we did find two rooms at reasonable price at a hotel very close by. Joe used his credit card to make the booking. We made absolutely certain the date was correct. We breathed a sigh of relief when the confirmation booking came through.

Joe and I made our way to the next hotel, our two colleagues tagging along. It was only two hundred metres away! Again we found ourselves rocking up the the counter. My friend produced the booking number, ID and some money. The young attendant went to her computer to confirm the booking.

"Sorry, your booking is for next weekend, sir," she said flatly.

"What? That's impossible!" Joe said. "We made absolutely sure the date was correct! Can we just change the date and stay tonight?

"Sorry, we have no rooms tonight, sir!"

Several more curses echoed around the room. Clearly the problem was something to do with the web site we had used, but it didn't help our cause. The receptionist was less than helpful, and refused to let us use the hotel computer, so we made our way back towards the first hotel. Joe had just made two useless credit card bookings through a less-than-reputable Chinese web site, his credit card having already been debited $US600 for services he would never be able to use - and with the possibility of a refund being minimal.

As we walked Joe kept making clipped references to the Michael Douglas movie Falling Down, where the main character snaps and starts blowing people away with a shotgun. 

One of the other guys laughed. "Oh, what a total fuck up! I wish I had my video camera here!"

The first hotel kindly let us use their business room computer again. This time I used my credit card and a different booking site. This site showed that we could book a room the very hotel we were in, so I booked two rooms, triple checking the date. Moments later I got a confirmation email. We had to pay about 20% more than our two friends, but we were just happy to get a bed.

We'd wasted about two hours of our day, but we didn't let it spoil our evening. We went out on the town and had a great time eating, drinking, and behaving badly. And laughing lots. Fortunately, there were no more fuck ups.

Thank God!

Marcus.

"

The Sound of Terror

Daily Insight: 1/03/12

Dreams and visions are a fascinating source of much insight and wisdom. I have used them as a source of understanding for a couple of decades now, and they have taught me much of what I understand about the nature of consciousness. I define a dream as a story that emerges as we sleep, while a vision occurs while we are awake (although it could be in a state of deep relaxation).

There is an appendix in the back of my book Discover Your Soul Template which is a useful guide on how to understand dreams. One of the dream categories I outline is that of “Psychic projection dreams”. This category is equally valid for visions. This is where the mind will show you the nature of psychic energy you are exchanging with another person. Consciousness has an energy or vibration, and the mind will sometimes show you explicitly what that is.

I had a dream three nights ago which showed me very explicitly that my understanding is correct in regard to this category. In the dream I saw an older male relative of mine. Let’s call him Dave. In the dream he was sitting down with a guitar in his hands. This is a little peculiar, because as far as I know, Dave has never played a musical instrument. Yet the next event to unfold within the dream showed me that this guitar was a symbol, not a literal reality. Dave suddenly plucked one string of the instrument, and a vibration rang out – the energy of terror. A feeling of deep fear filled me as the energy permeated my own consciousness field.

The dream told me that my own mind was being badly affected by Dave’s projections. Having learned years ago to channel the psyche of others, I saw that he was attempting to disempower me through the projection of shame and derision.

Such projections occur unconsciously, of course, and Dave does not know what he is doing. However when one becomes aware of this level of mind, then it does become something of a problem. What can be done to shift the energy? The answer lies in the actual reason for the connection between Dave and I. When I was about 14, my father took a holiday from my father’s hot bread shop, and Dave took over for a few weeks. I worked there every morning before school and on weekends. During this time Dave took every opportunity to criticise and ridicule me, often deriding me in front of other workers. Being a shy kid, I just ‘took it.’ That brief period in my life created a wounding within me. It occurred just at the point where I was physically becoming a man, and much of the energy Dave projected at me was centred on shaming me for lack of masculinity. When I grew into adulthood, the development of my male power was affected by this shaming energy.

When this psychic drama occurred the other night, I saw it as an opportunity to heal that hurt. I allowed the 14 year old within me to feel all he needed to feel. It was a combination of a sense of shame, inadequacy and fear of ‘psychopathic’ males, but also a deep rage. I allowed this part of myself to have expression for a short time. Then I re-parented that inner child (I explain this in detail in Discover Your Soul Template). Again, this process is about allowing a particular vibration of energy to resonate through the mind/body/soul – again, like striking the right chord on a guitar. It is when that energy vibrates that it is possible to shift it. It unfreezes the trapped energy within the psyche, as long as we don’t become attached to the story surrounding it.

It is clear to me that there is a yet undiscovered energy involved in the projection of consciousness, and this recent dream gave greater weight to this belief. By ‘energy’, I do mean it in the scientific sense. Consciousness clearly contains field properties, but is not any of the four known forces of nature: gravity, the weak and strong forces, and electro-magnetism. I suspect it is related to them, and I do know from experience that it interacts with them. Psychic energy transcends space and time, which is one reason why I am pretty certain that it is not one of the other four forces.

It is said that when the student is ready that the teacher will appear. It is equally true that when the wounded child is ready to heal that the monster will appear! On the surface it may look like a bully persecuting a victim, but at a deeper level it is God’s grace in action. The catch is that in order to heal we must not assume the role of victim (and blame the monster); and we must be prepared allow whatever energy is contained in the event to express itself. And that may be, quite literally, painful.

Intuitive Review of Strieber's "The Key" (4) Conclusions

During my recent series of posts on Whitley Strieber’s book The Key, I said that I would write one final post outlining what I feel are some problematical aspects of the text, including things that, according to my own experience, are wrong or limited. I have explored intuitive realms of consciousness for a couple of decades, including undergoing intensive ‘training’ in this area, and developed a high degree of clairvoyant capacity. I’m not going to try to explain or justify that here – you can read about it in my book Discover Your Soul Template (out in December 2011) if you are interested. If you are in a hurry you can now find my self-published version of the book on Amazon.com, under the title Sage of Synchronicity.

There are also a few more interesting truthful statements from The Key that I will also discuss in this blog post. So I will divide this final discussion of the book into two parts, “pros” and “cons”. Again, I have placed a sub-heading above each discussion point for ease of reading, as you may not want to read all of this post.

I prefer a gentle and open-minded approach to life’s big questions, so feel free to add your own insights in the comments section below, or state where you think I am incorrect.

Re-cap and overview of The Key

In The Key Whitley Strieber recounts a slightly bizarre tale of how a stranger burst into his hotel room at 2.30 in the morning, and proceeded to recount the meaning of life the universe and everything. After initially trying to get rid of him, Strieber eventually suspects that the man – whom he comes to call The Master of the Key – is actually relating some profound spiritual knowledge. Later Strieber wrote about the encounter and the Master’s knowledge claims in The Key.

The Pros

The lesson of darkness

The Master says that humanity is in chains, but it is the chains which can teach us freedom:

Love your enemy, for he is your best friend. Without the darkness, you would never know the glory of the firmament… You should bless your jailors, because without them you could never find your freedom. When you, as a species, remember why you have been imprisoned, and you face what you did, you will be free. (no page no.: 50% of the way through Kindle edition)

There’s a lot of truth to this. As I have previously written, the idea of being in chains is an archetypal human motif. In a sense we are all slaves to the limited amount of our innate intelligence that we express and the dark consciousness fields that so many of us are trapped in (despite the fact that most are unaware of their intelligence potential, nor aware of the consciousness fields in which they are entangled).

Learning to love our fear, including the fear of pain and darkness is a key to freedom. To love darkness does not mean to wallow in it or worship it, but merely to accept it for what it is; to hold it close such that we do not need to run and hide from it. It is when we shine the light of awareness upon the darkness that it loses its power over us. Then darkness becomes light. When we try to run and escape from darkness, it overwhelms us.

Intelligence versus consciousness

One distinction that the Master makes is one I have long noted in my own books and writings. He says that while human beings can construct intelligent machines, we are a long way from creating conscious machines.

Intelligence is the manipulator of knowledge, while consciousness knows itself. (56% of the way through Kindle edition)

This observation - relatively simple to any layperson - is the fundamental error that lies behind the transhuman movement – the idea that humans are going to upload their minds onto computers and achieve immortality. (Despite the silliness of this, it would make for an interesting story. Maybe the next of my short stories will deal with this!)

The other major error of the transhumanists is their failure to understand the complex nature of consciousness, and that it is not merely a flat property generated by the physical brain. The non-localised nature of consciousness (extending beyond the brain and into other dimensions) and the existence of the etheric body need to be taken into account. Fascinatingly, the Master touches upon this as he explains how an intelligent machine might be made:

By duplicating the attachments between the elemental and energetic bodies that occur in nature in a purpose-designed machine, a controllable conscious machine can be devised. A living soul attached to a machine will be conscious… (57% of the way through Kindle edition)

This implies a dualist system - mind and brain/machine as separate things - but that in itself is no reason to dismiss it. My experience leads me to conclude that consciousness and the brain are indeed two different phenomena, though intricately interrelated in human life on this planet. It is certainly possible that they may both be an expression of a fundamental underlying construct, but that is purely an intellectualism on my behalf – I have no direct perception of it.

The Master of the Key also says that we need to amplify human intelligence a hundredfold, and that intelligent machines will help in this respect. Fascinatingly, the single event which really launched my own exploration of the frontiers of human intelligence and consciousness occurred about nineteen years ago, when a female spirit guide with long brown hair appeared in my room during light sleep, and passed some important messages to me. She told me that I was using precisely three per cent of my innate intelligence. Since then I have seen that this retardation of our potential intelligence is pervasive right across the human race. I have always maintained that a significant development of Integrated Intelligence can help address this deficit in our innate intelligence. However, the Master indicates that artificial intelligence can also be a powerful boost to intelligence. I have no argument with that, merely to suggest that in order to utilise that machine intelligence appropriately, our spiritual nature must be more fully expressed. As the Master states, we are currently “soul blind”.

Consumerism and death

One other timely warning from the Master is that the consumer society is destructive:

After the suffering you are about to endure, mankind will never again lust after material wealth. You are about to suffocate in your own garbage. (51% of the way through Kindle edition)

Terrible as the metaphor is, this is not an earth shattering conclusion to draw, and I have to concur with the essence of it. It truly amazes me that even as the evidence for the horrendous pollution of oceans, land and air mounts, we are still investing energy into turning the planet into a giant consumer machine. In Asia, almost every nation seems to be following the same insane path to destruction: China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mongolia… Those that follow the path and register high GDP levels are “rewarded” by the economic system. The rest of the world envies their “growth”. Investors from abroad rush in to make a “killing”. Yet these countries are the winners in a loser’s game (as are we all). The irony is that the whole system is rotten. Hyper materialistic futures are what I call “Money and Machines Futures” (as opposed to Deep Futures), and they are “impoverished” futures in the full sense of the word. The filth that is currently being pumped into the rivers, oceans and air in Asia is beyond imagining.

The Master links all this to our having a “death wish”.

People give up on themselves. They do it down deep inside, in places that the elemental mind, that is contained in the brain, cannot access… They do this when they see themselves committing the same errors they have returned to correct. When they give up on ascension, they devote themselves to the ‘acquisition” of material. But what does this really mean – that they can be near coveted objects while they are in the physical? The obsession with material is a symptom of despair. (60%)

The death wish is a genuine component of many a mind. I have found it within my own shadow. Freud was right (and despite the fact that he is out of fashion in mainstream cognitive science, I have seen that Freud was right about many, many things, despite his getting the big picture wrong). The Master may well be correct that the current most common expression of human culture is guiding us towards doom, and that deep down we already know it.

Sin is..

The Master says that sin is “denial of the right to thrive.” Personally, I think this is an excellent working definition of what drives much of human evil. That denial is a function of the desire for power and control over others and nature. But it’s a chicken and egg situation. What came first, the power and control complex, or the rejection of Spirit? My answer is that this problematique represents a dynamic feedback loop, constantly reinforcing itself.

The Cons

Now, let’s take a look at just a few problematic aspects of The Key.

Meditate or disintegrate!

The Master tells Strieber that if a person does not establish a close relationship with the radiant body via meditation or some mindful process, the soul disintegrates and is lost. Personally, I do not feel that this is entirely correct. Firstly, I have had many instances of intuitive communication with relatives of mine who have passed on, including some who I can only describe as “extremely unconscious” – alcoholics, wife bashers, those who committed suicide, the mentally ill and so on (thanks God for the tests!). As one extreme example, my maternal grandmother suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, and barely had a spiritual molecule in her body. Yet I have directly perceived her psyche on numerous times since she died. If anybody was going to “disintegrate”, it would be her! To be honest, sometimes I wish she would disintegrate, as her psychic projections are very difficult to deal with! What I have seen of her leads me to believe that she may be undergoing some healing in whatever space she finds herself in. Thus it seems to be that we can continue to explore and grow even after death, in the space between lives.

However, it is true that if a person’s psyche becomes extremely scattered, they effectively lose control of their minds. They become insane. Healing is then required. Meditation and mindfulness could be extremely beneficial for such people, but it is also true that some degree of medication may be required to get them to the point where they can assume responsibility for their minds. Once a person reaches a certain point of insanity (disintegration), it is very, very difficult for them to come back. I know this from personal experience with relatives. Thus it is better to be mindful before “losing it”, rather than after!

The dead cannot influence the living

The Master states that the dead cannot influence the living, saying: “They have not the knowledge or wisdom to make themselves heard.” (23%). This is definitely not correct in my experience. The dead continue to influence the energy fields of the living, especially those whom they have had strong relationships with while they were alive. For example, my father’s energy still influences me from time to time, as I have not processed all the emotional issues that I developed with him over the years while he was living; and he has certainly not dealt with all his own baggage! Minds tend to become psychically entangled with those whom they have emotional connections to. For example, if part of you is (consciously or unconsciously) angry at your late mother for her failure to adequately love you, chances are you will retain strong psychic links to her after her death. In some cases such psychic links can be quite destructive, if these issues between the living and dead are intense.

Compassion is giving to others

The Master says that compassion is;

Finding what others need the most and giving it to them…In a (compassionate) world, it is everybody’s duty and delight to find what every other they come into contact with needs most from them, and give it to them.

I think that there is a profound truth in this, and selfishness and narcissism have become real problems, right across the world. Nonetheless, there is the potential for the Master’s definition of compassion to be used in a self-limiting way. Many people do not know what their spirit needs, and simply giving them something they think they want may be assisting them in a self-stultifying behavior. One must exercise discretion, and not simply submit to the will of others’ demands.

The other factor here is that the act of spiritual empowerment is “selfish” in a certain sense of the word. Seekers has to be vigilant in the refusal to submit to the control and power that others attempt to exercise over them. Many others will not understand the journey you take, so saying “no” to them is crucial.

Escaping the earth

There is a recurring theme in The Key that “escaping” the earth is crucial to the survival of our species. For example, the Master says:

Your enemy does not want it to end. They fear you too much. When you see UFOs, you see prison guards. They also act within your society to confuse you about your own past, and to prevent progress in areas such as propulsion, which might enable you to spread into the Heavens. This is all done to prevent you from escaping. (49%)

Perhaps this is true. Yet my own understanding is that enlightenment – “Heaven” if you like – is already here on Earth, right now. We just have to allow Heaven to descend by seeing through the delusions of the mind, and its constant attempts to escape the present moment by moving attention to a non-existent future or a (distorted) remembered past. One of the prime delusions of the mind is that it can escape. The truth is there is no escape. There is no better “up there and beyond.” Again, this is one of the aspects of the text that I feel have been somewhat distorted by Whitley Strieber’s personal issues. And it is an absolutely crucial one. Enlightenment happens here and now, or it never happens.

Conclusion

Despite imperfections, The Key has more than enough stimulation, and more than enough useful information to make it a very worthwhile read for many spiritual seekers. It does not offer any simple solutions, nor offer a definitive roadmap forward. Does this reflect the Master’s lack of desire to spoon feed us? Or Whitley Strieber’s imperfect rendering of his message? I shall leave that for the reader to determine.

Let me just end this post with a quote from the book which sums up for me why this book is well worth reading and contemplating. Strieber writes:

The Master of the Key offers clarity where there is now confusion, and if one is open to his message and the new ideas it contains, unexpected vistas of discovery present themselves, as one is led toward the promise of new knowledge, where questions beckon that are as yet scarcely imagined among us.

I am not sure that the Master’s message is always clear, but he certainly does invite one to open up to new vistas of knowledge, while pointing the reader in directions that are, in my humble opinion, well worth exploring. Finally, one statement of the Master‘s is well worth meditating upon.

You human beings are right on the edge of becoming a conscious species. That is why we are here. We’re midwives to your birth.

            

The Master of the Key says that the fate of humanity will be decided in the next 100 years. There will be, he says, sudden and massive catastrophic changes. If that is correct, it is all the more reason why all of us need to pay careful attention to the voice of Spirit within and beyond us.

Marcus

Intuitive Review of Strieber's "The Key" (3) Darkness & Light

This is the third part of my extended intuitive review of Whitley Strieber’s The Key. Click here for Part 1, click here for Part 2. I will cover quite a few different ideas in this blog post, and the next, which will be the final one in the series.

Although this is my first official intuitive review, I have previously done many intuitive readings of people’s Soul Issues and karma - mostly face to face, but many others by long distance. It’s part of what I do as an intuitive. Readers might be interested to know that I have previously done a similar intuitive reading of Julien Assange of Wikileaks fame, who came out looking slightly less rosy!

I realise readers might not want to read the discussion of every point, so below I have placed the points into subheadings for ease of reading.

There is no “supernatural”

The Master of the Key says that there is no such thing as the supernatural.

…only the natural world exists, some parts of which we understand and some parts of which we don’t. (location 256)

I believe that this is spot on. The labels “supernatural” and “paranormal’ simply highlight the misunderstandings of contemporary science and the limitations of current scientific culture and method. They are a reflection of the limitations of the mechanistic paradigm which dominates not only mainstream science but the way ordinary people in modern cultures have been programmed to see the world.

Consciousness is electromagnetic

One significant claim by the Strieber’s Master of the Key is that conscious energy is essentially electromagnetic in nature. This is interesting because there is the discrepancy that according to experimentation in parapsychology and much common human experience, psi (whatever it is) appears to be non-local, transversing space and time. Conversely, electromagnetism is confined to conventional space-time, as are all the four known forces of nature (gravity, and the strong and weak forces being the others).

Yet I have also seen from many of my own visions and direct intuitions that electromagnetic fields greatly affect the human energy field. For example, if I use a laptop and physically sit it on my lap, it has a significant effect on my energy field. This effect is extremely hard to communicate in writing, and I cannot explain it in scientifically sensible terminology, because such terminology does not exist. What I can say is that there is a kind of “charging” of the consciousness field which opens it up to non-local psychic influences. For me, this involves an increased sense of disembodiment, or consciousness beginning to split off from the physical body. This in turn makes one susceptible to the energy projections of other people’s minds, and from entities in other astral planes. This is why I avoid extended exposure (especially physical contact) to electrical devices.

I have also mentioned how, in out of body experiences, the etheric body is attracted to electricity. So there is definitely a strong connection between the human consciousness field and electromagnetic fields.

The importance of developing a relationship with the radiant body

The Master of the Key calls the soul the “radiant body”, and says it is “formed of conscious energy”. He says that it can be manipulated. The Master adds that that “a relationship must be formed with it if one is to really engage with it” (location 328). Again, this is consistent with my own understanding and work with the human energy field. Your energy field can be very easily manipulated by others via their unconscious projections (they do this unconsciously). Spiritual entities can do the same, and this includes “dead” relatives and friends. In fact this is happening all the time without most people knowing it, because the psyches of human beings are intimately entangled with the minds around and beyond them (mostly via emotional bonds and co-dependencies). Perhaps I should mention that you too are also manipulating the consciousness fields of others, again unconsciously. So you are not merely a victim!

The Master tells Strieber that “the undiscovered country can become your backyard”, and Strieber then adds that this will change “our world in very fundamental ways if it happened”. Strieber writes that for humanity it’s as if two halves of a single brain have been split. I must say that I absolutely concur with all of this. Humanity exists in a state of severe dissociation from the body and spirit, and in turn from the spiritual realms. Part of my work has been to try to get people to realise this, and empower them with processes which can help them connect with Spirit. I agree with The Master and Strieber’s belief that this process of spiritual reconnection is vital if humanity is to survive the present crisis in its cultural and spiritual evolution. I outline simple ways to this in my book Discover Your Soul Template.

Pivotal times

One message that Strieber and The Master consistently repeat is that these are absolutely pivotal times, and that there is a need for a change of vision. Strieber writes that the Master’s teachings:

…come at an opportune time, because the human world and human civilisation face a profound bankruptcy of vision that is sorely in need of renewal. We have done all we can with our ideas of reality as they exist now. If there is to be another step taken in the human journey, a step upward, new visions are essential. (17%)

The phrase that really hits home is “a profound bankruptcy of vision”. This is an accurate description of where we now sit in our history. In my daily life here in Hong Kong I move amongst people who are barely present in their bodies, let alone connected to Spirit. For Hong Kongers there is nothing, absolutely nothing in the twenty odd years of their public education (to university graduation level) that assists in their becoming conscious of any deeper world beyond work, distraction, entertainment and acquisition of wealth. This is a situation that we find throughout the modern world, and it is indeed a bankrupt system. Hong Kong is in many ways an exaggerated caricature of the modern developed world.

The most incredible thing is that people are so blinded by the illusion that they cannot see it. The world is in desperate need of teachers who can communicate spiritual knowledge. Even more, it is in need of cultures and societal systems which permit those teachers to be heard.

Soul blindness and the body

As the Master of the Key says:

There is a much larger world behind your backs. It is the world to which man is blind. Man is soul-blind and God-blind. (19%)

“To gain access to the powers of conscious energy, you must evolve a relationship with it.” (20%)

I couldn’t have put it better myself. However, it is very important that human beings understand that the way to connect with Spirit is not by discarding the body and focusing on something “beyond”. Instead we need to be still, be present, and to develop a strong connection with our bodies and, somewhat ironically, the five senses. The Master appears to understand this, when he tells Whitley Strieber that the way to connect with the radiant body is to pay attention to the immediate perceptual field, to sensory feedback. He refers to “the imprinting of essence with experience” (which requires) “effort and attention”, including “paying attention to physical sensation/energetic sensation.” (21%)

Being awake to oneself and one’s surroundings increases the intensity of the impressions so that they are present in the nervous system. In this context, being awake means being aware of one’s own self while at the same time absorbing impressions from the outside. (21%)

This is precisely true. By bringing attention to what one is in relationship with in the immediate environment and in the present moment, the mind is brought into still presence. The connection with Spirit follows.

It is these kinds of practical truths which lead me to conclude that the content of The Key is not simply creative fiction. The book either describes a genuine encounter with a wise entity, or at the very least represents a channeling of genuinely advanced spiritual consciousness.

Surrender to God within

At one point Strieber asks the Master “How can we change?”, to which the Master responds “Surrender to God.” Again this is true. Releasing the ego’s illusion of control is an absolutely vital part of spiritual awareness.

Strieber then asks the Master why people don’t surrender. He is told:

“Self-will, the illusion that you can act and must act on your own behalf, prevents you from entering the will of God. And the God of which I speak is not a distant being off in some heaven. You yourself are the distant being you seek. (24%)

This is also my understanding. The belief that God and enlightenment are distant in space or time prevents the actualisation of enlightenment.

The Master emphasises that we have a very small sense of ourselves, as the identity we carry in our everyday lives. This prevents us from seeing the full immensity of what we really are. Again, this I sense is true.

Finally in relation to the idea of surrender, the Master highlights one of the great paradoxes of the human journey.

If physical beings don’t struggle, you die. So you cannot surrender. If you continue to struggle against nature, you will die. But if you don’t struggle, you will die. This is tragedy of the word in physical form, and is the essential human problem. This is the problem you must solve, if you are to avoid going extinct. (47%)

This point is relevant for many people in the world who are trapped in dark spaces, physically or metaphysically. Despite the requirement of surrender, intelligent action and even the need to fight are required in certain circumstances. The key is knowing how to bring the right energy to the fight, so that one is not lost in the energy of conflict, rage and blame. In my own life I was born into immense darkness in my energetic environment. I have had to fight hard for my spiritual freedom, and I still have to fight. Learning that aforementioned right relationship with the warrior within is a key part of my journey. I know spiritual teachers who have told me to simply surrender, but their circumstances are quite different from mine. This is something I am still learning about.

Death

The Master’s account of the death process precisely mirrors what I have perceived as an intuitive. The Master also says that the dead cling to the “immediate surroundings of their lives, clinging to what they can of their memories, attempting to preserve their lives…” (22%). This is precisely what I have perceived.

The Master states quite plainly that death does not immediately elevate one into glorious Heaven. He writes that “You die into your expectations” (23%), and that “sin” follows us into the afterlife. As I have written elsewhere on this blog, this is precisely in line with what I have witnessed about the dead. (42%)

Fascinatingly, the Master says about the deceased:

After a time, you will not need instruments to detect them, once you become attuned to their presence around you. But don’t expect them to offer you endless wisdom. Many of the dead who wait in the world have less than you do, by a very great deal. But not all. Some are exceedingly rich, and can report to you even about the true past and the logical future, and can share themselves with you in ways that you can hardly imagine now. (39%)

I concur with the essence of this. Just because one drops dead does not suddenly make one the fountain of all spiritual wisdom. So, for we embodied humans, the information received from “the other side” has to be assessed for its value.

Once what I call Integrated Intelligence is developed, you can become aware of the influence of the departed upon everyday consciousness. Teaching this innate human intuitive intelligence is a big part of what I do. It is possible to call upon the dead to communicate knowledge to them. I do this regularly with some of my own deceased relatives, usually to try to prevent their attempts to seek power and control over my own psyche, which is a game the dead love to play with the living. Communicating compassion and forgiveness is also very important.

The darkness and the light

Strieber asks the Master to name some of the demonic leaders of the world. His response is a wise one.

Find the demon in your own heart, then I will betray the demon rulers of your world to you. Remember that the devil also serves me. Without evil, you could not taste of the good. (45%)

Much of my own work has been with the shadow side of myself, and encouraging others to befriend their own dark side. There is no light without bringing forth the darkness. This does not mean to focus unnecessary attention on it. What we focus upon expands. But we do need to befriend the demon in ourselves, as The Master suggests.

Okay, that’s enough for today. Feel free to discuss any of these points below. I will answer any questions I feel qualified to answer.

Marcus

A Woman of Grace and Grandeur

Jill Bolte Taylor’s My Stroke of Insight is one of those books that I had heard mentioned and referenced many times, but which I never actually got around to reading. Well, recently I did actually get round to it, and I have to say that I am very glad I did. This is a wonderful book. I have found it to be particularly useful for me, as someone who practices meditative and spiritual disciplines. It also has relevance to me as a futurist.

The most attractive feature of the book is the honest narrative of the author. This is not so much the retelling of a life-changing personal experience, but the generous sharing of great wisdom gleaned from profound personal and spiritual experiences.

The author was a 37 year old neuroscientist when she suffered a stroke.

One of the most fascinating and important aspects of the book is its detailing of the neuroanatomy of having a stroke, and in turn of spiritual experience and inner peace. This may sound dry to some, but I personally found it fascinating. It confirmed much of what I have felt to be true for a long time, according to my spiritual experiences.

The actual account of her stroke makes for fascinating reading in itself. It occurred early in the morning, and at first she does not know quite what is happening. She feels dissociated from her body. The aneurism in the left side of her brain begins to debilitate several key modules of the brain. One of these is the Superior Parietal Gyrus, which is responsible for the perception of physical boundaries. As a result her sense of self as a discrete individual separate from the world begins to diminish. She is filled with a great euphoria, even as she senses herself as being one with the cosmos. If this sound like a mystical experience, then this is precisely what she makes of it.

Assisting in her rapid and involuntary shift of consciousness is the fact that the stroke also affected two neighboring areas of the left brain, including the Superior Temporal Gyus (hearing and speech). Blood flow was thus restricted to Broca’s area (speech generation) and Wernicke’s area (comprehension of speech). This caused the chattering inner voice of the left brain to go quite. It also meant that Jill Bolte Taylor was virtually unable to generate any intelligent speech when she finally managed to phone a friend to tell him that she was having a life-threatening medical emergency!

The middle section of the book details Bolte Taylor’s rehabilitation. Some of the details given here are very useful for those passionate about spiritual and consciousness development. Though the author literally lost a golf ball sized chunk of her brain as a result of the after-stroke surgery, she is fully aware of the plasticity of the brain, and how important it is to immediately begin to fully activate her brain again after the stroke. She begin first by learning how to walk again, then how to speak, read and even go hiking by herself.

Bolte Taylor states that her complete recovery took eight years! However, what is most fascinating is that she chooses NOT to reactivate aspects of her former personality. For what changes most after her stroke is her value system. She comes to value inner peace and tranquility above all else. Her controlling and short-tempered personality traits are discarded. The story of how she does this is invaluable. I believe that much of her strategy can be applied even to those of us who have not had such a brain-altering experience! How does she do it? By determined self-discipline, and carefully monitoring her inner world. Reading the book I was struck by how much her personal methods mirror my own spiritual disciplines.

As a result of her stroke (in fact right in the middle of it), Bolte Taylor immediately sensed the importance of communicating a powerful spiritual message to humanity: that inner peace and spiritual love are an innate aspect of the human experience, and that they can be experienced at virtually any given moment if we simply still the mind. The key is to allow the left brain to go quiet, and the wonderful and spontaneous presence and mindfulness of the right brain to find expression.

My Stroke of Insight also contains some simple and effective processes for allowing inner peace. These are worth the price of the book alone.

The message of My Stroke of Insight is powerful and clear. Deep inner peace and “divine” love are available too all of is right here and now, and that a little understanding of neuroanatomy can help us understand how to allow this.

The book does indicate what I have long realized: that the physiology of the brain greatly affects the expression of consciousness. Bolte Taylor does not quite go so far as to suggest that the brain does not generate consciousness, but it is clear that her worldview is deeply spiritual.

For me the book has granted me further permission to allow presence into my own life. There is no reason for you, I and everybody not to experience perfect love and fulfillment. Not one tiny little reason! The ego sets up a host of reasons why it cannot allow “divine” love at any given moment. Let me be blunt. These reasons are all bullshit. Many years ago when I was a door to door salesman, my boss used to tell me “Don’t buy their lies!”. He meant don’t listen to the excuses of potential customers. Keep selling! “You”, as the manager of your mind, have to be the boss, and you have to learn to call BS on the mind’s endless tricks, it’s relentless excuses as to why you cannot permit love and peace in this moment.

What I love most about Jill Bolte Tayler is her personal courage. She has not been afraid to go out and tell the world about her experiences and the profound insights she has gleaned from them. What a remarkable contrast she represents to the dry, politically correct detachment of so much of modern education and science! More power and success to her, I say!

Why is this book important for the future? It is because this is a story of a scientist who is catapulted out of her mundane rational world and worldview by an extraordinary event. The insights she has gained are relevant to us all. In the modern world we spend too much time stuck in the head, in the rational mind. The non-ordinary perceptions granted by the right brain are only deemed extraordinary because the way we have developed our societies creates brain structures and processes which lock us into a fragmented, linguistic experience of life and world. Our society creates talking heads. It time we must permit the creation of feeling, listening, receptive souls. People like Jill Bolte Taylor have a special role to play in this regard, because she is literally accredited by mainstream science.

If you take the time to watch to her TED talk, below, you will see what a remarkable woman Jill Bolte Taylor is.

Marcus

What Lies at the Heart of the Future?

I typically describe myself as a futurist. I often write about the future, including in Futures Studies journals. My book Extraordinary Mind is subtitled Integrated Intelligence and the Future. Yet I am a futurist who believes that the one thing that all the possible probable and preferred futures of humanity must contain if they are to succeed, is... presence.

Yes, the essence of my preferred future is to be here now.

It is only through presence that human beings can become fully conscious, and bring darkness into light. It is only in presence that consciousness becomes fully alive.

Most of all, it is in presence that we find the love that lies at the heart of every human story that has ever mattered.

It is in presence that we find God... or something that feels like God.

Visions of the future which fail to address this story are ultimately empty. They are like a person turning up at a baseball game, then sitting backwards in his seat and watching the wall at the back of the stadium. The essential point has been missed. Most visions of the future are out of alignment with the essence of our story. They have become lost in the flickering mind. The present worldwide obsession with gadgets is simply an extension of the scattered awareness of the ego. The flickering screen is an extension of the flickering mind.

The way back is simple. It's quite easy really. Simply return to what is real, what is here.

Rather than my telling you, here is a short video from someone who taught me much about presence. He speaks straight from the heart: Leonard Jacobson. Leonard is a modern mystic whom I first met in Australia 19 years ago. He is the real deal. He is not trying to sell anything nor be anything other than what he is. I invite you to take a few moments to listen to his wisdom.

Here is Leonard talking about what God is. Nothing is more important.

Marcus