Category Archives: Metaphysics

The Third Chakra

by Dreama Vance
December 29, 2017

Although we have only worked with the first two chakras so far, if you have been practicing every day, you are developing your skills.

If you need to catch up, go to The Spiritual Gifts and Spiritual Gifts – Part Two… it is REALLY worth it! After practicing those, you will experience these mind and spirit-expanding effects:

1) You can rapidly clear and purify your energy in thought, word, and deed in preparation for your inner work.

2) You can focus your attention and hold it steady.

3) You can experience a state of peace and tranquility as you move into the present moment.

4) You can recognize the Abiding Presence within and realize you are One with this Source energy.

5) You are learning to broaden your inner senses and to observe and notice your experience.

6) You have learned that this energy of existence responds immediately at the energetic level to your intention and focus, e.g. when you hold the intention to allow increased flow in the chakra, you immediately register this in your experience.

The structural design of existence carries three foundational elements. They are not separate, but we will look at them individually as that allows us to study and understand and experience them. The first foundational element we will look at today. Next week, we will discuss the second element and then we will discuss the third element on the upcoming course, Mastering Higher Energies. We are introducing this structure because you are experiencing it in your meditations. In fact, any time you turn your attention to the Abiding Presence, you experience these elements.

Let’s look at the first we will discuss, which is Expansion.

As you recognize the Presence at the start of your meditation, you feel that sense of spaciousness. When you focus on the base chakra, you experience this openness. As you allow the flow to increase, you experience expansion. When you move up to the second chakra, your experience and perception increases. You can perceive and see more. This is expansion.

Expansion is in every particle of existence. The innate nature of existence is expansive.

The energy of existence molds and shapes itself in response to our thoughts, feelings, and conscious and unconscious beliefs. So can this energy of existence “do” contraction? Absolutely! You feel this when fear, doubt, uncertainty present themselves in your experience. Our experience in life is reflecting those thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.

However, the energy of existence cannot lose its very nature. Its very fabric is expansive. It will shape itself and mold itself to reveal what we are asking of it, whether consciously or not, but its underlying nature never changes.

As we consciously align with the innate nature of this energy, we move into flow. Through the practice of the chakra meditation we experience and get to know the original nature of this energy.

Any time you must make a decision, you can tune into your inner Self and “try on” the decision. You will immediately feel either expansion or contraction. Expansion brings you into alignment with your true nature, which is the energy of existence. If you feel contraction, then you are asking existence to play a role, which it willingly does! Our goal, however, is to live allowing our true nature and consequently the true nature of existence to express through and as ourselves.

THE EXERCISE

As we move up the spine to the third chakra, you can notice the sense of spaciousness and openness as you work with each chakra and observe your experience.

The third chakra is along the spine at the level of the navel. It is appropriately called the solar plexus as it appears as a yellow ball just like the sun. This is our thought center and also the center of our personal power.

Follow your meditation techniques, clearing and moving into meditation, then working first with the base chakra, then moving to the second – the emotional center – then the solar plexus.

At each chakra focus your attention on the energy ball. Observe your experience. Feel the pulse of energy. Increase the flow with your intention. Observe and notice your experience. Feel how you are carried on waves of energy. Notice the expansion. Notice how the energy feels bigger. Notice how your thoughts become peaceful and free of stress at the solar plexus chakra.

Keep notes on your experiences.

The first three chakras are the physical expression of our human existence. You can easily see how when Spirit comes into the body as a baby, the energy is focused at the base chakra, where survival is key. The energy is “learning” to stay in physical form.

The second or emotional chakra, is the next step as the energy learns to connect with others. Once survival is mastered, the energy can move out to explore and interact with others. At the third level or chakra, also called willpower or ego, energy learns to control and manipulate its environment.

As we work with these three chakras and allow Spirit to express through them, you see how the body gains vitality, our emotions are calmed and balanced, and our thoughts are made easy and peaceful. These are some of the gifts of Spirit.

By next week, if you do your daily practice, you will be ready for the wonderful discoveries experienced at the heart chakra and the higher spiritual energies we will cover in the upcoming course, Mastering Higher Energies. I hope you join us on this course as we explore and expand our consciousness together!

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Spiritual Gifts – Part Two

by Dreama Vance
December 22, 2017

Since Part One of this article, you have been working the past several days with just the base chakra. By now you will be familiar with the concept of holding your attention steady. You can stay focused on the energy center.

Isn’t there a sports phrase, “Keep your eye on the ball”? You have learned to keep your attention on the red ball of energy at the base of the spine. At the same time you have allowed your inner senses to move outward, noticing and observing your experiences.

Did you notice how easy it was to open and expand your base chakra? You didn’t have to turn cartwheels or use a dowsing crystal to open your chakra. All you had to do was use your intention and allow it to happen. The energy of existence is immediately responsive.

When this flow increased, you were able to notice differences in your experiences. Yes? The color is deeper, brighter. You feel uplifted. The light is clearer. Whatever your experience is, you are getting familiar with observing and noticing with your inner senses and with holding your focus steady.

THE SECOND CHAKRA

Bring these skills to the second chakra which is halfway between the base chakra and the waist. All of the chakras are in a vertical line. The first five major chakras are along the spine with the 6th and 7th chakras in alignment in the head. If you looked at a person from the side, the centers would be in a straight line. So the second chakra is right in the flat of the back between the base chakra and waist. It is a beautiful sunset orange glow.

It is our emotional center and is the energy that allows our connection with others.

THE EXERCISE

As you do your prep work and exercise from the first lesson, after you work on the base chakra, move your attention up from the base chakra to the second chakra. Holding your attention on the orange glow, feel, sense, and observe the energy. Notice the quality of this chakra. It has a feeling state to it. Notice how it soothes and evens out your experience. Notice that you can perceive more and, therefore, see more at this level.

Now with your intention, allow the flow of energy to increase to its maximum level.

Again notice and observe your experience.

Jot down notes of your experience so you can see your progress as we continue up the chakras. Each day practice your work with the base chakra and then move up to the second chakra. This will only take a few extra minutes because you are already in your meditation.

We are laying the foundation for you to develop your skills at reading and sensing the different frequencies. Just practice for a short period everyday. Stay in a relaxed state as you notice and observe. Keep your focus steady but don’t strain. You want to be focused, but relaxed and alert. Ask the masters, your angels, your guides for assistance. It is always freely given.

Next week we will cover the third chakra and I will identify one of the structural foundations of existence which you are experiencing as you do these meditations. By then you will have a bit more experience observing in the meditations.

You see, the chakras transmit the flow of Universal energy into the physical body. Each center contains a partial set of frequencies that rise in vibration as we move up the body. Together they form the collective energy of Source so the body can access the full spectrum.

The most important thing that is happening in these meditations is you are experiencing the nature of existence itself. You can read this article and a thousand other articles but it is the actual experience — what you are sensing and observing and coming to know about existence and its nature through your experience of it that actually transforms our lives. This is why doing the exercise is so important.

I have been doing the entire chakra meditation with you every day and it is incredibly powerful and beautiful. As we move up into the higher chakras you will see and understand more, of course! Your skills will develop. I love what I am receiving through the meditations and you will, too.

Please do join us on the upcoming course. Our Mastering Higher Energies course is beginning soon. If you haven’t already registered for this groundbreaking course on higher energies, be sure to check out the details at:

https://www.spiritualdynamics.net/energies/

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The Spiritual Gifts

by Dreama Vance
December 10, 2017

Did you know that one of the best spiritual practices you can do is to “work” with your energy centers on a daily basis?

I am sure you are familiar with the seven major energy centers of the body, also called chakras. There are other smaller centers around the body and larger centers outside of the body. For our purposes we are going to focus on the seven major ones.

Many of you are advanced in your studies and you may think this is too elementary for you. I think, however, that when you begin to practice this teaching, you will be amazed at what you experience and, therefore, learn.

Today and on the coming three Fridays you will get a lesson from me. It is my gift to you and will cover the first four major chakras and how you work with them. We will cover the higher chakras in our upcoming course on Higher Energies.

First, let me reassure you that “working with the chakras” is not difficult and will only take five to ten minutes of your time. This is why we start with one chakra at a time. You will do this work in meditation when you are connected to Spirit and in a calm and receptive space.

One of the things that will happen when you begin to work with the chakras is you will develop your abilities to sense and feel the energies. This is soooo important. Each chakra has a different energy range, a different vibrational set of frequencies.

With practice, you will be able to discern these and experience the differences between them. This becomes very advantageous when you reach the spiritual levels of frequency, as they are very rapid. It is our goal to be able to navigate these higher frequencies with ease and to maintain our conscious focus at these higher vibrations and, indeed, these higher states of consciousness.

THE SEVEN CHAKRAS

The seven major chakras are actually transmitters of energy. They each contain a gift from Spirit. You know that you are Spirit in manifested form. Accessing your vibrational frequencies at the different chakra levels allows you to access the different qualities, and attributes of Spirit. These actually are gifts and are given to us. We do not have to “earn” them. They are freely given.

PREPARATION

Allow 5 or 10 minutes for total concentration in meditation. If you need to set a timer, do, so you can be totally relaxed and centered on the exercise. By being totally focused you will be able to sense the very subtle energies. We want to experience these as much as we can. If you have a favorite way to move into a meditational state, use your own method.

It is always a good idea to start any meditation with a clearing exercise. Here is one I like to use. It clears the physical body and consequently, the other subtle bodies as well.

Visualize the Sun above your head and to your right. Then visualize the Moon above your head on the left. The Sun sends a ray of light to the Moon. Then they both send down beams of light that come together into one ray that is sent down into the top of your head. In other words, those three lines of light form a triangle over your head. Bring that light down into your head, down into your body and feel it roll through you like a wave, cleansing away all stress and tension, all mental anxiety and worry. Let it roll all the way down to your toes, into the Earth. The Earth will take that energy and mulch it into clean, renewable energy for the Universe.

THE EXERCISE

Use whatever technique works for you to move into meditation. If you don’t have one, simply follow your breath as you sit quietly, after the clearing described above, and notice a sense of peace and tranquility. Move into the present moment and notice that there is a Presence inside of you, breathing you, beating your heart.

Now move your consciousness to the base chakra, which is at the bottom of the spine. The energy centers are about the size of a lime, although they do expand and contract. The rainbow colors are the most widely used system for the chakras and that is what we will use.

Keep your attention focused on the base chakra. You can visualize the beautiful rosy red color of this energy ball. Notice what you are feeling. Observe. Move out with your inner senses and become aware of this energy. You may feel it pulsing. It has a vitality to it. It is the gateway of life energy for the physical body.

Using just your intention, allow the maximum amount of energy to enter this chakra. Keep your focus and attention on that energy center at the base of the spine. Notice as the energy expands and opens.

You may actually feel the energy boost in the physical body. Just observe.

Notice. Stay focused.

You may want to jot down your observations. This way you can see how you develop your abilities to experience the energy centers.

Practice this short exercise every day. By Friday you will be proficient at beginning to sense energy in the centers. This will develop and your ability will expand as we proceed with the next step.

Many blessings to you!

Announcement: Our Mastering Higher Energies course is beginning soon. If you haven’t already registered for this groundbreaking course on higher energies, be sure to check out the full details at:

https://www.spiritualdynamics.net/energies/

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Believing is Seeing

by Owen K Waters

Today’s massive, ongoing Shift in consciousness is a shift from intellectual awareness to holistic awareness.

Intellectual awareness is a function of the solar plexus chakra, where mental ability is developed in a linear direction. Examples of linear thought include the performing of arithmetic and the operating of machinery. In this mode of consciousness, people have learned to develop a rigid discipline of “seeing is believing” in order to discover what works and what doesn’t.

With holistic awareness, the heart chakra is developed, allowing issues of separation to be resolved and integrated. Holistic awareness means that mind, body & spirit are seen as closely related facets of the human being. This heart-centered awareness is a viewpoint of integration or wholeness which heals the fears and discords that come with solar plexus consciousness.

There is a paradox with moving from linear intellect to heart-centered consciousness. While the intellectual phase of consciousness may say that “Seeing is believing,” the holistic phase requires quite the reverse. In holistic consciousness, opposites are often both true as they are seen as opposite sides of the same coin or as polar opposites of the same issue.

Awareness that is limited to the intellect is subject to issues of separation; of us versus them, of struggling for resources that are perceived as scarce instead of solving the problem of their scarcity. Holistic awareness includes the idea that consciousness creates realities, that something must be created in consciousness – “believed” – before they can become a reality.

So, in holistic consciousness, “Believing is seeing” becomes a statement of truth, even though it is the opposite of “Seeing is believing.” Instead, it adds the understanding that reality is created by consciousness. We are not merely observers of what is. We create what is.

Traditionally, people have entered a realm of holistic, heart-centered awareness when they pass on from this life. In the afterlife, their task is to heal the fears and hates of their physical lives and transform them into love and forgiveness, thus integrating themselves with others, rather than feeling separate from them.

Today, due to The Shift, more and more people are embracing holistic, heart-centered consciousness while still alive in physical bodies. As the heart is also the gateway to spiritual consciousness, this global movement is producing a revolution in spiritual unfoldment.

Spiritual consciousness is flowering in the global consciousness of humanity as The Shift progresses. Today’s pioneers in consciousness are people just like yourself. They are exploring the new territory of unconditional love and experiencing a reunion with their own inner, spiritual connections.

The higher aspect of heart-centered consciousness is fully connected to your inner being, or soul. Your inner being is fully connected to the consciousness of the universe and to that which created the universe. Infinite Being is within each of us. We are Infinite Being.

The daily focus that we apply to our five senses and their connection to the outside world is just like performing a part in a play. We act out the part of being us, along the general theme of the type of events that we planned for this life. We ride along through the journey of this life, gaining the type of experiences that we planned to gain.

When you open up to your heart, and through that, reconnect to your own spiritual source, then you have become a part of the very future of humanity.

The Shift is heading towards a world where unconditional love and acceptance is normal, where strife is relegated to the distant past, where the true potential of human beings can express itself in the daily joy of being all that you are.

Recommended further reading – The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness (Updated Edition, November 2016) by Owen Waters.

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The Colors of Creation

by Owen K Waters

There are schools of thought which believe that light and darkness are opposites and that a battle between the two is part of the way the universe was created.

The same people also tend to believe that, while spirit is full of light, all matter – and that includes our physical bodies – is full of darkness and therefore flawed.

It all sounds a bit like the idea promoted by medieval-era church teachings – that we are worthless, defective, diseased sinners who need to appease some guy in a pulpit if we are to ever have a chance of putting things right.

Darkness and light are not opposites. Bright sunshine is bright light. Shadow is less-bright light. They are both degrees of light, not opposites.

The same misconceptions show up in other traditions. Yin and Yang have often been portrayed in ways that are no longer seen to be valid in today’s era of scientific thinking. Yang has been portrayed as the sunny side of a mountain or a river, while Yin is the shaded side. Again, these are just differences in the degree of light.

Yin and Yang are not cold and hot, for those conditions are just degrees of the same energy – heat. They are not even positive and negative, for that would imply that they are different poles of the same energy. One thing that three centuries of science has given us is the ability to see things in better definition. Today, we even understand that both heat and light are expressions of the same electromagnetic energy, but at different frequencies of expression.

To understand the true nature of Yin and Yang, you have to realize that they are actually different energies. They are both expressions of the energy of the Creator. Without either one, the universe could not exist.

Perhaps the best examples of Yin and Yang energies are magnetism and electricity. Magnetism draws objects together while electricity holds the potential to do work. When combined and set into motion, these energies produce physical light – an expression of electromagnetic energy.

Yang energy is the energy of expansion. It pushes outward, as if to explore the universe.

Yin energy is the energy of balance and harmony. It counter-balances the potential of Yang energy to bring it into a usable form as light.

Light is energy in motion.

The physical light that we see is just one manifestation of the energy that cascades through the realms of existence, powering all forms of life. Light manifests on all levels – as physical light, as etheric life energy, as mental energy, and as other essential forms of energy.

If Yin and Yang are not really darkness and light, then perhaps the colors of the Yin and Yang symbol should not be black and white. We could even get creative! These days, we have colors to use in portraying such concepts.

For example, how about the colors of the primary human chakras? Let’s take the chakras of immediate concern to humans – the solar plexus, the heart and the throat chakras.

Blue is the color of the throat chakra and its natural resonance with the soul and its unlimited spiritual connection. Blue and spirituality – what a perfect match.

Green is the color of the heart chakra and its primary purpose of bringing harmony to human consciousness. Green and harmony – what a perfect match.

Yellow is the color of the solar plexus chakra and its focus upon empowering, rational thought rather than the superstition and fear of bygone eras. Yellow, the sunshine color, and empowered energy – what a perfect match.

Most of all, in our journey back to conscious connectedness with our souls and the divine, let’s remember that we are deserving of all the light that the Creator sends us each and every minute of every day.

Owen Waters is the author of The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness. The new, Updated Edition of this groundbreaking book is now available for immediate download at:

https://www.spiritualdynamics.net/ebooks/theshift.htm

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The Shift To a Heart-Centered Culture

by Owen K Waters

Since the 1960s, a massive shift in consciousness has brought sweeping changes to society. Wouldn’t we all like to know where this is heading? And, what will tomorrow’s world look like?

The answer emerged as long ago as the 1960s, when a pioneering social scientist called Clare Graves was studying the phases of conscious evolution that society has gone through over the ages.

His studies led him to declare that humankind is preparing for what he called a momentous leap – a mega-change within society which would dwarf all previous changes, because it would open up a whole new tier of evolutionary changes.

In 2005, I published a book called The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness which pointed out that these stages of social evolution agree perfectly with the human chakra system. The key to matching these two systems lay in pointing out the little-known fact that there are two phases to each of the major chakras – a yin and a yang phase.

The yin phase is where people begin to explore the new frequency of consciousness and the expanded worldview which it offers. Then, they graduate to the yang phase, where they master the new chakra and use their new ability to create effective action which changes their world for the better.

For example, society spent much of the 20th century mastering the solar plexus chakra. This resulted in the development of intellect, along with science, technology, and all the wonderful gadgets that we enjoy today.

In the late 20th century, it became more and more obvious that many people were taking the next step and developing heart-centered consciousness. The activation of the heart chakra brings an awareness that the good of the many is an important concern and that cooperation can produce more for everyone than competition ever did.

Heart-centered consciousness brings an expanded worldview where issues like sustainability, human rights, and the freedom to develop your own potential come to the fore. These issues simply don’t exist in the solar plexus world of ambitious intellect. But, in a heart-centered world, they become very much a part of the landscape.

What happens, you might ask, when many more people take this even a step further and move from the yin or introductory phase into the yang phase of the heart chakra? Then, they will master this new, expanded level of consciousness.

The active or yang phase of heart-centered consciousness is where unconditional love begins to flow through the person. At first, it may seem like a mystery where these higher sentiments are coming from, but eventually the awakening person realizes that this is simply the nature of the universe.

If this sounds like a spiritual awakening, that’s because it is. The higher aspect of the heart chakra is the launching pad for an appreciation of the spiritual nature that exists behind all physical manifestation.

Despite what you were taught as a child, this is not a hostile universe. It is benign through and through. The sense of unconditional love that you feel as you settle into heart-centered consciousness is not generated by wishful thinking… you are sensing the energy that forms the very fabric of the universe!

Belligerence is a man-made illusion. It is a divergence from the true nature of the universe. The universe is essentially a loving and supportive place. We just have to channel that feeling of unconditional love into our lives and the world will change beyond recognition.

You can take an active, leading part in The Shift. Develop your heart chakra by knowing that this is the destiny of humanity, that the universe is benign, and that you can tap into its endless supply of unconditional love. Allow yourself to be filled with this infinite supply of love and then become more deeply aware of your own unique role in changing today’s world for the better.

The more you become accustomed to heart-centered awareness, the more you become one of the True Hearts who, right now, at this very moment, are pioneering a New Reality on Planet Earth.

For much more information about The Shift and how it affects you today, read the new, Updated Edition of the groundbreaking book, The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness at:

https://www.spiritualdynamics.net/ebooks/theshift.htm

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It’s a Great Time to be Alive!

by Owen Waters

The Shift is the mass migration of humanity into the second tier of consciousness. This is where basic values transform into spiritual values, where caring hearts blossom forth into action to help humanity in ways that represent their personal, highest joy.

Millions of pioneering trail-blazers have already made it through The Shift and into the new awareness. Every day, more people follow their example. The New Reality presents a newly emerging type of humanity. This vanguard of unconditional love and renewed hope holds the seeds of a culture where ‘quality of life’ replaces ‘standard of living’ and ‘you-and-me’ cooperation replaces ‘you-versus-me’ competition.

The world is transforming; destiny is calling. Together we are witnessing the dawning of the New Reality as it rises in all of its glory, like the Sun rising at the dawn of a bright, new day.

The New Reality is both heartfelt and heart-powered. It’s about people who care. But people can only awaken to their new, expanded potential when they realize that this potential exists.

Tell your friends that the world is shifting to a new reality and that it is destined to become a truly beautiful place.

To step forward into New Reality consciousness means to experience new vistas of awareness and new levels of creativity. It means following your heart to express your inner joy through making your own meaningful contribution towards the betterment of the world.

It truly is a great time to be alive!

This was an excerpt from The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness (Updated Edition) by Owen Waters, which is available exclusively at:

https://www.spiritualdynamics.net/ebooks/theshift.htm

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A Guide to the Emerging New Reality

by Owen K Waters

Here are just some of the deep insights revealed in The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness (Updated Edition).

In this breakthrough guide to the rapidly emerging New Reality, you can discover:

How the Shift to heart-centered consciousness now includes more than one in four adults – up from one in fifty just decades ago!

The metaphysical principles behind this momentous transformation in consciousness.

The exact nature of the gateway to spiritual consciousness.

How the effect of your spiritual practices brings unsuspected healing and balance to millions of people!

The nature of the coming tipping point in mass awareness.

How your own changes in tastes and preferences are shared by others far more than you might realize.

Why, even when things get chaotic, you’re on the verge of a beautiful new pattern in your life.

All about the tools to empower you through today’s dynamic phase of The Shift.

How social science validates the principles of the human chakra system.

The spectrum of human development – from caveman to cosmic consciousness – and how to best move ahead in your own spiritual development.

The significance of the transformational gateway that occurred in 2012 and how it affects your future.

The hidden secret that ties the chakras in with the observations of modern-day science.

The exact resonant frequencies of each of the major chakras.

Exactly how the Hundredth Monkey Effect works.

The key principles of the emerging New Reality.

A glimpse into the future world of higher consciousness.

The true nature of inspired wisdom from within.

How to unleash your true potential to create good things in your life.

Find out more now at:

https://www.spiritualdynamics.net/ebooks/theshift.htm

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Gaia and Our Path of Evolution

by Dreama Vance

Evolving consciousness is the purpose of all life in the Universe.

You are an evolving consciousness within the human realms of existence.

Gaia is also an evolving consciousness. Each planet, sun, galaxy is an evolving consciousness within the cosmic realms of existence.

I love the depiction of the in breath and the out breath of God. God breathed out and here we are on the outskirts of existence. As God breathes in, we climb the evolutionary ladder back to Source.

cosmicconsciousnessOne day we, too, will step into cosmic consciousness.

We will, one day, live life as a planet, as a sun. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? As we view life from our tiny human experience, just the thought of cosmic consciousness is almost overwhelming.

Yet, right here at our fingertips, indeed, right below our feet and as close as the air we breathe, we have the very consciousness of Gaia herself.

Although the very scale of planetary consciousness is mind-blowing, the actual experience of it from our human perspective is quite different. Even on our human evolutionary path, we know that love and service are higher planes of existence. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that when we send out our love to Gaia, we experience her love immediately returned to us.

Indeed, the very fact that Gaia provides a home for us is part of her own evolution in cosmic consciousness and exemplifies her great service to humanity. As we tap into her consciousness, she teaches us from her higher wisdom so that we, too, may learn and evolve.

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Decoding the Tao

by Owen K Waters

Long ago, the first time I read the ancient Tao Te Ching (pronounced “Dow Day Jing”), I ran into so many apparent contradictions that I felt like I was going cross-eyed with confusion!

I have not been alone in that type of feeling. To most Western minds, the nature of the Tao is a huge mystery that makes little or no obvious sense. I ran into statements that suggested that the Tao was manifest as everything in the world and, yet, the Tao was nothing and nowhere. Well, which is it, I thought, everywhere or nowhere?

The problem lies with the limitations placed on Western translators, as they are part of a cultural tradition which rarely teaches that there is an original state of unchanging, perfect beingness that lies behind even the Creator.

laotse In the 6th Century BC, the sage Lao Tse (“Lay-OTE-say”) is said to have written the Tao Te Ching, which became fundamental to philosophical Taoism. The word Tao is usually interpreted as meaning The Way, although it can also mean The Principle or The Doctrine. However, none of these interpretations address its true nature.

Lao Tse was reluctant to even name the Tao, as giving it a name weakened its basic concept of silent unchangeability, so he actually preferred to refer to it as ‘the nameless.’

There are over 100 translations of the Tao Te Ching in English. One apt interpretation of the meaning of the title is, “The book of the way of Divine inner power.”

Translators to English find themselves forced beyond literal translation and into interpretation because characters written in the original Chinese often have multiple meanings and need to be distinguished in context with one other. Because of this, the original intent of the message may not even be immediately apparent.

For example, they face literal translations of sentences like this:

“Name named not eternal/unchanging name.”

It takes an understanding of the concept first before the meaning becomes clear. This passage points to the concept that the Tao is ‘the nameless’ which encompasses the universe, while the universe itself is filled with what Lao Tse often refers to as ‘the ten thousand things’ or the manifestations of the Tao. We give names to objects in the material world and that which is beyond all things is referred to as ‘the nameless.’

The Tao, by definition, existed before Heaven and Earth. It is said to be still, formless, standing alone and undergoing no change. It is both larger than the largest thing and it is within the smallest object.

The part that really trips Western translators up is the idea that the Tao is simultaneously perfectly still and yet constantly moving. Ideas like this are confusing enough to stop a logical mind, short-circuit some brain cells, and make smoke start to curl slowly up out of a person’s ears!

steam-out-my-earsIn Western culture, we generally lack an appreciation of the original nature of God as unchanging beingness. In our action-oriented culture, we think of the Creator as the One God. Typically, unless you studied Eastern philosophies or some branches of metaphysics, then you were never made aware of the state of beingness which is behind even the One Creator. The Tao is the unchanging, perfect consciousness which is behind all things. The Tao is pure, tranquil beingness, and it formed the Creator as the aspect of itself which would take action and experience change.

Taoism is not alone in studying the original, unchanging beingness behind all things. The same concept appears in Hinduism as the still, silent Brahman, or Godhead, behind the creative Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

Chapter 42 of the Tao Te Ching gives the Taoist version:

The Tao produced the One.
The One produced the Two.
The Two produced the Three.
The Three produced all things.

This means that the unchanging beingness produced the One Creator. This aspect then saw that it was necessary (using Genesis terminology) to divide the ‘waters’ of its consciousness into two aspects. These different and complementary aspects were the principles of thought and feeling. A third aspect was still needed, which was the principle of motion, which allowed the command, “Let there be light!” to create the original template of the universe. The three aspects of the triune nature of the Creator then worked in harmony to create the universe and all material within it.

Students of modern metaphysics are familiar with the concept of a beingness which is behind all things. It has been referred to as the Absolute, the Isness, the ‘I Am’ Presence, and ‘the All That Is which is behind all things.’ My own choice of words is Infinite Being. All of these terms refer to the same perfect, unchanging beingness which is behind everything.

The universe exists within the field of silent consciousness of Infinite Being, so its essence is within everything in the world. That silent Isness is the ground state of consciousness behind all life. Because of its silent, unmoving nature it could be referred to as being ‘nothing and nowhere,’ at least to our physical sense of awareness.

The Creator and its creation exist within Infinite Being. Therefore, Infinite Being is within all things. The unchanging is within everything in the changing world. Yet, our physical senses will never detect this underlying, unchanging oneness. It is only through developing an inner connection that we will discover that which is behind all things.

The Tao is manifest as everything and yet the Tao, in the world of material senses, appears to be nothing and nowhere. So, the message of the Tao Te Ching is to develop an inner connection with that which is real and then the manifest world – this world which is unreal in comparison – begins to make sense.

Tell a friend…