Several days after doodling the drawing to the left (and similar ones), it dawned on me that the spirals below the body, and the winged shaped forms out to the sides, resemble the staff of Hermes, the caduceus.

The staff of Hermes represent wisdom, healing, fertility and also commerce. As a symbol of healing, it is used interchangeably with the (more technically correct) staff of Asclepius - the god of healing.

This is an interesting connection, and as I have seen the staff symbol many times, it may well have influenced the drawing - although certainly not consciously.

It is also possible that the pattern reflects an archetype of some sort.

And it is possible that it reflects something really going on in the energy system of folks - picked up by the ancent cultures (back to Mesopotamia) and now also arising in me.

Who knows? At the very least, it is an interesting synchronicity.

In many forms of martial arts and yoga, the hara (tan t’ien) is emphasized as the physical center of gravity, the source of energy and/or the center of intake and distribution of energy throughout the body(ies), and the center/initiator of movements.

My experience of the hara is that it (the abdominal region) warms up during tai chi, chi gong, Zen practice, yoga and also Breema. This warmth or heat seems to distribute and nourish throughout the body, and gives a sense of comfort, fullness and being at home. I also notice the ease and flow of movements when they “come from” the hara, in any movement practice.

In reading about it, I also notice that it is sometimes equated with the third chakra (Manipura), sometimes the second (Svadhisthana), and sometimes both - covering the whole abdominal region.

It is usually described as located one or two inches below the navel, although sometimes also as the lower abdomen or the whole abdominal cavity (hara means belly in Japanese).

Different descriptions

It is interesting that there is no consensus on which chakra it corresponds with.

It may be another case of fluidity, in this case where the energy bodies may reconfigure to some extent according to frameworks and practices.

In some traditions, the hara (tan t’ien) may come into focus and be experienced as precisely located at a point below the navel - and this may either correspond with the second or third chakra. In other traditions, the hara emerges more as the lower abdomen or the whole abdominal region - including both second and third chakras.

In my case, the hara seems to include the abdominal region as a whole - and both second and third chakra.

In looking at the energy drawings from some years back and yesterday, I see that the main difference is in the absence of an oval around the body in the current one.

The earlier ones all did, as far as I can remember, and they were made before the dark night of the soul phase. The few I have doodled more recently are oval-free, and are post (or at the tail end of) the dark night phase.

I wonder if the oval somehow represented a subtle sense of I. There was a sense of accomplishment and arrogance that went with that awakening phase, although I could see it clearly and that it came from delusion. There was also an attachment to phenomena in the form of a certain magical atmosphere and bliss.

Then, there was an invitation to radically let go of any attachments to these ideas - to the remaining idea of I, to any atmosphere, to bliss or absence of bliss. And this invitation took the form of a long dark night of the soul, where all this was - apparently - taken away from me. Where I was plunged into the absence of all this. Where there was no material for any sense of accomplishment or arrogance. Where there was no magical atmosphere and no bliss.

Now, at the tail end of this phase, the oval does not show up - at least not in the few doodles so far. There is the physical body, the energies of grounding, the clear energies going through the heart area, the mental aura, a vortex some feet above the head, and that is about it. There is just clarity and an absence of any borders outside of the human self.

(Maybe the earlier drawings reflect an F6-F9 awakening - centaur, nature mysticism, deity mysticism and witness awakening. They were all definetely strongly present, and with a relatively clear seeing into the nondual. And the newer doodles reflect more of a nondual awakening, although it is definetely not quite emerged and popped yet.)

Who knows. These are all just stories anyway. The drawing are energy stories. These interpretations are also just stories. Just abstractions added to the simplicity and clarity of what is.

A couple of similar sketches from some time back.

..

I used to do doodles like these (usually in color) to get a sense of what is going on in the moment. It may or may not be an accurate representation of what is really going on energetically, but in any case says something about what is going on (as much as any dream, any set of current stories about anything, any story coming up while watching clouds or inkblots, and so on). This one happened while I facilitated someone over phone earlier today(!).

What comes up when I look at the drawing: I find an attraction to the solid and fluid lines flowing up/down through the ground (would have continued down if it wasn’t for the writing right there), the lines - similar to wings - spreading out along the surface of the ground, the line coming up from the center with the vortex 7-8 (?) feet over the head, the fluid lines coming in/out from infinity and going through the heart area.

I just finished Theories of the Chakras by Hiroshi Motoyama, and it seems clear that the relationships between the Indian nadis, the Chinese meridians, the chakras, and our holarchy of being still offers many opportunities for exploration and clarification. I also see how Dr. Motoyama only includes the health aspect of the Chinese system, and largely leave out the spiritual - including Chinese yoga, and practices such as five element acupuncture. I am sure that is just from a lack of sources, yet it is also leaves a big hole in an otherwise very interesting and useful book.

I am reading Theories of the Chakras by Hiroshi Motoyama, and find it both interesting and clear (Ken Wilber seems to have used it as one of the main sources for his chapter of subtle energies in the upcoming book Kosmic Karma).

Our Being - from nondual through to physical matter - is a seamless whole, whether we see it as our human self or the whole world of phenomena (both possible). At the same time, we are free to add an overlay of abstraction to it and differentiate out various aspects.

One of the functions of chakras, as Motoyama describes it, is to transform/channel energy between the various layers of our being.

During my initial awakening, there was a tremendous amount of energy puring in - including to the physical/body level. There was a tremendous capacity for activity and engagement in the world, including very little need for sleep. It was pretty clear that the energy came from the awakening (F7-F9 and nondual), and Motoyama identifies one of the possible mechanisms for how this energy gets channeled and transformed through the system - including to the physical body.

In Wilber’s framework, we can maybe say that the energy got channeled from F8 (subtle) and down through to F1 (physical body). There was little to resist it, as everything - all those levels - were brought more into awareness.

Sometimes when I do inquiry, when there is a big shift in perception, there is also a corresponding energetic shift and also a sense of the whole world rushing back into me.

There is an untying of a knot in consciousness, which seems to be followed by a corresponding untying of an energetic knot.

And the whole world rushing back into me is (as it seems to me) the rushing back of my story of the world. I had it projected out there, and now realize that it is really all about me.

We went to the final deeksha weekend of our seven-month deeksha process (monthly gatherings), and it was quite amazing - as it usually seems to be.

Integral view on subtle energies

A couple of days ago, I also read the draft of the chapter on subtle energies from Ken Wilber’s upcoming book Integral Spirituality. He clarifies many things there that I have either picked up other places and/or had a sense of from own experience. Mainly that there is an energy component to each level from matter through to the causal, F1 through F9 in Wilber’s model.

At each level, there is an energy and a consciousness element or aspect, and they are mutually supportive and changes in one influences the other.

Through various forms of energy work - such as Indian and Chinese yoga and similar practices, we can change our consciousness at various levels. And through changing our consciousness - through for instance meditation and inquiry, their energetic components change at various levels.

Deeksha and energies

So with transmissions such as deeksha, it seems quite clear - as the people transmitting it say themselves - that the transmission work through the energy components at the various levels. It helps reorganize and restructure the energy field, possibly at levels F1 through F9, and this in turn impacts both our biological organization (at F1) and our consciousness. (It also seems that it functions as a seed, planted from even one deeksha and then unfolding on its own over time - according to the needs and circumstances of the person.)

This makes good sense when looking at the various typical effects of the deeksha transmission.

The general and typical (?) process seems to be…

1. Growing sense of declutching (release from old stressful patterns)

2. Deepening sense of intimacy with and no separation from the world
3. Awakening to and as the witness. Shifting the sense of I from our human self to pure awareness, in which the world of phenomena arises including our human self. A sense of just watching our human self functioning as before, but not seeing any of it as personal or I.
4. Shifting into a deepening nondual realization. Realizing that nothing has an inherent I in it, not our human self, not any other phenomena, and not even the Witness or the seer. This is an awakening to/as ground, appearing as all the forms in the world. Everything is revealed as God, as consciousness, as emptiness dancing.

My experiences

I received my first deeksha in the Bay area in June of last year, and experienced not much while receiving - but then empty light dropping into my body. The following day, I was absorbed into the Witness (F9). I found myself as pure awareness in which the whole world of form arouse - my human self and everything else. There was no identification with my human self, but still an identification as the seer of it all. This lasted for several days.

Some weeks later, it slipped into an early nondual realization. There was no I anywhere, not even as the witness or seer - just the ground in all its myriad forms, just emptiness dancing. And it was completely simple and ordinary. Nothing to write home about. It is an early nondual realization as it did not go through the sleep cycle.

This lasted for some weeks, and then shifted back to a vague/transparent sense of self. There is probably (obviously) more work to do there before the nondual realization can be more stable.

Throughout this process, there has also been periods of declutching, and also periods where quite a lot of previously unprocessed material has come up - in the form of illness (fatigue), vivid dreams, old stressful patterns and so on. It has been a good lesson in see, feel, and allow it to come and go on its own without getting too caught up in it, although that has happened as well.

The week after the initial deeksha, there were quite strong muscle contractions in the head and neck area. Each time I received distance deekshas in the following weeks (once a week), the same tension and pain came up, and then dissipated after the deeksha.

Initially, the deeksha energy seemed centered in and around the head. After some weeks, it droppen into the body. Also, at the beginning there was a sense of it coming from the “outside”. Then, again after some weeks, there was a sense of it just coming from space - from every point of space, pouring out from the ground everywhere - including within and from every cell in the body.

These are all relatively typical effects of the deeksha, although somewhat at the dramatic end of the spectrum.

Transmissions and integral practice

Here are some of the typical categories for an integral practice…

• Physical (diet, activity)
• Energy work (yoga, tai chi, chi gong, sat nam rasayan, etc.)
• Shadow work (3-2-1, Byron Katie inquiry, etc.)
• Relationship work
• Meditation
• Inquiry (Big Mind, Byron Katie, Diamond Path, Headlessness, etc.)
• Engagement in the world (paid work, social & ecological engagement)

One that I sense may become more important and common in the future, obviously biased by my own experiences, is transmission - for instance in the form of Waking Down and deekshas.

Everything else on the list tends to be self-power type activities, and a more integral practice would also include other-power type activities, for instance in the energy realm through Waking Down and deekshas.

I did another five element acupuncture [2] treatment today, and continue to be amazed of how effective it typically is - in this case deep and solid.

In the five element tradition, they treat people on body, mind and soul levels. For people in modern society, often with an emphasis on the soul level, or the spirit in their terminology. In my limited understanding of it, this seems to be related to the sense of being on one’s path, following ones Tao, and the guidance, passion, sense of fullness and courage that comes with that.

Energies

Since my teens, I have been quite sensitive to energies, and for each needle I tend to experience the shifts quite clearly - where the energy moves in my body, and the effects at the other levels as well.

During the treatment today, I wanted to explore this a little further - also to learn more about it, so I described the effects of each needle as I experienced it. It turned out that the energy movements I described corresponded with the meridians, in direction and path. And the shifts at the other levels also corresponded closely with the intention behind the needling and the description and names of the various points.

Origins

Experiencing the effects of the different energy locations on the body, in daily life and through acupuncture, it is easy for me to see how the whole system originated: through people’s immediate experience. There is nothing mysterious about it. We all have particular gifts and skills, some are natural and great cooks, others are great in soccer, and yet others have a sensitivity to these subtle energies.

TCM and Five Elements

All modalities have their strengths and weaknesses. Each one work well in some situations and for some people.

At the same time, I cannot help having a particular fondness for five elements acupuncture. And what I hear from students and practitioners are similar. Those who went to a TCM school often describe it as draining and not quite as interesting as they had thought. Those I know who went to a five element school describe it as profoundly life changing, deeply nourishing, and among the best things that ever happened to them.

I started reading the draft of the subtle energy chapter in Ken Wilber’s book on integral spirituality.

Not having read the whole thing yet, I am sure this will be clarified for me. But for now, I cannot help but seeing a relationship between a particular form of healing (energy healing, spiritual healing), and the energy component of the causal level.

In my teens, and during my initial awakening, I discovered that “I” could catalyze healing - by allowing space for healing and also to connect with the “ground”, or rather the level closest to it, what I later learned is called the causal level. And this seems very similar to what they do in Sat Nam Sarayan, which I recently discovered.

If there is a direct connection to the nondual level, to the ground, then nothing happens. What happens happens, and there is not really any change. But if there is an intention and a connection with the causal level, then healing can take place. The same is of course the case with the energy component at any other level, but the causal seems to be the one I most easily go to when allowing for healing - for myself or others.

There is an intention for healing there (relative), within the context of allowing what needs to happen to happen (absolute). There is my wish for a particular outcome, within the realization of how narrow my perspective is and that something else may be more appropriate. There is the prayer for healing, yet always followed by “Your will be done” - no matter what that may look like. There is intention and space. Direction and allowing. Seeking and humility. The relative and absolute.

I was in bed this morning listening to the radio when the body started moving on its own, and continued for maybe five or ten minutes. Limbs moved around rapidly, muscles contracted, sounds (grunts) came out, the body doing things on its own. There was a pure witnessing of it all, pure awareness.

After some minutes, there was an awareness others in the room possibly hearing the sounds made by this body, and at first the faint stirrings of a concern, which then came more into the foreground and ended the spontaneous movements and the sense of being absorbed into the witness.  

What happened here seems similar to what I heard from other deeksha receivers… the body moving on its own, while the sense of “I” is absorbed into and as pure awareness.