What to Expect

One of the first benefits is the retrieval of scattered energies. In a hectic and confusing world, thoughts and energies can become entangled in events or situations outside of ourselves: relationships with other people, compulsive activities, even the desire to find connection through external avenues such as the internet. Bringing the awareness back to the core of the being helps consolidate scattered energies, strengthening a sense of Self.

The internet is a relatively new addition to the list of subtle but pervasive addictions. Under the illusion of fostering connectivity, it can seduce into investing attention (and thus energy) in a realm that doesn’t, fundamentally, exist. If you ever have the feeling you could be doing something else but that computer screen keeps drawing you back for one last look, chances are you’re searching for something outside of yourself that can only be found within. It is likely that a proportion of your energy is floating around “out there” and it is the desire for this dissipated energy to reconnect that keeps pulling you back to the screen. But rather than reconnect, you merely invest more energy, resulting in a further diminishing of vitality: a vicious cycle. The only way of fully reconnecting with the dissipated energy is to bring it back to the place it belongs: in the centre of your being.

Even this website has the capacity to be a subtle trap. If there are sections that resonate, they may perpetuate the illusion that the answers you are looking for lie outside of yourself. The purpose of this website is to throw you back on yourself. It contains no answers, only reflections of what already exists within you. The thing you are looking for does not lie within these pages, just as it does not lie within any place in the worldwide web. It lies inside yourself. This is why you are encouraged, after doing the exercise, to break free of your computer. Go and do something else: washing up, taking a walk, anything that anchors you in the real world. This is about restoring your power not sapping more of it.

The first thing to expect with this meditation, then, is the retrieval of scattered energies.

Beyond this immediate benefit come benefits that build over time. Most notable is a strengthening of the connection between conscious and unconscious minds. The benefits include -

• awareness of the body
• improved memory
• increased vitality
• sharpened perception
• enhanced awareness of subtle energies

As the awareness of subtle energies improves, so too can the awareness of certain “blockages” or densities – these can manifest as blind spots (places where it’s a struggle to visualise) or areas of discomfort or sluggishness. Negative emotions may arise – anger, frustration and so on. The temptation is to give up, as it feels like all the effort put in up until this point has been wasted. This is far from the case, and is merely one of a number of ways in which the mind tries to trick us into giving up the practice and maintaining the status quo.

The reality is that, as your energy increases, so too does your vibrational rate. When this happens certain complexes (spiritual, mental or emotional) come to the surface. This is positive, because there is invariably energy bound up in the complexes and releasing them frees up the energy, raising the vibrational rate even further. But the states have to be faced before energy is released.

For more on this subject see How to Train Your Dragon.

Facing these previously buried complexes is one of the more challenging aspects of spiritual growth, especially in the West where we have been taught to place so much judgement on things.

The best attitude to adopt is that of mindfulness or non-judgemental awareness: becoming gently aware of whatever comes up and accepting it for what it is: neither pushing it back under nor acting on it, but bringing it into the light of compassionate awareness.

All emotion is a flow, and no matter how immovable or fixed these negative states may appear, they will shift in time.

The key is not to focus on them too much, because this can lead to tension, which walls them off, perpetuating the problem. Instead place the emphasis on the symbolism as a whole, as it works in (and on) the whole system.

Be gently aware, and then move on with the exercise. The power of the symbols is such that they continue acting in the unconscious even after the conscious mind has moved onto other things. It is often the case that things that are considered to be problems are released naturally without having to consciously process them; one day you wake up and something that once seemed like a big deal is no longer an issue.

The important thing is maintaining the work. Creative imagination is like any skill – it improves with practice.