May 14 -class summary - chakra review-

Brief Discussion:
James: We are going to wait till 10 after to start.. any questions on meditation?
Sunset: smiles
Mind: is there something scheduled james?
James: Yes Mind.. wrap up of our series on chakras. Also discussion of where this meeting is going, and announcement of a more intensive workshop on chakras we are doing sometime soon.
Grace: I am excited about that.
James: Our chakra series was based on Sunsets study of a book by Anodea Judith, called the Wheels of Life.The summary of those 7 weeks can be found at our site: Meditation Paths (Keyword to: http://meditationpaths.blogspot.com/). Mind...also on that site is our earlier series, and 8 week introduction to meditation.
Grace: It's an excellent site, I enjoy it much, and refer to it often.
James: Tonight I wanted to do a sort of birds eye view, or big picture view of this subject. Grace: great, James
James: Taken from another book by Anodea Judith, called Eastern Body, Western Mind... from the introduction. This is the book we are planning to use for our chakra workshop.
Grace: I have to get that.
James: I recommend anyone who is planning on joining us for that workshop get the book, but it wont' be manditory.
Flowr: When is the workshop? and where, here?
James: We will announce it.. probably be a few weeks till it starts, and it will be around here somewhere.. Might be better to take that one to a private room.. even though it will end up being a smaller group. I think we will want the continuity of all being on the same page. Not starting over every time someone wanders in. Today is mothers day so I am not surprised we have our "core" group only.
Grace: glad we all could make it
James: We'll be doing some promotion for the new one but once it starts I think it best to not stay public.
Flowr: I agree

Chakra Review Summary

I am going to post some things in the room for discusion purposes.

Characteristics of the 7 Chakras: .

7 Cognition - Thought - Self Knowledge .
6 Intuition - Light - Self Reflection .
5 Communication - Sound - Self Expression.
4 Love - Air - Self Acceptance .
3 Power - Fire - Self Definition .
2 Sexuality - Water - Self Gratification.
1 Survival - Earth - Self Preservation

There is a flow to this.. top down, and bottom up. Earth, water, fire, air, sound, light, and thought, in the middle...As we move through the chakras the energy being addressed goes from denser to more etherial. The characteristics go from survival up to enlightenment. Yet there is also a downward flow, or process... .

Two Energy Currents 7

^ Manifestation
6
5
4
3
2
1 Liberation v .


The upward current, the current of Liberation, moves incrementally through the chakras from the bottom up, moving from the dense to the etheric. .

The downward current, the current of Manifestation, takes thoughts and turns them into visualizations, then words, then finally into form. .

It is a basic premise in this work that a human being needs a balance between both of these currents in order to be whole. Also condensed from the introduction of this book: You are about to go on a journey through the many dimensions of your own self. This journey will take you through a transformation of consciousness = across a vital bridge - connecting spirit and matter, Heaven and Earth, mind and body. As you transform yourself, you transform the world. .

On our journey through life, the chakras are the wheels along this axis that take the vehicle of the Self along our evolutionary quest, across the Rainbow Bridge, to reclaim our divine nature once again..Crossing the Rainbow Bridge is a mythic metaphor for the evolution of consciousness... to restore the Rainbow Bridge is to reconnect to our own divinity, anchoring it in the world around us and healing the rifts that so plague our world.

Brief Discussion:

James: Ok.. this is both a summary and an invitiation to join us for our workshop in the near future. Are there any questions at this point?
Sunset: smiles
Grace: no, but I love the summary
Flowr: I'm in awe.
Care: yes i am also and i just got here
Flowr: Such a simple concept and we wait this long in life to learn.
James: This was just a short summary of PART of the intro to the book we are planning to use.
Flowr: Ok.. not so simple maybe 8-)
Grace: isn't that something, Flowr? We learn when we are ready, I guess.
Care: it was such a nice thing of alite to invite me here im reading a book called all about chakras by lily rooman
Alite: That is true Grace
Flowr: Yep, true for me
Alite: Then Care you may enjoy Sunsets upcoming class
Grace: then you'll love this class,
Care :smile:
Sunset: smiles
James: Sunsetntwilight will be leading us in our study group, but I am planning on assisting her.
Care: yes im would love to learn more
Grace: so looking forward to this
Sunset: that's wonderful
James: And this Sunday night meeting will be returning to a more specific focus on Meditation. Starting next week we will begin a series I call Many Paths. Each week we will focus on a specific meditation tradition, and give some perspective on the religion, belief, system it comes from.
Grace: good way to help find what works best for each of us, as we are all different in this manner
James: I have always felt meditation should be approached eclectically until you get a chance to find out what works for you.
Care: is this every sunday??
James: yes
Care: i would just like to say that this room has very nice energy,,i feel great
James: Next week we'll go over the outline of what is to come, and perhaps start on one of the meditation methods.
Grace: it truly does
James: I am thinking of beginning with Vipassana, Insight Meditation as its called in English.. Flowr: Check the blogsite Carebear for past sessions :) http://meditationpaths.blogspot.com/
James: Taken from the buddhist tradition.. that technique come directly from the Buddha.
Grace: sounds lovely
Care: i could defently meditate with you all,,and thanks for the site
James: We end each hour with a group meditation also.
Grace: you'll love the meditation, Care :)
Care: oh goody!!
James: Does anyone have any comments or questions?
Care: i have a question...sorry im new and all and i want to start asking already
Sunset: may i add something about the other class i will be doing?
Grace: that's good!
James: please do
Alite: Care raised her hand first :giggles:
Care: no its ok,,go head...im a slow typer
James: You can both type at the same time :)
Alite: :blinks:
James: we'll sort it all out
Sunset: this class that i am planning....is going to be very intensive...and comprehensive...i'm planning on doing one chapter at a time..the introduction will probably be two weeks because it is so intense
Grace: something to really sink our teeth into... I love that :smile:
Sunset: this class is going to allow us to delve into things that are unconsciously programmed into our chakras that determine the way they function or dysfunction
Grace: excellent! I am excited!
Sunset: i was dealing with a mud catastrophe lol
Grace: like things from our childhood and such?
Alite: Hm. I wonder how long it takes for the book to come from Amazon
Care: thats kind of the question i have also has to do with dysfuction of a chakra
Grace: religous backgrounds etc..?
Sunset: my son decided to dig up my flower pots instead of letting them grow lol
James: I found the book at Borders.
Alite: Really?
Sunset: yes emerging..
Flowr: Are you planning to keep this same time slot?
James: was about $20
Sunset: it will not be the same time as james class
Sunset: we can correlate another time that is good for all
Alite: Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith (Amazon.com listed at $11.67)
Care: my son has bad asthma and allergies,,,the heart chakra needs balanced?
James: no, we are continuing this time for meditation specific topics
Earth: ooooooooooo I have it and love it
James: Thats not the book for the new class.
Sunset: well...that could depend on a number of things.. i would start with the throat chakra
Grace: nice price
Earth: I liked it so much and was drawn to it I ended up buying twice lol
James: Same author.. but book is called Eastern Body, Western Mind
Grace: twice?? lol
Care: should i work with colors?
Sunset: yes...blue would be good ... light blue is best
Grace: I want to get both books..
Sunset: the wheels of life is what we just went through
Grace: right, this is for the next course
Sunset: eastern body western mind will be the main book for this other class but there will be supplemental stuff too
Care: this sounds so intresting sun,,i cant wait
Sunset: this class will focus more on healing and balancing work
Grace: wonderful!
James: I am hoping to add some healing meditations for each chakra.
Alite: A good thing to focus upon
Grace: indeed
Sunset: and you can have both excess and blockage in the same chakra..
Miracle: can someone tell me what this room is about
Grace: great, James
Flowr: I need it.
James: Using Reiki and anything else we can muster ;)
Alite: Meditation Paths (Keyword to: http://meditationpaths.blogspot.com/)
James: and group
Sunset: there will be time for lots of questions too hehe
Care: i would love to learn reiki
James: Well, we won't be teaching Reiki.. it will just be energy that is in the mix, in the group meditations.
Care: i do healing but i dont have a name for it
Grace: energy healing
Sunset: well understanding what we will discuss can go into that type of forum if we so choose later
Grace: more than one way to do it
James: Thats fine.. generic is good. Universal.
Sunset: this is a good basis for understanding
Miracle:: is this room always here? i never saw it before
James: every sunday night this year, except last week
Miracle:: what r the times
James: I had kids graduating college last week
Care: could you email me sun when the class starts?
Alite: Between 10:00 - 11:00 pm EST
Miracle:: nice
James: Care, email me to be on the general mailing list.
Care: ok,,thanks alot
Earth: me too please
Sunset: james when did you say we would start?
James: Anyone who wants to be on the mailing list, PLEASE, send me an email.
Sunset: three weeks?
James: yes...that was estimate...subject to actual preparations
Alite: Then plenty of time to get the book
Flowr: Were you planning a meditation tonight James?
Sunset: pk great
James: yes....its just about that time too...Sun, is 3 weeks a good estimate?
Miracle:: i love this room so glad u have it ...i needed this

Group Meditation:

Ok.. everyone find a comfortable position.. sitting with head, neck and trunk aligned... hips higher than knees, feet on floor might be a good position but whatever works for you. Find a place to rest your arms too, either by keyboard or on thighs. You want to sit very still and relax. Let the cares of the day fall away. We are all sitting together.. in the warmth of this groups energy.

Breathe deeply and smoothly, to your comfortable capacity.... Feel yourself filling with peaceful energy as you inhale. Breathe out all tension and heaviness. Let the tension leave you in waves as you sit very still and breathe this peaceful energy. Stillness opens the pathways to our inner selves, like a pond becoming clear as it becomes still..

Open your hearts as you inhale this peaceful energy. Breathe it into your heart center. Feel the peace there. Breathe out any heaviness that is blocking this peaceful feeling in your heart center.

Breathing in peaceful energy.. feel it move through your heart space like a warm summer breeze in the trees. Feel it caress you from the inside out, with warmth and peace.

Feel the stillness cover you like a blanket, and move outward until we are all wtihin a circle of peace. We are one in this warm energy.. connected. Try to find the point in your heart space where peace "bubbles up".

Let your awareness center on this point. The heart opens like a flower opens to the sunlight.. feel this.. allow this. Place your palms together in front of your heart now... as if you are praying.. feel the warmth there, in your palms, and in your heartspace.. breathe deeply and feel this.

Then separate your hands and imagine we are joining hands in a circle. A circle of light.. of peace. Close your eyes a moment and feel this.. see us in a circle, within a sphere of glowing warmth and light. Taking one final deep breath and releasing.. let us bring this meditation gently to a close

((((((Group hug)))))))

May 7 Tonights Class Canceled -Rescheduled for May 14

Due to a family celebration, tonights class is reschedule for May 14. I will resume next week with the wrap up of our chakra series.

Namasté
James

April 30 Class Summary - Crown Chakra -

Crown Chakra

The Seventh Ckakra is also known as the crown chakra...the Sahasrara...the place of knowing or thought. This is also the seat of understanding..and the place of processing information down to manifest, or upward to the infinite. The power of thought, the formation of thought into form and the storehouse of infinite knowledge and collective consciousness are within the thousand petaled lotus.

The crown represents the place of ruling for it is in ruling, directing and perceiving thoughts that they truly become manifested. As our thoughts descend from the realm of immeasurability down the ladder of chakras, they create a more intricate web of order, classification..and ultimately tangible manifestation.

Thoughts are complex, carry vast magnitudes of energy, and range from beautiful to the mundane. It is in perceiving the thoughts of others and assimilating and ordering our own, both consciously and unconsciously that are manifested in the wisdom and inner workings of our inner body, and the intellect of our belief systems, and the true awareness of the divine in everything.

Physiologically, the crown chakra is representative of the higher brain, the cerebral cortex, with it's 13 billion interconnected neural cells which interconnect and communicate with literally a hundred million other sensory cells within your body, creating and intricate web of impulses and chemical bursts that interpret the very world we perceive. You carry your perception of the universe within the sensory system of your very mind. This is the place of conception, and how we identify or don't identify with things in the world starts here. This is where we can tap into the universal consciousness of all, the magnetic field of every vibration, this is the place where clairvoyant information is manifested down to.

The pure unmanifest according to yogic philosophy is known as purusha. This is the place of the true and ever silent witness, observing, noting and recording the vibration, manifestation and synchronicity of all. It is the force of unity, order, and organization. This is where the linear perception of time space does not exist, the realm where all events, happenings, thoughts, exist at once. Causality or the law of cause and effect does not exist here. It represents the pure and ever present moment, where a day at the beach seems to fly, and a day at the office tends to go on forever.

Perception is the key to interpretation, and the patterns of the world, both in others and within you are manifested down to create the order that is what we see. This would also include the things we cannot see, we cannot define, because they haven't been namable, relatable to on this plain. The brain could be considered the hardware, and the collective consciousness, the infinite software program. In which we download certain files..to make sense of how we perceive and interpret what we call reality.

If we are missing a file, our mind simply throws the information out before it ever comes close to the level of manifestation. If we feel we don't deserve something, that it is impossible, implausible, this is where...daydreams stay daydreams and plausible goals according to our beliefs and inner wisdom are manifested. You only perceive things you know are believable, through the storehouse of files imbedded within your mind. The collective consciousness is where you can, understand those things you do not on the level of causality. The true place of transcendence...the true place of having the will to overcome, comes from here, through the immanence of the present moment.

The key to this chakra is the practice of meditation. Of creating stillness to feel the witness, of withdrawing to experience, perceive and contemplate that which we manifest into our lives, and the relationship we have with the true consciousness of all...the very relationship you have with God..

The stones associated with this are related to the color of this chakra, a deep purple or transcendent white...the amethyst with it's deep beauty, a color of royalty, and also, the precious diamond, the most pure and precious representation of truth, divinity, light, wholeness. Here is the true realization, that you are royalty, a spark of the divine and infinite intellect and awareness of God. You are the beauty, the purity, divinity and light, and the wholeness of God lives within the very seat of your mind, in perfect order and beauty. .You are the creator, the director, the manifester of your thought, and the divine light of God shines within you, in unity, love, representing the wholeness of everything.



Class Discussion:

James: I found it very interesting how duality is no longer present at this focus, nor is time.
Flow: How is that James?
Sunset: yes that is true
James: And that our thought not only is filtered in our perception, but also in what we manifest.
Emerging: yes... that got me
James: Flowr, the 7th chakra takes us beyond duality, and also beyond the realm of time which is bound to the physical world only.
Sunset: because on the level of the seventh chakra...there is no cause and effect..everything exists at the same time...where the witness sees and is everything
Emerging: that is fascinating
Flowr: *blinks*
James: It's impossible to discuss this chakra without getting into some pretty advanced metaphysics.
Alite: And this certainly would be a wonderful level of meditation to achieve spaciousness and lasting peace
Flow: So how do we use it?
Sunset: as you devolop clairvoyance..you are able to tap into that field of infinite consciousness...where you see and experience all events simultaneously. meditation flower...is the imperative part
Flow: So do the chakras work in Ascending or Descending order?
Sunset: both flower
Flow: Or are we going to cover that next week? ;)
Sunset: there are two currents....one toward manifestation ..the other liberation
Mum: in a meditation, i saw my son (passed) who kept morphing into a different image of himself at different times of his life...not in chronological order...
Sunset: last week that was coveredFlow: continual flow of motion, so to speak?
Mum: and everything went from being an image to being an orb of energy...pulsating
Flow: hm..deep
Emerging: wow, Mummy..
Mum: and a change with each pulsation and i got the sense that time...past present and future were all the same and all now
Emerging: what a beautiful experience for you..
James: YES
Flow: hm
Emerging: that's it
James: Time is a function of matter, and so much of our being is beyond that.
Mum: seemed to bring peace
Flow: James, will you be putting it all together for next week?
James: yes. Next week we will conclude and "put it all together" as Flowr said.
Flow: 8-)
Emerging: I'm learning a lot thru this class, grateful for it. :)
Mum: must play catch-up :)
James: Then we will begin the Many Paths series where we will cover 8 weeks of specific meditation traditions.
Emerging: that's great
James: We have all the weeks summarized on our blog.. since we started on January 8th.Meditation Paths (Keyword to:http://meditationpaths.blogspot.com/)
Emerging: I go back and refer there, pretty regularly. I love having it!
James: Alitewithin has provided this for us. :)
Alite: I am happy you do Grace
Emerging: :)
Alite: I am the secretary of class
James: Are there any questions on the 7th chakra, the chakras in general, or meditation? If you need assistance with meditation, check out our site and then feel free to contact me if you need assistance. we are wrapping up our discussion.. and are going to do a group meditation to conclude the hour.
Mum: am kind of new at meditation, but find it interesting
James: Meditation can be very helpful to many things, from physical and mental health, to spiritual awakening, intuition, etc Creativity
Alite: It is the gentle flow of peacefulness Mum which allows us to embrace the Creator as we are being embraced by God
Mum: alite...i was just embracing my son mentally with a physical hug and looked at what u wrote...timely...lol
James: We are also going to be putting together a focused workshop on healing the chakras.. this will be separate from this meeting, and Sunset is going to be leading that.
Emerging: That is something I am really lookinf forward to!
Alite: Excellent. Is there a time scheduled and day?
James: If you are on my mailing list you will get info on this.. if you want to be on my mailing list, please email me. I have not been sending reminders consistently ::hangs head::
Emerging: Be good to do that with regularity...
James: I know... I will make an effort.
Emerging: yes, that would be great
James: Ok.. its time for our group meditation.



Group Meditation:

Find a comfortable position, with head, neck and trunk aligned..on a chair it might be most comfortable if you sit on the edge.. having knees lower than hips makes it balance better to have back straight. Feet can be flat on the floor if you are not crosslegged like I am. Let the cares of the day drop away. Find a place to rest your hands, either by the keyboard, or on your thighs, palms up. Then try to be very still.

Let the stillness settle over you like a blanket.. top down.. relax forehead, jaw, neck, shoulders. Think of a pond of water becoming a mirror as it become still. Relax arms, torso, hips, legs, ankles, feet.. adjust if you need to but try to remain as still as you can. Breathe deeply and smoothly. Feel the universal energy (prana or chi) fill you as you inhale.. think if it as a a warm peaceful energy.

Relax and let go of all tension and heaviness as you exhale. Breathing in warm peaceful energy, breathing out all tension.Feel the stillness settle around you... moving outward in all directions as your consciousness becomes more spacious.

As the cares and tension fall away, imagine that this path has led us to the top of a mountain.. the world is layed out before us, the heavens just above our heads. Such stillness here on the mountain peak. Let our consciousness expand to the horizon...Up to the heavens. Breathing in warm peaceful energy, breathing out all heaviness... Feel the peace in your heart space as you inhale and exhale..the energized breath caressing your heart center from within.

Close your eyes for a moment and feel the spaciousness of our awareness. The breath is one with the breathe of creation. We are one in this consciousness. Taking one final deep breath and releasing, let us bring this meditation gently to a close.