mystikegg.com - A Mystical Guide to Enlightenment

In my search for the perfect tools to help meditate and to bring a greater awareness and sense of inner peace I have tried a number of products. One which I have really enjoyed and found beneficial has been Holosync. (See previous post). Another product that I tried and enjoyed was the computer game Journey to Wild Divine. This game uses a biofeedback sensor to monitor heart rate and skin conductivity to assess the degree to which the player is relaxed or excited, tense and anxious. The player navigates through a magical world that is a cross between that found in a fantasy novel and a Tibetan monastery high in the Himalayas. Gentle music and breathtaking vistas make the game a joy to play and experience.

This first person meditator game exposes the participant to various challenges by entering into various states of arousal or relaxation. Based on the biofeedback sensors on three fingers of one hand the player can manipulate and cause effects within the game. One challenge is to focus on a breathing meditation to open and reveal a hidden stair case that leads into the clouds to access a deeper and more mystical level of the

game.

The game has received some great reviews:

• PC Magazine: “innovative and fun, and even better, it’s very effective. Five Stars! Joan Borysenko: like having Yoda in your living room! It trains you in mind/body/spirit magic. Become a warrior of the heart, learn to harness the power of your intention, and create a conscious life- all while having fun. Newsweek: Can video games help kids? …mission accomplished Forbes: Turns your computer into a meditation station…to unlock your full physical and mental potential
• Deepak Chopra, M.D.: Wild Divine is a very practical program that allows people to get in intimate touch with the innermost core of their being. To know that they have more power than they have ever realized, to know that they can influence what is happening in their body, in their mind, in their emotions…

I was really enjoying the game until I reached an impasse. Trying to reach a deep level of relaxation to open up a door that lead to the next level of the game I became focused on the task and unable to let go enough to reach the next stage. I tried a number of times and could not get past this level. This is where Holosync comes in. I had since left Wild Divine to focus on Holosync and came to the realization that I had no objective way of knowing if I was indeed reaching the deep states of meditation not having an EEG handy. I started to using Holosync while I played Wild Divine and was able to reach levels of relaxation that I was not able to achieve previously. This confirmed that I was indeed gaining benefit from Holosync and also that I needed to do more work before progressing to the next level of the Holosync system. Meditating with Holosync while playing the Journey to Wild Divine allowed me to reach levels of relaxation, awareness and stillness that I had not been able to achieve before.

This ability to go deep inside oneself and feel the peace and stillness at the core of our being is essential in strengthening our ability to let go of our limitations, open awareness and and realize our full potential.

I was having a bit of rough morning. Looking at my financial investments has been downright depressing including all the bad news about the economy, house foreclosures, credit crisis, record oil prices, and a global food crisis. Add this to global warming, and geopolitical instability it makes it hard to have hope for the future. I don’t often get down about these things. I try to stay informed to be able to stay one step ahead, while at the same time trying to maintain a sense of detachment from events and circumstances that I have no control over. But now and then the enormity of the problems facing the planet are difficult to ignore. It is at these times that the idea of evolutionary enlightenment becomes that much more urgent. We need to collectively identify a different way of being and of interacting with the planet and those we we share it with.

In the midst of this funk I decided to walk to the bank. I asked my son who is 2 1/2 if he wanted to come along for the ride. He enthusiastically said “Ya”. So he piled in the wagon and I tugged him along to the bank. When we got there we met an elderly gentleman in front of us in line. He remarked about my son riding in the wagon and how it would be great if someone would tow him around the town in a similar fashion. We all laughed at the thought of an elderly man being pulled around town in a moss green plastic wagon for two….toddlers. This gentleman was summoned to conduct his banking, and soon afterward so were we.

After leaving the bank I made my way back home with my son in tow when we came across the gentleman from the bank. My son recognized him and said Hello and the elderly man chuckled and said that we were following him home. We waved goodbye and proceeded to the coffee shop on the corner of our street. I opened the door and awkwardly maneuvered the wagon through the entrance when our newly minted friend was right behind also coming into the coffee shop. I said something to the effect that now he was following us which was greeted with a hearty chuckle. We approached the counter to order and I let the elderly man go ahead of us out of courtesy and respect for our elders (I have been trying to teach my son by example, which can quite challenging at times).

The gentleman proceeded to order his coffee, and then he turned around and offered, then insisted to buy my coffee and a donut for my son. After politely refusing and some more insistent offers I humbly accepted and felt touched and blessed in a way that lifted me out of my depressed reverie and I became instantly more hopeful about our collective future.

This random act of kindness, a pensioner who at the bank was depositing rolls of coins, had bought me hope, and had lifted me out of the funk of self-inflicted melancholy. I walked back home with the awareness of the singular kindness and simple joy that these small gestures can have and how we all have a part in randomly spreading hope and peace to those we share this time and place with.

One of the necessary steps that we need to take when we set out on the journey of self-awareness and connecting to something deeper is to identify the witness. The Witness is that part of ourselves that offers an inner sanctuary, a place of peace where we find our center of awareness. This infinite expanse at the center of our being is detached from our thinking minds, our emotions, feelings, sensations and our bodies.

For some people this may be hard to imagine or believe. Many of us have experienced and met the Witness without really understanding it. Have you ever been in a car accident, or had a near miss accident. I have personally been in a car accident. When it happened time seemed to pause or stand still. As the accident happened in the moment it felt as if things were in slow motion. There was a feeling of realization of what was happening but no fear. Have you ever experienced this sensation? If you have, you have experienced the Witness. The awareness that sees and feels what is happening in the momment, this inner “I”  is the seer and the feeler.

One excerise used to gain familiarity with the witness is to slowly recite the following statement and as much as you can, really try and realize what each statement implies.

• I have a body, but I am not my body.
• I have desires, but I am not my desires
• I have emotions, but I am not my emotions
• I have thoughts, but I am not my thoughts

*adapted from “The Essential Ken Wilber”  - Shambhala Publications

As we grow older it becomes easier to understand the first statement. Physically as we age over time we may come to the realization that the person that looks back at us in the mirror has changed drastically and significantly, but the inner “me” remains intact. Often people say “I am 50 or 60 years old but I still feel like a teenager“. What this represents is the inner witness. It is the vessel that holds our awareness and is unchanging and infinite. We may grow and evolve, our opinions and identification with ourselves may change but the thing (for lack of a better word) that recognizes this growth and evolution is the witness and is not the thing that has grown and evolved. This thing or inner “I” is the witness.

Chuang Tzu said “The perfect person employs the mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing; refuses nothing; it receives but does not keep.” Once we have identified with the this inner “I” or the Witness is becomes much easier to let go of attachments.  The Buddha taught that suffering is caused by out attachments. Letting go of attachments is the key to inner peace and happiness.