Monday 20 April 2015

Cause or Effect?

          In some manner of other, I must attempt to unravel the many strands that are involved in an inner experience, whilst at the same time retaining as much as possible of the initial, composite, spiritual ambience. By so doing it is hoped that in times to come my posts will contain enough information to supply, at least, an adequate recall of that experience. Unlike a focused, conscious experience in which all 'extraneous' information passes by unnoticed, these inner journeys take place in a changing environment in which one must constantly and deliberately screen out, through meditation, that extraneous information. Yet there is ever an experiential nebulosity in which this process takes place. The attempt to unravel and interpret the information seems, on occasion, to be like extracting a filament of Dark Matter from its normal abode, knowing that in the process something will inevitably be lost in its passage through the veil that separates consciousness and beyond-consciousness. That the results of path-working often appear to materialise in consciousness on a timeline that runs counter to one's expectations, only adds to the confusion of these experiences.*
          I would like now to return to my previous post, "A Problem of Sleeping Consciousness." Bearing in mind that the interpretive ground under one's foot may only be transitory in its firmness, and that everything may change at a moment's notice, I concluded the following. Very far from the state of sleeping appearing to be the "cause" in a cause-and-effect scenario, that state later appeared to be the "effect." Thus the search began, by means of a path-working to find the cause of that effect. (Interestingly, on this occasion and in real time this latter path-working, the effect-ive journey, took place before the causal journey.)

..........Having entered the Secret Garden, and with the door closed behind me I began to walk along a gravel path in a direction away from the gazebo, noticing as I did so that I was being accompanied, and then led, by a cat. In a number of odd places around the garden, and seemingly placed at random, were statues of the black-cloaked, old man who had previously lighted my way through the fog to the inn. 
          Suddenly, I stumbled and fell on my face on the path. As I attempted to rise, I fell forward again. The cat returned to me and sat looking at my feet, the left one being tied at the ankle to an invisible nail, driven into the path. I have a problem, and that problem is that I have become bound or restricted in some way.
          After mulling the problem over for awhile, and half deciding to let it go, I noticed that the Gardener had reappeared. He stooped down and undid the bonds that tied me to the path. I stood up, looked around in a puzzled way, and discovered that once again I was on the move, but no longer restricted to a two-dimensional landscape. Ghostly doorways appeared in the air above the garden, and I realised that I had indeed become restricted in my thinking. There were more, and more ethereal, dimensions to be explored. 
          I sensed a certain tingling of excitement. Then everything disappeared except for the Gardener who 'stood' beside me, and the cat. Slowly, the cat was replaced by an image of the head of a lion, and I wondered about this transformation, or transfiguration. Perhaps the lion represented an image of which the cat is a manageable reflection, or that the strength I needed was not as great as before. In any case, my time in/above the garden was over for the day..........

          Thus it seems clear, or at least clearer than my original, and opposite, conclusion that my thinking about my inner life has become restricted by what I have studied, what I have become accustomed to. That restriction has led me into a false sense of security, a sense of dreaming whilst thinking I was still awake. Yet still I wished for more, to back up this conclusion. It was with that wish in mind that I undertook a second path-working to confirm my findings, a path-working that I will describe in my next post.

* There are some, including some counselling acquaintances of mine, who say that the investigation of this work in an attempt to discover meaning isn't worth the effort. Some say that it isn't even necessary to make any response. There are more important aspects of life to attend to. I take the view that if there is that within who, or which, is trying to communicate with my consciousness, it is a question, at the very least, of courtesy to try to respond.

10 comments:

  1. Fascinating, as a lifelong gardener both in personal and public places, it has been part of my job to help people feel comfortable with the landscape --I answer questions, give information about horticultural effects. I also cared for all kinds of athletic fields. Never encountered anyone affixed to the ground but helped several overheated athletes off the track to safety. I sense a dichotomy here: The brain catalogues events in sequence --one thing after another, cause and effect-- but spirit contains all experience in its presence. Spirit doesn't distinguish past from present, only applies the sum of experience to the assembly of all possible futures.

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    1. I agree that Spirit does not make the distinctions that our consciousness makes when dealing with time. In my experience it all seems to be like an eternal Present. But that is simply my experience. I am intrigued by your idea of an assembly of all possible Futures.

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  2. Before reading your path-working account, I carefully read and reread your preamble. An observation from my own experience occurred to me as a comment right away. At times I have noted that the chronological time in my conscious world has been startlingly out of sync with that in my subconscious meanderings. It seems to me that it is my consciousness that is given the job of creating something linear out of an experience that was almost instantaneous and multi-dimensional. That very act of interpretation must be taken into account it seems to me when we attempt to put meaning upon that which we are given in the "time" in that other aspect of ourselves, or of the universe.

    You might imagine that when I read of your revelation when interpreting what you "experienced" in your path-working as an invitation to explore dimensions you have been unaware of before, it put a smile on my face.

    I do love synchronicity Tom.

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    1. Experience and Time are such wonderfully interwoven and exciting realms in which to play, move and even perhaps to indulge in divine chatter. I can well imagine that thoughts would put a smile on your face. It certainly made me smile, perhaps a little self-consciously. I'm glad this post rand bells.

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  3. Hi Tom
    I like your expression of attempting to unravel and interpret the information like extracting a filament of Dark Matter from its normal abode, knowing that in the process something will inevitably be lost in its passage through the veil that separates consciousness and beyond-consciousness. It’s possibly true that in the dreaming brain (if I can use that expression) one can elicit a large amount of discernible material, since that activity remains uncomplicated by all of the external physical stimulation and related behavioural instincts present in our everyday life. In that sense it is pure and separate to what we normally attribute to our consciousness and these experiences seems to be independent of any cognitive access, except to the extent as is necessary for visualisation and the obvious retention in memory. From my perspective the distinction then between secular and spiritual is blurred, a necessity we naturally rely on simply for rational discussion but not of the ONE. That can be only conveyed outside of language symbolically as you gave alluded to in the strength of the LION, and possibly the invisible nails that might bind us to the meekness to a fallen ONE rather than to a risen king(s) whose many open doors invite a life to be lived to the fullest.
    Best wishes



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    1. Thank you Lindsay for this comment. As ever, it is thought-provoking and stimulating. And certainly I agree, although the thought did not fully clarify until you mentioned it, that the distinction between the secular and the spiritual is blurred indeed; so much in fact that we may be moving into an area beyond what we normally understand by those words. There's just so much, so much more......

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  4. Your remarkable visions are filled with deep mystery. It seems to me that C.G. Jung was one of the truly great magicians of our age. If only the therapists could be a little more open to the idea then much progress in nonlinear thinking could be made.

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    1. C.G.Jung - now there was a man! It sometimes seems to me that therapists - and those by other names - are amongst some of the most conservative and unadventurous professionals around. I would not include all members of that body by any means, but enough to warrant a severe shake-up in attitude. There are real problems here of course. We are dealing with needy humans - sometimes on both sides of the therapist/patient divide.

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  5. i like your aside about having the courtesy to respond. the idea of this type of attempt at communication not being "worth the effort" is, in my opinion at least, up to you to decide, and courtesy should inform most if not all of our decisions.

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