Good Day, Superforesters!
From a town that fits in a volcanic bowl, small, compact and vibrant with travellers of all kinds, I sit at a table, piecing this blog together. The deep gongs from the church bell are so close to my bed that I wake up with the walls echoing its deep call for all to come. Like most colonial towns, the biggest church is where the centre is found within a square; in the middle, a statue of a local hero or most likely, Simon Bolivar. What makes the small town of Banos different is that it is perfectly surrounded by volcanic cliffs, the top of Tungurahua volcano, too close for comfort but only visible on the rare occasion. Even with weather permitting for good clear visuals, She chooses to wrap herself in an enormous boiling cloud. When the mood strikes, she might show her white edged face for a couple of hours at most. The other magnificent quality of this part of the world is its starting point in the cycle of South American rivers. Combined with medicinal volcanic hot-springs, and a large supply of sugar cane juice and lemons, the setting is set for the Master Cleanse.
On the first morning of the Cleanse, I become aware of a teacher’s presence, softly and patiently waiting in in the wings, until this student was ready for his daily lessons. Most advice on meditation suggests that we always meditate or practice yoga on an empty stomach, early in the morning, when we meet the least resistance or distortions. It has been my experience that the Old Wise Ones might have had different opinions on the details, but harmoniously agreed that it’s always a good time to take a deep breath and make sense of where and what we are doing, especially in the morning, first thing afer a first bowel movement. No eating while on the cleansing diet means ample time for yoga and meditation at all times of the day, or when the call comes from the other side… what other side? Honestly I don’t know, but here are my experiences of the other side.
The first morning’s yoga session is brought to a quick close by the constant pulling for me to sit still and be quiet. In what I can only describe as a vision, I am transported to a place of great brilliance, a place I had been before, a place where I am welcome. Where this position, place or space is I can only speculate on, but I cannot imagine anyone finding it without a guided call.
I find my feet on a large, smooth boulder without any hard straight lines. In fact, all the boulders, contours and hills of the space I am standing in are softer and without any hard edges from this side of the veil, with rolling waves of wind playing and making patterns on golden meadows of high-grass. Directly in front of me, a pond of water glitters with silvery sparkling light, painted with high tones of shaded blue, while I notice that I can look directly at the colours and shades without any of the usual strain on my eyes. Around the edges to the left and right of the pond are large, brown-red trees, with thick, old trunks racing to the sky, long branches for arms and fingers facing upward like a gracious guardian or a graceful dancer on point. On a sand coloured boulder the size of a large double bed, with a foot path wading through fields of gold up to the mouth of a constructed construct I have never seen before, I find my orientation. A sense of a return home or to an old favourite place of belonging, a constant harmonious hum on the wind, as if whistling an inviting tune up the path, washes over me. I breathe deep into the wind, filling my whole inside with the sameness, looking up into a bright sky, but I cannot locate the sun or source of bright light, because it is everywhere, spilling from everything onto everything.
With a closer perspective, only near the entrance do I notice how much bigger the building. Big, not in a sense of a massive cathedral, but a construct that looks like it grew from a couple of smaller boulders into a living place or space. The construct keeps laughing and beckoning for me to come in. Nowhere can I find marks of tools, hard flat lines, windows or edges that make up the best of the architecture I have seen. Yet, the grower of the building had the sense of human movement, for there are steps leading towards the small entrance. A pair of weathered out, thin, leather- strapped sandals are on the floor, a dusty brown capehanging from a sediment on the wall. I am not wearing shoes or a cape, in fact I have no sense of what I am wearing or if I have any form of covering. I can see my hands and feet clearly, but nothing else.
I have to bend my head and raise my steps as I enter the long narrow mouth of the construct. The first observation brings up the question of where is all the light coming from? There are no windows or spaces for light or air, yet here I am, breathing fresh clean air, thesoft light that does not strain my eyes and cooler more shadowed places bringing balance. The whole of the inside is quiet, but life and laughing happiness fills every corner, only thereare no corners in the grand vastness of the inner sanctions of this breathtaking vision.
Though I can not see anyone, I sense that it was not empty and there was a constant movement of life everywhere. It came to me that this was a space of teaching, helping and assisting the thirsty traveller, the seeker. My natural reaction is to find a darker corner and have a good look around at what was this valuable experience is. Under a shimmer of light, in a shadow, I sit down and immediately my vision is transformed into vivid single images, firstly of a wooden Tibetan Buddha head, smiling softly with eyes closed and peaceful. The next is of the Christ figure with a long beard and open eyes, touching the heart space, followed by the peering eyes of a brown Indian face, shining with a smile that says I am in for a good time.
These realisations have a sensation of remembrance and being in tune and in focus with the teacher. The mind wanders much less than before, the focus and attention is firing at a pace of heightened awareness, as I dictate the pace of the lesson. There is nothing being forced or pushed upon me, but rather my moments of lapse in concentration the only barrier to my progress. Eager and hungry, I sit in bliss, my full attention on the visuals.
A practical demonstration follows, the essence of the lesson communicated through visuals, sensations and emotions. This first lesson is about focus, and how powerful focused energy is. The practical application for a controlled diet becomes obvious.
Focusing the body’s energies in the meditation is harder when the body’s energies are divided between digestion and mental focus. There is no limit to the amount of chi/ prana/ energy, but harnessing it, directing it and good use of it is a skill that like everything else, takes invested practice. Understanding the impact of food on our mental and physical bodies is as important as any of life’s practices. In the clarity of only the first day, the difference inthe amount of energy that dissolves into the static noise around me is dramatically noticeable. Then comes the embarrassing realisation of how much my mind interrupts the flow of lessons, how the teacher has to stop and wait until my attention is focused again. The lessons are not limited to awesome, grand moments of outer body experiences in other realms or timed to spaces and places of tranquil meditation, but often, it is in the heat and heart of tense situations the lessons show up, clear and bright as daylight. Detox and hunger pains drive the visuals to an end for the day and I return to the sacred place of teaching with a stronger grip on what is happening. In a fleeting moment, I see a bowing,bald head of a smaller figure surrounded with brilliant light and a smile that could melt any defenses. I bow too in great thankfulness.
The day’s lesson is finished and I retrace my steps back to the boulder, before taking another deep breath and seeing that nothing has changed since being inside. I open my dead, lead weight eyes to a hungry stomach and a jar full of fresh sugar cane juice, lime juice and red Cayenne peper.
As soon as my eyes open on the second morning, I want to see if I can replicate a similar experience… like clockwork, as soon as my attention has settled, I find myself looking at my feet on the same sandy boulder, in the same golden field, next to the same pond. In the second morning’s meditation, a choking thick mist has lifted from the inner peaceful pastures only to reveal what we all know – that all the answers are not hidden from us, but kept safely in a heart shaped box inside our selves so we will never lose it or be without the drum that sounds the rhythms to our lives. The veils seem thinner than the day before and even though the Maser Cleanse has brought on a painful migraine, the visuals are more vivid and less general in their meaning. The lesson of the day is about judgement. Judgement brings only self judgement, for there is nothing and no one that judges ourselves like we do. The acceptance that all is perfect, that we are part of the master design, unfolding as we get on with life. All this is perfectly integrated into our daily attitudes- this is what comes to me, clear and without any distortions
The third morning comes without the migraine, but instead I wake with inflamed, bleeding gums and ulcers which paralyse my tongue. With clearer vision and less inner noise, a different kind of mist surrounds me. I start the process with deep inhalations. Layers of clear, ethereal mists ranging from the most dense closest to the body, to least dense furtherest from the body, keep moving in an ebbing flow. The flow comes from the inner sanctums to the outer barriers of what I perceive as different levels of energy, manifested in conjunction with each other, never separate, but distinctly different degrees of the sameness. As the lesson goes on, I realise my hands and the rest of my body shine with a shimmer of golden to white smoke. A lesson, as if in perfect unison, moves to the subject of chi/ prana/ energy/ light or whatever description of the same thing commences. The structure and methodology of the lessons remain the same. Through small sensory experiences and arbitrary miscellaneous memories, I am lead and shown how they relate to each other, as well as what can be taken from past experiences to bring the fundamental understanding and conviction of the mind to be a gateway or observer, rather than a loud, judgemental running commentary, as we move through our daily experiences
The fourth morning brings me to a closer understanding by being further away from the details of this life. My wondering questions on cosmology are answered, to the point where I have more questions and interests than when I started. In my old typical attitude, I want to see and understand the big picture, but the simple advice to look for happiness and joy in every moment is worth more than understanding the great complexity of this cosmology we are tangled in. The question is brought to me- what difference does it make if you know now or later, and how will that information help you in this moment. The subtle hint within this advice being that I am not asking the questions most valuable to my development. Questions on how to tap into the subconscious while remaining aware and conscious and translate those experiences into tangible practices that make a difference to all those around us. Asking questions that could serve more than just our curious imaginations. Even though time and space are phenomena that constantly change, we are not bound by its limits. We must bring our focus onto questions and shared insights on how to exist, evolve and extract from this life what we need as this is a higher priority than understanding how and why other life forms exist and where their positions are in relation to this great planet, Mother Earth.
As the Master Cleanse comes to a celebratory end with a breakfast of fruit juices and soft Chinese soup, I have to admit that I am truthfully intrigued by the levels and heights my awareness can expand to through using this detoxifying method. By creating an opportunity for oneself to tone down the internal noise, reaching out for something that will feed and assist us with a clear mind and clear intentions, my attention is brought to my own reactions and addictions, to my way of perceiving this journey we call life. Being in the moment and striving for the highest imaginable version of ourselves are attitude adjustments which unlock treasures to more astounding epiphanies.
Namaste
Light and Love
Niel
Recent Comments