Just finding a comfortable place to relax into.
What a day today.
So many things going on in the world around us.
So many changes.
It's very interesting.
Today I wanted to highlight just the power of visualization so that we understand that our creative potential is very often activated by this simple thing that we call visualizing reality or visualizing our dream.
Because our dream is real and when we begin to connect to the energy that is very focused and very clear and visualize the situation,
Whatever the situation is,
As if we are connecting not to the thoughts that our minds so very often get caught up in,
But in the feeling and in the state of presence that allows for visualization to turn a dream into something very tangible and we know some aspect of meditation that's very,
Very powerful.
This is what I want to transmit to you today,
Not just in words but also in the practice of visualizing.
It's something that I've been working with for a very long time.
Often meditation is seen as repetitive practice,
Meaning that we repeat a mantra or repeat a certain thought and contemplate that thought or even repeat our attention so that we keep coming back to focus such as the breath.
Visualizing seems to many almost like a very different type of meditation because we are not very connected to one thing.
We are allowing ourselves to get in touch with the possibilities or the potential that of course are changing all the time.
So visualizing,
It's very difficult to visualize one thought and to remain in that thought without being creative and exploring all the many dimensions of that thought in a very creative way which means that we change and observe and look and grow and understand and comprehend and then visualize something totally different from that which we started the meditation with if we start the meditation perhaps visualizing inner peace.
It's very different after 10-15 minutes we begin to explore aspects that help us to connect to inner peace.
So we begin to explore perhaps walk in a beautiful place as we walk in nature or as we walk in a beautiful garden that's very peaceful and then we begin to connect to other aspects of nature.
We may smell the air,
The freshness of the air or the blossom that smells very wonderful and this brings us sense of connection which is of course coming back to inner peace,
Coming back to world where we are not separate from the experience and we don't have to struggle with the experience but we are coming back home to a realization that we are here within our being.
We are part of something much greater and so this world that we see as out there no longer creates this idea that we are separate.
The world that we see as out there slowly becomes part of where we are comfortable to be present,
Where we are comfortable and present in such a way where the world is no longer separate.
So the dream is no longer just a dream,
The dream that we are dreaming is being dreamt in this moment and the way that we are dreaming the dream is that we are immersing ourselves in the dream so we are allowing for ourselves to connect to our dream from a very deep and profound space.
This is what visualizing means.
It's not that we just imagine something that is separate in our thoughts,
Oh I would love to feel peaceful or I'd love to be able to do something in a different way or I'd love to be able to change this part of myself.
That is not visualizing.
Visualizing means that you are dreaming the dream from within the dream,
Not from outside of the dream where you are hoping to achieve something.
You are trying to reach out for some aspect that seems like a dream,
Seems so far away,
It's not real.
When you are dreaming everything is real.
Your dream is reality and if you connect to your dream from within the dream then already consciousness has transcended this space of separation that we are so very used to giving energy to and come back to a very powerful aspect of meditation and that is that the manifestation of reality is not created by problem resolving.
It's not created by the mind thinking how to find a solution to some problem that the mind is focused on or that we are imagining or that we are dreaming even.
We step out of that and move into a space where the dream,
This part of yourself that knows that it can connect to much more than the problem,
The dream becomes real.
And this is what happens when you meditate and bring yourself back to this state of presence.
This presence allows you to create a tangible structure within the dream that becomes so very easily within reach,
Within reach of your communication,
Within reach of your even spiritual practice so it no longer feels or is experienced as if something is far and so very far removed from your experience that it is just something out there.
Your experience is I am present to reality from a different perspective.
That is what meditation means.
So when you breathe in and breathe out,
If you are just observing the breath from a distance,
You are just saying oh yeah I am breathing in and I am breathing out or if you are repeating the mantra and you are just sort of thinking to yourself okay I have managed to focus on the mantra without getting lost or without thinking about my problems or without trying to stay in one place,
You know,
Stay with my meditation,
Not get up and get something to drink or write something in a journal or just to be here present,
I am able to do this from the perspective whereby all is flowing rather than I am needing to do something.
Then the repetitive nature of your practice is no longer repetitive because you begin exploring this new dimension,
This present dimension where what is going on is something very different than you trying to get somewhere,
Trying to reach for a connection to the world.
You are already connected to the world so you don't have to try to get anywhere,
You just enjoy being.
That is what is so wonderful when you don't have to repeat because repeat certain thoughts or feelings or even the state of awareness that is very common in meditation where the repetition is repeating your focus in such a way where you are just observing things rather than immersing yourself in the joy and the happiness that is present to your heart in this moment.
So when you are reaching out there for something that seems separate from yourself already,
You are giving energy to this idea that separation is real.
When you negate the dream that happens when you are creatively visualizing reality from a different perspective,
When you negate it and you say that is just in my mind,
That is just me visualizing something that is not really real,
Then we create a separation or an alienation from our experience of being.
So today in your practice imagine that you are in a beautiful place because you are right here in this present moment,
This is a beautiful place.
Imagine that you are in a beautiful place and connect to all aspects that create this beauty within yourself.
So the remembrance of all the profound and special and deep and meaningful experiences that bring you back to this celebration that life is beautiful,
This moment is perfect,
Can be just a memory of some beautiful aspect maybe.
In this moment I am remembering walking on a beach and it was so beautiful,
It was early in the morning,
Everything was still,
Everything was just,
There was this special quality of air that you could breathe in and there was this sort of newness to the day that you could sort of perceive by walking on the beach and it was just a wonderful experience,
It was a transcendent experience just to be present to nature in this way.
Just a simple remembrance means that you are bringing back this energy of this moment,
This transcendent moment back here to the present moment and that transforms the neurons in your brain that are focused on a negative bias thinking about the problem into realizing that there is no problem,
There is just a dream that is expanding,
There is just this creative visualization that is unlimited,
You can remember not just aspects of what is going on in your life right now but your past and some people say even your past lifetimes,
You can remember all the beautiful things,
Why focus on the problems,
Some people always go back to problems but what about visualizing the potential that is free of problems because this is the new dimension of reality that we are transcending into and if we focus our energies into that new perspective of reality,
If we focus our attention and our energies so that we are connected to this new dimension then the world transforms and you come back to that transformation from the realization that this transformation that you are experiencing is an aspect of the transformation that allows the world to expand and become a dream rather than a challenge,
Rather than painful,
Rather than a world where suffering continues,
So the dream is awakened by your consciousness,
The dream is awakened by your focus by the way you visualize reality in this moment,
If you are constantly visualizing reality from a problematic and negative perspective then the negative energy that you are focused upon becomes real and tangible but if you remember that you are free and you can get in touch with the world even if what you are getting in touch with is a world where there are problems but you can get in touch with the beauty of those problems meaning that a lot of problems help us to grow,
A lot of problems and challenges are not as negative as we think,
They create a change,
They create a new beginning and this means that we can connect to a deeper and more profound perfection that perhaps couldn't be seen without those problems enlightening us as to how to move deeper and come back to a more connected,
More real aspect of ourselves,
This is why for example the story of the Buddha,
Everything was perfect,
He lived in a palace where everything was perfect but actually if he had lived all his life in the palace there would be no learning,
He needed to step outside and embrace reality but not from a negative perspective but from this perspective of I want to explore what this means and I am positive that I will explore what this means in such a way where I will transcend and find the answer.
So the problem of the world which he explored as he left the palace of perfection and explored the marketplace of suffering and all sorts of things that happen in everyday life for everyone and got confused as to why is there such negativity in the world,
Why is there such pain and suffering in the world,
Allowed him to come back to a space of profound realization where mystics or mystical traditions point to the very same thing,
When you transcend the negative you come back to a profoundly positive aspect of wisdom but sometimes for some people,
For most people we need to go through the many lessons,
The many teachings that get thrown at us all the time sometimes in a repetitive way and learn but we can only learn when we transform our manipulative mind,
Ego mind,
When we transform that into not creating a habit,
Not falling into a place where we are controlled by the negative but have the ability to choose from a space of freedom something different than just focusing on the negative.
So if you notice today that you are unable to visualize the world differently because you keep falling back into thinking about this problem or worrying about this situation or just not feeling good about yourself or not being able to communicate in a positive way then remember visualization means that you can dream the world in a different way,
You have the choice to do this,
This is what makes meditation so very incredibly useful when situations are negative or when situations are challenging,
That's the time to see things from a different perspective,
Not to wait for things to change but that's the time when you are challenged,
That's the exact time when what is required is that for you to embrace a new beginning,
To embrace a new situation and this means that you highlight to the structure of your brain that the repetition where the neurons fire and wire in the same place all the time doesn't need to be your only experience,
We can begin to explore the unknown space,
The neurons can begin to fire and wire in a new way,
Recreate grey matter in the structure of your brain that allows you to think more clearly because most of us are drugged by our habits,
Most of us are manipulated by our habits to such a degree where we can't even visualize,
We can't even dream the world from a different perspective,
This is perhaps one of the most powerful ways that you can change yourself,
One of the most powerful ways that you can change the world,
As you come back to this realization that you,
Within you,
Within this beautiful present moment you have the potential to change everything and all you have to do right now is begin to dream the dream from within the dream rather than try to struggle and reach for something that's different and everything flows from a much easier space of meditation so your meditation becomes not only easy to put into practice but becomes very interesting because as we begin to dream then the dream takes us to a level of reality that some people call just a dream but we know as you connect to the depth of your being,
To your heart then love the language of the dream,
The language that you are dreaming,
The essence of your dream not only expands into all aspects of your being,
Into your communication,
Into the way that you communicate to your body and the way that you actually communicate to your feelings but love and all the attributes of love become a part of your meditation and that loving energy,
That loving kindness that is the attribute of this language that you are now connecting to,
That you are now dreaming within becomes the language that everyone around you,
All aspects of manifestation around you recognizes and so tunes manifestation and people around you tune into this language of love and the dream is not only your dream but becomes a collective dream that is universal,
Has always been the dream of humanity to come back to freedom so as you breathe in and breathe out and relax and let go of the mundane you may wish to spend a few moments just celebrating this moment through your dream,
Through the dream that we all share as humanity,
The dream that is loving kindness,
The dream that is light,
The dream that allows for this state of transcendence into bliss.
As we practice and celebrate together the world will change.
Thank you.
