Beyond Angels

to…

The Emergence of a Hermit

1

Introduction

The sharing of experience is one of the most unifying principles of this physical world. It has taken me years of systematic inner and outer investigation to be able to share this book with you. I practiced Transcendental Meditation™ (usually known as TM) as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, for 37 years. I have also learned the exceptional healing and meditation technique called The Radiance Technique®, Authentic Reiki®, Real Reiki® and TRT®, which is taught by Dr. Barbara Ray, Ph.D. (The word healing is used here in the sense of coming to feel inwardly fulfilled and complete.) At the time of publishing I have benefited from using TRT® for 17 years (learning in 1995) and have studied it to The Sixth Degree. I am also an Authorized Instructor of The First and Second Degrees of The Radiance Technique®, Authentic Reiki®. Despite this I do not intend to write about this technique. Dr. Barbara Ray, Ph.D. is the holder of all the intact keys of this system and as such is the only expert. Nor do I intend to write about Transcendental Meditation™. Although asked, I never became a teacher of TM. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was, however, my first teacher, his explanations gave words to my spiritual experience and it is these experiences I wish to share. In this book I also relate my understanding of topics that interest me as a transcendental light healer and transcendental meditator. Included is my own personal theory of healing and views on the process of spiritual development. My wish is to highlight the importance and efficacy, as I personally see them, of Transcendent teachings in general and to encourage all seekers, meditators and healers to use them. It is my intention to encourage healers to become more enquiring and informed about what they do. I also hope to persuade those who make up the New-Age movement to reassess their practices, with a view to incorporating within them a Transcendent connection, and so adopt a ‘consciousness-first’ approach to their healing.

The upsurge in New-Age teaching and the fact that it is now possible to talk openly about the power of thought and the existence of consciousness is obviously a reflection of some change in the collective awareness. It seems to me, however, that much of the present New-Age teaching is, at most, an intro- duction to the subject of spirituality; usually it is not discrimi- nating, at worst it could be described as complacent. Generally it leaves the reader with the impression that their spiritual evolution is automatic and inevitable. Determination and persis- tence, in connection with spiritual development, are not words which feature heavily in the New-Age arena. The word suffering is one that does. Just before writing this introduction I read yet another undirected New-Age article which talks of how we should gain spiritual development from our times of suffering. Perhaps, but what exactly is spiritual development and how do we gain from painful experience? Furthermore, why should spiritual development only be attained through suffering? There is currently an attitude to illness which has reached a point that is almost a celebration, illness often being seen as the only way to achieve higher awareness. My aim is to explain what the experience of spiritual evolution is. I hope also to encourage a means of achieving it which is both fast and effective and does not depend on painful experience. There is today a tendency to rush towards the latest sensational healing technique without discernment, the speed with which people become reiki ‘masters’ is testimony to this, but it is time now for the New-Age movement to become discriminating. I recently read an article about a reiki technique which claims that dolphins are ‘masters’ and I am left in no doubt that the exalted spiritual status of the title Master is not understood and needs further explanation.

The New-Age movement coupled with the use of scientific enquiry has brought us to the point where the mind-body connection is well documented. The result of this is a teaching which encourages techniques which use the mind (very often through visualization) with the intention of changing unwanted emotions and thoughts. In the same way that opinion polls and the media both reflect and influence public opinion, such therapy can exert a certain influence for well-being. Physical forms, in the shape of bodies, minds or emotions, are a reflection of individual consciousness and there is nothing wrong with working on these directly. This will influence behavior. Invariably, however, the effort this demands outweighs any gain it brings. Time-consuming mental and physical exercises which, even when effective, often produce only temporary change. The mind can be reset to produce a desired behavior, just as a clock can be realigned to tell the correct time. But faulty mechanics or inaccurate resetting will result in a repeated loss of accuracy, and so be of little benefit. The result of this sort of healing is a huge amount of endeavor for too little gain and, more often than not, the physical benefits are not a reflection of spiritual expansion. The physical form of the body is not flexible and is habitual in its behavior. It is therefore difficult to change it when not using techniques which influence outer behavior from further within, from a level more pure and powerful. From the level of Transcendence. It is only through an immersion in Transcendence that a change of consciousness, and so spiritual evolution, will be easily effected. When I have seen other methods which claim to be profound, such as energetic healing, the techniques of healing used have invariably been those that are taught in spiritual healing circles and, as I hope to show, these practices may not be so profound or pure. Changes in thought or behavior, which do not emanate from a change of consciousness, are ineffective in terms of spiritual development. I have attended endless workshops, enticed by the desire to hear about the latest type of healing, always with a new, more effective sounding name. I have listened to speakers describing these ‘new’ methods only to find that they were still spiritual healing, packaged in a more alluring way. It is the limitations of these methods that I wish to address in this book and I intend to explore the difference that adopting a consciousness-first methodology will make to all New-Age practices.

My purpose is to teach about Transcendence and its value. Nevertheless, it is not my intention to say that any healing which is not completely and directly from the Transcendent is not positive. Nor do I wish to suggest that a healing which may be less helpful is bad. I also do not want to imply that healing should only be undertaken if it is done perfectly; there is always something to be gained and understood. After all, only one teaching would appeal to only one audience, and clearly there are many of both. I do, however, wish to shed some light on the mechanics of healing and meditating, and to particularly show all healers that there is more for them to offer their clients and themselves. I have learned that ultimately spiritual healing, and also many other sorts of healings, are nothing more than the display of the healer ’s state of being. I have also learned that the limitations of this state of being can be overcome by the use of pure Transcendent systems. Furthermore, the Transcendent system can become a positive addition to any other healing practice.

The New-Age movement, with its predictions of unprece- dented leaps in consciousness and physical world changes in 2012, has given the impression that spiritual development is an inevitable clinical process and individuals have little to do. The result of this is complacency. It is true that there is an inner progression which is unfolding in the universe, creating more and more possibilities for an ascent in awareness. But creating possibilities is only one side of a double-sided picture. There is always a choice to be exercised. The New-Age movement is full of the teaching of individual choice and there is a contradiction here. If we have free will and choice, nothing can be inevitable. Suggesting that there is choice must also suggest there is self- responsibility; if there is one, there has to be the other. Exercising the choice to be complacent does not result in an increase of awareness, but in suffering: the very suffering that the New-Age movement claims is spiritually developing.

What my experience has taught me is that, of the many spiritual healers and reiki healers I have met, the dominant view is that one should not express the opinion that a certain sort of healing may not be so helpful or safe. Within the healing circles I have encountered it has been prohibited to suggest that some healing may be more spiritually supportive than others. Views such as these are deemed inexpressible in an environment which claims that all healing is the same and where the meditation and healing technique practiced is predominantly one thing: visual- ization. I have been vilified by spiritual healers for proposing that there is a safer, more evolutionary practice than the ‘channeling of energy’; by reiki practitioners for suggesting that their practice lacked a Transcendent connection; and by some members of a large meditation movement for my use of the word transcendental in relation to the type of healing that I am doing. At present I plough a very lonely furrow in the healing arena when I say that there is no such thing as healing and meditation, only healings and meditations. More so when I contend that illness and distress are not essential parts of the process and that determination and persistence are essential for the permanent change of full spiritual development.

It may be helpful to the reader to explain in which context I use several words and expressions:

It is customary to use capital letters with many of the words in this book. I have resisted this and limited it to a few despite the fact that all words for the Transcendent are deserving of this status. Please take it as read that wherever I use a word to describe the Divine Transcendent the emotion behind the use of capitals exists. I have used ‘Self ’ to denote Transcendent Divine Self and ‘self ’ to describe the physical self. In the desire to make the text easier on the reader ’s eye I have also used capital letters for some words and expressions such as New-Age. On occasions in place of the words ‘he’ and ‘she’ I have put ‘they’.

I have deliberately avoided the use of the words ‘soul’ and ‘higher self ’ because of the confusion that already exists around them.

I adopt the words ‘effort’ and ‘determination’ to refer to the persistence and time given to realize a goal. I do not mean effort within meditation, quite the opposite. The easier the meditation procedure is, the more effective it will be.

When I use the word ‘evolution’ it is in the sense of spiritual development. A growth in awareness of inner levels of existence. The integration of increasingly more refined vibrations of the physical leading towards, and eventually resulting in, the incorporation of Transcendence into individual awareness.

I realize that my use of the term ‘New-Age’ movement may appear a little dated to some readers, but it still seems to be a relevant ‘umbrella title’ for the many mind-body-spirit practices which have emerged from it and are now prevalent in mainstream society.

It could be argued that there is a difference between the words ‘awareness’ and ‘consciousness’. Awareness exists in animals as well as humans. Animals know where their food is, who gives them it, who loves them and who does not. Even without exalted spiritual development any individual exhibits a certain amount of watchfulness, or awareness. Human awareness can be limited, spiritual understanding predominantly intellectual, or it can grow to incorporate Transcendent Awareness. Humans can become individually conscious of the development of their own Self-awareness in a way in which animals cannot. The limited capacity of animals does not allow them to deliber- ately raise their own consciousness. For the purposes of this book awareness and consciousness are inter- changeable. When I refer to either of the two words it implies both a growth of inner, watchful awareness and an individual becoming conscious of the process.

I use the words ‘Divine’ and ‘God’. For me they are the most suitable words to describe the experiences I have had, but if these words offend you, please, do use your own.

I am not a writer and, with respect to this, I hope the reader will be forgiving. I write because I have a message. This book is for anyone interested in meditation, healing, psychic abilities and spiritual development. My interest is in healing, of the self, others and the world in which we reside. I believe that all healers have a responsibility to look at their healing practice and to incorporate within it the purest vibration possible. My main interest is in Self-realization, and because of the awakening message within this book, I am hopeful it will spread. It is a message which provides descriptions of expanded states of consciousness and speaks of the fastest means of achieving them. It encourages readers to understand that, given enough time, determination and spiritual practice, it is within their grasp to realize the most elevated spiritual state. That of living full enlightenment.

2

Towards a Book

Growing up as an anxious and unsettled child I had one memorable psychic experience at the age of 7. I saw cherubs in the sky. I heard their music. It has taken over 40 years for me to understand what that experience meant. Always unsatisfied, my search for ‘something’ began when I was young. Taking myself to church aged 14, I was left with the impression that one hour a week of ‘cleansing’ was not enough, that an immersion into Divine thought and Grace had to be lived permanently. At 17, I started to investigate meditation techniques. In the year that it took me to search I saw, and rejected, many which sounded sensational but lacked substance. The technique I chose was Transcendental Meditation™ as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (TM). It was a momentous decision for me, the beginning of a process of rapid Self-discovery. After my first meditation with TM I wasn’t shouting its beneficial effects from the rooftops, but I quietly knew, despite this technique being the least ‘flashy’ of those I had looked at, that if there was such a thing as peace of mind it would help me achieve it.

At the beginning of my twenty-third year on extended meditation courses, inwardly I experienced my first conscious awareness of the presence of Mother Divine: the feminine aspect of the infinite. The feeling that a baby has when being cradled in the arms of its mother was overwhelming. Prior to this I had been aware of the nearness of both a male and a neutral force of nature, formless and omnipresent, but the experience of the Mother became a significant and consistent feature of my life. At that time I had my first experiences of other expanded (or higher) states of awareness. Later that year I slipped into what, in Christopher Isherwood’s book, the Avatar Ramakrishna [1] called Nirvikalpa Samadhi: a state of complete union where there is no distinction between cosmic and individual awareness. (Descriptions of these states of consciousness are given in Chapter 11.) My experiences of these states of consciousness were impossible to doubt and returned for extended periods. Moments of cosmic awareness resulted in a complete identification with Transcendence alongside film-like visions of my past, present and future. These became regular early in 1993 following a consultation with a Maharishi Jyotishee. Vedic [2] incantations over my life-chart, and their predictions of my possibilities, ensured it was an event which