Energies of Transformation

There are three shifts that often include a change in our perception and energetic experience. The first is when there is a release of identity; the second is when we shift from a dense level of perception to a subtler level; and the third is when we are tuned into other dimensions. When these shifts happen there is always an altering of the way we perceive and or understand the world and ourselves. Sometimes this change comes with an energetic component, but not always, and it is not a necessary component.

Release of Identity

For most of our lives the world seems to be solid and real, our perception of ourselves and others also seems solid and real. When we begin to explore what is true about our perceptions and identity, things begin to shift around. As we let go of aspects of our identity, energy is released. We may feel this release in our bodies as vibrational rushes, there may be flashes of light in our awareness, energy flowing up our spines, or just pulsating in our heads etc.

Sometimes these sensations feel good, and sometimes they can be disturbing. If we enjoy them, we may think the sensations themselves have meaning. We may believe this indicates that we are enlightened; that we have attained a higher state of consciousness. When this happens we can begin to crave more of the energy, and believe that having these experiences is the goal; when the energy is there we are attaining a higher state, and when it isn’t we have lost it. There can be an addictive quality to having these sensations causing some people go from guru to guru in search of more experiences.

What is actually true about these experiences, is that they are just symptoms of releasing energy. Another way to understand this is as a letting go of old patterns. Holding on and identifying takes energy, when we let go energy is released. This release is experienced in many ways. Sometimes there is no experience at all, just a slow, gradual shift in perception, until we realize that how we see the world and ourselves has changed. Sometimes the experience is more dramatic, neither way is better.

This energetic process of release can happen during meditation, but is not necessary. We may see colors, have visions, see light beings, receive messages, feel energetic vibrations, etc. These phenomenon are also the symptoms of release of patterns. We sometimes give these experiences more meaning, have beliefs about what they are. The colors and lights might be interpreted as beings from another dimension, or planet, energies might be something entering our bodies, etc. If they are just experienced as they are, without interpretation, and allowed to come and go, they will be there as long as it takes to release the patterns that are being released, or to open up the nervous system to higher frequencies. Once they do their job they will go. Leaving an even flow of energy that is simple, natural, nothing special.

Subtler levels of perception

When we shift from one level of perception to another, more subtle level, there can also be experiences of energy, light, and color, etc. Once we stabilize on this new level the expereinces subside. This new level of perception then becomes ordinary. It will be a different ordinary than where we just came firm. Maybe we were used to feeling denser, duller, suffering in some way. In this new, subtler dimension we feel more alive, more aware, and there is less suffering. As we get used to this new way, the bells and whistles disappear, we have stabilized and life feels natural. This process keeps going, as long as we are in this body we will continue to evolve, and move to subtler dimensions, more clear, less suffering, more joy, and again becoming natural. Evolution occurs in a spiral.

Other Dimensions

There are other dimensions. The earth plane has a particular energetic fingerprint. It has a kind of density that makes everything seem solid, which it isn’t. There are other dimensions with more subtle energetic fingerprints, where being seems less solid, there is more love, and connectedness. When we experience these other dimensions we may feel the shift in energy in our bodies. We may be drawn to explore these new experiences. That is all fine; but it is important to realize that all of this is occurring in the boundless emptiness that is our true nature. If we can be conscious of these other dimensions, we can witness them, and witness ourselves experiencing these subtler realms, then we can back up into the emptiness in which all of this of arising.

In some traditions, the experience of energy release being felt throughout the body is known as kundalini, especially if it travels up the spine. What often comes with this energy release is a shift in perception. We may see light around or in everything; objects may no longer look solid, we may perceive objects, including people as made up of moving molecules, etc. Nothing seems to be what it is; there can be a dreamlike quality to the world. For some people this is wonderful and for others it can be frightening. We can feel like we have lost control. The truth is we never had control.

Control is a whole other subject, but let’s take a look at it for a moment. When life seems solid and we believe we are separate people living our separate lives, we often believe that we are the creators of our lives. We feel like we are in control, that we have made our life just as we want it to be. Along with this belief system frequently comes frustration and anger, for instance when life takes turns that we don’t want, or when life doesn’t fit our future fantasy, or dream. There are many New Age models that support the notion of being in control and creating our lives to be the way we want. This approach can even work for a while, but it requires maintaining the belief and felt sense of being separate individual people. To make this work, we have to suspend any awareness that we are all connected and that what happens to me affects the entire fabric of existence.

What is really going on is that we are all appearing in consciousness, that consciousness is what we are. We are all connected in the flow of life as one thing. As the energy moves within this field everything and everyone is affected. We are not in control. We are not more important than anyone else. We are also not less important than others.

When this awareness begins to dawn there is a shift in the vibrational energy within our bodies. The molecular structure of our bodies begins to change. The way our brain functions also goes through a shift. How we perceive the world accompanies a parallel alteration in the makeup of our nervous systems. Our nervous system has to accommodate a subtler yet more dynamic energetic flow. Sometimes this change feels dramatic and sometimes it is hardly noticed.

Once all this settles down, our experience of the world and ourselves stabilizes. It can never go back to the way it was, our perception is altered forever. But most, if not all of the dramatic experiences are no longer present. We are no longer releasing large patterns, or major aspects of identity. We are now releasing subtle qualities, therefore the symptoms of release are less noticeable. For some people this can feel like a relief, for others it can feel like a loss. Some people feel a bit depressed and disappointed.

During this phase the real significance of this process can be missed. All of this points us to the truth that we are consciousness itself; we are not a separate person having wonderful or awful spiritual experiences. The process of letting go and all the bells and whistles that can come with it, is just the journey to this truth. If we inquire deeply we will find that all of this is occurring in consciousness. Another way of saying this is that we are aware of all of it. When we investigate this awareness, that we always believed to be ours, we find that it is not inside of us. The awareness that knows about letting go of identity, and the energetic shifts going on in the body, has no boundaries, it is not ours, we do not own it. It is not inside our skull, in our brains, it is actually everywhere, and everything is arising in it.

This is the importance of the whole journey. It is simple, has no bells and whistles, it is full, and empty, alive, has no beginning or end, is what we all are.

This is liberating.