Bob Berman, co-author of the Biocentrism books, had a life-changing oneness experience in his twenties, which lasted three weeks. He responded to my email: ...As you may know, the actual experience of oneness — a oneness that is indescribably fascinating in a limitless myriad of aspects — knows no possibility of boredom, and dwells in a matrix of bliss. At such times, eternal perfection is obvious, and there is not the slightest inclination toward ideation. The flow of your ideas, which may be valid in the dualistic realm, and useful to some, would never even arise in the no-mind state of God consciousness. ...You and I cannot in any way express Reality, and would do well to remember that “ineffable” does not mean “usually not expressable” or “somewhat not capable of being put into words,” but “utterly beyond language.” ...You’re already “there,” there is nothing to achieve. There is no doubt of this. Total relaxation may be the appropriate response, here. You’ve earned it. The only purpose for any of our writings, yours or mine ... is in helping others. As long as we remember, at least sometimes, that there are no others. ❤️ I shared with Bob my posts which include reference to him and the books, and have been humbled and honored by his generous responses. In the '70s, T. Lobsang Rampa, author of 'The Third Eye', and other books on mysticism and metaphysics, wrote in a letter to me that I am an 'eager beaver'. That hasn't changed. One of the first things I did after soaking in Bob's email was to do a search on relaxation. The first books that came up in my search were on the 'relaxation response' by Herbert Benson, M.D. I had not heard of his work before, but was intrigued to learn that his 'Steps to Elicit the Relaxation Response' were derived from his research on Transcendental Meditation. In the winter of 1970-71, three high school classmates and I drove through a Colorado snowstorm, up to a log cabin in Rocky Mountain National Park — where we sat across from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, while I interviewed him for the school newsletter. I did not get involved with Transcendental Meditation, but now, fifty years later, found it natural to weave a revised version of the 'Steps to Elicit the Relaxation Response' into a new breathing mantra called 'Relaxing Into Oneness'. I don't consider my experiences to be special or important, but share the memories for their relevance to this post. 🙏 In 'Unconsciously Freeing the Body', Dr. Brown Landone, a neurologist (1847-1945), describes the issue of inner tensity, the constriction of inner muscles, which can last for years and hinders the flow of spirit. I know well this inner tensity, from my own experience. Landone provides specific instruction for freeing the body. From his work, and my musing, I gleaned that 'soul is limited only by mental concepts', 'thought increases inner tensity', 'love is the free flow of energy', 'love moves in waves', 'spirit moves in spirals', 'thought moves in straight lines', and 'direct experience with oneness decreases inner tensity.' From all these sources and more, I understand (though not perfectly) some characteristics of the individuated and oneness states of consciousness, to help distinguish them. The individuated state of dualism includes ego and personality, a sense of separateness. It enables unique, individual experience and is often dominated by intellectual, analytical thought, emotions, and self-centered will. Nothing is wrong. The oneness state 'dwells in a matrix of bliss', where 'eternal perfection is obvious, and there is not the slightest inclination toward ideation'. 🌞 Bob Berman wrote, regarding my efforts to find or make a way to sustain a direct experience of the cosmos of consciousness, 'Total relaxation may be the appropriate response, here.' My effortless efforts are aimed without aim at a higher human functioning of moving consciously between individuated and oneness experiences of consciousness. While my writing may not make all this sound like much fun, due to over-seriousness still to be overcome by relaxing, every step of this journey towards experienced oneness is for me deep-felt joy. Such joy, I see, can carry a person through the challenges of a troubled world. The breathing mantra, 'Relaxing Into Oneness', is proving an effective means of entering a state of direct experience with oneness. The duration of the experience extends with continued practice. I have been humbled and honored by the generous responses by Bob Berman, co-author of the Biocentrism books, to my emails. I have shared with him my posts which include reference to him and the books. Today the following email came, and I am taking it to heart. Bob has previously given permission to include his emails in Whole Human posts, so I am taking some liberty to copy his personal note into this post, as it feels relevant to the subject of relaxing: Hi Gary, I loved what you wrote, for it reflected the sincerity and longevity at your seeking of the reality behind this wondrously strange illusion. As you may know, the actual experience of oneness — a oneness that is indescribably fascinating in a limitless myriad of aspects — knows no possibility of boredom, and dwells in a matrix of bliss. At such times, eternal perfection is obvious, and there is not the slightest inclination toward ideation. The flow of your ideas, which may be valid in the dualistic realm, and useful to some, would never even arise In the no-mind state of God consciousness. I think you know that just as the word ice is not actual ice, these concepts are like floating fragments of incense smoke (but infinitely less fascinating). You and I cannot in any way express Reality, and would do well to remember that “ineffable” does not mean “usually not expressable” or “somewhat not capable of being put into words,” but “utterly beyond language.” Am I therefore suggesting you give up? Yes. It would be noble and effective. And contrary to your well meaning friend, nobody is bound in any body, there’s nothing that needs interpreting, and, I promise you, nothing we believe is valid. You’re already “there,” there is nothing to achieve. There is no doubt of this. Total relaxation may be the appropriate response, here. You’ve earned it. The only purpose for any of our writings, yours or mine (other than, by the grace of God, me being paid well) is in helping others. As long as we remember, at least sometimes, that there are no others. Best to you, Bob B. I am taking to heart the message of Bob Berman's email. A RELATED POST: UNCONSCIOUSLY FREEING THE BODY BELOW, A RESOURCE FOR RELAXING. From the Relaxation Response website. Steps to Elicit the Relaxation Response The following is the technique reprinted with permission from Dr. Herbert Benson's book The Relaxation Response pages 162-163. Sit quietly in a comfortable position. 2. Close your eyes. 3. Deeply relax all your muscles, beginning at your feet and progressing up to your face. Keep them relaxed. 4. Breathe through your nose. Become aware of your breathing. As you breathe out, say the word, "one"*, silently to yourself. For example, breathe in ... out, "one",- in .. out, "one", etc. Breathe easily and naturally. 5. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm. When you finish, sit quietly for several minutes, at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes opened. Do not stand up for a few minutes. 6. Do not worry about whether you are successful in achieving a deep level of relaxation. Maintain a passive attitude and permit relaxation to occur at its own pace. When distracting thoughts occur, try to ignore them by not dwelling upon them and return to repeating "one." With practice, the response should come with little effort. Practice the technique once or twice daily, but not within two hours after any meal, since the digestive processes seem to interfere with the elicitation of the Relaxation Response.* It is better to use a soothing, mellifluous sound, preferably with no meaning or association, to avoid stimulation of unnecessary thoughts - a mantra. MUSE device Ed Crowley 'Master, Please give me another example of emptiness..’ “thespacebetweenthoughtsappearsemptybutinrealityitistheemptinessitselfthatcontainseverythingwithoutthespacesitdoesntmakesensetoyouormebyunderstandingthespacebetweenweunderstandthemessagescommunicatedbetweenusemptinessisthesourceofallmanifestation” ‘What language is that?.. I do not understand.’ “the space between thoughts appears empty, but in reality, it is the emptiness itself, that contains everything. without the spaces, it doesn’t make sense, to you or me. by understanding the space between, we understand the messages communicated between us. emptiness is the source of all manifestation.”.... ‘So the spaces are the emptiness...’ “Everything arises from the emptiness.... The spaces just show us an example of this...” Minerva Martinez Tell me a little more, How do I interpret this ? emptiness is the source of all manifestation.”.... Ed Crowley Think of the Scientific version of the Big Bang. It came from an infinitesimal point which is basically a mathematical value close to zero which is essentially empty. From the Big Bang, Everything we know was created. In any major religious belief, Creation began from nothing to Everything through the word or sound of the Creator. Emptiness isn’t empty it actually is like potential energy at rest. It contains the possibility of anything to manifest. It’s the vastness of infinity since it can create anything and everything. It’s just a concept to try to explain what is so difficult for our minds to process through our brains. We can only truly experience “Being”. This “Being” that we all are, arises from the “emptiness” or call it the “Source” that manifests Everything. It takes a while to just relax our mind to understand the stillness of the Silence within and experience this “emptiness” of thoughts and realize it’s filled with Being-ness. Just simply Being. 😊🙏💫💛
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