Dr. Judith Orloff & Interview on Emotional Freedom

Dr. Judith Orloff is an intuitive healer and unconventional psychiatrist. After learningof her life story and resonating deeply with her journey and writing, I took to her audio Professional Development Course called Becoming an Intuitive Healer. This prompted me to explore more of her alternative health initiatives.

This e-interview is part of a virtual book tour for her latest book called Emotional Freedom. As you consider whether to use this tool on your journey to wholeness, view how this dialogue prompts you to transform attitudes. Rediscover new levels of joy;

Many people are awaking to new ways of seeing and experiencing. How does this relate to Emotional Freedom?

As an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA, I work in a mainstream medical system wherethe spiritual/ intuitive aspects of emotions aren’t understood and are not always accepted. During my UCLA psychiatric training, we treated depression and anxiety, as biochemical imbalances requiring medication. I’d meet with patients for fifteen minutes every few weeks, write a prescription, then send them home. This initially seemed the logical thing for me to do.

As part of a family of 3 generations of physicans myself, I gain insight into perspectives on health and well-being. Which vital lessons have you learned from your evolving experience?

I never saw medications as the whole solution, but I saw many patients experience at least partial “symptom relief,” an undeniable relief of suffering. During more than two decades of medical practice, I learned emotional freedom involves much, much more.

Some people speak of the modern era as an Intuitive Age. How do you view this affecting current and future medicine?

We are the keepers of our own healing. We are keepers of an intuitive intelligence so powerful it can tell us how to heal. The time has come for each of us to claim it again. Never forget: It is your right to heal. It is your right to look inside yourself for the answers.

Another way of looking at modern society is that it empowers each person to restore resoucefulness. What would you add?

Each person is free to detach from beliefs that are no longer appropriate. You clean the junk out and your vibration shifts to different levels of consciousness. Emotion is energy. You can learn to channel energy more effectively.

What do you hope to achieve through your latest book?

I encourage people to validate and liberate their intuition. In my book, I discuss four major components of emotions that shape your health and mood: biology, subtle energy, psychology, and spirituality. We must appreciate that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. It’s impossible to grasp how we tick emotionally without a cosmic perspective; everything about us, including our biology, is an expression of the divine. Seeing emotions as a training ground for the soul—a path to spiritual awakening--frames every victory over fear, anxiety, and resentment as a way to develop your spiritual muscles and love more.

Some people are highly-sensitive to energy vibrations. How do you know if this is you?

The trademark of empaths is that they know where you’re coming from. Some can do this without taking on people’s feelings. However, for better or worse, others, like myself and many of my patients, can become angst-sucking sponges. This often overrides the sublime capacity to absorb positive emotions and all that is beautiful. If empaths are around peace and love, their bodies assimilate these and flourish. Negativity, though, often feels assaultive, exhausting. Thus, they’re particularly easy marks for emotional vampires, whose fear or rage can ravage empaths.

What determines whether fears are authentic?

It can be especially tricky to ascertain which fears are authentic, helpful intuitions. As empaths tend to absorb other people’s emotions, they may pick up fear and think it’s their own. To avoid this, always ask yourself, “Is the fear mine or someone else’s?” One dependable way to find out is to distance yourself from the source. Move at least twenty feet. If you experience relief, it’s likely you perceive another’s fear.

How do you know if you perpetuate your own fear?

As you reach that mental place where you are prepared to take responsibility for your thoughts and feelings, then you realize fear begins and ends in the mind. If you don't make it your business to overcome fear, you better believe it'll try to overcome you. Most people are subservient to this emotion though they may not know it. I define fear as the emotional response to danger, perceived or real.

Many people are controlled by negative emotions. How does one grow “emotionally free?”

Emotional freedom means increasing your ability to love. This requires you learn to cultivate positive emotions and compassionately observe and transform negative ones.

How does one stop absorbing other people’s negative emotions?

In "Emotional Freedom" my approach to transforming fear has two stages. First, take stock of what makes you afraid and distinguish irrational fears from legitimate intuitions. Second, take appropriate steps to heed protective fears and transform the others with courage. At times you may foresee real danger, but more frequently unproductive fears clobber you. As a rule, train the self to question fears tied to low self-esteem.

What kinds of tools do you offer your readers to help them help themselves?

A first step towards achieving emotional freedom is to know where you currently stand. I offer “The Emotional Freedom Test” in my book. This self-assessment tool covers a range of positive and negative emotions and invites readers to be more aware of how they typically respond to a variety of emotionally charged situations. Only by raising awareness is one consciously be equipped to make positive change.

Thank you Dr. Orloff, for sharing insight with the Dreambuilders Australia Blog community.

I encourage readers to check out her other bestsellers; Positive Energy, Intuitive Healing, and Second Sight. Dr. Orloff synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition and energy medicine. She truly believes that the future of medicine involves integrating all this wisdom to achieve emotional freedom and total wellness. For further insights, see www.drjudithorloff.com

***To purchase “Emotional Freedom” with 100 free gifts from noted transformational leaders such as Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Michael Beckwith, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Shirley Maclaine and more go to: http://www.drjudithorloff.com/emotional-freedom-promotion/

Susan Shumsky & Interview on Divine revelations

I initially grew aware of Dr. Susan Shumsky through her writing and grew fascinated with her spiritual journey. I am grateful she takes the opportunity to share insights from her experiences during this interview;

What was it like to reside in remote areas of the Himalayas and Alps for 7 years?

When I lived in the ashram, I meditated from 5 to 20 hours per day. I would go into my room and not appear for up to 8 weeks at a time. I would have the food brought to my door. I would observe silence and not utter a sound for up to 4 months at a time. I would fast for up to 2 months at a time. I observed celibacy for decades. So I was an introvert. And that is definitely an understatement.

How did you end up on the staff of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi? Is this unusual for women?

I ended up on his personal staff because I asked him. He had both men and women on his staff. Men were more in the limelight. Women worked more in the background.

I served on Maharishi's personal staff for 7 years. That was an amazing experience. I was swinging from of the highest intensity of bliss of heaven, to the deepest intensity of suffering of hell. Heaven, when my guru gazed at me or gave me that special, powerful wave of grace and bliss that is transmitted from master to disciple. Hell, when he ignored me or scolded me. This swing from heaven to hell is the master's way of inflating and destroying the ego in turns, until the disciple becomes egoless.

Why is Transcendental Meditation (TM) useful?

TM teaches people how to go into a deep state of meditation and experience transcendental consciousness, otherwise known as turiya (the fourth state of consciousness), samadhi (stillness of mind and body), or sat chit ananda (absolute bliss consciousness). There are over 500 scientific studies done on this practice, including everything from reversing heart disease to creating a more harmonious atmosphere and reducing crime rate in cities.

I no longer teach TM. I teach Divine Revelation--a spiritual teaching founded by Mahavatar Babaji, the Yogi-Christ mentioned in Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda.

At what stage did you begin to assume the role of spiritual teacher?

I have taught meditation since 1970. But I have taught Divine Revelation since 1986. Divine Revelation helps people hear the voice of God, learn how to distinguish between the true divine voice and other voices in your mind, and attain God realization.

Please share events that sparked your perception of Divine Revelations;

Even though I spent 22 years in an ashram of the famous spiritual master from India, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, I never received one divine revelation during that time. Once a year, my guru and his closest disciples went into silence for 7 days. We would stay in our rooms and meditate and fast for those 7 days. When he came out of silence, he would gather with a handful of people, and he would say something like, "Mother Divine spoke to me and she said..." He would then describe what Mother Divine had told him during his silence.

When you are living with a guru from India, often you think that he is a very evolved soul, on a much higher plane than you are. That is what I thought. I worshipped my guru and believed him to be like God. I thought that I could never attain a level of consciousness like his. And I could never conceive that Mother Divine would speak to me directly. Little did I know that all I had to do was ask.

When I lived in the ashram, I loved meditation, and I enjoyed profound spiritual experiences every day. These experiences helped me establish a powerful level of awareness that has served me throughout my life. That was the upside of my decades of meditation in the ashram. However, there was also a downside.

As a faithful TM practitioner and teacher, and as a devoted disciple of my guru, for 22 years the TM creed was hammered into my brain: TM is the only path to enlightenment. Maharishi is the only enlightened master. TM is your only chance for spiritual evolution. If you don't practice TM faithfully, you are doomed to lifetimes of suffering.

Just like many other TM teachers, I was thoroughly convinced that I was on a higher, "more evolved" level than the teeming masses. I firmly believed that I was vastly superior to the insignificant, irrelevant, trifling swarm of ignorant, unevolved humanity, whose measly awareness waded through muck and mire-far outside the gates of the insulated, unsullied paradise/ cocoon/ safety/ bubble/ heavenly grace of the TM community.

The TM ashram was definitely a bubble, but it was inflated with the hot air of its arrogant, swaggering residents. I was one of them.

The hierarchy of TM social status was defined by a precise stepladder, with Maharishi above the highest rung, the International Staff and other TM officials on the highest rung, TM teachers on the middle rung, and TM mediators on the bottom. When I served on Maharishi's International Staff, from 1970 to 1976, I was perched on the highest rung. However, when I lived in Fairfield, I had slipped a few rungs down the ladder. Yet I was still perched firmly on the ladder.

One night I attended one of the frequent parties held in the homes of the inhabitants of Fairfield, Iowa. Here I encountered Rich Bell, a seeming nobody whom I pegged as a bottom feeder who crawled in the dirt below the bottom rung of the ladder.

At this party Rich Bell accosted me and attempted to convince me that he had something to teach me--a meditation technique different from TM (horror of horrors). Teach me something? Teach me anything? I know everything there is to know about meditation. Ha. With my nose high in the air, I laughed and flicked him away like a fly, with a flip of my wrist. My self-importance stopped him cold.

I believed that the TM organization was my only avenue for learning, my only path to enlightenment, and my only lifeline to God. But my mask of superiority cloaked an ominous cloud that hung on the horizon. Little did I know what was in store.

Shortly after my encounter with Rich Bell, I was stunned to receive a phone call from a member of The Executive Board--the governing body of the TM organization in Fairfield, Iowa, who summoned me to his office. To describe this as a shocker is an understatement. It was more like a knockout punch. As I hung up the phone and struggled to gasp my next breath, my heartbeat sped into overdrive and terror ripped through my bones. At once my mind concocted the worst possible punishment--my entry badge to "The Dome" (where TM practitioners meditated and levitated in large groups) being confiscated.

The Board insisted that I appear before them to explain my actions, because an informant had apparently reported me for organizing a New Age psychic fair at the VFW in town. This was an infraction of the TM organization's strict rules, since TM teachers are banned from any extracurricular activity not officially sanctioned by the organization. I had evidently been a bad, bad little girl. And the Board wanted to either slap my wrists or chop them off. Which option they might choose was entirely unknown to me.

I do not know what possessed me to phone Rich Bell. Perhaps I was seized with a terror of drowning so immediate that I grappled for the nearest flotation device. After hearing of my dilemma, Rich asked me to grab a pen and paper. Then he dictated an affirmation over the phone, and he told me to repeat the affirmation for 15 minutes right before my meeting with The Board. Frankly, I did not know what an "affirmation" was.

Right before the meeting, I was so intimidated and frightened in anticipation of appearing before the Board, that I repeated the affirmation aloud for 30 minutes solid. Amazingly, with every repetition of the affirmation, my awareness became more powerful and filled with greater inner strength. By the time the meeting hour arrived, I was brimming with energy, grounded and solid as the earth.

I entered the office with what I expected would be six intimidating, glowering men ready to pounce on me. But they transformed into puppy dogs. The entire meeting turned to my advantage. They were uncharacteristically polite, and they ended the meeting by apologizing for any inconvenience they may have caused. I floated out of the office, high on my own energy. The entire crisis simply vanished into nothingness.

I was so impressed with the power of Rich Bell's affirmation, that I asked him to teach me this new meditation practice. That is how I learned how to listen to the "still small voice" of God within.

When Rich and I finally sat down together, he guided me into a different meditation practice than I had ever experienced before. As he led me through various levels of awareness, I saw a bright white light and later a beautiful azure light, otherwise known at the "blue pearl" of Lord Krishna, and I expanded to levels of my higher self in a way that I had previously never realized. I visited realms of inner space that I had not previously seen on my radar map. These were celestial regions, the worlds of the personal God, the highways and byways of God consciousness. The "still small voice" of God spoke to me, and I received words of love, comfort, and peace.

What can you tell us about the meditation techniques of “Buddha boy” (16 year old Nepalese who meditated 6 months)?

I wish that I could, but I cannot tell you about his meditation techniques. I do not believe that he has told anyone his techniques. Some people believe he is a reincarnation of Gautama Buddha. Others say he learned his methods in the Tibetan monastery in Dehra Dun--Tumo meditation (Tibetan meditation that increases heat in the body), and in a monastery in Himachal Pradesh--the Sakya tradition of Buddhism. He seems to be living on prana, without food or water. Other yogis have done that. Giri Bala did that for 56 years. Prahladbhai Jani, who is now age 80, has not eaten or drunk anything since age 12. He was scientifically tested for 10 days straight, during which time he ingested nothing. He never passed any urine or feces. He claims to gain energy from solar gazing and from the Mother Goddess. The sun transmits energy through a hole in his throat, producing a sticky solid lump that he can redigest. This refuels the chakras in his body. From this description, this appears to be the practice of kechari mudra, a process whereby the yogi drinks soma, amrita, or nectar produced by the pineal gland. I explain this process in my new book ASCENSION.

How does a person on a spiritual path turn the self inside out so the whole universe resides on the inside?

Our subtle body already embodies the entire universe. Therefore, the entire universe is already inside. If you read my book EXPLORING CHAKRAS, you will understand deeply how the microcosm embodies the macrocosm, how the universe gets created and gets absorbed, and how the human energy field reflects all of that in its creation and absorption. By using my CD "Chakra Yoga Nidras," you can experience that universe within you with the guided meditation. Your Cosmic Self is an aspect of your higher self. It is as large and vast as the entire universe. All the galaxies and stars are within it.

Why do you sense so many people are hoping to learn more about God now?

The consciousness of the world has been lifting since the 1960s, when a great spiritual awakening began and the human potential movement was born. It is the cycle of cosmic time when spirituality is on the rise. Many enlightened masters have graced us with their presence and have begun to lift our consciousness out of the World Wars of the 20th century and the stiff, rigid, blocked mindset of that time. Now a new age is dawning, which brings greater peace and direct connection with God. The old ways are dying, People will, in time, take responsibility for their own lives rather than considering themselves victims, and they will take a direct path to God rather than going through intermediaries, such as gurus, priests, channellers, psychics, healers, astrologers, and so forth. They will realize their own self-empowerment and discover who they really are.

What advice do you offer people who struggle to focus on the present moment?

I am not sure what you mean by that question. If you mean to say that people are not focusing on the task at hand, then the practice of meditation can improve their concentration. If you mean that people are trying to "live in the now," then I would say that they are trying to make a mood of living in the now, and that they will fail. No one can make a mood of higher consciousness. You must earn it through genuine spiritual practices and through surrender to God.

Some people sense the Intuitive Age is upon us, that is, the usefulness of extended solitude no longer has the same relevance. Share your insight.

Extended solitude is not as necessary as it was in the 20th century. That is because the vibration of the planet is already on a much higher plane than before. People are now able to have spiritual experiences much quicker than before. I was a pioneer of the spiritual movement of the 1960s, and I have observed through the past 42 years how people can now attain states of deep meditation and profound experiences of God much easier. Today, through the practice of Divine Revelation, in just a few moments people can receive divine contact with God within them and hear the voice of God. When this teaching first appeared in the 1960s, people took many months to have this experience.

Where is home for you?

Home is within my heart, for that is where God resides. I have no home base on the material plane. I live in a motor home.

What additional insights would you like to share?

There is only one thing worthwhile seeking and attaining in this world--God realization. No material possession or worldly status will fulfil you. Do everything in your power to fulfil your destiny, which is to return to God.

Some of my websites:

http://www.divinerevelation.org, for my books, CDs, DVDs, art prints, and other products.
http://www.divinetravels.com, for my spiritual retreats and tours to sacred destinations, including Sedona in August.
http://www.kumbhmela.net, for my Kumbh Mela tour in the Spring of 2010.
http://www.perutour.org, for my tours to Peru.
http://www.twitter.com/SusanShumsky, for daily divinely revealed messages.

I encourage visitors here to explore Susan's websites and read about more of her experiences.

Jaikaur Leblanc & Interview on authentic living

I had the pleasure of connecting with Jaikaur through a series of synchronicities. She is a healer and spiritual teacher. Her insights stem from views on physical and non-physical existence. I found her blog, discovered her radio show, and resonated with a kindred spirit in a way that defies logical explanation. It is a heart-warming experience to share dialogue with her. She has generously opened herself up here;

Who are you at this moment?

An experience and expression of energy moving through time and space, intimately engaged with matter. As such, I enjoy the pleasures of my physical senses and engage in the dance between the body and spirit, the infinite and finite, the known and unknown. It is an experience of mystery and mastery, with joy and growth as both carrot and the stick!

And, I am a woman, an incarnation whose roles of daughter, mother, sister, friend, and partner are wonderful workshops in which to play with and give expression to my paradoxical nature. I learn and share with others in their paradoxical, infinity-contained within matter- journey of a human being. As a woman-a leader, healer, teacher-my infinite creativity is asking of me what is it I want to create with my being.

When have you known spiritual crisis?

Spiritual crisis has often been a part of my life, simply I did not apply this label to these experiences. I have almost died three times-the last time I had no pulse for over a minute-and yet at the time, understood that I was simply being asked to live more fully vs simply going through the motions. There was no discrepancy between my expectations, knowing, and experience and so I did not label these times of NDE or crisis.

What I did experience as spiritual crisis was when the spiritual community I had lived in for decades, raised children with, and helped grow, did not stand up in truth and integrity for our stated values as a community. Instead, they chose to accept the offer of financial reward for their silence and their averting of their eyes from wrong being done by one of our ministers.

My mind struggled to understand how people whose identity was to stand for the truth could instead be consciously choosing to not do so, and for money no less! Through my meditations, I came to the understand that this crisis was serving to upgrade my understanding of the Divine as well as my own divine strength and understanding. The crisis served as an effective way to get my full attention, and in the end, has served me enormous gifts.

Describe an experience that touched your heart deeper than you thought you could reach.

The experience of bringing children into this world and raising them has touched me very deeply. Through our love for each other, I have experienced the healing benefits of unconditional love that wise ones teach, laying down my mind’s judgment, making room for compassion, grace, and joy.

My children’s gift of unconditional love has made it possible to enjoy realms of understanding not otherwise available to me, certainly not through my mind or five senses alone. I have now the understanding that the sacrifice a person may make for another is a very pure expression of love. In parenting, the day to day sacrifice of one’s own desires to care for and serve another being is divinity in action.

How do you understand the concept of a miracle?

A miracle is simply allowing that which already exists in the realm of infinite possibilites to manifest into our five senses realm. What makes a miracle possible for us to experience in our 5 senses world is our conscious choice, our conscous updating of our beliefs, our faith and trust in our infinite being, and ability to intentionally manifest through our imagination into our physical world. As I like to say, the physical manifestation is simply the period at the end of the manifestion sentence!

What advice would you offer people who resist change or letting go?

Change simply is...without our body’s letting go of the air within our lungs and to make room for new air, we would die within minutes. We have been taught to fear change and to equate change with scary and bad. Many definitions we were raised by are definitions. It is our responsibility as an adult to update, much as we have updated the size of our clothes from what we wore as a 10 year old!

An exercise I share with students is to ask them if they are happy with all the aspects of their life. If not, would they not seek to change them vs babysit their unhappiness? Not letting go is a choice, and choice is our gift to exercise. Our bodies are often better teachers, more wise about living than our minds are, for our bodies are living in the now and our minds are often in either the past or the “what-if”of the future. Our bodies do not lie, whereas our minds can be as prostitutes in their need to maintain control.

Which instance(s) in your life remind you blessings are unexpected?

I was the oldest of 7 children and by the time I was out on my own, I did not feel the need to mother any others. And, it seemed as though that was to be, with previously undiagnosed infections creating various challenges to becoming pregnant. I let go of needing to have children and promptly got pregnant, had a healthy baby, and through parenting, have embodied more wisdom and knowing than through my intentional studies with masters. Who knew of the wealth and blessings that becoming a parent would gift me with-certainly not me and my lack of need to have children!

Why do you encourage others to quiet the mind?

As the sound of our soul is most often a quieter voice than our mind’s noisy voice, it behooves a person to learn how to hear the quieter voice within. Our conscious choice is required to hear the quieter voices of our soul and heart amidst the Greek chorus of all the voices within us.

What is a Greek chorus? It is the many voices within us that clamour for our attention and want to direct us.... the voices of our parents, teachers, media, ancestors, friends, doubt, despair, love, awe, joy. As conscious adults, we are required to assert the stewardship of our life’s journey, using the North Star of our heart and soul. Daily meditation of some sort is an essential component of being able to hear the difference in the voices within us.

As Buddha reached enlightenment, he briefly sensed this could not be taught. What is your view?

Teaching is a sharing of what has been experienced-whether with one or millions-that may or may not be relevant to another’s sovereignty, growth, or journey as an infinite soul and spirit. My wisdom is simply another ingredient-along with their own ingredients/wisdom-in the life soup of experiences. The universe is constantly evolving, in motion, nothing ever truly the same from moment to moment. This is the amazingness of being an aspect of infinity, we truly are infinite, and as such, our self is without peer, precedence or other.

And so, at the most level of truth, the journey-be it a day trip or enlightment-is personal, is one's own. There are many very good road maps for wisdom and living offered by those who have travelled their life journeys before us. And their map is simply that...a map, not the experiences, learning, and wisdom unique to ourselves and the vastness of our soul’s uniques evolution.

What do you say to the idea every person is his own guru?

Yes, we are our own guru-that which takes us from dark/unconscious/non-truth to light/conscious/truth-and, we need each as gurus as well. As human beings, while we are sovereign in soul and destiny, our means to do so are through our community of experiences with each other. Another paradox, another both-and....the hallmark of the Divine!

How would you describe your legacy?

As a woman who loved her gift of life, who served those who shared her life, and who gave wisdom, love, and joy freely.

Who inspires you?

People who engage with their soul’s depth, dimension, and expression in their daily living. People whose roles in life are simply vehicles of expression for their heart, soul, and spirit.

If you took on a form other than what you presume to be, what would that be and why?

I feel joy and wonder at Bird’s ability to dance with the unseen air and winds between the earth and heavens. In many traditions, Bird is considered the animal which travels between the physical and the spiritual worlds. I would like that life as a bird which seems happy and in ease with dancing in-between worlds,and it’s dance with the unseen.

Anything else you would like to add that makes your life authentic and truly meaningful?

Magic abounds on this planet we call Earth and the choice to consciously engage in joy, love, and beauty is one that results in receiving the awe, wonder, and bliss of living our divinity through our humanity.

I really appreciate all your candid reflections.  Connecting to soul means being present and raising awarness on different levels. As you imply, every step of everyone's journey is useful experience. 

If you would like to learn more about Jaikaur, find out about her workshops and other endeavours,consult her Women's Grace, Grit, and Gratitude" website http://www.jaikaur.com and her Blog Talk Radio show http://www.blogtalkradio.com/JaiKaur

Michael J Tamura & Interview on NDE revelations

Michael J. Tamura enriches the lives of others with spiritual teachings and profound sharing about his near-death experiences (NDEs). After reading about him, his personal awakenings, and insight into soul growth, I approached him to learn more. I am especially grateful he made the time for this dialogue before embarking on a 27-day promotional tour for his new book, You Are the Answer.

Why do you view yourself as a messenger?

James Van Praagh wrote in his Foreword to my book, You Are The Answer, that I was “...a true spiritual messenger...” Personally, I hadn’t really viewed myself that much as a messenger. But, now that you ask and having re-read what James so graciously wrote, I suppose I am a kind of message-bearer. Perhaps, I’m like the old-fashioned Western Union Telegraph Messenger, but for the Holy Spirit! I have, however, thought of myself at times as a cross between a wake-up service and a kind of spiritual ambassador.

What is your message?

I do my best to remind people that it’s a beautiful day to wake up to and I practice representing what I experience as Divinity: That which is limitless, eternal, immortal, ever-present and all-loving. I try to bridge the gaps that I see between where a person is and where he or she truly is as an immortal soul.

What did you know of NDEs before your own?

Another friend of ours, Dannion Brinkley, I’ll nominate as the president of the “Dead-Again Club.” He’s had more near-death experiences than you could shake a stick at! I’ve read his bookon his first NDE called, Saved By The Light. Joking aside, which is hard to do when you’ve been to “the other side,” I’ve been a regular on “the other side” for a good portion of my life.

How do people you know help you reframe this?

After my wife, Raphaelle’s father passed on, he came to one of her sisters in a dream and told her that “death is not what you think it is.” At the end of her dream, he also told her that he was concerned about her sister’s husband (me), since he saw me hanging out with “dead” people all the time. Not only is he correcton this, I’ve been teaching and healing souls in the spiritual realms, or “the other side,” as long as I can recall.

When I was a child, I would often end up around flashing red, blue and white lights of emergency vehicles as I fell asleep at night. I was helping those who were in an accident or a major disaster like tsunamis or earthquakes around the world in the out-of-body state. For the past thirty-five years or so, every night I would go out and teach my “astral class” to a growing number of souls, some who are incarnated presently and are my students here as well as many more who are between lives either having passed on or preparing to incarnate. I also teach many souls who are incarnated currently but would not be able to easily attend my earthly classes, such as those who are still infants and children as well as the elderly.

Please explain your sense of "the Other Side."

In fact, the idea of an “other side” isn’t all that correct. There’s only one side to the oneness of spirit. It’s all here and now. Yet, when we experience an experience that doesn’t relate with anything we think we experience here, we start to think of it as “somewhere else” other than here. Then, there’s dead people and live ones! Yet, as we become increasingly more aware, we begin to realize that the variety of our experiences is something akin to looking at a cell under a microscope.

For example, at 10X power, a cell looks a certain way. At 50X power the same cell looks quite different. And, at 200X power it looks nothing like any of the rest. “Being dead” means that you see the same so-called reality at a different power than when you were “alive.” But, even after dying, each of us will experience “reality” at different “powers” depending on how aware we are. The more you awaken while incarnated, the higher power you can experience things. Soon, you become aware all of this is a dream. It’s like going from one dream state to another. Until we awaken, whatever dream state we’re in we believe is reality. Waking up in the morning after a good nightmare we are grateful to realize the nightmare was just a bad dream. We’re so relieved that we forget that we’ve just only moved into a different dream state and we need to wake up from this one as well.

How would you describe the 'real' you?

Long before my two NDEs in the past six years, I’ve experienced many different states of being that are not the experience of this body person named Michael. As we let go of the layers of energy-thought patterns making up our ego, we experience different states of our beingness. In my book I attempted to describe a little of how I experienced the coming back together, or formation, of the ego as I re-entered this physical state. Yet, that allness where there is no ego can’t be described or explained. It truly is beyond words, beyond any thought. When I was “there” there was no “there” to be. There wasn’t even an “I.”

Between here and “that” there are myriad realms. I’ve experienced a few of them. Some are very much like here on earth except less dense and more vivid where people are like people and there’s even houses and cars. The only difference is that some people float or teleport more easily there and things like that. Some realms are much more celestial. There’s truly heavenly music that permeate the whole realm and everything is just varying energies and colors. The purer the thoughts, feelings and actions that you produce, the finer and more beautiful the environment you live in. Your thoughts are actually more alive than your body. And, contrary to popular belief, it’s a whole lot easier to die than it is to come back here. They don’t call what your mother went through to get you here “labor” for nothing!

When did you discern that the soul or an energy body is in charge (and not the physical body)?

It’s been a few lifetimes. Many people I think will be surprised to discover how much they already know as souls while they are out of their bodies. It’s that when they return into their body consciousness, much of that gets lost in translation.

There’s a point in soul development where we make a commitment to live the life of an immortal soul in the physical body and world. It’s what Jesus’ “transfiguration” experience was partly a demonstration of.

Often, the pull of the energies that make up our physical body and this world is so great that we tend to forget that we are more than these bodies and the thoughts and feelings we seem to have in them. But, in each life, we have many opportunities to remember. Throughout the earlier years of this incarnation, I had experiences of looking down at my physical body from above as spirit, yet, I didn’t have the vocabulary to call it anything and no one with whom to talk about such experiences. So, they tend to stay in the background more.

I remember I progressively gave up my spiritual awareness from about 5 years old on each time I felt that I couldn’t get into communication with others where and how I was. I kept inadvertently down-grading my vibration and awareness until magically one day people started to talk to me. But, within a few years after the initial excitement wore off, I realized that they weren’t talking to me after all. They were talking to the me that I had to become so that someone would talk to me. It’s truly a case of shooting your own foot when you decide to become someone or somehow else in order to have communication. If you’re not you, no one can communicate with you anyway - you won’t be there to receive it - or give it.

How has your perspective evolved as the result of new levels of connection to spirit?

It keeps getting simpler. I realized I had to make myself more and more complicated to be understood by others when I was a child. Now, I’m making myself simpler and simpler. Spirit is utterly simple. But, simple isn’t stupid. Have you ever noticed in art and music and martial arts, when the practitioners begin to master their craft, their paintings, songs, and movements become simpler and simpler?

What makes us simpler?

We hold on to less and less. The whole journey we call life is but learning to forgive all trespasses. When Janis Joplin sang, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose...” she didn’t know quite the truth of what she was singing. (Today, she’s reincarnated and knows much more about forgiving herself, however.) But, when we keep losing what we’ve held on to - what we’ve loved and believed we had to possess in order to keep them - we eventually come to a place where we’ve got nothing left to lose. Then, we realize that freedom was always ours - that we’ve never lost anything. Forgiveness comes naturally as a consequence of realizing that nothing real can ever be taken away or destroyed. Do we continue to cry over spilled milk or do we just go milk another cow? (Or, better yet, go for an ice cream cone!)

How have your dreams changed since your NDE?

I don’t seem to dream a whole lot. My wife is more the dreamer. My younger son, Nick, often dreams epics. I have a friend who nightly dreams entire movies complete with musical score with lyrics! And, many of them even are prophetic.

But, I only dream occasionally. I’m probably too busy teaching my astral classes and making my healing rounds every night to dream. Also, much of the out-of-body “time” I spend while sleeping is on the mental and spiritual realms that don’t have the same kind of “dreaming” as on a more personality level. It’s more thought, geometrical progressions and light. I tend to dream more when something on a more personal level is troubling me. I haven’t notice any marked difference in dreaming since my NDEs - but, I have noticed that my relationship with spirit is much more grounded and part of this body’s consciousness much more. In a way, I get to have more of my relationships and communication with spirit here in the body than having to go “out” in the spirit realms.

Please discuss the power ofcommunication from spirit and physical world. How does intention differ?

Intention is one of the most important aspects of a soul’s growth process. Your intention as a soul defines the course of your progress. We also need to check the consequences and results of our thoughts, words, energy and actions against the North Star of our soul intentions. Are we making the correct choices and expressing them in a way that fulfills what we intended? For example, on a practical daily application, if our soul intention is to be truthful so that we could have better relationships, but our blunt “honesty” is offending or chasing away the person with whom we are having a relationship, we need to realize that our intention is still correct, but that we may need to change how we express our truth.

Also, as we become more aware, we begin to realize our thoughts and inner feelings are not private at all. They affect everyone and everything especially around us. So, the unaware person thinks to himself that as long as he doesn’t yell at and hit his children or pets, he isn’t abusing them. Yet, if he is angry and wanting to wring their head off, they are definitely going to experience the effects of those violent thoughts and feelings, even if he is smiling on the outside and saying nice things.

What is it that tells you when you trust in the "right" thing?

It is the real you, or spirit. The closer you are to your true self, the more easily you will know what is the “right” answer or choice. It isn’t in the answer or choice or “right thing” that you need to trust. Rather, you need to trust in yourself.

For example, as parents, we often want so much to be able to trust our children to do the “right” things. We want to trust that they will be safe or not make stupid decisions or act out in dangerous ways. If we believe that they are the ones who must become trustworthy in order to allay our fears, we will try to impose our responsibilities upon them to fulfill. If, however, we realize that it is our lack of trust in ourselves that is driving us to try to “make them” responsible and trustworthy, we will examine what it is that we don’t trust in ourselves or why we don’t.

The basic one as parents in relationship to our children is easy: We’re scared to death that we’re going to lose them. We’re afraid that we aren’t good enough and that they’re going to suffer because we don’t do something right. We need to ask ourselves the very hard question: Am I going to be able to manage if my child dies (gets seriously injured, etc.)? It’s a question none of us ever want to even consider. But, if we are going to be able to trust ourselves, we have to look at it deeply.

In any area of our lives that we are terrified to examine and discover for ourselves if we would be willing to live with or through it, we’re going to have a hard time trusting in ourselves. And, if we can’t trust ourselves, we’re going to expect and demand that someone else be perfect for us so that we could put our trust in them and feel safe.

If you put trust in anything that is changeable, it will definitely betray your trust sooner or later. The only thing that will never betray your trust is that which is forever, never-changing, limitless, ever-present. And, that, is within each of us. Whenever we find that in our own self, we will be able to trust that in another - regardless of what the other does.

How did writing, 'You Are the Answer,' transform you?

That’s a good one! And boy did it transform me. It took me nine years from the beginning of when I wrote the first few paragraphs for “my first book” to completing my manuscript for publication. I actually wrote three whole books. The third one is what turned out to be You Are The Answer. The first manuscript had 495 pages! The first publisher/editor I had said it was three books in one - at least. The second book was completely different and it had two books in it still. I finally got it on the third full attempt. Just that whole process of writing a book was transformative. Then, came the publishing of it - another whole story in and of itself.

I don’t know if I can describe exactly how the whole process transformed me. The first manuscript was very much autobiographical - and, now, I know why I had to do that first before I could write You Are The Answer. I had to get myself out of the way of the book without removing myself out of it. And, to get myself out of the way, I had to excavate many areas of my life that I didn’t particularly care to revisit. After all, don’t we all have better things to do with our time? Ha, Ha!

Having written the book, I feel I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for life, for myself, for everyone in my life. I learned that it is truly a team effort to write and publish a book - and, by expanding that - to do anything, to live one’s life. I got to realize more deeply why I’ve always loved the sense of community. Because we are - we all are.

What do you hope readers take away from this book?

First and foremost, I’d like the book to inspire people to seek deeper within themselves for their own truth, their own ever-lasting beautiful and brilliant light. Second, I hope that reading the book, even just holding it, will give the reader an experience of profound healing. That connection to that which always is. Third, I would like to see people embark upon a whole new and wonderful adventure into what is just the tip of the iceberg of possibilities in awareness, healing, fulfillment and how we could really live our lives. And, finally, I hope that each person can have for him or herself a starter spiritual toolkit to get onto that new life.

Describe how you met James Van Praagh, why he wrote your forward, and why you're listed as a spiritual teacher on his site.

You can read about James’ experience of how he came to meet me in his foreword to my book. It’s a great story. A very brief version of my side of the same story of our initial meeting is this:

In the early 90’s, I was giving private reading/healing sessions in the Los Angeles area about every other month for a couple of weeks each time at a hotel there. My wife, Raphaelle, would schedule the sessions ahead of time and people would show up at their appointed times at my door and knock. I saw that the next client was named James Van Praagh, but at the time I didn’t know who he was or anything. But, as soon as I opened the door and saw him, I felt like I was seeing an old friend - which we are from way back. I immediately liked him, his brightness and enthusiasm. His aura was very bright and seemed to dance.

It was interesting because unlike many clients, James didn’t offer any information about himself. It was a different experience for me because the only people that I read before him who didn’t offer much communication about themselves or what they were interested in me reading and healing were the occasional few who were quite closed or so much in pain that they couldn’t communicate much. But, here was this wide open, very friendly and loving person who didn’t tell me much about anything. Of course, I later realized that this is the way he read others! As one whose work at the time was to give people undeniable evidence of life after death, James instructed those he read not to disclose any information about themselves. Otherwise, if they did, what he told them could be questioned as not really coming from spirit. Since that’s neither my expertise or purpose, I didn’t do that. I liked to have the person I was reading give me the starting point as far as why they came to get a reading and what they were interested in me covering and so forth so I didn’t have to spend the time getting to that point. If evidence of spirit or the afterlife or even of psychic abilities was what someone wanted, I would send them to others who did that sort of thing. Why go to a baker if you want your carpet cleaned? Ha, Ha!

Anyway, I could tell that James was giving me his utmost respect doing what he was doing. So, I just started from the beginning and went forward. We immediately hit it off and had a wonderful time throughout the whole session. It’s nice when someone can laugh with you about pretty much anything - especially things that most people are generally afraid to even talk about, much less do anything about. I think we both knew quickly that our soul relationship went back many lifetimes.

We’re both so busy these days that we don’t get to see each other too often, but whenever we do, it’s like no time has past since the last time. Sometimes it gets hilarious - when I lived in Colorado, near Denver, James called me on my cell phone to see if we could get together for dinner. I was in LA trying to call him to ask him the same question! That happened a few times in various places. Then, one time Raphaelle, my wife, and I were driving into San Francisco to give a weekend presentation and all of a sudden, she said, “You should call James now.” So, I did and discovered that he was staying at the hotel across the street from ours to give a presentation that weekend. We were able to get together for breakfast after we finished our respective events.

As to why he wrote the foreword to my book is that he’s a wonderful friend who has lovingly and enthusiastically supported our work ever since we first met. I have seen him graciously help in many ways those he felt were tremendously benefitting people spiritually and other ways. He shares his fame in ways that support and enhance many people’s lives.

Why he listed me on his site as a spiritual teacher is because basically that’s what I am. I teach people spiritually. Also, I retired from giving private sessions several years ago so that I could fully devote my time and energies to teaching more people through our seminars, audio products, writing/publishing, and media projects.

What are basic qualities of spirit that people can begin to grasp and apply?

Spirit is. That means that there is no beginning, no ending to that which is. Without beginning or ending, there is no change. So, spirit is never-changing, ever-lasting. Which also means everywhere present. Spirit is undivided. The minute we divide ourselves against anything, anyone or against any aspect of ourselves, we go away from our experience of spirit.

Spirit actually cannot be grasped. That which tries to grasp is the mind. That expression, “I can’t wrap my mind around that” is a great expression because it describes exactly what mind does to make something out of nothing. The mind is the builder. So, when we are “trying to wrap our minds around something” we’re making spirit into something, some concept or image that we could hold with our mind. Yet, to experience spirit, we need to let go of the grasping and the holding onto to the images and empty and still our mind. When we’re busy trying to “get it” we miss the allness that is spirit.

Notice when you are truly relaxed, you become a lot more loving and giving. Because when you are relaxed, you are giving yourself space to BE. It is intrinsic to that which is all and has all to give. That which has everything and is everything doesn’t need anything and doesn’t take anything. It only gives. So, whenever we come from a space of givingness in anything we do, we enter into the stream of that all-givingness that is life.

From your view, what is reality? How can a person learn to shift awareness of their own reality more consistently?

My answer to the first question is the same as above (#11). To become more aware of what is truly real, practice discerning that which is from that which appears to be. That which appears to be, which is all things perceived through our senses, is not real. True reality is permanent, unchanging. Everything else is fabricated in the mind. Anything made up in the mind can be changed. When we identify with the ever-changing instead of the never-changing, we experience fear every time that with which we strongly identify changes. We experience that change as “loss” and “death”.

Anything else you would like to add?

Thank you for this opportunity to communicate. May the light of Divinity illuminate your every step along your wondrous path to your true being. With much gratitude, love and laughter.

Check out: http://www.michaeltamura.com/

Jason Canter & Interview on Indigo & soul journeys

As part of my own multi-dimensional soul journey, I come to know Jason Canter. He offers insight into incarnation and formless experience as well as physical form. Exhanging dialogue reminds one that consciousness can manipulate physical matter. I appreciate shamanic synchronicity.

What are your soul origins?

Indigo Child ,Walk-in , Old Soul. Indigo properties are that I was born in 1972 , I have many different shades of indigo in my aura, blue eyes that have been reported by others to grow an even deeper /darker shade of blue when I speak about matters related to “spirit” or share related experiences.

Please explain your sense of "walk-ins" and reasons you resonate with 'old soul.'

Walk-in properties include an exchange of souls occurring more than one time in the same physical body or the ability of more than one soul to occupy the same body by mutual agreement. Old Soul properties are pretty self explanatory, The overwhelming feeling that I have been to certain geographical places or how to do things without formal training knowing that I had never been to those places or had any training in those skills in this incarnation. Others have recognized this in my "soul signature " as well.

When did you first grow aware of an ability to sense earthly time and space are illusions?

When I was very young, possibly as early as 3. I remember “knowing” and telling my parents they would have visitors long before their arrival. I would tell babysitters things about themselves that I couldn’t possibly know and even how the day and our time together was going to progress (what I was going to watch on television, have for lunch, etc) This phenomena has occurred on many occasions growing up and in my adult life.

How did this revelation shape your inner purpose?

I always considered my ability to see, feel ,and hear spirit to be unique. Even though I now know that everyone can develop these abilities. I have always felt that I was chosen to do these things with little or no effort. It has also caused me to feel a heightened sense of responsibility to seek out the intended recipients and pass on the messages that I receive or perceive in my “mind’s eye”.

Why did you choose to hide from what you saw within?

Emotional anguish. When others did not heed my advice due to lack of understanding, I nurtured fear, ignorance and absorbed false teachings. I understand the “law” of free will. I expressed that often during readings. Because I was the one given the vision (s) about probably outcomes or turn of events, when I see negative results I internalize that sadness or frustration.

What alters your sensibilities and self-acceptance?

My acceptance of self has altered my sensibilities. I have progr essed ,and realized that I did my “job” in passing on the messages that came to me/through me. I cannot be held nor hold myself responsible for the actions or inactions of others based upon what I perceived.

How do you know what to do with what you are given? 

It depends on how many times I “see” the situation , whether in my sleeping dreams or my lucid (wide awake/conscious) dreams. If I see situations unfold in dreams I have while sleeping and when I am awake am unable to “shake” the feelings held, I know that more attention is required and will often try to go back in to the dream and see the rest of what unfolds.

What have you learned from accepting energy flow?

I have learned that persistence pays off. I have learned not to be discouraged if at first no action is taken .It’s also a matter of presentation. Obviously the more detailed the reading , the better the results. What does not kill you brings you to a place that has potential to remind you what you are made of.

As you emerge from nothing, how do you view the mirror of your soul?

This is a tough one. People have been sent to their imprisonment and sometimes their demise based upon my testimony and urging of individuals, government and law enforcement to take a proactive stance in an effort to prevent repeat tragedies and needless loss of human lives. This weighs heavily on my conscience and I suspect has gone to a soul level. I know in my heart that I did the right thing with the tools I was given.

What are you doing to alter consciousness?

I continue to learn and incorporate new techniques in an effort to activate DNA strands, raise the vibration level and consciousness of myself and those with whom I come in contact. I teach others what I have learned based upon personal experiences. I strive to be like those examples in history (Jesus, Mother Theresa, Buddha) who are said to have raised the consciousness of others just by their very presence. Finally, empowering others by arming them with truth, encouraging them to find their own truths .

How do you use dream experience to expand awareness and open the mind to new levels of energy and learning?

I use dream experience as a powerful tool to co-create for myself and to help others to co-create. The dreaming body is where anything is possible because of the separation of the conscious and subconscious mind . We do not have the conscious mind telling us that what we are seeing, feeling , hearing isn’t possible based on logic and rational thinking. I have used it to connect with loved ones on the other side to gain closure about situations and seek guidance. Perhaps after consciously pre-programming that experience.

What do you recall about some of your past life lessons?

These examples are more educated guesses. The most powerful message I get when I “ask” about this is not to stop doing what I am doing (spiritual work) just because other people don’t accept or understand it. One example that I resonate with is a native mystical movement introduced by a Paiute shaman, Wovoka called the “Ghost Dance”.  In short, many warriors were killed for their following of Wovoka and their refusal to stop ghost dancing . The other example that I see would be of my early European ancestors being tried for witchcraft even though they were most likely just using their innate abilities to forecast.

Who do you foresee yourself becoming?

I see myself returning to the person that I was before, the enlightened one that served this world and his “tribe” (the whole of humanity) to the best of his abilities in an effort to pleasethe creator by honoring the agreements or contracts that I made before coming in to this incarnation.

Any additional things you would like to share?

I would just like to encourage others to reach within themselves to find their soul’s sole purpose on this planet. If they are in un satisfactory relationships with themselves or surroundings, I would encourage them to seek out the answers to remedy the disharmony. With the invent of the internet and a variety of books , DVD, etc. there are plenty of resources and teachers out th ere to help us to redefine and rediscover our paths. Remember we are a tiny piece of the “divine source ” that makes up this world. We need you to be here now help us to co-create that peaceful and harmonious place (heaven) that we have seen in our dreams.

Readers here are grateful for your contribution to this inter-dimensional dialogue.  Visitors who wish to connect with Jason can find him on myspace.

Thank you, Liara for the opportunity to share with you and your readers. It has been a pleasure.