8 Messages about permission

Nothing appears or disappears from our life without our permission. Yet, this is easily overlooked.  How often do you find yourself in situations where; a) you must decide to give or deny your permission, b) you feel hurt, betrayed or compromised as someone acted without asking your permission or c) you encounter situations where multiple levels of permission (or approval) are required? This is an opportunity to delve deeper into what is really going on with the recurrent theme.  Ponder 8 messages about permission; 

1.  Everything that comes or goes is for your highest good 

2.  Nothing leaves your life unless the related lesson is learned

3.  Issues only arise as you cling to unworthiness 

4.  Sometimes persmission issues are what someone else needs to go through 

5.  Denying your permission is an effort to control

6.  The need to obtain approval invites letting go

7.   Being detached from results shifts situations without force

8.  Efforts to recreate the past prevents accepting and doing your best in present

Affirmations

a) I give myself permission to love myself unconditionally as I am

b) Nobody can hurt, trigger or intimidate me without my consent

c) I am a growing, evolving being

d) How much I give or deny self love is reflected back (love more & things accelerate)

e) No impediments/ obstacles exist except in thought (mind)

 "Scarcity of self value cannot be remedied by money, recognition, affection, attention or influence."-Gary Zukav

"With each inhalation of your breath, allow yourself to go deep within the inner aspects of your soul.  With each exhalation, give yourself permission to release cloudy, limiting thoughts, stifled emotions and stagnant energy." - James Van Praagh

"Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." - Rumi

10 Tips to ground yourself

It is tempting to feel lost and confused with so many changes unfolding within the body and in the external world.  Every moment you reach out for guidance and advice from others, you are inviting your own perception to expand to detect love in new forms. Reflect on these 10 tips to ground yourself in this process:

1. We exist in the physical body to experience Soul tests.

2.  If we knew all the answers to tests we go through before, lessons would not be meaningful.

3.  We go through stages of forgetting in order to know what the joy of remembering feels like.

4. Time is the means by which the ego creates to reflect, feel or intuit its way through lessons.

5. The more you understand about time, how it is created and used, the better you understand, your physical experience and ultimaltely master and mindfully direct energy.  

6. The more you elevate your perspective, move outward and upward from the self-centre, the easier and more obvious it is to see a wider (cosmic) view of wherever you are.

7.  When we grasp we humans exist for spiritual growth,  we shift away from being ego-driven to focus more on being love-oriented.

8.  The more your actions are grounded in love, the more you are living an authentic (soul) life.

9. Every moment you are receptive, you deepen understanding of the cosmic game and expand consciousness. 

10. The more you invite (create) like-minded kindered spirits into your life, who also desire to live authentically, the more you strengthen a deep sense of love and appreciation and grow aware of conditioned blind spots and allow them to dissolve. 

Connect to what is of value

Connecting to what is of true value is always in reach.  You may ask how to do this.  When you are open, teachers enter your scope to guide you to recognize the obstacle is the Path. Ultimately, its up to you to take steps to let go of what prevents you from feeling what it is to be valuable. Ponder these 5 tips to orient your focal point of attention:

1.  Expand consciousness

Each person is on a unique journey to grow more consciously present to that which is of value.  The ego has its own ideas of external examples of value.  Expanding consciousness is about shifting to focus on what value feels like to the soul. This may be very different from what the ego has you believe is valuable.

2. Know everything is part of a system of value exchange

Whether it be money, time, the tangible or intangible,  all things are part of a system of give and take.  When you are capable of polar thinking, you come to see polar opposites go together. You cannot give without taking, cannot take without giving. Reality is energetically balanced, even if your filters do not register this. It is conscious echange that makes all the difference.  Figure and background go together. They are not mutually-exclusive.   All events have a witness. If you truly wish to see the value of exchange, when a person asks you a question about the sacred, answer in secular terms. If you are asked of the eternal, answer in terms of the temporal.  When asked about the abstract, answer in concrete terms. Knowing this allows you to move forward consciously, accepting innate value and creating value in all you do.

3.  Be at peace with yourself

Being at peace with yourself is about recognizing and detaching from attachments and aversions to money and all perceived forms of value, wealth, prosperity and exchange.  Regaining a conscious connection to yourself results in massive breakthroughs, moving into your desinty with greater purpose, conscious intent, and feeling into what this process is really about.  

4.  Be the Worldbridger

You are the bridge between the material and non-material worlds.  You must give yourself the gift of conscious presence before listening to and hearing true Self, tuning in to what is actually of value to the Soul.

5. Meditate

Truth is a state of meditation consciousness.  Trust arises in awareness as one  takes the role of observer and views how you simultaneously participate in human life.  It hits that mediation is the avenue though which you access deeper intuition, grow aware of how to transcend apparent obstacles, activate, materialize and realize rather than what Gurdjieff calls, In Search of Being. Isira Sananda reminds us we are each our own Awakening Place.  She echoes, "Why worry about what you should be when you can simply be what you are."

Interview with Jaan Sanaam (Jerabek)

Jaan Sanaam (Jerabek) is Founder of Global Transformative Education, large breathwork training and therapy organization in the southern hemisphere.  Based north of Sydney, Australia, he is Director of The Depression Solution, trainer of breathwork-orientated psychotherapists, and a new generation of therapists who value pioneering approaches to therapy.

His unique approach to Advanced Breathwork Therapy led him to become one of the most sought after and successful teachers who has even led programs on route to Antarctica.  He runs regular retreats and programs. He and his graduates tailor services to small groups.

Its fascinating how the universe works. About a year ago, my husband attended a packed Business Success Systems breakfast in Melbourne and Jaan was the speaker. Hence, a pamphlet about this wellness guru and his group retreats reached me.  Intuitively, I researched into his programs, watched Youtube videos and discovered we have some mutual colleagues. I attended one of his retreats, connected with some of his past students, and experienced the power of breathwork directly.

This said, as the result of training under the supervision of Jaan and senior students, turns out there is more to this man than meets the eye.  Thus, I am pleased to invite him to engage in an interview here.

Thank you Jaan, for reserving time in your busy life to share glimpses of your personal journey. 

Please tell people about your origin? How did you end up Down Under?

I was born in Czechoslovakia.  At age 6, I immigrated with my parents to Australia. My parents wanted my brother and I to have greater opportunities, and by god, did we ever.

Share some of the milestones that you lead you to create who you are right now.

My journey started at the age of 14. I came across a book about how ‘Ninjas’ attained their powers they are known for, and that was through meditation. Like any teenager, living in their dream world, I was determined to access these powers, so I started meditating daily for an hour. My atheist parents understandably found this a bit strange, but, let me go on with my dream of ‘attaining powers’, humouring their young child’s ‘fantasy world’. By the age of 15, after researching the ‘Yogi’s’ way of meditation and their level of mystical abilities and states they experienced, I upped my meditation to 2-3 hours a day.

That sounds like a very dedicated practice early on. I sense this invites readers to step back and view events in their own lives from a very different place. Would you say this is soul-driven?

I did not know it at the time, but I was well into the ‘full swing’ of my destiny. As much as I know I am writing this now, feeling the keys beneath my fingertips, I know on a ‘Soul Level’ I set my life up, so I could ‘get onto the tracks of my destiny’ – My sadhana – final Yogic stage where daily meditation, chants, purifications etc finish off the final stage…. Which has many stages itself.

And your sense of sadhana, what role does it play on the spiritual path?

Sadhana does not mean any one specific activity.  Rather, sadhana means using everything as a tool for well-being.  There is a lot to it.

So then, its not simply traditional meditation practices per se.  It is the insight we gain into ourselves through this process. 

Yes. sadhana is about how we eat, sit, stand, conduct the body, mind, sense energies and emotions, as well as the how we breathe.

Ah-ha! Tell us about breathwork.  This feels like a huge part of your calling.  What is it exactly?More than basic pranayama? Which life experiences guided you to get into breathwork? 

Going back a bit, At the age of 17, I had my first ‘Re-birthing Breathwork’ session. It was a turning point. I quickly experienced ‘Re-birthing Breathwork’ (RBW).  The emotional & psychological side is like using a hammer and chisel to break-through an emotional block – as if the emotional block was a huge cube of concrete. Cathartic Breathwork, however, invented and refined by me, is like taking a sledgehammer or sledgehammer to it 4 – 6 blows and the ‘Block’ – cement cube – breaks and crumbles.

How did developing this unique approach to breathwork change your life?

By age 20, I was a qualified Breathwork Facilitator, began seeing clients on a professional basis and facilitating workshops on personal and spiritual growth. At 21, I had a vision to bring Re-birthing Style Breathwork into mainstream healing. I was the founder and initial driving force of the body that has grown into the Australian Breathwork Association. This body is dedicated to raising the profile of Breathwork so it may claim its rightful perception as a valid, effective healing and psychotherapeutic technique.

Love that inner changes are reflected as external changes. Many people are noticing restlessness within themselves and shifts accelerating in the world around them. What you say about your journey with Breathwork reminds me of Arthur Schopenhauer who says, "All truth passes through three stages; First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." It reminds us to act when it feels right, and to hang in there and trust.

Now, on your site, you offer a free cathartic breathwork ebook.  Why is it a useful introduction?

It offers only a glimpse and invites you to explore further. That’s why I focus in hosting my 7-day residentials.  This involves 7 days of advanced Cathartic Breathwork Techniques plus a handful of other psych-therapeutic therapies I feel are 'the best of the best.'  If you are willing, using my techniques guarantee your transformation. Over 12 years of teaching them shows that my techniques work. 

The mystical aspect of breathwork and your early interest in ninja techniques reminds me of the mentor of Doctor Strange from the recent popular marvel comics movie. The protagonist relates that he was once a brilliant but ego-driven surgeon. After a car accident severely damages his hands and hinders his ability to perform surgery, he searches the globe for ways to repair them and encounters the Ancient One. After becoming one of the old Sorcerer Supreme's pupils, he follows his detiny as practitioner of both the mystical and martial arts. He also discovers what is involved in Mastering Time. This sparks one's curiosity about your teachings.

Yet for now, let's shift to focus on breathwork which is both technical and mystical. Who discovered, created key techniques in the West?

‘Holotropic Breathwork’ was discovered in Czech by a Doctor of Psychiatry in 1950’S – Stanislav Grof. ALSO, it was re-discovered at roughly the same time by Leonard Orr – An American spiritual explorer. What are the chances of this occurring?

Only synchronicity exists, when one is ready to see. The world must be ready for this phenomenon that presents as one of many ways to expand consciousness.

Exactly! This beautiful & precious jewel we call planet Earth, has paid for it collective Karma enough, to finally be given a tool that makes enlighten-ment, not to mention healing anxiety, depression, seemingly ‘no-way-out’ relationship blocks, and a whole range of inner issues - especially the ‘SELF WORTH’ ISSUE – which virtually no-one escapes from childhood with intact.

Karma, or the Law of cause and effect, is a huge, open-ended matter.  The healing potential of open-ended consciousness is also a significant development and tool for self-healing. 

Life experience and pioneering work has led you to be viewed as an authority on consciousness and evolution. For those unfamilliar with your work, please expand. What do you really do?

I teach about kundalini awakening. Did you know the real ‘Awakening of the Kundalini includes 3 very distinct stages? Each stage requiring a total different approach and and set of techniques for each of those stages. (yes, there are as many symptoms of the kundalini awakening as there are people on planet earth.) How do I know all this? First-hand experience.

You are a man who wears many hats; therapist, teacher, director, workshop facilitator and others. Who are you really?

I am Sanaam – Sanskrit for ‘Body of Bliss. Otherwise know as Ananda. Swami Muktananda, Nityananda, Sanannda etc. Sanaam is another word for the matrix of Bliss we have our cells arranged on and we access in love, child-parent love, universal Love etc; I am just not worthy – established 100% of the time in Ananda – Then I have a right to call myself ‘Sanaam’ and my name, which already is to a certain degree an access to Shakti Energy – To Heaven It-self, will within 10 years approx… become a mantra itself, so much shakti will be charged into it.

It is said we grow into our names; they evolve with us and us with them. What is in this name?

Jaan Sanaam Jerabek - My name has evolved and continues to evolve during the moment of my energetic evolution, I was born Ja'n Honzik Jerabek.  At school, John Jerabek out of a desperate desire to be accepted. Ja'n become John Jarabek. Changing the name felt temporarily normal. Changed back to Ja'n at 22 as it was truly me (at that stage). I stopped being insecure about my name.  At that point, I had no idea Jaan meant 'love & life' in Hindi.

Age 28 my Maha Guru - the real deal - put me into heaven bliss by pure divine will power - a state that surpasses orgasm, love you feel for someone, ant type pf experience of beauty...

One day I was initiated and realize I was 'Anananda' - the bliss behind everything..., I had experiences of giving prole experiences of Bliss till that point, but they were far and few between, it was not at my conscious control. I was the biss that reality is built upon, I creamed this whilst running after my maha guru....Her response...; Excellent'', You've done it, but I need you to establish yourself in that bliss, live, sleep, eat and have your being in it. Since your 1st name is Love & Life, I will give you a diifferent
version of Amnanda -You are Sanaam - The Body Of bliss -  Love, the Body of Bliss, and one day you will experience yourself as the bliss behind everything in existance, simultaneously, That's when you can
call yourself a real Guru, an embodiment of bliss and people just by repeating your name 'Sanaam' will enter the'Kingdom of heaven'. What you have worked so hard for over 26.27 years has just been your
university, your training Ground - Your Sadhanna. You cannot even fathom what awaits for you.

Would you say then, you offer unique insight into enlightenment? Many people seek this path.

The real nature of enlightenment is- Gradual. It is not arriving at a place, like all life, like all energy, it is a process. Having a ‘God Experience’ or ‘Momentary Enlightenment Experience’ is where things go wrong, People mistake this for enlightenment when it is simply an ’glimpse’ of enlightenment. How do I know this? in my late teens I decided to join my individual mind with the universal mind, spark with the great flame –The result I gain access to truths you will never read about unless from someone whom has done the same

How to you use direct insight as a teaching tool to empower others to transform their lives? 

THE TECHNIQUES I USE ACCELERATE EVOLUTION. I run a ‘Spiritual Bootcamp’ for Disciples, where healing depression, anxiety and inner conflict also a natural by-product of releasing the baggage that hinders true enlightenment.

It would be helpful to offer a testimonial:

Recently, a partner in a law firm said – ‘’I feel this year with you Jaan has enabled me to by-pass 10 -20 years of butting my head against the wall with my psychologist and other ‘therapists’’’.  

I am not wanting to blow my own horn, (well, maybe a little ), but my system works. It is the ‘Most Powerful Personal Development & Therapy Program available in Australia today. THIS WORKS! AND IT WORKS RELATIVELY FAST.

In addition, I am also happy to speak with anyone about my own-life changing experiences as the result of this Cathartic Breathwork training.

How long have you been teaching? After all, longevity makes a statement about staying power.

I have refined it over the last 20 years to take it out of a ‘close your eyes, and make an intention – a mental level regression occurs, usually very ‘Hit and Miss‘. You will most likely people told ‘what a great session, you cried, had an insight etc’’, But what about each and everytime’hitting’ the root cause of what you want to transform in your life, in a very precision, laser type surgery depending on your issue, depends what leading edge ‘psycho-therapeutic’ tool, is called for. IT IS NOT THE OLD, EVERYONE LAY DOWN, BREATHE, HALF OF YOU FALL ASLEEP AND SOME OF YOU CRY OR SCREAM INTO A TOWEL or HIT a PILLOW…. The dark, early days of Breathwork. It is now a ‘laser precision guided technique’ – to get at the core of your issues.                              

How do you envision your approach to breathwork evolving in the public eye?                  

Watch 20 years or so…we’ll have it on Medicare (I am the founder of what is now ‘The Australian Breathwork Association’ – a body to educate the public, constructed ethical guidelines and boundaries, access indemnity insurance).  Now, 20 years later, we do not yet have access to Medicare and private health funds. It will happen soon.  What is being ‘prescribed initially -Psychologists who have done little on no work on themselves get their knowledge from ‘other people, ‘case studies in textbooks’ COMBINED with drugs that are unhealthier than Cocaine & Heroin combined (at least they come directly from natural plant ‘alkaloid’). The pharmaceuticals (Greek for ‘mixing of poisons’) are often ineffective and, in my experience, usually makes matters worse.  Breathwork is the Future of Therapy. It is here to be used by all who are ready for it.

Who are greatest inspirations or mentors? How do they shape your life purpose and sense of being here? 

Leonard Orr and teachers on higher planes guiding me though the experience of my destiny.

What is the Anxiety-Depression Solution? How did this brainchild come to be? How do you envision that project evolving? Is there any connection between this program, breathwork retreats and your other projects?

I go into detail by answering questions on my website. Invite readers here to check it out.

Many people are experiencing noticeable changes in their lives and events appear to happen faster.  What kind of advice can you offer them?

Explore Breathwork – easy – It is the long lost ‘Siamese Twin’ of meditation.  What do I mean by this, 3 things:

1)      IT ‘IS’ the Future of Therapy. The collective takes a long time to catch up. IT IS A FACT. Did you know CBT - Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – the main ‘so called therapy’, used by ‘Psychologists’ (who spend the 1^st 5 years of full time Uni studying statistics and then if they want to specialize in treating people they get taught CBT in the 6^th year), CBT was ‘invented’ in the 1960’s!! Imagine using the same surgery technique Doctors used in the1960’s now on people!?! What would result be? Our Organization – The largest Breathwork Training & Therapy Organization in the Southern Hemisphere –  get to speak to many people on the ‘front line’ of ‘mental illness’. I constantly hear reports along these lines…’’I have had 40 sessions with my psychologist and I still think negative thoughts and feel depressed and that’s even though I am also on 2 different ‘Anti-Depressants’’ – This was a call I had only yesterday. So, think of seeing a Psychologist for your depression or anxiety? Think hard. As ‘Well meaning’ as they are, unless they have the up to date tools/ and or have done years or decades of their own ‘inner work/ serious therapy, you are in for a long and frustrated (in most cases, fruitless I HATE to say) journey. 

2)      Breathwork, CATHARTIC Breathwork (CBW)I call it these days as I specialize in using it to release even womb and birth trauma, let alone early childhood * dysfunctional parenting trauma – works from the 1^st session onwards. You do not need to practise it or even believe in it, it just works automatically on everyone. It is actually something I recommend and get you to sign a disclaimer you will not be using it at home. Dangerous unless super-vised by a trained & experienced facilitator.

3)      Why, do I call it the ‘Long Lost Siamese Twin’ of Meditation. Easy, anybody can shut themselves of in their room and close their eyes and after a chunk of practise they can experience ‘Transcendence’. Rise above their issues, enter into the higher chakras – Crown and beyond and have a bit of quiet…but then they leave the room, interact with their partner, parents, boss, siblings etc and BANG! The same triggers are there. They lose their ‘peace and go back into their ‘normal’ state. Usually at the mercy of their triggers.

Does breathwork allow transcendence? In other words, is it a stepping stone to enlightenment?  

Breathwork does not enable you to ‘Temporarily Transcend’ It allows you to ‘Permanently Transform’. You see the root of ALL Your uncontrolled thinking, your monkey mind has at its core a trauma that has not been resolved/ integrated. that’s why you worry about the future, ruminate about the past, not allowed to live in the present Now, in the moment, where God Lives. Cathartic Breathwork enables the root of the automatic thinking patterns to be released permanently – the end result – a life in a permanent state of peace, what the Yogis call ‘Living in Meditation’. I used to be such a thing-a-holic I would at times not even sleep my mind went around and around, no…it’s as if a had a lobotomy. And how did this look like? The Kundalini awakening.  

Do  many of your students compare the experience of breathwork to lucid dreaming?

Many people ask me about lucid dreaming, projecting your 3^rd eye, listening great distances, Experiences of God/ Enlightened states, clearing the chakras, Experiencing the bliss, Love & joy we really are, Best Meditation techniques to achieve all of these and more….

Take Lucid Dreaming, becoming aware on the lower Astral plane to be more scientific and accurate about it. You see. If you want to learn ‘Lucid Dreaming’ instantly tells me, your energy bodies are at a certain level of vibration, where you are not becoming ‘conscious’ / ‘aware’ on the astral plane. It means you have a low vibration filled Etheric body (Your Emotional Body) so the bridge in your consciousness between your physical brain and astral body is clogged up with emotion – The Etheric Body. A.k.the emotional Body, needs to be cleared for Lucid Dreaming Nightly & ‘OBE’ – out of Body experiences. Now you could set months aside and form new channels, around the clogged ones that are already there. You program your mind, telling yourself each night ‘’ As soon as I start to dream I will ‘wake up’/ become conscious. You cut meat and other dense animal and chemical foods out of your diet to help things, eat nuts, use special oils and music - but this is not enough.

What is absolutely necessary to allow enlightenment to happen?

THE answer to all this is always the same. The kundalini awakening which has many stages to it, has to occur if you wish for any permanent affecting ‘Enlightened states’. The ‘Awakening of your Kundalini’ does not occur once and then that it, is open.

It is a matter of repetitious practise of a discipline, until the Kundalini starts to ‘Stir’ and starts to let you experience your powers automatically. 

Can you give readers a sneak peak of what they are in for, from your perspective?

I will give you a shortcut as a gift and enable you to experience where.

To speed things up, you need start to learn the art of transferring your consciousness to your astral body by imaging a double of yourself on the astral/ in a luminous darkness (astral comes from the Latin word for ‘starry darkness’ which the lower to higher astral plain looks like) and keep imagining using the arms, legs, torso of this ‘astral double you imagine’. See through its eyes, use its appendages etc With enough practise you eventually build a bridge between your physical brain and your astral level of awareness and eventually, your nightly programming –‘’as soon as I start to dream I will become conscious’’ and daily intention – you really have to want/ desire this strongly, so re-enforce this desire during the day hours, for months at least putting any goal or practice aside and eventually you will get your reward.

You see, we can all develop any power with enough training.  Yet, as you awaken the Kundalini, all the powers come to you one by one…for good. The Yogis called the people who spent months and years training themselves to acquire a power, as the misfortunate ones who were caught by the ‘trap’ – the acquisition of powers. Unfortunate, because they could have spent those months and years working on their ‘Sadhana’ – their final enlightenment process, after which, if they attained, they were given ALL the powers anyway. Permanently. Even into the next lifetime. For the psychic powers you develop individually, in the manner I just described, are a skill, there are not integrated into your soul level consciousness and you are born next life without the power to 90% of the degree. You do not get to ‘carry over’ your ‘learned skill’ into the next life time. This applies to all ‘learned ‘psychic abilities.’

Music is often a sought after tool for inspiration. It is widely assumed music or specific vibratins can induce meditative states and to promote lucid/ astral travel.  What is your feeling about this?

No music. It anchors you into material place. Music is cheating. I could put moving and emotional music to make you open up ur heart and cry. Cheating, I am here to help you master your breath. Not an emotional dj. Music has zero to do with lucid dreams and obe’s. Cheating otherwise. That is if beats and music helped failitate lucid dream. It can effect a true yoga nodes meditation but most fall asleep before 1 hour is up. No short cuts.

If you could offer readers some life changing advice, what would it be?

Listen to your heart. Do what other people fear to do. You, yourself are the knowledge. Only you can access it, but first, you have to discover how to feel and get out of your own way.

Thanks Jaan, for sharing this insight and inviting readers of this blog to discover the wisdom that awaits them through exploring options in Global Transformative Education. For more information on his programs, 7-Day Advanced Life Transformation Intensive and other retreats, the Depression Anxiety Clinic explore his website and contact him directly.

Interview with Dr. Eben Alexander

I am delighted to share this dialogue with Dr. Eben Alexander. Ever since I read his initial book, Proof of Heaven, I felt deeply touched by what he so eloquently presents as a view of reality beyond what many consciously see as their own.

Having myself had more than one Near-Death Experience (NDE) in this lifetime, conversing with Dr. Alexander enables me to gain new insight into NDEs, the brain, Science, and Spirituality.  Exploring these topics here helps me to better understand, accept and integrate more of myself, and even begin to touch on what human existence is really about.  

Thank you Dr. Alexander. I feel privileged that you create time in your busy life for this interview, not only for me, but for the world that now has access to it.

As an experienced neurosurgeon and traditionally-trained scientist, you have earned the respect of the medical establishment and patients through years of medical practice. Your books Proof of Heaven, Map of Heaven, and most recently, Living in a Mindful Universe, are all inviting readers to question their sense of reality, especially popular Western views of life and death. How has writing your books affected your sense of heaven, purpose of fulfillment in this lifetime?

Following my NDE, and hearing about those of others, my view of what is real has changed profoundly. The lessons that continue to unfold provide the content of my books. My experience and its interpretation have offered insights into a far more robust worldview, in which consciousness is fundamental in the universe and generates all of emerging physical reality, and in which human beings have far more potential than conventional science acknowledges in manifesting their free will over unfolding reality. I have come to believe that part of my mission is to share this information with others. We are all eternal souls, loved deeply by God/Source, and this physical life is but one small aspect of consciousness and one of many opportunities for our souls to grow. This knowledge alone has given many people hope and solace in the midst of grief when losing loved ones from this lifetime. And for others, it has opened up new ways of thinking about the world they live in and their broader soul’s purpose.

Like the film Avatar by James Cameron invited an audience of over 1 billion to rethink how they see themselves and the world,  Ready Player One , a new Steven Spielberg film, is to invite a wide audience to realize each human has complete control of the virtual universe it creates. The protagonists in the four new Avatar films in production, also enter new worlds to escape, only to discover something much bigger than themselves. As you share in your books, the protagonists in these films awaken, see with new eyes. Their focus, or reason for living, changes.

After emerging back in this world from your coma, you cite feeling ‘shaken up,’ Similar to Jill Bolte Taylor who had a unique Stroke of Insight, you share key points of reference had lost meaning. How did an NDE alter your sense of being human? What does it feel like to shift and integrate consciousness into our collective ‘human’ notion of reality?

While I was having my NDE during the time in coma, I had no recollection of who I was in this lifetime – I did not reflect on being a man named Eben, a physician, a father, or even a human being per se. I simply was a being that was led on a journey of observing many things. I had no reference of religion to influence my interpretation of what was going on around me. In a sense, my brain (and prior human prejudices) was off-line so I could experience the full spectrum of consciousness. Later, as I returned to my body and my day-to-day existence here, I felt shaken up, trying to integrate the broader knowledge I now have with what I slowly remembered as my human life circumstances.

At first I could not speak or recognize loved ones at my bedside. I knew I had to “come back” for my youngest son, Bond (although I did not remember him as “my son,” only as a deeply entangled soul for whom I had connection and responsibility), and as I would later realize, to share my story with millions of people who have expressed a resonance with it, or who found hope and comfort from learning about my journey. Within two months I had regained all my previous knowledge including that gleaned from almost three decades spent in academic neurosurgery. I had difficulty sleeping, but I used the extra awake time to write down all that I could recall from the experience, and later to study the voluminous literature supporting a much broader vision of consciousness, quantum physics and the nature of human spirit. I now have a new life partner, nine plus years after my NDE. I am closer to my sons and have become better acquainted with my birth family.

Although I hear about other NDE experiences, your sharing here touches me in new ways. As it happens, I stopped breathing at birth and had other NDEs after accidents for reasons I did not consciously understand until recently through Breathwork. In my denial of life, I did not really know what it truly felt like to live. I did not wish to face what I could not change. Much like yourself, I also knew I was meant to 'come back' and am in process of living my destiny. Love how on Gaia, you teach about accessing spiritual realms , invite people to re-view deeper meaning in life experiences.

In this light, you share that surviving a rare form of brain meningitis and coma altered how you value illness, pain medication and injury. Tell us about that. What sorts of lessons can we all take away from perceived adversity?

Whether through illness, injury or trauma of another sort, these events are challenges in our lives. They are often the result of our soul’s planning or our soul group’s joint planning prior to incarnation. Their purpose is to give our individual and collective soul experiences from which to grow, strengthen relationships, learn about love and compassion for others, or how to give and receive. The lessons can be many, and we may not learn everything the first time, so we sometimes experience a challenge recurring in another form, to apply the wisdom gained thus far and go deeper in our learning, teaching and understanding on a particular subject.

Among the lessons and gifts received, I felt much gratitude and joy. The feeling of being loved completely, without judgment or conditions, is very healing on all levels – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual.

Indeed. Your story is, as Time Magazine states, forcing Science to see the Afterlife differently. It is a friendly reminder that more than one kind of intelligence and way of understanding the reality exists. Every experience we create invites us to review what we think we know. Its worth noting you offer a recommended reading list to expand on the basis of your experience. I really resonate with stories of transplant recipients who develop new affinities based on consciousness transferred in their newly transplanted organs.

We have a unique and beautiful opportunity to grow here, in the density of the physical realm. We should treasure each moment, as we learn much about love that reflects the immense love of pure consciousness. Each time we are on “the other side” it is not forever, but for a period of time between incarnations or journeys that invigorate and educate our souls.

Your response resonates deeply.  Human beings are so often taught to focus on the external world, to take their bodies, mobility, current use of their minds, training or skills for granted, unless/until something happens that prevents doing what is habitual.  Losing what we think is important can trigger a new appreciation, deeper understanding of who we are and why we exist. Part of being human involves the experience of duality, comparing thoughts so the mind can have a reference for ideas. Yet, as you point out, we are far more than thought, multi-dimensional beings, in truth.  We can be wounded without conscious awareness and blind to aspects that only reveal themselves as our perception expands.

Now that you have tasted what it is like to see worlds from expanded consciousness, what, in your view, is the biggest issue for this physical world? 

 Lack of acknowledging and embracing our spiritual nature, thinking that the physical is all that exists and our lives are birth to death and nothing more – these are among the greatest travesties most challenging our modern cultural understanding.

Spiritual nature is gaining increasing attention in the Western world which itself is founded on material and physical principles. Please offer related evidence and an example to clarify your point. 

The most common and profound evidence that the materialist world view is wrong consists of the profound nature of “placebo effect” in medicine, yet we continue to educate medical and nursing students from the disproven “physicalist” position – it is high time to face reality, and utilize a world view that fully incorporates “mind-over-matter.” We may not be able to test things in a laboratory exactly the way one might test a chemical reaction, but the preponderance of evidence from NDEs, after-death communications (ADCs), mediumistic communications, past-life memories in children indicative of reincarnation and similar human experiences, reviewed under specific protocols, provide the evidence not only of the soul surviving physical death, but of its return through multiple incarnations. Consciousness demands a far grander world view than our conventional physicalist one – our new book, Living in a Mindful Universe, portrays this evolving world view in a more complete fashion than prior works trying to unite science and spirituality.

Love the views and examples you offer in this new book. It draws attention to the fact that everything is energy first.  Conditioned perception can distort that. Nothing happens except in the mind, including illusion of separation. This said, what is the solution to the biggest issue you see?

As radical as it may sound, Love is fundamental to the solution. Compassion for one another on a very deep level can bring all kinds of change for the good. In addition, although I cannot put it into words, I was astounded by the science at work in the universe that I could observe during my NDE. There truly is convergence of science and spirituality, although humans have not been able to explain it yet in earthly terms. But we can come closer, as more souls become actively engaged and enlightened in working together for solutions.

Swami Vivekananda said, "Spirituality is the science of the soul." Emerging scientific research and increasingly common experience like NDEs, reveal what appear to be separate disciplines are connected yet often misunderstood. 

As a womb twin survivor (WTS), familiar myself with OBEs and worlds beyond the physical, I have always been connected to expanded consciousness you cite awareness of as the result of your illness. I have long been surrounded by physicians in my family, close relations and colleagues, who see and experience the world very differently. Issues can arise in relating to people who do not see or accept the existence of different realities.

In light of all that has happened to you, what enables you to feel most alive and grounded in this world, continuing in your scientific role, knowing what you know about expanded reality? 

Well, for one thing, I know what my training taught me and how rooted in materialist science I was. So, I understand colleagues who are cautious when listening to my story. It does sound incredible when viewed from that strict mindset. As a scientist, I feel it is incumbent on me to more deeply examine the research around NDEs and other spiritually transformative experiences in order to convey to my physician and scientific colleagues in particular ways to expand awareness and consider consciousness from a far wider perspective.

What has changed and what remains the same?

I no longer see patients, but have a deeper understanding of the healing power within all of us. My role as a “healer” is far greater than I imagined before, but every step in my life was necessary to serve the role I now serve. Now I encourage people to become more involved in their physical and emotional healing through the daily practice of meditation, heart-centering and personal empowerment. Personally, I try to spend at least one hour each day reconnecting to the spiritual realm and the guides I encountered there through a practice of meditation using the sounds of Sacred Acoustics. This keeps me grounded in the reality of knowing myself as an eternal spiritual being. But the real gift of near-death and related experiences applies very directly to how we live our lives in these incarnations – this grander perspective (including the notion of reincarnation and living multiple lives here on earth) is crucial in allowing us to live our lives to the highest purpose and meaning we came here to experience.

It is valuable to hear you echo that healing power inside ourselves is often underestimated.  One view echoes humans are cosmic instruments that are in or out of tune. Western approaches to healing are not all evolving at the same pace.   As you say in your blog, we have cause for great hope in this world. We only experience what we are ready and willing to accept, individually and collectively.

In reality, we are all connected through the binding force of love at a spiritual level -- there is no separation.

In your books and public talks, you highlight the view that Science and Spirituality must come together for the world to move forward. What are you witnessing about the illusion of separation in Religion? 

Religions often focus on the differences between their varying dogmatic beliefs.  This takes us away from the “oneness and primacy of mind” that was so clear to many founding fathers of quantum physics (Max Planck, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, etc.).

How is quantum physics closing the perceived gap with spirituality?

The leading edges of studies on the nature of consciousness, especially in light of ever-refined experimental evidence in quantum physics indicating the absence of an objective physical reality independent of the observing mind, not only support the reality of our spiritual nature as fundamental – they demand it. Our true free will is the gift of this emergent synthesis.

You and individuals like Canadian Wilder Penfield who redrew the map of the brain, determine memories are not stored in the brain. During The Ottawa International Writer’s Festival, October 21, 2017, you speak about The Mindful Universe and say “the brain is a reducing valve. The main role of the brain is to limit, inhibit and restrict conscious awareness. This has survival value.” How is the role and usefulness of this ‘reducing value’ changing?

The conventional neuroscience I was taught in medical school in the late 1970’s was based in physicalism (the notion that only physical “stuff” exists), and assumed that consciousness was the epiphenomenon of the chemical reactions and ion fluxes in the brain. One obvious implication is that our sense of free will is completely illusory – if our very consciousness is just the illusion of awareness resulting from those physical interactions in the substance of the brain, where might one inject any form of “free will”? Modern consciousness studies provide far more robust explanation of all variety of human experience through “filter theory,” which was first discussed by luminaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – William James, Henri Bergson, FCS Schiller, and Aldous Huxley, to name a few. This reducing valve of the brain is necessary so that we may perceive and comprehend the world around us in an orderly fashion.

As it happens, as an undergraduate McGill student, I volunteered at the Montreal Neurological Hospital where Dr. Penfield spent his career. I also participated in a brain experiment there which involved being injected with radioactive isotopes. My brain activity was tracked and studied through Magnetic Resonance Imaging and other techniques. How do you feel about what  is not traceable by current scientific instruments? What does this reveal about consciousness?

Becoming more aware of our expanded consciousness beyond the brain provides the opportunity to know ourselves on a grander level and to feel the sense of our collective connection.

Monks and other experienced meditators have had brainwaves studied during meditation. Varied scientific results are documented. The widespread view is that most humans are not using full brain capacity. Popular views assume ‘enlightenment’ involves using 100% brain capacity. Hence many people work harder, in efforts to activate greater brain capacity, striving toward enlightenment. Another view is using no brain power reflects enlightenment. What is your view?

Given that the brain and physical reality emerge from consciousness itself, and that mental function is not produced by the brain but filtered through it, it is irrelevant to discuss what percentage of brain we are using to support mind. Experiments using fMRI and magnetoencephalography in patients under the influence of psychotropic substances (e.g. psilocybin, DMT (ayuhuasca), LSD, etc) reveal that the most vivid experiences correspond to less active junctional regions in the brain (especially what is known as the “default mode network”). The state of creative flow, for example, when we are fully engrossed in an activity and lose awareness of time, is correlated with decreased brain function in the frontal lobes’ executive center. It seems that getting the brain out of the way allows us to access more of the spiritual realms, and of Collective Mind.

This view is shared by Om Swami in his book,  Kundalini-An Untold Story, as well as insights shared by Gopi Krishna and other yogis who convey directly the nature of enlightenment. 

Your work provides great insight that empowers millions of people who are on a quest for a deeper connection with the divine. Your books attest to the existence of a universal dimension characterized by peace, acceptance and unconditional love that is accessible to all of us. What role, in your view, does the human brain have in connecting humanity with God?

The brain is simply the filter that allows expression of the mind, and of primordial consciousness. I see the source of that human (and all sentient being) consciousness as the ultimate source of all that is – the God-force so universally found amidst accounts of NDEs and related spiritually-transformative experiences (STEs), that infinitely healing power of unconditional love. In a very real sense, our human consciousness is connected directly with God – we expand our awareness of it through a practice of going within.

You make it sound so simple. Funny, the Western world often teaches things are complicated.  From your view, what can each of us do to connect more deeply to the universal mind?

Begin and continue a practice of daily meditation. Learn to recognize and distinguish between the neutral observer within and the constant mind chatter consisting of our thoughts (including the voice of our ego). Release emotional trauma, which might be blocking us from reaching an expanded state of awareness. Open the mind, and trust that the loving force of the universe will provide all that you need to come to a deeper understanding. There are many methods to choose from and each of us is unique.

That echoes Paramahansa Yogananda who says meditation is the act of becoming one with the Soul. It means seeing we are more than the body and its perceived limitations. Meditation thus points to existence of God. What can people access to help them get beyond limits of the mind? 

For those who have not yet established a regular practice, and especially those who feel the chattering “monkey mind” voice in their head is forever blocking their ability to go deep within, I strongly recommend the powerful meditative tools of Sacred Acoustics.

Agree whole-heartedly about the power of sound. Such meditation triggers shifts in perception. Many meditation techniques exist. What specific meditation would you suggest that would enable people to be more present?  Which parts of the brain do you feel influence growing awareness? 

The recordings of Sacred Acoustics who create brainwave entrainment audio are created using a proprietary blend of monaural and binaural beats combined with harmonic principles. I have worked closely with Sacred Acoustics to develop and test many of their audio products.  Due to what I believe is a profound effect of the lower brain stem, I find them most effective in quieting the mind and reaching expanded states of awareness. Beginners find them very useful and experienced meditators often report going deeper than before. They offer a free download of a 20-min meditation called “Om”. Highly recommend tuning in to this.

What you express here reinforces how spending time immersing in nature is essential to listening to our own inner music. As singer Grace Vanderwaal echos, we must close our mobile phones  (and put other external technology aside) to listen and hear what is so often overlooked.  Breathing deeply along this crazy ride of life helps us realize there is so much more than this.

What kinds of exercises can we do to better get to know the inner self?

The 33-Day Journey into the Heart of Consciousness is our free on-line companion course to the book Living in a Mindful Universe. Each day for 33 days, we offer a bite-sized nugget of a concept from the book and a related practice that can be applied in daily life. These are derived from material in the book and are techniques or practices that my co-author, Karen Newell, and I have found quite valuable.

More broadly, I recommend a frequent (e.g. daily) practice of “going within,” that is of centering prayer or meditation that successfully labels the “voice in our head” or our linguistic brain (also largely the voice of the ego) as merely “our annoying roommate,” allowing a broadening of our sense of conscious awareness connecting with higher soul and providing a bridge to the Collective Mind. This greatly expanded awareness allows a refreshing and even revolutionary perspective.

Imagine you dine with 5 people you have not yet met (from past/present/future). Who would they be and what would you like to ask them?

Each would be asked the Big Questions of the fundamental nature of reality, the binding force of Love, and of the meaning and purpose of our existence:

Jesus Christ –

Albert Einstein –

David Bohm –

C.S. Lewis –

Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha) –

Absolutely love your choices! I would be delighted to join this group encounter and at some point, hear the nature of what is discussed.  Imagine asking fictional characters to ask to dinner too. The topics we wish to ask those we admire tell us a lot about ourselves.  For now, if you could share an insight, revelation or advice for our readers to take away, what would it be?

All of the answers lie within. Dedicate the time to meditate each day, because the very reason for the existence of your soul and this precious lifetime are to become more of who you truly are. The way to achieve that is by aligning more to your spiritual nature.

Please share anything else you feel would benefit our readers.

Each and every soul plays a crucial role in the evolution of consciousness. We are absolutely responsible for all of the choices in our lives. Given the justice and balance that is inherent in the universe, we are wise to realize we will reap what we sow, and living the golden rule, or treating others as we would like to be treated, is essential in providing the smoothest route possible to enlightenment.

Dr. Alexander, again, I truly appreciate your presence during this timely conversation as I know our readers do also. When people speak, audiences can listen with interest or curiousity, and sometiems with the intent to reply.  Yet, communicating as you do so openly right now, on this timeline, sharing insight, invites each of us to listen more closely to ourselves. I invite our readers to read your books, attend events and take steps to deepen understanding of the mind.

In order to share our gifts and be heard in this world, we must hear ourselves clearly first. As the great Confucius echoes, "I hear. I know. I see. I remember. I do, I understand."

Short Bio

Eben Alexander, M.D., was an academic neurosurgeon for over 25 years, including 15 years at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School in Boston. He has a passionate interest in physics and cosmology. He is a New York Times Best-selling author, speaker and event facilitator. Visit his website to explore information about his books, consciousness as well as details of his current events.