naysayers, a bit quick to dismiss something out of hand. And yes, some critics have valid points. But all of the modalities in this book have been demonstrated to be effective—over and over and to my satisfaction—as having the potential to help you leap ahead on your spiritual journey. For my clients and workshop participants, the proof is in the pudding. They would tell you, almost to the number, that they are very different, happier, more spiritually awakened people for having tried these approaches. More than a few would tell you their very lives have been saved.
So obviously, spiritual sweat and tears are not, part and parcel, a prerequisite for spiritual awakenings. According to a 1997 poll commissioned by U.S. News and World Report, an estimated fifteen million people have had near death experiences.2 (We have no figures for how many did downward dog daily as a way to “earn” these experiences.) An estimated forty percent of Americans3 believe they have had direct contact with loved ones who have passed. But even these transformative moments can be seen simply as “the grace of God,” a gift. Perhaps they are. But the danger in this thinking is that we simply have to wait around, a-hopin’ and a-wishin’ that the Divine will make a little time for us. It seems to resign us to a God who is somewhat fickle and who sometimes bestows grace and sometimes doesn’t.
Could it be that the convergence of these techniques are, in fact, a reflection of God’s grace? Dr. Helen Shucman, the “scribe” of A Course in Miracles, was given information by her own Inner Teacher, a voice that she described as Jesus. The Voice suggested that the world situation was devolving at a dizzying pace (imagine that!) and that a kind of “celestial speed-up,” an acceleration in global consciousness, was called for. In fact, according to the Course, “the miracle is a learning device that lessens the need for time. It establishes an out-of-pattern time interval not under the usual laws of time.” These same miracles, sudden shifts of personal clarity from fearful thoughts and bodily identification to loving ones, filled with the recognition of our Unity with the Divine, had the ability to abolish the need for certain intervals of time “within the larger temporal sequence.” In other words, one way to think about these miraculous quickenings is that we can literally leap ahead in time, thanks to an intense, but relatively brief instant in which we download an entire piece of cosmic jigsaw puzzle and understand the bigger spiritual picture. Interestingly, the work of Edgar Cayce and the Course, among other “special agents” were seen as a part of this speed-up.
“Though the way may seem long,” Cayce observed, “a moment in the presence of thine Savior is worth years in the tents of the wicked,” (Edgar Cayce reading 705-1) (an important concept to remember, not only as you engage your spiritual journey, but also the next time you go camping.
I am asking you to consider with an open mind that there might be specific pathways, modalities, and technologies that allow us to move toward these quickenings more directly, without years of spiritual practice. And yes, maybe a sincere willingness to engage in these new approaches is the faith as big as a mustard seed, that yields these beatific, life-changing experiences. I have seen countless clients and workshop participants without backgrounds in metaphysics or spiritual practice have transformative spiritual experiences using these modalities. These gifts from God are yours for the opening. We might call them intentional quickenings.
And for Christ’s sake, keep doing your yoga or Om Sweet Om, if that works for you. Let’s get beyond an “either/or” dichotomy and embrace an “also/and” approach.
Imagine for a moment, that the next step on your spiritual journey is an old dead tree you have to cut down. If you want to take on the task with a nail file, you can do that. It will take a lot of time, perspiration and, if you are like me, maybe a bit of profanity. When you are done with all the angst, you can be very proud of yourself—your sweaty shirt, bloody knuckles, and all the effort you put into it. But, if that’s not fast enough for you, get an ax and a good pair of leather gloves, and you can fell that sucker in a matter of minutes and save money on Band-Aids. Or, if you like, get a crosscut saw and a friend, and you can take it down even faster.
But I’m from Texas, y’all.
I’m gonna give you a chainsaw.
3
Binaural Beat Frequencies: Enlightenment on Demand
“Tones and sounds will be the channel through which the coordinating of forces for the body may make for the first of the perfect reactions . . .”
Edgar Cayce reading 758-38
Eckhart Tolle likes to tell the story of J. Krishnamurti, the Hindu philosopher who was instrumental, among others, in bringing metaphysical concepts to the Western world in the twentieth century. Reportedly, after an extensive tour of America, at one of his lectures, the enlightened teacher leaned forward conspiratorially towards the microphone and said, “Do you really want to know my secret?” A hush fell over the audience members. Here was the ultimate spiritual truth. Were they ready? Could they grasp it?
Krishnamurti said, “I don’t mind what happens.”
At first blush, that hardly sounds like a revelation, from the man who had a reputation as a “world teacher” and hobnobbed with physicist David Bohm and author Auldous Huxley. In fact, it sounds like someone who is apathetic. But Krishnamurti was hardly that. He was often truly at peace with whatever was happening around him.
Can you imagine what that would be like in your life? Your partner is angry with you, and you can keep your peace. You lose your job, and you can keep your peace. You win the lottery . . . and yes, you can keep your peace. You can even keep only about half the lottery money after taxes, and after hearing that . . . you can still keep your peace. Sound like some kind of esoteric Eastern skill? What about the Serenity Prayer that asks God for “the serenity to accept the things that we cannot change,” as prayed by millions in the Western tradition known as the Twelve Steps?
But usually, we are anything but serene in the face of things we cannot change. We furiously demand that life and world affairs be different. Our friends and families are expected to become what we “need” them to be. We even attack ourselves: We are not skinny enough, not smart enough, not responsible enough, not spiritual enough, and then we condemn ourselves for being too hard on ourselves!
Our righteous judgments not only interfere with our peace, they often separate us from the people we would want to love most. We are angry that our children or grandchildren have purple hair, got a tattoo, or worse, listen to Justin Bieber. We are angry that our spouses dare to notice someone of the opposite sex. We are angry that our friends did not remember our birthdays. So, we proceed to shut them out of our lives and then wonder why we feel so hurt and alone.
So much of the time, we see peace as something that is dictated by circumstances beyond ourselves. I will feel peaceful when I get out of high school; when I finish college; when I get married; when I get divorced; when I get remarried; when I have children of my own . . . no, wait a minute, make that when the kids move out, oops, they’re already gone; I mean, when I see the grandkids again . . . and on and on it goes.
The Bible talks about “the peace that passeth all understanding.” To me that speaks of two aspects of the quality of this peace. First, that peace is so intense or so deep that it transcends our normal sense of peace. It is beyond the everyday two-margaritas-and-it’s-all-good experience. Second, that particular sense of peace is apparently beyond rationality. By definition, it doesn’t make sense. What do I mean by that? Well, given that we believe
