Talk of the end of the world in 2012 has been going on for a number of years now. And if anyone hadn’t heard of this Mayan prophecy, they most certainly do now with the release of the movie 2012. That movie depicts a common idea regarding what will happen in December of that year. Talk about a disaster movie, and one in which only a small percentage of the human race survives. But I’d like to share a couple of other ideas that I’ve come across regarding the 2012 prophecy that aren’t as devastating, yet could be just as world shattering!

The reason that this doomsday topic is called the Mayan prophecy is that the Mayan calender’s 5,125-year-long cycle ends in December 2012. Many interpret this to mean that the Mayan’s knew that the world would no longer exist past that point.

Terence McKenna’s View

The late Terence McKenna came up with the concept he called Time Wave Zero. It is based on I-Ching number intervals which he then used to divide up human history. What he found was that there is a consistent ratio of time that correlates to periods of increased novelty – major events in mankind’s biological and cultural history. These periods shorten until the fluctuation of novelty stops, or diminishes to zero, around December 2012.

He came up when a fascinated idea that could account for the elimination of novelty – even time itself. What if, he proposed, people finally invented time travel? If that were to ever happen, it would result in a number of consequences that I had never heard before. For one thing, he McKenna suggests than in that moment the world would experience a mass visitation of time travelers from the future who would all be wanting to witness when time travel first occurred.

There would be no time travel prior to that point because it had not been invented yet. But after that point, with people going back and forth through time, no event would be set in stone. Whatever happens would be subject to change as people go back in time to change it. Literally, time would cease to exist, at least as far as we experience it today.

Would this be a shining moment in human history? It almost reminds me of that X-Files episode where the inventor of time travel goes back in time to kill his previous self to prevent himself from inventing time travel. Apparently time travel made everything boring and meaningless because there were no more surprises in life.

Paramahamsa Nithyananda’s View

Paramahamsa Nithyandanda has a huge following of devotees who consider him to be an enlightened master. He recently gave his view of the 2012 prophecy, but proclaimed that his words aren’t meant to be prophetic – they just describe what is.

So, what is the truth about 2012? Well, according to Nithyananda, an event will occur that will be considered a catastrophe for some, but a blessing for others.

On the physical plane, everything will lose a small amount of mass. This is supposed to have huge ramifications to the human experience. In a nutshell, all action will become more automatic and require less thought. Not “no thought”, just “less thought”.

For some, this will be an experience of bliss, as it will be easier to go about daily life in a state of samadhi. Samadhi is that spiritual state many spiritual practitioners spend years pursuing. But after 2012, it will be readily available – even for those who haven’t been pursuing it in earnest.

But this will be an experience of depression for those who need constant mental stimulation. Many people cannot relax their minds for one second, even though we all need to take breaks from constant thought every so often.

According to Nithyananda, there will be millions of enlightened people on the earth as a result. That might not be such a bad thing.

Plenty of Time to Contemplate

Fascinating ideas these. Maybe science fiction. Maybe spiritual wishful thinking. One thing is sure – we don’t have to wait long before seeing if any of these ideas are validated. Either way, the topic is sure to be heard more and more as the day draws near.

Here is a video of Terence McKenna explaining his views of Time WaveZero.

And here is a video of Paramhansa Nithyananda explaining the dual consequences of the event of December 2012.

If anyone is still interested in the Mayan prophecy, an eBook written by J. Michael Sayer claims to provide yet another explanation:

Learn how you can help turn what many believe to be the darkest period in history into the most enlightened. Could universal racial harmony really be achievable?

See 2012 Official Countdown to look into it further.

For centuries, the Mazatec Indians in Oaxaca, Mexico, have used the plant salvia divinorum in their shamanic rituals. Based on their history of use as well as other research that has demonstrated no toxic or addictive potential of the plant, I decided to explore for myself this entheogen’s mind-altering effects. The experience is nothing less than amazing, and it has caused me to question my assumptions of reality. In this post I will attempt to explain what the salvia divinorum breakthrough experience has been like for me. It is my hope that anyone reading this will come away with a better understanding and respect for the power of this sacred plant.

Many people casually refer to it as a hallucinogen, but that word does not adequately describe the true experience. Because it is considered a hallucinogen, many people right away feel they understand how salvia affects the mind. On the web you can find many descriptions of salvia experiences, but even those descriptions do not accurately convey what it’s like. Describing the actual experience is not easy, and many are not able to articulate for others exactly what was experienced. The ones that do describe it are only able to describe, to the best of their ability, what they see. But what they see is unique to each individual, so that kind of reporting isn’t very helpful as a preparatory aid.

The actual salvia experience goes much deeper, and there is actually much commonality in the more profound aspects of its effects.

How Salvia Divinorum Affects Reality – the Dream State

Experienced salvia users will often say “it is like a dream”. And that is a very useful way to help process experiences that you may have already had.

But just saying “it’s like a dream” doesn’t adequately prepare someone who has not yet embarked on this journey. The reason it that there are two key aspects of dreams that we take for granted and don’t really think about when we consider the dream state. Those aspects involve the change in our consciousness and the change in how we process sensory input.

When dreaming, most people are not aware that they are in a dream (unless they are lucid dreaming, which is a rare and fascinating subject in itself). It doesn’t matter how bizarre or unrealistic the dream is – you accept it without question. Going on a date with a strange woman even though in real life you are married? Working at a job that is a hybrid of several past jobs? Flying through the air as you demonstrate that human flight is possible? No problem. You rarely question these scenarios. It is reality as far as you are concerned, and there is no other reality.

So you have no recollection or awareness that, in another level of reality, you are really asleep in bed. And when you wake up, perhaps it takes a while to realize that it was only a dream. But it’s no big deal. This happens all the time and so you get out of bed and go about your day as if nothing strange has happened.

Now imagine being in this state except that you are not asleep. Far from it, you are wide awake. You go through the experience, through the “dream”, and you have no awareness of who you are other than the person in your dream. But in this case, you are not having a typical dream – you are under the influence of salvia divinorum.

This is where each person’s experience is different. One person believes he is a snowflake. Another thinks she is at a carnival. I once saw teletubbie-like creatures. The details can be interesting but the mind-blowing part is that all the experiences are accepted as reality!

And because you have no recollection of who you were or what you were doing moments earlier, the return to “normalcy” can be incredibly disturbing – if not outright frightening. This is the part that many people do not handle well. One’s entire concept of reality is challenged, perhaps even shattered. It can feel as if reality itself has betrayed you. Because of this, many people do not like this experience at all and vow never to use salvia again.

But how can you not know where you are? you might wonder. Can’t you just see your surroundings and snap out of it?

This brings me to the second vital aspect of the salvia divinorum experience.

Salvia Hijacks Your Surroundings

There is another dream phenomenon that we often take for granted and think nothing of.

Have you ever been in the middle of a dream when someone tried to wake you? Maybe they called your name, or gently shook you. Maybe there was some faint commotion going on outside, or a knock at the door. But instead of waking up, you incorporated the sounds or feelings into your dream. The knock at the door became a jack hammer demolishing a dream patio. Or the whispered name became a voice amongst a sea of people at a dream carnival.

Again, typically this is no big deal.

But now imagine what it would be like if this happens not only to what you hear or feel, but also to what you see! This is what salvia does. The information received by your eyes is interpreted in completely different ways, and usually in ways that harmonize with the “story” that is taking place within the salvia “dream”.

It reminds me of the optical illusions where your mind interprets the image in different ways.

For example, is this a rabbit or a duck?

And is this a young woman or an old hag?

It’s possible to interpret each image both ways. But imagine that in the “real” world, you only see the rabbit and the old hag. In the salvia world, however, you see the duck and the young woman – and only the duck and the young woman. This is what the salvia experience is like for me, where everything I see, hear, and feel, becomes part of another reality that is just as real and just as convincing as consensus reality.

Some might describe it as another reality overlayed over normal reality. And some have described it as another world that bleeds through into this world. But the most interesting description that I’ve heard – and which I can relate to my own salvia experiences – is that it’s as if salvia divinorum retunes your brain to another frequency, and that frequency allows you to perceive a different world. It opens up a different mode of perception that really doesn’t involve the normal senses. I can’t say that I “see” anything – I just “know” it exists and then my brain correlates it to some visual representation.

Salvia Should be Approached Seriously and with Respect

The intensity of the salvia experience depends on several factors, including your own sensitivity and the technique used in “ingesting” the plant.

Chewing the leaves as the Mazatec do provides a longer-lasting but more gentle experience. The effects last about an hour and I’ve found that I have more control over going into and out of the salvia dream. The same level could be achieved from smoking plain leaves. It is when you smoke the higher level extracts, such 10x or higher, that the likelihood of a full-blown “breakthrough” experience increases.

This plant truly is a tool for serious introspection and for exploring your own consciousness. It can help give a different perspective as to the nature of reality and our place in it.

It happened again! That irritating co-worker made a snide remark to you and then walked off. Or maybe your roommate left for the evening without cleaning up the mess he left after eating dinner – even though he promised to be more mindful of it. Or maybe you had an argument with your spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend. And so you stew over the offense and magnify the bad feelings by continually thinking of them over and over.

It doesn’t feel good. Nobody in their right mind ever wants to feel this way. And what makes it worse is that it affects how you deal with the other person, which further aggravates the situation and now you have a vicious circle. But believe it or not, it’s possible to change bad feelings into good feelings – and turn this into a fun spiritual practice! How?

Eckhart Tolle’s, in his books The Power of Now and The New Earth, describes techniques for dealing with negative feelings, primarily through accessing the “Now”, or present moment. It was while practicing these techniques that I discovered something quite remarkable – not only are they effective, but they also make it possible to transmute a negative emotional feeling into a positive physical one!

According to Mr. Tolle, every emotion is our body’s reaction to a thought. By continuing to dwell on a negative thought or memory, we perpetuate the bad emotion that accompanies it and the feeling never goes away. So instead of reliving the offense in your mind, take the opportunity to focus on the present moment. Take advantage of the situation for your benefit by using it to practice focusing on the inner stillness that is behind all thoughts and emotions.

It’s easier to begin practicing this with the little irritations and annoyances. You want to be able to stop letting the irritation continue to feed the negative emotion. It can be difficult because sometimes we seem to have a need to replay the experience over and over again. We can’t let go. That’s why it’s easier to start with small annoyances.

First, decide whether it’s a matter that needs to be addressed right then and there. You might decide that there is no point in taking any action, or it is really too late. If that’s the case, then it does no good to dwell on the offense. Instead, put all those thoughts aside as you focus on noticing the feeling within your body. This is the key. Most of the time the emotion is concentrated in a specific area of your body, such as your chest, stomach, or shoulders. Notice where the feeling is located. Notice what the feeling is like. Is it a tightness? A sharp pain? A racing feeling?

As you notice the feeling, take some slow, deep, breaths to relax. Don’t judge the feeling or try to fight it. Let it be. What is happening to the feeling as you observe it while taking slow, deep breaths? Almost immediately it should start to dissipate as you stop providing the emotional fuel.

This feeling has an energy to it. It’s real and the effect on your body is real. But then something remarkable happens. What I’ve noticed is that, devoid of the emotional baggage, devoid of the negative thoughts, the energy has a soothing vibrational quality to it that I actually find pleasurable. It’s almost like a soothing massage, and there have been times when it was similar to a post-meditative body buzz.

This has a couple of advantages. For one thing, it makes it easier to remain in that state until the energy completely dissipates and you’ve been able to allow the bad emotions to pass through you. Holding on to negative emotions stresses your body and contributes to aging. The other benefit is that it is a useful gauge as to how successful you are in focusing on the present. Being familiar with the present moment and what that feels like makes it easier to go there more and more often throughout your daily life.

And being present is crucial to being awake. It’s no surprise that good feelings are associated with the Now. Perhaps this just demonstrates the truthfulness of the teaching that it’s within the present moment where we find true bliss.

He is risen in our minds, our hearts, our souls – there is no separation between him and us. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Christianity is not the only spiritual tradition that finds meaning in Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And I’m not referring to the pre-Christian celebrations that form the basis of many practices observed today – from the fertility egg and rabbit to the rites of Spring. No, I’m referring to the beliefs of yogis past and present, one being the Paramahansa Yogananda, who brought yogic teachings as well as the practice of Kriya yoga to the west.

And he had a few things to say about Easter and its importance to humanity.

Paramahansa Yogananda took the Biblical account of the story of Jesus quite literally, but his interpretation was not what you’d hear in a church. To many students of eastern philosophies, Jesus was an advanced yogi whose life provided an example of what lies ahead for all of humanity. Through the Biblical account, we see the progression that must be followed in order to achieve true freedom and salvation from the trappings of a life of illusion.

In his book, The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You , Yogananda describes a complex process by which Jesus withdrew his soul from the three bodies – physical, astral, and causal – in order to achieve a permanent resurrection from death, karma, and illusion. The process even continued after the day of his resurrection, and explains why he told Mary, “do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father”. He still had residual karma that needed to be shed, such as the karmic debt incurred in his moment of forgetfulness while on the cross as he exclaimed “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Is this accurate? One thing that Yogananda says in his book is that so much of his understanding of Jesus’ resurrection process came through intuitive insight gained during his own meditations.

It is impossible with mere intellect to comprehend fully the intricacies of the astral and causal passageways to liberation and their correlation with the spiritual eye. They are gradually revealed to intuitive perception by the practice of Kriya Yoga.

I do believe that spiritual insight has to be experienced first hand. You cannot benefit from blindly believing in the say-so of someone else. And based on my own meditative experiences, I do know that it’s possible to gain insights into all sorts of matters through meditation. Unfortunately, I must admit that this is a practice I’ve neglected for a number of months now. Perhaps the possibility of understanding the awakening process can be another motivation for me to rekindle this practice.

We each have our own unique experiences and spiritual perspectives. That said, we can all gain something from considering Christ’s resurrection on Easter day. If it moves us to grow in our connection with the spirit, then that’s what really matters.

As you consider Christ’s resurrection this Easter, may you grow closer to the Spirit, in whatever form that takes.
May your faith in your salvation be strengthened.
May you be strengthened in the hope that all things will be renewed.
And may you consider your own awakening.

Amen

Peace

This age of high-tech has had the unfortunate effect of favoring and fostering the practice of diverted attention. Young people these days MySpace their friends while checking out what’s on YouTube while texting while keeping an eye on the television … and we see and even experience the same flurry in the workplace.

On the surface it might seem as if this results in honing multitasking skills, but recent studies have shown that this is not true multitasking. This type of activity has at least two drawbacks – it actually adds time to the tasks and it also creates additional stress.

Now scientists have learned another lesson on the value of focused attention – this time from Buddhist monks.

Multitasking is not the best approach

During a recent Science for monks training seminar, San Francisco Bay Area scientists used hands-on workshops to train Tibetan monks about scientific methods and experimentation. This is part of an ongoing effort inspired by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to train highly educated monks to also be leaders in science.

The scientists found the monks to be ideal students, primarily because they were “excellent single-taskers”, as one of the staff at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco put it. Even though the monks were not experienced with such hands-on learning, their skills in mindfulness enabled them to take to the activity with a focus that amazed the scientists. When faced with a novel situation, the monks were able to explore it without getting bored or without the need for a diversion, and in the process came up with some novel solutions to the engineering problems presented to them.

This is clearly evidence of the benefits of meditation and other spiritual exercises that involve focused attention. If you are able to focus for extended periods of time on a single task or problem then:

• You can come up with creative solutions.
• You gain a deeper and more complete understanding of the issue.

Self-improvement proponent Steve Pavlina believes that the best way to learn a new skill is to “condense your learning into a shorter period of time.” According to his experience, this is more effective than spreading out your study sporadically amongst other activities. While I don’t believe that following his approach 100% is practical for most people – it is incredibly unbalanced in my opinion – it does speak to the value of being able to stay focused on one task for an extended period of time. Or at least to try to spend as much time as possible on one task before switching to another. This flies in the face of the “multitasking” flurry that many of us find ourselves involved with in our daily lives. Is there much we can do about it?

Breaking the Habit

Most of what we do is a product of habit. Even if there is no need to switch our attention, if it has become a habit then we’ll find ourselves having to “take a break” from one task and spend a little time on another. Like any habit, though, it can be broken with a little effort. Every time we catch ourselves getting ready to switch attention unnecessarily, we can fight the urge and stick to the immediate task. Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it?

This is where meditation comes in. No, not while you’re working, but the benefit comes as a byproduct of a meditation practice. One way to think of meditation is as a way to exercise your attention muscle. As you focus on your breathing, or repeat a mantra, your mind naturally wanders but you repeatedly bring your attention back to your center. This cements a new habit that you can call upon to help you maintain your focus on specific activities outside of meditation.

Another byproduct of meditation that helps in this area is achieving the ability to live in the present moment. In that state you don’t worry about the future nor dwell on the past. Consequently you become more in touch with who you really are inside, without the trappings of ego, and so you become more secure with focusing on your current task without worrying about what’s around the corner. In fact, you learn to appreciate the beauty in the present and so have a reduced need to look to the future for fulfillment.

But all this comes with time. Some good books to read are Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
and A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. Other practices, such as yoga in its various forms, also facilitate this state and are worth exploring.

So don’t feel that if you’re not an enlightened monk then there’s no point in even thinking about trying to practice focused attention. Even the slightest shift away from habitual diverted attention can be beneficial. Any amount of additional uninterrupted time spent on a task can help by reducing the amount of time wasted in shifting gears. Once again, ancient wisdom has a thing or two to teach post-modern society.

Read the article Bay Area scientists teach and learn from Tibetan monks in India.

See also my post on meditation.