The awakening many of us are experiencing around the world is, in some respects as different from ordinary life as ordinary life is from dreaming.

When healing energy started flowing through me and started having positive effects on myself and others I began putting a lot of time into spiritual study and practice. I would sometimes meditate for hours at a stretch. At other times I would get absorbed in doing qigong practices for extended periods. Even though I was entering a new relationship with the world around me, there were aspects of it that felt quite ordinary, and then I would be treated to another aspect of the world that I’d never been aware of before. Two of these, in particular, come to mind.

A couple of times I heard what I describe as ‘heavenly chimes’. They’re musical tones that I’d say were celestial. There were no physical chimes anywhere near me and yet these tones were quite definite and captured my attention fully. They didn’t last long, less than a minute, but they were beautiful indeed. Later I would learn that others experienced them as well and they were called music of the spheres. 

Another phenomenon I experienced about that same time frame was picking up on the scent of what I call celestial fragrances. The one I remember most is a delicate aroma of camellia blossoms, or similar. Camellia blossoms have an aroma somewhat like a delicate version of magnolia. At first, I thought I caught I whiff of magnolia blossom, but it was the middle of winter and there weren’t any magnolia or camellia around. This didn’t last long, but It happened several times and I mentioned it to someone I was comfortable sharing these new experiences with.   

For whatever reason, I instinctively knew that I should not try to hold on to or try to cause these phenomena to happen. Just appreciate them as they happen and let them go. I thought about the poppies in the movie The Wizard of Oz and thought I could get distracted and lose my direction if I paid too much attention to these things. As wonderful as they are, they are sensations you may find on the path, but not the destination.

My life wasn’t all camellia blossoms and music of the spheres. Life was exceedingly harsh at times. However, I do appreciate the blessings and gifts I found along the way.

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Healing work is ancient and can be a powerful adjunct to modern methods and vice-versa. I see all healing work as something to be done on the way towards awakening. It’s not an end in itself. I tend to agree with those who say life is for the evolution of the soul. Understanding can get fuzzy regarding definitions of words like soul, but we try to understand anyway. 

When I was little, my siblings taught me my heart was on the left side of my chest and my soul was on the right side. For whatever reason, that made sense to us, it was logical and balanced, and we went with it. Later in life, the soul was not so well located, and I don’t recall it ever being well defined. As kids, we surmised the soul was like one of those sheer curtains on some of our windows.

Heaven and hell were two sides of a coin in a world of duality; the best of the best and the worst of the worst. However, there are other ways of looking at things. Non-duality is quite different, and it’s weird to talk about, and I can’t imagine anyone understanding it if they haven’t experienced it first-hand. It’s another level of the game of life where things are different, except it’s not things that have changed, it’s the way you see and experience things. Your awareness expands to encompass all of duality and you become one with it, and it becomes non-dual. As I said, it’s weird to talk about it. The shift to non-duality won’t be televised.

When you reach the center of Consciousness, which may be the soul, you find a complete stillness, a deep well of Silence. It is not power since there is nothing for it to be a power to, or over: It just IS.

There’s no duality there. No division, no this vs. that, no dominate & subjugate, no one masquerading as superior or inferior to, or better than or worse than; no identification with thoughts, ideas, or things.

I’ve enjoyed exploring energy work and helping others, but it’s not the end of the road. Deepening my awareness of that stillness that all change occurs within calls to me. I don’t suppose that’s the end of the road either. It’s just where I’d like to explore further.

~ S