Welcome to Healing From Within. I am your host Sheryl Glick author of the newest book in a trilogy A New Life Awaits Spirit Guided Insights to Support Global Awakening which shares stories and messages from spirit to show us our challenges are not merely economic political or societal, but a disconnect from our true being or soul wisdom. Today we welcome Turiya, author of Unreasonable Joy Awakening through Trikaya Buddhism which shares the advanced Tantric teachings and puts them into an American form of Buddhism which can be incorporated in everyday life for maximum and effective ways to heal hope and love with greater intensity.
Turiya As listeners of Healing From Within are well aware my guests and I share intimate stories of discovering more about themselves where we come from who we are and how to merge the duality of life our physical and spiritual realities so we may learn to master our emotions and self-investigate to unveil the many talents and gifts we can share with the world. Learning intention and thoughts are powerful tools to create and we can refine our perceptions and live a more productive, positive and healthy life.
In today’s episode of Healing From Within Turiya will share with us how her failing health at the age of twenty eight and many issues creating what some call the night of the soul allowed her to embark on the adventure of the mind. She will share techniques for gaining control of your daily life activities in more gratifying and functional ways. Turiya shares her fascinating and inspirational journey and finding techniques for gaining control of time, life and mind by releasing the mental habits that create suffering.
When Turiya is asked to think back to childhood and remember a person place or event that may have signaled to them or others the lifestyle or interests they would embrace as an adult she immediately remembers an incidence in third grade where she had a problem with a girl and answered her question and seeing the surprise in the girls eyes realized the girl was not psychic or intuitive like her. Before that incident Turiya thought everyone was like her but that surely was not the case. Sheryl is amused and tells Turiya that when she was about the same age she called out an answer to a question and the teacher responded, “Sheryl how can you know the question when I didn’t ask it yet. Sheryl was clearly upset by her teacher being unhappy with her but did not put together the fact that she was always all her life, following the thoughts or good suggestions that came into her head but didn’t figure out it was coming from a higher Universal Source of intelligence and Spirit that was guiding her. She always followed most of the ideas and things usually worked out well for her. Sheryl didn’t begin her serious healing and mediumship work until 25 years ago. for it was later in her life that she put all the clues together and feelings that embedded in her heart and soul knowing definitively that each individual has a life plan or destiny that will guide them to live the life they chose long before embarking on life in this time and place.
Turiya tells us something about the time when her body failed her and rather than succumb to inaction and suffering chose to find ways to conquer the illness and fears of that time. It was at the age of twenty-eight Turiya’s body began to fail her and she became sick and disabled. She lost her lucrative career, many of her friends, and became wracked with constant pain. Instead of wallowing in her misfortune Turiya allowed her pain to take her on an adventure of the mind. Already a practicing Buddhist, Turiya deepened her work, found relief from her pain and over time founded a new school of Buddhism designed for the modern world.
Turiya shares some simple meditation techniques that can be used anywhere at any time to calm, strengthen and refocus the mind. The truth is most people think they don’t have time to meditate. However, the successful people, those who are at the top of their field, have made time to do some type of meditation. They may not call it meditation, but at some point, each and every day, they let their mind rest in silence.
Meditation allows us to access the eternal part of Being, completely changing our perspective. Sitting in silence lets us experience unreasonable joy and a peace deeper than anything we can imagine. This time spent with our true self recharges and refreshes us and lets us find the play of existence. Besides these ephemeral and difficult to describe states, even the practice of learning how to meditate brings wonderful benefits to our lives. Our ability to focus and concentrate improves, along with our memory and ability to learn new things. There is an increase in our sense of well-being, self-esteem, and our overall awareness. And it does what every extremely busy person needs most: meditation decreases anxiety and stress
How we enter into the stillness of meditation is a personal choice. I’ve found with formal, seated meditation, I can completely let go. When I do a movement-type meditation, my awareness stays centered in the body. There is a release and a sense of calm which develops, but I don’t fully surrender into the present moment until I allow my body to become as still as my mind. Others may discover allowing their mind to slow and stop while walking, running, doing martial arts, or even gardening is enough. This is how many high powered people meditate without realizing they are meditating; they’ve found an activity which allows them to release all they think they are and merge into infinity. They enter the flow of meditation which is always present.
Meditation is like swimming. There are many types and levels, and you don’t really know what it’s like until you do it yourself. Some people may become highly skilled swimmers and are able to go out into the roughest ocean waves. Others are all about speed and they can race from one end of the lap pool to the other. Many people swim for exercise, while others do it simply because they enjoy it. A few learn for the sole purpose of safety, so they can get to shore if their boat capsizes.
With meditation, we find the same spectrum. There are people who meditate because they enjoy how it feels or because it gives them a sense of stability. Many people meditate to improve the functioning of their mind. Others use meditation to give them a competitive edge. Some meditate so they can handle the most extreme situations. And a few rare people meditate to go beyond their concepts and dissolve their very self in Enlightenment.
Benefits of meditation
Meditation strengthens the brain
Mindfulness practice leads to increases in
regional brain gray matter density
Change in Brainstem Gray Matter Concentration
Following a Mindfulness-Based Intervention is Correlated with Improvement in Psychological Well-Being
Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory
Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering
Change in Brainstem Gray Matter Concentration
Following a Mindfulness-Based Intervention is Correlated with Improvement in Psychological Well-Being
We gain control of time, life and mind by releasing the mental and physical habits that create suffering. We can begin to recognize the childhood traumas or fears that are still playing out in our conscious mind limiting us from being truly free of past experiences. We can release blockages that we may not be aware of but past trauma that may still be limiting our path forward to greater freedom and peace.
As Turiya writes discovering that, “Life is beautiful. It is a dance of Perfection: An endless play of intelligent Light, appearing and disappearing in every possible formation – yet Light is never affected by any of these endless changes. Most people cannot see this; it is beyond the scope of their experience. Watching individuals in this world is like watching a person holding their breath because they truly believe they cannot breathe. As they hold their breath, they experience all the suffering that comes with suffocation: The lungs burn, the muscles ache, the head hurts, and the mind races with anger and sorrow and self-pity. Finally, they pass out, and the body breathes. They wake up, for a split-second, but then their sense of individuality returns. Their belief in not being able to breathe takes over, and karma carries them through the experience all over again. We who are awake cannot make someone breathe. We can show them they are not in control of their breath, but they don’t believe it. And even if they do believe it, belief is not enough; it must be experienced. So we play games; we teach them how to control their breath. We say: “For just one moment, take a breath in and release it.” Trusting students will do this, and thus begins the spiritual journey. Over time, the student becomes adept at telling the mind and body when to inhale and when to exhale. We laugh at their “achievement” because we know no one controls their breath. All of the perceived imperfections reveal the restrictions upon awareness. Life, in its own perfect way, teaches us we are more than this. We let go of controlling the breath, we let go of the wave formation, and we become the breathing, we become the ocean. As awareness expands, we explore endless experiences, each an example of perfection. We dissolve in a timeless time as the play of Light, forever dancing.”
Turiya gives some practical pointer practice to help release limiting beliefs that blind us to our true nature and the freedom of our creative soul life.
By working with certain practice points regularly it becomes easy to enter a state of meditation or the zone as some people call it and to relax into the Universal Energy that supports all life.
Practice Pointer Practice chanting as a way to calm the mind and enter the meditative state. Either out loud or silently in your mind, chant AUM seven times or more. AUM is pronounced: Ohhh-uuummm. When you’re finished, notice how your mind feels. Continue for as long as you like. This technique can also be used anytime you feel stressed or anxious, or as a daily practice.
Practice Pointer Practice We can use a visual symbol to hold the mind still. This is especially powerful when combined with chanting silently or out loud. Gaze at the AUM symbol below. Then close your eyes and concentrate on it. Keep focusing until you can see it clearly in your mind’s eye. If you lose focus, gaze at the symbol again and start over. Practice this technique for at least 5 minutes. You can also use the images throughout this book as a focal point for your meditation practice, utilizing the same technique.
There are other ways to strengthen your energy field and improve health and well being. Turiya mentions:
The first energetic tool we learn is Shielding. Through the use of our imagination, we can picture an egg-shaped light encircling our entire body, extending out by an arm’s length. Using our breath, we inhale our energy and keep it inside this protective egg. Our subtle-physical body, made of fibers of energy, is the part of us which feels. It’s what makes an Empath an Empath. (We all have a subtle body, but everyone is fully conscious of it like an Empath.) By keeping the subtle body tucked in close, we reduce our exposure to the myriad of sensations. The shield, this thick egg shell around us, stops the energy we touch at the outer limits of our subtle body. At that moment of contact, we can decide to let the sensation in all the way, or to let it go around us. Obviously, it takes energy to create and maintain the shield. We have to feed our body well, we need to exercise, and we need to take time to rest and meditate to allow ourselves to rejuvenate. We also need to spend time in water each day, washing away and neutralizing all we’ve come into contact with.
The next technique we learn is Grounding. There are hundreds of chakras, or energy centers, within the subtle body. These are points where the fibers come together, and energy can be directed through them. For the Empath, four are of special interest: the base of the spine, the arch of each foot, and the crown. From the chakras on the feet and at the base of the spine, a line can be connected to the center of the Earth by simply imagining it dropping down from the body. The molten center of our home is the ultimate recycling plant. We can dump anything there, and it will be transformed into pure energy, ready to take its next form. By imagining a line at each of these three points, we can then direct any unwanted energy to those chakras and let gravity do the work of disposing of it. As we release the unwanted energy, there’s a danger of creating a vacuum within us that will suck in whatever energy is nearby. To prevent this vacuum effect, we also open the crown chakra and imagine pure gold light pouring into us at the same time as we release through the base and feet. In this way, our entire system is flushed out and we remain full of pure Light.
Also understanding there is no perfection even for the teachers we respect the most shows us that there will always be more to learn, more to become and the process of evolution, transformation and transcendence is on- going. Teachers who are unique are those who know this and allow their students not to revere them but to be aware that we all have moments of humanness that encroach on our divine nature.
Turiya wrote, “The dark side of “the pedestal effect” is that teachers do not live on pedestals. However hard they try to always be in “show mode” for their students, there will always be a point where they need to put their feet on the ground and be ordinary. Advanced teachers know this, and if they have embraced the use of a pedestal, they will have a small contingent of trusted students or friends with whom they can totally relax. Teachers with spiritualized egos, who may think they are more advanced than they are, can get caught in the pedestal trap. They force themselves to live up to artificial standards, but invariably fail. This can cause great confusion for the students who witness or even hear about their teacher’s fall from grace. The teacher can even try to cover it up by saying it was for the student’s benefit … which in a way is true, since it shows the student no one lives permanently on a pedestal.”
Turiya tells us that In her own journey she was fortunate to see the human side of my teacher up close. When her teacher Rama was on stage, either literally in a banquet hall or on an imagined stage in the desert or walking around during the breaks at a seminar, he was a magical divine emanation who performed countless miracles. He was the embodiment of perfection, down to every mannerism. He would open dimensions and through them we experienced the endless planes as we dissolved in samadhi over and over. At home, he was a guy who always had to pay late fees on his Blockbuster video rentals and worried about the safety of his dogs. He also lived with chronic physical pain, which he chose to hide from most of his students. On stage, he appeared to always be overflowing with bouncy joy and ecstasy. At home, he dealt with the same emotional mood swings I had, although he could witness them impartially and laugh while I would be caught up in suffering. Before I had those interactions with him, I assumed he lived in a cloud-like paradise all the time. While he always exuded a gentle, quiet peace, even when annoyed at the dog for pooping on the silk carpet, seeing him at home made him and Enlightenment even more real for me. Why he decided to let me see his ordinary human side I do not know, but I am grateful he did. I know if he had not, I would have used the example he set on stage as an impossible standard to meet. Because I spent time with him when he was sick in bed with the common flu, I knew even Enlightened Masters have to deal with the mundane and sometimes painful issues of the body and the turbulent winds of emotions. It made me realize teachers of Perfection are not perfect. It helped me understand even at the high level of realization he achieved, he was still learning, still playing.”
Sheryl shares with Turiya that she often shares with her students or clients the fact that there is no perfection and the need to allow change and improve our thinking while generating more positive energy through loving acts of kindness is in a way the closest to perfection we may come . Sheryl also reveals that several of her teachers showed human weakness and poor judgment at times and it helped her realize we are all still human and while searching for the divine within we must still merge our human with our soul influences to simply evolve and continue to grow more aware.
We begin to focus on the inner work of changing the self, our perceptions and thoughts, while not valuing the external world as much.
Turiya wrote, “ I grew up with an interest in spirituality, but without a mentor to help me wade through the piles of literature I could never make much sense of it. I groped my way through all of books I could find, looking for a way to make spirituality a part of my life. The “church on Sunday, and forget about God for the rest of week” form of religion I was exposed to as a child wasn’t enough for me. As part of my quest, I went to college to study philosophy and religion. I began to explore the Eastern religions and discovered I had been practicing a form of meditation throughout my life. Whenever things got really tough, I would sit alone and let every part of my body and mind relax. While these sessions were relaxing, they didn’t take me anywhere new, so I relied on this practice only when I was feeling stressed. Once I felt in control and calm again, I would forget about sitting in silence and hit the books again, looking for an answer. While researching for a term paper, I found several references to the “transmission of light” from Buddhist master to disciple. I assumed the expression was a poetic way of saying the teachings were passed down verbally from teacher to student. My professors implied the expression was a metaphor, so I never thought much about it. Unsatisfied with the purely historical approach to religion and philosophy at college, I began to check out different teachers in the San Francisco Bay area. Most of them talked about spirituality, love, and compassion, but at the breaks during the meetings very few people actually displayed these qualities. Frustrated, I gave up on my search for a spiritual community. I decided to pull all I could from the ancient texts and put into practice the things that made sense to me. The most profound lesson I learned from books was rising above the emotions that left me drained, like anger and guilt. The books talked about purifying the mind, and I figured out if I thought about things that made me happy, I didn’t get sucked into feeling angry or guilty about anything. I had no idea if that was what the books meant by purity of mind, but it didn’t matter because I was happy.
After two years of college, Turiya tells us a friend brought me to a meditation class. I was very suspicious about the woman she brought me to meet, but by the time the class was over, I knew I had to meet this woman’s teacher. (More details about this meeting can be found in my book, Worlds of Power, Worlds of Light.) She brought me to meet Rama, Dr. Frederick Lenz, and I knew I had found someone who could teach me about meditation. He talked about Buddhism in plain English, using examples relevant to my life. And then we meditated. Without knowing what I was seeing, I watched gold light fill the room as the deepest peace I had ever felt washed through me. By the time I got home, I had convinced myself the light was a neat trick using some kind of hidden spotlights. The other students were all very happy and excited about their lives, and much of what Rama said made sense to me, so I decided to return for the next event. When I meditated with Rama again, the light was even brighter. During the break, I carefully checked for hidden spotlights. There were none. Then it slowly dawned on me as I recalled the Buddhist texts I had read. The transmission of light was meant to be taken literally; these Buddhist masters were actually pouring light through their bodies and empowering their students. This light that made me feel so at peace was the secret teachings referred to in the ancient texts. I could hardly believe my luck at finding someone who could actually do the transmission of light.
Sheryl says that as A Reiki Master Teacher she has been attuned through Reiki Master Teachers to Universal Energy through a conveyance of this healing energy that can only be passed from a Master Teacher to a student and becomes a conduit for this light to be used to heal transform and enrich people’s lives by allowing them to reconnect to their own inner soul energy empowering them to remember they are spirit having a physical life simply for the purpose to at some point feel and remember this truth. We are pure energy interconnected to each other and to the Universal Source of divine energy that sustains all phyiscal and spiritual life here and beyond. The energy is within us, around us, and we are part of it as it is part of us.
In Sheryl’s new book A New Life Awaits I speak of this energy in the following words ,” I realize now the reason Spirit told me I had to do a third book, A New Life Awaits: Spirit Guided Insights to Global Awakening, about the new life we create each and every day of life by the choices we make and hopefully with a growing soul awareness of what waits for us beyond a short-lived physical life. We may learn about the journey of transcendence after physical death, hoping to ultimately prove our eternal soul energy meets all those loved ones in Spirit, where we continue on our journey of life for our continued personal soul development. Whether in a body or in pure energy, the soul is the essence and complete oneness of Spirit’s Intelligence and Universal Love and travels with us through time and space, lifetime after lifetime, as we gather experiences to refine our already magnificent soul. Death, in my opinion, is merely the next destination or adventure on our continuous circle of life. There really is no death, only the unfolding of the infinite layers of realities that exist within us, in this world, and beyond. These layers are filled with the excitement and wonderment of the beauty of nature, friendship, memories, and experiences gathered during many lifetimes. We must know that energy cannot be destroyed, so the energy of our thoughts and heart impulses must return to the place most people think of as Heaven, but is really simply the evolving expansion of creative life energy that is eternal. Whether in life or whether in Heaven, we are continually growing in our ability to gather love and compassion and to conquer any fear or darkness that might reside in our energy.
One of the greatest gifts or awarenesses Turiya has discovered through the practice of Trikaya Buddhism is described in a moment in the desert where she had an uplifting epiphany. She writes, “This time, in the stillness of the desert, I saw beneath the pattern as I longed for my husband to be with me to see the flowers. I witnessed the loneliness of not having someone to share the beauty with, and the loneliness of not having another actor in the story. Sitting with full awareness of the sadness and loneliness, I realized in each moment it is enough to enjoy the beauty and connection with Eternity. And I realized alone, I am enough, always and in all ways. As Eternity washed away the remnants blocking my heart, vulnerable and small, I opened deeper. I saw how my will pales against Her might, and once again I saw I am not the doer; I am being done.
Turiya and Sheryl tell us how they feel when in meditation and after meditation and how to hold that energy during the challenging times we are living through now.
She suggests and writes, “In the beginning, it is good to keep your spiritual practice private. It takes time to build confidence and a strong foundation for your spiritual study. By not talking too much about your practice, you’re able to have your own experiences and assess their impact without being dissuaded by people who do not practice. We maintain a sense of privacy to keep ourselves from losing energy. Once you know meditation works for you, then it’s time to leave this self-protective phase. We leave behind secrecy in favor of Inaccessibility. Instead of limiting our close interactions to only others who practice meditation, we expand and learn to have meaningful exchanges with all types of people. We learn to blend into our surroundings and be whatever is needed in any situation. We focus less on ourselves and instead take a sincere interest in helping others. In other words, we make our ego inaccessible by accessing Light. involves opening the heart. The heart chakra is the receptive part of our being. Instead of pushing out our ideas by accessing our ego and its ideas about the world, we open to what is. We listen and observe those around us without criticism. We no longer lose energy during our meetings with others because we no longer try to control those around us. We make ourselves inaccessible by not forcing our will on others. Rather we blend in and do what needs to be done from a place of unconditional love. When we are inaccessible, our individual self is not important, and there is no need to pour out our energy to maintain the view of ourselves and the situation. We can walk into a room full of people with our heart completely open and not be sapped because we walk in with the intention to be there as it is, and not how we want it to be. We keep the ego out of the way, and thus infinite light can shine through us unobstructed. When we live this way, it is the light which inspires action, and not our ego. Meditation leads to opening your heart and eventually being able to be comfortable safe and at peace anywhere with anyone and to really know the light within that is truly your essence.”
Turyiya might like each of you to become more fully aware of your body and the feelings it generates which actually help you navigate the physical world in ways that are helpful and productive. As an empath Sheryl feels Turiya might want you to understand that anxiety and fear are actually ways to help you listen to messages from spirit so you may embrace change and be in the moment no matter what.
Turiya wrote, “An increasing number of people of people are becoming highly sensitive. They feel things others simply don’t – perhaps you are one of them. If you notice the emotional state of others without even looking at them, or your senses can detect the slightest light, sound, taste, smell, or touch, or you feel the energy left behind in a room, you are an Empath. Some may call you a Highly Sensitive Person and look at you with reverence. Others may think you’re exaggerating when you complain about being overwhelmed by everything around you. Some days you may celebrate your intuitive power, while other days you hide in your bedroom. Power and sensitivity go hand in hand. If you are an Empath, one who feels deeply, then you have great power. When we understand power is the ability to perceive, it can make it easier to accept what we are. Once we accept our power fully, we can learn how to navigate the world without being pummeled by it.”
We thank Turiya author of Unreasonable Joy Awakening through Trikaya Buddhism for sharing her passion for the joy of the Buddhist way which is a path many spiritualists follow even if not completely aware of the eight tenants that guide every soul to finding peace happiness and joy of self, nature and life. It is in the soul thoughts of sharing love and compassion that each individual finds their way forward while conquering the fears of the outside world and relying on the strength of inner wisdom.
In summarizing today’s episode of “Healing From Within” we have discussed the discovery of her inner life that Turiya embarked on in order to use her spiritual talents as a empath and sensitive to find a teacher to read and travel to understand the feelings she often perceived of anxiety or fear before events happened. And the mediation techniques she learned in order to strengthen calm and refocus her energy when necessary to deal with life’s challenges suffering or pain. She learned that the power lie within and not in the external world and simply by recognizing this duality of life the physical and spiritual we all build self trust and learn to release limiting beliefs that can create emotional or physical blockages leading to disease or dysfunction. The world when seen from this perspective becomes a natural place to thrive and reach spiritual growth.
Turiya and Sheryl would have you deepen your awareness of feelings as you reach higher levels of consciousness through whatever spiritual practice finds its way to you. Spirit is constantly reaching out to us to help us remember the magnificence of our soul being and how to reconnect to Universal Source for guidance love and a better quality of physical life. Paying attention to your experiences and feelings will lead you to that place of cooperation with all sources of life which always have our best interests at heart.
I am Sheryl Glick host of Healing From Within and author of the newest book in a trilogy A New Life Awaits Spirit Guided Insights to Support Global Awakening and invite you to visit my website www.sherylglick.com to listen to and read about energy healing, mediumship, metaphysical spiritual scientific and education approaches to self-development and to improving the human condition. Shows may also be heard on www.webtalkradio.net and www.dreamvisions7radio.com