Written by: Patti O’Donahue, M.A., R.Y.T.
Faculty, Learning and Education at New Earth University
As little children most of us explore the world around us with delightful curiosity. Over time though, the experiences we gather along the way become internalized beliefs that shape our perceptions regarding the nature of reality. In kundalini yoga these solidified invisible beliefs form the crystalline structure that manifests into the form of our physical being. In academic terms the resulting internal structures shaped through childhood, family and culture are known as mental models.
Currently, the majority of western society is dominated by left brained perception; logically based and physically focussed in the day to day activities of life. Western ideology promotes a single way of seeing, being and doing as the only truth to knowing reality. However, others walk upon this earth as travelers of consciousness and explorers of the invisible realms such as dreams, insights, feelings, inspirations and intuitions. Beings more sensitive to the dance of subtle energies and vibrations of the mysterious world we dance through from moment to moment.
Living in the Great Mystery
The idea that we are connected to a far Greater Mystery is a way of being that is still embodied by indigenous cultures, little children, scientists, shamans, artists and healers. Every moment, every wish and every challenge is yet another opportunity to engage in a conversation with the physical and invisible worlds: a way of being and seeing that the genius Einstein referred to as the “The Gift.” The gift Einstein referred to is the miracle of intuitive insight that has the capacity to open our hearts and our minds to new dimensions of reality. Insight that deepens the subtle relationship we have to our Self, other living beings and to our natural world. It is a personal communion between our Being and the Universal Being.
Our global family is rich in diverse expressions of reality providing a multidimensional and multicolored lens that shines light into unique ways of seeing, knowing and being in the world. Knowledge sharing through technology, the internet and globalization is slowly dissolving some of the stigma attached to human diversity and opening up our awareness to the gifts of our perceptual differences, and unique cultural and individual worldviews.
Other Ways of Perceiving Reality
The restricting beliefs of the past that traditionally kept us neatly contained within the confines of a box are being challenged, allowing individuals from all walks, ages and cultures to more openly share their lens of experience. An example of one such journey is a young man born color blind who can, with the aid of technology, listen to the sound of color as felt by the vibrations they make in his bones. His name is Neil Harbisson and he has also learned to create music from the frequencies he senses emanating from physical objects. Neil then translates the frequencies into musical notes that become songs, or into colors that become paintings. The sensitivities of this young man is challenging our very idea of what is possible and transforming a perceived disability into a gift. In Neil’s situation, he is acutely sensitive to energy and vibrations as felt within and translated through his being. By sharing his unique perceptual lens of reality, Neil is raising consciousness about the multidimensional aspect of perception and of human experience.
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard trained neuroanatomist who suffered a debilitating stroke damaging the left hemisphere of her brain is yet another example of an individual that is changing perceptions about the nature of reality. Dr. Bolte Taylor used her knowledge as a scientist to explore and learn from her health condition and through sharing her experience with the world she is also changing the very way the western world has been taught to think.
As we know, the two hemispheres of our brain have very different functions. The left brain is linear, logical and methodical with the capacity to process and file enormous amounts of detail documenting our past experiences, information that is then stored and then projected out into our future reality. Our left brain is focussed on the physical day to day activities of living, and gives us our sense of “I Am” a perception essential for developing self-awareness and self-knowledge.
The left brain also defines our body as a separate entity that is disconnected from other people and physical objects, creating a lack of consciousness regarding the energy fields that surrounding us. Although, our sense of “I Am” is essential to our development and wellness, seeing life solely through this lens limits our perception and contributes towards the belief that it is acceptable to harm others and destroy life on Mother Earth. The left brain focus on the present day to day activities of the physical world also limits our ability to envision the future worlds of our children and grandchildren. This sense of separation has enabled humankind over countless centuries to commit horrendous acts of violence and oppression upon their fellow humans, other living organisms and the natural world and blinds human kind to the consequences upon future generations.
The stroke that Dr. Bolte Taylor experienced opened her up to a whole new world of consciousness previously completely unknown to her. With her left brain now damaged, the right hemisphere of her brain activated and was now her dominant life processor.
According to her, this was a world of total bliss, where the energy of all life is interconnected into the individual. This is a reality or way of being experienced by mystics, shamans and wisdom teachers and is a state of consciousness where all boundaries cease to exist and are replaced with a magnificent sense of Oneness.
Dr. Bolte Taylor found this new reality to be a place where profound states of JOY and BLISS were just normal states of being. From this place of human existence, she realized that we become more conscious of our own energy, and the energy fields of those surrounding us. Dr. Taylor became extremely sensitive to the various frequencies being transmitted from individuals and sensitive to how it felt to receive those frequencies: negative and positive.
Through this right brained sense of being, life becomes more compassionate, more peaceful, and our whole world begins to vibrate with exquisite beauty. What a wonderful way of perceiving and existing within our world!
The place where all life becomes one through interconnectedness can also be thought of as Quantum Entanglement.
It is also in the state of being where other ways of knowing can be found. Indigenous peoples call this vibratory field, the web of life and when we surrender to this vibratory web we can know that which was previously unknowable. The genius Albert Einstein embraced his capacity for intuitive insight, openly giving credit for his ability to solve complex problems to a mysterious source of wisdom that came through him. Tuning into this frequency enables individuals to become a channel for divine knowledge, an intelligence existing beyond the intellect and reason.
Approximately 96% of our reality is stuff that cannot be seen, detected or comprehended and is primarily known as dark energy and dark matter. Only 4% of human reality is comprised of physical matter such as stars and galaxies and physical matter. The majority of the world we wake up and dance through every day is invisible, mysterious and unknown to humankind. We truly live in a Great Mystery that is accessed when we bridge the “I Am” with the “Oneness of the Universe” and transcend our perceptual limitations.
This is the prophesized time of the Shift of the Ages. Imagine the beautiful and harmonious world’s humanity could create if we encouraged a balance of left and right brain thinking, diverse ways of knowing and celebrated human diversity for the gifts we can offer to dreaming new dreams of life on Mother Earth.
Namaste
Patti O’Donahue, M.A., R.Y.T.
