Karma Yoga

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Trish and Rob

 

The term karma yoga typically refers to acts of service to others. I recall one of my first yoga teachers talking about karma yoga after class on days when he was looking for volunteers to stuff envelopes or do other menial tasks for him. But I’d already performed my service for him, bringing him many students.So talk of karma yoga, for me, became a signal to head for the door as quickly as possible.

But I’m using the term here in this somewhat catty post in a slightly different frame of reference. So here’s the story.

There’s a famous yoga teacher in the U.S. who became quite notorious as a womanizer. Actually, there are several of these guys. But the one I’m thinking about was notorious enough to be written about in Yoga Journal  a few years ago in an article about yoga teachers who step across the line and bed their students. And he more or less admitted his transgressions to the interviewer.

Around that time, I remember him saying in a workshop that he could easily quit yoga and go live in a cave in India by himself. Well, that didn’t exactly happen. Not yet, at least. Instead, I now I see him quite often on television advertising mattresses, of all things. There he is seated in a lotus position on a bed, alone, no yoginis in sight.  Hmm. Karma. Synchronicity.
– Rob

Posted in karma, yoga | 9 Comments

Schubert and Terrorism

Posted on December 29, 2009 by Trish and Rob

 Jung considered psychic phenomena to be a facet of synchronicity. This group would include telepathy, psychokinesis, clairvoyance, remote viewing, and precognition. Precognitive information can some through any venue – a dream, a hunch, even clues in our daily lives. 

On Christmas Eve, author Peter Levenda wrote us about a series of such clues in his life that he felt might portend an attempted terrorist attack involving planes. Here’s the email:

+++

I had been writing a novel this past year concerning a Rhode Island family named Angell.  This is based on the Lovecraft story, “The Call of Cthulhu”, in which a professor of Semitic languages — George Angell — becomes aware of the existence of a Cthulhu cult.  The action in the Lovecraft tale takes place in the 1920s.
My novel is present-day, and involves a descendant of George Angell, one Gregory Angell (a Biblical scholar) who must reaquaint himself with his weird ancestor due to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the possible resurgence of the Cthulhu cult.  My fictional Angells are related to a very real Angell family, one of whom died on 9/11 as his plane struck the North Tower (and this is a tie-in, which is mentioned in the novel).

Okay.  Recently, a melody by Schubert has been running through my head at odd hours of the day and night.  It’s his Piano Sonata in A.  Slowly,  I began to realize that this was the theme music for a TV sitcom, Wings,   produced by David Angell, the man who died on 9/11.  He was perhaps more famous as the producer of Cheers and Fraser.


Fraser was still on the air when 9/11 occurred, although there was no direct reference to it in the series.  However, the episode that was shot after 9/11 has Niles Crane playing the Schubert piece on the piano: a quiet homage.  He will also name his fictional new-born son David after the producer.

Okay … all this is fine.  But I have not been working on the novel for months now (can’t find a publisher … same old story … so I put off working on it).  The music has come back to nudge my consciousness for some reason.  I associate the Schubert piece with David Angell and 9/11 … what I am saying is I hope this
 is not some weird presentiment of a new terrorist attack.

It may be nothing more than my subconscious insisting that I finish the novel … but I thought I would mention this strangeness just … in case!
+++
Considering the events on the Northwest flight Christmas morning, it looks like Peter read the clues accurately. Fortunately, passengers and crew prevented the perp from carrying out the deadly deed.  But now passengers will be subjected to the fallout.

Posted in environmental clues, planes, terrorism, travel | 14 Comments

Synchronistic Clues At the Bookstore

Posted on December 28, 2009 by Trish and Rob

 

Today (12/18) Megan and I went out to do girl stuff – hair, shopping – and of course we stopped at Barnes and Noble. While she was cruising the music aisles, I went over to the science fiction section. I walked up and down the aisles, hoping a title or author would jump out at me. I had been reading the Robert Moss book – specifically about environmental clues and signs that can answer questions. So I asked: Is there any book here for me today?

At that very moment, a woman sitting in the magazine section was talking on her cell phone. Well, not exactly talking. She said only one word, three times. “No. No. No.”

Could it get any clearer than that?

I walked out of the science fiction to go look for Megan and we went home.
– Trish

Posted in environmental clues | 2 Comments

The Power of 10

Posted on December 27, 2009 by Trish and Rob

Painting by Nicole  Cutt 
The Goddess of Fire Night Magic

 This next synchronicity came to our attention through our Google alert for the word synchronicity. Nicole Cutt is an artist, writer, and clinical psychologist who also leads vision quests. This synchronicity was originally posted on her site.
+++

Jung offered synchronicity as conclusive evidence for his concepts of archetypes and the collective unconscious and felt that it described a governing dynamic that underlies the whole of human experience and history–social, emotional, psychological and spiritual.

On the journey of living  my Vision I have had many intense experiences of synchronicity. I could, I guess, dismiss them as mere coincidence but I see them as clues to my destiny, signs that I am on the right path.  According to one of my favorite teachers, Deepak Chopra, “When you live your life with an appreciation of coincidences and their meanings, you connect with the underlying field of infinite possibilities.” He calls this state “Synchrodestiny” and says that when you are in this state it becomes possible to achieve the spontaneous fulfillment of our every desire.

The Power of 10-Tuesday night was one of those times of intense synchronicity.  I was facilitating a Women’s Vision Quest session in Charleston, WV. It was a particularly powerful night and you could feel the energy in the room. I sat with a group of 10 women sharing their visions with one another. They came from all different walks of life and had very different visions but there were so many themes that kept coming up again and again; following your dreams no matter what, overcoming fear and inertia, a drive to find their purpose, fear of success/failure, the struggle between putting others first vs themselves.

But there was also another theme that kept cropping up; 10. Woman after woman kept saying things like, “it was 10 yrs ago”, or “I’ve known you for 10 yrs, or “I thought about this 10 yrs ago but have only acted on it now.” We all started to notice this and began commenting. 10 just kept coming up again and again.  We noticed that there were 10 women in the group, then I recalled that 10 had been my magic number, the number of women I hoped to attend!

What does this all mean? Is it merely coincidence?  I might say so except for the fact that whenever I am experiencing a high degree of synchronicity it is always a sign that I am firmly on the right path. Everything feels right and a magic hangs in the air. As I drove home the next day through the gorgeous mountain terrain I also decided to take this as a sign that 2010 is going to be a great year!


Posted in Numbers, vision quests | 6 Comments

A Healing Dream

Posted on December 26, 2009 by Trish and Rob

In an earlier post, we talked about Robert Moss’s book,  The Three “Only” Things, Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination.  This story is in the dream section, where there’s a wonderful story about the healing power of dreams.

An author,  Wanda Burch (She Who Dreams) asked a doctor to look at a mole on  the sole of her left foot. He determined that the mole needed to be removed. Even though it was just minor surgery, it would mean she would have to stay off her feet for several days. So before her scheduled surgery, Wanda posed a question as she was falling asleep: Why did she have to go through this? Wasn’t there another way of dealing with the mole?

In her dream that night, she was inspecting the mole on the bottom of her foot. “Then a hand appeared from out of nowhere – as if out of a cloud – holding a large black pencil. The hand drew a circle around the mole, and the mole popped off and disappeared.”

The next morning, Wanda looked at her foot – and the mole was completely gone.
+++
Has anyone else had an experience like this?

Posted in dreams, healing | 13 Comments

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2009 by Trish and Rob

 A bit of Christmas day cheer – notice the lights on the house on the right. Ditto, indeed.

And here’s one little holiday synchronicity. A couple of days ago, we left Noah, our new golden retriever, at home for an hour. When we came back, he had snatched one of the Christmas cards from the book shelves where they were displayed. He put a few teeth marks into the card and battered it a bit,  but we were still able to see that it was from – Janice Carlson, who just happens to be an animal intuitive from Minneapolis, who specializes in dogs!

What were the chances that he would pick that one?
+++
And that leads to this heart-warming doggie tale.
 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!

Posted in christmas | 13 Comments

Indiana Jones Synchronicity

Posted on December 24, 2009 by Trish and Rob

 Dale Dassel and Dr. Jones

The other day I was cleaning out a closet, which I usually do at this time of year, when I came across a box of bound galleys of Indiana Jones novels I wrote years ago. Bound galleys are uncorrected proofs of books that are bound with a plain cover that just displays the title and author. The copies are usually sent out to reviewers and leftovers often are shipped to the author.

So, upon finding them I e-mailed #1 Indiana Jones fan Dale Dassel, who writes on the blog occasionally, and asked if he would like a few of these bound galleys for his Indy collection. Besides being a big reader and a writer himself, Dale collects all the Indiana Jones clothing and paraphernalia. So I wasn’t surprised that he was very interested in the books, especially since I was only charging for the shipping.

Meanwhile, that same evening I started reading The Three ‘ONLY’ Things by Robert Moss and was amused to see him make reference to Indiana Jones within a few pages. Moss explained that he was playing with an idea for a fact-based novel with some “Indiana Jones” touches, in which Winston Churchill and his bodyguard battled Nazi occultists.

He was looking for guidance related to the idea so before heading to the airport to begin a trip, he wrote on an index card: I would like guidance on whether writing a novel about Churchill with an Indiana Jones flavor is a good idea. On the second leg of the trip, while in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, Moss reached his gate and found a guy in full Indiana Jones regalia. “He has the whole kit: the hat, the jacket, the Sam Browne belt, even the canvas dispatch case. Everything except the whip and the gun.”

Moss, at that point, was thinking that this was his sign. But a part of him was saying that it was a bit too much–over the top. Besides, the guy didn’t look like Harrison Ford and was somewhat chubby. So he boarded his plane, found his seat and started reading a book about Churchill. Just before takeoff, someone interrupted him: “I’m sitting next to you. I swapped seats with a guy so he could sit with his family.” Of course, it’s the Indiana Jones guy. Seating arrangements were scrambled and synchronicity blossomed.

Moss asked if he had the whip. It was at home, along with the revolver. He went on to tell Moss that his garb is all authentic and that the clothes were made by Peter Botwright, who made the clothes for the Indy movies. As an aside he added that Botwright used to be Winston Churchill’s bodyguard.

That was Moss’ cue. He continued his research and began writing the novel.

Meanwhile, I got my closet cleaned and found another synchronicity for the blog. – Rob

Posted in Indiana Jones, writers | 14 Comments

Stephen King’s Dream

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Trish and Rob

 We’ve posted a number of stories about dreams and synchronicity and about dream and the creative process. One of our favorites is from Stephen King’s book on writing, On the Craft, where a vivid dream provided the creative energy – and a plot and characters – for King’s novel, Misery.

While on a flight to London, King fell asleep and dreamed of a woman who holds a writer captive.  A female fan. In the dream, the fan eventually killed him, skinned him, and fed his remains to a pig – then used the pig’s skin to bind his novel. As soon as King arrived at his hotel, he sat down and wrote the first 50 pages of the novel.

The final product differed from the dream – the protagonist wasn’t killed, but was terrorized and tortured by the woman who held him captive. What’s so interesting about this dream, though, is that it seemed to plug King right into the creative flow that all writers seek and that flow lasted long enough for him to get the first 50 pages written. The book is considered to be one of King’s most riveting thrillers.

Posted in dreams, plots, writers | 16 Comments

Raising Lazarus

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Trish and Rob

Here’s a synchronicity offered by Gibbs Williams, author of the upcoming book, Demystifying Meaningful Coincidences (Synchronicities): The Evolving Self, The Personal Unconscious, and The Creative Process. His book features 19 personal synchronicities that he studies in depth.  Dr. Willams is a New York psychoanalyst and writes from that perspective. If you want to read more about his theories and thoughts about synchronicity, you can visit his website.
***
Trish and all interested others…. The following is the context surrounding my first significant synchronicity plus the meaningful coincidence in detail.

The Coincidence. While consciously asking myself the question if miracles might in fact be really real, I opened the Bible and randomly turned to the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. I was struck by the story’s implications, reasoning that if the bible is the revelation of divinity communicated to mankind so that events like the rising of Lazarus might be literally true, then such phenomena as contacting “dead” spirits and personal spiritual guides at a séance, such as I had attended (initially judged to be as preposterous as it was seductive), might in fact be valid.

Feeling excitedly agitated, I called D to share my experience. Responding to my apparent revelation, excitement, and reflections, she exclaimed: “How uncanny!” for that very afternoon on a walk with L, her (unconventional) psychiatrist, had told her that in a previous lifetime he had been present at the raising of Lazarus.

Upon hearing this amazing coincidental reference to the raising of Lazarus, being connected as it was to L, the remarkable psychiatrist; to D the unusually friendly woman; and the vision I saw at the extraordinary séance, I experienced an unexpected rush of awe combined with a felt sense of being in touch with an indefinable but highly significant shockingly good experience. (Jung would likely have named the sense of awe associated with this event as a numinosity.) Later I described my experience as being in touch with mysterious forces that, at that time, verified the possibility that so-called occult energies were apparently real and this meant that virtually anyone could access them at will.

I then experienced a heightened split between a wide open-side of me that desperately wanted to believe in the actuality of a transcendent spiritual realm that was a source of and accessible to potentially vital information concerning myself; versus, a skeptical cynical side of me that scoffed at such activities as highly stimulating but patently “unscientific” indulgences in the realm of the supernatural. I wondered if I was dangerously playing around in what Freud (1910) was cautioning Jung to be wary of; namely, “the black tide of mud… occultism?”

For me at the time the whole experience had important philosophical, psychological, scientific, spiritual, and occult implications that ignited my passion to try to scientifically understand what Jung said was basically incomprehensible in rational terms.
Posted in 19 synchros, freud, gibbs | 5 Comments

Drinking and Driving

Posted on December 21, 2009 by Trish and Rob

As most parents of teens and twenties, we’ve worried about Megan and beer parties with her college friends, particularly when the partying is mixed with driving. Recently, Megan, home on break, had a few friends over. She and one of them went out to buy beer. The friend who is 21, went in to buy, and 20-year-old Megan waited in the parking lot. She turned off the engine of her car, but for some reason left the headlights on. Five minutes later, when friend and beer returned to the car, it wouldn’t start.

So she called home and one of her friends agreed to go out and give her a jump. I gave her my jumper cables and off she went. Meanwhile, a man in the parking lot saw an attractive young blond standing next to a car with the hood up, came over, and offered to give her a jump. So, Megan was on her way home before Ashley arrived. Instead of turning around when she got a call from Megan Ashley continued on to buy some more beer.

So Megan arrives home and a few minutes later, Ashley calls and says now her car won’t start. Synchronicity. Same plan: buy beer, same result, dead battery.  But luckily, Ashley had gone with my jumper cables and was able to find someone to give her a jump.

So what’s the bigger picture? For mom and dad, it was obvious, don’t drink and drive. Megan protested that they weren’t drinking, they were buying. True, so the message was a warning for the rest of the night, and the rest of their lives.And there could also be a message there about too much partying and wearing down your battery.


Rob

Posted in dead batteries, drinking, teens | 9 Comments