Tower, Tower, Tell Me Tower

Dr. Datanah's last email provoked a question from a reader (that I've gotten several times from different people). Franky, I never meant to imply that I had any answers... I only have my own opinions/experience to offer. However, since Dr. Datanah's comment provoked the question, I thought I'd forward it to her to see how she would respond. The question I received was:

..just read Dr. Datanah's latest post/info on schizophrenia. I don't dispute any of this, certainly since I know little about the subject, but I'm wondering what she has to say about the heightened energy. Maybe some of the people in the BF never felt it- or maybe Dr. Datanah never experienced such a thing. But Angelo possessed it. It was what brought me to the BF in the first place, and what kept me there. It was not the first time in my life I had experienced such energies- nor was it the last- but I could walk in to that house and tell if Angelo was home- not home- or in the yard- just by the strength of the energy I experienced around him. Any comments, thoughts?

Since I have not yet posted Dr. Datanah's interview, I want to point out that she is speaking from not only her training and education in psychology and spiritual crisis, but also from a lengthy and profound spiritual quest of her own. I think you'll really enjoy her journey so I'll try to get to it as soon as I can. For now though, consider her response to the above question:

Very good question and I understand why there can be confusion in relation to it.-The "energy" that people felt around Angelo is something that is often a bi-product of consistent spiritual practice, it is well documented in all traditions, and in Sanskrit is called a "Siddhi".

Siddhi is a Sanskrit word that literally means "accomplishment", "attainment", or "success". It is also used as a term for spiritual power such as exuding energy or displaying psychic ability. The term is used in that sense in Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. These spiritual powers supposedly vary from relatively simple forms of clairvoyance to being able to levitate, to be present at various places at once, to become as small as an atom, to materialize objects, to have access to memories from past lives, and more.

There are many perspectives about attaining Siddhis. One school of thought states that they are a normal set of occurrences that should not be focused upon because they will pull one from the path. Other perspectives hold that each siddhi should be pursued because it will allow one to understand the power of the Godhead. Siddhis may occur in many ways: naturally though the agency of karma, as a result of extended practice (sadhana), through rigorous austerities (tapasya), meditation, control of the senses, devotion, herbs, mantras, pranayama, chanting, trance dancing, or by grace.

J Krishnamurti warned about siddhis in the context of meditation -- comparing seeking the siddhis of maya to desiring mere candles; instead, he counseled to seek the Sun of full Enlightenment and Liberation (Moksha). Siddhis are considered to be still in the energy vibration of the Astral plane.

Basically as the normal everyday brain waves are slowed down, the consciousness expands ( this is what happens during meditation and also hypnotherapy or any of the above practices.........all mystical spiritual traditions have different practices that are designed to expand consciousness), this allows one to access the collective consciousness, the Oneness. A person may then experience, or through practice, may learn to exude, the "energy" or Chi or Prana that is the matrix of life. There are people who become very good at exuding energy and there are people who through their practice are more able to perceive it.......

Now, as the questioner alluded...some people did not feel Angelo's energy...and this could have been for different reasons.

• Angelo might not have been exuding it at a particular moment ( some practitioners are able to "turn it on or off"),
• The people who tuned in to it had to themselves have been in a somewhat expanded state of consciousness in order to perceive it
• Or another possibility is that the tricky mind wished to perceive it so convinced itself that it did.
• A person might have for some reason not wanted to be open to it, so was not in an expanded state and did not experience it.

Please remember that we were all practicing meditation so were expanding our own consciousnesses, and some us at times were very magnetic at times too! I remember how certain people would gravitate towards us!!

Here however is the rub.....and the basis for confusion, and the reason why Krishnamurti, and many religions and spiritual paths warn against trying to develop Siddhis....

Siddhis can be attained by anyone through dedicated practice ....they in themselves are neither good nor bad, but how and why they are used depends on the spirtual development of the practitioner . They in themselves are not an indication of enlightenment. There are people who are enlightened who do not practice Siddhis, and who consider them just a stage on the path, recognizing that they can be used for good or not depending on who is using them.

I know many people in the Buddha Field felt that "energy" and Enlightenment are synonymous. I think this was encouraged. However if you study Hindism or Buddhism, you will find different interpretations none of which have to do with "energy".

In Hindu philosophy, Enlightenment is seen as a transcendence of phenomenal being, a state of higher consciousness, in which time, space, causation (karma) and the other features of empirical reality are understood as maya. Liberation is experienced in this very life as a dissolution of the sense of self as an egoistic personality by which the underlying, eternal, pure spirit is uncovered. This desireless state concludes the yogic path through which conditioned mentality-materiality has been dissolved uncovering one's eternal identity prior to the mind/spirit's identification with material form. Liberation is achieved by (and accompanied with) the complete stilling of all passions — a state of being known as Nirvana. A state of experiencing the Stillness of the Ground of Being.....no "energy" at all.

In Buddhism, bodhi means the awakening experience attained by Gautama Buddha and his accomplished disciples and refers to the unique consciousness of a fully liberated yogi. Bodhi is sometimes described as complete and perfect sanity, or awareness of the true nature of the universe. After attainment, it is believed that one is freed from the cycle of samsāra: birth, suffering, death and rebirth. Bodhi is most commonly translated into English as enlightenment. This word conveys the insight and understanding (wisdom) possessed by a buddha and is similarly used in Christian mysticism to convey the saint's condition of being lit by a higher power - the merging of the human and the divine. It expresses the notion of awakening from a dream and of being aware and knowing (reality). It is thus more accurate to think of bodhi as spiritual "awake-ness" or "awakenment", rather than "enlightenment"......again nothing to do with "energy".

I hope this is helpful.

I love this response. Much better than anything I could have come up with. But the question did allow me to do a little self-examination to see how I would respond.

First, I experienced a lot of energy... period. Not any more with Angelo than I did with other people. I might have allowed it originally with Angelo, but (and this was the way I applied things during my time in the group) I thought the purpose of the "master" was to allow your love/devotion for the master to open yourself to him. To allow yourself to experience things, using him as the excuse, that you then moved on and allowed with everyone else in your life. I mean, if it was to be exclusively with him... I didn't see the point. So, I experienced an energy with him. But not any more than I did with a lot of people. Again, that may have been my own unique experience. Certainly the message toward the end was that he was special and thus the reason for all experiences that everyone allowed themselves to have.

My own opinion is that anything along those lines has more to do with US and what we ALLOW than with him. What you allow yourself to experience, with him or with anyone. So, if you are very sensitive, you'll experience a lot... but then allow that to expand to the rest of your life. I mean, you said you could walk into his home and tell if he was there. But weren't you primarily focussed on him also? Did you try that with other people? Or were you mainly concerned as to whether he was home or not?

The word "energy" has become incredibly vague to me at this point because it means so many different things to everyone... so I try to substitute other concepts for that one when I can. Like I usually use "fire" when I'm thinking about an elemental energy, or a personal attribute when talking about a person's energy. For instance, there are people that are just naturally LOUD. You can walk in and tell if they are home cause you can hear them. I'm sure there are people that are just loud energetically also. Take Hitler, for instance. (I love using him as an example because his followers sounded like disciples sometimes. They said that everyone had to take notice when he entered the room and they had various reasons why this was so. That he had a strong personal presence. That he was on a mission from God. But I think we can also agree that he was a psychopath, can't we? And a vegetarian. And a painter. What does any one of those things have to do with the other?) Similarly, would you think that someone having a loud voice says anything about whether they are a psychopath? Or a master?

This is not to diminish anything that anyone allowed themselves to experience. On the contrary, I think it's more beautiful in that it shows that everything is available to you at every moment and does not rely on someone there with some "special" gift or ability.

Anyone with a different perspective that they'd like to share?