Tag Archives: Interspirituality

An Intimate Portrait of Awakening

An Intimate Portrait of Awakening

Hello dear Friend.

It has been a long while since I wrote an article, or done anything “in the world,” so to speak. Months ago, Kundalini Shakti was unexpectedly activated and began altering my inner landscapes and neurophysiology. Spiritual expansion has been my soul path the past 30 years (except for a few detours!), but this type of awakening was not invited or even considered. Some days my meditations reveal a state of bliss so intense that my intellect goes off-line, making it difficult to communicate for hours or even days. Other times, my nervous system is recalibrating in ways that I can hardly tolerate ordinary noises and Nature becomes my only haven. Except for counseling clients and spending special, limited time with my beloved Thomas and fur angel, Mia, life has been immersed in intense sadhana (spiritual practice): meditation, contemplative prayer, journaling, self-inquiry, and Advaita Vedanta and Bhakti Yoga teachings. Only now does it feel like the right time to share this highly personal story of awakening with others. Actually, “awakening” is not a journey but a profound undoing; undoing the attachment to the beliefs that we are the “doer,” the “experiencer,” the “reactor,” the “thinker,” the “personality,” the “body” and so forth.

You may be on this mailing list because you signed up for articles on nighttime dreams. Since dreams continue to be an integral part of awakening, I am recording them and will use them to illustrate their significance. But the focus will remain on waking up from your false self and living from the reverence of the true Self. This divine aspect lies hidden beneath the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about what we believe we are. If this is not of interest to you, please unsubscribe using either the iContact or WordPress unsubscribe link.

If this resonates with your soul, you are invited to participate in my non-dualistic journey that feels precarious at times since there is no teacher, guru, or organized path. Though I am not an expert—only someone who is willing to be vulnerable and expose her experiences—authentic insights from my personal journal about daily life during awakening will be shared. Stages of awakening will be high-lighted, perhaps stages you are currently experiencing. And yes, there are stages. We may even fall back to sleep if we have not dealt with the seeds of our vasanas (behavioral tendencies) and our vrittis (thought patterns).

This is not an easy road to travel. Yet there really is no journey, no road, nor even a traveler. Very few people are even remotely interested. Thus, if you possess even the tiniest glimmer of curiosity, know that your Self is already coaxing you Home. Lasting inner peace, deep contentment, and periods of pure bliss are likely to shine forth as you learn to view everything through the eyes of pure awareness. Why? Because true awakening is the recognition of the Self which resides within you. Never having been born, It never dies.

From my journal…

This morning’s meditation felt like I was being resurrected. As the intense Kundalini was rising throughout my being, I communed with God as never before. Though it was not the showering of Grace I felt a couple of weeks ago, it was very gentle yet powerful. “Surrender” kept surfacing and the more I let go, the higher I felt lifted into stunning levels of golden, white light. About an hour in (not sure), I witnessed a golden orb gently pulsating and communicating its love to me. It was quite profound. I seemed to stop breathing. Gasps for air escaped my body. I kept my focus single pointed as waves of Kundalini surged through the body. As the focus intensified, I felt unafraid of the ascension and immense energy pulsating up my spine and out through the top of my head.

At one point, I felt a significant shift into the Divine and my hands went cold and stiff. They began to sweat a little. In the past, I would have felt more hesitation/fear but today, I was COMPLETELY open and with each deepening surrender, I was lifted higher. Afterward, I had to lie down. Warm waves of peace washed over me and I felt profoundly content.

How did this happen after feeling so disconnected from Source just yesterday?! An answer emerged: GRACE.  

Namaste.

http://www.lauragrace.net

Now is the Time to Stay Awake and Not Fall Back to Sleep

2017 continues to be a year of great upheaval and change. For many, it has been fraught with anxiety and uncertainty and people are emboldened to speak out with conviction.  The core message that summons us right now is: Stay Awake, Do Not Fall Back To Sleep! 

This is one of the reasons I have founded Love in Flight Interspiritual Society (LĪFĬS for short pronounced “LIFE IS”) which is being birthed into existence on December 31st, 2017 in San Luis Obispo, CA.  And if you live in another part of the country or unable to attend, we invite you to listen to our podcast sessions which will be available through our website.

LĪFĬS embodies a profound way of working toward the goal of global understanding, respect, and peace by elucidating the common themes, methodologies and truths of the world’s religions while respecting the unique gifts and particularities of each tradition. Our interspiritual teachings honors the spiritual experience available to us in every area of our lives. Brother Wayne Teasdale, an active force of the Interspiritual movement wrote:

            Everything is an avenue leading to the experience of Ultimate Reality. The divine communicates itself in all things. There are infinite ways to encounter the source, the Ultimate Reality which may be experienced in virtually anything. There is no place, no activity  that restricts the divine. It is everywhere. 

As 2017 unfolds and 2018 beckons us—amidst much turmoil—may we be open to receiving the divine in our lives, to believing in each other and to sustaining an open heart and mind.

And to honor the divine we are having a very special service at  LĪFĬS on December 31st at 10A.M. in San Luis Obispo. Our New Year’s Theme is INITIATING the CONSCIOUSNESS of the SACRED in 2018. This experiential celebration will invoke the spiritual qualities we most deeply revere as individuals, and, as a community. Live music, heart-felt connection and open-minded creativity will be an integral part of the reverence as we create a brand new year together.   For more information please visit us at: www.lifisslo.org.

Namaste,

Laura V. Grace

 

The Interspiritual Revolution

“Interspirituality points to the realization that although there are many spiritual paths, a universal commonality underlies them all.” ~~Wayne Teasdale, The Mystic Heart

There can be little doubt that traditional religious frameworks are no longer speaking to new generations as they have in the past, especially in the West. People are waking up, recognizing that what was the norm just a few years or even months ago is not that anymore, and feeling as if life is more uncertain than ever. Here’s where Interspirituality—a rapidly expanding, emerging global understanding—comes into the picture.

What is Interspirituality? Interspirituality is the appreciation and practice of spirituality centered on humanity’s most deeply shared values of the heart: interconnectedness, love, kindness, compassion, and service. “Interspirituality is at the heart space of all religions and spiritual traditions—of humanity itself.” It is an exploration of ourselves so deeply grounded in compassion and unconditional love that it dissolves any separation between human beings that stems from differences in beliefs, values, background or creed.

What is not Interspirituality?

Interspirituality is not about spiritual by-passing, a “head-buried-in-the-sand” approach to spiritual awakening. It acknowledges the reality of the numerous global threats surrounding us—resource scarcity and competition, climate change, environmental degradation, wars based on national and ethnic adherences, and economic and social disparities of various kinds. In fact, the environment and all living creatures are tended to with the utmost respect and important in interspiritual practices. As the next step in our evolution, Interspirituality embodies the ultimate understanding that we are simultaneously interconnected, independent and interdependent.

Finally, Interspirituality recognizes at the heart of every genuine spiritual path, there is a commitment to core values which honor peace, compassionate service, and love for all creation.

This December, we invite you to a new interspiritual experience in Central Coast California: Love in Flight Interspiritual Society (“LĪFĬS” for short). LĪFĬS is based on blending Interfaith teachings with Interspiritual core values and practices. Our vision and purpose is rooted in six core values: Authentic Connection, Consciousness of the Sacred, Inclusivity, Integrity, Lifelong Learning and Sacred Service.

Our Sunday services are bi-monthly: first and third Sundays of each month at 10 A.M., at the San Luis Obispo Library Community Room, 995 Palm St., San Luis Obispo. We are activating the connection and fellowship at LĪFĬS with a very special service on Sunday, New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2017! www.lifisslo.org

With Infinite Love,

Laura Grace, rev.lauragrace@gmail.com