It’s all about the experience and if any of you are familiar with astral traveling, the experience can be quite the adventure. But of course, the first time can be a little scary. Especially if you don’t know what’s going on.

I came across this article written by Erin Pavlina on her first astral projection and found it pretty interesting. Check it out and let me know what you think. And please feel free to drop a comment with your own astral projection story too.

Astral Projection: My First Experience

From ErinPavlina.com

It was January 7th, 1985. On that night something amazing, frightening, and most intriguing happened to me. It was the night I had my first astral projection.

To preface this experience you should know that I was a fairly advanced lucid dreamer. I had learned how to maintain my consciousness while asleep and in a dream. I was so good at it that I could literally pre-program a dream and have it once I was asleep. My night life was a lot of fun.

I’d been reading about astral projection and had been attempting to do it for 3 years with no success whatsoever. So it was, on this night, that it happened. It was NOTHING like I expected, which could be why I was unsuccessful for 3 years. Here’s what I experienced.

I awakened to find myself in bed with an intense tingling taking place in my body. There was a high pitched sound in my head. The tingling almost felt like an electric shock but not painful, just extremely uncomfortable. I could feel that my eyes were closed yet I could see. I was experiencing a dual consciousness that was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I could feel my body and also my “self” at the same time and they were not the same.

I felt my spirit (for lack of a better word at this point) moving slowly out of my body. It was as if the tingling electric feeling was almost driving me out. But there was something else. I sensed the presence of three others in the room. I couldn’t see them, I just knew they were there. I was so scared to be feeling this separation that I tried to move, scream, anything to break the spell. I was unsuccessful. I even felt like I was choking as I tried to make my body’s mouth scream while my entire consciousness was in my spiritual body.

I heard a voice in my head say, “Breathe through your nose. It will be easier.” Trusting this voice, I did just that, and to my horror I started moving out of my body much faster! I can’t tell you the terror of feeling yourself leave your body for the first time. It’s the most unnatural feeling you could experience while alive.

Feeling betrayed by the voice, I stopped breathing through my nose and started trying to scream again. I started moving back into my body. But another force drew me out again. My spirit was in a tug of war with me trying to get back into my body and these presences trying to pull me out.

This tugging back and forth went on for what felt like a few minutes. I heard one of the other voices say, “This isn’t going to work. She’s too frightened.” The third voice responded, “She’s got to learn one way or the other.” The first voice said to me, “It’s okay, let it happen.”

I pulled as hard as I could to get myself back into the comfort of my shell. And succeeded. I opened my body’s eyes. I could still feel the tingling. Before I could sit up I felt myself pulled back down into a “sleep” state and the tug started all over again. I sincerely thought these entities were trying to disconnect me with my body and that I would die if I left it. It was such a primal feeling.

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Concepts like reincarnation, meditation, yoga, and astrology are fast becoming adopted into people’s spiritual beliefs. Doesn’t matter if they’re Christian, Jewish, or Muslim.

So not only do we mix and match our clothes, we do the same with spirituality.

Love to hear your thoughts on this. Can’t wait to read your comments!

Americans Surprisingly Flexible About Religion and Faith

By DAN HARRIS and WONBO WOO from ABC News

A new poll finds Americans are doing a tremendous amount of personalizing – picking and choosing from a diverse variety of religious traditions. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, nearly six in 10 Americans from all religions blend their faith with New Age and Eastern beliefs, like astrology, reincarnation, and the spiritual – not just physical – benefits of yoga.

“What we’re really finding here that we haven’t known before is how much Americans mix and match their religious beliefs and practices. That is, how often people who are regular churchgoers also believe in things like astrology and reincarnation,” said Alan Cooperman of the Pew Forum. “Individual Americans hold within themselves elements of diverse religious traditions. And they practice in many cases, more than one faith.”

Rabbi David Ingber was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home, but abandoned Judaism in his 20s. He studied Taoism, martial arts and yoga as part of what he calls his “spiritual journey.” After a decade away from the faith, he felt called back to Judaism.

“When I came back to Judaism, in my early 30s, I brought back my experiences that I had had in my 20s.”

Ingber became a rabbi and founded a congregation in New York City called Romemu – its slogan is Judaism for mind, body and spirit. He leads his congregation in yoga and incorporates meditation into his services.

“I do think that it’s a level of maturity involved in being so secure in your own root tradition that you can dabble, that you can borrow and that you don’t feel that it’s in some way sacrificing your own identity,” Ingber said.

The Pew survey also finds that a quarter of Americans sometimes attend services of a faith or denomination other than their own.

Glenda Somerville was raised in a strict Catholic family — her father is a Roman Catholic deacon and her mother is deeply religious. Somerville still considers herself a Catholic, but regularly attends Protestant services, and attends retreats and prayer groups with non-Catholics.

“I’m not just Roman Catholic,” she said. “I believe in worshiping with other people because I do believe that God embraces all of us — so I refuse to just ignore other people in their denominations.”

Somerville has been particularly moved by the role of women in churches, like Ebenezer A.M.E. Church in Fort Washington, Md., where she often attends Sunday services.

“There are women who are ministers who understand and provide the message from a woman’s perspective,” she said. “And I don’t necessarily get that from Roman Catholic priests.”

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I stumbled upon this article that touches upon the Christian Scientists’ movement to have insurers pay for prayer treatment.

“Leaders of the Church of Christ, Scientist, are pushing a proposal that would help patients pay someone like Lewis for prayer by having insurers reimburse the $20 to $40 cost.”

Despite your feelings on Christian Science, I’d love to hear your thoughts on insurers and governments paying for spiritual healing, be it prayer, meditation, visualization, or other forms or spiritual therapy. Do you think this type of treatment should be covered? Or should more research be done?

Drop a comment below and share your thoughts.

Senators want spiritual care in health reform

By William Wan

WASHINGTON — The calls come in at all hours: patients reporting broken bones, violent coughs, deep depression.

Prue Lewis listens as they explain their symptoms. Then Lewis simply says, “I’ll go to work right away.” She hangs up, organizes her thoughts and begins treating her clients’ ailments the best way she knows how: She prays.

This is health care in the world of Christian Science, where the sick eschew conventional medicine and turn to God for healing. Christian Scientists call it “spiritual health care,” and it is a practice they are battling to insert into the health-care legislation being hammered out in Congress.

Leaders of the Church of Christ, Scientist, are pushing a proposal that would help patients pay someone like Lewis for prayer by having insurers reimburse the $20 to $40 cost.

The provision was stripped from the bill the House passed this month, and church leaders are trying to get it inserted into the Senate version. And the church has powerful allies there, including Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., who represents the state where the church is based, and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who said the provision would “ensure that health-care reform law does not discriminate against any religion.”

But opponents of spiritual care coverage — a coalition of separation-of-church-and-state advocates, pediatricians and children’s health activists — say such a provision would waste money, endanger lives and, in some cases, amount to government-funded prayer.

“I think if most Americans knew what’s being proposed on this issue, they would be shocked,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

As the health-care debate enters its final stages, the clash over spiritual care has become essentially a referendum about whether the government recognizes prayer as a legitimate and viable health-care option.

Lewis, 66, works out of a small rented space in Washington, but her real office is her cellphone. She sleeps with the phone tucked under her pillow at night. She doesn’t see most of the patients she treats. That isn’t necessary, she said, for her prayers to be effective.

Each prayer is a cerebral search for resolution to the patient’s problem. And the answer often comes in the form of an idea or feeling: “God is here,” “God is life,” “We are created in God’s perfect image.”

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Have a read below. It’s pretty interesting. What are your thoughts on taking God out of the holidays? Are you for it, against it, or indifferent? Drop a comment below and let us know what you think.

Teetotalers For God Take The Pledge

By Deepak Chopra from the Huffington Post

Q: What do you think of the American Humanist Association’s new “Godless Holiday” campaign? The ads will say: “No God? … No Problem! Be good for goodness’ sake. Humanism is the idea that you can be good without a belief in God.

The trouble with renunciation is that it is so absolute. Throwing God out of Christmas can’t be a completely good idea or completely bad one. Consider the temperance movement. A hundred years ago the teetotalers equated drink with the Devil, and “taking the pledge” in writing displayed a willingness to be saved. The culmination of the movement took place with Prohibition, when a whole nation was forced to take the pledge, whether they liked it or not.

In reality, alcohol can be put to good and bad uses. The bad may far outweigh the good, and perhaps “good” needs to be in quotation marks. But I doubt that anyone has ever been lost or saved by accepting God or renouncing Him (or Her). God is a projection of human aspirations; God is also a projection of human guilt and a sense of sin. The two aspects have never been unraveled. To me, the unraveling must be done, but organized religion often blocks the way. Millions of people learn that they are sinners as children and carry the same crippling conviction for decades, to their deathbeds.

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What’s even cooler? David Lynch is gonna make a movie about him.  According to Lynch though, it’s not going to be a traditional documentary or a typical narrative. And it definitely isn’t going to be a typical David Lynch movie. This looks like it’s gonna be an awesome film.

In fact, David Lynch has been practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique twice a day, for 20 minutes each time, for 32 years.

Check out the article below to find out more about this movie. Can’t wait till it comes out!

David Lynch to make documentary on meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

From GordonAndTheWhale.com

David Lynch is making a movie about meditation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is best known as the Beatles’ spiritual guide during their visit to India in the late 1960s. The filmmaker known for films such as ERASERHEAD, LOST HIGHWAY, BLUE VELVET, and MULHOLLAND DRIVE will be traveling to India this December to start filming.

The movie won’t be a narrative, but it won’t be a traditional documentary either. “It won’t be a so-called David Lynch film, really; it will be about Maharishi and the knowledge he brought out,” Lynch told New York Magazine. “It’ll have to go in the documentary department, I think. I don’t think it’ll be a ‘talking heads’ kind of thing, but we’re going to do a lot of interviews with people. We’ll interview — I hope — in India, a 97-year-old man who was with Maharishi from the beginning and get stories of times that weren’t so well recorded.”

The Beatles attended Maharishi’s meditation classes and made references to him in songs like “Sexy Sadie” and “Jealous Guy.” John Lennon wrote the song “Sexy Sadie” about the guru’s alleged sexual advances on actress Mia Farrow. The Beatles later renounced these accusations, saying the incident had been a misunderstanding. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi died in February of 2008.

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Deepak Chopra seems to think it’s okay.

Whatever your feelings are about “puff, puff, pass” spirituality, check out this short video where Deepak Chopra makes a very good case for it. It’s funny too.

Our discussion here begins with a discussion of The Truth of who you really are. Who you really are is what I call an “Infinite Being” – a magnificent being who lives in a constant state of infinite power, wisdom, abundance, and joyfulness. Along your journey, you’ve no doubt heard something like this:

“We are Spiritual Beings having a physical experience.”

That’s true, but it’s the little-known True nature of our “physical experience” I want to chat with you about here.
Your natural state as an Infinite Being also includes having an unlimited desire to play, explore, and express yourself creatively. As a result, you decided you wanted to play a game called “The Human Game.”

We’re all here playing The Human Game!

The Human Game — What is it and why do we play it?

I define the term “game” as anything we do for entertainment, fun, challenge, and to express ourselves creatively. As such, to me, sports and traditional games like checkers, chess, bridge, and monopoly are games. But so is painting sculpting, playing a musical instrument, reading novels, watching plays, movies or TV shows, etc.
For purposes of discussion and using metaphors in this article, however, I’m going to focus 100% on sports games. All sports games have specific structures, themes, “playing fields,” and specific ways of winning.

Like baseball games have 9 innings, golf matches have 18+ holes, soccer games have two halves, and tennis matches have multiple sets, The Human Game was designed to have two phases. I call them “Phase 1” and “Phase 2” to keep things simple

The Goal of the Human Game

The theme of baseball is to score more runs than the other team. For golf, it’s to get the ball into the cup with the fewest number of strokes. For soccer it’s to score more goals than your opponent. The theme of The Human Game is to fully explore the experience of limitation and restriction – to explore what happens when you limit your natural state of infinite power, wisdom, abundance, joy, and ability to express yourself creatively.

Phase 1 Of the Human Game

To take that concept deeper, since your natural state is one of infinite power, wisdom, abundance, and joy, in Phase 1 of The Human Game, the goal is to convince yourself you’re the opposite of that – that you’re not powerful; you’re at the mercy of forces beyond your control; you’re living in a dangerous world; you’re not very “smart” (and/or there’s so much you don’t know and must learn); you’re not very abundant as it relates to money and stuff (or your abundance is unstable and can come, go, shrink, grow, etc.); and you’re unhappy or experiencing “negative” emotions most of the time.

As a result, The Human Game is jam packed with all sorts of limiting and restrictive ideas and experiences. Concepts like death, poverty, loss, fear, pain, shame, struggle, and sorrow were all created exclusively for The Human Game experience.

The Playing Field For The Human Game

Soccer is played on a field, basketball on a court, baseball on a diamond, golf on a course. The playing field for The Human Game is what we call “3 Dimensional Reality” or “The Physical Universe,” which has visible and invisible components.

The playing field isn’t “real.” It doesn’t Truly have any power over us. It’s a cleverly crafted illusion that we create and convince ourselves is real and has power over us in Phase 1 — as the quantum physicists and mystics have told us.

Once you’re born, the process of forgetting The Truth (about who you really are and what your natural state is), limiting and restricting yourself, and convincing yourself the illusory playing field is real kicks into high gear. In the popular psychology, success and self-help literature, this process is often called programming or conditioning, but it goes much deeper than is generally discussed.

How To Play In Phase 1 Of The Human Game

Therefore, to play in Phase 1 of The Human Game, we must:

1. Create the illusory playing field (3 Dimensional Reality), convince ourselves it’s real and has tremendous power over us
2. Convince ourselves we’re the opposite of who we really are as we play The Human Game on the field
3. Play with and explore limitations and restrictions in a myriad of ways as we play on the field

Living In Phase 1

That was a tremendous achievement – and it’s at the core of what makes The Human Game so much fun and challenging for us as Infinite Beings (even though you and I might disagree about it being “fun” at times from our limited and distorted perspectives). To do it, we used every resource at our disposal – personal experiences, what we see happening to other people, what others say to us, what we say to ourselves, the media, song lyrics, movies and TV shows, books, etc.

As we play in Phase 1, because the name of the game is limitation and restriction, there are so many things we want to change, fix and improve about our lives. We’re encouraged to try all kinds of strategies, techniques, and tools to do it. But we never fully succeed – or the experience of “success” doesn’t last. The reason that happens is because remaining limited, restricted, and convinced the illusion is real is the desired outcome in Phase 1. By design, it doesn’t change and we don’t get to “have it all” until we enter Phase 2 and expand to a certain point. More about that in a minute.

The Self-Created Cloud Of Illusion

Let me share a metaphor with you to hammer this critical and little-known Truth home. Compare the Infinite Being that you really are to the sun. When you think of the sun, you think of tremendous power, energy, light and heat, right? So it’s a good fit for your natural state.

Now, imagine that in Phase 1, you create a very solid, dense, layer of cloud cover that blocks your access to the sun of who you really are. Metaphorically then, on the other side of the cloud cover, as we play in Phase 1 on the illusory playing field called 3 Dimensional Reality, we’re playing in a dark, cold, black and white world – compared to the brightness, warmth, and “color” of our natural state as Infinite Beings.

As long as the cloud cover is in place and access is blocked to your natural state, you may be able change some of the details of what you experience on a daily basis – as it relates to income, net worth, business, career, relationships, health and wellness, etc. (you may not) – but even if you do, you’ll still remain limited, restricted, convinced the illusion is real and you’re the opposite of who you really are within it. Why? Because that’s the whole point, the goal, the “job” of the cloud cover in Phase 1!

This is why none of the self-help, personal growth, or success techniques work consistently or reliably. They’re not meant to in Phase 1!

Achieving True And Lasting Transformation

You must knock out the cloud over if you want to experience what I call “True And Lasting Transformation.” You can’t just have an intellectual understanding of who you are, what your natural state really is, and what’s really going on, you must actually knock out the cloud over.

Most of us spend our lives struggling in Phase 1 (to one degree or another, in one or more areas of our lives), trying to change, fix and improve our circumstances, failing to do it fully, having no idea there’s a Phase 2 of The Human Game, or how to begin playing it. That was my story until 5+ years ago.

Entering Into Phase 2 Of The Human Game

In Phase 2 of The Human Game, the whole game reverses itself. Where Phase 1 was all about limitation, restriction, illusions appearing real, creating and locking the cloud cover into place, Phase 2 is all about expansion, knocking out the cloud cover, and re-experiencing The Truth of who you really are.

Phase 2 has two segments to it. In the first segment, you continue playing The Human Game, but you take an extraordinary journey that enables you to drill holes through the cloud cover, knock out bigger and bigger chunks of it, and expand back into more and more of a direct and consistent experience of who you really are — with full access to your infinite power, wisdom, abundance, joy, and ability to express yourself creatively in a myriad of ways.

Playing The Game With No Limits

In the second segment of Phase 2, you continue playing The Human Game, you don’t become “enlightened” and leave, but you begin playing for the sheer pleasure of playing — with no limits or restrictions at all, except those you choose to experience to create games that are fun for you to play.

Moving through the first segment of Phase 2 into the second segment of Phase 2 is how you Truly “win” The Human Game! True Success is not about being “successful” as it relates to money, business, career, relationships, health and wellness, sex, being happy, being of service to others, etc. – it’s about expanding back into a direct experience of who you really are, and being able to play The Human Game for the sheer pleasure of playing – with no “outside” limits or restrictions.

Opening The Gateway To Phase 2

Through a remarkable journey that began for me when I was 12 (I’m 52 at the time of this writing), I discovered how to open a gateway into Phase 2. I developed a set of tools you can use to drill tunnels through the cloud cover, poke holes through it, ultimately knock out huge chunks, and expand as you play the Phase 2 game. I also created a series of maps and guidance systems that support you as you drill and expand. I’ll share more about my discoveries with you in the free gifts described below.

I’m sure this all sounds very exciting to you, but it may also seem impossible, impractical, pie in the sky, or something reserved for a special few. I assure you it’s possible, it’s practical, and it’s do-able — for you!

To me, the Phase 2 game is the best game in town, and an extraordinary experience that’s beyond words. My first priority and primary focus in life is playing The Phase 2 game myself. My second priority and point of focus is supporting others who wish to do the same. I invite you to join me, and thousands of others worldwide, who are now playing the Phase 2 Game.

As I mentioned in the video above, the words above barely scratch the surface of what I have to share about Phase 1, Phase 2, and winning The Human Game. To allow you to go deeper, I’ve got two free gifts for you. One is a 90 minute audio recording taken from a live event I did, and the other is a 35 page E-book.

Click here to take the exclusive tour of “The Journey of the Infinite” to turn you into a Phase 2 Player for wealth, joy, and wisdom »

I wish you an ever-expanding experience of True power, wisdom, abundance and joy!

P.S. If you resonated with what you read here or have other things to share, please be sure to leave a comment below – for me, other readers, and the FinerMinds folks to see!

The words meditation, personal growth, and spirituality still smack of misconception. People still have that picture in their mind of a fat guy eating ice cream standing in the self-help weight-loss section of the book store. Or worse, of a new-age, shoeless, hippie making daisy chains.

Of course, spirituality and personal growth have come a long way, there’s no doubt about that. Even rap moguls like 50 Cent and Jay-Z are getting into this field.

But as we move into the more popular domains of the media, does this mean people will start taking spirituality seriously?

Check out this article below from the Huffington Post as it calls personal growth junkies out and suggests ways for spirituality to get serious.

Will Spirituality Ever Be Serious?

By Jay Michaelson

Will American spirituality get serious? Those of us who do regular spiritual practice — whether it’s meditating every day or giving our time to the less fortunate, spending focused time with our kids or going to church each week — have long been vilified by the cynical press as narcissists, flakes, or worse. In general, this is a cliché born out of fear and ignorance. But let’s admit that the insult has some truth to it — and will take work to rise above.

Let’s start with two hard truths. The first is that spirituality makes claims to transformation and transcendence, but is often just a balm. Now, all of us who do a spiritual practice have experienced transformation. In small ways, this happens all the time. Before yoga, you feel angry, tense, and egocentric; after yoga, at least for a little while, you feel open, loving, and generous. In larger ways, it happens once in a while. A particularly inspiring sermon, a deep insight gained on an extended retreat, an ecstasy experienced at a place like Burning Man — these kinds of things can meaningfully, and more or less permanently, change one’s life. What they all have in common is transformation: a growth beyond one’s previous limits.

All too often, however, spirituality reinforces rather than transcends conventional limits, boundaries, and notions of the ego. Sandwiched in between manicures and lunch dates, the quickie yoga class becomes just another way to augment and reinforce the self; pop Kabbalah and the Secret promise ways to get what you want more effectively, rather than, say, question whether “what you want” is really aligned with your deepest humanity, and your potential to lessen the suffering of others.

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Love him or hate him, Jay-Z is a genius. He hasn’t forgotten his roots, is an entrepreneurial whiz, is a champion giver to charities, and let’s not forget his incredible ability to make money (his net worth is estimated to be at $150 million).

And if you give his list of books a look, you’ll realize this millionaire rapper is a lot deeper than he appears.

If you’re wondering, here is his list of books. Doubtless there are more that have influenced him but these are the top 6:

The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
Homer’s The Odyssey
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Purple Cow by Seth Godin
Nigger by Dick Gregory

Pretty impressive in terms of personal growth.

Of The Seat of the Soul, Jay-Z had this to say, “There are two books that I absolutely live my life by. This is one of them. Growing up, I was always curious about religion. This book made the most sense to me; it’s about the way you live your life. I believe in karma and doing the right thing even if it may not advance you as far as you want. If every single person felt the same way about karma and intention, then the world gets fixed tomorrow. But temptation gets in the way. Zukav is right: It may take lifetimes to learn.”

And what really struck me was what he had to say about The Celestine Prophecy. “This is the other book I live by. It’s fiction—a guy travels to find a secret book that has a series of principles. The story is a metaphor for life: I could go left or right, I could be stuck, or I could keep advancing. Some people are happy where they are. I tried to hire a guy once, and I said, “Don’t you have ambition to be bigger?” And he said, “No, I’m good.” I had to respect that, but for me that was the wrong relationship.”

If you’re looking for a good book to read, this is definitely a great list to start off with.

For more on these 6 books and the famed interview between Oprah and Jay-Z, check out these two links for more info:

Books That Made A Difference To Jay-Z »

Jay-Z Opens Up To Oprah in October Issue of “O’, The Oprah Magazine »

Personally, I think Jay-Z is a great role model and is someone I look up to, but as always I’d love to hear your take on him so feel free to drop a comment below.

It was originally published in the Inter-Tribal Times in October, 1994 but it transcends time.

Have a look and let me know what you think of this. How many of you are already living this code of ethics?

Native American Code Of Ethics

From NativeVillage.org

1. Rise with the sun to pray. Pray alone. Pray often. The Great Spirit will listen, if you only speak.

2. Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path. Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will find guidance.

3. Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you. It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.

4. Treat the guests in your home with much consideration. Serve them the best food, give them the best bed and treat them with respect and honor.

5. Do not take what is not yours whether from a person, a community, the wilderness or from a culture. It was not earned nor given. It is not yours.

6. Respect all things that are placed upon this earth — whether it be people or plant.

7. Honor other people’s thoughts, wishes and words. Never interrupt another or mock or rudely mimic them. Allow each person the right to personal expression.

8. Never speak of others in a bad way. The negative energy that you put out into the universe will multiply when it returns to you.

9. All persons make mistakes. And all mistakes can be forgiven.

10. Bad thoughts cause illness of the mind, body and spirit. Practice optimism.

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