Journey to the Underworld-Final Part
I did not take the offering. I remembered the rule that I was only to observe and not interact.
At this moment my thirty minutes were up, and the drumming changed from the consistent repetitive beat to a more insistent rapid rolling. I was supposed to return the way I came.
The sensation was amazing to me. I travelled backwards out from the upper chamber, through the loft, down into the bright cavern and out, along the path, back to the beach, and the water and the tunnel, and my bedroom. What was amazing was it was like looking at a film in reverse, and there was no glitch in the viewing. That is, neither during this return nor at any time during the entire thirty minutes had I lost the focus or continuity of the visual experience. I cannot concentrate on anything for ten seconds, let alone thirty minutes; let alone recreate the entire journey in fast forward, or rather fast reverse, in detail, before my very eyes.
Moreover, I returned to myself at exactly the moment the last four slow drum beats sounded. I had never listened to the tape before. It was unfamiliar to me.
The one strange thing was: I had returned through a diffferent entrance-the hole I had tried unsuccessfully to use during my first ten minute experiment. The book told me that this was possible.
During the entire experience I encountered everything with detachment, but a positive detachment if I can express it that way. Positive in the sense of calmness. I think I can guess what is meant by that detachment that Daoists or Buddhists seek, without aggrandizing this one time experiment or comparing it to the dramatic commitments of other meditators and seekers.
I was never asleep, but I was invigorated with a profoundly subtle positivity that lasted for days.
With such positive results, why haven't I done it again? Laziness, time constraints, and a fear that I will not succeed the next time.
I looked ahead in the book and the next exercise is to journey to find a power spirit, and you do this through symbolically dancing the movements of various animals. I'm not ready for that yet. I would like to explore many more times, however, with the journey and Underworld itself.
I don't believe Underworld means Hell. It's just a different place.
What do you think?
posted by Borderliner at 7:35 PM
2 Comments:
I must admit, I find it hard to believe, yet it is interesting. I have been challenged lately with the concept of perception: what is real, what does the majority perceive as real, and what are the dangers of questioning the majority. Does the ability to recognize alternatives make one wrong or just different, and who, ultimately, can judge accurately? Does accuracy matter if none or few can achieve truth in the face of their own distorted or incomplete perception? Can any comprehend truth? Why question anything if acceptance works for so many?
I think this is a good example of guided imagery meditation without the guidance. I personally think it is a controlled descent into the subconscious, like a wakeful dream state. Perhaps shamanism, which is an attempt to contact the numinous world while remaining in the physical world, is in fact controlled by navigating one's own consciousness. The "symptoms" of being refreshed as though from sleep and of having a pervasive positivity are ones that yogis are quite familiar with- George Harrison described them often as the goal of meditation.
I feel that you have become the Borderliner between not only cultures, but now worlds. Let me know what you do next.
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