By Sharon Bauer
Sharon Bauer, M.S.N., Author, Erin Johannesen, M.A., M.D., Editor
My root teacher of meditation, Swami Muktananda, used to practice a particular method of meditation, a particular method of invoking the field of awareness. This method involved complete identification with his teacher, Bhagawan Nityananda. He would imagine himself embodying Bhagawan Nityananda: Seeing through Bhagawan Nityananda’s eyes, hearing through Bhagawan Nityananda’s ears, touching through Bhagawan Nityananda’s hands, and so on, until he was completely immersed in the energy field of his teacher, Bhagawan Nityananda. Bhagawan Nityananda was a great Indian yogi, completely immersed in divine consciousness; people from all over India revered him. In time, Muktananda would also completely embody the field of awareness.
Why do we invoke the teacher or archetypal deities?
Very simply, they are guides and inductions into the infinite field of consciousness. As we call on these guides we feel the fullness of the light permeate our consciousness and awaken us to a greater potential. This potential allows us to know the field of presence in each of us. This field is filled with tremendous joy and love. Eventually we may become immersed in this joy and love. Each tradition describes the practice of invoking the teacher, or the duties of the field of awareness, somewhat differently:
For the Buddhists, there is mantra repetition, chanting, and visualization of the deity. Dzogchen, a particular form of Buddhism, suggests that we simply hold the natural state and the archetypal qualities of the field naturally emerge and are embodied.
For the Hindu–Shavites, everything is worshipped as divine; everything is some form of the primordial field of awareness. Sometimes a particular deity or deities will be invoked, worshipped, and embodied. Devotional chants, prayers, and yagna (the fire ceremony) are performed. These rituals are ways of embodying the field.
For Christians, the sacraments, particularly the act of communion, bring us into the mystical consciousness of Christ. For Pentecostals and Evangelists, Christ is invoked for purposes of anointing and healing both body and soul.
In Islam, prayer is repeated five times daily invoking and praising Allah. For the mystic of Islam –the Sufi, the Sufi chant pulls the power of the field into the body completely.
In Judaism, the Jewish holy days are a re-creation of the Jewish journey into relationships with divine consciousness. As each drama unfolds, the Israelites are connected with their distant ancestry. The covenant between God and the Israelites is an expression of oneness with divine consciousness.
These rituals and habits create, as the British scientist, Rupert Sheldrake puts it, “a morphic resonance” in and through time and space. That which is the past is brought forth into the present moment, and in that moment we may experience all that has gone before us. We penetrate into the experience of divinity itself. Sheldrake says that the “morphic field” is the organizing field of an organism and that this field is affected by each member of the field. He goes on to say that when one habit is learned by one member of a species, it is easier for another of the same species to learn the same habit. The impetus for learning these new habits comes, not necessarily from physical proximity, but rather by fields of energy that surround us all. This happens because each species carries a particular vibrational pattern that connects like and like in and through time and space.
Many now herald a new pattern emerging out of this energy field which surrounds us. It is a new pattern of light which is emerging and being transmitted from tradition to tradition, from person to person. It’s what many call a new age of light…an age of “global oneness.” This oneness is also sometimes called “the meeting of the rivers.” Just as when rivers flow into one meeting place, a huge body of water emerges, so it is also possible for the tradition of oneness and respect to arise out of many traditions. For this [convergence] to happen, we must focus on oneness and respect of all traditions. Our conscious cooperation with the light is necessary. Without this cooperation, this light of oneness cannot be nurtured on the earth.
Let’s nurture that new pattern of light, that light of lights within us. Oneness is pure and simple. Everything and everyone is included.