Rita — immersed in your own world

Sunday, February 21, 2016
F: 6:05 a.m. Still a month away from equinox, so it’s still total darkness outside.
All right, Rita, on we go, then. A little later than usual, but no harm done, I trust. I like it that I sort of know where we’re going, even though I don’t know what it’s going to look like. It’s easier.
R: Very well. Keep in mind always that we are moving toward explaining life “on the other side” – which means life when not constricted by the special circumstances of life in the constricted environment of 3D, and we are doing so by moving from what you know, and subtracting.
So, you lose your physical senses, which reorients you inward. And at first, what do you “see” there? You initially experience yourself as you have been experiencing yourself in 3D existence. That is, Frank on his deathbed, losing sight and even awareness of the 3D, is as if in a dream. He processes thoughts, emotions, memories, fantasies – and does so as he did in dreams. Scenarios seem to happen to him, just as in dreams. He has no particular sense of himself as actor or director, only as –

No, that isn’t quite right. Well, you know dreams. Sometimes you are the main character and things are happening to you, or perhaps you are trying to do something. Sometimes you are watching a movie and, although you are not aware of yourself as audience, still you are watching a drama (or a comedy, or whatever) that may seem to have nothing to do with you, but is engaging. And sometimes it is as if you come in in the middle of the film and leave – or the film stops, anyway – in the middle. All this has one common feature. You do not feel in control of it, it does not seem to be emanating from you even if it is connected with you. you seem to be the passive recipient of experiences with their own autonomy. That is, they seem external to you.
F: And while they do, I imagine they may seem grotesque or frightening sometimes.
R: They may. Not every dream is a nightmare. Less important (ultimately) than whether they are frightening is that they are experienced as external to you, in the way the 3D world appeared external.
F: I am expecting you to connect this to the experience of the bardos, described (I am told) in the Tibetan Book of the Dead, or the Egyptian Book of Coming Forth by Light.
R: You are perfectly able to look them up afterwards if you think it will help. Any scripture intends to orient you to the true facts of life, as you know. But I am sticking to my own experience. Trying to associate it to the experiences of others would not necessarily invalidate it, but it would reduce what may be its major usefulness, the freshness of view.
F: Very well, I agree.
R: After dreaming, after all, comes Lucid Dreaming, and as you were told, Out of Body experiences are merely the third rung on that particular ladder. It’s a useful analogy as we proceed.
First comes the oblivion that is the blotting-out from your mind of awareness of, and ability to communicate with, the 3D. Then comes internal orientation, a rough equivalent of dreaming. These two stages come in very different forms depending upon how the person has lived, and how died. They may be quick and easy or prolonged and painful. Thus the disparity of descriptions. But one way or another, you lose sight of the 3D, and your world is composed of you as you experienced and shaped yourself.
F: The soul confronts itself.
R: Let’s say, the soul is no longer distracted by externals, and its world is then – itself.
Now, in a sense it was never any different. In a sense, you have been living in a world that always reflected you to yourself (not that you necessarily knew it) and always seemed to have its own objective existence, amid which you lived as a sort of island of subjectivity. But like [Robert Louis] Stevenson, the world was so full of a number of things—
F: “I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”
R: Yes – but mostly weren’t.
So, now your world has reduced itself (not that you are necessarily in a way to make comparisons) to – you. Not news, not chores, not routine, not projects, and not the inexorable march through time. Now it is you among what happened, you experiencing who you made yourself in a long or short lifetime, and nothing else.
F: And if you died as an infant?
R: Then there won’t be much to experience, will there? On to the next stage smoothly and soon. Or do you think they remain suspended? But let’s not divert ourselves, but continue.
Your world now consists entirely of you. As in a dream, you do not direct your consciousness, but seem to be directed, you do not know (nor think about) by whom. Everything you were now appears to you, including and perhaps we should say especially, the parts of yourself that you most actively repressed in 3D life.
It isn’t necessarily fun to experience. And it certainly doesn’t fill you with pride.
F: A friend once quoted somebody: “Self-knowledge is always bad news.”
R: That is true in one sense, only, and to a degree, only. but in that sense, and to whatever degree, it is true. Seeing who you are without being able to sugar-coat it can be a bitter pill. But, it – the bitter taste – doesn’t last forever, only until you get over judgment and get to acceptance.
F: You are centering this session on the one stage.
R: I am trying to pace it so that each stage becomes evident, with the reasons for it, and its true nature, and no more (i.e. no speculation about it) so as to build toward understanding of the next stage. These are but way-stations, necessary for explanation but not our ultimate interest.
The specifics of what you encounter when you encounter yourself naked to your gaze are obviously going to be – specific. Everyone will have a specific experience, and the way you have lived will shape what you have to bear. But – don’t worry about it. As in 3D life, you don’t get more than you can bear. Sooner or later, you realize that all is well and is always well – no less between awarenesses (i.e. between worlds) as in 3D or in non-3D.
You move beyond judgment into acceptance. What does this mean? It is the same as saying, you lay down your partial view for a more inclusive one. You realize that the self you are accustomed to, with its values and virtues and shortcomings, is only part of who you are.
This coming to realize (or remember, but in a way realize is a better word, for reasons to come) that you are not only who you experienced yourself to be, but are more, is dependent upon, intertwined with, your ceasing to cling to what you were.
F: I am seeing several things you want to say at once, rather than sequentially. I’m afraid we don’t offer that option.
R: Don’t I know it! And you think you are abstractly aware of it, but you don’t really know it yet.
What I would wish to express concurrently is all the aspects of the transition from identifying with what you have been (as far as you were aware) and what you realize you really were in addition.
This only happens as you are able to let go of your identification with who you knew yourself to be.
Understand that. You stay stuck, clinging to the sides of the sliding board, until you willingly let your previous identity slip away as the world slipped away. One more loss. One more coin for the ferryman over the Styx.
F: The price of admission.
R: The price of admission to the next act, yes. And of course, bear in mind, none of these losses is permanent, or I should say none is what it seems to be.
F: And we have written our way into full morning. Thank you, Rita, this is very calm and interesting. Till next time.’

8 thoughts on “Rita — immersed in your own world

  1. Very meaty…to contemplate and digest.

    The idea of repression and what results after, is like the bardos idea where all we were is released.

    Is fun also part of it after a life of labor for example? Did Rita have an experience she would like to share as an example of what came up?

    1. That’s my question, too. An example would be helpful. Can’t imagine she had anything too “bad” come up.

  2. For several days, I have been bound up in some hefty emotions.

    Thanks to a fellow TMIE participant and the insight of several of you, I was able to get back to an uncluttered “place” or “state” where I could be “naked” with my greater self, and in that state feel safe in identifying quite specifically and understanding emotions that I had been repressing. In my understanding and acceptance of those in that state, I was able to hear advice that was calming and reassuring.

    Some excerpts:
    “What is finally surfacing is your humanness in approaching the issue of death. To be unafraid of what comes next is helpful. To avoid getting stuck in your own constructions due to outdated beliefs is also worthy. To leave your home port for life beyond the horizon, no matter how exciting and promising that life, and have no feelings of loss is inhuman…Let the emotions flow. Be fully human while you are human. Be complete in your soul making experience: that leads you toward wholeness. Admitting you will miss being human and the love your feel with others and everything is not a weakness or a detriment to transition. Its a strength of your being fully engaged in life… You are in good hands. All is well.”

    The parallelism to some of what Rita in conveying through Frank is not lost on me, and it is appreciated. Likewise, I am grateful for the comments of fellow readers, which are very helpful, perhaps more so that you might suspect.
    John

    1. John,
      I connected with the struggle you wrote about 2/20 and intended to post … now I’m glad ‘time got away from me’ and I didn’t; your post here is intensely lyrical and hits the nail square on the head!

      In the words I see the ‘reminder’ that will soon be framed and hung up for me to live every day:
      “Be as fearless as you can about what comes next.
      Avoid getting stuck in your own constructs.
      Be fully human while you are human.
      Be complete in your soul making experience: that leads you toward wholeness.
      Live in the strength of being fully engaged in life … you are in good hands. All is well.”

      “You are in good hands” … very emotional for me, and deeply meaningful and intensely satisfying. I really appreciate the work and effort you share with us!
      Jim

      1. Jim,
        Wow. Going through you and back it picked up additional prime energy. That is an interesting sensation! Thanks. 🙂
        John

  3. …again, very interesting and timely. Seems intuitively “right” to me, and I’m grateful for Frank/Rita, and all who comment here to be facing the “death issue” together. It is helpful to me. In a minor way, I think I’ve experienced what’s called “oblivion” during this current life, at least a period from which I can recall nothing. A couple of times during general anaesthesia, and what I experienced as the “click-outs” during a couple of the exercises at TMI last year. Even during some deep-sleep naps as a teenager, I’d awaken and think, “wow; I could’ve been dead for all that I can remember now!”

    Of course, these were sudden “click-outs” , w/out the (possibly) prolonged “closing-down” of our physical senses which occurs at dying.

    And, John, your comments you gleaned from your greater self feel intuitively “right” as well. It is nice, and helpful, to “prepare for the transition”, but I also must recall to enjoy/be-here-now in the very human life I have right now. There are steps which I can take now, to confront my own buried emotions/any sense of shame/guilt I’ve had about what I’ve done (or haven’t done) in this life “to date”.

    My very human-ness hurts sometimes; I cry every time we lose a kitten at the kitten foster I volunteer for (something biblically-related comes to mind, to paraphrase “No sparrow which falls escapes His notice…” or similar). I’m not afraid of that kind of pain–I think– but lately I’ve forgotten some of the great joys to be had in “being Human”. I recall, years ago, awakening from a dream w/ a profound sorrow, thinking, “I’m sure gonna miss this…” This was the same Summer I first read “Journeys…” by Bob Monroe.

    I think we experience emotions for a reason, possibly as a sort of “guidance system”, but it’s “just how we’re made” to express/experience the many aspects of Human-Being. For me, personally, I’m working on “letting go the fear” of the time of my transition. And, Louisa, I too wonder about the “fun factor”, both in 3D, and in non-3D.

    Thanks again, all, for your thoughts and sharing; it is helpful to me, during my period of “deconstruction”/liberating of energies.

    Craig

  4. Dear Craig and Janie,

    I really am fascinated by examples of these states…and as you said Janie Rita offering even one example would be a huge help.

    Craig the click out or in my own experience with kundalini ie. at huge opening to spirit I also disappeared for a while and had no idea where I went but returned to days of bliss and expansion. Have you had such an experience? ANyone ? I did notice my breath slowed down a lot before…

    1. Hi Louisa,

      I did not have quite that kind of experience, w/ the bliss and expansion, however…On the Wednesday afternoon exercises, at TMI (NDE program), I came downstairs after one exercise; it may have been one in which I “clicked out; I have to review my notes of that week…what I noticed, upon glancing outside, at the rather somber, gray afternoon, that everything was glowing w/ light–so much so, that I had to squint. Now, the “CHEC Unit” is very dark, so there’s a certain amount of “re-adaption” to light, but I would take care of this by turning on the lights (the indirect red, amber, and blue ones) in order to make some quick journal notes.

      This felt different than the other “debriefings”–the landscape seemed suffused w/ extra lighting, and the giant, pink quartz crystal on the grounds was almost blinding! I suspect that my visual sense got “opened up” to perceive more of the spectrum?

      I have had a general sense of well-being, after such “click-outs” (or even the post anaesthesia period), but I don’t think I’ve had anything quite like a kundalini; I think my brain/mind gets “too chattery” to just “be with” the experience for long!

      Craig

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