| The Bain Maria
(named after Mary Prophetessa, one of the most famous female
Achemists of the middle ages.)
The Bain Maria is a double boiler with the water exuding gentle
warmth. Either seated or lying down, take deep breaths until you
are calm, then inhale very slowly. Imaging that you are taking in
the waters of the Bain maria that dissolve painful emotions and
any area of pain or tension in you mind or body. Exhale slowly and
deeply and visualize those hurtful areas melting away. Repeat until
you feel genuine relief. Repeat exercise until all those areas are
gone. Write down the results, visions, etc.
Questions to ask yourself during meditation
- What will it take to dissolve me.
- How have I been hurt by unrequited love, another’s wrath,
abuse, meanness?
- How did I react?
Visualize the Bain Maria, then re-live these experiences, but this
time work with them. Your wound is gold, you have to relive you
pain be feeling and working with only their pure energy, what is
called their “vital principle.” Don’t think about
the individual incidents, but work towards successfully dissolving
the connections between the emotions and their source. Then the
energy will be free to use elsewhere.
Cibation Meditation
Painful memories and hardened reactions are dredged up and
felt again with the goal of refining the emotions tied to them.
Turn the conscious inward to examine the areas of the psyche that
appear the driest and most crystallized. Then add intensified emotions
and feeling to re-express them and break them down. You must make
yourself cry until you can’t cry anymore. Medieval Alchemists
believed that the salt in tears was the crystallized remnant of
thoughts broken down by crying. Therapists today consider that a
client who is finally able to cry has reached a breakthrough in
recovery. Crying is one of the fastest working methods in psychology
and has successfully treated eating disorders, sexual dysfunction,
drug abuse, depression, insomnia and rage, among others. |
Living in the Moment
Become one with your environment by living entirely in the
moment without judgment or comment – like a child. This is
the “Being” state of Zen. It take practice to live in
the here and now without goals, consequences or fears, but after
a while, one suddenly experiences a sense of tremendous freedom
and refreshment. We experience the Water of the Soul coursing through
the body as innocent, unspoiled emotional energy – the reality
of the eternal now. If you have progressed far enough, you might
experience the 5th Element, the Quintessence that lies waiting in
each one of us.
Overhauling the Belief System
Sitting down and examining all areas of your life where you
are judgmental, greedy, excessive and selfish in order to break
down assumptions and habits. Wash and dissolve them by freely expressing
them with others (an AA 4th and 5th step). Stop being repressed,
don’t force your lack of repression on others. Let the Inner
Light shine through.
Uncontrolled Dissolution
(Not advisable!) Extreme physical stress, sickness and/or disease
can knock aside the ego and force the dissolution process as we
release pent-up emotional energies and live in the present of the
bodily pain and discomfort. If confronted by this, one can still
harness these alchemical forces and open a channel to the Above,
by focusing on eternal truths and relying on the Above for strength.
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