Zoom, Telepathy and Energy Networks – Hope for the New Year

Dec 27, 2020 | Articles, Featured

With the greatest respect for the suffering, losses and anxiety caused by Covid and the lockdowns, there have nevertheless been benefits.  In particular, to the surprise of many, there have been ecological, social and spiritual benefits especially with the increased use of online meetings and communications.

I know many technophobes whose dislike of the digital world has been transformed.  

The ecological and social reasons are obvious.

Pollution has been substantially reduced by the limitations on travel and increased online meetings. I pray that our skies will remain so blue. This has been a definite green win.

Less travel has also produced another public good, which is the strengthening of local communities due to a lessening of the number of people travelling into inner cities for work.

Psychologically the blessing has been twofold. First, online meetings are far better than no meetings at all and have introduced many people, previously separated by distance or technophobia, to the connections available in the digital ecosystem. This has created new layers of community.

Second, online meetings have proved easier for many people who are introvert, shy or anxious in real-life social or work gatherings, where they may be intimidated by those who are noisy, pushy or hog the airtime. The device screen provides a filtering distance, as do the tools of mute and invisibility. There is also an equality: everyone’s image is the same size. Introvert friends have told me how comfortable they are in online meetings.

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Then there has been the pleasant surprise of those who are empathic, sensitive or psychic, particularly healers and meditators.

Historically there were always people who did distant healing and meditation and could sense the subtle connections and changes in vibration. In the online meditations, trainings and workshops now available, this sense of subtle energies has been amplified. Many of my colleagues and students have commented on how strongly they sense these energies when working online. Personally I find it easy, graceful and rewarding to work in this dimension.

It is as if the planet’s energetic network — of prana and qi — has been made more tangible. Is this an evolutionary step forward for Gaia and humanity?

Some of you may remember the core concept of Peter Russell’s book The Global Brain.

The opening paragraph of the Wikipedia article on the Global Brain reads:

‘The global brain is a neuroscience-inspired and futurological vision of the planetary information and communications technology network that interconnects all humans and their technological artifacts.  As this network stores ever more information, takes over ever more functions of coordination and communication from traditional organizations, and becomes increasingly intelligent, it increasingly plays the role of a brain for the planet Earth.’

This reflects one of the core tenets of esoteric philosophy and ancient wisdom, which suggests that our planet and solar system are beings in their own right, entities on their own paths of growth and development.

What I want to underline here, following the concept of the global brain, is that the energy network of the planet is coming more fully alive.

This approach is also shamanic and elemental.

Water is inhabited by undines. Air by sylphs. Fire by salamanders. So too the worldwide web of electromagnetic connections can be seen as vibrant with its own life —elementals of telepathy and energetic connection.

Over the last year, therefore, we could suggest that there has been a new evolutionary convergence of human consciousness with the worldwide web of electromagnetic connections.

To put this another way, the global brain is no longer just a technical artefact. It is now filled with the subtle vibrations of human consciousness.

And it is worth noting that all of this — humanity and technology — emerges from Gaia.

Perhaps Gaia knows exactly what she is doing.

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Perhaps humanity is achieving a new level of sensitivity and telepathic rapport.

But if that is the case then the global brain needs to be balanced by the heart.

The new sensitivity needs to be fully grounded in ethics and compassion  — in a dynamic dedication to green healing, inclusivity and social justice.

Then all the challenges of the last year may prove to have been a blessing in disguise.

As always, the transformation relies on and begins with us.

 

Wishing you and all beings a wonderful New Year.

I was Prince Phillip’s Body Double

Dec 26, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Recent

Just to change things up here is a bit of random autobiography.

In 1963 when I was fifteen years old I visited Buckingham Palace three times in order to pose as Prince Phillip’s body.

One of my mother’s best friends was the portrait painter, June Mendoza. I cannot recall who had commissioned her, but it was an unusually relaxed portrait compared to the usual ones in which he wore a uniform.

He did not have enough time to sit for his body, so my being a similar shape June asked if I would do her the favour of coming to the palace, putting on his clothes and posing for his body.  

I have enjoyable memories of this event.

The first is that of entertaining myself on the walk of fifty metres from the main gateway, where the tourists all stand, across the forecourt to the palace. I experimented with walking slowly, walking dignified and walking with a swagger. I knew that I was being watched. I knew that the tourists were asking Who is this important man? For a fifteen-year old with a sense of the theatrical and self-importance this was such a treat.

On the second visit, before entering, I first loitered amongst the tourists, irritating many of them. I then swaggered through the gateway. The policemen acknowledged me with a salute and I walked the fifty yards to the palace very slowly. Was I a prince of the realm?

Inside the palace I was ushered up into the Duke’s private office where I put on his jumper and sat quietly in his chair for an hour while June painted.

Another good memory is of meeting all the Queen’s corgis in one of the long corridors and then a frantic hustle as the ushers quickly shifted me into a side room so that her majesty did not encounter a stranger.

I mused that I might have By Royal Appointment tattooed on my chest.

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Several years later, when I was 23, I was riding a very beautiful chopped motorcycle across London. I came from Trafalgar Square up The Mall and then to the roundabout of the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace.

Unfortunately there was oil on the tarmac and I was possibly riding too fast.

My bike slipped and fell.

Fortunately I managed to jump off and avoid any danger, but the bike continued to slide across the road towards the crowd of tourists waiting for the changing of the guard. I froze watching this horrible scene, but the bike stopped before hitting any of them.

In a strange way it was graceful — the way I had jumped off and not fallen; the way the bike had slid to a gentle halt.

Two bored policemen were watching this whole pantomime. I looked at them wondering how they would react, but they had a sense of humour, laughed and applauded. No one was hurt.  

I pulled the bike back up and rode away.

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More poignantly years later I was told by a friend that they had seen Princess Diana coming out of a bookshop holding a copy of my book ‘Psychic Protection.’

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It is a small world.

What do spiritual teachers and leaders do when no one is looking?

Dec 18, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Spirituality

What do spiritual teachers and leaders do when no one is looking?

Out in public they lead, worship, support and teach. But what are they up to when home and alone?

Over the decades I have hosted and met many of them. From experience I know that they all do the same thing. Away from their audiences, their students and congregations, they take quiet time to connect more deeply with their spiritual source.

It does not matter what their tradition is — mainstream religion, pagan, shaman, healing, yoga, meditation, dance — they take time day by day to deepen their spiritual connection. Without exception this is done quietly and humbly, with an appreciation of how small they are in the context of the cosmos.

Yes of course, after the outbreath of public service, they need to regenerate and fuel themselves. And Yes their legitimacy as a spiritual leader comes from the authenticity of their own spiritual practice. But this is not their primary motivation for ongoing spiritual practice.

Their primary motivation is their own inner calling. The core of their spiritual lives is not public outreach, though being of service is crucial. The core is their private and internal vocation — to greater connection with all that is, more love and compassion, expanded consciousness.

Think of any spiritual teacher you like and contemplate their life at home.

Be realistic. Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Amma, the hugging saint, is not hugging everything in sight but is quietly allowing herself to be hugged by spirit. The shaman is not continually transported by plant medicines and trance-dancing but sits quietly in landscape. The Dalai Lama spends hours in meditation. The Pope is not ceremonially processing around his apartment in robes and mitre but is in contemplation and prayer.

This was always their real calling. Release all the teaching and leadership. They are solid in their spiritual practice.  

Some of their ambitious followers and students may seek to be like them, also leading and teaching. But they may be missing the point, the essence. All the different spiritual paths and styles lead to the same thing — the individual’s personal spiritual calling and practice. Repeating myself now, that essence is:

— Deeper connection with all that is

— More compassion and love

— Expanded consciousness

Spiritual growth may sometimes happen serendipitously or with a wave of grace. In reality it requires dedication and daily perseverance, a rhythm of quiet opening and connection.

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So I wonder if for some of us there has been a silver lining in this Covid crisis. It has provided a time and focus for spiritual practice. We do the same then as all the teachers and leaders. We are called to an ever-deeper relationship with the wonder and energy, with the awe and mystery of all that is.

Each Breath New Patterns

Each Breath New Patterns

Oct 3, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Spirituality

One of my problems, like everyone, is that I get stuck in habits and opinions.

And these habits slow down, even sabotage, my development as I seek to become more connected, more conscious and more loving.

My opinions and my sense of self are the worst ruffians.

Just because I have a particular opinion I am attached to it. These opinions are both very shallow and very deep.

At the shallow end I have a sense of aesthetics and culture. So for example I think people should enjoy certain television series and not others, wear colours that suit their skin tone and not own motorcycles of a certain brand.

Less shallow, I am opinionated around politics, social and cultural affairs. It does not take long to identify me as an anarchic green socialist with strong tendencies to intellectual snobbery.

I also have distinct opinions about metaphysics, esoterics and spirituality. These inform much of my daily life and practice.

And then so much deeper is this sense of self, this particular William.

Being glued into any of these opinions — I use the word ‘opinion’ lightly and deeply — blocks the flow and expansion of my growth.

So a while ago I wrote a prayer-poem to help me.

I share it with you now:

EACH BREATH, NEW PATTERNS

Life within me

Life around

Unfold within me now the

Power of growth

Wisdom of love

Intelligence of being

Let me find integrity in the

Service of liberation

Let my inner life be proved in the strength of silent action

As each breath creates new patterns

Give me rhythm to embrace unfoldment

May I know beauty in every difference

Welcome change in every crisis

And give compassion to every cry

Consciousness joins all in life

Earth to cosmos

Soil to stardust

Human to divinity

Let love flame within

Freedom is with all

Space Consciousness Love and the Pandemic

Space Consciousness Love and the Pandemic

Sep 15, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Metaphysics, Spirituality, Uncategorized

Recently a research project asked me for my definition of consciousness.

Answering this enquiry philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists usually disappear down a rabbit hole of complexity. But I like a simple answer.  I encountered it first in Vedic philosophy and the books of Alice Bailey.

I summarise it:

Consciousness is the innate capacity to respond to stimulation. 

It is the capacity in everything to respond to stimulation.

Every time we see something responding to stimulation we are witnessing consciousness in action.

This applies to everything. I really mean everything — electron, atom, rock, plant, animal, human, planet, solar system, galaxy, cosmos, space . . .

Here are examples:

A rock responds to pressure and temperature. That response is an indication of the rock’s consciousness.

A plant may respond to temperature, gravity, sunlight, moisture and nutrients.

Animals may respond to many stimulations.

Humans respond to even more stimulations. Humans can respond to their own thoughts.

So the difference between a rock and a human is this. Human consciousness is more complex, more responsive to multiple stimulations.

Based in this interpretation we can suggest that consciousness is woven into the essential fabric of life and cosmos.

Expanding their awareness beyond the human realm mystics suggest that planets, our sun, stars, galaxies and the cosmos also have consciousness.

Space is consciousness.

This possibility can be a focus of enquiry in metaphysical meditation as human consciousness expands and experiences altered states. Sitting quietly it is the empty mind, like a receptive radar dish, that can garner insights. These insights are found in what one of the fathers of yoga, Patanjali, called ‘the raincloud of knowable things.’

Some meditators may reject the idea of any activity when sitting in silence. Others are very happy to explore inner realities, possibilities and dimensions.

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I have been building on this understanding of consciousness. In meditation I have been contemplating these seed thoughts and exploring their mysteries:

— Space is an infinite ocean of consciousness with an innate capacity to respond to stimulation

— Empty space is filled with matter, energy, electricity, vibrations, beings, ideas, plasma . . .  some miniscule, some galactic

Like all mystics and meditators my consciousness expands further when I am in a soft mindful state of love and bliss

Let me now add a thread that may help us address our current global crisis.

Ultimately our galaxy and all the dense matter we know will disappear.  It will be sucked into the mystery of a black hole.

This event is billions of years away, but it is inevitable.

So here is an interesting possibility:

When all the matter of our galaxy disappears into that black hole, will human consciousness also disappear?

Perhaps only dense matter is sucked into the black hole.  And the more subtle matter of our consciousness continues.

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This kind of enquiry posed in meditation is profoundly relevant to how we manage the current global crisis.

We can only conduct these contemplative enquiries if we are deeply calm, centred in our hearts and awake.

In that state we can truly see the bigger picture.

Waves and cycles of human history come and go.

There have been many plagues and demagogues. They pass.

Calm compassionate equanimity radiates.

It can balance, stabilise and heal the suffering, distress and anxiety of our times.

Humanity’s destiny is to be loving, conscious and connected.

Empaths Sensitives Stop Self-Soothing, Assert Clear Boundaries

Empaths Sensitives Stop Self-Soothing, Assert Clear Boundaries

Jun 13, 2020 | Articles, Featured, Healing & Psychology

It is obvious isn’t it? If you are sensitive or empathic or an introvert, who feels easily overwhelmed by life or people, you need boundaries.

I myself am a sensitive empathic introvert and can be easily wobbled by other people’s vibes. I know very well how to self-soothe and use calming techniques. They are great and useful. They certainly work well when I am on my own.

But when I am out in the world dealing with people and everything else, I need more than self-soothing. I need boundaries.

Why? Because the self-soothing mindful calming techniques will, in fact, just make me more of a passive sponge.

That is a horrible thought — being a passive sponge. But that is exactly what happens if we self-soothe and calm ourselves when faced with hostile or difficult behaviour and vibrations. We just become receptive radar dishes absorbing all the crap. Not good.

I talked about this when I was recording the interview for The Shift’s ‘Meditation and Mindfulness Summit.’ The very experienced woman in charge of the video/audio technology said afterwards that this was the first time she had ever heard that. “I’m a sensitive empath and no one has ever told me to assert my boundaries. That makes total sense.”

In fact I have been teaching how to assert boundaries for decades. My best techniques are in my books Psychic Protection and Feeling Safe. I also have an online Psychic Protection course you can find here at Watkins Wisdom Academy. https://watkinswisdomacademy.com/product/psychic-protection/

Especially for women who from a very young age have had to endure unwelcome intrusions of their boundaries, it can be crucial to learn to respect and assert your space.

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— I recommend books on ‘assertiveness training.’

— I suggest too that people do twelve months of a martial art so as to learn the minimal strategy of throwing a kick or punch and asserting your boundary. You may never need to throw that punch, but that attitude will be in your aura and be felt by bullies who will back off.

— Sometimes I suggest that folk should wear a watch that beeps every hour (I have a £6 Casio that does the job) and every hour they pause and assert clearly and loudly to themselves: This is my space! My boundaries! Respect! Do that sixteen times a day for a few months and things will change.

As always, do it with love and affection.

I hope that is all of the above is helpful. The huge silver lining to being empathic and sensitive is that we can also feel all the good things.

And of course — if you are strong, healthy and have clear boundaries, be chivalrous and kind.