Building The Tower of Babel

I first heard about the Dorn Method a few years ago from one of my friends in our esoteric study group. A few more years later, my mother-in-law needed treatment for her scoliosis and that provided us the opportunity to witness the Dorn Method in action.

The Dorn Method is a gentle method of spine therapy and bone alignment, akin to Filipino hilot (bone setting massage), but more systematic. Unlike chiropractic medicine which involves sudden jerking movements to re-align the bones and requires patients to lie very still, Dorn Method therapy uses gentle pressure while the patient makes small movements so that the therapist can coax misaligned vertebrae and joints back into place.

From the point of view of the Dorn Method, most chronic body pains are caused by misalignments in the spine and/or in any of the other joints in the arms, legs and pelvis. The Dorn Method of gently re-aligning the vertebrae and joints often produce remarkable results of recovery and disappearance of pain. The more severe or long-standing an ailment, the more therapy sessions are needed of course, but in general even just one session is enough to produce noticeable improvement.

The Dorn Method takes its name from Dieter Dorn, a German farmer who once suffered a back injury while working in his sawmill. Dorn approached an old farmer in the area who was known for his healing skills, much like how in the Philippine countryside the locals would approach the manghihilot (massage healer) for various physical ailments.

With some gentle massage movements, the old farmer treated Dorn's back and the pain immediately disappeared. When Dorn asked the old farmer if he could teach the technique, the farmer replied, "You already know it!" Dieter Dorn had no chance to investigate further because the old farmer died soon after healing Dorn, so Dorn had to learn the technique by himself.

Dorn first successfully treated his wife, and eventually friends, neighbors and relatives flocked to him to have their various back ailments treated. Dorn noticed that although he only treated the spine, other related illnesses such as knee pain, heart ailments, etc. also disappeared. He found the answer when he came upon a copy of an old Traditional Chinese Medicine manual and discovered that a lot of accupuncture meridians were located along the spine. By treating vertebrae misalignments, Dorn inadvertently restored the chi flow along these meridians, hence other seemingly unconnected illnesses also got treated.

It makes sense because most of the major chakras are located along the spine, so if the spine is restored to physical health (proper alignment of the vertebrae), there is a corresponding effect on the energy body and the chakras. In fact, patients are advised that for the next few days after a Dorn Method treatment, the person may experience detoxification signs (diarrhea, slight fever or rashes) or that hidden or unresolved psychological issues may suddenly surface. These are signs that indeed the corresponding chakras are being influenced. In fact, by looking at which of your vertebrae are misaligned, a Dorn Method therapist can indicate what physical illnesses you may have or what psychological issues may be influencing your health.

Dorn refined his system when he teamed up with Dr. Thomas Hansen, M.D.. Through Dr. Hansen, Dorn learned more about anatomy and physiology, and with this combined expertise they both experimented and added to the Dorn Method until a few years later, Dorn decided that it was already time to teach the method to the world.

Looking back at the reply of the old farmer, that Dieter Dorn already knew the method of treatment, it may sound cryptic especially since Dorn really did manage to develop the method seemingly on his own. However, in his book The Origins of Modern Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga, Master Choa Kok Sui mentions that over the past century or two, a lot of spiritual initiates have been incarnating in order to introduce different healing systems to humanity. Not all of these disciples remember what they incarnated for, but sometime in their lives they meet a person or go through an event (sometimes both) that starts them on the road to their spiritual mission. Based on the events of Dieter Dorn's life, I feel that he is one of those initiates. Dorn's back injury was the triggering event, while the old farmer (who most likely was an initiate himself, since he was a gifted healer and knew what to tell Dorn) was the person who set Dorn on his way.

In case you are wondering why an initiate would incarnate as a lowly farmer, we don't really know how the grand design always plays out. Perhaps it's necessary for initiates to be at a certain place, a certain time and a certain station in life, in order to form a link in a chain of events leading to a particular goal. As an example, Master Choa started his subtle energy studies with Mang Dabon, a local healer who lived in one of the slum areas of Cebu City. Yet Master Choa mentions that Mang Dabon was the most powerful healer still living at the time that he had ever met.

Going back to the Dorn Method, the most important aspect of the treatment is the cooperation of the patient. It's just like in pranic healing and any other energy healing system, the patient needs to be receptive in order to allow the healing to commence. Cooperation is not limited to the clinic, in following the therapist's instructions, but also in doing the self-help exercises at home. These self-help exercises are not limited to those with misaligned joints and vertebrae, but also as preventive exercise for those with healthy bodies. You will be surprised at how little it takes to misalign one of the vertebrae or joints, especially with our modern lifestyle.

For example, let's discuss unequal leg lengths, a common issue among majority of people. Rare is the case that one leg is by measurement longer than the other. For most people, the legs themselves are of equal measurement, just that one of them rides further out from the hip joint than the other (anywhere from a few millimeters to 3 centimeters), resulting in uneven lengths. Since the legs form the foundations upon which the pelvic bone is placed, and since the spine is seated on the pelvic bone, unequal leg lengths can eventually cause some vertebrae to misalign because of the difference in distribution of force. If you want an esoteric image, imagine the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The two legs are like the left and the right pillars, while the spine is the middle pillar. Imbalance in any of the two pillars on the side will affect the middle pillar.

Given the above example, there are movements and positions that contribute to unequal leg lengths. Riding in a car on a bumpy road is one, sitting cross-legged (the way the ladies do it, one leg placed on top of the other) is another. The reason is that in a seated position, the muscles that secure the femur to the pelvic bone are relaxed, therefore it does not take so much force to nudge the femur away from its secure seating in the hip joint. When you sit cross legged and swing your leg over the other, you stretch the joint unnaturally beyond 90 degrees. Since the muscles in the area are relaxed while seated, the stretch itself can pull the joint slightly out of place. Not enough to be called an actual dislocation, but enough to cause unequal leg lengths.

Even minor misalignments (a few millimeters) are already enough to cause some sort of pain or discomfort somewhere in the body. So aside from changing certain postural habits, the self help exercises of the Dorn Method will help one to keep the joints and vertebrae as aligned as possible.

For the spiritual practitioner, a healthy spine is of great importance. As mentioned earlier, most of the major chakras are located along the spine. If you take a look at different esoteric spiritual traditions all over the world, it becomes apparent that the path towards spiritual evolution involves harmonizing and integrating the different chakras. Esoteric spiritual systems the world over are consistent in stating the existence of chakras in the human bodies. These chakras are called by other names such as energy vortices or psychic centers, but they all refer to the same thing.

One esoteric text I read compares the chakras with a group of carpenters building a house. One is in charge of the cement, one in charge of laying the bricks, one in charge of painting. They have independent jobs, but if they work harmoniously together, the house gets built on schedule and with no problems.

On the other hand, if say the brick layer is remiss in his job, the ready cement could get wasted if it dries up, while the painter is left with a lot of idle time since the areas he needs to paint are not yet finished. In the same way, disharmonies in the chakras produce various forms of illnesses.

The same esoteric text I was referring to earlier equates the Tower of Babel with the human body. By ensuring that all the chakras are integrated and work harmoniously, one is able to "reach the heavens" and be enlightened. In the Tower of Babel story, once "communication" broke down, the tower fell, the same way that the consciousness of most people in the world today do not reach the higher realms.

As stated earlier, the physical state of the spine reflects the energetic health of the etheric body and the chakras and vice versa. So misalignments in the spine and other bones may be taken as a sign that the "carpenters" are not working harmoniously together.

Our Dorn Method trainer mentioned that when he sees a fully aligned and healthy spine, he sees it as a majestic cobra rising to the head. That's an interesting comment, because the spine is indeed the pathway that the kundalini energy takes as it is more fully awakened and rises towards the head. In another article I discussed the importance of quantity and quality, and the same applies here. Master Choa says in his books that all people have the kundalini awakened. The difference between spiritual practitioners and the average masses is the degree of activation. I suppose then that the spine, which resembles an upright cobra in form, is the physical manifestation of that partially awakened kundalini that is inherent in everyone. Really interesting.

The Dorn Method reached the Philippines through the efforts of Thomas Zudrell, a German living in the Philippines. He went back to Germany in order to learn the Dorn Method (most of the training manuals were in German, so he studied there so that he could translate the manual into English here). Upon returning to the Philippines, Zudrell co-founded the Academy for Wholistic Healing Arts, Inc. (AWHAI) in 2003. We are fortunate because aside from Germany and Switzerland, the Philippines is next in terms of the number of Dorn Method therapists in the country.

One may ask then where energy healing, such as pranic healing, comes in when the Dorn Method can already produce such tremendous results. The answer is that since our goal is always holistic health, then any healing method has its place. As I mentioned in my article about internal power, when you work at something from both ends, the results are more powerful and quicker.

To a spiritual practitioner who has undergone the Dorn Method or better yet has learned how to do it, a valuable tool is added so that he can more successfully build his own "Tower of Babel." Additionally, he can now help others get on their way towards the higher realms as well.

So let's start building today!

Consciousness and Awareness

Consciousness and awareness. You will find a lot of metaphysical, philosophical and even medical definitions for these terminologies, even just by searching the Internet. In everyday use, we tend to treat these concepts interchangeably, but if you read a lot of esoteric texts there is a very thin, yet distinct, line that distinguishes between consciousness and awareness. It's a subject that I have been pondering on for some time.

I don't want to go into a long discourse here, so I will just use one of Master Choa Kok Sui's frameworks in order to describe my understanding of consciousness and awareness. In his book Achieving Oneness with the Higher Soul, Master Choa mentions that we should always be aware of both quantity and quality. As an example, he says we are all connected to our higher souls. That is a quality that is present in everyone. However, the degree of connection differs between people. One cannot compare a compulsive gambler whose spiritual cord may be the width of a strand of hair to a maharishi who has worked lifetimes to build an antahkarana that may be much wider than his head. The quantity of connection spells a big difference.

Relating our subject with the above paragraph, the soul is said to be energy with consciousness. Therefore, consciousness is a quality that is inherent in everyone. However, one's degree of awareness (quantity) differs with others. If we go with this definition, then it appears that consciousness and awareness are merely attributes of something. This leads to the question: quality and quantity of what? I would have to say that consciousness and awareness are attributes of presence.

As an example, we can look at the case of a drug addict on a high, who may be conscious but barely aware of his surroundings. We can say that "nobody's home" when we cannot get a coherent response from that person. Compare this to a military counter-sniper, who has been trained to be aware of anything out of the ordinary in the landscape that could signal the presence of an enemy sniper. Athletes call this "being in the zone" and such a heightened state of awareness makes one notice things and react to situations in a way that is not possible in normal circumstances.

On the other hand, when people refer to spiritual practices, we often hear the term "expansion of consciousness." In fact, many spiritual practitioners are highly expectant of 2012 precisely because of humanity's expected raising of consciousness. How do awareness and consciousness play their parts in one's spiritual practice?

I suppose one example would be that of an indigenous tribesman, one whose tribe has been in the deepest parts of some remote jungle and therefore has no idea of the amazing technological advances of the modern world. Within the tribesman's world, he is very aware and connected with Nature. The jungle holds no fear nor danger for him, because he has built his awareness up to the point that he and the jungle are one symbiotic unit. Yet this man would have no idea what a cellphone is and what it can do. Here you have highly attuned awareness but limited consciousness.

Then let's suppose a helicopter from a research institute flies over the tribesman's village, somehow lands, and all these white people with sophisticated equipment come out. To the tribesman's eyes, a monstrous beast of iron descended from the sky spewing "gods" from its belly before flying out again. The "tribal quality" of the tribesman's consciousness will make him interpret the technology he is seeing for the first time within the context of tribal knowledge, which does not encapsulate modern technology. So a helicopter suddenly becomes a beast of legend or something similar. If the tribesman somehow gets immersed in modern society, then he will start making sense of what he is seeing. His consciousness would have expanded and his awareness allows him to move within the newly expanded mental framework.

The cultivation of awareness is called dhyan in India, then the practice made its way to China as chan, until it finally reached Japan where it was called zen. Master Choa also mentions that one must raise the kundalini to the crown in order to register these different spiritual experiences.

But more than the progress gained in one's spiritual journey, the cultivation of awareness also has an important role to play when we die. In the book The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, the author asserts that awareness upon the time of death is of paramount importance. And the way to develop this awareness is by being aware even when one is asleep.

The process of going to sleep mirrors somewhat the process of dying, except that when we sleep we eventually return to the physical body and awake to the world we know. Most of us are not even aware we have fallen asleep and are dreaming until we wake up in the morning. Very few of us are aware or recognize when we are in a dream.

This is why in Tibet, they have a funerary text called the Tibetan Book of the Dead. A lama (priest) is supposed to read the instructions in the book to the recently deceased so that the person can successfully make his way through the bardo, or the in-between state after death. More often than not a recently deceased person is unaware that he has died, the same way we are usually not aware we are already asleep and dreaming. To the person who has not cultivated the ability to remain aware even while asleep, guidance upon death is necessary from a lama.

According to Master Choa Kok Sui and Dr. Earlyne Chaney of Astara, at the point of death the dying person will see a very bright light. It is important for the dying person to merge with that bright light to take advantage of this opportunity for liberation. The dying person must not be drugged, must not be distracted by crying or arguments about the inheritance or how to dispose of the remains. Any such crying or arguments should be done well away from the room of the dying person. Utmost concentration and awareness are necessary at this most important of events.

So you see, awareness and consciousness are not as cut and dried as we would think they are. Although my understanding of the subject may not be the best interpretation of this topic, hopefully it still helps all of us to peel away a further layer of truth as we climb further up in this spiritual evolution of ours.

Internal Energy and the Martial Arts

As a kid, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan films were a staple of lazy weekend afternoons or as a part of a weekday movie treat after school. Drunken Master was a classic for me, but at home we also rented a lot of other kung fu movies at a time when Betamax was considered the cutting edge of home entertainment. So to say that I like the martial arts is a bit of an understatement.

It was particularly entertaining to watch the almost superhuman feats in those kung fu fight scenes. The ability to absorb so much damage, immunity to sword strikes, jumping long distances, fighting while balancing on tree tops, to shooting chi energy from the fingertips. The moves ranged from the amazing to the ridiculous, but they always stuck with me.

Entertainment soon developed into genuine interest and I started reading different books about the martial arts. I went for old copies of Black Belt magazine, and different martial arts books were more common in National Bookstore back then. I'm sure other martial arts enthusiasts in Metro Manila would still remember Squadron Shoppe in the old Virramall. Still, I wasn't that hardcore enough to have consistently trained in any one system throughout the years, mostly because of a combination of time, circumstance and budget. I can be described as more of a casual martial artist, if there is such a term.

With the rising popularity of mixed martial arts and the UFC, traditional kung fu / martial arts movies have mostly died out from the mainstream, although a few big budget films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Forbidden Kingdom still manage to get media attention. But overall, the hand-to-hand fight scenes in action movies of today tend to follow more realistic lines and there's a distinctly MMA flavor about them, such as you would see in Never Back Down (a Karate Kid-like story but with MMA as the martial art of focus), Inception and the more recent Haywire.Regardless of the popularity of "reality" martial arts, I've always held a fascination with the so-called "internal arts." While there have always been ample demonstrations of physical feats such as not getting wounded by blades, brick breaking and other stuff that make one cringe just thinking about it, there are still a lot of people that think these feats are a) stage tricks, b) take too long to develop / impossible to develop since the training is secret, or c) impractical in a real fight. Sites like Bullshido also tend to throw cold water on anything resembling esoteric martial arts.

And then recently I came upon the following video:



It's about a match between a supposed Japanese kiai master and an MMA fighter. In karate, fighters shout "Kiai!" just before launching a strike, supposedly to stun or distract the opponent enough to let the strike get past the opponent's defenses. I assume that the kiai master in the video is using some sort of energy manipulation system within the context of a martial art.

The video starts in the dojo of the kiai master, where he demonstrates how he is able to overcome his students by use of his ki (or chi) energy. The next segment shows the match against the MMA fighter and unfortunately for the kiai master, he gets knocked out soon after the fight starts.

I'm sure a lot of skeptics would use this video as proof that so-called internal martial arts are just a lot of hokey. What, then, happened in the case of the kiai master? If there really is something to internal energy, why couldn't he overcome the MMA fighter?

In order to attempt an explanation, we must work with a few assumptions and the most important assumption is that there is such a thing as chi energy. Without this assumption, there's really no point trying to explain what happened. One may say that the kiai master is probably a fake. However, he was willing to put US$5,000 on the line to face an MMA fighter, and he really seemed to believe he could do something in that fight. So delusions of grandeur aside, let's assume he really had a system of kiai martial arts.

Given the above assumptions, what happened? Here's my take on it, and I will use pranic healing as a basis for comparison:

Firstly, in pranic healing, and any other energy healing system, it is important for the patient to be receptive. Otherwise, the healing energy won't go in or will be absorbed very slowly. In the case of the kiai master, his students were obviously receptive to his teachings, so they essentially "allowed" his energy to come in and manipulate their bodies. The MMA fighter was obviously not receptive, hence was unaffected by the kiai master's techniques.

Second, the kiai master's energy body may not have been as developed as he thought it was. We know that physical exercise stimulates the chakras, hence it leads to a stronger energy body (try scanning yourself before exercise and after exercise to see the difference). If you've seen MMA fighters train, they can be considered extreme athletes, especially the professional fighters. It's normal for them to train 8 hours a day, and they also train intelligently, meaning they are aware of the role of diet and nutrition in improving performance. So you can imagine just how strong their energy bodies are.

Third, on the mental aspect, one needs a lot of discipline, dedication and focus in order to train to be a fighter. It's not just needed to motivate oneself to show up at the gym everyday, it's necessary in order to avoid injuring oneself during training. So imagine how strong the thought form of the fighter is, the thought form of wanting to win coupled with the desire to win. It's really potent, and the kiai master may not have had the same mental sharpness or thought power.

Fourth, in pranic healing there is the concept of absorption time. Some people absorb healing energy very fast or instantaneously, especially if karmically entitled, while some absorb the energies more slowly. So normally, healers advise patients that the effects may be felt in at least 30 minutes time and not to take a shower at least overnight so that the healing energies are not dissipated by the water. So going back to our kiai master, since the MMA fighter was not receptive, even if some energy did get through, any effect may have appeared well after the fight was over.

Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't bother with internal arts like chi kung. I'm sure that there are martial artists out there who have mastered their energy so much that they could probably stop a guy in his tracks just by looking at them. It's just that any such encounters may not have been recorded or reported in the news.

What I am saying is that if one is relying on an energy component for self defense, one would do well to also add a physical training component and include full contact sparring if possible. Like physical muscles, our "energy muscles" also need to be trained to respond instantly to such fluid scenarios like a fight. The point is to "stress test" one's energy skills against an opponent who's not willing to cooperate. Physical training, and particularly sparring, provides a reality check for one's abilities. I like to think of it as working at your abilities from both ends, the energy training and then physical training. When you meet at the middle, you have a formidable arsenal on call if necessary.

For example, if one were doing tai chi and chi kung purely for the health benefits, then we have no problem. But if you would think that you could use your tai chi and chi kung to stop a doped up mugger out to kill you, you should think again.

In the above case, it would probably do you well to include some muay thai or some other striking art in your arsenal. A striking art will help you develop the reflexes, conditioning and timing to land strikes, while your tai chi and chi kung may give you that extra "snap" for the knockout punch or kick, or at least a hit that will instantly stun your attacker.

While I haven't heard of an MMA fighter training in chi kung, we do have historical precedents in the form of the Shaolin monks. Their training is even more extreme than that of the professional MMA fighters, plus they also focus on developing their chi. And let's not forget, they are Buddhist monks first, martial artists second. If anything, it only shows that spirituality and athleticism are not mutually exclusive.

But before we go on, let me emphasize that the physical conflict aspect of self defense only forms a small slice of the overall pie and in fact, physical force is the last resort, if all other aspects of one's self defense strategy has failed. If you want a clearer exposition of this, you may visit No Nonsense Self Defense by Marc "Animal" MacYoung. Pay attention to his article about the Pyramid of Personal Safety since it's a good guideline on how to formulate one's self defense posture.

Using the Pyramid of Personal Safety as a guideline, since physical self defense is the last option, this is where a strong energy body can come into the picture. If you've ever walked into a room where two people were angry at each other and you felt how the "vibes" were different, then you know that energy can have an "almost palpable" effect. By having a stronger energy body, you can possibly make potential attackers pause since there is "something about you" that will make them think it's a bad idea to choose you as a target. Combined with the other components of the Pyramid of Personal Safety, it encapsulates the "fighting without fighting" concept that we often attribute to venerable and elderly martial arts masters.

This topic of self defense can be another article altogether, but since martial arts often gets equated with self defense, I felt it was important to include something about self defense here. Let's also remember the role that karma plays. Still, karma is a very complicated subject, so it's only common sense to take reasonable precautions.

For many reasons, the martial arts are still as popular as ever and the stories of legendary feats by martial arts masters always abound. The development of internal energy or chi has been the cornerstone of these martial arts legends, so it's really an exciting topic to explore especially with the growing awareness about the role that subtle energy plays in our lives.

Where Is The Love?

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and I'm sure a lot of us are still riding high on the euphoria of celebrating a day of (romantic) love. Then today I came upon a video featuring David Icke that provides a stark contrast to the mushiness of Valentine's Day. Here is the video:



I don't follow David Icke all that much. I've read one of his books and seen a few of his videos, but for me, the above video is perhaps one of the most powerful presentations of his that I have watched.

Admittedly, David Icke and his theories wouldn't come over well among the mainstream crowd. And his focus on the alien / Reptilian / Illuminati agenda that seeks to enslave the world will probably have a lot of your regular friends thinking that you've gone off the deep end.

In this particular video, David Icke talks about how our current lifestyle (pressures of attaining achievements and the heavy emphasis on entertainment) blind most of us to what is happening in the world and how humanity is intentionally being dumbed down. He also talks about how money is being created from thin air. Interestingly, the contents of the presentation mirror what William Bramley has to say in his book Gods of Eden. The ending song Where is the love by Black Eyed Peas nicely punctuates the message of David Icke.

Regardless of one's belief or disbelief in the existence of aliens, it is hard to ignore what David Icke is saying. We nitpick about why so-and-so should have been American Idol. We practically make a party everytime we watch the basketball playoffs. We get pissed off at missing an episode from our favorite show. Yet only few remember that the 2003 Iraq invasion was founded on a lie (they said there were WMDs, but no WMDs were ever found). Most people buy the media stories that Iran is a "terror threat" and should be stopped, without linking the chain of events that has bred chaos in several nations in the Middle East. Most people are not even aware of the implications of the current Euro crisis and what it could mean for the world's economies.

Not to say that entertainment is bad or that we should not try to achieve something, but everything is set up so that a large percentage of our time and focus is directed at this very narrow band of reality, and it blinds us from everything else that is happening around, especially events that don't receive much media attention. It's all built up to pander to our self-centeredness. The video really does make one think about one's priorities.

In the end, it is all up to the choices we make. We should always strive to live a good, comfortable and enjoyable life, but hopefully not to the exclusion of everyone's right to pursue that same type of life. I think it's the height of irony to kick back and say that since everything is good in our life then everything must be good in the world, while children are dying of famine in Somalia. It's all about balance. The key then is to always look beyond ourselves, to be compassionate and always think how good it would be if other people enjoyed the same success we are having.

We may not be able to change the world, but by golly, we can certainly mean the world to others if we really tried.

The Genie In The Lamp

I already mentioned the genie in the lamp story in my previous article that partially discussed the subconscious, but I'd like to put a little more attention to the story in this article. Most of us are familiar with the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp from the Book of One Thousand and One Nights (aka The Arabian Nights), although I suspect the later generations are aware of Aladdin from the Disney film of the same name.

Just to refresh ourselves about the story, I'll quote the version in Wikipedia here:

Aladdin is an impoverished young ne'er-do-well in a Chinese town, who is recruited by a sorcerer from the Maghreb, who passes himself off as the brother of Aladdin's late father Qaseem, convincing Aladdin and his mother of his goodwill by apparently making arrangements to set up the lad as a wealthy merchant. The sorcerer's real motive is to persuade young Aladdin to retrieve a wonderful oil lamp from a booby-trapped magic cave of wonder. After the sorcerer attempts to double-cross him, Aladdin finds himself trapped in the cave. Fortunately, Aladdin retains a magic ring lent to him by the sorcerer. When he rubs his hands in despair, he inadvertently rubs the ring, and a jinni, or "genie", appears, who takes him home to his mother. Aladdin is still carrying the lamp, and when his mother tries to clean it, a second, far more powerful genie appears, who is bound to do the bidding of the person holding the lamp. With the aid of the genie of the lamp, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries Princess Badroulbadour, the Emperor's daughter. The genie builds Aladdin a wonderful palace – far more magnificent than that of the Emperor himself.

The sorcerer returns and is able to get his hands on the lamp by tricking Aladdin's wife, who is unaware of the lamp's importance, by offering to exchange "new lamps for old". He orders the genie of the lamp to take the palace to his home in the Maghreb. Fortunately, Aladdin retains the magic ring and is able to summon the lesser genie. Although the genie of the ring cannot directly undo any of the magic of the genie of the lamp, he is able to transport Aladdin to Maghreb, and help him recover his wife and the lamp and defeat the sorcerer.

The sorcerer's more powerful and evil brother tries to destroy Aladdin for killing his brother by disguising himself as an old woman known for her healing powers. Badroulbadour falls for his disguise, and commands the "woman" to stay in her palace in case of any illnesses. Aladdin is warned of his danger by the genie of the lamp and slays the imposter. Everyone lives happily ever after, Aladdin eventually succeeding to his father-in-law's throne.

Let's now try to decipher the esoteric components of the story. Our conscious and rational mind allows us to achieve many wonderful things. It is always on hand, at our beck and call (the genie in the ring). But much more powerful than the conscious mind is the subconscious, hidden deeper within the recesses of our mind, yet still ready to do our bidding if we could but reach it (the magic lamp hidden in a cave and the genie beholden to the one holding the lamp).

Wedding stories are usually allusions to the kundalini rising up to the crown, facilitating union with one's Higher Soul. Therefore the marriage of Aladdin and Princess Badroulbadour and living in a palace may be interpreted the same way. The palace may be seen as the Biblical Holy of Holies where the Most High dwells (meaning, the Higher Soul). Since Aladdin was able to marry the princess and acquire the palace through the genie of the lamp, we can say that as one masters the subconscious, one acquires a very potent tool in achieving enlightenment.

However, on the spiritual path, it's important to do inner and outer purification. Outer purification includes maintaining a lifestyle that ensures physical, emotional and mental health. This means healthy food, a healthy environment and relationships, and proper management of stress. Inner purification involves character building, developing the "strength to do what is right and avoid unwholesome actions and behaviors" as one prayer says. Otherwise, it is easy for our baser instincts to subvert all our gains, which is symbolized by the evil sorcerer tricking the princess into giving up the magic lamp, leading to the (temporary) loss of the princess and the palace.

By firm application of intellect and the will to do good, symbolized by Aladdin using the genie of the ring to catch up with the sorcerer, it is possible to confront our lower tendencies and "slay" them. This allows us to regain the fruits of our spiritual labors.

Even more insidious though are other factors that we are not aware are harming us. These can be long-buried complexes and traumas that subtly influence the ways we react and make decisions. Or these can be such things as media propaganda, social biases, advertising and other means of social programming that are meant to influence the way we think and behave. They are dangerous simply because we may not be aware of what is happening or may even think they are helpful. In the story of Aladdin, this is symbolized by the more powerful brother of the evil sorcerer, who disguises himself in order to strike when Aladdin least expects it.

But when one is attuned to one's subconscious, working with it instead of blindly flailing away at problems, it is the subconscious mind itself that can provide the key to resolving traumas and biases, ultimately leading to a realized self that is not beholden to outside influences. This is how the genie of the lamp warns Aladdin of the danger posed by the second sorcerer. Some would call this accessing one's intuition. After all, what is the mind if not a tool to access the higher planes? It then follows that if the tool is in sync, one's access to the higher planes is smoother.

How then can we explain the two instances when Princess Badroulbadour was deceived? If she does represent kundalini, we must take note that kundalini is essentially a force of Nature. According to the teachings of Master Choa Kok Sui, the kundalini, when activated, can magnify both the good and the bad qualities of a person. This is why people on the spiritual path can face intense inner battles. And this is why it is so important to do inner purification, so that the weeds do not grow along with the wheat.

Assuming the above interpretation of the Aladdin story is accurate, the fact that the teaching was immortalized in a story shows the importance the ancient sages attributed to the subconscious. Is this really so? The mind is often compared to an iceberg. The conscious mind only comprises the part of the iceberg that is above water, with the greater part hidden underneath. Charles Haanel in The Master Key System goes so far as to say that the conscious, rational mind only comprises 10% of our mind, with the other 90% being the subconscious. An out-of-control subconscious can therefore make the tail wag the dog, so to speak. This situation is alluded to in the Bible, such as in Romans 7:15: I cannot even understand my own actions. I do not do what I want to do, but what I hate.

In many esoteric traditions, hypnotizing other people is considered very, very bad. Using hypnosis, the hypnotist gets access to the subject's subconscious, therefore he can plant all sorts of commands and suggestions that the subject would be helpless to counter. It's like when the sorcerer tricked the princess into giving up the lamp.

In the Philippines, people are aware of the existence of the so-called budol-budol gangs, who hypnotize their victims into giving the goons their life savings or withdrawing all the money in the ATM, and at the end of it all, the victim is not aware what happened or why they even cooperated. One of my aunts was victimized this way, so budol-budol gangs do exist. These types of gangs usually prey on old people because old people are usually not as mentally sharp and strong-willed as the young. So it pays to keep the mind sharp and the will strong.

So then, how do you make the genie work for you? To summarize: repeated autosuggestion and visualization. This site gives some tips on how to make the subconscious work for you. If you read the Master Key System, it gives a lot of exercises to master the subconscious. Just remember, the subconscious cannot be commanded like a dog, and it takes things literally. So if you say "I don't want to be sick" it will only catch on to the thought of sickness and give you that. Instead, phrase your thought positively, like "I have good health."

You would also do well to avoid exposing yourself to situations that can negatively influence you. For example, Rhonda Byrne, who wrote The Secret, revealed that she does not watch the news anymore. It can involve some pretty radical lifestyle decisions, but the extent of the change is entirely up to you.

The genie in the lamp is an ancient story that still has relevance in this modern age. You can try to ignore it, or make the effort to work with it. Either way, it's not going anywhere. Might as well rub that lamp, and see the magic enter into your life!

Running on Instinct

Anyone who has taken a martial art would know of this one. You work hard through all the drills and forms, and finally comes sparring day. For most people, the moment the referee says "Fight!" all the forms and drills suddenly get thrown out the window and you either freeze or spar in a way that is barely recognizable to your instructor.

This example about sparring illustrates how one's body and mind have not yet assimilated the forms and techniques to the point that they can be executed without conscious thought. In short, one's reactions have not yet become instinctive. This holds true in any endeavor, whether it be playing the piano or playing a sport.

Instinct is what takes over in those very fluid situations when there is literally not enough time for the conscious mind to think through everything that needs to be done in order to respond to the situation. A punch about to connect to your face, a speedball thrown by a pitcher, playing the drums in a rock concert, all of these are examples of situations that require an almost instantaneous response without much conscious intervention.

In his book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell constantly refers to the 10,000 hour rule, which states that to achieve mastery in any one skill, one needs to keep practicing and utilizing that skill for at least 10,000 hours. Practice literally makes perfect.

Physically, the constant repetition builds up one's muscle memory in order to properly execute a particular technique. Mentally, two things happen. One is that by continually using certain memories, it becomes easier to access them since the neurological pathways towards those memories are more developed. Just compare the newbie graphic artist who constantly needs to check the Help section on Photoshop versus the master graphic artist who can make dazzling images in just a few minutes. One is putting more energy trying to remember, while the other is more focused on being creative.

The second thing that happens on the mental level is that one's subconscious gets trained to recognize and respond to certain stimuli, even without conscious intervention. I've mentioned before that the subconscious plays an important role in esoteric spirituality and occult practice, and the way to train the subconscious is through constant repetition. The subconscious is the repository of memories and easily receives information, even tidbits that one is not aware of. We've heard of stories about people suddenly getting jittery or alert for no reason upon entering a room or reaching a place, only to find out later that danger was lurking nearby. Their subconscious mind was picking up cues that their conscious mind was not aware of. That's how powerful the subconscious can be. If you can train yourself to be more in tune with your subconscious, you will be very formidable indeed.

The subconscious though is like a dumb servant. It will follow commands faithfully, without regard to whether it is right or wrong. This is where the conscious mind and the will come in, in order to keep a firm leash on the subconscious. The genie on the lamp who grants three wishes is most likely an allusion to the subconscious. It is said that to engage the subconscious, one must repeat a command three times (hence the three wishes). The first command is to alert the subconscious, the second repetition is to make the subconscious notice, and then the third is to affirm one's command.

If we go a little deeper and look at it from the energy perspective, the intent towards learning a particular skill creates a thought-form. Since energy follows your thoughts, if you keep repeating the same thought, it gains more energy and thus becomes more powerful. This thought-form then resides in one's aura, ready to attract the energies that will allow it to fulfill its original intent. In this sense, we can call it instinct, because there is action without conscious thought.

But just as one can build up the instinct in order to make one more competitive, the same can also be said about developing negative instincts that can get one in trouble or at least make one's life miserable. Did you ever mouth off a comment without thinking, only to regret it later and wonder why you ever said something at all? That's the type of instinct you don't want.

Unfortunately, a lifetime of social and cultural bias, TV, media, aggressive advertising and a few bad role models along the way have engendered some of the worst instincts in us. Remember, the subconscious is a sponge for information, so all the programming we haven't noticed has been bombarding us since childhood. That's definitely more than 10,000 hours worth of bad social programming and you can understand now why it can be so hard to break a habit. These instincts can also manifest as compulsive behavior. You automatically do something just because.

You can forgive everyone in the comfort of your room, but once you encounter the person who can push your buttons, all sorts of reactions (even just in your mind) start coming out. Stressful situations often trigger one's instincts, so you often react before your rational mind kicks in. Throw emotions into the mix and it can be some time before you realize your mistake, if at all. The problem is that these reactions, whether physical, emotional or mental, create karmic traces that one has to deal with later on.

The trick is to exercise persistent effort in eradicating negative instincts. Those negative instincts took years to develop, but they can also be unlearned, as long as one is willing to put in the time and effort to change them. This is also called character building.

At best, instincts help us become more competitive and efficient, and frees up our mind to focus on other important details of a task or project. At their worst, our instincts can get us into all sorts of trouble, and prevent us from achieving our full potential. I don't know about you, but that's enough incentive for me to start the process of reforming the type of instincts that I carry.

One of the esoteric methods that Master Choa Kok Sui revealed in order to help in one's character building is called Introspection and Firm Resolution. When you get up in the morning, before taking a shower, review what you did the previous day. Did you hurt anyone physically, emotionally or mentally? Were you fair in your dealings with others? Did you indulge in any of your addictions, such as gambling? You don't need to tell anyone your wrongdoings, but you need to be honest with yourself. It's like practicing the Sacrament of Confession on yourself everyday.

Once you have identified a situation where you acted inappropriately, mentally erase the situation and instead imagine that you are acting or speaking correctly and appropriately, and then affirm that in case a similar situation in the future comes up, you will act in the right way. What this does is that it programs your subconscious to act correctly, so that you become instinctive in a good way. This is also the reason it's good to do introspection soon after waking up, because the subconscious is still at its most receptive soon after waking. The other time the subconscious is receptive is just before falling asleep (that's why your last thought before falling asleep is important; make sure it's a good thought). However, many people may fall completely asleep before completing the review of one's day, so doing introspection in the morning is better for most.

It can take a LOT of days of introspection and firm resolution before any noticeable effect is achieved. The key is one-pointedness of aim and effort. You're trying to de-program years of bad instincts, so it really takes time. No need to beat yourself up if you repeat a mistake. Just pick yourself up and keep going at it. Just remember that while Rome wasn't built in a day, it WAS built. I suppose one can already be considered a saint if one has all of one's instincts in order. No more instinct to criticize anyone who does not agree with one's opinions. No instinct to shout or even mentally curse the driver who cut him off at the road.

This is the work of a lifetime, but anything worth doing usually is. And we all have to start somewhere. The Chinese have a saying that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step. Well, if we want to develop those good instincts we have at least 10,000 hours to put in (according to Gladwell), and it all starts with one thought. It's the thought that counts, they say, and in this case it's so true.

The Golden Body

In Arhatic Yoga practice, one of the objectives at the higher levels is the development of the so-called golden body. While the specific techniques are understandably secret, the concept of the golden body itself is not unique to Arhatic Yoga. Development of the golden body represents one of the components in the advanced spiritual practices of esoteric traditions the world over.

A lot of religious statues and icons, especially Buddhist ones, are made of gold, painted in gold or clothed in gold. In the book The Third Eye, T. Lobsang Rampa describes a process where newly deceased high-ranking lamas are encased in gold. So precise was the process that the deceased retained the features they had in life, except that their bodies were now completely encased in gold. The now golden statues are then clothed before being placed in a specific location in the Potala (the Vatican of Tibetan Buddhism).

During the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs and Incas, the legend of El Dorado captivated many conquistadors and treasure hunters. Apparently, El Dorado originally referred to the chief of the Muisca tribe who covered himself in gold dust before diving into Lake Guatavita as part of an initiation ceremony. There is a lot of esoteric symbolism here, but I will touch upon that later.

Later on, El Dorado acquired the now famous allusion to the lost city of gold. The greed of the Spanish conquistadors drove many of them to feverishly search for this mother lode of riches, except that all their endeavors ended in ruin because no such city of gold has ever been found. I feel this is because they assigned a literal interpretation to a legend that is full of esoteric symbolism.

The city is also used to symbolize the body. In Master Choa Kok Sui's teachings, he refers to Revelations 21:12 which reads, "And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel." The gates symbolize the chakras of the energy body, with each chakra having a Divine Name. In Inner Teachings of Hinduism Revealed, Master Choa also quotes a verse in the Taitriya Upanishad that mentions the "city of the unborn with 11 gates." In case you noted the discrepancy of 11 gates in one quote and 12 gates in the Bible, the 12th gate or chakra refers to the soul chakra located 12 feet above the head, discussed in more detail in the book Achieving Oneness with the Higher Soul. The 11 chakra system is used in pranic healing because these are the chakras that receive the most attention in healing.

Why use a city as a symbol for the body? My take on it is that a city is a collective of separate yet interdependent functions. Walls and soldiers for security, bakeries and markets for sustenance, libraries for learning, a palace that is the center of administration, etc. Same with the physical body that has the immune system for defense, stomach, liver and other internal organs for nutrient distribution and waste removal, the brain as directing center, and so on.

The legend of El Dorado, the golden city, most likely refers to the golden body, indeed a treasure worth having. There is a related legend referring to the Seven Cities of Cibola, cities supposedly made of gold, which again most likely refers to the golden body, with the number 7 probably referring to the traditional chakra system.

Let's now go back to the ceremony of the Muisca chief covering himself with gold dust then diving into the lake. Let's first go on a slight tangent. In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs were supposed to be enlightened leaders. This was represented by the upraised cobra on the pharaoh's headdress, which indicated that the kundalini is activated and therefore the leader is spiritually illuminated. Since the golden body is a hallmark of high spiritual development, we could interpret the symbolism the same way: the Muisca chief covered in gold dust indicates that the leader is an illuminated person (or is supposed to be one).

How about the diving into the lake part? Again, we need to go on another tangent. In Hinduism, there is a story about the child Krishna jumping into the river to fight the snake Kaliya. After submerging in the water, Lord Krishna appears out of the water standing on the head of Kaliya and dancing on it. According to Master Choa, the water symbolizes the sex chakra and the snake symbolizes kundalini. When meditating, Divine energy comes down to the basic and sex chakras to raise the kundalini to the head. When the kundalini is thus mastered, one is enlightened to a certain degree.

So the same story could be played out during the initiation ceremony of the Muisca chief. The enlightened self has control over the sex energy and has raised it up in order to become enlightened. The enlightened leader thus rules over his people benevolently and wisely.

Does the body literally turn to gold? Gold dust will eventually wash off, and immersing oneself in liquid gold is not the best way to die. So what are all the accounts about the golden body referring to?

I will quote Master Choa's words in his discussion of golden pranic energy. This is taken from pages 12-13 of the Advanced Pranic Healing book:

When electric violet pranic energy (divine energy - SF) comes in contact with the etheric or bioplasmic body, it gradually turns into golden prana. The golden prana, when absorbed by the physical body, becomes light red. Golden prana has properties almost similar to those of electric violet prana....Saints of different religions are sometimes depicted with brilliant electric white light descending on their heads and a golden halo surrounding it. This golden halo is produced by the activated crown chakra and the radiation of the assimilated electric violet pranic energy which has turned golden....For spiritual practitioners who have achieved a relatively high level of development, their etheric bodies are transformed into gold. They have developed, to a certain degree, the GOLDEN BODY. The gold first manifests externally, then it gradually manifests inwardly into the physical body. This is why some saints of different religions are sometimes depicted with a golden garment or golden body. If the clairvoyant is not well-trained, he or she will see the electric violet light as brilliant white light and may not notice the golden aura behind the brilliant white light.

The important part to remember is that the golden body is perceived clairvoyantly, not with the physical senses. However, it seems that there are physical cues and abilities that indicate the development of the golden body.

Let's take a short look at the life of Ramalinga Adigal (5 October 1823 – 30 January 1874), more popularly known as Vallalar. In the Thiruvarulpa (The Divine Song of Grace), Ramalingam states that his body attained a resplendent golden hue and thus transformed into the body of love (Suddha Deham).

It's interesting to look at Ramalingam because his life provides a clearly documented account of someone who has achieved the golden body. Apparently, even just before the state of achieving the golden body, the desire for absorption into the Divine Source is so strong that a lot of Masters abandon physical existence before anyone can document their life after the transformation.

Ramalingam supposedly went through three levels of transformation. It seems these transformations refer to different stages in the development of the golden body. The first transformation was the achievement of the Perfect Body or Suddha Deham. The body becomes immortal and indestructible, is made of Divine Light and one now has access to different powers such as materialization, teleportation, resurrection of others, and other abilities.

The second level of transformation was the Body of Grace or Pranava Deham. This body can be seen but not touched, and one's appearance becomes as that of a child. Furthermore, one gains mastery of all the siddhis.

The third level of transformation was the Bliss Body or Gnana Deham. It is the highest evolution for the human being and one automatically becomes omnipresent but one cannot be seen, touched or otherwise perceived.

Ramalingam states that the process of achieving the golden body involves "God's Hug" or the descent of Divine Light into his heart. And so the path to achieving the golden body is through the heart.

Ramalingam departed the world on January 30, 1874 supposedly by dematerializing himself. He locked himself in his room in Siddhi Valakam and told his disciples not to open it, but he said that even if they did, they would find nothing. In May of that year, the government had the doors forcibly opened yet as Ramalingam said, there was no sign of him or his body.

As the alchemists of old sought the legendary Philosopher's Stone in order to transmute lead into gold, the process of attaining the Golden Body is the inner alchemy of transmuting our gross nature into one of perfection. Lest we fall into the same trap the conquistadors did in their search for El Dorado, it would be wise to look at things in their proper perspective. In the end, the golden body is simply a tool, admittedly a very refined one. Yet we must remember that we are not the body, the golden body is one of the vehicles of the soul.

Right thought, right speech, right emotions, right deeds. Simple yet difficult, but they are for us to practice. But as long as we do, the Golden Body becomes not so much a goal as it is a by-product of the way we live.

Our spiritual journey is not one that sees as its end the acquisition of feats and abilities, but rather a return to our Divine Nature, a coming home face to face. Everything else, as a kabbalistic story goes, is commentary.