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Tapping
Primal
Life Force
By
Keith Varnum
When
the residents of the Scottish spiritual community of Findhorn first
encountered the Nature Spirit Pan in the forest, Pan asked them to
convey a message from the Beings
of Nature to the rest of humanity. Pan said:
“Tell
them, ‘We never left—you did.’”
The colorful toucans squawked from within their tiny
cage:
“Why would any free spirit ever confine another free being?”
The
incarceration had rendered the once vibrant birds withdrawn and lifeless captives. Their eyes cried this piercing
question just as the same bewilderment echoes from the dull gaze of every
animal in every zoo:
“Why would any being with heart ever drive the dagger of
imprisonment into the heart of another being?”
The
answer is obvious. No being with
heart would shackle another free being. No being whose
spirit still lives would ever kill the spirit of another being—by
any means.
Close
Encounters of the Wild Kind
The
beseeching toucans were on exhibit at the country inn
where I stayed
in Costa Rica. The innkeeper explained he was building a huge cage
around a tree so the birds would have a whole tree around which to fly and live. But the confined birds told me they didn’t
want a larger enclosure. No cage would ever be big enough. Their spirits
needed to be free. After a few days, I could no longer look into the toucans’ eyes. Before long, I avoided going near their
cage altogether.
Instead
of focusing on the plight of the caged toucans, I was
guided by my inner coach to explore the free and untamed treasures
of the stunningly vibrant and beautiful country of
Costa Rica. During my travels, I was blessed by direct encounters with
wild animals, virgin forests, raging rivers and an erupting
volcano. In their natural state, these diverse elements of life were
undomesticated, unbridled, unfettered and unspoiled. Every cell of my body
felt the raw, free essence of each
basic kingdom of nature: mammal, reptile, bird, plant, water and mineral.
I
connected with a sloth hanging out in its jungle haunt, a tabor scouring
the forest carpet for grubs, a crocodile sunning in a sultry swamp and a
very curious iguana checking me out through the mist of a waterfall. I
shuddered at the primitive roar of jaguars too close for comfort. I
witnessed reptiles called “Jesus
lizards” with so much aliveness
they literally walk on water, skimming across the surface on webbed
feet.
I
reveled in the unrestrained, exuberant expression of brilliant orchids,
enticing mushrooms and outlandish fungi. The beauty and grace of exotic
parrots, wild toucans and resplendent quetzal birds awed me. I was
gratefully battered by the uncontrollable strength of
ocean surf. Standing at the edge of an exploding volcanic cauldron,
I exalted in the undiluted rapture of the fiery, flowing lava.
Soon
I began to appreciate my soul’s purpose in sending me to this lush,
virgin land. My spirit’s strategy was for me to encounter so many
dynamic examples of the exhilaration of raw
nature that I would break through to the other side of my rigid,
conditioned, overly civilized state of being. And I did!
Through
diverse outer appearances of vitality,
I connected with the inner source that
animates all forms of life. I danced with deer riding waves of natural
electricity over grassy hills. I soared with caracara hawks spiraling with
wind currents above luxuriant valleys. I clamored with howler monkeys
playing in the rain forest canopy. I surrendered with meandering sea
turtles to rhythmic tidal currents.
An
Appointment with Alchemy
On
the surface, animals, plants, rocks and volcanoes appear to be solid
forms. Through intimate contact, I discovered firsthand that what creates
these seemingly immutable shapes is primal life force, the basic essence
generating and driving all forms of
life.
A
volcano in Costa Rica was the natural element that shared
this secret with me in the most dramatic, effective and revealing
way. When the molecules of mountain granite are sped up by intense heat,
the true nature of this solid form is
disclosed as being fluid,
moving, alive energy. Universal life
force is so fundamental and powerful, it melts granite. It transforms the
most condensed form of matter into molten lava, liquid rock. Primordial
life force is so alive, pure, wild and basic that it’s potent enough to
liberate the most rigid crystallized matter into free-flowing life
expression.
My
soul arranged for me to “accidentally” stumble through the dense fog
onto an active lava flow for the purpose of exposing me in a very
palpable, tangible way to the true nature of all reality. Walking on this
semi-solid river of fire, I absorbed the raw, innocent, spontaneous vital
energy lying at the core of all physical manifestations of life. I merged
with the alchemical power of basic life force—uncontrollable, undiluted
and pristine.
The
direct transmission I received from the volcano and all the other wild creatures of Costa Rica is that this fundamental life
force energy is as available to us humans as it is to them! If we
choose to unite with this energy and allow divine alchemy, we also
can become one with the pure, primal, passionate,
undivided, unqualified, unlimited expression of life. This underlying
flow is referred to by the Chinese as
the Tao—the river of knowing,
the central stream of consciousness, the God current that is our true
nature and essence.
How
Did We Lose Our Heart?
The
harsh contrast between the toucans in captivity and the toucans in the
wild awakened me to the magnitude of the aliveness and connection we
humans lost somewhere along the way in our collective life journey. The
fact that we cage toucans and other animals in zoos and homes around the
world is a clear indication of how far we have removed ourselves from the
natural vitality and joy of freedom—both our own and that of other
inhabitants of Earth.
Our
human quest for love, security and energy cannot be achieved as long as we
remain in a state of consciousness in which we systematically seek to
control the freedom of our fellow beings—human and otherwise. In the
process of “civilizing” our species,
we humans have become conditioned to not feel deep, dynamic passion
and love for life. Our collective heart, the world’s heart, has become
so crystallized and armored that it is now as hard and cold as the
granite of a mountain. Our collective heart has turned to stone. Only a
granite heart could do what we are doing to the natural expression of
life—within ourselves and on the planet.
The
original Old English meaning of the word panic was “of the nature of
Pan: wild and free-flowing.” But now we humans are so shut down,
controlling and cut off from nature—and from our own vital electric
nature—that we experience “wild and free-flowing” energy as scary
and threatening. Life’s creative enthusiasm sends us into a panic in the
modern sense. Most of us are terrified of living fully alive and free.
Come On, Baby, Light My Fire!
How
can we humans reverse this process? How can we melt the granite façades
of our public institutions—and our own faces—that so starkly reflect
the state of our hardened soul? How can we re-light the pilot light and
stoke the cosmic fire within us?
As
I melded with the effusive wildness of Costa Rica, I unearthed an answer.
We humans can re-connect to our natural aliveness
by opening to a force that is more powerful than our programming,
more compelling than our collective
conditioning. The force that can liberate us is universal life
energy, primal life force. This unbridled exuberance abounds everywhere
around us—and within us. Fortunately, cultural conditioning cannot
control primal life force. This raw creative energy is free and innocent
of all human concepts and beliefs. Primal life force doesn’t follow
its own drumbeat; it is the drumbeat.
Primal
life force is more fundamental, more basic, than our human psychological
and cultural creations. In reality, this power provides the lifeblood,
essence and juice that sustains and supports the entire human culture
currently existing on the planet. Primal life flow is the natural energy
source that literally runs our human creations.
The
Power of Pele
Several
years ago, a wall of red-hot lava streamed down the side of a volcano on
the Big Island of Hawaii cutting right through a village located between
the volcano and the ocean. So intense was the temperature of the boiling
lava, its radiant energy vaporized the wood and cement foundations of the
human structures before the
lava physically touched the foundations.
All traces of the village and human habitation were annihilated in
the wake of the lava inferno as it made its way to the sea.
Modern
science doesn’t know a way to stop the power of the Goddess Pele,
the impassioned expression of the spirit of the volcano. The human
structures were not as real, fundamental
or substantial as the energy of the volcano. Human concepts,
beliefs and paradigms trying to overlay and dominate nature are no match
for the raw, creative primal power of natural vigor.
The
vibration of original vitality, passion and excitement is strong enough to
melt our collective granite heart.
Just as primal life force vaporized the not-so-solid foundations of the
Hawaiian physical structures, primal life force can dissolve the
foundations of the psychological
structure that makes us think we need
to control and feel separate from
other life in order to get enough energy to survive.
One
key to becoming fully revitalized is to reconnect with universal life
force in such a way that we are not only fed
by it, but also transformed by it. If
we resonate with the abundant aliveness all around us, divine alchemy will
transmute us into the experience of being
that eternal essence of life energy. When we become
one with universal life force, we are able to draw our very
sustenance, supply and security from our own source within. We are
sovereign, self-generating, in terms of where we get our energy. Sourcing
our own energy, we then have enough personal power to melt the
crystallized granite heart within ourselves and our culture. And until we
walk with the authentic sovereignty of natural vitality, we won’t have
the courage and strength to go out and love with true spirit and fulfill
our core purposes on Earth.
Exploring
Uncharted Territory
Another crucial aspect of the message I received from the wildness of
Costa Rica is that to be successful on our quest, we humans need to open
to this primordial energy through direct, pure, spontaneous, innocent
and fresh means. We cannot approach this enterprise from an old
paradigm or model. For, if we seek natural, organic vitality in an
unnatural, nonorganic way, we won’t uncover the pure source we seek. To
approach aliveness in a sequential, methodical, linear manner prevents
us from contacting its basic nature. This natural aliveness does not
exist within the framework or box in which we currently exist as a
society. Pure, free life expression lives outside of our cultural
conditioning, underneath it, behind it—beyond it.
We can reclaim our natural power only if we approach the challenge in a
manner that is new, wild, free, unexpectant and in-the-moment. If this
alive space is sought in any way that is familiar or known, it won’t be
found. Where we’re going and what we’re looking for isn’t located on any
existing cultural map.
The way to natural vitality is uncharted because the very finding of
this energy transforms us and our universe to such an extent that no
previous map, blueprint or paradigm is relevant. By the very nature of
the goal—aliveness—the path to the goal remains fresh and spontaneous,
impossible to document or plan.
No
methodology, technique or structured approach can ever remain valid for
any period of time—or even a second time—to assist us in reaching this
vibrant state. This space, once achieved, once embodied, once lived, is so
free, transforming, creative and constantly changing that any existing
map, chart or way won’t take us there a second time. Strategies
previous to this moment take us to old places and old experiences.
Really cool, but not current. Pleasant, but not present. Potent, but not
profound.
Tap
the Passion of Peak Moments
To
undertake this odyssey in the most advantageous way, my inner coach
suggests a simple, direct, personal approach. To rekindle our fire of
aliveness, we can open to peak moments in our life when we experienced a
strong connection to the vibration of raw, creative primal life flow. Many of us can’t think
of—or remember—a time when we did
merge with this basic life force. Fortunately, it doesn’t matter that
our memory of our true nature is blocked by our mind. We can employ our
intuition as a guide, instead of the mind.
Our intuition knows where and how to access this vibration of vitality.
Our intuition knows how to remove or go around
any barriers or denial. Behind our veils of fear, dismissal,
distraction, invalidation and
misinterpretation are hundreds of firsthand encounters with this universal
fire. Within each of us lies a treasure house of direct personal
experiences readily available for
the enhancement and transformation of our everyday life.
The
heart of Costa Rica radiated one
primal message:
“Go
for the juice, the electricity. Forget the form.”
If
whatever is happening in the moment looks and sounds right, but doesn’t feel
intuitively right to you, then
it’s not right. It isn’t what you’re meant to be doing at that
moment—it isn’t what is spiritually appropriate or indicated for you
to be doing at that precise time.
In regard to any situation, the key question to ask yourself is:
“For me, in the moment, is there passion, aliveness, heart?”
If
there is not, then you are not in the right place, no matter how
convincing the outer appearance might be. Let it go.
The spirit of the Earth urges:
“Move
on. Stay open. Keep flowing.”
In
an Arizona canyon twenty years ago, a venerable Hopi medicine man
named Medicine Cloud shared a keen observation with me:
“Everything you need to know about life you can learn from watching
streams and clouds.”
I
now know what he meant.
*****
Tap into your Primal Life Force on one of Keith’s
exciting Sedona Nature Adventures in the rejuvenating Red Canyon Country
of Sedona, Arizona. Read more about these invigorating journeys at
SedoanVisionQuest.com.
*****
This
true story is from Keith’s latest book:
Inner
Coach: Outer Power:
Forty-eight firsthand
stories reveal the amazing creative powers within you that can heal your
body, expand your heart, and attract phenomenal abundance into your life.
Fresh and captivating, Keith shows you the practical, everyday use of
levitation, alchemy, multi-dimensional travel, near-death experiences,
out-of-body journeys, parallel realities and time-tripping. Spiritual
teachers unveil their secrets to happiness. Ancient shamans impart how to
manifest an easy flow of money. Angels illustrate how to heal the body
instantly. Nature devas share keys to attracting soulmates. Spirit guides
demonstrate how they can save your life in a crisis. Using his vast
exploration as a healer, mystic, acupuncturist, urban shaman, filmmaker,
personal coach, and seminar leader, Keith helps you become a real Miracle
Maker!
Available
at bookstores, Amazon.com,
or www.TheDream.com |
