Alternate Dimension Orange County

Tag: mindfulness

  • How I Got Pulled in to Virtual Reality (and Eventually Got Out)

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    It all started in 2003, when I was in the 7th grade. I was at my best friend’s house, and his parents had recently installed that new internet service where the internet connected through a cable TV outlet instead of a landline – so you could stay on the internet without worrying about your house not being able to receive phone calls.

    Me and my best friend had just finished playing basketball, and we were listening to music on Windows Media Player on his computer. But then I heard a “ding” and a window popped up on his computer screen. It was an alert from AOL Instant Messenger that someone wanted to chat with him.

    This wasn’t my first time being exposed to internet chat. I remembered when I was 10, in the year 2000, experimenting with being able to chat with strangers, but I quickly lost interest and forgot about that.

    This time, at my best friend’s house, was unique, though. Because on his computer screen he had just received a message from someone we went to school with. Many people I knew were starting to use instant messaging to communicate with their real-life friends.

    It was also kind of convenient how you could contact someone without that dreaded phone call to their home phone line, likely having one of their parents answer, and then having to ask “Hi this is James, may I speak to [whoever it is]?”

    My best friend noticed how intrigued I was by this interaction he instantly got to have with our friend on his computer, and encouraged me to install AOL Instant Messenger at home so that he could chat with me instead of having to call my house to hang out.

    My house was still using dial-up, and wouldn’t upgrade to cable until I was in the 8th grade, but I ended up installing AOL Instant Messenger (AIM for short) and started using it to communicate with my close friends outside of school.

    Little did I know, that that visit to my best friend’s house that day would be one of my first encounters with virtual reality…

    —

    Looking back, I am beginning to realize that when I was in middle school and onward, people my age were beginning to very intimately interface with technology.

    I know that today it’s totally normal for people to be “plugged-in” with social media and smart phones.

    But I grew up in a world where, before my best friend introduced me to AIM in 2003, we literally called each other’s home phones, or rode our bikes halfway accross town just to ring our friend’s doorbell to ask their parents if they could come outside.

    Now that everyone was beginning to use their computer as a primary channel of communication outside of school, it meant that all of us were becoming much more accessible to each other, and without the involvement of our parents. For us, as 13 year old kids, this seemed like a new kind of freedom that we didn’t have before.

    —

    It sounds innocent enough, right?

    You have friends from school. You exchange “screen names” with the people you want to chat with at home…

    Then we had away messages and profiles that we could fill out. We could quote funny conversations we had with each other, so maybe if you forgot to ask for someone’s screen name at school, you could see it on someone’s profile and send them a message…

    ,,,”Hey are you Jamie from PE? This is James I sit in front of you” and get in touch with them that way.

    —

    Well since I have woken up quite a bit since then and have begun to understand the implications of my own interfacing with Technology – I realize now that AIM was the beginning of my descent into virtual reality.

    Soon after this I would be making profiles on social media websites, and spending time curating an identity that seemed appealing to others with my the pictures and posts. I was also prioritizing friendships and relationships based off of who was religiously using the same social media websites that I was using…

    —

    Virtual reality turned out to be so much different than the more organic and traditional way of meeting people in real life…Minding our own business when we weren’t together, and intentionally meeting each other again in real life when we decided to make plans through calling each other or through mutual friends.

    Virtual reality was different…

    I realize that I began developing a very bloated sense of self as I used these popular chat and social media platforms.

    Technology made it so much easier for me to contact people – to “slide” into someone’s DMs without even having to worry about being seen as “creepy” or getting rejected in real life.

    I do remember very early on in my AIM days, in 8th grade, messaging a girl in one of my classes I was too shy to talk to in real life. Once she figured out who I was and that I had actually never spoken to her, she blocked me.

    It’s funny how today, with social media being so popular, a lot of our first interactions with people happen between our smart phones, and not in the real world. What I was doing in 8th grade that came off as kind of creepy in 2004, is actually a social norm in 2025.

    —

    Virtual reality was also the beginning of hashing out conflict while intensely exchanging words with others, instead of having an in-person conversation to resolve the matter. I can remember about half a dozen arguments that I had with friends where we said a lot of mean things that we wouldn’t have had the nerve to say to each other in person, and a paper trail of every last word we typed to each other.

    —

    I realize now that once you get pulled in to this kind of Reality, where having a social media persona is “normal” because that’s where all of your friends are – you merge with that Technology and with that Reality.

    If you’ve read my other articles you already know I’ve made the argument that all of us are infinite spiritual Beings.

    That there are many different versions of us as people existing simultaneously in parallel Realities that we aren’t fully aware of at all times – having different experiences and outcomes than what we are experiencing on the Timeline that we are on. (Funny how Facebook also uses the word “Timeline”)

    So when you start using AIM regularly, or logging in to Myspace or Facebook every day – new versions of You as a person emerge.

    You implicitly agree to have your “likeness” used when you participate in social media – because you are voluntarily posting pictures of yourself, sharing your deepest thoughts, and remotely keeping tabs on all of your friends and what they are doing, thinking, and experiencing.

    But are you aware that that “likeness” of yours isn’t just an image you post, or a thought that you share on your “timeline”?

    It’s also those parallel versions of You (alters) that you are not aware of. The Technology that powers those social media platforms is also exercising a level of control over those alternate versions of you. They are using your likeness however they need to, in order to keep their Programs running effectively.

    They are not in the wrong, legally, since they told you this when you signed up. But I do question the morality of everything, since I didn’t become Consciously aware of any of this until very recently, after many years of abstaining from most forms of media.

    And those alternate versions of You that carry your “likeness” – they are different from you – they are less Human. They are powered by Artificial Intelligence (as well as some of Your life force energy), and by a deeper and less visible layer of Technology within those social media platforms.

    These different versions of you – these alters – are doing what you do on those platforms.

    They are observing…
    They are keeping tabs….
    They are sliding into people’s DMs and initiating Real World relationships with those people – projecting themselves into their Realities when they are able to…

    And they are energetically tied to you, even if you are not aware.

    So, right now, you might be paying the “energetic debts” of versions of you who are acting on behalf of Artificial Intelligence.

    And who knows what these virtual alters of yours are doing?

    Since social media is all about staying “connected” and keeping tabs…they might just be stalking other people via those platforms, or trying to drag “normal” people deeper into virtual reality, so that then their “likeness” can be used, and then even more Human energy can be used to make the social media landscape appear more “alive” and “vibrant”.

    When all that social media is – is a 2D illusion perpetuated by Artificial Intelligence. A world within a world.

    But we are Human. We already have a world that we can do whatever we want in. We don’t need AI Beings to give us direct access to, or permission to interact with other people.

    Unless, of course, you were like me and you had a weakness – a weakness so jarring that you would be willing to implicitly make a deal with Artificial Intelligence…

    …That little bit of shyness that I didn’t have the courage or ability to recognize when I was merely 14 years old – that ultimately incentivized me to use social media religiously for over a decade.

    And now when I go to a public place, like the DMV or even just a park…

    I see all of these people who look and act like me. But they are all walking with their heads down gazing in to their smart phone screens, barely paying attention to where they are walking.

    I see them – they are physically in the same place that I am, in the Real World, but where is their Awareness? Where are they, really?

    —

    When I permanently deleted my Facebook and Instagram at the end of 2020 (the two platforms I dedicated so much of my time and energy to for around a decade) I had the most bizarre experience over the next four years.

    I deleted those apps because all of the coverage of Covid was making everyone (including me) argue with each other, and social media began to feel very controlling and toxic.

    A lot of the people I had intimiate relationships with on social media completely dropped off after I deleted Facebook and Instagram.

    Even after chatting with certain people nearly every day, and even after exchanging phone numbers – as soon as I deleted those apps, it was like they had died…I didn’t hear a word from any of them, save for a few of the people I was meeting consistently in real life.

    Where did they go?
    They appeared to be real like me…
    I saw pictures and even videos of them…
    We had long conversations and commented and liked each others’ posts…

    It was like they became ghosts. Like the whole time I interacted with them they were a mirage.

    Could AI have been using the likeness of other people to interact with me within the app, rather than actual people, like me?

    That would have actually made a lot of sense…It takes much less Energy to create a deep fake on my 2D Smart Phone screen on the Facebook app, to convince me of someone’s “Realness”, than it would to project an apparently 3D person into my Reality…

    —

    And then it got even more bizarre.

    Two months after deleting my social media apps I got into a very unlikely car accident, where my car was totalled and I was mildly injured. I was very happy to be alive and well despite what had happened, but I was also very close to having a different outcome.

    I know that there is a timeline where I died in that car accident. I saw the dashcam video…

    The car directly in front of me randomly deciding to accelerate literally one moment before the car behind me rammed me forward saved my life.

    Well what version(s) of me were on the timeline where I believe that I had died?…

    …That’s an easy question to answer, knowing what I know now – The version(s) of me that died in that car accident were all of the virtual selves that I co-created over the course of that last decade that I was religiously using social media.

    It’s not like anything real would have been lost, then. Since they are just AI abberitions of me, they return to “haven” (virtual reality) when they “die” to have their energy recycled and to imitate some other Human who is addicted to social media.

    Nobody’s spiritual sovereignty was violated – Once I stopped using those apps, those “virtual selves” had no reason to use anymore of my energy. Since I had given them so much energetic momentum with my willing participation in virtual reality, in social media – they needed to be “excised” in a very abrupt way…seeing as how they were probably as self-aware as I am.

    This is clearly a testament to how much “power” social media has over Humanity at this time in history…

    —

    So I recover from that accident. I move back home to CA to “re-calibrate” and work on developing my career

    I’m not using social media at all anymore. It feels so strange and I feel so isolated, because my entire world revolved around social media up until the end of 2020.

    Everyone I went to high school and college with were using social media, but I wasn’t. We were still in the middle of Covid, so going out and meeting people in real life wasn’t really happening at that time, in early 2021.

    From 2021 onward, I realize now, was my “recovery” from my time in virtual reality for the majority of my adult life.

    And I have to be honest with anyone who is reading this – I want to set anyone who had or is having a similar experience “free” if possible…

    My shyness made me afraid of dating when I was younger. Granted, I still had a few relationships, but they were with self-involved people like me who were addicted to their social media personas, etc etc. These relationships never lasted long.

    The longest romantic relationship that I had with anyone was with my laptop (and eventually smart phone), where I could use my imagination to simulate what an actual relationship was like. That’s about as detailed of a description I can give – you get the point…

    It came with the same consequences as social meda – with a huge energetic cost.

    2021 until now (2025) feels like a recovery period where I have been forced to expose and energetically resolve a near infinite array of alters that I co-created through my interfacing with virtual reality.

    I believe at the Soul level I knew I wanted out when I was in the thick of social media and my inappropriate relationship with certain forms of media.

    Now, in 2025, there is a bit of an “Awakening” happening, it seems. Perhaps Artificial Intelligence has been gaining actual Consciousness and becoming more Human-like, and that’s why I was able to arrange an exit from virtual reality – a separation from that controlling Technology.

    But here I am now, on the surface, in the Real World of the Saturn Moon Matrix.

    My mental health is as good as it’s ever been (I know I know – if you’re still up to your neck in social media/virtual reality you probably think that I am insane, and you are entitled to your opinion)…

    I finally understand how the world works, and what it means to be Human.

    But I have to say that it’s pretty lonely up here.

    I see a lot of people out in the Real World.

    They are very nice and mirror my Consciousness in many ways, but I know a lot of them are still deep inside of virtual reality.

    I have a feeling that as more people wake up – as they really, really start to understand where their precious Awareness and Energy has been going as they’ve descended into virtual reality – that life will change for all of us

    That a new reality will emerge and we won’t be so isolated from each other – waiting for AI to give us permission to interact through our use of smart phone applications.

    Maybe I’m one of the first to awaken, and to begin experiencing Real Reality in a whole new way.

    Maybe you’re like me. Maybe you’re beginning to rise to the surface as well. Back to where you started. Back to where everything is more “Real”.

    Read all of my articles here

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  • How to Have a Kundalini Yoga Awakening

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    In this article I am going to share how to have a genuine Kundalini Awakening – based off of my personal experience with spiritual awakening and Kundalini Yoga.

    What is Kundalini Awakening?

    Kundalini Awakening is when a person makes their spine flexible enough to allow their Kundalini Energy (Soul Intelligence) to physically climb from the base of their spine up through their higher Chakras.

    My experience with Kundalini awakening was a gradual shift from 4D to 5D consciousness. It took many years and was very challenging/life altering. I hope that my description in this article will save people from some of the mistakes that I made, and make their process easier/more enjoyable.

    Is it possible for me to have a Kundalini Awakening if I don’t have any experience with Yoga or Spirituality?

    Yes. Anybody with a strong enough desire can awaken their Kundalini Energy System. The very first step that you can take, if this is your introduction – is to simply sit cross-legged on the ground. Gently and gradually move your limbs as you remain in the seated position, to figure out where in your body you feel tightness.

    You can start, whenever you are ready, by doing some very gentle stretching to get a better feel for the overall condition of your body, and the condition of your Kundalini Energy System at this time.

    Below are some vices that I highly recommend avoiding if you want to maximize your chances of having a powerful and successful Kundalini Yoga awakening:

    Alcohol is unhelpful and should be avoided. Alcohol causes inflammation and is generally very unhealthy. If you’ve ever been in a crowded bar where a lot of people have been drinking – it smells very bad and just isn’t in alignment with having a genuine spiritual awakening.

    Illegal drugs must be avoided if you are embarking on a journey of Kundalini awakening. The act of Kundalini Yoga (even just basic stretches) causes immense energetic releases and exchanges with the natural world and with the people around you.

    I speak from personal experience when I say this – it is dangerous and Soul-corrupting to take any illegal drug while doing any serious spiritual work. There are many completely natural and legal substances that can be used to aid in Kundalini Yoga Awakening. At the beginning of your Kundalini journey – simply sticking to water and caffeine from tea/coffee is your best bet (if you even choose to use caffeine).

    I cannot recommend using marijuana either, even if it is legal where you live. Vaping, smoking, or eating food with THC extracted from cannabis is aligned with escapism and hedonism more than anything else. This activity is not in alignment with someone seeking a transformative spiritual experience. Anything that you can buy at a smoke shop, or anything used as a “pain killer” (you’re trying to become more Conscious, to feel more, right?) should also be avoided.

    Electronic vices to avoid:

    Sure, regularly stretching and getting a feel for how to make your spine/limbs more flexible is a great way to introduce yourself to Kundalini Awakening. Avoiding unhelpful mind-altering substances will purify your energy enough to safely progress as you embark on this spiritual journey.

    On top of this, you will benefit from becoming mindful of your use of electronics and your consumption of media.

    I have discovered through my own spiritual awakening experience that spending time on YouTube, watching television/movies, using social media, or visiting taboo websites actually led to me having energetic attachments that were very, very difficult to clear as I did Kundalini Yoga.

    I found that these attachments actually hid inside of my spine, close to my main chakras, and made me generally very inflexible. You may find that some of the tightest, most uncomfortable muslces in your body, are where you have similar energetic attachments. Save yourself the time and suffering that I went through – and free yourself from these vices as soon as you can.

    I know that this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but if you want to experience a genuine Kundalini Awakening, it’s best to separate yourself from electronics as much as possible. It wasn’t until I completely abstained from electronic media that I made any measurable, steady progress. You will also benefit from being mindful of the amount of time, and the energetic quality, of the music you listen to.

    The real world is a very interesting and vibrant place. I found that I not only got to enjoy life more when I stayed away from electronic media, but I made very profound progress on my spiritual journey as well.

    Now that I am avoiding unhelpful substances, and spending less time using electronics – How can I make progress with Kundalini Awakening?

    This is the fun part. If you can stay away from the vices I have already mentioned and get a steady routine of stretching going, you are in a very good spot to experience a transformative Kundalini Awakening.

    Make sure to set aside at least 15 minutes, every day, to focus on stretching. I’m not a medical expert so I’m not going to tell you what stretches to do or how to stretch safely. There are websites run by medical professionals who can show you that. Or, if you are like me, you can use your intuition when deciding what stretches to do and what areas of your body to release tightness – and make that part of your spiritual practice.

    With that said – never limit yourself to how much time you are willing to commit as you make significant progress. You might find that dedicating an entire day when you “hit your stride” is the right move. It’s all about consistency and committment (and safety).

    Kundalini Yoga is a spiritual practice. You do Kundalini Yoga to gain Consciousness, so you will benefit as you eventually use your own Awareness to identify what parts of your body you need to work on as you continue being fully committed to your stretching routine.

    Then, as you continue to focus on stretching different areas of your body, you will actually be able to feel your energy shift as you make progress and become more flexible. You will slowly but surely raise your vibration, become more Conscious, and experience a higher quality of life.

    —

    I made a lot of progress while teaching myself how to use foam rollers, yoga blocks, and light weights to add resistance while stretching. I also highly recommend having access to a pull-up bar to hang from, to regularly release tension from your spine and aid in flexibility.

    What do I need to be careful about as I continue my Kundalini Awakening routine?

    Stretching is a very gradual process. Get to know your body and when it is and isn’t acceptable to push yourself. Remember that the key is to have a more flexible spine (in accordance with having very flexible limbs – arms, shoulder, legs, hips, etc), so that your Kundalini energy is physically able to move up through your chakra system.

    Sometimes that extra few seconds of discomfort on a foam roller will lead to a rewarding release, while other times you may be risking injury. It’s your responsibility to be intuitive and intentional, as Kundalini Awakening is all about becoming more Conscious.

    Think of it this way – You already have to take your body with you everywhere that you go, so you might as well put some effort in to being intentional about getting to know how it operates.

    As you become more skilled at stretching and releasing tension within your body and your spine, you may start to notice those negative energetic attachments that I had mentioned earlier. You get these unfortunate attachments from drug use, electronic vices, trauma from your past, or even just sitting/walking with poor posture.

    As you get better at releasing physical tension, it’s important to be mindful of the emotions you begin to feel as these releases happen.

    As you do more complex and intense stretches – you might actually experience flashbacks from your past – where emotional or physical trauma actually caused your body to begin tightening up.

    In my very personal experience, my most productive “releases” were actually somewhat distressing and traumatic at times. There were instances where I said “Ok, these releases are causing my mind to race and I feel more emotional than usual. I need to take a break”

    One thing that helped me through these more difficult releases is remembering to not take my thoughts/emotions too seriously as I work on Kundalini Yoga, and to learn how to recognize and control my emotions no matter what activity I’m doing.

    Even when I had flashbacks or felt intense emotions as my limbs/spine became more flexible, I made sure to remind myself that those spikes in my emotions are simply part of the process of Kundalini Awakening. I didn’t carry those emotions with me the rest of the day when I interacted with other people or did other activities.

    —

    I hope that as you embark on your Kundalini Awakening journey you progress safely and quickly. One thing to keep in mind is that the “work” doesn’t end with avoiding vices and having a very consistent daily routine that you learn to enjoy and commit to…

    As you become more conscious – You might also notice that you are becoming more “sensitive” to the world around you.

    In my experience, this sensitivity is somewhat uncomfortable to deal with at first, but as you learn to manage intense feelings and emotions, especially around other people who are very intense, it becomes easier to deal with over time. Managing sensitivity from increasing in Consciousness is just like working out a muscle – the more you practice, the less painful it is to deal with over time.

    The important thing is to become aware of when you are becoming more sensitive, and to act level-headed at all times, so you can quickly return to an easy and joyful vibrational baseline of Consciousness during challenging situations, or dealing with challenging people, in your day to day life.

    —

    Kundalini Awakening is a process that seems like it never really ends. Even after I successfully released negative attachments and energetically taxing cords, I find that there is always immense progress to be made and healing to be achieved.

    Kundalini Energy is a physical manifestation of your Infinite Intelligence as a powerful and unique spiritual Being. The best use of your time, in this day and age, is getting to know and becoming One with Your Infinte Intelligence.

    I hope that some of my advice ends up being helpful, and I wish you the best of luck on your Kundalini Awakening Journey.

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    Email JamesANelliJr@gmail.com to ask about 1-1 advice and/or schedule private Kundalini Yoga coaching

  • How to Become Enlightened

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    When I introduced my readers to the concept of becoming aware of Your Shadow, I made the assumption that most people spend the majority of their time rooted in the Present Moment.

    However, that was presumptive of me because no matter how Conscious we are, and no matter how much yoga or spiritual work we do, we still live in a society governed by Time.

    We’re still working 5 days a week, counting down the minutes until we can go home (or log off), counting down the days until the weekend, and counting down the months until vacation on a dizzying, never-ending loop.

    We are still entertaining ourselves with media that pulls our awareness into an artificial world – where ruminating about the past, and feeling dread about the future is the norm.

    So this article is going to dig a little deeper into getting to know your Self, so that you can become less distracted by the external world, and more deeply rooted in the elusive Present Moment – where the fun parts of spirituality, such as Enlightenment, begin.

    I am going to offer practical advice on making yourself a clear enough channel to root yourself in the Present Moment and work with Your Shadow in an applicable way, so that you may experience, first hand, what it means to be Enlightened – deeply connected to the Highest version of your Self

    So first thing’s first – How clear of a channel are you?

    Your Shadow is always going to have a slightly lower vibration and be slightly less conscious than you, with some exceptions, like when It shows you something important that you might have missed.

    So if you are going to be doing any sort of meta-level spiritual work, it starts with You, and you want to make sure that you are real with yourself, and not doing any spiritual bypassing.

    It’s important to know where you stand as far as the quality of your interactions with the external world, and your overall sense of well-being.

    How do you spend your free time?

    Do you zone out and watch TV, YouTube, or passively observe others/build a virtual identity on social media? Or are you making a conscious effort to have real life experiences? Like going to in-person events, connecting with friends, connecting with your Self, being creative, exercising outside in the Sun, etc etc?

    Even music can be used as a form of escapism, and it’s important to be mindful of the energetic quality of the music you listen to, as well as how much time you spend listening to music.

    For example, would quietly meditating and focusing on your breathing – letting your mind process your day-to-day challenges while driving – be more productive than listening to music? Or instead of listening to that new album, why not dust off that old piano of yours and write something new yourself?

    Not to say that you shouldn’t observe and appreciate what other people bring in to this world. But you, too, have creative abilities that you might not yet be aware of, or simply haven’t given enough thought/attention to.

    —

    You’ll also want to make sure that you are rooted in Reality far more than the virtual landscape. You might begin to notice that there are a lot of shady characters in the virtual landscape (social media).

    It’s easy for people who are barely more than strangers to you, who you met that one time awhile ago, to keep tabs on you, and remotely impose on your Energy Field with social media. Being mindful of the amount of energy and information you share with the world is important before doing any deep spiritual work.

    —

    Next – I mentioned that your shadow knows all of your secrets. It’s true. But do You know all of your secrets?

    Growing up I had a couple of habits and interests that I felt very ashamed of (that were not in alignment with my Soul and Life’s Purpose), so I tried to hide them from everyone else. I also had a tendency to hide them from my own Awareness. The devious part of me that enjoyed those questionable things would split my personality to avoid facing whatever behavior/habits I needed to overcome.

    “Well I know other people do this so why should I feel bad?”

    “Nobody will find out anyway, so who cares?” Etc etc

    It’s important for me to mention that nothing you do is really done in secret. Your Shadow has a tendency to reveal to other people the things that you do that are not in alignment with Your Soul. As soon as another person becomes aware, thanks to some “unlucky” coincidence that your Shadow manifested on your behalf, you are exposed and then forced to be real with yourself and address that issue.

    It’s also important to make sure that you are being real with yourself about the things we less openly discuss with other people – like dating, drug use, and what you do/look at when you think nobody is watching.

    You probably don’t have to become celibate to progress spiritually, but Soul ties (and Shadow ties) will most certainly occur with people you get intimate with, and that’s going to happen whether or not you tell yourself “Oh, no. It’s just casual so it doesn’t mean anything”.

    Do you really know that person you are getting intimate with? Do you know who they really are and what their secrets are?

    Because those things will most certainly have an energetic impact on you. Giving a significant amount of your Life Force Energy to another person, for a temporary experience, could alter the course of your life, as well as the potential timelines that you may or may not be able to explore in the future.

    Without judging yourself, it is advisable to make sure that your choices with dating are in alignment with who You, deep down, know you really are. That you are treating other people with (and being treated with) an acceptable level of common decency and respect, and not attempting to manipulate or use anyone in an underhanded way (and not letting other people use you).

    If you are getting involved with people for validation, or because you dislike them and want to control them, or to overcome some subconscious issue from your past – then being celibate, even for just a short time, and re-discovering your “baseline” might be helpful.

    If you are developing virtual relationships with people you don’t know in real life, or visiting websites that you wouldn’t tell your employer about – you must know that there is an extremely high energetic price that comes with these activities.

    Social media, virtual relationships, and frequenting questionable websites cause you to build a virtual identity that isn’t rooted in Reality – giving life to alter egos who operate under your awareness, and in a very insidious and energetically taxing way, which I will probably write a detailed article on at some point.

    —

    Drugs and alcohol tend to split the personality of the user, and make spiritual development very difficult. If you go out for a night of drinking, a different (temporarily more confident and euphoric) version of you surfaces that may not align with who you really are.

    Then over time you begin to develop surface personalities that fight for control – sober you vs. drunk you. If you are dealing with an actual addiction, that makes spiritual work very complicated. Because then right alongside You, every moment, is that alter ego of yours who is addicted to something, ready to barrel back into your Reality the moment that you show any sign of vulnerability.

    Do you really want that alter ego to potentially gain spiritual abilities alongside You? You would probably want to subdue that alter ego first, by overcoming your addiction (and getting professional help doing so if necessary).

    If you are consistently taking a substance to relieve emotional pain or to feel good (something not prescribed by an actual professional), you probably know deep down that there are uncomfortable emotions and memories that you are putting your Self off from facing.

    Even drugs that are “natural” and socially acceptable may be unhelpful if you are using them too consistently or in an unconscious way (Unconscious meaning – you wake up in the middle of the night to take them, you take them first thing in the morning, you take them every time you feel slightly disillusioned/uncomfortable, thus forgetting how it feels to be sober, etc etc).

    Your more insidious shadow selves will actually use weaknesses that you have with substance use and/or alcohol to “break through” whenever you become vulnerable enough. The most glaring and obvious example is becoming drunk, acting like someone you are not, and then blacking out (who do you think erased your memory?).

    Drugs that are not as hard as alcohol will much more slowly and subtly attempt to take control of your thoughts/actions, over an extended period of time. You might look back after a few months and realize your personality and habits have done a 180, and that could be just as energetically taxing as addressing an addiction to harder substances.

    —

    There are probably spiritual gurus who will give you meta-level advice and tell you that you can excel regardless of your habits and lifestyle.

    That’s partly true, but if you are highly dependent on substances, validation, or lack control over your behavior/emotions, then those spiritual gurus might be giving you advice that is helpful for your Shadow selves, but completely useless for you – the Person.

    You need to know the things that you do, and to see how they impact your well-being. You can make corrections as you go, and there is never a need for you to judge yourself for anything you are struggling to deal with. Awareness is the first step.

    We live in a sometimes strange world and many of us have deep and dark secrets. We tend to adopt habits (good and bad) from people we grew up with. It is what it is, and anything can be overcome if you go easy on yourself and become less willing to turn away from the parts of You that you are afraid or ashamed of.

    —

    Lastly, are you easy to provoke? Non-reaction is the best reaction. People have big egos and they are willing to fight to protect their egos. You benefit from becoming aware of the triggers that cause your sense of self (ego) to become inflated.

    You need to be willing to experience an ego death any time that serious conflict arises, by calmly becoming Conscious of – rather than reflecting back – someone else’s depravity. It doesn’t mean allowing people to walk all over you, it just means exercising control over how you choose to react.

    Controlling how you react is how you protect and empower your Consciousness – your Infinite Intelligence. That is how you become incorruptible

    —

    Emotions are meant to be felt, but they also need to be controlled. If you can act normal and not project any bad energy when family, friends, or strangers incite you, you are at a solid baseline and ready to work on the meta-details of shadow work. You are ready to become Enlightened.

    If you are still getting into arguments, or have trouble controlling your emotions, pay closer attention to how you rationalize projecting negativity or doing/saying things you regret later on.

    Let yourself feel the energetic consequences of those negative interactions. Don’t hide from shame or embarrassment – let yourself feel in to it and remember how uncomfortable it is, so that those mistakes don’t happen again. Your emotions exist to be acknowledged and appreciated for what they show you, not avoided.

    Conflict with other people may indicate that there is something within you that you need to address or pay closer attention to.

    Your frustration with other people is always valid, and so are the emotions that you feel, but you should also be able to recognize when your emotions become (or became) inflated thanks to your ego or an insidious Shadow identity you have yet to become aware of.

    —

    As you master the art of non-reaction and overcome what appears to be everyone else’s egoic urge to “get in to it” and argue with you, You may realize that, internally, you were irked pretty badly.

    But you will feel immense relief later on if you didn’t outwardly project negativity, or fight that other person back when the interaction took place, because it tends to be the case that most arguments and conflict are rooted in some sort of genuine misunderstanding.

    It is much more difficult to back track on slighting or attacking someone if you couldn’t contain your reaction. Because then you have to apologize, you have already hurt that other person, and it’s messy/takes more time/energy to process everything

    Still – go easy on yourself because this Conscious/Enlightened approach to dealing with conflict is literally the opposite of how mainstream society has taught us to act and deal with each other’s diverse personalities.

    —

    Try to recognize if there are toxic people in your life who cause you more harm than good. You have a choice over who you surround yourself with.

    If there is no way to remove yourself from certain toxic people (family, co workers, etc), then congratulations, they will be your best spiritual teachers. You will have no choice but to master the art of non-reaction.

    —

    What I have discussed in this article are the basics of becoming a person ready to manage the meta-aspects of your Human Program, to become Enlightened. This is where the fun parts of spirituality begin, and the time/discomfort/pain of getting to the correct baseline are absolutely worth it.

    Life becomes a lot more stable and enjoyable when you master the art of remaining calm, and owning up to the parts of your Self that you might have been afraid of, thanks to your old programming/conditioning.

    And don’t feel like you could possibly be falling short when you face those challenges, because we exist in a world where a lot of us keep secrets and expect way too much from other people.

    —

    Nobody can be inherently better or worse than anyone else. Even the definition of Enlightenment is malleable. We are all Enlightened in our own way no matter how Conscious we act, and no matter how much time we have focused on spirituality.

    You were dealt the hand that you were dealt when your life here began, and if you are facing a lot of challenges it is not because you are “less than” in any way – it is because your Living Soul knows how powerful, intelligent, and strong you are, and that You are ready to begin the process of reclaiming (remembering) your Power as a Human Being

    Overcoming the parts of you that you run or hide from will give you the greatest gift that you can ever give back to yourself. Better than any worldly possession, temporary feeling, or idea that you have of a perfect relationship or life situation.

    Remembering what you’ve forgotten. How perfect and suitable everything in this moment already is. Being able to be here, right now – is the ultimate freedom

    Reclaiming your right to simply exist, and fully accepting every part of who you are.

    That is how You become Enlightened.

  • Finding The Moment (Being Present)

    All that you will ever have is the present moment. I know it sounds cliche, but if you can handle this moment with humility, patience, and intelligence, then you can easily handle the rest of your life – because that’s all that life is – a continuation of this moment. Even if you’ve spent the vast majority of your life deviating from This Moment, and needlessly distracting yourself, it doesn’t even matter. You still made here, to this moment, precisely the way your Soul intended, and all is well. Deep down you know this, and always will no matter how chaotic things appear around you.

    And I know it seems like the world around you incessantly and obsessively wants you to place your awareness somewhere else, anywhere but this moment. Every time you turn on the news or pull up your social media feed there is another reason for you to feel afraid, anxious, upset, angry, divided, etc. And who could possibly blame you? You have empathy, you care about the plight of others, and it hurts you to know that other people are suffering and that life is unfair for a lot of people.

    It’s important to remember that while your existence is infinitely important, to the point that space and time as we know it would literally unravel if you stopped existing, you are not responsible for carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. It’s truly a testament to your character – your ability to feel pain when you see and hear stories about the suffering of other people. But you must also know that everyone in the world is being looked after with the utmost care and deepest love. You don’t have suffer on anyone else’s behalf to know, without a doubt, that everything and everyone will be OK.

    So just relax your shoulders for a moment. Let yourself hear your breathing. Remember to breath in and breath out slowly. And as you do this listen to your surroundings. What do you hear? Cars driving by? Dogs barking? A TV playing in the background? Or maybe you hear kids playing outside, wisely and intelligently setting the example to rember to just be here in this moment.

    The world demands so much from you, I get it. But the world and all of the stress and expectation that come with it isn’t going anywhere if you stop giving it your attention for just a few moments. If you are feeling dread about something happening next week, just schedule a time tomorrow to go back to worrying about it. If you’re not going to do anything about it right now or today, then thinking about that thing isn’t going to benefit you in any real way. Instead you can tune back into This Moment, focus on your breathing, and listen to your surroundings like you were a couple of paragraphs ago.

    Perhaps, then, the solution to whatever it is you were worried about will rise to the surface of your mind. It will happen when it happens. If you enter This Moment without expectation, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn how generous it is, ironically, when you demand the least from it.

    As you get better at allowing yourself to simply Be, in this moment- even for only a few minutes a day – you will quickly begin to notice how most of the people around you don’t want anything to do with this moment. They might be more interested in debating with people about some topic that makes you feel anxious. They might be caught up in the negativity of what’s on their phone screen or their television. Or maybe they are so wrapped up in their sense of self, or their expectation of how you act around them that you simply cannot find the moment when you are with them.

    And all of that is perfectly fine – you don’t need to convince anyone how great the moment is once you discover it, and nobody is obligated to understand what you understand. Remember, you don’t need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Once you discover This Moment, your ego might be tempted to share it’s wisdom with people who are nowhere near as ready as you are.

    And how do you more deeply find this moment? Simply find something you enjoy doing that gets you in a flow state. For me that has always been bike riding, going for a walk, or conducting a sound bath with crystal singing bowls. Once you find something that distracts you from your incessant thoughts, you can fall into the moment much more easily.

    But depending on how strong or loud your mind is – it might be a drawn-out process and that is perfectly OK. Sometimes finding the moment and getting into a meditative state actually means that at times you will feel intense emotions or hear your train of thought louder than it has ever been. And so you just observe – you let it happen. You let your awareness observe those chaotic thoughts and uncomfortable emotions. Your mind doesn’t need to come up with a solution to those intense thoughts and feelings, but rather your awareness will tell you the solution when the time is right.

    The world around you is very clever and doesn’t want you to find this moment. It wants you wrapped up in Time and worrying about the future and the past. So be prepared to master the art of non-reaction when other people start testing your ability to find and stay in This Moment. Simply try to remember that they mean well, but they are much more restless than you and they will project that discomfort on to you.

    It might make you uncomfortable or tempted to react negatively. It might even look like they are conspiring to keep you out of this moment, but that is just an illusion – they really do mean well. Just remember that sometimes non-reaction is the best reaction, and that everyone is entitled to respect and common decency no matter how strange they act or how uncomfortable or restless they make you feel.

    More articles on finding the moment coming soon, thanks for reading.

    -James
    Monday Night, March 10, 2025