Daily Voice Dialogue - Issue 11

----- DAILY VOICE DIALOGUE -----

a free weekly newsletter about using Voice Dialogue in your daily life

written by Astra Niedra, edited by Mark Belfanti

Welcome to the eleventh edition of Daily Voice Dialogue, the first edition for 2001. This newsletter covers various aspects of Voice Dialogue and gives you ways to use Voice Dialogue in your life on a day-to-day basis.

Best wishes,
Astra Niedra

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TOPIC OF THE WEEK

SPIRITUAL ENERGY VS SPIRITUAL RULES VS SPIRITUALITY

The many spiritual traditions and systems that exist provide guidance for many people in their spiritual pursuits. There are many people who would describe themselves as spiritual, whether they belong to the traditional religions or subscribe to an alternative path.

But what does being 'spiritual' mean exactly? There are those who believe in what their religion or system says and honour and follow its rules, and then describe themselves as spiritual. Other people spend time 'working' towards some kind of spiritual experience by doing certain practices regularly. And others feel they are connected to a power beyond themselves, or a spiritual energy, and feel this connection often, thereby describing themselves as spiritual.

Then on the other side of the spectrum are people who claim they are not at all spiritual; they do not believe in God or any god, and do not follow any spiritual path.

In my opinion, all these types of people are spiritual, whether they think so or not. This depends on my view of what spirituality is. I believe in what the Stones' say, which is that to be spiritual is to honour opposites with an Aware Ego; to honour the Spiritual Self, which either follows a system or feels/is spiritual energy, and to honour the opposites of this, which don't feel spiritual at all. To me this means that all aspects of life are spiritual, in that they are all a part of God or whatever you would call him/her/it.

One in a pair of opposites can't exist without the other. For there to be light there must be dark - you couldn't see light without a contrasting backdrop. For someone to be described as tall, there must be someone else short to compare them to.

It is also not safe or healthy to only see the world in terms of one half of a pair of opposites. For fire to be of use to us in a positive way, water must exist. A fire on its own would go wild and burn and dry everything up. Likewise, water is obviously necessary, however, if it took over we would all drown.

Hypothetically, if everyone in the world was identified with 'spiritual' selves, the 'non-spiritual' selves would emerge in some way, probably through attacking the bodies of spiritual people through disease and illness, as disowned selves tend to, which would eventually lead to the obliteration of the human species. Just as we need the 'spiritual' energies to complete our selves, so too do we need the 'non-spiritual' selves (earth energies, instinctual energies, mental energies etc) to be whole.

So those who argue that spiritual energy is superior to spiritual rules, and those who claim spiritual rules are superior to no spiritual rules, are missing the point, in my opinion.

I think that with the creation/verbalising of the Aware Ego and its capabilities, the Stones' deserve credit for revolutionising how we will come to understand spirituality. They also deserve credit for freeing people from the necessity of being bound to spiritual systems in order to be spiritual.

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EXERCISE

Think about what kind of spiritual person you are. Do you identify with being spiritual? Do you belong to a church and honour its rules? Do you have spiritual experiences? Do you think spirituality is just nonsense?

Now consider what the 'rules' of your spiritual identification are and what they mean for your life experience. If you have spiritual experiences and identify with being spiritual in this way, do you exclude the more mundane or physical or mental aspects of human experience?

If you do not identify with being spiritual at all, do you discount anything but the rational and physical?

Try to identify the opposite energy/self and system of rules to yours. Pay attention to the judgments you may feel about your opposites. Consider how different your life would be to incorporate those opposites into your life.

If you can, it would be a good idea to do some Voice Dialogue to meet and separate from your 'spiritual' self and eventually to meet its opposites.

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MEET THE SELF OF THE WEEK - A BRIEF INTERVIEW

THE SPIRITUAL SELF

Current job: I teach meditation classes and see people for spiritual healing.

Favourite holiday destination: All the ancient spiritual sites around the world.

Favourite Sunday breakfast: After some yoga, meditation and prayer, I have freshly squeezed juice, muesli and green tea. I tend to have this meal most days.

What I'm reading: 'Play of Consciousness' by Swami Muktananda, The Bible

Favourite movie or television show: I don't watch TV any more as much of it is quite violent and negative. I enjoy inspirational movies which lift the human spirit.

Favourite song: Anything by Enya

How do your friends describe you? As very wise and centred, but they say I'm a bit boring lately. I suppose I lead a very predictable life.

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ENERGY TIPS AND TRICKS

GROUNDING YOURSELF

If you are a very spiritual person and feel you don't have much connection to earthly things, try this exercise to get in touch with the earth.

First feel where you tend to spend most time in your body - your head, heart or maybe above your head. Feel your attention focused there. Now move your attention down your body, past your abdomen and down to your legs. Feel your feet connected to the floor or ground. Try to feel past your feet, into the ground and then try to soak up some energy from the ground into your body. Stay with this for a few minutes. Then, to finish, bring your attention back up your body to where it feels like 'home'.

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BABY DIALOGUE

Examples from my experiences with my 20 month old daughter to illustrate how I try(!) to use Voice Dialogue in my life.

THE POWER OF CHARM

The other day as I was trying to give Athena some lunch, she decided she wanted to throw pieces of chicken onto the floor. She threw one piece and after I sternly said 'no, don't through food on the floor' she picked up another piece and held it out over the side of the tray of her high chair, while just staring at me. I said 'no' again and she put the chicken in her mouth. She then repeated this a number of times until finally throwing more food onto the floor.

I told her that I didn't like her behaviour and was angry about it and took her lunch away. She looked at me, tilted her head slightly, and smiled. She kept beaming that smile out to me, trying to break through my stern energy. I didn't let it, but it was such a struggle. I felt like laughing and had to try with all my might to stay in my energy. I consciously pushed out the laughing, forgiving energy and pulled in more serious energy. Athena also wouldn't let up and kept beaming her charming smile towards me. I could feel the energy emanating from her. I had to look away and continue eating my lunch so as not to crack up laughing. Even when I wasn't looking at her I could feel her energy and every time I glanced at her, she just kept staring at me with that smile. She ended up winning.

In this situation I tried to use my Aware Ego to control my energy but it obviously wasn't strong enough in relation to the energies I was using to compete against Athena's charm.

I am continually surprised at how powerful little children can be. And the above example illustrates that power can have little to do with a person's size or status in life. The ability to use an energy of your choice, in a way in which you choose, seems far more effective in getting what you want.

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NEXT ISSUE

TOPIC OF THE WEEK: to be decided

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IMPORTANT NOTE

This newsletter is not to be taken as psychological or medical advice. If you require such advice you should seek it from an appropriate health care professional. This newsletter is also not intended for you to use in making life-altering decisions without communication between you and the appropriate health care professional.

Copyright 2000-2001 - Astra Niedra. ISSN 1444-6022. PO Box 979, Glebe NSW 2037, Australia. No part of Daily Voice Dialogue may be reproduced, in any form, without the written permission of the author, Astra Niedra, except for forwarding an issue, in its entirety and complete with copyright information, to a friend.