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About Us
Fall asleep like a Saint!
Our inner dialog is as important as the conversations we have, even those we have with those closest to us. As the philosopher Gurdjieff said, "When falling asleep wakes you up you're making progress." When we reach a level of awareness where actions we take that are below our standards of conduct ring our inner alarm bells and cause us to remember that we don't have to act unconsciously, we are well on the road to a peaceful and powerful life.
Gurdjieff used falling asleep as an obvious metaphor for drifting into unconscious being while awake, but sleep is a vital nutrient for our well-being, let's call it Vitamin "S." I would like to share with you my ritual for falling asleep. I've evolved a method that uses the time before sleep to refresh my totality as a multi-dimensional being - some call it their Soul or their Spirit - the way deep sleep refreshes my body:
It's quite simple: When you're lying down and about to fall asleep, visualize the world covered with love and forgiveness and then make it personal - love everyone for the sweet innocent baby they once were (even those who've long since gone sour or worse) and forgive everyone for everything!
You can start off by seeing love and forgiveness as a thick rainbow-colored liquid being poured out onto the Earth from a jar like the symbol of the astrological sign Aquarius (my sign, by the way). Or if you don't feel like visualizing that image or your own conception of the concept (creativity is encouraged here at The Enchanted World!) then try saying the words in your mind as you direct your emotions to actually desire to forgive everyone for everything.
I live in the same world that you do and I am well aware this practice is going to trigger plenty of resistance from the grudges you think you’re entitled to carry around with you. That’s great, because that’s how you can become aware of them, especially the ones that have become buried so deeply into your awareness that, paradoxically, you are not aware of them! You may come to realize that you aren't just carrying around these grudges and other feelings of entitlement to behave badly, you've actually taken them on as who you are unconsciously or, worse, who you think you are supposed to be. You can't be forgiven if you don't forgive and yes, you have to be the first one to do it - sorry! Forgive me? ;-)
Most of us are not saints or other people who display all their waking lives the compassion of the Dalai Lama but each of us can well afford to forgive everyone for everything, at least when we are drifting off to sleep. So go ahead and start with forgiving yourself for everything you’ve done and haven’t done. That is a major forgiveness and it is absolutely crucial that you do it before you forgive anyone else.
Then forgive your parents and the rest of your family and friends and work your way through all those you feel have wronged you and then return to the theoretical everyone! Yes, this exercise requires that you forgive the murderers and the other maniacs who’ve forgotten that we are all simple human beings, imperfect children of imperfect parents just like they are, tiny helpless babies needing love and nurturing and forgiveness as we grow – and that’s one of the points of this practice; we need to forgive and be forgiven the way we need to eat and sleep. Compassion is the real Vitamin “C.”
I am not saying that you have to run out and embrace the many people in the world whose actions disqualify them from the list of people deserving to live. I am the first person to say that we must all take all necessary actions to protect and defend ourselves from the hundreds of millions of crazy people in the world who would do us harm if they could. But if you are fortunate enough to feel basically safe and secure when you go to sleep - and remember that millions of people, especially children do not feel safe, secure, and satiated when they fall asleep (charitable contributions and population control are also necessary actions of love and forgiveness) - you can afford the luxury of looking at everyone and everything at the "Love Level," what I like to believe is the way reality truly is at the level of Energy, Soul, God/dess, you name it (if you feel like naming the unnameable source from which all things flow).
All of us, from the best to the worst of us, are trying the best we can to use what we’ve got to get where we think we need to be. This common denominator of human existence would not produce so much pain and suffering if only people were nicer to each other and remembered that we're all human beings deserving of respect. So when your logical, self-protective mind "does it's thing" and pushes back against your desire to love and feel the love of others and the whole world, love and thank it for doing its job and then feel yourself absolutely wrapped in a blanket of love and compassionate forgiveness.
Far too many people are not compassionate and forgiving and far too many people are not healthy and a lot of both of these categories of people do not sleep very well. I'm not a doctor - I don't even play one on TV or on-line! - but I know that loving forgiveness and compassion are necessary for health. So be a fall-asleep-saint and give it a try. After doing this practice for a while you may find when you awake that you are better able to manage your feelings and actions, especially regarding confrontations, long-standing grudges, guilt, and the world situation. It's also possible that you may not feel any different about these things at all. But I bet you’ll sleep better! Hey, that's something!
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