Spiritual energy system illustrated by Alex Grey. In this month's puja, we will do some white tantric practices to feel this energy flow in our being.

This river of life that we are all flowing in can offer us a gentle blissful ride, or thunder us over the most terrifying rapids.

Sometimes we feel loved and supported, and sometimes it seems as if life is out to get us.

The key to enjoying the ride (this life) is remembering that we are the river as well. We are the ocean of love we are swimming in and often so desperately trying to "connect to."

So often, we pinch ourselves off from source (god) and forget that we are in fact that same essence.

So, big fat hairy deal.

We've all read the books, done the workshops, and yet that fleeting feeling of connection still comes and goes. How do we stay grounded in the flow of life, feel "connected" and feel aligned with our highest good?

How do we feel the universal vibration of love in our body/mind at any given moment?

How do we stay grounded in the experience of being creator and that which the creator is creating?

However, it is important to feel a tangible vibration of love in our body to remind us of who we are, not just a visualization. The visualization helps inspire a feeling, but the feeling is what counts. I believe Margot Anand has said, "Trying to make love while thinking is like trying to do calculus with your genitals." When we feel love, we are in fact making love, creating it and sending it forth into the cosmos...
and the cosmos really likes it!

Feeling the divine vibration of creation helps us in the best and worst of times know that all is well, and we are aligned with the highest will and doing the absolute best we can in any given moment. This leads to bliss and peace of mind.

Feeling the Flow
OK, so how do feel that vibration of love and connection in a real tangible way?

One tantric practice involves a grounding meditation. This practice can be done anytime, but works best sitting in easy pose, or in a chair with your feet flat on the ground.

In this practice, you are opening up your crown chakra (top of your head) to receive divine consciousness coming downward, and breathing up the divine energy from the center of the earth through your feet and up into your body. Please see the link to the left for a step-by-step description of this practice.

At the root of all things is the very essence that everything is created from, conscious love, conscious light or whatever you want to call it. This essence is like a coin that has 2 sides, consciousness and energy. Even though they are the same at the very root, they play out as different ends of the spectrum of existence.

Consciousness is the masculine (Shiva) aspect of existence. The part of us that is aware and witnessing everything. The part that observes, thinks and never dies.

Energy, is the feminine (Shakti) aspect of existence. Life itself; that which is born, ages, dies and reborn again in another form.

Energy gives life to consciousness, and consciousness gives form, direction and purpose to energy. In this grounding meditation, we are bringing up Shakti through the earth, and Shiva energy down from the heavens, thus creating that divine union in ourselves.

Breathing in Shakti, the energy of creation, up into your entire body while also inhaling divine guidance into your being through your crown chakra, is like creating a combustion engine of love.

That combustion of Shakti fuel and Shiva air ignited by your attention, creates actions guided by your highest, most loving, intuitive knowingness in the moment.

That is about as aligned with the creative force of the universe as you can get, because you are the creative, loving expression of life brought into form to give your highest gifts to the world.

Possibilities of this Practice
With enough practice, it's possible to feel yourself as a vortex of energy in the ocean of existence, just like the being in Alex Grey's illustration above.

The truth is that we are the essence of life and love itself, and when we have cleared the blocks and kinks in our body/mind that restrict the flow of this energy, we can feel the constant current of universal love that is running all the time.

This practice will help clear your energy, while aligning you to your highest intuitive knowingness and increase the feeling of god within you.

It may be so blissful that you become ungrounded by the surprise of it! If so, keep practicing.

In times of stress, or when you feel that something or someone else is your source and supply, like money or a relationship, remember to breathe and ground again into the source of everything. If you do that, and completely trust the outcome of your actions, you will be amazed at the limitless possibilities you can create in your life.

Like a combustion engine that runs on air and fuel, let yourself breathe in energy and divine guidance to create your beautiful moment-to-moment life.