The Ecstasy of Music

The effects of music on humans are perceived differently depending on the individual but one thing is certain: music will remain of heavenly origins!

In his book entitled "The Psychology of the Art", Henri Delacroix makes reference among other things to music and its effect on people, or rather explains what different people say music does to them. They refer chiefly to classical music, to symphonies in general. Delacroix says that Diderot in his "Letter about the Deaf and the Dumb" describes in a very precise and refined manner certain intense, violent and deep feelings that music may arouse in some of its listeners. Diderot claims that in music, the pleasure of the sensation depends on a certain peculiar disposition not only of the human ear, but also of the entire nervous system. Thus, according to Diderot, there are certain people in whom the fibers may oscillate with such intensity, vigor and vitality because of their encounter with musical harmonies, that they may feel as if they were dying of pleasure.

Diderot also poses some rhetorical questions regarding the intense way in which music can touch the human soul, as compared to other forms of art. It’s quite unusual for such an imprecise and arbitrary means of artistic expression to have such strong impact on people’s state of mind and spirit. In this respect, Diderot rhetorically assumes that the explanation for this phenomenon would be that music does not actually present objects, it deals with sounds, and therefore it allows people’s imagination to manifest more freely and openly. Or perhaps because we need to be shaken up a little bit in order to be impressed, music has a stronger impact than painting or poetry.

Camille Mauclair, the author of "The Religion of Music", gives a more precise description of this kind of ecstasy caused by the impact of music on our minds and souls. The effect of music on people is referred to by Delacroix as a sort of delirium of the infinity, as a kind of charming, depersonalizing experience that causes us to forget about our mundane, day-to-day life and take a plunge in the musical realm, somewhere outside ourselves. Mrs. Mauclair says that the quality of the sound can both drive someone crazy in a positive way, and calm down the spirit. She says that to the spiritual love for good quality music, she also adds some sort of violent, nervous drunkenness that feeds on sounds as if they were alcohol.

Others consider that the impact of music on its listeners can be viewed from a different perspective. Instead of the violent, passionate pleasure some claim to feel when listening to certain musical pieces, others refer to the fact that the very intensity of spiritual passions can raise the human mind to a kind of serene insensitivity, to a certain high level balance which is above and beyond any feelings of joy or sorrow. Thus, the state of spiritual ecstasy is a kind of neutral state of mind. The ecstatic state of mind of those utterly impressed by the beauty of a musical piece can suppress both joy and sorrow in a sort of neutralized perception.

The emotional rhythm or tone of a certain musical bit can actually bring someone to a real day-dreaming kind of mood. This can be accompanied by the mind’s association of the sounds with certain visual images, created of course by the power of one’s imagination. Although they may not follow a certain logical or chronological order, such images can present themselves under the form of certain landscapes, or something like pictures. The listener can thus remember certain things from his past, or can dream about the present or his future. This is what music can actually do to one’s mind. Such ideas are usually typical of those belonging to Romanticism. Romantics considered music to be the supreme art, which was able to touch the very essence of things. Delacroix says that such people may interpret the exuberance and magic of music as a sort of fusion with the absolute, or as a sort of disappearance in the absolute.

Fear of Failure Origins

It can come from many sources but fear of failure is usually an enemy we have to fight at one point or another in our lives.

Some psychology experts, in their explanations regarding the phenomenon of neurosis, made reference to Kafka's "The Trial". In this novel, Kafka introduces the theme of existence's absurdity. In short, in this novel we are presented with a character who asks the guardian of the law to let him enter. The guardian tells him that this thing was possible, but not at that moment. He also said to the protagonist that if he really wanted to go in, he should go in without caring for his presence inside, to ignore him. But that he should also remember that he is strong. So the man sat down on a chair and began waiting for permission to go in. Tens of years thus went by. On his dying bed, he asked the guardian why no one else wanted to go in apart from him. So the guardian replied that the man was the only one expected to come in, and that he could now shut the gate.

Many of us can recognize ourselves in this character that condemns himself to stay with his own life. Desire supposes confronting ourselves with the risk of being refused. For some people, the very first life experiences are so painful that they go for a passive attitude waiting for someone else to give them the possibility to exist. There is nothing more damaging to one's self-esteem and self-trust than infantilizing parents, who are incapable of giving to the child the illusion of the power to control something. Martin Seligman, one of the founders of positive psychology, elaborated the theory of the so-called learnt incapacity. What these parents had in common, the psychologist noticed, was that they all believed they had practically no power to act on their own destiny, and nothing could get them out of this mentality.

The American psychiatrist named Irvin Yalom said that in order for us to decide on something, we have to give up on something else. And we also need to realize that we are the only ones who can act on our own life, we are the ones to decide and have to take up this hard responsibility. In this respect, neurotic people sort of refuse to take up this responsibility, that of assuming their own life and remain some dependent kids deep down inside.

The psychoanalyst by the name of Jacques Arènes concludes after having listened to his patients that the very first and most powerful obstacle for someone's self-accomplishment is the fear of failure. And this fear usually manifests itself by negative judgments such as: "I am not good enough to succeed, I'm too stupid, it's useless to try it's not my style or type", and many other such assertions. In order to get rid of the fear of failure we must also rid ourselves of any fixed idea such as for instance, considering that we would only be happy when we meet the perfect partner or when we get the perfect job, when we have the perfect house and become perfect parents and friends, so on and so forth. The thought that we will one day achieve these perfect things makes us inactive, especially if they are fed by those close to us. Arènes stresses the idea that even if we are the makers of our own destiny, that we choose our path in life, there is heavy load put on us by the entourage. It's very hard to keep on trusting yourself when no one else around trusts you, or when you come from a family of anxious people.

And among the most frequent causes of fear of failure and lack of self-accomplishment we can include the difficulty in finding out what we were born for. In this respect, Jacques Lacan says that we were programmed to mistake our own desires with other people's desires. We tend to absorb our parents' expectations who want to live through us what they couldn't live themselves. Because of that, many children take on these desires and ignore their very own and end up complaining about a never-leaving sensation of inner void.

What is an Out Of Body Experience?

An out of body experience also called as OOBE or OBE is an experience in which a person has a feeling of leaving his body and observing himself and the world from outside his body. Out of body experiences are also referred to as astral projections.


Who experiences an Out of Body Experience?

Studies have shown that about 10 percent of the population experiences an out of body experience once in his lifetime. It can occur to anyone and at any situations. Majority of the people experience an out of body experience while they are sleeping, resting or dreaming. Others may experience it when ill or while under the influence of an anesthetic.

Some people may experience an out of experience when drugged or medicated. A person may also experience it when he is near death. Such cases are referred as Near Death Experiences or NDE’s. Recent surveys have reported some cases in which motorcycle riders experienced an out of body experience. They found themselves floating over the motorcycle observing the own body and still continued to ride.

How does an Out of Body Experience occur?

All out of body experiences don’t occur spontaneously. Some people get them induced as desired by using various techniques. They even make a note of the things they undergo while experiencing an out of body experience.

But the experiences of the people who have undergone induced out of body experience are different from those who have undergone spontaneous out of body experience.

Majority of the people who undergo induced out of body experience feel that they are still in a body but a body, which can be altered according to their wish. But most of the people undergoing spontaneous out of body experience find themselves disembodied. That is they feel that they are outside their body and looking at their own body from the outside world.

Why do some people experience an Out of Body Experience?

Researches are still going on to find out why do some people experience an out of body experience. Some of the researchers suggest that an out of body experience is nothing but a simple illusion, which is brought about by an abnormally functioning brain. While others suggest that it is mediated by the area of the brain called the angular gyrus.

Some even say that an out of body experience may be experienced as the consciousness and body are separate entities and therefore can exist without each other.

Some people consider an out of body experience a psychological phenomenon. They say that the people may be creating or building up the experiences from the previously learnt things or stored memories. For instance a person may have watched a medical program and when he is hospitalized he may experience the same things that he had watched.

Each person experiencing an out of body experience has a different point of view. Some people say that they feel light and peaceful while other say that they get afraid as they think that they are dying and will never return to their body.

Notebook

"Who am I? And how I wonder, will this story end? . . . 

My life? It is'nt easy to explain. It has not been the rip-roaring spectacular I fancied it would be, but neither have I burrowed around with the gophers. i suppose it has most resembled a bluechip stock: fairly stable, more ups and downs, and gradually tending over time. A good buy, a lucky buy, and I've learned that not everyone can say this about his life. But do not be misled. I am nothing special; of this I am sure. I am common man with common thought and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me, and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough. 

The romantics would call this a love story, the cynics would call it a tragedy. In my mind, it's a little bit of both, and no matter how you choose to view it in the end, it does not change the fact that involves a great deal of my life and the path I've chosen to follow. I have no complaints about the places it has taken me, enough complaints to fill a circus tent about other thins, maybe, but the path I've chosen has always been the right one, and I would'nt have had it any other way. 

Time, unfortunatley, does'nt make it easy to stay on course. The path is straight as ever, but now it is strewn with the rocks and gravel that accumulated over a lifetime . . . 

There is always a moment right before I begin to read the story when my mind churns, and I wonder, will it happen today? I don't know, for I never know beforehand, and deep down it really doesn't matter. It's the possibility that keeps me going, not the guarantee, a sort of wager on my part. And though you may call me a dreamer or a fool or any other thing, I believe that anything is possible.
I realize that odds, and science, are againts me. But science is not the answer; this I know, this I have learned in my lifetime. And that leaves me with the belief that miracles, no matter how inexplicable or unbelievable, are real and can occur without regard to the natural order of things. So once again, just as I do ecery day, I begin to read the notebook aloud, so that she can hear it, in the hope that the miracle, that has come to dominate my life will once again prevail. 

And maybe, just maybe, it will."

Universality of Truth

There are billions of people living on this planet earth, and probably trillions more living in other regions of the universe or in other universes. There are millions and millions of differing opinions, ideas, experiences, and so forth. Is there anything that is common to everyone, irrespective of their personal experience or different ideas?

Some people hypothesize that there is no common basis of understanding or experience, and that basically everything is made up according to one’s own like or dislikes. They say that everything is a matter of personal preference. Some people say the Truth is just what we make it up to be, and that just as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder so also is truth in the eyes of the beholder.

This form of thinking is rooted in individuality, and is not uncommon in a culture that bases itself on the ideal of rugged individualism. Each of us is, after all, unique and one of a kind. One, who contemplates deeply on this uniqueness of the self, comes to realize that there is a world of difference between being unique and being individualistic. A unique person is truly one of a kind, whereas an individualistic person is quite common and ordinary. Individuality is the quality of ego, whereas uniqueness is an inherent quality of the soul-self, the pure consciousness.

 Ego is the false identification of the conscious self with the mind and body. The soul-self, or pure consciousness, is consciousness devoid of ego expression. When we are really not in our ego, we experience directly the beauty of life, and that experience is always unique, it is always ever-new, and it is not possible to copy that experience in the memory or find a substitute for it. On the other hand, when we are in our ego we intuitively know that our experience is limited, and the mind and ego then react by attempting to cover up our lack. Ego reacts by asserting itself and claims dominion over the mind, which it uses to manufacture images to prop itself up. Ego-individualistic-self-confidence is a very poor substitute for the soul confidence (aatam-vishwas) inherent in the state of pure awareness (aatam-stiti). In fact, it is no substitute at all, because there is no substitute for the state of imageless awareness, the state of pure consciousness.

By its very nature, ego does not let us experience the universality of Truth, because to do so would negate the existence of ego. But of course, ego wants to believe it knows everything, so it creates its own Truth, because to know the Truth makes the ego feel important and powerful, even though the truth it knows is not the Truth at all but only its own images. This is why ego holds onto its images, including its images of universality.

There are many, many religious preachers, pundits, prophets, and profiteers but very, very few real teachers and tellers of Truth. No one can really tell you the Truth unless you are ready to hear it, which means no one can teach you the Truth unless you are ready to learn it. Emotional maturity and the desire to learn are both prerequisites.

We become emotionally mature when we begin to realize that the whole world does not revolve around us. The less self-involved we are, the more fit we become for self-realization. Every insight we have into the real nature of our being increases our desire to learn more. The time comes when our desire for Self Knowledge outweighs all other desires. Eventually we are ready to hear the Truth from the lips of a True Teacher.

The Truth-teacher is a facilitator and not a dictator. He or she simply facilitates the truth-seeker in the search for Truth. A true Guide will guide you to look within your own self and discover by direct perception your own True Self.

It is not possible to see clearly if our perception is clouded by our misconceptions, images, and false knowledge. As long as we are holding onto our ego we will remain confused and unhappy. We need to drop our ego by letting go of our images and begin with a clean slate. As the Zen meditation says, We need to empty the picture filled with mud and water, so that the fresh water can be poured into it. We need to empty our mind of all our preconceived notions of Truth in order to learn the Truth from within. When we drop our ego and images we become simple, humble, human beings, who are eager and earnest to get to the bottom of the matter and experience the Truth directly.

Everyone who has had a taste of divine bliss, a taste of Truth, knows without any doubt that is absolutely real and far beyond the realm of mind, intellect, and ego. Everyone who has had an insight into the Nature of Truth, knows unequivocally that this Truth is Universal and has nothing at all to do with individuality, morbidity, mortality, and immorality.

People who are individualistic, people who are depressed and morbid, people who are dying every day in selfishness, and people who are living immoral, fiendish, degrading lives do not know the real meaning of this beautiful human life. They remain asleep in Ignorance and continue to suffer in the duality of their nightmares and fantasies until they awaken to the still small voice within, the whisper of their own soul beckoning them to return home to their True Self, to reclaim their inheritance of Supreme Ecstasy and Divine Love.

Truth is not in the eyes of the beholder but in the eyes of the True Beloved. When we look into the eyes of the true Love of our Life (that is, when we have the perception of the vision of Eternity), we forget our own small self and experience directly the Supreme, Divine, Universal Truth.

Universal Principles

Energy

The basic component of the Universe, energy, occurs in either materialized or un-materialized form. All that we see and feel is an expression of energy. Energy is synonymous with love. When we resist the flow of energy, or love, we experience discomfort. When we align with the energy flowing around us, we feel joyful and at peace.

Oneness

Since the essence of everything is pure loving energy, in the truest sense, we are one. When we feel our connection to our Oneness, we feel the power of who we really are. Our Oneness, love, is indivisible. Whenever we attempt to withhold love from anyone, we withhold love from everyone, including ourselves.

There Is Nothing Outside Of Us

In order to have our human experiences, we created the apparent reality that we are living outside the Oneness; that there are things and people that can affect us without our consent. The truth is that there is nothing outside of us; all that we see is our Self.

Perfection

Our Oneness is perfect and expresses this perfection as unconditional love and support. Whatever unfolds is God happening. When we see other than unconditional love unfolding, we are not seeing clearly. We create un-clarity to have the experiences that we came into the human form to have. When we are ready to see with greater clarity, we embrace whatever is before us in unconditional love, trusting that the Universe, in its constant expression of unconditional love, is sending us the perfect support. With practice, our clarity grows, along with our appreciation for the unconditional love and support that is always present.

Beliefs

Under the guidance of our Souls, we intentionally adopt the beliefs we hold in order to provide ourselves with the precise experiences we are having. These beliefs help us hide our power so that our journey as humans can unfold as we planned before we entered this realm. The urge to explore life as a human beyond the limitations of these beliefs is a signal that our Soul Selves are looking to guide us in finding and reclaiming the power we had previously hidden, and to awaken us to the truth of who we really are.

Intuition, Feelings and Power

Our Infinite Intelligence communicates to us through our intuition, which we access through our feelings. The more willing we are to feel our feelings, the more able we are to connect with the power that resides in them. The true power in the Universe is a totally peaceful power.

Mutual Support

Our Universe functions as a mutual support system in which each and every thing in existence relates to and affects every other thing. Every person and circumstance in our lives is there to support us by reflecting back to us the present state of our consciousness. The prevalent belief that we are naturally competitive and adversarial is just a mirroring back to us of our acceptance of that belief. The more we look for the support that is present in each event and circumstance in our lives, the more we appreciate how perfect the Universe’s support for us truly is.

The Mirror Principle

Everything that we see and feel is a reflection of the state of our own consciousness. Every person we attract into our lives is showing us a perception we hold about ourselves. Every feeling expressed by another mirrors a feeling deep within us. This reflection is a gift, for it allows us to be aware of the beliefs we hold, and the power that we have hidden in them.

Non judgment

We have been carefully taught to evaluate and judge much of what we experience. However, right and wrong, good and bad are just beliefs, places where we have hidden a lot of our power. The truth is that everything that occurs is just another event or circumstance. Judging something keeps whatever we judge the way we judge it. Also, judging anyone or anything tells us that we are judging ourselves in the same way. Judging creates discomfort within us that can only be relieved by opening our hearts, first to the judgment and then to the person or thing we have judged. Expanding this openhearted energy leads to the joyful feeling of unconditional love for ourselves as the wholeness and completeness of who we really are.

Purpose

Our Soul knows our purpose for this lifetime and initially supports us by helping us hide our power and our knowing so that we may have the experiences we came here to have. When we are ready to reconnect with infinite intelligence, our Soul supports us in uncovering our power and our knowing. We are always on purpose, and we are always perfect support for experiencing and expressing ourselves in accordance with our purpose.

Comfort and Discomfort

Our bodies are magnificent instruments that we create to support us in having the experiences we come to the human form to have. Our bodies are created and maintained in consciousness. They mirror the state of our consciousness, which includes the collective consciousness beliefs in how to look, act, age and die. Unencumbered by our beliefs, our consciousness is unlimited, as are our bodies. The natural state of our consciousness is perfect ease, as is the natural state of our bodies. The limited beliefs we have about our bodies are there to love and embrace just the way they are. This opens the energy held in the beliefs as it opens the energy in our bodies from that of dis-ease to ease.

Abundance

Abundance is our natural state. Everything we experience is part of the abundance. When limitation appears, we are seeing a reflection of our beliefs in limitation. Opening these beliefs provides us with a clearer view of our abundance.

Giving and Receiving

Giving and receiving always occurs in balance. It is important to receive gratefully, as it is to give voluntarily, generously, and with no expectations. Our willingness to keep the energy flowing in and out of our lives supports the energy in expanding. The corollary to the principle of giving and receiving is that we give only to ourselves. Since we are all One, when we are giving to another, we are giving to ourselves.

Non-attachment and Freedom

Our perceived need to hold on to anything or anyone demonstrates our belief in shortage and personal incompleteness. Holding on to anything - - people or possessions -- blocks the flow of energy around our experience with the person or object and reduces the joy of the experience. It also inhibits new people and new things from coming into our lives. As we open our hearts and expand our trust in the natural abundance of the Universe, we give ourselves and everyone else the gift of freedom.

Expressing Who We Really Are

Each of us has one or more talents we love to express. When we are fully and freely expressing who we really are, we feel joyful and fulfilled. Since how we see and feel about ourselves is how we see and feel about other people, feeling more love for ourselves is the most mutually supportive focus we can have

Means and Ends

Means and ends are the same. The action and outcome are one. To enjoy a life that works perfectly, we see and feel the perfection of everything and everyone, including ourselves. To experience the natural abundance of the Universe, we feel and express gratitude for everything just the way it is.

Harmony in Relationships

Every relationship in our lives reflects our relationship with ourselves. Every person we attract is there to support us in opening our hearts and reclaiming our power. When we feel love for ourselves, and the perfection of ourselves, just the way we are, we attract loving and harmonious relationships with other people.

The Universe Handles the Details

Taking care of the details of our lives is generally considered a rational mind activity. However, when our rational minds are active, we shut out our Infinite Intelligence, which has the capacity to handle the details in ways that are vastly more supportive of us and everyone else.

As we learn to relinquish our rational thinking and surrender to our intuition -- our connection to Infinite Intelligence -- we discover how easily, effortlessly and spontaneously events unfold for us.

And because there is one Universe, there and one set of laws and principles governing all life in it, there also must be one truth... In the next chapter we will take a look at that truth.

Another Perspective on the Laws Of The Universe

Every time we focus on something we are calling it towards us. With our thoughts and beliefs, we invite people, situations and material things into our life. Often we can use our energy in resistance. Many invoke this law without being aware of doing it.

Your conscious mind can discriminate between a negative and a positive instruction but your unconscious mind cannot tell the difference. The following words invokes this law: don't, can't, wont or not. You become what you resist. Whatever you resist persists in your life and uses up your energy in struggle. Never resist failure or poverty. Instead attract success and wealth. Always embrace the positive rather than resist the negative. Releasing control frees energy.

One positive way of transforming negative thoughts is to write them down and then burn the piece of paper.

Then write down what you do want so as to attract that into your life instead. If you are in conflict you stay stuck.

If someone is blaming another for what is happening in his own life, he is a victim who is resisting taking responsibility for what he has created. Anything that you are resisting has a message for you. If you have recurring patterns of failure constantly picture yourself succeeding. Quit resisting. Decide what you do want in life and start to send out magnetic, excited, Enthusiastic energies to draw the positive to you. What you resist persists in your life and drains you of energy. Embrace what you do want and feel alive.

Law Of Attraction

You have drawn towards you everything and everyone who is in your life. You send out into the ether the story of your patterns, emotional energy, mindsets, and denials, likes and dislikes. People who do not resonate on our frequency simple are not attracted to us. The vibration you emit is made up of your conscious and unconscious energy, some magnetic, some repellent and some neutral. Like attracts like Qualities such as love, kindness, delight or generosity transmit a high frequency and magnetize people with similar energy. The universe provides mirrors for us to look into. Our underlying beliefs attract people and situations to us. If you think negative thoughts you attract negative people and situations to you. Whenever something is not materializing, as you would like it, examine your underlying feelings and change them. The inner attracts the outer. If something in your outer world is not what you want it to be, look inside and shift how you feel about Yourself. You will automatically attract different people and experiences to you. Remind yourself of your good qualities. Send out positive light and wait for a miracle to be drawn towards you. You are a magnet: you attract like to you.

The Law Of Request

Under spiritual law, if you want help, you must ask for it. It is better to help another only when they ask you for help. If you feel you want to help someone else without their permission then you need to look at the part within yourself that feels the need to rescue them. A being of Light never interferes with your life. But they will save you from an accident or death if it is not your karma. They will also see you make mistakes so you can learn and grow. There are times when you may wish to ask for help. This is done calmly and with strength. As soon as you are ready to ask for help you are ready to receive it. You are ready to accept the wisdom that goes with it. Then the higher powers will align themselves to help you. The person who is steadfastly walking the spiritual path goes within to look for answers. As soon as you are ready to know something the teacher will appear to provide it. When you are ready to formulate the question, you are ready to receive the answer. When you need help first quiet and center yourself. Meditate on what you really want and find
clarity about it. Then request help to your spiritual helpers. The answer lies in the question. The more clarity you have in your question, the fuller the help you will receive. They will always help you. The universe is waiting to help you. All you have to do is ask.

As Within So Without
Earth is a place of learning where our lessons are presented to us by making our outside world an exact reflection of our inner world. If you feel secure, loved, safe and happy inside you will have secure, safe and happy people in your life. If you feel angry, self-critical or feel rejected deep inside, you will have people who get angry at you, or put you down or who abandon you. The universe rearranges itself to reflect your reality. Literally as within so without. Your body is a mirror of your deep, often unconscious, inner feelings. The left side of our body reflects our attitude to women and the past. The right side reflects our attitude to men and the future. The words we choose to use also reflect the condition of our bodies. So if you have a 'pain in the neck', who is being a 'pain in the neck' in your life. If you say or think it enough times, you will get a 'pain in the neck'. The kind of car we own is a deep inner reflection of who we are. Like wise, our home and our pets reflect our inner qualities. The higher beings who watch over us cause the material objects in our life to alter according to our inner state. So if we want to change something in our lives then we need to alter our beliefs and attitudes in order for our outer world to change. The universe rearranges itself to bring you what you believe.

As Above So Below
This is the first Law of the Universe. On Earth as it is in heaven. The Universe loves you and holds a vision of your future as an enlightened person no matter what mistakes you are making on Earth. God does not judge you, only encourages. You have free will to make your own choices in life. God will not force you to do his will. he Universe waits without judgment as we experience and learn. When we are ready it opens new doors. God wants us to be happy, fulfilled, prosperous and healthy.