Sunday, January 22, 2017

The Sounds of (my) Heaven in New York City

New York, New York...It's a wonderful town!
I could name this post 'Sounds of my Heart', because feeling my heart and soul is all that matters to me these days.

(Note to all: I'm taking a stab at leaving in what I edit out.) 

In the bowels of Marble Collegiate Church
Question: If you had a chance to learn a new skill you had no talent for, would you?  For most this >>> Listening to the sounds of heaven in one's heart <<< is second nature.  In an uncluttered soul/ heart, so I believe.  When haven't you felt the stirrings of a love that escapes physical boundaries, leaping into the puppy at your side, or man in your bed, or the sun on its path?  It's the inescapable joy of existence. 

(Don't you wish I was editing?!!)

So this past year especially, but really the past decade, I have been clearing away inner clutter so that I can choose my existence instead of it choosing me.  To put it bluntly, I walked away from the schoolyard that prison-yard alpha b***h birthed me into. I am now learning my P's and Q's in a schoolyard of my choice.  Soul school.

I so wanted to photograph the screen ad before this one - for the Sex Museum.
Which brings me - which brought me - to New York City yesterday. But before I get to that, I want to tell you.... there's this strange phenomenon that happens to me as I drive into New York City.  I calm down.  My entire nervous system relaxes, melting into arms so wide.  I pondered this a little as I drove down the West Side.  I spent many years driving down the Sawmill across the bridge into upper Manhattan, then down the West Side Highway alongside the Hudson River to Greenwich Village to the hospital for my husband's cancer treatment.  My body recognizes its rhythms and relaxes.  'Course back then, I had my buddy in the car.  Yet I still feel I have his gorgeous company as I drive in.  Driving in yesterday, Saturday, morning meant next to no traffic, although I first checked to see where the Women's March would be held so I skirt around any of its congestion.

I started in at 8:15am and was there by 9:15am.  Now the stars have to align perfectly or that doesn't happen.  I live a whisker over 50 miles from NYC's beautiful, beating heart.  The stars aligned beautifully yesterday.

Dr. Eben Alexander
The management of my soul - my heart - is what I went in for.   Have you guys read "Proof of Heaven"?  Published in 2012, it recounts the 2008 Near Death Experience of the Neurosurgeon Eben Alexander, M.D..  He had quite the ride into heaven during his week long coma, when his brain had no sign of life.  Yet, he was conscious.  With nary a functional cell in his brain, he was fully present in this other non-local consciousness.  (Isn't that an intriguing word for God?)  Against all odds, he came out, and took some time grasping the enormity of what this meant.  Conclusion: The brain is a filter for consciousness, and NOT the creator of consciousness.  This formerly materialist, agnostic scientist has a lot of post-NDE evidence that love beats at the center of this universe. 


Hearing his story wasn't what nudged me to register for his all day seminar at Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue.  I hoped for guidance into this ultra real experience.  I've been entering this new sphere of heartfelt existence ( really, what anybody having felt unconditional love from their Mama has in their heart ) and want to live from its directive.  Dr. Alexander has partnered with a brilliant woman, Karen Newell, who, together with another sound engineer, has created sound meditations.  There have been a number of sound technicians and composers who have created aids to meditating; that is, sounds that occupy and kind of 'jam' the thought center of our brains, to enable us to allow expanded contact with our soul instead of our conditioned beliefs and created identities.  Hers have allowed Dr. Alexander to access a taste his ND Experience of non-local Love consciousness.   I sure want access to this state of being.  While I have beliefs and earthly identity, I prefer they be at the service of my soul.  It's the orientation I choose.  Being a erratic meditator and pray-er, I need all the help I can get for this mystical experience.  These Sound CD's are training wheels for meditation..  Sacred Acoustics Technology here for the whole story.

Dr. Eben Alexander, Karen Newell, my fellow meditators, New York...all made for a delicious, heartwarming day.  We engaged in two deep meditations.  Now, at home, I've created a sacred space...well, finishing up on its good start, anyway.

I'd like to leave you with Eben Alexander's words from "Proof of Heaven"s Afterward:

"Memory, Plato argued, is power.  And it is memory that brings us out of the false definitions of ourselves that earthly life can lead us into.  But we have to remember to remember.  Here are a few ways that I hope will help you to do just that. [each topic below he expands upon.]

Number One:
Remember the Limits of Words, and Remember Their Power

Number Two:
Remember Your Brain's Limits

Number Three:
Remember You Are Not Alone

Number Four:
Remember That Faith Leads Toward, Not Away From, Truth

Number Five:
Remember That You Have Been Here Before

Number Six:
Remember That We Are Going Somewhere

Number Seven:
Remember That We Make Our Own Reality

Number Eight, Nine, Ten:
Remember That You Are Loved, You Have Nothing to Fear, and You Can Do No Wrong"

Sprinkled throughout are photos of a day in New York.



Smiling at 'ya,
Flo

8 comments:

  1. OH! Lucky Dog you. I wanted so to visit that church back in the 60's, when Norman Vincent Peale was pastoring there!!! I love this post! However, just as you know you, I know me and visiting New York City would in no way be a calming experience for me. ;-)

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  2. Wouldn't that have been cool, to hear Norman Vincent Peale? I vaguely recall going to a service in the 80's, but he wasn't preaching. I ended up joining a Lutheran Church community partly because I adored that particular church's architecture - ultra-modern, in the Citicorp Center in midtown. me - always the artist, hah.

    You DO love this post? Wellll, maybe I'll edit less...

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  3. You getting so cerebral that you're leaving me in the dust. But I'm glad you had a good time in NYC.

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    1. Gosh, I never in a million years thought I'd be described as cerebral. Do you mean I'm presenting rather dryly, not engagingly?

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    2. You are "in your head" a lot lately. I did a lot of that in my mid 40's. It has taken you a bit longer, but at last you are figuring it all out and that is wonderful!!!!!! Some people never go through that introspection, you and I had to because of the abuse we had as youngsters. Because we got "into our head", life is a whole lot lighter, physically and emotionally. I still ponder a bit on these kinds of things--the way far back things--but my soul is pretty calm and secure now. YAY!!!

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    3. What Judy said...that's cerebral in my book. Pondering, dissecting your life and thoughts.

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    4. Oh! Bless you; I was hoping you didn't want to put this genie back in the bottle!!!

      Ponder should be my middle name. If you would be so kind to continue commenting, I will continue to share life behind these eyes. Or life through these eyes. It's so darn enjoyable!

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    5. Oh, I will continue to comment but don't be surprised if I get impatient for details from time to time. You write in code to protect the innocent or the guilty...I'm not sure which. LOL

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