Cultivating Mystical Vision

There are two levels of spiritual practice. The first leads to the attainment of inner freedom. This is the practice that is engaged with from our familiar identity as the person who was born on our birthday, has our name, and lived our history. That person, in my case Jeff, practices being consciously content until they establish themselves in a profound sense of continuous peace regardless of circumstances. This is the profound attainment of spiritual freedom.

The attainment of inner freedom releases us from the sense of anxiety and self-concern, and ultimately from any sense of existential uncertainty. We are finally free to be fully human and we don't feel any need to reject or push away any part of our experience. We are free to be exactly who we are whole-heartedly and unselfconsciously.

Once a foundation of inner freedom has been set a new potential for spiritual practice becomes available. Now that we have attained some degree of deep relaxation we no longer feel compelled to pay such close attention to our experience and our awareness begins to expand beyond the familiar. Initially we may experience a profound sense of emptiness, like a darkness that feels full of potential.

As you rest in that void you experience something like allowing your eyes to adjust to the darkness, except it is not your physical eyes that adjust, it is an inner eye, a spiritual eye, and a new sense of mystical vision begins to emerge. You begin to be able to perceive in the darkness of higher dimensional spaces.

As you rest in the subtle realms beyond time and space, you are taken on a journey. You voyage deeper into the unknown and higher realities that had previously been invisible. These are not visual perceptions, but they can appear that way for some. For others they might appear as sounds, or currents of energy, voices, or even movements. The unknown makes herself known in many different ways.

When we first encounter higher dimensional reality it is only a slight energetic sensation, a psychic tickle if you will. It is easy to miss it, but if you don’t, you will immediately know that you have been touched by something and wonder what it is.

As you pay attention to the tickle it will become more distinct, and you will begin to feel that you are in contact with a higher dimensional object or entity. At this moment there will be an excitement and a temptation to try to see it through some effortful act, but if you remain calm and relaxed your mystical vision will slowly come into focus. That is why establishing some degree of inner freedom is a necessary foundation for this higher work. Without that foundational ability to remain in calm abidance, you will be startled by the higher contact and your familiar sensibilities will activate to try to figure out what touched you. Your mind will create a reality around that contact and your focus will turn towards your mind’s image rather than the direct experience.

Learning to rest in the sensation of the direct contact of higher dimensions is a crucial capacity for the development of mystical vision. You allow the higher sensibilities to tickle you without trying to figure out what they are. You simply rest in the subtle sensations. And when you do, what you will find is that that slight contact, that subtle stirring of your inner senses, is all you need to be guided more deeply into the mystery. The higher journey into subtle awareness is underway.