Weekly Reflections #29: A moment with the sky!

This offering may be a little different from a visual experience of the sky. I hope it will be accepted even though it is from a different "angle of vision."

They were in the middle of the course when I attended for the first time. There were several other prior sessions but the guide assured me it was alright to come late, "Better late then never."

Sandra was getting quite a reputation among the seekers' community near the university for her guided meditations. It was the thing to do Thursday evening. The room was full, maybe twenty-five attending all sitting yogi-like on cushions on the floor. Sandra didn't charge anything but welcomed donations. There was a small donation box mounted on the wall. The sign above it read, "Keep our sessions going with your attendance and offerings."

After getting past the pile of shoes near the door, I found an unoccupied cushion in the back of the room. Sandra was a large woman in about her mid-forties. She certainly looked empowered. Everything about her was commanding and strong. Built like a tank. Her voice was deep and loud and projected far.

"Welcome to our fifth session in the guided meditation series. There will be nine sessions total. We are focusing in this series on the basic elements, five gross, earth, water, fire, air, either and three subtle, mind, intelligence and false ego. Tonight's focus is the fifth gross element, ether, sometimes referred as the sky.

We will spend fifteen minutes in preparation for the guidance by remaining completely silent, eyes partially closed breathing deeply and quieting the mind, silently meditating on the sound vibration OM.

Then I will start the guidance which will last for fifteen minutes.

There will be another fifteen minute session of silence and reflection.

And finally the last fifteen minutes of the hour will be time for individuals sharing any realizations they may have or questions.

So now let us begin.

The fifteen minutes of preparation passed and Sandra started the guidance by speaking while we remained in yogi position with eyes partially closed.

"Think of yourself as a very, very small particle of energy. Conscious energy. The only thing you are conscious of is sound. You are entering the entering the ether, the sky, the medium sound travels in.

Every sound has a source. Follow the sound to its source. The sound of my voice is good place to start. Follow the sound of my voice and realize me transmitting the sound. The bird outside singing is the source of that sound. Even your own breathing... your body is the source of that sound. The sounds are traveling the sky which surrounds and is in everything. It is the most subtle of all the elements. Finer than earth, or water, or fire or even air. It is the purest of the gross elements. The sky supports vibrational energy. Like water supports ripples. You are a very small particle of conscious energy. You are not gross energy. You are spirit."

It was pretty powerful hearing her. I was all ears as they say. And then we were quiet again and reflecting on the guidance.

It was time to share and ask questions. One young man asked how do we know there is sky or ether? We can't see it, taste it, smell it, feel it etc. It is beyond the reach of those sense.

Sandra replied, "Because of sound. We can hear. So there is a medium that sound travels in. Hearing is our most important sense."

Someone else spoke up, "That was wonderful. Thank you. By focusing on hearing and sound my mind was very peaceful. It was like a lot of static had been filtered out."

Sandra agreed, "Yes, there is so much sensory input all the time it can get very confusing. Focusing on hearing and entering the sky, gives us a much needed break. The sky becomes polluted by lies, spoken untruths. That contamination filters down to contaminate the other elements, the earth, the water, the air..."

I asked, "Are there any sounds that are more significant than others?"

Sandra really liked the question, "Yes. There is a great science. It is coming from time immemorial. Mantra yoga"

I asked again, "Do you have a mantra?"

She said, "Yes See me after the session and I can give the mantra to you if you want."

Sandra changed my life. Now, how shall we say, "The sky's the limit!"

Link to contest: https://steemit.com/hive-153970/@damithudaya/contest-announcement-and-winners-or-weekly-reflections-29-a-moment-with-the-sky

Maybe you will like to write something: @olivia08 @okere-blessing @impersonal (hope you are doing well)