It would be good to be familiar with the idea of soul consciousness to stay peaceful, and to overcome fear, anxiety, stress and strain.

The self awareness as a bodily being is body consciousness. Believing, understanding, viewing, sensing and feeling of the self as a bodily being is rooted in our actions based on body consciousness. The scientific understanding of the self is based on the view of the self as bodily being. It includes subjects like physiology, biology, chemistry, physics, neurology, and psychology of the body. 

JWH discusses 4 neurological modes: 1. sympathetic, 2. parasympathetic, 3. sleep and 4. pause. Because people are unfamiliar with body consciousness as  the self awareness, these modes are understood implicitly without any reference to it. Without it, the sympathetic and pause modes are not possible. PD is due to pause mode or its variants.

Alternative to body consciousness is soul consciousness. Here, soul is understood to be an infinitesimal point source of non-physical energy. The awareness of the self as a soul separate from the body is soul consciousness. Besides, soul consciousness also includes the awareness of soul’s qualities/attributes: eternal, peace, bliss, love, dimensionless, and energy source. 

In soul consciousness awareness, the self feels secure, and safe since it has an understanding of its eternity and it being the master of the body which is a  temporary vehicle that its driving.

The author strongly believes that soul consciousness can be used to come out of sympathetic and pause modes. It is all about flipping the awareness of self from body to soul.  

One can practice soul consciousness  for deeper experience of it, in a dedicated meditation session.  

One  can also practice soul consciousness while performing actions. For instance, a practice of soul consciousness can be: I, this soul, am making a deal with this one. I, a soul, am doing business.

Background: You are having conversations with your invisible friend to step out of self induced pause as suggested by JWH approach for Type 1 PD persons.

To make yourself powerful to relieve tensions, worries, and fears, read the following text at least 3 times.

Today, my invisible friend is seeing me as a carefree emperor. He is seeing me  as a unique emperor. There have been many emperors, but he is seeing me as a unique carefree emperor. 

Now the whole world is worried about one thing or another. From the moment they wake up, they have some worry or other about themselves, their family, their business, their friends and relatives etc., whereas  I begin the day by becoming a carefree emperor and I carry out every task as carefree emperor. I sleep comfortably as a carefree emperor. I have a peaceful and blissful sleep. I have become such carefree emperor.  

I gave my responsibilities to my invisible friend and so I became carefree. 

By considering myself responsible, I have worries. The responsibility is my invisible friend’s and I am an instrument server. My invisible friend is the one who gets things done and I am the instrument doing it.  I have this natural awareness at every moment, so I am a constantly carefree emperor. 

If, even by mistake, I take upon myself the burden of any worry or concern, then, instead of a crown, many baskets of worries come on my head. Otherwise, I am a carefree emperor and constantly wearing a crown of light. 

“There is just my invisible friend and I and no third person” – this experience easily makes me into a carefree emperor. 

So, am I the one wearing a crown or the one carrying a basket of worries? There is such a big difference between carrying a basket and wearing a crown. 

My invisible friend comes and relieves me of the many baskets of burdens to make me light. So, a carefree emperor means one who always remains double light, i.e, both physically and mentally light.

Until I become an emperor, my my mind cannot remain under my control. It is only when I become an emperor that I become a conqueror of my mind. 

I want to share how/what I benefitted from the view of Raja yoga(RY) ‘s philosophy of cyclic time. The philosophy is a tool for spiritual growth, personal strength, fearlessness to face situations, and coolness to accept what is happening.

RY views time is cyclic and repeats identically every 5000 years. The world is a stage on which we souls play our roles as per fixed script in a divine drama. Hence the world drama cycle is the term used to refer to the events of the cyclic time.

The fixed script is unknown when it comes to future, and is known when it comes to the past. There is scope for creativity and growth by our actions in the present. Since we don’t know the outcomes of our present actions, we need to be positive, enthusiastic, and with zeal to do better.

The world drama cycle is how the universe is organised both temporally and spatially. It is divine cosmic play. Whatever happens in it is fair and for its own reasons which we do not understand. What happened is good. What is happening is good. What will be happening is also good. This is because the drama is designed that way.

For those, who are used to believing in linear time, evolution, and free will, the above ideas look to be of resignation. But, I find easy surrender and acceptance of what is with gratitude, without imposing my own expectations and control.

When we try to control based on our expectations, and things don’t go in our way, we have negative emotions of fear, anger, frustrations, depressions, hopelessness, dejectedness, etc.

I usually don’t have fears of uncertainties in life due to the faith in the world drama cycle as I believe it to be beneficial. When my faith in the drama wavers, I get into negative thoughts and emotions. Then, I gain my coolness by getting my faith firm in the drama cycle.

When I was first diagnosed with PD in late October, 2018, I immediately thought of its divine gift to me and has a greater purpose, while my neurologist was explaining to my wife that PD is a progressive disease without a cure and is due to certain dopamine producing brain cells decaying. Then, I did not have a question of why PD to me. I immediately accepted the diagnosis. This was due to my faith in the world drama.

I did not know a way out of the predicament of Western medicine in the first 10 days after my PD diagnosis. There were uncertainties of the future. But I did not fear much due to the faith in the world drama.

Later when I found Howard Shifke’s autobiography on how he cured from PD without drugs, I found a way out of the western science view on PD. In the meanwhile, I told myself, PD is not for my soul, but for my body.

I keep thanking the PD symptoms. I tell that these are gifts. Thereby I gain emotional control. PD symptoms are messages that things are not in order spiritually and physically. These signal that I need to work to improve or better my situation.

In February 2020, I started exploring Janice W Hadlock’s research work on PD recovery. I got some new ideas to practice. Though the drama cycle is fixed at some level, our efforts do not cease. What is to unfold is fixed. But we try our best with positive mind to welcome new possibilities. As I practice JWH’s method, I find a newer way of engaging with God, which is by having two way conversation with him. That engagement is making me closer to God. I am discovering new experiences.

I play this part of PD countless times every 5000 years for eternity into past, present, and future. Nothing is new. This is the gist of the world drama cycle that gives me confidence to face uncertainties due to PD because I went through it countless times. In fact, I focus on the current moment than about the uncertainties of the future.

Accepting without the questions of why, what happened and what is happening is a surrender. Thereby I avoid negative emotions. I say, I am grateful to the wonderful drama for whatever it offered, it is offering, and it will be offering. My focus in the present moment is what needs to be done to take things forward.

People may wonder about conversing with God as a commonly known topic and this is not needed to be taken up. Often individuals remember God in their own physical awareness of the self.

JWH assumes the awareness of the physical body as the self. Using this awareness, two way conversation with the invisible friend(God) is engaged.

But we are going to use three specific awarenesses of self to converse with God as per Raja yoga meditation. These are videhi, angelic, and nirakari. I am using Sanskrit words without introducing English equivalents since I dont have English equivalents for all the three.

As per Raja yoga meditation, self is a soul, a point source of energy, which is non-physical and causes consciousness phenomenon. Based on this idea of the self, we can have the above mentioned awarenesses.

Videhi awareness
Videhi awareness is about having awareness of the self as a point being present in the physical body. In this awareness, there is understanding of point being controlling the physical body. The point being sits closer to the pituitary, pineal, and hypothalamus glands. There is awareness of the self being distinct from the body.

In videhi awareness, we can converse with the invisible friend, who is the supreme soul, God.

I am the master of this body. I a soul, control my body. I am a child of the invisible God. I say I love you Father. He also sees me as a point being, a soul. He responds, sweet child. We continue our conversation while I am in videhi awareness.

Angelic awareness
Angelic awareness is about having awareness of my angelic body, which is also known as subtle body. Angelic body is a form of light that corresponds to physical body. Every organ of the physical body has an angelic version in the angelic body.

I see my angelic body outside my physical body. I a soul sit in the angelic body at the center of the forehead, near angelic pituitary gland. I visualize my angelic body moving far away into the space. There I find my invisible friend. I engage with him in two way conversation.

I will post a separate post on experiencing angelic body using popular rope technique.

Nirakari awareness
Nirakari awareness is about having awareness of the self as a point being outside the physical body. In this awareness, there is only the awareness of the self as a point being. No awareness of physical body or the angelic body.

Nirakari awareness requires more concentration of the mind/intellect on self being a point being.

I see myself as a point being outside the body. I visualise the invisible friend as a point being. And then come into two way conversation with him.

I am yet to explore the differences these awarenesses make in the practice of JWH approach.