You Can Be a Transmitter of Spiritual Energy
Spiritual transmission in Integral Prayer
Part Four
We became living creatures when God breathed spirit into human bodies (Gen 2:7). Spiritual energy is called holy spirit in the Bible. In the Old Testament, it is the ordinary, everyday vital energy of consciousness that makes a person alive. When it leaves your body, your body dies (James 2:26). In the New Testament, holy spirit became the non-ordinary awakened consciousness that only certain leaders had in the Old Testament. In the Christian tradition, after Pentecost, this became available to everyone. Now everyone, including you, can have access to the spiritual knowing and energies of mystical and transcendent realms of consciousness.
Releasing spiritual energy and healing within us and sending it out to the world around us is the fulfillment of Jesus’ instructions that we don’t need to ask God to move the mountain — we can move it ourselves (Mat 17:20; 21:21). He taught his followers to transmit healing and awakening energy to others (Luke 9:2). After the collective awakening of Pentecost, spirit-breath-awakening was transmitted from awakened friends of Jesus to new followers of Jesus (Acts 9:17;10:44;19:6).
Our Whole-Body Mystical Awakening practice distinguishes our spiritual knowing and energy among our head, heart, gut, and feet. While each center throbs with spiritual energy and knowing, they each also have a different flavor or composition that can become noticeable in transmission. Let’s explore how this can happen today.
The Powerful Energy of the Heart
What is spiritual heart energy? At a sacred material dimension, scientists call it an electromagnetic field. The heart’s electromagnetic field is by far the most powerful produced by the body. It’s approximately five thousand times greater in strength than the field produced by the brain.
The heart’s electromagnetic field extends beyond the body, and instruments can measure its field eight to ten feet away from the body. There are indications that it’s also a nonlocal field that transcends time and space. Physicists have proposed models that connect electromagnetic theory with an inherently nonlinear, nonlocal multidimensional domain that operates under holographic principles. Although not yet scientifically proven, these models can help explain how the heart’s field could extend for miles and possibly across the world. Those of us in WeSpace groups might corroborate this hypothesis!
Recent research has explored other associated energy fields, sometimes called etheric, morphogenic, and spiritual-energetic. Such fields form between individuals in a WeSpace group. In other words, there is a literal group “field” that connects all the members.
Heart Coherence
Positive feelings of love, care, appreciation, and other uplifting emotional qualities long associated with the heart, activate a state of “heart coherence” or coming into harmony with - awakened consciousness. Increased heart coherence results in a deeper unity within us and connectedness between us and others. The frequency of the heart’s electromagnetic field changes dramatically in different emotional states. According to the HeartMath Institute, frustration produces an incoherent signal, while gratitude and appreciation create a harmonious, coherent one. Core heart feelings such as compassion and care generate coherence in the heart’s field, while stressful feelings produce incoherence. The resulting energy is transmitted throughout our bodies, and the fact that it radiates outside of the body also has tremendous spiritual and social implications.
This internal coherence can be measured by tracking heart rate variability. The greater the heart-rhythm coherence, the greater the efficient and harmonious functioning of the cardiovascular, nervous, hormonal, and immune systems. The greater the heart coherence, the more we shift out of a state of emotional unease or stress into a “new” positive state of emotional calm, stability, and deeply positive feelings like love and gratitude. I have a HeartMath device called an “emWave2 Trainer,” which I used a few years ago to get me started in dramatically showing me the difference in my HRV when I am centered in my heart. It connects with an app on my cellphone that I clip on my ear, which instantly gives me a reading of my HRV coherence. When I am tuned in and filled with love, it registeres green. The moment my mind wandered away from the flow of love, it turned red! I don’t use it anymore since I can easily sense now when I am in my heart space.
Heartfulness Transmission
When feelings of love and bliss are flowing in your heart space, you gently radiate that support and blessing to others around you. Do this intentionally. See and feel yourself directing heart energy to others. Some find it helpful to raise their hands, which are part of your heart space, facing the group or person you are transmitting to. Sense the energy flowing through your hands.
In our WeSpace groups, I often feel the force of the group heart field pushing strongly against my open hands when they are held facing the group on Zoom. Many feel a burning or expanding energy in their chest, or often warmth and a sense of compassion coming from the group field or an individual.
What does it feel like for you?
Wombful Transmission
There is a connection between the physical gut and the energetic or spiritual womb that provides an access point for spiritual energy. This gut-womb energy is filled with divine identity, courage, and birthing creativity. As you access the divine fire in your belly to find the courage and passion to move on to fuller living, you can then also transmit it to others. We can also enfold others in the nurturing embrace of our spiritual womb. See all of this flowing from you to others. Feel it being transmitted. Do this as long as it seems to be comfortable to you.
We can use our gut intuition to experience that feeling of energetically and emotionally synchronizing with others via our energy fields. When we are deeply in tune with our own gut space, we can often sense the aura or flow of energy in others. For some, this can be visually experienced with colors and images that arise in our headspace. Other times it is just felt in a deeper sense.
In our WeSpace times, in addition to the individual fields of energy, there is also a strong group field of energy that coalesces and intensifies the spiritual energy that the group can feel.
Wombful transmission can “feel” different to many because it’s of a different sort than thoughts, feelings, or emotions. It is intuitive and often very subtle.
How would you describe it from your experience?
Feet Grounding Transmission
Sending energy through our feet to others is a little different in that it is usually imaged through our grounded feet anchored to the material cosmos by seeing or sensing roots reaching down into the earth. Your feet may tingle, feel heavy, feel bigger, and sense a growing connection to the earth and material reality.
We find a theological basis for this image in the living heart of matter as part of Teilhard de Chardin's Divine Mileui and Raimon Panikkar's cosmotheandric vision including the material dimension in Christ as the Christian symbol of all of reality – divine, human, and material. Scientists have also recently begun mapping the vast galaxy network throughout the earth’s underland for the first time. By seeing and feeling energy traveling along these embodied channels of Mother Earth, we can send Christic energy to others.
The recently transitioned Buddhist monk and teacher Thich Nhat Hanh said, “The Earth is not just the environment we live in. We are the Earth, and we are always carrying her within us.
Realizing this, we can see that the Earth is truly alive. We are a living, breathing manifestation of this beautiful and generous planet. Knowing this, we can begin to transform our relationship to the Earth. We can begin to walk differently and to care for her differently. We will fall completely in love with the Earth.”
With your grounded feet, you can feel a direct physical connection to others beyond their physical or internet presence. There are no time or space boundaries in spiritual energy fields. Recently, I remembered I had forgotten to pray for someone having a serious operation earlier that day. So I transmitted energy then, days after the operation, since there is no time in the realm of awakened, divine consciousness. Past, present, and future are all here and now.
Have you experienced this embodied connection and transmission? How does it happen for you?
Head Transmission
There is also a connection between the physical head and the energetic or spiritual mind that provides an access point for headspace spiritual energy and knowing. In addition to the transfer of energy, including the energy of silence, this can also be in the form of images, words, sensations, movements, impressions, and intuitions that emerge for others benefit when we share them. They arise spontaneously without our “thinking them up.” This is much more expansive and stronger than mere ordinary mental activity.
This was prominent in the early church in the house church meetings. The apostle Paul called this “prophesy.” He used the Greek word προφητεύητε (prophēteúō), which is usually translated as “that you may prophesy.” This describes the widespread practice of the first Christians of listening inwardly to God and sharing publicly what they heard. The word “prophecy” carries a lot of negative baggage in today’s culture, so I do not use it. Instead, I translate it as “awakened inner promptings” and often call it “giving voice” to our spiritual knowings.
This form of transmission is in every one of Paul’s lists of spiritual gifts. He considered it a meaningful and significant way to “build up the church” (1 Cor. 14:4). He wanted everyone to share their images and words with others so that “all may learn, and all be encouraged.” (1 Cor 14:31). It the church gathering setting, it had nothing to do with predicting the future. My translation of Paul’s words in I Cor. 14:3 is: “The one who speaks awakened inner promptings speaks to others for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.” Who doesn’t need that!
Authentic awakened inner promptings are intended to empower a person to be more themselves than ever before and not to coerce and manipulate one another. If our spontaneous promptings don’t strengthen, encourage, and comfort others, then we may have moved to merely giving advice from our self-presumed vast storehouse of wisdom. It takes humility, discernment, and a sort of audacity along with practice and feedback to engage this form of integral prayer.
WeSpace groups open to transmission are an ideal place to experiment because they hold our presence in loving, thoughtful quietness. If we are not used to this form of transmission, we need some time and a safe space to find out how this works best for us and what is helpful to others.
When you move into the vibrant stillness of your mind, be aware of images, words, and body sensations that emerge from your deeper awakened mind. At first, you may have questions about this. Am I hearing God? Am I making this up? Is this my imagination? Is this coming from my need to be accepted, to be impressive, to be needed, to look spiritual? Is this me just needing to be a helper? As one grows and stops attaching to the ego, those ego-based needs will begin to lessen and disappear.
The more informed answer to the question, “Am I making this up?” is Yes! We are co-creating with the Divine Mystery. God provides the initial image, words, or experience, and then we shape it to fit our needs and worldview. It is always truly a joint venture!
In the meantime, you can realize your motives may never be 100% pure, so go ahead and share with the group with what you are experiencing. Don’t try to figure it all out ahead of time. Just begin speaking and the rest will come. It may feel uncomfortable at first to share—we all have different fears and hang-ups. But trust that you are offering in love and that it can be received or released by the person hearing it. In time you learn to discern more the quality of inner awakened promptings as somewhat distinct from your own normal mental activity.
Get and Give Feedback
It may seem easier and safer to just remain in private, individual practice. But the subtle realm is full of wisdom, care, and encouragement for others that we shouldn’t neglect. Engaging with others in this way takes us beyond ourselves and into deep, meaningful spiritual connections.
Moving into this awakened, mystical state usually takes practice and a shared, coherent field of engagement for the group process. Our Whole-Body Mystical Awakening meditation practices are specifically intentioned to help lead us into this state. Practicing individually can help us get to moving in this way easier when we come together as a group.
If you are not familiar with Whole-Body Mystical Awakening, you can find the steps here for help in accessing and bringing yourself into coherence with the four centers of spiritual knowing. We use these in the psychospiritual process of WBMA to active the flow of spiritual energy in our heart, gut, feet, and head. Then we can move into group practice of sharing and transmitting in this way.
In sharing what emerges from our four centers with others, we strengthen our skills by learning from the feedback we get. This is exactly Paul’s instruction about sharing these awakened inner promptings: “Let others weigh what is said” (I Cor. 14:29). The kind of feedback that works best is immediate and concrete. If you want to train your intuition and other psychic and spiritual gifts, it is good to know almost immediately whether what you shared was helpful or not. However, sometimes, we don’t realize what was shared for us is helpful or not until later in the week in the middle of some experience where the images and words come back to us as what we need them. In this case, send them a message or tell them at the next group!
I can personally attest to the benefits of years of regularly being with others who listen to God
in this way for me as I do for them. Their words and pictures for me week after week continually shape and encourage me beyond anything else.
You can be a transmitter of encouragement, support, and strengthening to others from all your centers of spiritual knowing. Think of yourself as a transmitter. Practice it wherever and whenever you want, especially in your WeSpace gatherings. Yes, YOU!
This is the end of our current series on transmission, but if you’d like to learn more about it in a Zen context, here is a conversation from January 2022 about spiritual transmission from my friend Layman Pascal, a public speaker, nondual theologian, and yoga and meditation teacher based in Victoria, British Columbia. He is interviewing spiritual coach and Zen teacher Krishna Gauci talking about transmission in satsang. Satsung is a gathering in which spiritual reflection, discussion, meditation or teaching takes place, similar to ICN gatherings. Fire from Heaven (Ep. 9: Krishna Gauci)
You can also join me and others for further discussion and deepening dialogue at our weekly co-exploration gathering. Click here for more information.