The Nectar of Immortality: A Heart of Gold

Author

Peter Logos
December 25, 2023

“I cognized the center of the empyrean as a point of intuitive perception in my heart. Irradiating splendor issued from my nucleus to every part of the universal structure. Blissful amrita, the nectar of immortality, pulsed through me with a quicksilver-like fluidity.” — Yogananda

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Welcome. Make yourself comfortable. Now breathe, and relax…

Let’s greet change like an old friend. Change is a force for progress, for personal evolution. Change beckons us to ask, “are we awake and ready?” and shows us how to respond with inspired action.

In this universe, we are all on an alchemical adventure of change, transforming from one phase to the next, the best we can do is embrace it and ride the wave as we become beautiful butterflies. This brings us to a personal experience of life, perception itself — and the feeling of flow from one moment to the next, and even flow from one phase of life to the next. The caterpillar comes first.

Alchemy gives us the view that not only can one turn lead into gold, but that — on the human level — we are turning the lead of ignorance into the gold of insight, through the container of love, the eternal fountain of the heart. This is the essence of any true spiritual practice.

As we see evolution on the whole as an alchemical process, so every thing in the Universe is undergoing some form of transmutation from one phase to the next. The alchemist who knows the philosopher’s stone becomes immortal wisdom incarnate. Jesus said “if thine eye be single, the whole body shall be filled with light.” When our two “Earth eyes” close and we go into the heart, we perceive a unified vision — we “see the light.” All the better when shared together.

Being in flow, “the flow state,” has received a great deal of attention for its equal impact on productivity and happiness. Flow can be described as a state of intense, enjoyable focus — where time passes with blissful purpose, to the point of one’s sense of ego-identity merging with the present task and even expanding beyond it.

The essence of the pop-culture psychology phenomena “flow” is similar to the Vedic concept of samadhi (bliss, liberation - perhaps with “flow” being an outward first step toward this ultimate freedom - more on samadhi here). Of course, we can haphazardly experience flow, but we can also learn how to allow it daily into work and home life at deeper levels, higher octaves.

In his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi offers insight into our ability to generate flow in relation to the average person’s exponential increase in “free” leisure time over the last 100 years. He shows how much flow we experience in free time indicates our level of satisfaction across the board — and yet how often this is overlooked as a form of meta-education.

Flow is one reason why over millennia, people have refined practices of training the individual for self-reflection and meditation, along with the arts and sciences, to create meaning for one’s experience of the moment, and over time, the collective legacy of humanity.

The thesis being, to know how to use time well without external constraints is to know oneself. In Huxley’s social commentary from 100 years ago, Brave New World, the futuristic citizens of the year 2,500 still grapple with how to use free time in a technologically-advanced convenience society.

We have a modern paradox to unravel, as sociobiologist E. O. Wilson puts it, “the real problem of humanity is the following: We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology.” Flow state can be described as a solution to this paradox for the individual. Like many skills, flow state requires practice and patience, and it is learnable by all.

The “Law of Attraction” works like a magnet. Take regular focus time, use it to your advantage to maintain a steady flow. Energy goes where attention flows. Focus on gratitude. What you appreciate appreciates. Seek joy, inspiration and the good things through gratitude for what is here now. Affirm your desires in the present tense, already yours, “I’m grateful that…” Give then receive.

The lesson for now is simple — slow down, think about what you enjoy/are grateful for, let go and be present. Even mental rehearsal (visualization/affirmation) of enjoyable/important activities produces neurobiological changes in brain structure similar to doing the activity, makes them more likely to actually happen, and helps us perform these actions with fluency.

The brain works in the present moment, even if we project to the future or past, we do so from the present, so experiencing all of life as ever-present helps us understand how to magnetize experiences and states of being (like “flow”) to us, rather than thinking we need to go outside of ourselves to find them, we expand our awareness from within to draw what we need to us (now you don’t have to read all the Law of Attraction books, just roll up your sleeves and do your best).

This brings us to practices of breath and meditation, both showing significant promise in attaining flow state “on-demand” — especially when combined.

But if we chop up Eastern practices to being mere focus tools, we would miss their deeper context for showing us the mystery of eternal life and knowledge of self, of our own divinity and the hard problem of consciousness, and even of the simple facts of humanity.

Enter bhakti yoga, the path of the heart, as a fun easy way to merge the esoteric wisdom of the East with a “modern” Western lifestyle and traditions.

The Dalai Lama sums up the essence of bhakti as“develop the heart, be compassionate, not just to your friends but to everyone.” It’s easy to be kind to most people, but sometimes it’s hard to forgive. Forgiveness is key to the law of love. Let kindness fill your heart and you will know when you are ready to let go to let love in. The more love you give, the more love you receive.

A lecture called The Promise of Immortality given by Swami Kriyananda in Santa Cruz shares valuable lessons on why the timeless teachings of India bring fresh perspective to our daily lives, especially though friendship.

The essence of bhakti is love and connection, or friendship, often in a community setting, a social approach to the often solitary practice of yoga, the awakening of one’s heart for the benefit of all, the blossoming of the heart’s flower nectar in support of the hive of humanity. On that note, save the bees!

As a reminder of our little honeymaker friends, here’s a simple exercise called bumble-bee breath (brahmari pranayam) to help us say “buzz off” to spinning thoughts and reconnect us to our own inner sweetness.

Inhale through the nose for 4 seconds, then exhale while humming the sound M, repeat 12 times, increasing the depth/duration of breath over time, never forcing, always keeping breath slow, even and gentle. Once finished, take a few quiet breaths and enjoy the resulting stillness of pure bee-ing. Start practicing with this free 1-hour breath training program for beginners.

Inspired after breathing, here’s a daily journaling prompt with three questions, planning for flow in “the eternal here and now”:

Journal Prompt: Today, we have been given a beautiful day full of life to be lived.

  • How will you spend it?

  • Who will you share it with?

  • What will you be grateful for?

In times of great change, remember the truth in your heart as a guiding light. Do not let people, senses, memories, obligations and emotions pull you around. Come back to your center. Be a pillar, stand up for what you believe — free thinking is liberty. Be free.

Fruitful Grounds from the Heart of the Collective Lotus:

Until next time, a quote from Bil Keane, and the wise turtle Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift... that's why they call it present”.

Rather than simply go on with your day… reflect, write, and share this with a friend. Thank you!

Be well,

PeterA