Divine Nobodies Eric Ajna

It seems the deeper we go into our beingness, the more challenging it becomes to actually talk about God with any level of conviction, knowing how ephemeral words can be in attempting to illuminate the absolute.  To be honest, the deeper I fall into my own stillness, the less I feel compelled to talk about it. After all, how can we clearly point to that which has no defined and conclusive destination.  Of course, that doesn’t mean to lay down our spiritual tools and give up the search altogether. Perhaps a better more productive way of approaching this path, is to renounce the idea of their being a teacher responsible for taking us there. After all, a teacher can only speak from their experience, which ultimately isn’t your experience.
 
However, this understanding can be a great equalizer in the realm of enlightenment because it shows us that we are all capable of arriving to the same destination, though through different means of exploration.  The beautiful thing about the spiritual journey is how it allows us to gain insight from each other.  Though, not as teachers, but as explorers on the quest for truth.  An honest seeker isn’t looking for instructions to follow. They aren’t looking for methods to borrow of someone else’s experience.  What a seeker searches for, is a light to help illuminate their path. Ultimately, once it’s lit, it is their responsibility to carry on walking.  Fundamentally, that is the responsibility we have as a community. To walk each other home.  My goal for Divine Nobodies in 2024, is to create a space where we can transcend the linear and predictable paths of “how to’s”, and instead create a space where we can reflect on the more experiential qualities in life.  After all, that is where we place our spirituality into practice.
 
In this episode I reflect on my current motivation with Divine Nobodies, and the future ahead for the podcast.
 
Renouncing linear teachings
No beginning or end to source
The meaningless mantra
No student or guru
Beware of fake gurus
Spirituality cannot be bought
My journey
Divine Nobodies 2024
 
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The benefits of meditation most certainly can’t be under estimated.  It is one of the most potent tools we have in grounding a busy mind and calming the restless thoughts that we carry with us in life.  It is estimated that 2 - 500 million people meditate around the world, and its popularity continues to grow as we fall deeper into the Kali Yuga era of time, where it seems imperative that we find strategies to cope with the often unforgiving consequences of our continued descent into the collective shadow.  One thing is definitely certain; meditation helps many and has the potential to juristically alter the way in which we perceive the world outside; that is of course, if we are doing it correctly.
 
Just as with anything, the more popular something becomes, the more of a tendency we have to trivialize the sanctity of sacred practices like meditation, and a few hundred meditation apps later, we have a global industry worth an estimated 522.21 million and no shortage of instructional content there to guide us on our journey.  It can be difficult to witness how much of a spectacle its become.  It can be even more difficult to witness so many organizations using meditation as a way to sell products or promote services. And while we certainly can’t limit the momentum of this machine, what we can do is ensure that we understand the most important elements of this practice as to not lose site of the sacred principles that exists within meditation. 
 
Although I may sound a bit cynical when speaking of our western societies proclivity towards culturally appropriating eastern spiritual practices for their own benefit; it’s with good reason.  Much of what true meditation teaches us seems to work in direct contradiction to how our western society approaches the practice all together.  Instead of leaning into the simplicity of eastern stillness, they lean more into the complexity of western mind, which contributes to more of the same confusion around meditation.
 
The truth is, there is nothing complex or complicated about meditation. In fact, it’s so simple that we often have difficulty accepting the simplicity of it. Hence our need to seek results that can somehow improve our lives both emotionally and monetarily.  Otherwise, perhaps it’s not worth our time and effort.
 
It can be difficult to sell something simple, but it can be quite lucrative if our goal is to sell a lifestyle aimed at wellness.  That isn’t to say that meditation won’t improve your life. It certainly can.  But the most potent aspect of the practice isn’t about how peaceful meditation can make you.  It’s more about relearning something that should already come across as second nature to you. More than anything, the practice is about awakening this dormant energy in us so that we no longer need apps, programs, courses and books to show us what we already know.  In this way, we can live life in meditation and not just commit to 20 minutes or so on a Thursday morning. Instead of practicing meditation, we become meditative.
 
In any case, whether meditation is a simple practice for you, or whether its part of a carefully curated lifestyle that you live, we can all benefit from understanding meditation in a way that can add a beautiful quality to our lives.  The best place to start is by investigating ourselves, how we think, what we believe and the expectations we approach this practice with. Join me as we explore this practice together.
 
In this episode I discuss,
 
 
Adyashanti’s Perspective On Meditation
The Singular Approach Of The Seeker
How Expectations Eclipse Our Ability To See Clearly
What We Get Wrong About Meditation
Investigating The Ego
The Nature Of Awareness
How To Shift Our Perception In Meditation
Silence Is Not The Absence Of Sound
The Nature Of Acceptance And Surrender
 
 
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The connection between codependency and relationships is something I’ve contemplated for many years. Primarily due to my own experience in relationships being a codependent in the past, but also being a significant other to many codependent partners. If you’ve ever had the unique opportunity to be either of these individuals, than you know how heartbreaking it can be to love someone to the extent that you lose yourself in the relationship, or love someone so wounded that they have an inability love you in a healthy way.  At this time in our world, it doesn’t seem too far of a stretch to conclude that we live in a wildly codependent society, not just in relationships to people, but in our inward striving towards pleasure, fame and the perpetual need for a constant distraction to pull us away from our own deep spiritual inquiry. 
 
While the pursuit of happiness does appear to be a normalized part of our culture, we seldom explore the deeper implications of where these needs arise from. Of course, there are healthy pursuits driven by the most powerful elements of self love, though what happens when our striving for happiness comes from the shadows of our own personal trauma?  It’s a difficult question to explore, and an even difficult quality to identify in ourselves. Though, one thing we can all relate to on our journey, is the need for love. 
 
Whether a child or an adult, we all have a natural affinity towards connection with our external environment.  While a child seeks the love of their parent, an adult seeks the love of a friend or partner, and so the need for a healthy symbiosis between them seems imperative to live a meaningful and happy life.  Though, what happens when our most basic human needs aren’t met when we’re young, and how does this influence the ways in which we seek love as we get older? Without positive and healthy role models to teach us about healthy love, it seems we become vulnerable to many things that prevent us from finding this healthy connection with others. 
 
As we get older we may find ourselves in emotionally/physically abusive relationships where we’re unconsciously reliving the traumas of our childhood, expecting to receive love from people that have an inability to love us in a healthy, consistent and balanced way. We may find ourselves seeking their approval and receiving constant rejection instead. The blow this instability causes to our self esteem can’t be under estimated. Especially since toxic relationships appear more normalized in our culture today. Of course, the most practical approach would be to distance ourselves from these types of partners, however many of us find it difficult to detach from the intermittent reinforcement we receive from unstable partnerships, and there are several reasons for this.
 
In this episode I will explore the question of why we continue to pursue toxic partners, by exploring my own personal experiences growing up as a child and how my upbringing influenced the types of relationships I brought into my life as an adult.
 
In this episode I discuss,
 
How Childhood Trauma Effects Our Perception Of Love
The Role Of Disassociation In Trauma
Why We Romanticize Unhealthy Relationships
Codependents And Narcissists
Love As A Means Of Escape
Why Toxic Partners Can’t Love Us
How To Break The Cycle Of Abusive Relationships
 
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There are many elements built into the foundation of the spiritual journey that seem to slowly unravel over time.  Quickly we learn how imperative it is that we understand, not only the eternal nature of spirit, but the inner workings of how the mind and body are interwoven into the new age phenomenon we all know as spiritual evolution.  Often it’s the mystical things that draw our attention first. Spontaneous moments of unadulterated bliss and the idea of a sleeping serpent known as the kundalini laying dormant in our bodies, just waiting to shoot our egos out of a cannon directly into the unknown. I mean who wouldn’t want to be happy all the time without the patronizing watchtower of organized religion taking all the credit for it. Seeking our own inward wisdom is certainly a far cry from the western programming of dogmatic christianity we’ve all grown up with.  Perhaps the most profound aspect of eastern spirituality is that it allows us the opportunity to grow independent of the ephemeral father figure we all know as the christian God; and with this newfound freedom to evolve in a way that is comfortable for us, it can be really exciting to touch on the sacred teachings of Hinduism or Buddhism. 
 
One of the most common teachings we come across on our journey is that of the Chakras; and as popular as this system of spirituality tends to be, it can also be one of the most ambiguous.  People tend to approach the system of chakras one of two ways. One, tends to be used as a diagnostic tool to help us determine what areas of life we need to focus our energy on. The other, is in understanding the chakra system as a fundamental blue print of a spirits journey in this life. Both schools of thought are collectively true, though too often we can get caught up in using the chakra system in a trivial way that denotes a more superficial desire to control various elements of our lives; and if we aren’t careful, we can become overly identified with the egos game of diagnosing energetic blocks in our chakras, and end up tirelessly trying to resolve ourselves of these blocks.  It can become a vicious cycle.
 
In episode, I want to introduce the chakras in a way that may be a bit more foundational than just 7 energetic spheres we all know as the root, sacral, solar, heart, throat, third eye, crown and their symbolic attributes. 
 
In this episode, I discuss,
 
The Nature and Meaning of The 7 Chakras
Ego vs. Spirits Interpretation of The 7 Chakras
A Diagnostic Tool or a Spiritual Roadmap?
The Spirits Archetypal Evolution Through The Chakras
The Journey Towards Enlightenment
Mystical States And The Ego
Spiritual Elitism - A Hindrance To Truth
The Ego And Astral Projection
 
 
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I’ve met many healers along my path in spirituality. Many in which reside within this extended family of practitioners attempting to bring a bit more softness, love and healing into our shared communities. In Los Angeles, it’s not uncommon for us to collaborate on workshops and healing events together, and in doing so cultivate lasting friendships with those we can share our journeys with. I met Shannon several years ago during a time in which sound bath events were quickly gaining momentum, and amongst this evolution, lasting friendships were formed around the mission of bringing sound healing into the lives of anyone open to receiving it. 
 
The beautiful thing about sound healing is that every practitioner brings their own unique set of gifts and talents to it, and because of this, opens the door to an infinite well spring of knowledge and wisdom we can learn from each other. Shannon has always been a part of that community, and thus a part of my journey as well.
 
Shannon has always been a pure, soft and yet powerful presence in the community and in my life.  She has a passion for helping others in a way that is truly inspirational and can be seen in how adept she is in learning and growing as a healer.  Not only is she a sound healer, but is also a yoga teacher, Reiki master and an Ayurvedic practitioner with the edge of being able to facilitate her practice in hospital settings around California.
 
In this episode, we dive deep into the realms of her practice and get a bit more familiar with the eastern system of medicine called Ayurveda.
 
In this episode we discuss,
 
Our Sound Bath’s at Bhakti Fest
Navigating The Pandemic As  A Healer
What Is Sound Healing?
Shannon’s Journey In Spirituality
Alternative Medicine Entering Modern Healthcare
What Is Ayurveda?
How Ayurveda Affects Diet and Health.
What Are The Dosha's in Ayurveda?
The Power Of Plants
 
Guest Bio: Shannon Mcinteer, owner of Om Shanti Offerings, is a holistic health and wellness practitioner with a Bachelors degree in Psychology.  She is a certified Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher, Sound Healer, Reiki Master, and Board-certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, recognized by the National Ayurvedic Medical Association.
 
Guest Website : omshantiofferings.com
Guest IG: omshantiofferings
 
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It’s surreal to think that it’s been three years since the pandemic started. It’s even more disorienting to reminisce about how different the world was than in contrast to now; and although many have collectively adjusted to the changes in daily life, one thing is definitely certain; the pandemic changed the way in which we see the world and how we see ourselves.  Whether these changes came as a result of losing someone we loved, falling ill from the virus, or feeling through all of the unexpected changes in the way that we lived life, it seems that we were all collectively faced with the reckoning of a type of dark night of the soul experience…at a global level.
Almost overnight, the many conveniences and societal norms we had grown accustomed to co existing with were no longer available to us. And while I won’t list all the ways in which we were negatively impacted, what seemed absolutely clear from the spiritual perspective, is that many of us were grieving the loss of certain parts of ourselves that we weren’t prepared to let go ; at least in the beginning.
One of the greatest teachings of the pandemic was helping to illuminate how dependent we were on the world outside.  It showed us how strongly we identified with certain roles and images we had in society and how reliant we were on maintaining these images and roles we played. And as challenging of a situation it was,  It allowed us a deeply profound  and rare opportunity to sit with ourselves and re evaluate how we had been living our lives.  It allowed us the ability to re evaluate how we see ourselves, how we see relationships, how we see others and how we see the world.  Of course, not everyone took this opportunity.  Though for many, it became one of the most powerful catalysts for spiritual awakening.
Often when we think of awakening, we conjure up expectations filled with fluffy new age ideas and beliefs.  Though, enlightenment is much more subtle than momentary experiences of divine insight or blissful moments. We find that it’s not so much about experiences, but experience itself. We find that it has more to do with subtraction and less to do with addition.  It’s reminiscent of the conversation between Willy Wonka and Charlie Bucket at the end of the movie where grandpa Joe asks “When does Charlie get the lifetime supply of chocolate?" and Willy  Wonka says “You get nothing…..you lose!" This may sound like a bad deal to some, though let’s not forget, Charlie ended up being awarded the entire chocolate factory! It’s kind of like that! Though in enlightenment, what we lose is our identification with form, and as a result, gain the entire universe!
In this episode, I reflect on my thoughts about the pandemic and the journey we all go through in becoming a person.  I'll discuss,
 
My Recent Interaction With A Family Physician
Reflections On The Pandemic
How Society Changed During The Pandemic
The Collective Dark Night Of The Soul
Dissolving The Roles & Images Of Ego
The Journey In Becoming A Person
The Journey Back Home To The Heart
Returning To Innocence
My Experience Working In Elderly Care
 
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Contact: info@divine-nobodies.com
Booking: booking@divine-nobodies.com
Website: www.divine-nobodies.com