The Pillar of Light A good source for this practice is Amritabhbha,
Who calls the pillar of light the bhumi pillar.
You can imagine this pillar as a cylindrical column of light,
At least as wide as your body,
That surrounds and infuses your body and extends deep down below you and high above you.
Teacher Sylvia Sallow describes this pillar as a bridge to your soul,
Higher self,
And the I am presence of Source.
The more you cultivate your felt sense of this pillar,
The stronger your felt sense of connection with these dimensions of being,
And the more energy,
Information,
Guidance,
And inspiration you can perceive flowing to you and through you.
Cultivating the felt sense of this pillar gives you a feeling of lightness and radiance,
While clearing away any limiting beliefs that weigh you down.
As we move into this practice,
I want to emphasize the importance of feeling into this,
Really sensing this pillar of light,
However it arises for you,
Rather than thinking about it.
Know that this pillar of light is already here.
This column of energy is already flowing to,
Through,
And as you.
It's just a matter of attuning with and becoming familiar with the sensations.
See if you can let go of trying to feel this.
Let go of effort,
Relax,
And gently feel into the guiding cues.
Be open and curious,
And see what you discover.
As you practice this meditation more and more,
Your experience will evolve,
Grow,
And transform your consciousness.
To begin,
Sit comfortably upright with your feet firmly on the ground.
Rest your palms cupped in your lap,
With the tips of your thumbs touching lightly,
In an open receptive posture.
Lightly close your eyes.
Take a moment to settle in your seat,
And be present in your body.
Begin with basic mindfulness,
Just noticing whatever is present in awareness.
You may notice sounds in your environment.
You may notice thoughts,
Feelings,
Or sensations.
See if it's possible to allow all of this to be,
Just as it is.
Allow yourself to be just as you are.
Now feel out into the space all around you,
As a sacred space that embraces you.
As you sit in this sacred space,
Call to mind an intention for your practice.
Why is this important to you?
This is a wonderful practice for integrating the feeling of your subtle bodies with your physical body,
And for feeling a deep sense of oneness with the one life we all share,
And the source of all.
As you move into this practice,
Consider dedicating it to the benefit of all beings,
That we all might sense a deeper felt sense of connection,
And live from a felt sense of oneness with our source and each other.
Now focus down into feeling the sensations of contact of the soles of your feet on the ground.
Awaken sensory awareness here in your feet and your toes,
And allow them to soften and relax,
As if they are melting deep down into the earth.
Feel down into the consciousness of the earth.
The earth is alive,
With a deeply grounded presence.
It's solid and supportive.
Allow the grounded presence of the earth to flow up through the soles of your feet,
Up through your shins and calves,
Your knees and thighs,
Into your hips and pelvic bowl,
Resting down in your seat.
Feel the weight of your body resting down in your seat,
Resting down on the earth.
Focus into your palms and fingers resting cupped in your lap.
Awaken sensory awareness here in your hands,
And allow your hands to soften and relax,
As if they are melting down into your legs.
Feel the soft openness in your hands,
Connected to the soft openness of your heart.
As your hands relax even more,
Allow your arms and shoulders to relax down,
Releasing any tension in your shoulders,
Neck,
And your head.
Imagine and feel as if a string is attached to the top of your head,
Drawing your spine gently upright,
Like a string of luminous pearls.
Feel your spine gently stretched from your perineum and tailbone,
Right up through the top of your head,
Like a stream of light flowing upwards,
Up through your spine,
Up through the center of your brain,
And through the top of your head,
Opening to the vast,
Clear sky above.
Feel the vast openness of the sky,
Opening your mind.
Now,
Tuck your chin just slightly,
Gently lengthening the back of your neck.
Lightly close your lips,
And breathe in and out through your nose.
Nasal breathing warms and purifies the air you breathe in.
It increases oxygenation,
And it's calming to your nervous system.
As you continue nasal breathing,
Rest your tongue upon the roof of your mouth,
With the tip of your tongue touching the gum line behind your upper front teeth.
Soften and relax your tongue here.
Softening your tongue is another calming cue,
Which sends a relaxation signal to the vagus nerve in the center of your brain.
As you soften and relax your tongue even more,
Feel this relaxation in the center of your brain.
Feel it flowing down through your vagus nerve,
Down through your neck,
Down through your heart.
Relaxing,
Releasing any tension around your heart.
Feel it flowing down through your abdomen.
Relaxing and releasing any tension in your abdomen and lower back.
Feel this relaxed,
Alive presence flowing out through your whole torso,
Head,
Arms and legs.
As you enjoy this feeling of relaxed,
Alive presence,
Smile,
A subtle smile of calm happiness of appreciation and gratitude for this time to tune into the pillar of light.
This integrating,
High frequency channel of communication with the grounding energies of the earth below,
All the way up through the layers of your being to the heavenly energies,
This clarity and light above.
Allow the feeling of smiling to shine out through your eyes and release any tension from your eyebrows and your forehead.
Allow the feeling of relaxed clarity to flow down from the top of your head,
Down through your eyes,
Down through your nose,
Down through your mouth,
Down through your mouth,
Down The pure light of being.
Now feel down into your pelvic floor and down into your hips,
Legs and feet on the ground.
Feel down into the lower part of the pillar of light,
Extending at least as wide as your body from your pelvic floor and hips,
Deep down into the earth.
We're going to begin to feel down through this pillar about one meter at a time.
Feel down from your pelvic floor about one meter down into this pillar.
Sense the quality of energy here at one meter down.
Now,
Feel down two meters,
Sensing the energy here.
Three meters,
Sensing the energy here.
Feel down four meters,
Sensing the energy here.
Feel down about five to six meters.
You may notice a shift in the energy at this depth.
Just sense whatever is present here.
You may notice a deeper silence,
Stillness,
An unshakable depth of peace.
Feel this pillar extending all the way down to the center of the earth.
Feel up and down through this lower part of the pillar,
Sensing the communication of energy.
Rest in the feeling of this whole lower part of the pillar.
Sensing the energetic qualities here.
Now,
Feel the lower part of the pillar extending all the way up to your heart,
This center point of connectivity.
Now,
Feel from your heart upward into the upper part of the pillar,
Which also extends at least as wide as your body,
Up through your torso,
Shoulders,
And head,
And high above you into the sky.
We're going to begin to feel up through this pillar about a meter at a time.
So,
Now,
Feel about a meter above your head,
Sensing the energy of the pillar here about a meter above your head.
Now,
Feel up two meters,
Sensing the energy here.
Now,
Three meters,
Sensing the energy here.
Feel up four meters,
Sensing the energy here.
Now,
Feel up about five to six meters above.
You may notice a shift in the energy at this elevation.
Just sense whatever is present here.
You may notice a finer quality,
A fine frequency of silence,
Stillness,
Lightness.
Feel up through this pillar,
Extending through all dimensions,
All the way up to source,
As if you were plugged in to the source of all.
Feel up and down through this upper pillar,
Sensing the communication of energy.
Rest in the feeling of this whole upper part of the pillar.
Feel the bliss,
Contentment,
And assurance here.
Dissolve into that.
Now,
Feel this upper part of the pillar down to your heart.
This center point of connection.
Feel simultaneously the upper and lower parts of the pillar.
From the center point in your heart,
Up and down.
Feel this whole pillar at once centered in your heart,
Integrating the bright energy of source with the grounded energy of the earth.
Let go and melt into this pillar.
Allowing all layers of your being to integrate with the pillar of light.
Feel out from this pillar into the space all around.
Feel out infinitely in all directions,
And beyond that,
Prior to space and time,
Without beginning or end,
Source of all,
Vast,
All-embracing,
Without boundary or limit.
Dissolve into that.
Now,
Feel the pillar of light arising within this vastness as an expression of the source of all.
Feel this pillar centered in your heart,
Extending down into the earth and up into the heavens.
Feel your body arising within this pillar as an expression of the light.
And notice how you feel.
If you could sum up your feeling in a word,
Phrase,
Or image,
What would this be?
Record this word,
Phrase,
Or image together with this feeling deep in every cell.
Really soak it in.
Let it saturate your being so you remember it and bring it with you.
To everyone you meet,
All of whom are also expressions of the source of all.
Now,
Staying centered in your heart,
Very slowly begin to open your eyes and take in the feeling of the space all around you,
Together with the feeling of the space inside,
As one space arising within the source of all.
Feel the harmony,
Presence,
Peace,
And assurance that is here now.
Thank you for your practice.
