I have been an avid fan of TED talks and we have even featured a few TED videos on this site. TED itself has definitely helped in spreading a lot of knowledge and showcasing some awesome people. But when TED pulls down content and doesn’t offer a good enough reason as to why, you have to be a little curious.
Graham Hancock’s talk on, ‘the War on Consciousness’ at TEDx Whitechapel was pulled down, and now a debate page has been put up, quite strange and it points to the fact that TED is not here to bring about change especially when it comes to invoking consciousness.
Graham Hancock talks about something very interesting; he connects ancient civilizations that evolved their consciousness by consuming psychoactive plants or fungus such as the Amanita muscaria, he talks about how cave drawings are related to visions seen during altered states of consciousness.
He then talks about Amazonian Shamans who discovered Ayahuasca and how could they combine the two plants out of thousands of species in the tropical forest to create their magical brew. Hancock also explains his personal Ayahuasca experience and how it changed his life and how it can benefit the entire species to have an experience like this.
He ends up with how today, exploring consciousness is trampled upon by governments and ruling forces, Hancock states that this shouldn’t be allowed as its an individual’s choice to explore consciousness.
Well we do agree with what he says, especially towards the end where, we as a collective need to evolve our consciousness to solve problems such as war, poverty, food, drugs and so many more that have been created by our current level of consciousness.
As Albert Einstein puts it, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
‘Empowering’ was the first word that popped in my head when I went into/entered the visionary world of artist Amanda Sage. Based in Los Angeles, Amanda aims to create portals that open to the infinite possibilities of being and expressing, to help remember and re-discover who we really are, where we originate from and where we are headed.
One of the main reason I love visionary art is because of the experience of losing yourself into multiple dimensions blended to perfection to narrate a cosmic story on a single canvas. Through her art, Amanda seeks to challenge the viewer to question and evolve out of ignorance and dissolve the conditioning by the society.
Fractal Enlightenment got in touch with Amanda to know more about her art, inspiration, her experience with the pioneer of visionary art – Ernst Fuchs – and what lies ahead.
Visionary artist Amanda Sage
“I feel driven to explore and push the boundaries of what I see and understand and at the same time seek balance and beauty through my art. I would say that the path has defined the result and that visionary art choose me.
As a child I remember seeing colored energy fields around people, and I feel that through painting I am remembering and looking even deeper,” she said.
The Shaman
Her adventurous spirit carried her to Bali, then on to Vienna, Austria to study classical painting with Michael Fuchs, resulting in becoming a long time painting assistant to Ernst Fuchs. “At times it was the most difficult thing that I knew. When I was working with him, he was like a slave driver who expected me to be painting or doing something for him all the time.
At the same time though, there was so much genius wrapped into many of the projects, and I really had to learn to be flexible. The level of unwavering commitment that he has for his art and vision was inspiring to say the least. And most of all how he would always look at his work with fresh eyes and challenge himself and the viewer.”
Ana Suromai – Women have been lifting their skirts for centuries to ward off evil and enhance fertility. This symbolic act is also found in mythologies of various cultures, specifically in those of ancient Egypt, Greece, Persia, Ireland, Africa, Indonesia & Japan
One of her most talked about piece is ‘Ana-Suromai,’ derived from the Greek word meaning ‘to lift the skirt’. According to Amanda, this painting is an outcry a visual denouncement of the corrupt system that has brought our world to a state of chaos, based on greed, war profiteering, and the mindless consumption by the masses.
“It symbolizes the awakening of our personal power, shocking one into introspection as this system is in the process of crumbling.” This painting was unveiled at the 2011 Burning Man Festival in the Nevada Desert.
The Oracle
If you look closely you will find that an egg is a recurring symbol in many of her paintings, Amanda explained, “I consciously began using an egg in 2006 after going on a vision quest to find the perfect form that I could put anything in and feel completely safe to explore and unfold within.
This form appeared to me in a painting titled ‘Dreams,’ where a mystical snake held an egg in its mouth. I see it now as a window or doorway into infinite realms of reality.”
Gateway to the Emerald Kingdom
Often developing these ideas takes a lot of effort and one is always confronted with having to make a choice.
She explained, “When I am painting, I often find peace, and/or a battlefield that whisks me into a problem solving world…Even as I go down dark, destructive paths looking for the light, the pressure of those places drives me to see where I want to go even clearer. Sometimes you have to get lost to find yourself.”
Mind
Its always difficult for an artist to be able to pick one painting that reflects their journey on this path, but Amanda gave it a shot.”The painting that speaks the most of the dream I care so deeply about is ‘Regeneration’. It is deeply personal and reflects a journey that I am on and discovering.”
Regeneration – “It has an overall uplifting vibration about it and is about celebration, healing and love.”
Seeking inspiration from various visionary artists like Frida Kahlo, Leanora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Salvador Dali, Mati Klarwein, Robert Venosa and Alex Grey, Amanda has played a prominent role in the growing visionary art movement through exhibiting, teaching and participating in major festivals.
Spirit visionary art
She is set to open the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art along with her colleagues this fall. “Besides I have a new series of paintings to embark on as I also explore and travel the world as a witness on a grand quest to support the blossoming of planetary consciousness,” she explained.
It’s funny as human beings we feel we are the most intelligent species, but we are most disconnected from our natural environment. A certain discovery like this show that even the tiniest insect like beetle is connected to the cosmos.
The African Dung Beetle uses the milky way as a positioning system. Dung is its most valuable and important resource, as it spends most of its life gathering and living with it. They even lay eggs in dung so the larvae can feed on it.
So it becomes essential that they pick up a dung ball and reach their home the fastest that they can cover the shortest distance. How does a beetle with a brain the size of a rice grain manage to do this successfully even after being disoriented from its original course?
The answer lies in the navigation system the beetle uses to find its way home, similar to bees and ants, during the day the beetle determines its position with the help of the sun. But in the night the beetle uses the polarized light to position itself that we as humans can’t see.
Watch this awesome talk by Marcus Byrn, called “The dance of the dung beetle”
Every time the beetle begins his journey, he climbs aboard a ball of dung and does a little dance on it, this dance is basically the beetle getting his bearings right, it can then plot a straight way home and follow it even with obstacles in its path. They also exhibit traits of thermo-regulation as they cool their feet by licking it when they climb on the dung ball.
Till date humans, birds and seals are the only living organisms known to use celestial navigation techniques, the dung beetle research has opened up the doors to the possibility of nocturnal insects relying on the stars as well.
The new age gurus, spiritualists or visionaries talk about the power of thoughts and how it manifests into reality. But when the same theory is affirmed by someone from a scientific background, it helps bridge the gap between science and spirituality.
Bruce Lipton, a cellular biologist and bestselling author of The Biology of Belief, advocates the idea that we have significant control over our biology, and with our intentions and beliefs we can ‘reprogram’ or ‘control’ our genes and our lives.
This challenges the traditional scientific belief that genes control life and people attribute their illnesses to genetic dysfunctions.
For instance if cancer, heart failure or some other disease runs in the family, it doesn’t necessarily mean that a younger member of the family would also get those diseases, contradictory to the belief that diseases are hereditary. The genes can be altered by changing our environment and perception of that environment.
“You can control your genes by influencing your beliefs and personal attitudes. How I see the world and my perception controls not just internal biology and genetic behaviour but it controls how I create a world around me, your mind’s perception of the world changes the biology and chemistry of your body which changes the cells in your body.”
Cells are like miniature people, since cells and humans have the same system like digestive, reproductive, immune and nervous systems. Each cell, like every human, has receptors built into its skin so it can become aware of the environment.
If a person is in a stressful environment, every one of our cell is also experiencing that via the electromagnetic vibrations sent throughout our body.
Similarly, if we are happy, our cells are happy and in harmony.
“Cells experience the same life you experience and it can survive outside of your body by living and growing in a tissue culture dish,” Lipton adds.
Research reveals that 95% of the time humans use their subconscious mind which is the habit mind programmed from childhood till the age of 6, after which your life is controlled by those habits.
While the conscious mind, which we associate with our personal identity, our thinking and reasoning mind, is used only 5% of the time.
You might accept this message and might think that I will change or become positive and eliminate the negative thoughts, but in real that’s only your conscious mind talking, the subconscious wants to return to his old ways of repetitive patterns.
We have to make a conscious effort to unlearn what we were programmed as children and not rely on habits and make a visible change in our lives.
According to Lipton, there are three ways that are effective in changing old, limiting or sabotaging beliefs in the subconscious mind, Buddhist mindfulness, clinical hypnotherapy and a new healing modality called ‘energy psychology.’
This change will eventually lead to a healthier living in harmony with nature and ourselves.
A couple of years ago I use to visit a homeopath to treat a recurring hair fall problem, she would diagnose the cause by checking my pulse also known as Nadi Pariksha (pulse examination). Surprisingly, she would point out the right causes, simply by examining the energy flow in the nadis.
Illustration showing the nadis and major and minor chakras
In ancient Indian medicine, Nadis are the channels or energy pathways that carry Prana or life force throughout the body and they connect at special energy points called chakras.
The Sanskrit term ‘Nadi’ comes from the root ‘Nad,’ which means motion, flow, or vibration. Just how veins and arteries are important for the healthy functioning of our physical body, Nadis weave through our physical nerves as well as the subtle circuitry (yoga nadis) of the mind, of the self, of the consciousness matrix that supports our physical presence from invisible dimensions of existence.
Prana needs to flow freely through the system to be healthy; when it becomes weak or congested, it leads to poor mental and physical health. Often painful life experiences lead to blockages and ultimately health woes, so opening up these channels is important for our overall well-being.
The body is filled with innumerable Nadis that cannot be counted. Tantric wisdom state that there are 72,000 Nadis in the human body, 14 are principal nadis out which Sushumna, Ida and Pingala are considered to be most important.
Understanding Nadis and how they function in our body.
Nadis are energy channels that carry prana throughout our body
Ida nadi
Ida, associated with the energy of the moon, represents the feminine aspect of our personality and is often shown as white. It is also the Yin element in Chinese philosophy. Ida controls the function of parasympathetic nervous system which calms the mind and body, because it is related to emotions, feelings and memories.
When Ida becomes too strong or dominant, tiredness, depression, introversion, and an inability to see things with a clear perspective can take over.
Pingala nadi
The Ida is channeled via the left nostril and Pingala nadi through the right nostril
While Pingala, associated with energy of the sun, represents the masculine aspect of our personality and is often shown as red. It controls the sympathetic nervous system, and stimulates activities and planning of body and mind. Pingala nadi is responsible for the logical, rational and analytical intellect. Pingala is also the Yang element in Chinese philosophy.
When Pingala is overused, due to the hustle and bustle of city life, we can have difficulty sleeping, concentrating or we can become anxious, irritable, and impulsive.
Ida and Pingala start and end to the left and to the right of the Sushumna respectively, moving in spirals like the DNA helix, crossing at each chakra or energy portal.
Anahata Menon, shamanic healer and mystic at Anahata Foundation, explained, “It is the interaction between these two distinct yet complementary energy channels that controls our mental processes, intuition and the activity that takes place between the left and right hemisphere of our brain. The sacred union between the male (solar or day) and female (lunar or night) aspects of our spiritual nature forms the basis of most evolutionary esoteric paths.”
Sushumna
Sushumna is the central channel of energy in the human body that runs from the base of the spine to the crown of the head and carries Kundalini energy, the primal evolutionary force within, upwards as it is awakened through the practice of Yoga and meditation.
Sushumna nadi only opens and flows freely when Ida and Pingala nadis are balanced and clear, thus the purification of all three nadis are important for the overall health, wellness of the body and mind, and one can also experience spiritual growth.
Anahata said, “However, as a spiritualist, even though I personally enjoy all the technicalities of ancient wisdom and esoteric arts, I don’t obsess over them. If our spiritual urge or intent is aligned to infinite expansion of awareness, potentials and consciousness, to love, to higher principles of freedom and balance for the highest good of all, then any sincere spiritual practice, be it yoga or plant spirit medicine, drum medicine or reiki, should support this process effectively.
As humanity makes a big shift of consciousness from the Collective Mind to the Collective Heart, I believe that the subtle technologies of our physical and etheric bodies will unlock or reveal themselves to us and spontaneously restore or repair themselves to a state of optimum balance and health.”
To determine the flow of current at any particular time note the flow of breath in the nostrils. It the left nostril has a greater flow of air, then ida nadi is predominant. When the flow is greater in the right nostril, then pingala is predominant. If the flow is equal, then sushumna is ruling.
Hatha Yoga is a yoga technique that focuses on bringing this balance. Meditation, Pranayama , breath work and sound (nada or swara yoga) healing are different paths that one can explore to achieve this balance as well.
Even traditional Chinese medicine recognise the importance of nadis or better known as, meridians, and work with a similar system of subtle energy meridians like in acupuncture, acupressure and body works.
Ancient wisdom, be it Indian Ayurveda, Yoga or Chinese meridians, the purpose is of self-realization and this knowledge provides deeper understanding of the inner landscapes that can be used to transform our lives!
