An Exercise for Expanding Perception in the Dark

A paradigm-shifting moments that takes your breath away.

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One day, a few years back, I was watching a TV show about near death experiences. Someone that was being interviewed said that death wasn’t much different than life. She used the metaphor of a giant warehouse, filled with rows upon rows of shelves and objects. In life, it’s as though we’re walking through the warehouse with a flashlight and can only see the parts of the warehouse that are illuminated by the beam. She said that when we die, it’s like the lights in the warehouse are turned on and we can now see it all. Her point was that we don’t go to some new place when we die, we can just see the same place in a new, more expanded, way.

I was fascinated by this metaphor.

I thought, “Well, I don’t want to wait until I die to see the warehouse. I’d like to be able to see it all right now.” I dropped into liminal consciousness and connected with my guides. This is how the conversation went:

Me: “Can you turn the warehouse lights on for me so I can see it all while I’m still alive?”

Guides: “No, we can’t do that.”

Me: “But I’d like to be able to see more of the warehouse than what’s just in the beam of the flashlight.”

Guides: “Then turn off the flashlight.”

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It was one of those paradigm-shifting moments that takes your breath away. I had been under the assumption that I’d need a bigger light, or more lights, or to bust through the warehouse walls to let the sunshine in. But no. The answer was to turn off the narrowly-focused beam and, instead, let my eyes adjust to the dark.

As usual, the answer from Spirit was more perfect than I could ever have come up with on my own.

In life, we do have a narrow beam of perception. I don’t believe this is necessarily a bad thing. We are meant to have an experience of being alive, which means we do have to put some limitations on infinity.

But sometimes we also want to access a little bit more—to see beyond the edges of our normal perceptions and to be guided by the wisdom found there.

So I created this brief meditation to help my eyes adjust to the dark and now I want to share it with you. I like to use this any time I feel stuck in a pattern or narrow way of seeing; or if I am feeling particularly righteous and having trouble seeing another’s perspective.

Let me know how this meditation works for you. Do you have your own ways of expanding your perceptions? I can’t wait to discuss it all in the comments below!

Meditation:

Get into a comfortable position free from any distractions for the next several minutes. close your eyes and take a few deep centering breaths. feel your energy throughout your whole body from the top of your head down through your belly and hips and into the bottom of your feet. You can invite in your guides or Divine powers and ask them to Resource you with support, guidance, and protection at this time.

Call to mind an issue in your life about which you would benefit from having an expanded perception. Maybe it’s something that you need to see the bigger picture of; or maybe it would help to see another's perspective; or maybe you simply need the way out of a pattern that you have been stuck in.

Now imagine yourself in a very dark warehouse lined with rows and rows of shelving units. Although it is very dark in here, it is not spooky. You feel perfectly comfortable and you know that you are surrounded by loving and supportive ancestors and Spirit guides.

You carry in your hand a flashlight. As you walk through this warehouse you can only see what is in the beam of this light. You notice that every shelf has a label letting you know what part of your life is housed on this shelf. 

Make your way now to the set of shelves that is relevant to the issue you called to mind. When you arrive there, point the flashlight at some of the items on the shelf. These will be your past experiences of this issue, ones that you are most familiar with. Just notice them.

When you feel ready, ask your guides to help you see an expanded perspective and then…

Turn off your flashlight.

At first the darkness is all encompassing. But then, slowly, your eyes begin to adjust. You start to see the shadowy outlines of the shelves in front of you. Then you start to see more and more.

You begin to see that the very structure of the warehouse expands all around you. There is no longer a ceiling above you, instead you see the great cosmos. There is no longer a floor below you, instead you see the depths of infinity. And all around you space expands out every direction.

You look again at the shelf that holds your issue and now you see the entire history of that issue—not just your personal history, but the history of every human and non-human that has ever experienced it before.

You can also now see all the future possibilities of this issue, all of them stretching out to Infinity.

All of this knowledge and wisdom now collapses into you, and flows through you in the pattern of the torus. This knowledge and wisdom becomes you, and you are expanded by it.

You become aware, too, that the warehouse itself is a conscious living being and you can ask it questions. So now ask the warehouse if there's any one thing that would most benefit you to know about the issue at this time. Be open and allow whatever comes.

When you feel complete, offer thanks to the warehouse and to your guides and divine powers. Gently come back into your body in this present time and space.

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