In what way is the energy of bliss “Non-dual,” and in what way is it not?
In the Purple node, awakening is to our nature as Bliss, Presence or Shakti. These are perceptible…
That is to say, you can feel and experience bliss, presence, Shakti or life force. In that sense, they’re different from Consciousness Itself, which is not an object.
…the natural power that emanates from Unconditioned Awareness or Consciousness Itself.
This energy and peace are inseparable from un-manifest Consciousness Itself but are perceptible and can be experienced and felt. This field of homogeneous energy of the Purple node is a kind of non-duality. When you are in contact with this energy, you can experience yourself to be one with it, and you feel yourself expand and contract.
Our experience of energy or presence constantly changes. Sometimes it’s experienced as a contraction and sometimes it’s experienced as an expansion. In that sense, it’s moving. It’s changing. It’s not like Consciousness Itself, that doesn’t change. However, in the energetic field, there is still a kind of non-duality in it because we experience ourselves as non-separate from it, and this bliss of Being is beyond thought. You feel energy more powerfully when your attention is not engaged in thinking but is instead directly absorbed in the feeling sense. In that sense, it is non-conceptual, just as the recognition of Consciousness is.
When your attention is not on any object or thought, you rest only as Consciousness Itself. On the other hand, attention can be absorbed in a direct experience of the senses, aside from thought, and then you’re resting in Shakti, the feeling-sense of Being or I-am-ness. This, too, is a non-conceptual experience.
To directly contact the experience of our senses without conceptual labels transforms the way we perceive life. Any experience of the senses directly apprehended without the thinking mind can be a doorway. For instance, when you place attention in direct feeling-sensation and ignore thoughts, then the feeling will draw your attention in such a way that there is no room for further thinking to have power to interrupt pure presence.
Even in physical exercise, energy tends to show itself as feeling-sensation when we ignore thinking that interprets (and interrupts) experience. Feeling moves you toward a non-conceptual state if you surrender attention into it directly. Probably the most common human example of this is during sex where there’s an intensity of pure feeling-sensation. If attention is drawn into and merges with the feeling entirely, then you surrender to it, and there’s no conceptual mind. It’s just pure bliss, and release.
As we move through Purple into shades that are closer to Blue such as Indigo, we are embodying energy instead of being it. The energy there shows up as particular meridians, channels, chakras, and auras, which are part of us rather than being us.
There are many shades of Purple on the spectrum between the Red and Blue nodes. As you move toward the Blue node, you’re moving into embodying energies that are both subtle and dense. On the boundary of Indigo, there are teachings that focus on energies moving in channels within the body.
Some of those teachings that are right on the border with the Blue node are about flowing energy for the sake of your physical and mental health. Right alongside and often mixed with them are teachings about tuning up your energy systems for the sake of awakening; they work with internal anatomy. There are various systems related to the subtle energy nerves known as “nadis” and “chakras” which are said to be centers or meeting areas of energy. Also, there are ways in which energy moving in channels can manifest certain ideal qualities and there are teachings that work toward that end.
There are teachings about contacting and drawing forth those attributes intentionally so that they come into manifestation in your energy field. They are abstract qualities that are felt in meditation and are then invoked into your energetic identity, so they become part of your presence. This is often done using mantras and mental images to draw down or call forth particular desired qualities into your energy field. All those teachings are within the Purple node.
When the energy is balanced and is flowing cleanly through these channels, it usually manifests ideal qualities effortlessly. When attention is resting in Consciousness, there’s often an automatic radiance that contains love and compassion, kindness and peace. In that case, Purple is a natural byproduct, and the qualities are inherent to that.
In addition to these practices that bring forth or increase qualities or energies, there are also liberation teachings. They too are involved with energy, but the aim of those teachings is to release contracted or trapped energy into the whole field of Being where there’s a sense of non-separateness and fullness. Those teachings are toward the Red node boundary.
There are two broad categories of teachings about energy anatomy: those that focus on attaining health and longevity, and others whose goal is the experience of awakening a current of non-separateness. These can all be applied as needed and they are all part of the Purple node as a whole.
Breath, Energy and Subtle Feeling-Sensation
There’s a traditional understanding of the deep relationship between breath and spiritual energy so most energy systems include some kind of breathing exercises, such as Pranayama in India, Qigong in China, and Tsa Lung in Tibet.
There is direct access to changing the quality of your energy through your breath, and perhaps the easiest technique is to pay gentle attention to it. Without the use of an elaborate system, simply paying attention to the breath calms you effortlessly.
Wherever you find yourself, even when you’re very disturbed, if you just sit and bring your attention to your breathing, your energy will change. Resting attention in the sensation of the breath and contacting feeling can be a deeply nurturing way to touch the flow of energy and presence that is always available to you.
(From The Tapestry of Being, Chapter 3: You Are a Multidimensional Field of Radiant Energy)