Spiritual Exchanges Valencia
Every other Saturday or Sunday, in the Semilla Holistic Centre
I organize a spiritual discussion group every first and third Sunday of the month in the Semilla Holistic Centre (Calle Del Riu Odiel 30 | 46024 Valencia).
Are you lost and have some questions? Would you like to share your knowledge or even experiences with like-minded people? Maybe you just want to meet new people. Join us!
Of course, this is not a commercial event, so business is not something we discuss here!
After the event, we will have time to continue a more casual conversation on one of the many terraces of Russafa.
Thanks to Lynne Bygrave who opens de doors to her house every Wednesday for Inspiring insights to spiritual life
Dates 2019:
September 29 : 16h - 18h
October 13 : 16h - 18h
October 27 : Open Doors!
November 9 : 16h - 18h
November 23 : 16h - 18h
December 7 : 16h - 18h
Past dates:
May 5 : 16-18h
June 2 : 16-18h
July 7 : 16-18h
August 4 : 16-18h
September 1 : 18-20h
September 15 : 16-18h
September 29 : 16-18h
Centro Semilla Holistic Centre
Reports:
You will find below the notes taken during the meetings, that the participants were happy to share. These are not meant to be read as an article or teaching but as a future reference.
– Report by Elodie –
Theme: Sex and love relationships
Astrological circumstances: New moon + Mars + Virgo
Love relationships
We look for a spiritual companion to be able to talk and share about spiritual experiences and relationships. It’s important to spend time with somebody who is open to your own ideas.
People that are not searching for spiritual answers are looking for solutions in other areas.
Each person sees the world in a different way. It is easier to live with a person who is on the same wavelength. You can talk about spiritual solutions to problems and solve them together. It can get lonely to not be able to talk about it.
Reference to article: Can A Relationship Survive When One Partner Is More ‘Spiritually Evolved?’
To create a spiritual bound:
- Meditate together
- Sex as a deep meditation is a superior experience
- Set a schedule for “romance” (date-day) and a schedule for intimacy
- Separate marriage from family (kids)
- Don’t blame the partner for not being “enlightened” enough, but self-reflect
Touareg saying: “see yourself through others”
We all have met “spiritual” people who think they are, but they are conscious only when convenient.
The universe brings to you people and issues that challenge you. You attract or feel attracted to them for a reason. This is another opportunity to learn about yourself. As long as you haven’t learned to heal yourself, these issues will come back to you.
"We are irresistibly attracted to who will bring us the problems necessary for our own evolution" - Alejandro Jodorowsky
Every person has a different understanding/definition of spirituality. People and communities have a different point of view for practice and life. It is more likely to find an “easy match” with someone who shares this point of view with you. We are drawn to people that validate us.
Spirituality is not everything, we are physical beings. A good relationship is possible when both partners have other things in common. Key is to treat each other with respect, communicate, listen and understand that the other sees the world through a different pair of glasses, and that’s ok.
There are no “bad” feelings (sadness, anger, confusion, guilt, jealousy…).
Spirituality can help us accept and embrace our feelings. They reveal something about ourselves. Feelings are energy that we can use.
Spirituality helps us not to judge the other and understand why his/her behavior bothers us so much. We get to choose: not accept and move on, or, not oppress your feelings, accept and understand.
We often expect our partners to meet our moral standards, to “be us”.
We assign these people the responsibility to make us whole/happy.
Sex
Osho school: we lost the sacral part of sex. Call it making love.
Sex is life, energy. We need to take away the guilt/sin associated with making love.
Making love is a meditative experience. It’s beautiful and it’s a gift. You should not be guilty but grateful. When you know how to use sexual energy, you can heal anything.
You can be both spiritual and physical. The sexual revolution was/is controversial but meant to be.
Reference to the Osho documentary on Netflix: (trailer) youtu.be/hBLS_OM6Puk
Having sex, you make yourself vulnerable, you give and absorb the energy from/to the other. We should choose carefully who we make love with, and how. Share body and spirit.
Our society of capitalism and consumption has brought big cities and apps that accelerate all human interactions. Us meeting today is a product of this, but also meaningless sex encounters, that leaves one empty and frustrated. Sex gives you a physical high, and it is used as a stress relief.
It’s important to make the distinction between love, sex, feelings, and partnership. Especially in polyamorous relationships. Communication (a clear agreement), respect, honesty and a similar level of connection are needed to make it work. You can have a strong connexion and feelings and love without “being in love”, “romance” or “partnership”.
Partners want different things in love, it’s hard to find a balance.
Tantra POV about sex:
Ejaculating is for reproducing. A climax is superior without ejaculation. It is better for health.
- Report by Elodie -
Theme: Religion vs Spirituality
Astrological circumstances: Full moon in Pisces + Sun in Virgo
Many of us were raised Christian and rejected religion early on.
The realization we didn’t want to follow our family’s or society’s path came gradually, or, for example:
- Out of body experience, arising curiosity and questions: What else is there? Interest in Buddhism. Perceiving glimpses of non-dualism.
- Study of philosophy and then phenomenology: “I lost everything I thought I knew”
- Intuition - looking for people, humans
- Listening to your body (no magic pill)
- Connecting dots
- The realization that God is Everything, no matter what we call it (universe, energy, mother nature…).
- Allows us to trust that everything is going to be ok.
Acceptance: We each have our own answers. We each have to find our own path.
Religion etymology: (Latin) re-ligare = to bind, reconnect
This is exactly what we are doing with spirituality. The original meaning of religion is to reconnect, but we have forgotten that. Religions have lost their spiritual purpose, the remaining visible part is a set of rules and values, that unites a community.
Spirituality etymology: (Latin) spiritualis > spiritus = spirit, breath
(latin) spirare = to breathe
In our understanding, spirituality is inspiration, the life force, the connexion between all.
Reference to Buddhism - Shakti
Common element in all religions: the connection between yourself and something above.
There is this calculation all religions talk about:
Fractal, Fibonacci spiral, golden ratio, golden section vector (pointing out someone was wearing the shape on a necklace)
Religions were born to explain this.
The Kundalini is the energy that has to be awakened:
~ Snake & apple, Adam & Eva
Religion is an interpretation.
Religions are being taken advantage of for politics.
Humans have an urge for wisdom, knowledge, understanding
We are all in a seeking journey
Every religion has some truth in it. - Reference to Huston Smith, who figured all religions tell the same story.
Saints have said amazing things!
Francis of Assisi “Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
“For it is in giving that we receive.”
“It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”
Every religion is based on the same thing. Then we put words onto it (“God”), we interpret, and then things go wrong. - reference to “Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds” film.
Science is catching up with the spiritual model: we are all one.
Religions create communities. Communities create US vs THEM (dualism)
Separateness is the opposite of the original intention! But human’s ego got in the way.
Understand how subconscious and conscious work. You can change your chore belief in your subconscious. Align beliefs with conscious desires. Heal from traumas.
Bruce Lipton https://youtu.be/OqLT_CNTNYA
(The world is perceived in our minds - it’s up to us to decorate it in a pleasant way)
Basic workshop Psych-K in Malaga (November 9-10-11)
https://changingyourbeliefs.com/what-you-should-know-about-psych-k-on-a-quick-view/
Advanced Integration Workshop (November 14-17)
https://changingyourbeliefs.com/event/advanced-malaga-nov19/
Religions guide us (or control us) towards morals.
By following your own values - Acceptance - Gratitude - Forgiveness, one can find peace.
We don’t need rules, last judgments, and rituals… Or do we?
In religions, we negotiate with God.
If I do/believe this - God grants me that.
It’s a very good way to lose faith.
But we still have this sense connection/intuition.
I’ve been trying to understand, and this path lead to Reiki. The connection to the creation.
The flow of energy can be manipulated by our own minds.
It gave me a new point of view to religions, which I began to observe.
God made us as his shadow, thus, we are all Gods. We have the power to create and to destroy. God in Hebrew is plural (אלוהים).
Your belief allows us to create reality.
Religions don’t want us to think - they want us to fear. You are constantly threatened to not be part of the community/society.
Once you reach this understanding - where do you go from there? You start questioning everything. Life can seem meaningless, as we understand the energy continues to flow, with or without you, and it will continue way beyond the existence of humans.
Reference to the “Six degrees of separation”
It’s important to learn and manage your mind, as it's a key issue for society.
Kundalini is very powerful!
Religions program people to not be directly connected to God: priest as intermediary.
Drugs to expand consciousness: access to parts of your brain that were untouched: psychedelic experiences.
Drugs used as a shortcut to reach a state of deep meditation.
Transcendental meditation - well being, peace of mind - living from the heart.
The mind can become light or dark depending on what we put in it, what stories we listen to
- I’m not following the news anymore.
The doctrines made me misunderstand religion, I built a prejudice.
Later I realized “God” - “Consciousness” - “Universe” are just words, irrelevant to the message.
We are the incarnation of many past lives. Some souls are young and some are ancient.
The only thing you can do is be the best version of yourself. A forgiving and loving being.
For sure you have been angry and judging yesterday; so you have to forgive the person who is not aware yet of him/herself, and is angry and judging today.
Spirituality is love and energy. Why do we need religion and spirituality? Why do religious people live longer? (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/religion-live-longer-muslim-jewish-christian-hindu-buddhist-life-expectancy-age-a8396866.html)
Humans have always been looking for answers. But wouldn’t it also be beautiful to not be questioning everything and everyone? A life of acceptance, simplicity, being ok with obstacles, stay naive. Religion helps you to accept and follow without questioning.
We need structure, order, to balance the chaos we created. We fear chaos.
But what’s wrong with chaos?
We could live clean from teachings and rules, from those words meant to make sense. Change the perspective. Understand for yourself. Feel the vibration, feel love.
Do we have a choice for sensitivity or spirituality? We were all born as sensitive beings. We all are spiritual beings.
How do you describe love? It is what makes a human being. Try reconnecting to that feeling as much as you can.
- Report by ELodie -
Theme: Money and Spirituality
Work is sacrifice. When you work hard, spend your energy for other people, money is one of the ways to get energy back.
How can Reiki practitioners can be compensated for their services in conventional health care?
When your work is spiritual, people expect you to do it for free, to volunteer. We try to get Reiki more accepted and valued.
In a healthy balance, money flows. It is an element of abundance. It gives value to your work.
In Spain: Sanidad (state health industry) is hunting alternative medicine. Advertise your activity as “therapy” , “healing” , “health” , “cure” , “medicine” can get you into serious trouble.
This article of El Pais (“Interferences from alternative therapies harm health”) makes an amalgam between vitamin supplements, homeopathy, acupuncture, yoga, taichi, and some special diets, and warns against the risks of the “pseudo therapies”.
https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/10/31/ciencia/1541023532_421821.html?rel=mas
A similar article, in English this time: https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/04/19/inenglish/1524134049_353111.html
It was brought up that some people cannot afford Spiritual Care, and it is beneficial for all giving treatments, or teach self-healing for free to the people who really need it. It can be part of your weekly routine.
Money represents power and strength. In some cases we need boundaries.
The difference between the ones that “have”, and the ones that “don’t have”.
People judge others depending on how much they earn. One of the first questions asked is “What do you do in life?”, as to know where the other is positioned in the social hierarchy. It will define relationships. Money can manipulate relationships. It becomes important to show how much you have, and even more, in order to access a social status. Money is used to buy love. We have to show off in order to be accepted.
Losing everything can lead to awakening.
People that have less are the ones that give more.
Money is a vehicle of love. A way to give the best to the loved ones.
We have experienced gathering money and property in a blind desire for security.
Above the basics, the rest is greed. Under threat, we tend to accumulate stuff.
The more you associate money with luck, the more of it you want. It’s an addiction.
We have to learn how to invest in our health.
We keep a job that we don’t like because “it’s a good job”, it makes “good living” (social pressure), it allows us to do the things that we like - traveling. And it pays for the doctor bills.
When you feel resistance before going to work, maybe it’s time to switch to something else, change place, style of life.
Then we decide to take a hard turn, resign the good job, feel much happier making less money, traveling less. Bot after some time, not being able to do the things you like wears off.
Europe (in comparison with the US) is a much more comfortable place to support a single person living alone.
Some have experienced “God moment”, “the flow”, “the zone”. The energy is overwhelming. This experience is followed by peace, nothing else matters.
Tomorrow might be your last day. We are naturally reaching goals. Give people hope. Money doesn’t matter. Every day is a gift.
Mention of a Bob Marley interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGKLkaRs1NE
We’re tired by the system - circle of consumption - needing money to solve problems
Are we capable as humans to live without money?
What are the numbers? How can you tell how much your time is worth?
You might undercharge, and people will think your service is worth little. Or you might undercharge, and people will feel uncomfortable and want to pay you more. You might feel that you're not good enough to get paid, that you don’t deserve.
The problem when society is misusing money - it makes us feel money is bad.
We don’t know how to ask for money(/love), or how to receive.
One can feel guilty receiving money for helping - society expects you to do it for free. But you can’t live on love or gratitude. One has to learn to make money from the heart.
It has to come from education. If money is scarce or “made scarce” in the family by saving it and hiding it, it becomes hard to let go as an adult. If money was always a taboo, it becomes hard to accept or talk about it. People feel the need to reject the money, and then they have to relearn a relationship with it.
Money is a mirror: it reveals how we feel inside - how balanced we are.
If you’re unbalanced, you will use money in an unbalanced way.
It’s a test every day - who/what will you become with that money? Greedy? Humble?
I can’t take my money to my tomb, like the pharaohs, so I don’t mind using it.
Buddha lived in asceticism and then decided to live with nothing is too hard. You have to find a middle way.
Now the six years which the Great Being thus spent in austerities were like time spent in endeavoring to tie the air into knots. And coming to the decision, "These austerities are not the way to enlightenment," he went begging through villages and market-towns for ordinary material food, and lived upon it. And his thirty-two physical characteristics as a great being again appeared, and the color of his body became like unto gold.
https://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/bits/bits007.htm
Money is needed to create other types of wealth: for example this place (Centro Semilla):
Rent a space to create a community, connexions, new perspectives, teach and learn
Charities will often prefer a cash donation than physical help. They need the money to build schools, hospitals, help the locals create their own future.
There is an issue in the way money is distributed. There is enough abundance for everyone in the world, but we want everything for ourselves. Money can change a person for the worst.
Money is energy, we have infinite energy, so we should have infinite money.