Meditation Stories & Spirit Tales

The following tales and stories are to all accounts true without exaggeration or any kind of fabrication.  For me they represent the common idiom, "everything is connected". Along with the wisdom of ages: "As above, so below."  you can add: "Whats good for the goose is good for the gander." Lets begin:

Once I was meditating sitting on the bed in the apartment in Lincoln Park, Chicago when my children were just infants. They were both taking a nap at the time.

During my meditation I could feel there was something in me that was stuck and didn't feel right.         

I could feel something like a knot in my chest. It wasn't something new for me and I knew it didn't belong there. It was like a small pebble pressing inside my sternum. 

I remained in meditative mind for quite some time, close to an hour I think. Suddenly, I felt something break free and fly out of me in a rush and I felt a deep relief.

In that very instant I heard a door slam about two doors down the block and then heard a man rush out into the street screaming. Whatever the dark stuff was that was in me went out and must have gone into him. I will never forget this event and what it indicates. It made me think of the story about Jesus sending demons into the herd of swine. 

***

There was a time on the spiritual path that I began to feel that I was becoming too different from the other people around me. People thought that I was weird because I was always meditating or reading and talking about the Tao.  

I found this to be irritating because I liked having friends. Because of this situation I made a decision to abandon spirituality and live an ordinary life and forget about meditation, the Tao, and all the other stuff that had to do with spirituality; just be an ordinary guy, normal like all my friends.                          I remember just wanting to have a job in a gas station or grocery store with a girlfriend who might be a waitress or cashier. We would have a puppy and live like everyone else, satisfied with an ordinary existence.

Well, during this period I had a lucid dream in where I was in a playground and went down a big long slide. It was fun. I landed in a pool of bubbles. At first it was all play swishing around bobbing up and down. But then I got tired of the game and decieded to get out of the pool. But when I tried, I couldn't. I became entrapped inside of a big cluster of bubbles that folded in on me whenever I moved.  The cluster was harmless but I couldn't get out of it. I began to freak out. No matter how hard I tried or what I tried, the bubbles would always collapse on me and entrap me even more deeply. I went into panic mode,  So then not knowing what else to do, in my dream I began to pray.  

As soon as I started praying the bubble released me and I escaped.  And I will tell you that I was more relieved than I can possibly convey or express. I have not considered abandoning the spiritual path since that day.

***

Dream transference:  In 1990 my girlfriend at the time was the manager at a daycare center in Evanston, Illinois.  She was to manage all aspects of running the center which included maintenance, keeping up with bills, managing child attendance, a weekly newsletter to parents and so on.  There were several issues at the time including problems with the plumbing, broken windows, mice were getting in and leaving droppings, and other similar problems.  But the real problem was that she could not get a hold of the owner and get the necessary funds to fulfill her responsibilities. Naturally I was hearing about all of this at home.  Each evening there was some issue I was hearing about that went unmet or unresolved and frankly I was getting sick of it so I decided to do something.  The owner’s name was Chuck and he and I had met and shared stories and talked about mutual interests. He was a hypnotherapist and had a keen interest in shamanism, what I knew about it and how I practiced.  Anyway what I decided to do was to make a list of all the problems at the daycare center and read them aloud to him each night as if her were physically present there with me before I went to sleep.  

I would just imagine him there with me hearing what I had to say. About a week later I got a phone call from Chuck who told me that I had appeared to him in a dream reading off a list of all the issues at the daycare center.  He was not happy about it and accused me of invading his space. I said ok, yes, but what about the problems at the center?  After this episode things at the center improved for a while, some stuff got fixed then after a couple of months he became unavailable again. 

***

A conscious tornado: In the 80's I used to go and visit a shaman and his wife who lived in Del Mar just north of San Diego.  I would sleep in his fixed-up school bus that was painted with mystical symbols on the inside with stars, sun, moon and rainbow colors.  His lovely wife lived in the main house and there was an herb garden in the back where they grew herbs for salads, cooking and for smoking.

Whenever i visited we would meditate under this particular tree.  It was huge, I believe it was a Cedarwood tree.  Anyway we would sit and go into deep meditations there, tell story, do cannabis and share food and drink.

I spent a lot of time at the shaman's compound. He would give me his 'wordless teachings' and shift my consciousness with the shine of his eyes.  

Sometimes when I went there to play my flute I sat on a swing that was in a gazebo.  This one had some overhanging foliage of bouganivillea.  I would also meditate there when I was alone. There was a protective feeling about it that I liked, like being inside a cocoon.

One balmy summer evening a small tornado came through the compound. The next morning you could follow its path as it made its way through the the yard. What was amazing is that the tornado made an 's' curve around both meditation areas leaving them untouched. Interestingly enough it wound its way around the big tree, not touching our area and snaked back around the area with the overhanging foilage avoiding the swing.  When I saw this I was amazed.

Our consciousness practice it was apparent had somehow influenced the path of the tornado so it seemed. This occurance made me know that the weather and nature itself is conscious of us humans and what we do and how we are resonating. I then understood with the utmost clarity why native people do ceremony to honor storms, wind and rain; protecting themselves with vibrational alignment with nature.

***

Coyote medicine in New Mexico: Back in 2002 I had been invited to do some shamanic work at a women’s circle in Santa Fe. We were doing breath work, shamanic journey and processes for releasing past traumas. I was staying in this little adjacent adobe bungalow to the main house.  Early one morning I was awakened around four in the morning by some howling sounds. I recognized these sounds to be coming from some coyotes out in the bush. The sound was getting louder as I could hear them coming closer to me. My energy frequency was starting to speed up. Then I realized that they knew I was in the cabin. When I realized that, everything intensified as I also knew that they knew that I knew.  I began to feel the sounds as though coming from within myself. I was starting to shake uncontrollably. The closer they came the more intense the energy got. I was filling with this energy that the coyotes were consciously directing at me and with me.  My whole body began to shake and tremble and tears were coming from my eyes. The intensity of their energy continued to mount until I felt that I could not take in any more. I then shouted out to them aloud, “I can’t take anymore.” And slowly they backed off and returned to the bush. I've been friends with coyote spirit ever since. 

***

Getting what you hate: While living in Hawaii back in the 80’s I agreed to help a woman move to a new house with her two children.  A caucasian woman and her two kids who were mixed by a black man. She told me how she had had trouble with her neighbors and couldn’t stay where she was.  She talked openly to me about how much she despised white people.  

After a few months in her new location I helped her move again; again she had problems with her new neighbors who happened to be white. So she moved a third time. I didn’t help her move this time but later I heard that the man she moved next door to shot and killed both of her dogs and poisoned her prize chickens. This man it turned out was the head of a white supremacist group on the island. 

***

When I was a small boy of 4 years old or so my grandmother would tell me stories about spirits and the spirit world.                                                                                                                                           I don’t remember much now but she would tell me about these visitors that came to her at night and spoke to her while she was in bed. I remember on one occasion when I slept in her bed. There is not much to tell except that when I lay down it was night. I blinked my eyes one time and it was day. I have no way to explain this other than to say that the night literally passed in the blink of an eye.

***

Let there be Warmth: There was this deep fog near the Mississippi and Ohio rivers where I would frequently go on meditation walks at the southern most point in Illinois. I would just walk in stillness with a clear and open mind. On one occasion I remember being in a stillness state and how warm I felt in the fog. Everything was of one accord and it was magical as well as mystical. Once after while I noticed that I was all of a sudden, shivering and realized that my mind had drifted onto concerns about various ordinary things like my car needing repair, my rent, my girlfriend and other mundane cares.      But as as soon as I brought my focus back to being in stillness meditation the shivering stopped and I was warm again as though a blanket had been thrown over me and all was well in the world. Experiences like this made me realize the deep value of meditation.  

***

Back in the day when I was married, Bonnie, the singer in the reggae band I was in took a liking to me. Sometimes she would come over to hang out with us. My wife and I had a small child of 2. Anyway Bonnie never failed to get my wife upset about something she said making sure I did not hear it. This happened several times. so I decided not to let her visit us again if this is going to keep happening.                                                                                                                                              The next time Bonnie came to visit I would not let her in. She got pissed. Then she pointed her finger at me and uttered a few ugly words with a piercing look in her eyes then walked away. Afterwards I went back into the house and my stomach was in turmoil and I felt sick. I went to the bathroom and for 20 minutes it was coming out of both ends. I knew then that the 'evil eye' is a real thing. It is also true that jealousy is a prime motivator for people who want to do harm to others.

***

A cricket gets Awakened: Once I was meditating in the basement of my mother's house and my head was very close to the window and the gound outside. There was a cricket just outside the window that I could hear chirping very clearly. By this time in my practice I had learned to sustain stillness-empty mind for as long as I wished. On this day, as my meditation deepened I could hear the cricket's chirp beginning to speed up. I then realized that this tiny creature was experiencing energy currents from my meditation, and that I was influencing the rhythm and pace of its chirping.                                              I kept going deeper in meditation and the cricket's chirp kept speeding up until it became one long continuous chirp. You had to hear it to believe it. I was amazed by this…thinking that this cricket must have had quite an energy rush or possibly it had an orgasmic experience. At any rate the cricket and I had become one vibration sharing the same energy frequency. An obvious and clear example of 'entrainment', a universal event that occurs when two energy systems occilate at the same frequency. Hey, its all connected.                                                                                         

***

The Divine Stranger: I was somewhat of a fanatic when it came to meditation, fasting and spiritual practices. There was a period in my life when I fasted a lot. I had read about the accomplished yogis and Taoist immortals who no longer have to eat but live on water and breath or dew and pine resin; or maybe one grain of rice a week, that sort of thing. So I decided that I wanted to do this and be like this. So I decided to give up food. My 'diet' consisted only of fresh juices and a handful of popcorn. Why I chose popcorn I don't know but it seemed like it was the only food that I could eat at the time and not feel 'guilty' about it. I think I needed the salt.                                                                                      Even avocadoes were off limits to me then.                                                                                        After several weeks of this I was slowly beginning to fade away. My spirit was beginning to leave my body and I became afraid of going to sleep because I might leave my body. I could feel death coming near to me and that wasn't what I had in mind by giving up food.                                                       One day as I was leaving the organic food store in Ocean Beach, California with my juices and popcorn, a man started walking next to me. He was the friendliest, happiest and kindest person that I had ever met and he followed me home. I was drawn to him immediately and knew intuitively that 'something was up'. When we got to my place he left right away and went to the store. When he returned he had a pack of Camels, a six-pack of Miller's and a huge can of Libby's corn.                        He went into my kitchen and grabbed a mixing bowl from the shelf and poured a heaping helping of corn into it. He then handed me a tablespoon and shoved the bowl in front of me. I began eating without hesitation and filled my belly. I don't remember us talking much. Everything was just understood. Afterward he lit two cigarettes, one for me and one for him…so we smoked tobacco awhile and then we both had a can of beer. I can't tell you how great I felt, how wonderful I felt and how relieved I felt.                                                                                                                                      I think his name was Larry.  He spent the night and in the morning he gave me seven dollars for my small portable radio. I had never seen him before that time and not since then. I didn't fast either for a long time. 

***

Wind as provider: Once in southern California in late 70's, I was with my friend Indio and we went to sell our crafts at a flea market in Encinitas. He was a leather crafter making pouches, vests and bags and I was selling bamboo flutes and cannabis pipes. It was a funky place that had its own charm. The ground was dirt and all the vendors were really cool people. All day Saturday we were rained out and didn't make any money. Evening came and we had nowhere to stay. Indio suggested we walk into town a mile or so up the road and see if we could crash at his friend's pad that night. At that time the motels along that road were only $10 per night but we were penniless.                                                                 His friends were not home so we walked back to the flea market hoping that something would happen for us. Nothing did. We walked back and forth several times but with no luck. We had no place to stay and it was getting late.                                                                                                                            Around midnight we were headed back to the flea market grounds for what was probably the fifth time. We were worn out but at least we had some avocadoes and tangerines and were not too hungry. Anyway, while were walking back to the flea market I noticed a leaf that got blown against the fence along the walkway. Right next to the leaf was a $10 bill, just enough for the motel. The next day the sun was out. We sold some of our goods and all was well.

At the Encinitas flea market. Back then my stuido, one block
from the beach was $90/mo. I remember how elated
I felt after earning my months rent in one weekend there.

***

Once while meditating in the living room where my kids were playing, my young son then about three years old pointed up to the ceiling just over my head and said to me, "daddy, who are those people?"

I never asked him to describe exactly what he saw. I had always known that there were light beings around us most of the time.

***

Some years ago I became interested in Islam and started going to hear talks about the prophet, the teachings and the history of Islam at a near by mosque.  Along with this I practiced ramadan where believers, for one month don't have a meal until evening. The teachings centered a lot on what the prophet Muhammad did and said and how each Muslim should follow his example and act accordingly. There are thousands of sayings called 'hadiths' about what the prophet said and did with the expectation that the believers should do likewise and act by his example. Everything like his dress, his habits, how he treated his wives, what he ate and how he acted towards others and so on. After hearing the many hadiths I pointed out to the Imam that the prophet Muhammad got his original revelation known as the Koran from Allah via an angel while praying in a cave. I suggested that if we are to really follow the prophet's example then we should also go to a cave or secluded place to receive a revelation from God. Needless to say this didn't go over well and was frowned upon, literally, and I was not invited back to the Mosque. 

***

Mr. Cricket says "hi".

Once when I was in my early 20's I was meditating at my aunt's house in a suburb of Chicago. 

I was sitting on the bed and felt very peaceful and at ease. My mind was clear and as I remember it there was no coming and going of thoughts or images. Strangely, I could feel my spirit lifting up out of my body. The radio was not on but suddenly I began to hear like an assault on my mind, the sounds of several radio stations all at once. It was a chaotic and disturbing mix of music, voices and noise. 

Hearing all this I freaked out and shot back into my body breathing heavily. This only happened once and thankfully has not been repeated to this day.

*** 

Money magic: After moving to Napa in the spring of 2002 from Mendocino, I began working as a handyman and doing landscape work for a woman who was recently divorced from her husband. I trimmed the shrubs, managed the lawn and cacti and took care of her greenbouse, removing rubbish and generally putting things in order. The woman's name was Layla. She was a Buddhist and told me that she was afraid she would become a 'hungry ghost' because she always reacted and did things she later regretted only to repeat the cycle over and over. One day she got agitated and told me that her futon cover was missing and said that I must have stolen it. Of course, a rediculous accusation without any merit.                                                                                                                                        Anyway, she threw me along with her son, out of the house without warning. Not knowing where to go or what to do I took a walk towards downtown Napa. The walk took me past the gounds of the Napa State Mental Hospital. This asylum has been in movies with people like Joan Crawford and Betty Davis, the creepiest of stars, in movies I watched as a kid.                                                            Anyway I'm walking past the grounds and I see some things that have blown against the fence. I went over to take a closer look and wow, it was a bunch of 20 dollar bills at least 10 of them pressed against the fence by the wind. I collected the bills and got a motel room in the area. There I met a man who I later became friends with. I could tell that he was a yogi and he asked me on our first meeting, "Do you feel immortal?" A few months later I returned to Chicago to look after my aging parents.

Old photo of the mental hospital in Napa

***
An Energy Vampire in Seattle

In the winter of 2000, I took a trip to Seattle, Washington from Louisa, Virginia. That spring in Seattle I visited a Qi gong center to find out what kind of classes they were offering. This was in the University District. In the Qi gong center which was owned by a Korean shaman, there was a board with the photos of 30 or so students mostly in their late teens and early 20's who were learning and practicing Qi gong. Each student had a star by their picture. There were red stars, silver and gold stars indicating their level of proficiency in the practice. 

But for me, something felt 'off' and it seemed to me that the students were part of something that they were not fully aware of and might be involved in something dark. It was just a feeling, nothing tangible. (yet).

There were two Asian men at the center who looked just like those weird villains you see in martial arts movies. These guys were super thin, with strange smiles; obviously toxic they looked very creepy.

As I was talking to the Asian woman who ran the center I noticed that her skin was translucent and veins were visible on her face and hands. 

She told me, "I see you are leaking energy from your lower tantien (the energy center in the belly), due to having anxiety regarding a place to live."

Her assessment about my situation was correct and I said so. 

She then told me that she would like to meet with me sometime and have a talk and invited to have lunch with her the following week and so I agreed.

When I got to the cafe she was already there and I sat down across from her at the table. We talked for a while and then she told me that she was 256 years old. (and I believed her). Then she proceeded to share part of a movie she saw, telling me, under the pretext of describing a scene in the movie, looked at me, pointed and said, "On June 21 I'm going to kill you.".

I didn't think much of the incident until on June 21, I was awakened in the middle of the night by a presence. As I awakened I saw the Korean woman looming over me holding a phallic shaped object in her hands. It looked like an Egyptian stone obelisk or black crystal, about 8 or 10 inches long. She began trying to shove the object into my belly. I blocked her efforts several times with my hands so she tried to make it enter my heart center. I used my hands to block that too. 

She then got very annoyed and began to try to shove the thing into me at a more rapid pace. Her efforts to do harm to me started becoming feverish and frantic. But no matter how fast she moved I moved just as quickly to block every thrust. Finally after many attempts to penetrate my energy body, she gave up and faded away. 

Her attacks lasted about 8-10 minutes. Afterwards I got out of bed, said a prayer, had some tea and took a walk.

A couple of weeks later I decided to go have a look at the center. I sat across the street for about 45 minutes but no one went in or came out. The center was apparently closed.