Perception

A zen master calls together each year his students and tells them a story, which is always the same. Afterwards, he sits with each student and asks them how they understood the story. If a student heard the same story as the year before, the master asks the student to come back the next year to listen to the story again.

There is a lot to this little story. And as with most stories, analogies and concepts one comes across along the path of self discovery, it has levels and levels and levels to it. Generally speaking, it is unlikely that two people will perceive the same meaning in such stories and analogies. You could say that each person has their own level at which they are able to perceive, be it simple stories and analogies, or their reality or their world they find themselves in.

When embarking upon the journey of self discovery, there is usually a deep knowingness that there is much more to our world then meets the eye, much more then what can be perceived at the time. It can be said that the average person has a very limited range, or bandwidth, within which he or she is able to perceive and become aware of things. This average 'range of perception' is limited, because it is only a small fraction of what is possible to be perceived, seen, understood and comprehended by a human being. Any one who is pursuing their own personal growth in a 'spiritual' sense is, in one way or another, increasing the range of perception available to them, whether aware of it or not.

If we talk in terms of modern technology, any computer has at its core a most important component called a CPU. A CPU does all of the actual processing of information, which is fundamentally what computers are all about beneath all of the clever software applications we generally use on them. Many computer game enthusiasts know that the CPU in their computer can be adjusted to operate faster - increasing the rate at which they process information - then they were intended to when manufactured. This is adjusting is called 'overclocking'. When a CPU is overclocked, it uses more electricity, or rather a higher voltage, then it does normally, increasing the rate at which it performs it's calculations.

In order for us to perceive, we require energy. As the amount of energy we have available increases, so does our perception. Given enough energy, we naturally begin to perceive outside of the limits of what we are normally (not naturally) able to. Thus, the more energy we gather, the more we are able to perceive. In a sense, we can 'overclock' our perception, but unlike in the analogy, overclocking our perception is a completely natural process. And through this process, we become more intuitive, we are more aware and conscious of what is going on around us, and become more sensitive to subtle energies of people and places, our natural psychic and telepathic faculties become more active, to name but very few of the effects this 'overclocking' brings about in our perception and awareness. This 'overclocking' is better described as the process of reclaiming energy. Let me share a little story about exactly that.

A short story

At the moment, me and a few friends come together every week to talk about a different concept related growth and metaphysics. These get togethers are filmed, and then shared on the web part of a weekly webinar. The topic or theme for the particular evening would be decided before hand, and then introduced as the evening began. Each person would then be provided an opportunity to contribute and share a personal story or perception they have around the topic at hand. Each person's contribution causes each evening to be a magical experience, as we all gain new insights into the various topics we look at.

Usually a story or a concept would come to mind that I wanted to share while my friends were talking. When my turn came, I would start talking about what I wanted to speak about. At first, I found it strangely difficult to put into words my ideas and thoughts. Often I would forget what I was trying to convey, or I would find myself at a loss of words altogether. This went on for quite a few weeks, to the point where I became quite frustrated with not being able to put across clearly what I had in my head.

Then I happened to start working on a powerful exercise for reclaiming trapped energy from my past, which I will perhaps describe in more details later. I had been working on this particular exercise intensely for about two weeks when we had another 'webinar evening'. As soon as we got started, I realised that something was different. As I was listening to my friends talking and telling their stories, I could actually perceive the pictures of the concepts they were conveying as they were talking. I did not have to really listen or pay attention to what they were saying at all, because I was directly picking up on what they were projecting mentally, or telepathically.

When my turn came to make my contribution, I also found something else happening. I was talking about quite an abstract concept, using an analogy in a story to put it across. I noticed that I was having no difficulty at all in formulating the words needed to convey the particular concept, which had previously been the case for the past 8 or 9 weeks. When I realised what was happening, I was amazed at the effects of working with the exercise I mentioned had on me.

As I have mentioned, we require energy for perception. Similarly, it requires a huge amount of energy to formulate abstract concepts into spoken or written words as well. Take for example that I sometimes find myself quite tired when writing articles like these, especially when I want to 'bring down' and articulate difficult concepts and put them across in simple terms in way that is easy to understand.

So the next question naturally arises - how is our energy drained?