Credit: Flickr - http://klarititemplateshop.com/ 'Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber'
“I received the secret mysteries of God
in the heavenly places”
Relaxing into the Session
When I first lay down, as the healing began, I felt not drowsy but almost a little heavy in body and mind. A tingling sensation washed over me as I accepted the heaviness. It was like I was vibrating at a very low level somewhere inside of me. The warm, slightly fuzzy feeling of the vibrations was a clear indication that the healing was reaching me.
Normally I find myself rapidly going into a very deep state of meditation as the healing gets underway. It’s as though I’m melting down deep into myself, perhaps into a healing chamber, as I let the mind hush and the body absorb the healing. Yet this time I found the process taking longer. It was as though I was resting on the surface instead of sinking right down into that soft thick melting layer of healing energy.
Visions
The images began with a popping and crackling display, very similar to bad static on a TV when the picture can’t quite get through. Short sharp snippets of image and sound appeared only to be gone the next moment. It was like a disrupted connection from a faulty plug in a socket.
Chinese Spiritual Master
An elderly Chinese man appeared first. He had a long thin white moustache and matching wispy hair crowning his otherwise bald scalp. Dressed in very lavish traditional costume, I was drawn to the embroidered golden details standing out against a background of dark green or muddy brown. White, red and blue colours were somewhere in the picture too. When trying to re enter that image later, all I could see were gold flecks against a much darker, almost dried out leather textured colour. The old man’s head and neck were brighter than the rest of his body, the colours and detail seemingly fading away below his shoulders. It was as though this area had been highlighted for me, perhaps to emphasize the problem area in my own body now being treated.
He appeared to be very serious, even stern, and yet there was no real expression on his face. He wasn’t angry. If I had been able to see his eyebrows (which I could not) I believe they would have been tense. His face was pinched, and so was his voice. Speaking Chinese (don’t ask me how I know that but I do) he seemed to be reciting a speech or making a statement of some kind. He spoke the words loudly and clearly but with a pinched high pitched note. It was like he was screaming the words but without the volume, panic or intensity that you would expect if he were truly shouting.
Five times this elderly Chinese man flashed up, coming slightly closer to me each time. Looking in my direction, but not at me, he repeated the words again and again. I became aware that his image, as it came closer to me, was overlapping an image of a crowd of people.
Chinese Buddhist monks
I became aware of many rows of Chinese Buddhist monks. They were kneeling together while bowing in a prayer position. The monks would chant each time the elder man spoke to me. It is as if they were echoing, or endorsing, his words. They all looked identical - in fact they could have been clones. Each one was dressed in the traditional Buddhist robes of an orange or terracotta colour. They all had the same smooth shaved rounded heads. I thought that the monks looked calm and content, completely in harmony with one another.
On the third occasion when the wise man flashed up and spoke, I gradually became aware that these two previously separate scenes were beginning to merge together.
Temple Outer Courtyard
I now found myself standing on a raised platform made from one large circular slab of stone. Looking down at the monks before me I realised that their attention was taken by another on the stage. I felt the presence of this being to the right of me, but I couldn’t see him (if that is what he was). As hard as I tried I could not bring an image into that place. A cloud of fluffiness blocked my view. It was apparent that witnessing this being was forbidden to me for now. The cloud twinkled as if covered in star dust, and puffed up softly in places. There were grey and silver areas too.
The steps leading up to the rostrum were made from the same material as the platform and were similarly rounded. The men gathered together in rows, gently following the rounded contour of the platform.
This all happened in what seemed to be the private open courtyard of a sacred temple. It was a huge area filled with crowds of people. The edges of the image faded out of my view into whiteness.
Temple Layout
I walked through part of the temple, eventually coming out into another courtyard. At that time I was able to glimpse quite vividly the layout and structure of the building. I had a bird’s eye view - quite distant and very brief, but enough for me to remember it clearly.
There were many large chambers. Each was connected to a series of smaller rooms accessed from the central space. External cloisters created a covered walkway from one building to the next, at the same time allowing access to the indoor chambers.
It was like a massive grid. The buildings were all square. Each had a large central area withfour smaller rooms attached. Outside each minor chamber had a pillared walk way connecting it to yet another identical structure. And so it continued.
Each room, however, was reserved for a different purpose. I believe these chambers were all used to heal various types of suffering at soul level. From what I could understand the courtyard space was for a slightly different purpose, perhaps for prayer.
As I continued walking I could feel the ice cold marble slabs under my feet. Surprisingly, although barefoot, it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation – in fact it felt rather refreshing. The temperature around me was warm. After three steps I was outside and onto the walkway.
Washer Women
From here I could see another courtyard where women were washing clothes in a fountain. This open space was busy with female voices, their chatter sprinkled with high pitched giggles. I felt like I was viewing this scene through the eyes of a man somehow, although I don’t know why.
A Beautiful Chinese Maiden
I was drawn to one beautiful young lady sitting on the edge of a short stone wall. She sat at an angle, within easy reach of the basket of blankets by her side. To her right was a fountain where she bent down to do her washing in the cool water. Her jet black hair shone in the sunlight and her complexion looked fresh and clear. While the other women were engaged in busy chatter this maiden sang quietly to herself.
As my view closed in, rather like a camera zooming closer, I realised that I was seeing her through the legs of the other women. In other words, I was crouching at quite a low level, and distanced from her by some of the crowd standing in between. The scene was alive with activity. Blankets blew around in the breeze while arms and legs briefly got in the way of my view as the women went about their business.
It was then that this beautiful maiden looked towards a young man who had just entered the walkway. She gave him a shy smile - almost a blush. It wasn’t exactly flirtatious because that would have felt inappropriate. Nevertheless, her little smile, and her eyes that looked away after a moment’s glance, told me that there was some kind of special relationship between them. There was more to that smile than friendship. It seemed full of emotion – as though she’d smiled at him before.
A Student of the Martial Arts
The young man now took centre stage, the others having vanished swiftly from sight. He was indoors practising one of the marshal arts with great skill and composure. Chinese silk screens, covering the entire wall area, served as a beautiful backdrop to this moving image. The silk material seemed to glowwarmly in the natural light of the room.
For a brief moment I glimpsed a teacher talking to the young man, no doubt giving further instruction. Immediately the scene changed in a subtle way. Everything was just the same except that now he held a sword in his hand. Instead of the controlled hand and arm practice movements of before he used a thin curved blade to develop his skills further. The expression on his face was much more serious too. There was a gravitas which he had previously lacked. I sensed pride too. Through much diligence in practising this fine art, he had finally won the right to bear a sword. However, with this honour also came a deepening consciousness of responsibility. His skills must always be used wisely and with good intention.
I didn’t get the feeling that he was a warrior even though he held a sword. A kind of montage of his daily activities passed by me, and at no point did his motives appear to be anything other than peaceful and harmonious. I saw him sipping green tea from a bowl. Cross legged, he sat on the floor in front of a low table where a steaming teapot had been placed for his use. Later he meditated on the steps of a building. I also saw him taking quiet walks through courtyards filled with fruit trees. There were moments when I witnessed more of those stolen smiles between the maiden and this young man. It seemed a tranquil existence but also with discipline and order.
A Union between the Maiden and the Martial Arts Student
The final scene in this series of moving pictures turned to the young man’s home. It was a room that I felt had previously been used for martial arts’ practice. I saw the man lying on the floor in a relaxed foetal position. Opposite, and mirroring his pose, was the young lady who had earlier acknowledgedhim with a shy smile. They viewed each other with great calm. I sensed that this union between the two of them would be the beginning of a new chapter in the young man’s life.
In no way did this feel like the culmination of all the young man’s hard work and effort. It was simply a new element to his life. There was a sense of additional responsibility and duty which he fully understood and accepted. Indeed it seemed to me that he relished the idea of caring for his lady. He felt pride, honour, loyalty and masses of respect for this beautiful new bride (as I must assume her soon to be). Rather than a challenge, it would be a proud moment for him to live up to all the expectations that came with his new status.
As I viewed the two of them on the floor I realised that the maiden had become much diminished in size. The young man was talking to her, telling her about their future life together, and how he would always care for her. He took her into his arms, bringing her closer and closer to him. Cradling her, with all the care of a baby, they lay on the floor, knees bent. With one hand he supported her head as she nestled in towards the arch of his neck, the other holding her close to him while at the same time supporting her back. She curled round into him. It seemed to me that this new responsibility had made him feel even stronger than before.
Married Life
Love wasn’t the core issue here, although at the same time it didn’t feel lacking either. She was certainly happy to be by his side, and they felt equal in their togetherness. Everything felt calm. A new stage in their life was about to begin.
Suddenly a dark figure broke into the room. More monster than human, this creature snatched the maiden away as she screamed in terror. It (I don’t know how else to describe it) stabbed the young man as it made its escape. The scene was so surreal after the tranquil existence I had just witnessed. I kept asking myself “did this really happen?”. It felt so strange. The answer came straight back to me “no, it didn’t”.
A new image came straight in showing me the couple living happily together for many years. A son was born to them, after which some time passed. Then an external threat to their community occurred. It may have been to the country or just to their town, I don’t know. The husband (as he was now) did everything he could to protect his wife from this dangerous situation, but alas he didn’t survive the hostilities. He was killed by the enemy, his heart pierced by a thin bladed curved sword. The wife cries out in terror as a huge fat man pulls her away….
At this point the image fades at the edges into darkness. As she is pulled away and taken the woman’s image goes off set, as it were, into that blackness.