​Tibetian Dream Yoga
(Spiritual Travel Part 3)
 
The tradition of Tibetan Dream Yoga described by Evans-Wentz in Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines (London: Oxford University Press, 1935) is a good example of a practice that uses conscious visualization of sacred images or symbols to bring about mystical states in dreams. Dream yoga is one of six subtypes of yoga elaborated by the Tibetan guru Marpa and passed down by his well-known disciple Milarepa. 
 
The practice has a number of steps, which permit the individual to gradually gain increasing amounts of control in the dream state. 
 
First, the individual must become lucid or wake up in the dream state. 
 
Second, the dreamer must overcome all fear of the contents of the dream so there is the realization that nothing in the dream can cause harm. For instance, the lucid dreamer should put out fire with his hands and realize fire cannot burn him in the dream. 
 
Next the dreamer should contemplate how all phenomena both in the dream and in waking life are similar because they change, and that life is illusory in both states because of this constant change. Both the objects in the dream and objects in the world in the Buddhist's worldview are therefore empty and have no substantial nature. This is the stage of contemplating the dream as maya, and equating this sense of maya with everyday experience in the external world.
 
Fourth, the dreamer should realize he has control of the dream by changing big objects into small ones, heavy objects into light ones, and many objects into one object. He should also experiment with changing things into their opposites (i.e. fire into water). 
 
After gaining control over objects and their transformations, the dreamer should realize that the dreamer's dream body is as insubstantial as the other objects in the dream. The dreamer should realize that he or she is not the dream body. While this realization is very difficult in normal waking existence, presumably it is quite obtainable in the dream since the dreamer who has control over dream objects could, for instance, alter the body's shape or make the dream body disappear altogether. 
 
Finally, the images of deities (Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, or Dakinis) should be visualized in the lucid dream state. These figures are frequently seen in Tibetan religious art (thangkas) and used in meditation. They are said to be linked to or resonate with the clear light of the Void. They can therefore serve as symbolic doorways to this mystical state of being (the Void or clear light). The dreamer is instructed to concentrate on these symbolic images without distraction or thinking about other things so that the revelatory side of these symbols will become manifest.  

​Rainy Day Activities
By Elizabeth Dubos
 
Not every Summer day can be filled with sunshine and warmth. Sometimes it’s filled with thunder, lightning, and rain. Don’t be disappointed when it’s a rainy day. Rainy days can be excellent for catching up on chores, writing your book, or reading your favorite book. Here are more activity suggestions that you can do for when it’s raining outside.
 
1. Bake your favorite meal or dessert
 
2. Make a Lego creation
 
3. Go to a museum
 
4. Watch a movie or go to the movies
 
5. Put together a puzzle
 
6. Play a board game
 
7. Make yourself a bubble bath
 
8. Buy and use an adult coloring book
 
9. Knit, crochet, or sew
 
10. Yoga or meditation
 
11. Sculpting or pottery
 
12. Scrapbooking
 
13. Photography
 
14. Painting
 
15. Origami
 
16. Learn another language
 
17. Play your favorite video game
 
18. Grab some family and friends and go bowling
 
19. Preform a play for friends and family
 
20. Go to your local aquarium
 
Edited by Emily Chance

​Using Mantras to Help With Spiritual Travel (Spiritual Travel Part 2)
 
Mantras are a common method used to reach destinations during spiritual travel. Mantras are a somewhat advanced form of spiritual travel suited to those who are capable of traveling in a disembodied state (without bodily sensations or body image). Practicing mantras during spiritual travel has the effect of moving the soul through different inner spaces much like a surfer rides a wave. They provide a definite sense of continuous forward movement with the mantric vibration or current acting as the basis of propulsion.
 
One curious thing about travel by mantra is that though the mantra is being silently chanted by a single voice (the practitioner's inner voice), the mantric sounds often seem "larger" and more all pervading than sounds a single voice could normally produce. Instead, they sound as if they are being intoned by a chorus of voices. This creates the sense that the traveler is not riding the mantric wave or current alone. The wave therefore seems more like a bus than a single passenger car with many beings riding together through a common environment experiencing the same scenery.
 
Mantric spaces usually have no horizon and as such are more like moving through an underwater environment than moving through a normal atmosphere. The spaces have different textures, densities, and emotional qualities which create varying background sensations that permeate the space. These qualities naturally also determine the sensations of those traveling through the space. 
 
The visual component may also vary but a complex visual field of changing patterns and colored lines (sometimes in 3-D) is one class of imagery that is familiar to me. 
 
The author has experimented with different mantras but the one that seemed to work best was the one that had been practiced for many hours in normal meditation. Much positive emotional and spiritual energy had been poured into this sound during meditation, and the mantra seemed to function like a battery storing the spiritual energy. As a charged religious symbol, it therefore had the power to move me into and through radically altered states of consciousness when other less familiar mantras had much less effect when practiced while out of the body. 
 
My intuitive sense is that those who are more familiar with disembodied states of light and energy use mantras the way we in the physical world use vehicles to take them to many destinations in the inner worlds. However, mantras are used to traverse dimensions in the psychic and spiritual worlds rather than streets and highways in the physical world. Many of these mantric roads are ancient pathways created by spiritual explorers eons ago. 
 
Another function of mantras somewhat unrelated to spiritual travel is that mantras can link individuals with gurus, entities, and gods. The empowered mantra given to a disciple during a spiritual initiation when repeated can act much like dialing the number of a being in the inner worlds. The being may not always answer but the line is there, and communication can occur over the line once the link is established. 
 
The question also arises as to what mantra to use in spiritual travel. In general, the mantra or prayer chosen needs to come from the spiritual tradition the practitioner follows. For those with a yogic orientation, using simple Sanskrit mantras (sometimes one syllable) is effective since they are sounds that are understood to originate in high spiritual planes, and will therefore draw the practitioner towards those points of origination. Names of deities or buddhas, or names of respected living or inner spiritual guides can also be used as mantras. This is especially true if the practitioners has an inner or outer relationship with one of these beings. Simple prayers such as the "prayer of the heart" from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, or phrases from Psalms or the Lord's Prayer can also be repeated, and they can function as mantras. Again these names or phrases will act as powerful symbols since they usually have very positive spiritual associations for a person practicing the religious tradition connected with these deities, guides, or prayers. 
 
Once the person has even a little experience with riding these mantric waves, he or she is presented with a new way of being that is not easily forgotten. The method of using mantras to travel is an advanced form of spiritual travel since it requires considerable concentration. It is good to be able to experience this method of travel but the real challenge is to catch the wave, and then ride it long enough and with enough determination and skill to reach spiritual states of cosmic light and sound. This is the goal of the true spiritual traveler who by wisdom or by grace hopes to touch the infinite. 
Travel by mantra is perhaps the best way to direct the soul toward specific destinations in the psychic and spiritual universes. The experience of travel by mantra also justifies using the term spiritual travel rather than more generic terms like meditation or contemplation. This is because the phrase spiritual travel is much more phenomenologically descriptive of the actual experience than these other two less specific terms. 
 
As with all spiritual travel practices, it is important to emphasize that mantras should be used only for ethical purposes that further the practitioner's knowledge, or for helping and healing others. 
 

Perks of Working Out
By Emily Chance
​
1. Endorphins! At first, when someone works out, they feel awful and they hate doing it. They hate the sweat, soreness, and the awkwardness of being next to someone else who probably looks way better doing what their body loathes them for doing. However, after a few months of working out, I have become happier. I look forward to the sore muscles because it’s better than the stress I had before working out. Working out is a healthy way to work off your everyday stress; much healthier than getting assault charges for punching that annoying co-worker/customer/person with a nagging voice in the face! You would be too tired to care! I have even started to become stir crazy without exercising.

2. Less fat! Don’t look at the scale when you work out. People inherently put too much expectations on themselves when it comes to their weight! After tracking the trend of my weight loss, I realized that I started losing weight like crazy, then started to taper off and sometimes I even started to gain some back! This is why I advise against scales. Go off how you feel about yourself. You notice the fat you’re losing before others do, so don’t get discouraged if nobody notices at first! You’re doing this for yourself, anyway. Not for them. Once you lose some fat, other fat tends to turn into muscle. And also, don’t be discouraged if your legs are big or your stomach is still squishy. It’s completely healthy and natural to carry some fat in these areas, especially for women, because we carry an extra layer of fat for baby carrying.

3. Loving yourself again! Once I started working out, I began to care about myself again. I compare myself to how I used to look, 10, 15, and 20 pounds heavier. I may not look that different to other people, but I feel heathier, skinnier, and I have much more confidence than I used to. I may not be “up to standards” for the society we live in who expect women to have large butts, big boobs, no stomach, and thin thighs, but I am perfect for how I want to be. Don’t let anyone tell you how you should look. Everyone is different. There is no shame in having small boobs or big thighs. It’s much easier said than done, but your opinion is really all that matters, and once you start loving yourself for who you are, you are unstoppable!

Edited by Klancy Hoover

​What is Spiritual Travel?
Spiritual travel is a form of out-of-body experience done voluntarily to achieve a spiritual goal. In order to have an out-of-body experience, the soul or consciousness of the individual must temporarily leave the physical body. During out-of-body experience, the physical senses shut down. When this occurs, an entirely new world opens up to the individual. Spiritual travel is a special type of out-of-body experience where the individual's awareness is heightened, and he or she is able to make decisions and direct the experience. 
 
The spectrum of experience afforded by spiritual travel is very broad and can include a wide variety of psychic and spiritual states. In most cases, the spiritual traveler is able to clearly remember the experiences and learn from them. 
 
Spiritual travel is sometimes called transcendent or ecstatic experience because it deals with the "inner" senses rather than the physical senses. It also deals with states of being seemingly independent of the physical world. 
 
The Purpose of Spiritual Travel 
The goal of spiritual travel is mystical or transcendent religious experience. The reason for an interest in spiritual travel is that it provides a unique means of approaching these distant and extraordinary states of religious awareness. It does this by exposing the spiritual seeker to a series of lessons about the nature of identity, and the freedom of the soul to travel in various non-physical environments. These lessons gradually introduce the spiritual traveler to a variety of psychic and spiritual states containing increasing degrees of individual freedom, and spiritual awareness. In addition, spiritual travel provides an inner laboratory where the seeker can experiment with techniques and methods of moving through the more limited psychic states of awareness and into these distant spiritual realms. 
 
Near-Death Experience as a Limited Form of Spiritual Travel 
One common form of spiritual travel seen in the modern West is near death experience. The concept of near-death experience was developed by Dr. Raymond Moody Jr. in his book Life After Life in 1975. In near death experiences, a person comes close to death due to sickness or injury, and the person's soul temporarily leaves the physical body. In the early stages of a near-death experience, the spiritual traveler usually views his or her lifeless body and the surrounding physical environment from a short distance away. This is usually followed by a shift of awareness to a non-physical environment in the later stages of the experience where the traveler encounters a spiritual guide or "being of light". Near-death experience is a limited form of spiritual travel in three respects. 
 
First, it occurs spontaneously as a result of a medical crisis rather than voluntarily as part of a spiritual search. Second, though the individual seems to exercise some control over out-of-body movements in the physical environment, the more religious and other-worldly elements of the experience are usually controlled by some outside force such as a guide. This guide directs the near-death experience without any request or permission from the traveler who has little power over what occurs. Third, near-death experience while many times uplifting and lifechanging is usually limited to a series of repeating states or stages, and is not as broad or wide-ranging as spiritual travel experience. 
 
Fortunately, it is not necessary for an individual to undergo a near-death experience (medical crisis) to have a spiritual travel experience. 
 
Spiritual travel is a tool for the spiritual seeker. An individual can engage in a spiritual practice designed to induce spiritual travel experiences. It is possible for the advanced spiritual traveler to control the contents of a spiritual travel experience.  

​Smoothie Recipes
By Elizabeth Dubos
 
Summer officially arrived June 21! What better way to celebrate summer than with a sweet treat! Smoothies are easy to make and great to cool down for hot summery days. Here are some smoothies you can enjoy.
 
1. Mint-Chocolate Smoothie
Mint and chocolate lovers rejoice! Here is a list of the ingredients you will need for this smoothie: 1 banana, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of non-Greek yogurt, 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and 1 handful of ice. Add all the ingredients into the blender and combine until it’s smooth. After you pour the smoothie in a glass, you can sprinkle some chocolate sprinkles on top. If you’re looking to add more protein in your smoothie, try adding 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder. Enjoy!
 
2. Low-Carb Strawberry Smoothie
If you’re diabetic or trying to lose weight, this strawberry smoothie is the one for you! The ingredients you will need are:  1/4 cup of almond milk, 3 teaspoons of granulated stevia, 4 oz. of frozen strawberries, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. After you’ve gathered the ingredients, place them all into a blender and hit the pulse button to ensure it’s well-combined. Afterwards, it’s ready to be served!
 
3. Iced Coffee Protein Smoothie
This is a great smoothie if you’re on the go in the morning. Whether you’re off to work, vacation, or spending the day with the kids! This smoothie counts as a meal as well because it’s filled with fiber to ensure you stay full until it’s lunch time. Here is a list of the ingredients: 1 banana, 1 cup of strong brewed coffee, 3/4 cup of milk/creamer, 1/4 cup rolled oats, and 1 scoop of protein powder. Mix all the ingredients in a blender until well-combined. Before pouring it into a cup, drizzle some chocolate sauce on the side of the glass. Enjoy!
 
4. Blueberry Banana Smoothie
Summer is the season to enjoy delicious, juicy fruit. Here is the list of ingredients you will need to make this creamy blueberry banana smoothie: 1 banana, 1 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries, 1 cup of almond milk, and 1 cup of non-greek yogurt. After you pour the smoothie in the glass, you can add whipped cream on top. Enjoy your blueberry banana smoothie!
 
Edited by Emily Chance