Notes & Podcast: The Spirituality of Deconstruction

Today is the day of Visual Mantra’s debut in the podcast world, and what a session we had with the “Be Where Now” team!
We’re still brimming with gratitude for being offered this space/time of expansive conversation around how Visual Mantra came to be and the way it relates to the life experience of the human behind it (hi!).
With this in mind, the episode is loosely divided into three main sections: background, present expression & creative/spiritual practices, and books that have inspired the process. 

Before we go any further, Be Where How is a humane group of conscious creatives that explore mindfulness, the metaphysical, and nonduality through an extensive foundation of books, teachers, and concepts found in both eastern and western religions & cultures.

To get the best introduction from them, we highly recommend the episodes where they expand upon their three pillars of study. (ep. 1, 3 & 5)

In this blog post, you’ll find the notes we (I) took prior to our session. That said, there are definitely some differences between the notes and the conversation, so we suggest to both listen and read for a more complete version of this conversation of light <3

Make sure to also check their website and follow them on social media as they often share reminders that align awareness in their inspiring ways. (bewherehow.com)

Watch full episode here: (or listen to it through Spotify)


Podcast Notes

“Creativity and Spirituality go hand in hand in the way both optimize/maximize our immersion in the here & now, our transcendence of stress and anxiety, the access to flow states, the dissolution of any limitation of expression through our curiosity; our ability to play, deconstruct, experiment, explore, learn, love; tapping into a higher frequency.” - (blog post quote from Awareness in the Creative Process)

Introduction

Sharing our intentions for the present session:
My intention is to connect, to expand on creative/aware thought and to share some of the tools that aid the healing of the present experience. To nurture the human connection through creativity & love. 

We say what we need to hear. I invite you to enter a state of flow. 

En esencia, soy (somos) expresión del cosmos.
In essence, I’m (we are) expression of the cosmos. 

In other words, artists of the soul.

Hanuman: “When I do not know who I am, I serve You and when I do know who I am, You and I are One”.

1. Personal Background 

Formative Life in Bullet Points: connecting the dots

Intention: to highlight the moments of intersection, the experiences that transformed my psychology; the foundation of this awareness. 

  • What was our first memory (in this life)?
    After an infinite amount of causes & effects we remember becoming conscious of our bodies through memories of celebrations, deep interactions with nature & play and imagination; of awe-provoking experiences.
  • Grew up in an overprotective environment with diligent cleaningness and systemic beliefs.
  • Lefty, expressive, playful, curious, weird, energetic, creative
    • Middle school: member of a comic club, bass classes 
      • Rebellious phase: Atheist catholic, decided to question everything, dark, anxious
  • Highschool
    • Exploration of spiritual/romantic love
      • Infinite & infinitely open 
      • Otherworldly Love Letters
      • Artistic and spiritual catalyst 
    • Started a Series of creative journals (2014)
    • Started conversations with my higher self
  • Gestalt Summer Camp
    • Experience of Vulnerability
    • Tools for emotional intelligence
    • Explored my meditation practice
      • (which through this introspection, I now realize that the reason I decided to start & grow the meditative state was because I wanted to connect with the natural expression of this life in a deeper way, to explore the creative deconstructions of the word. Meditative practices that have opened the doors to the metaphysical and nondual.)
    • Creative exploration around identity
    • Connection with the mind
    • Question: Who Are You?
    • Gestalt Saying: I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, And you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful. If not, it can’t be helped. (Fritz Perls, 1969)

2. Visual Mantra

Channeled healing through meditation and creative sessions.

Visual mantra postcard: finding creative ways to communicate the core of our message.

What is a Mantra?

  • A tool for the mind for healing purposes

The Intention of this expression

  • To deconstruct thought
    • “Thought is itself the thinker” - William James (1890)
    • Re-programming and healing
      • High-frequency decoding
    • Seeing through ego/form
    • Perceiving the issness of everything
    • Exploring the human experience
  • Surrender
    • Stop the searching, start the finding
    • Allyship of experience
    • Flowing through the artistry of life
  • Shift in Consciousness
    • Unconditional intention of Love
    • Awareness of the cosmos
      • “We’re the universe looking at itself”

Be Where How & Visual Mantra

  • Mindfulness: Human connection, conversation of love, shared healing, creative spaces and practices, shared meditations, intention + attention.
    • Finding instead of searching
  • Metaphysics: Exploration of altered states, high-frequency downloads, meditations with higher self, 
  • Non-duality: Awareness of the unity of it all, foundational transcendence of thought, cosmic consciousness

Consciousness into creativity

    • The mind (thought) is always the underlying medium of art creation
    • Sharing the process of healing through art.
    • “Words can only point to the truth” 
  • Mindful/Meditative Blog Posts: 
    • Awareness in the Creative Process
      • Creativity is -natural re-organization-. By “natural” we refer to the infinite cause-effect of the universe, and by “re-organization” we point to the way our brains build up stimulating ideas from the decoded references that surround it.

Social media and sending out higher humanity messaging

  • Started posting spiritual expression by the end of 2018
    (former closeted mystic)
  • Visual Mantra was brought up through a spiritual and creative expansion in the form of: meditations, creative sessions (solo and shared), and an on-going (& infinite) process of experimentation.  
  • Art as a Magnet
    • That’s why we’re here <3 
    • Intentional awareness of creative reciprocity & expansion
    • Passionate about sharing the passion
      • As it has naturally been unfolding
      • What is the message you (awareness) were born to deliver? 
  • A shift in consciousness is happening, and our intention is to support it through our expression. Expression that embodies a frequency of unconditional love and presence.
    How?
    • Seeing the self in the other & seeing through both
    • Exploring the human experience in collaboration
    • Being an ally to experience
    • 60’s 70’s = revolution – 20’ = evolution

2.5 Creative Resources

Creative Exercise for the Deconstruction of Thought

  • Do I think? Check ✔
  • What am I thinking? Thinking for the sake of thinking, contents of imagination, thinking to be a better thinker, thinking resentment/negativity/judgement
  • What causes a certain thought to appear? Past conditions and experience. This includes systemic beliefs/culture, the internet/media, people around us, and our sense of will (as the illusion of will is also a part of a “past” that we’re commonly not aware of)
  • Why do I think what I think? Should I be more mindful with my words? How can I use thought for the benefit of my existence? (allyship of experience) 
  • How does the brain work? What is the material that forms a thought? Exploration into the neuroscience
  • How thoughts are thought? How do we process processes? What is the essence of a thought? Nature expressing itself, Mental habits/patterns of thought and action, Parallel universes, channeling, downloads, (beginning of the metaphysical)
  • What lies beyond thought? Life expression, infinite love, cosmic creativity 

Play on Words: CO-VID

  • (Co)llaborative Life (Vid (vida=life))
  • Letting the collective fire of suffering become the light of consciousness for all
  • Opening up to feel, to observe the issness of life, the life of life
  • From being fixated into the microscope to being aware of the the observer’s awareness
  • From thought to the awareness of life
  • If something, it’s harder to learn than to teach (blog post)


3. Books

  • Be Here Now - Ram Dass
    • Visual
    • Concrete
    • Not the first one I’d recommend
  • The 5th Agreement - Don Miguel Ruiz
    • “Be skeptical but learn to listen”
    • Toltec means Artist of the soul
    • On “Becoming a Seer”
  • Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body - Daniel Coleman & Richard J. Davidson 
    • For the scientific approach
    • Pragmatic
  • Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
    • Expansive journey of deconstruction
    • Human/relatable approach to the process of awakening
      • Total deconstruction and exploration of life
    • Spoiler: touches on nonduality 
  • Consciousness: an introduction - Susan Blackmore & Emily T. Troscianko
    • Combination of neuroscience, psychology & philosophy
    • Lots of studies and thorough examination
    • Conclusion: Zen Buddhism is the closest approach to the latest findings 
    • Fair summary: “Conscious” - Annaka Harris (audiobook)
  • A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
    • “To love is to recognize the self in the other”
    • The Paradox of pain: 
  • How to Change Your Mind - Michael Pollan (audiobook)
    • History of psychedelics, direct experimentation, applications going forward
    • If you liked “fantastic fungi”, yes. 
  • The Harvard Psychedelic Club - Don Lattin
    • The good ol’ revolution <3
  • Waking Up - Sam Harris (audiobook)
    • “Rational spiritual practice informed by neuroscience and psychology.”
    • Meta-awareness
  • The Sophia Code - Kaia Rai
    • Enlightenment means being light
  • Share Your Work - Austin Kleon
    • Got me started posting on IG 


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