Communion with my Dear Departed

Godbeams, one of Jess's beautiful photos xo

So I took a very simple four-lesson course in meditation because I like to practice it in different ways, and I got to the last lesson, in which the facilitator, Sara Wiseman, gives us a chance to have contact with our dear departed loved ones. I was looking forward to this lesson because I love writing with Jess, but I still miss her presence and wanted to see if we could connect on a higher level. This is a little deeper than "air talk," which, I think we all do with our Lovies who've moved on.

In her short course, available through DailyOM, Sara provides an overview of each of four meditation sessions, conducted for different purposes, and after each overview she provides guidance during the meditation period, which lasts between 10 and 20 minutes.

For this last lesson her overview was full of cautions. Various practitioners and facilitators handle the unwanted intrusion of uninvited "lower-level" spirits in different ways, by creating a blessed "safe zone," opening the session and closing it carefully, and through other techniques, generally using light and love.

Lisa's technique for keeping the highest vibrations possible during contact in order to avoid "lookie-loos," or spirits that we don't know and have no personal connection with, is to advise us to always take one of our known guides with us during this type of communication (whom we get to meet in her initial lessons) and to ask them to intervene if uninvited spirits should try to communicate with us.

I do not like fear. And I always find this part of meditational guidance somewhat intimidating. Especially because Sara was extra cautionary and provided a bit more detail than I was interested in on what can happen if you don't take a guide along. She's very matter of fact about it and assures us that we can send away any unwanted spirits. We are always more powerful than they are because we are both spirit and matter, and they have to abide by our requests to not bother us - it's Cosmic law that they cannot interfere without provocation on the Earth plane.

But there's always the possibility of opening up avenues that we do not want open if our own vibration levels are not as high and pure as we would like them to be. Basically the way to keep them as high as possible is very simple: harm none. We can have negative emotions such as anger, sadness, guilt, regret, and all kinds of things, but we stay most pure when we do not act on them. When we act on them by harming others in any way, we lower our own vibration. "Like" attracts "like," so when our vibrations are high we draw only the highest kinds of communication.

Okay. I was missing my daughter, so I thought to myself, hey, this is worth it. We've been writing letters and they've been so very beautiful and full of love with no problems whatsoever, I'm just going to go ahead and try this.

Deep breath.

I sat quietly with a small candle lit, and slowly climbed the steps inside my mind to the highest vibration possible, and there I became aware that my Grandfather guide was with me. Oh he is so beautiful that every time I see him I feel all filled up with love just to know that an entity that pure exists. He is strong, reverent, quiet, and his love is absolute and abiding. I love him so much and I trust him implicitly. It is soooo comforting to KNOW that he has been with me for ages and will continue to be.

So, following Sara's guidance, I asked him to oversee the communication between my daughter and myself as I wanted to contact her. I asked him to please handle any intrusions. He telepathically let me know he absolutely would and I was safe to continue.

So I invited my daughter to come and visit with me, and you know if you've read any of our letters that she's full of spunk and humor and praise and encouragement and wise advice and all kinds of things that make her, her. We have a good time writing.

And this meditation was so absolutely perfect - beyond anything I could have imagined. A completely unexpected and very touching GIFT.

I became aware of Jessica's presence right in front of me, and we looked into each others' eyes. She took her hand and put it gently on the back of my neck without saying anything, and softly touched her forehead to mine. We held like that for a few minutes and I felt all kinds of things during that time.

I felt absolute love and connection with her. The feeling of "missing" her disappeared. I felt filled up with peace. I felt all kinds of serenity wafting from her right into me. I felt there were no unanswered questions between us. It was pure communion of the very best kind. It was the most beautiful gift.

Sara guided us gently out of the meditation and I was left with the sensation still on my forehead of that touching. I also felt surrounded by that love and peace for hours and hours afterward.

Wow.

So I looked it up. What does forehead to forehead touching mean? Are there traditions around it?

I found only a couple of resources, and they're very beautiful. One is described by a Tibetan Buddhist student who wrote:

I too am part of the Kagyu lineage, and was told by my partner at the time (who teaches under the Kagyu lineage) that it is also known as a 'spiritual kiss'. A blessing as it were. Your 'Sky Eye' or sixth chakra is known for being the holding of enlightenment and is regarded as a wonderful light source. By 'light', I sort of mean knowledge -- an ability to 'see' in a way that takes a lot of meditative practice and devotion. When we touch things to our Sky Eye, it enables another connection and closeness to emerge. A mutual understanding, relationship and insight. My Lama often greets people in this way; gently holding their heads and meeting foreheads with an exchange of great joy. It is an amazing thing to see and be a part of! Connecting with others in this way as a greeting or a blessing can create a very instant, quick mutual bond. Especially when you are both part of the Sangha and therefore hold similar beliefs, or have been undergoing meditative practice for a while which will enable your Sky Eye to be quite 'open'/'aware'. It is also seen as a way of showing that no one is seen as more important, or 'higher' than the other, and that we are all equal (even when this is done by a Rinpoche).
~Xiao Long Posted 9/2014
http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/1364/significance-of-touching-forheads-in-tibetan-buddhism-karma-kagyu (Retrieved 01/22/2017)

Māori Greeting

It is done by pressing one's nose and forehead (at the same time) to another person at an encounter. It is used at traditional meetings among Māori people and on major ceremonies and serves a similar purpose to a formal handshake in modern western culture, and indeed a hongi is often used in conjunction with one. In the hongi, the ha (or breath of life), is exchanged and intermingled. The breath of life can also be interpreted as the sharing of both parties' souls. Through the exchange of this physical greeting, one is no longer considered manuhiri (visitor) but rather one of the people of the land. For the remainder of one's stay one is obliged to share in all the duties and responsibilities of the home people. In earlier times, this may have meant bearing arms in times of war, or tending crops, such as kumara. When Māori greet one another by pressing noses, the tradition of sharing the breath of life is considered to have come directly from the gods.

In Māori folklore woman was created by the gods moulding her shape out of the earth. The god Tāne (meaning male) embraced the figure and breathed into her nostrils. She then sneezed and came to life. Her name was Hineahuone (earth formed woman).

~From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hongi (Retrieved 01/22/2017)

Now as I traverse through the activities of my days I carry in my heart a glowing light and warmth, remembering this beautiful gift from my sweet Jess. It was probably not more than 15 minutes of sweet meditation, but the effects of it last and last. I am glad I choose love and not fear. It allows me to seek and receive so much unexpected beauty.

Thank you Grandfather for your steadfast love and protection. Thank you my own good sweet heart for seeking and choosing love over fear. Thank you sweet Jess for this gorgeous gift that warms my heart. We are connected.

Namaste,
Jen