Spiritual / Energetic "banishing"

David Armstrong, modified 13 Years ago at 9/28/10 3:39 PM
Created 13 Years ago at 9/28/10 3:39 PM

Spiritual / Energetic "banishing"

Post: 1 Join Date: 9/12/10 Recent Posts
I'm posting this here because I have the sense that there might be others on this forum who will have a better insight into what I experienced. If any of this strikes a chord with you, please let me know. I will try to be as concise as possible, while still including everything that seems relevant.

I have had experiences with bad spirits in the past. When I speak of bad spirits, I am referring to the specific kind that are drawn to negative energy, and manifest by holding you down at night. Those spirits that keep you from moving your body when you wake up, and exist as an oppressive force when the mind turns back to the conscious world as the body has been resting. Now I know that some have said that the conscious disconnect between mind and body is perfectly normal, and scientists have tried to explain it away. I would rather not rehash that aspect of this.

I have been going through a difficult healing process following a fall that I took about six months. Because of that my energy levels have been low, and my attitude has been fairly negative at times. I have felt despair about whether or not the pain will ever go away.

My girlfriend has been dealing with an alcoholic father for her entire life. Last night she just got bad news about him, and she was upset. She often times talks in her sleep, and last night she was vocal in a very angry sounding way. I just mention that because hearing her practically shouting is what woke me up one of the times last night.

We are sleeping in different rooms because I need to be able to move around and stretch out to work with the spasming muscles. Last night I was feeling particularly optimistic, and I was doing some deep, meditative energy work in an effort to clear out the blockages and will my body to relax. I mention this because my suspicion is that all of the grief and negativity that my g/f was feeling, combined with my light work might have drawn the negative force to our home.

(If you're still reading, thank you for hanging in here).

A while after I awoke to hear my girlfriend angrily talking in her sleep, I was drifting back and forth between that state of sleep and waking. Now that I am fully conscious I do not completely remember what my thoughts were, but they were along the lines of concern for her, and peace and relaxation for the both of us. At some point I drifted asleep because I later became aware of that oppressive, evil force. As an aside, I heard a concerned meow from our cat who was in the other room around the same time. It might have even been what turned my attention to it. You know how attention and focus get weird in that in-between state.

Upon becoming aware of it, my first intention was to try to move, to test it. I was unable to move. The next thing that came to mind was to form my index fingers into a cross (I'm not Christian, but something about it made sense at the time). I was unable to join my fingers together, my hands and body were paralyzed, yet I felt like I was making progress toward moving them together. Then I began to mentally direct my intent toward the force, and I told it basically, "You will leave me. You will leave my home." That seemed to get things going. I was able to move and actually put my fingers together to form a cross. At that point I became conscious, in control of my body.

Now this is where it starts to get weird.

I sat up and felt this concern for my girlfriend in the other room. I stood up and placed my hands together, palms touching in the traditional "prayer" style. I silently asked for help, for light and I went into her room. The tension in the air was palatable. She was laying on the bed completely rigid, and some how I just knew that she was struggling with her own internal demons. I could feel the negative presence around her, and I just stood there at the foot the bed, breathing deeply, willing it away. It probably took four or five deep, concentrated, breathes during which I willed relaxation and peace over her to break the aura of badness that had built up around her. I saw her visibly relax. I considered that I was done at that point, then I realized that I was not.

I laid down next to her, and ran my hand over her head a few times, over the crown, breaking whatever connections had attached themselves there. (Isn't it interesting how malleable an unconscious person's aura can be?) Then I hugged her and told her "You are okay." "I love you." "Everything is okay." "I love you." It was odd because she was verbally mumbling the equivalent of "leave me alone... go away" while at the same time snuggling closer and hugging me for comfort. Eventually she relaxed and mumbled something along the lines of, "I love you". I laid down next to her with my eyes closed and consciously willed myself to Wudang mountain in China. It was day time (which is odd now that I think about it, since this happened around 1am PST which would make it afternoon in China, right?) I saw incense burning, and I drew the positive intent from the incense toward us. I saw clear blue skies and monks doing their forms... I felt the energy, and I channeled it into the room. I stayed with her for a few minutes then I whispered that I was going to go lay down in the other room again.

About five minutes later she comes into the room, still half asleep... scared, crying... worried that she had done something wrong. She had no recollection of me being in there with her (that is common... I talk to her when she talks in her sleep all the time... full blown conversations that she never remembers). She just remembered waking up from a really bad dream, and needing to be with me.

Anyway, that is the story. Here are my questions.

Evil influences... external or internal? Part of me feels like it was drawn to us. Another part believes that it came from inside of us.

Banishings... real or not? Can we as human beings consciously perceive manifestations of ill will and negativity? Can we counter them with positive intent and energy work?

Taoist immortals, buddhas, repositories of pure qi and positive intent. Real? Available to those who need them?
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Florian, modified 13 Years ago at 9/29/10 5:08 AM
Created 13 Years ago at 9/29/10 5:08 AM

RE: Spiritual / Energetic "banishing"

Posts: 1028 Join Date: 4/28/09 Recent Posts
Hi David, and welcome to the Dharma Overground.

Yeah... Duncan Barford has an interesting article up on the Baptists Head, where he describes Metta (Loving-Kindness) Practice used in a similar situation. After all, the Metta Sutta traditionally is held to have been advice given to Monks who were troubled by forest spirits.

Your question whether this stuff is real - I much prefer to look at what is causal, what leads to what. Thus, a dream can have real-life consequences - but was the dream "real"? Hard to tell, but it certainly was causal. If we don't argue about the reality of this kind of stuff, but about its "real" results, such as both of you feeling "really" better, well, something was gained, obviously.

Daniel has an interesting thought experiment about real-life consequences in his MCTB chapter on thePowers..

My own experiences with sleep paralysis are much milder than yours, and are usually coupled with OOB-like dream experiences, which is why I rationalize that the other presence I seem to sense in these situations is the "out-of-body body", and my perception is just not used to me being in two places at once emoticon Thus I subscribe to the point of view that this comes from "inside of us" however it is perceived.

But again, whichever view you take, banishing (which puts things in their rightful place), prayer, metta practice (loving kindness) or drawing on repositories of beneficient qualities, all of this "works" in any model you use to understand it.

What was the nature of the fall you mentioned, btw?

Cheers,
Florian
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Daniel Johnson, modified 13 Years ago at 9/30/10 5:53 PM
Created 13 Years ago at 9/30/10 5:53 PM

RE: Spiritual / Energetic "banishing"

Posts: 401 Join Date: 12/16/09 Recent Posts
You may consider what are the facts of the situation and what is just imagination - it sounds like a mix of both.

This may be helpful too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

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