by Leanne Tibiatowski
In a time when perceived separation is at an all time high in the world, it seems vital to find places where our hearts are woven together as one. In all cultures the desire for spiritual connection thrives––yet this longing is often overlooked and can be the catalyst for conflict, judgment and pain as we focus on differences in spiritual expressions. It is time not merely for tolerance, but for acceptance and understanding that our common longing is possibly the greatest treasure we possess. James Abdul Rahim Keeley, a master teacher and faculty member at the University of Spiritual Healing and Sufism, shares his path 
with us. Through this willingness to look and learn may peace shower upon us.
Vision Magazine: What have you come to understand Sufism to be?
James Keeley: One of my favorite definitions is that Sufism is a science of obtaining a state from which good actions and a beautiful life spontaneously arises within. It is a process of beautifying your own personal state. Sufism is more a verb than a noun––so a Sufi is one who is surrendered to God. A Sufi is also one who is following mystical Islam. There really is no separation between Sufism and Islam. Sufism is specifically the science within Islam that is dedicated to obtaining the beautiful state of being; it is the path of the heart.
VM: Are all Sufis Muslims?
JK: I would say Islam isn't complete without Sufism. The real question is have all people who practice the religion of Islam surrendered their hearts? Are they living the beautiful life or just subscribing to a set of ideas? Do their actions and words create this beautiful state? Are they helping their brothers and sisters, or hitting others with their hands and tongues?
In my opinion real religion is not a set of ideas we subscribe to––rather it has to reflect itself in how we live our lives. If it does not show up there it is not real religion. So I would say you can see real Sufism or real Islam in a mother caring for her child, a man being true to his wife, a person helping out another in need, or smiling at his brother on the street. For me that is Islam and the real religion. It is from this place that we say there is only one religion––the religion of peace, mercy, justice and freedom. This quality of kindness may be called Islam or Christianity or Judaism; it is the real religion––God's religion. As Sufis we call God's religion Islam. But we don't own it, we do not say that only people who subscribe to a certain set of outer beliefs are practicing Islam––within all good people you can see Islam. It is the religion of people being as God would have them be, with each other, themselves and within this world.
VM: In this country there is often a strong cultural judgment associated with Islam and the Middle East, a reaction which current world events have inflamed. My willingness to explore Sufism came by accident in a time when I was examining my relationship with the divine. I was connected to a spiritual healer I trusted who carried a quality I hoped to achieve. During healing sessions with her I felt something tangible unlike anything I'd ever felt before. My heart wanted to experience more; I decided to let my mind rest and gave myself permission to experience first and ask questions later. In a time that felt like a crisis she took me deeper and introduced the teachings of her work. Suddenly I had a choice––stay in a state of pain and discomfort or allow myself to surrender to something that did not make sense to my mind. My choice to let go has provided great liberation in my reality.
JK: Yes, I think many people when they think about Islam or Sufism they think of horrible pictures of terrorists or dangerous people. But for me it is exciting to be another face of Islam and Sufism in the world. The people who come to my classes are there because there is something in their lives that is not working or they have tasted something that made them realize there is more available. People are either hurting so badly they are willing to try anything or something has spoken to their heart so deeply they are willing to step outside of their comfortable pictures and try something new. I think just like for you it is the kind of thing where you have to try it out. Then, after a series of experiences a person may decide this is a path they want to walk and they begin to arrange life so all actions are directed towards God. Because that is really what the path is––a system of orienting your life in the direction of the divine. The practices are the tools that keep us pointed in this direction. How do we start our day? With a prayer. What do we say before we eat? We thank the food. What do we say before we get in the car? We ask God to bless our journey. With everything we are directing ourselves toward God. Most people do not see this side of Islam or Sufism; they think it is terrorism. It is the practitioners' job to live a different example and stand in the face of those pictures and give people a taste of the real way.
VM: It seems like a valuable opportunity to recognize that thoughts can be imprinted on us that may or may not be accurate.
JK: For me, the greatest thing to challenge that is to stand up and say I am a Sufi-Muslim, which allows others to notice I am not trying to hurt them. A friend of mine, speaking of his conversion to Islam, said that no Sufi or Muslim ever came after him with a sword or stick or forced him to pray. They came with love, kindness, gentleness and sincere care for his well being. These things attracted him to this way.
A lot of what you are talking about––the things that come up along the way––shows the importance of having a teacher in your life to help you actualize the path into your life, someone that teaches you how to do the practices so they bear fruit. When we take a path it is because our heart is longing to achieve something. There is a difference between what we long to achieve and achieving that state. Along the way there is going to be friction; we are going to hit difficulties. But that friction is what we need to go through in order to become the person who can embody what our heart originally longed to carry. A teacher's job is to help you through those places and show you the way, but you have to provide the locomotion, the energy to actualize it.
VM: How does the Sufi philosophy consider and relate to other major spiritual paths?
JK: In Sufism we believe there is one religion––the religion of love, mercy, justice and freedom. Where you see these qualities you see religion, and where you don't see these is a deviation from religion. Sufism relates to other religions in a way of unity. There is a very wide door in Sufism to acknowledge the other paths to God. It is less about the label and more about what a person does with their life. If that life is a based on compassion and love for our brothers and sisters, we see God's religion present there. I call God's religion Islam, and another person calls it Christianity or Judaism. But the moment we try to own it for ourselves and say no it is our Islam and the Christians do not have any of God's religion in them, then we are making trouble and that is not Sufism or Islam.
VM: It can seem within Islam and other religious structures there are so many rules they can be binding. What is your perspective on this?
JK: I think there is liberation through the practices and rules but a lot depends on how a person approaches it. Some people do it because they believe they have to––if they don't they are “bad” and if they do they are “good.” This is one way to approach religion. Or a person can decide to apply the science of a path to their lives in order to beautify themselves, and this person can come in as a conscious adult approaching the practice with their eyes wide open and a readiness to experience what the path has to offer.
VM: For me, to have had the accidental opening of my heart toward Islamic concepts––something I would have never predicted––allowed me to experience 9/11 in a very different way. It allowed me to resist going to a place of fear and judgment. If I never practiced Sufism again the gift I received in that moment was priceless––in choosing to look at something unfamiliar I was able to shift my reaction.
JK: And since 9/11 there have been more people converting to Islam than before; it is in the national conversation. Now people are saying, “What is this Islam and this Sufism?” And as people explore, their hearts are opening. As Muslim and Sufi Americans, we have the opportunity to live that beautiful life which draws people in, to have the realization that says wait … you are not the enemy, Islam is not the enemy, Americans are not the enemy. The enemy is the deviation from the real religion. When people deviate from the real religion there is pain in the world.
VM: Tell me your thoughts on practicing Sufism during this time of turmoil in the world.
JK: I can't think of a more interesting time to be an American Sufi Muslim than right now. Talk about being in the center of the world with the clash between the West and Middle East. We have the chance to bring reconciliation between the West and Islam by uniting the two in our own hearts. I think that as we practice true Islam and Sufism we are not only showing Islam to the Americans, we are showing Americans to Islam and showing the world how the two can be one inside the same heart.
To find more about Sufism and spiritual healing you can download the first chapter of James Abdul Rahim Keeley's book for free at www.howtowalkwithGod.com.
Using Archetypal Healing Forms for Increased Inner Energy
by Alexia Parks
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In the early 1970s, Gregory Hoag began experimenting with Sacred Geometry and pyramid designs. He created lightweight copper and wood pyramids often containing crystals several feet high. They served as energetic tools for enhancing meditation and connecting with higher dimensions.
Over time, meditation sessions inside the carefully engineered pyramids generated such a movement of energy inside his body––Hoag calls it a Kundalini experience––that he experienced a major shift in his physiology and consciousness. He began to see archetypal patterns of energy that exist prior to physical manifestation and started to shape these 3-dimensional patterns into antenna systems made of bronze, calling them Metaforms.
Responding to the pull of these archetypal forms, Hoag built increasingly complex replicas of what he saw and invited others to experience them. When people stood near these shapes, which acted like an antenna, they too began to feel energy move through their bodies and to notice changes on many levels of their life.
As Hoag gained more experience with these sacred geometric forms, they began to shrink in size, like a computer chip. Today, 25 years later, the original antennae and the energy of many Metaforms resides within a single sacred object, measuring less than an inch in diameter, which Hoag calls the e.Pendant.
There are now thousands of Metaforms antenna systems placed in homes, hillsides and sacred locations around the world. These inter-dimensional antennae receive energy and broadcast it back to a collection point in Colorado where it passes through a series of 12 vortexes to move it back into the grid system of the planet. The grid system of the Earth, Hoag says, is similar to the human meridian system, which is used in acupuncture.
To Hoag, the e.Pendant, or energy Pendant, is a sacred object because it acts as a reflection of our sacredness. It is designed to attract and amplify the power of cosmic forces. In a way, he explains, it's like holding the Cheops pyramid in the palm of your hand and then placing it on a gold chain, where it hangs against and is activated by the echo chamber of your chest.
From his home and design studio in the foothills west of Lyons, Colorado, Hoag prepares individual e.Pendants and ships them worldwide. The complex antennae inside the e.Pendant can help people experience the power of subtle energy and move more smoothly through the challenges and blockages of life.
Working through these resistances can help strengthen one's spiritual muscle, Hoag says. This allows us to reframe challenges as opportunities to grow rather than difficulties. As we tune into other levels beyond this world we become a conduit between this physical reality and the higher dimensions. This allows more love and consciousness to flow into our lives.
According to Hoag, when a person connects to the subtle flow of spiritual energy within their body, they break free of negative, resistant energies. They connect once again with energy that expands their awareness of how to move through the dense nature of physical existence.
Negative thoughts and feelings are like a whirlpool in the river of life. They suck us down and away from higher consciousness and awareness, from the love and joy that is our birthright.
By contrast, the energy generated through the e.Pendant disrupts the downward spiral of negativity and redirects us back into the flow of life.
If our physical bodies are the stuff of stars––the hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, and minerals that make up the Universe––then waking up each morning inside the dense gravity field of Earth provides us with another opportunity to carry the vastness of space with us into our workday. Inside our bodies––inside the miniature Cosmos that carries our name––we can stay connected to all that truly serves and energizes us and strengthens our resolve and clarity of purpose. We can do this if we can stay focused. That's the job of a sacred object––to help us stay focused and manifest our intent. As multi-dimensional beings living in a 2 or 3-dimensional world, this isn’t easy. We live in a world filled with information and misinformation. How do we sort out the good information from the bad?
In a 2-dimensional world, we are told everything is the result of visible cause and effect. Is it? Or does the cause of events lie outside our point of view, and beyond the view of society's overarching demands? For example, if we pick up a rock and throw it at a window, does the window break because of the rock, or the thought or emotion that animated us to pick up the rock in the first place? What is the real cause of the event? What emotional, mental, psychic and even spiritual patterns do we hold that create the real “cause” of that event? Once we break out of the thinking pattern of the 2-dimensional world, we move into the higher realms of consciousness.
There are many higher dimensions spiritual leaders say we can experience through the specific language of those dimensions. For example, we can communicate through emotion and color in the 4th dimension, sound in the 5th dimension, light in the 6th and ultimately reach Source or Beingness in the 7th dimension.
Coming into contact with the 7th dimension brings experiences that reunite us with feelings of love, joy and harmony. By contrast, a negative thought, hooked to a negative emotion, blocks this flow. It can engender a negative action … or inaction.
Breaking free of that negativity requires an act of focused attention. The energy of the e.Pendant acts on our behalf. It speaks to us without words, guiding us like a gentle hand, inviting us to follow its flow. It's a subtlety that slips through the cracks of our 2-dimensional cause and effect life and invites us to step beyond our knowing. In turn, our knowingness expands.
Moving through the first decade of the 21st Century, we are now in a cycle of evolution that enables us––as we become more aware of whom we really are––to expand our abilities and express ourselves more fully.
Who are we? What can we become?
As we break free of negativity, we find ourselves becoming a healing force on the planet. And there are millions of us. Every point of activated life, and light, can become, and is, a master point where the energy of the Cosmos fully expresses itself.
If Earth has an unseen flow of energy moving through its grid system, we can help boost that worldwide circulation of higher energy when we free ourselves of physical, mental, and emotional energy blockages. Each action we take that flows in resonance with this energy then becomes a right action.
Fully conscious actions create enormous resonance. The Zen poet Paul Reps reminds us: “Drinking a cup of green tea, I stopped the war.” In other words, it may only take a small number of dedicated people, among the billions now living on Earth, to shift the world out of its downward spiral and lift it toward a more conscious way of living.
“Sacred tools can support us in this process,” reminds Hoag. His 35 years of expertise working with energy flow and transformations gives him the right to say that.
For over 35 years Gregory Hoag has combined spiritual practices with his scientific research and is now the leading authority on geometric antenna systems for improving health and raising consciousness. Call 888/978-2737 or go to www.metaforms.net.