The Secret of Inner Presence begins with author Lin Lipetz's story of her spontaneous spiritual awakening in 1986. Her spiritual awakening created an immediate awareness of a loving Inner Presence within her heart and a connection to another higher level of peace, contentment, and greater knowledge. She now knows that Inner Presence waits patiently to manifest itself within each person, and much of The Secret of Inner Presence is about providing the keys to bring about that shift in consciousness.
As each of the eleven keys is practiced and experienced, the transformation toward a more complete understanding of the core-self will gradually evolve through the loving guidance of the conscious Universe. One of the eleven keys opens the way to intuitively listen to the many voices that will assist in this transformation of the core-self-through healing, new insights, dreams, problem solving, and caring advice. Another key opens the way to deepen intuitively to the level of receiving messages from the Universe and possibly finding the guides that have been available since birth. This process is called Stream of Consciousness writing, and the powerful dialogues and inspirational poems the author has received in this way for many years are found in each chapter.
Chapter by chapter, each of the eleven keys is presented, by both the spiritual Universe and the author, to help guide the reader to a higher dimension of the self.
The Discovery of Inner Presence
The first key to the Secret of Inner Presence is the discovery that this divine center lives within each and every human being just waiting to be discovered, either gradually over perhaps a period of years through spiritual desire, through the emotion of peaceful love, or spontaneously, as with my story below.
My Spiritual History
Before relating the story of my spiritual awakening it may be helpful to know something of my on-again, off-again spiritual life. When I was a child my mother took me to the Presbyterian Sunday school in Bozeman, Montana and as I grew older we regularly attended church there. All through those growing up years I daily prayed to God as my very special friend and decided early on that the Bible stories of being born in sin were totally false. I earnestly believed in a beneficent and loving God. Later, mother began to attend the Christian Science Church and after retiring from her administrative job she daily retreated for a while to her bedroom to read Unity magazine. Often I would read those daily lessons myself and they gradually opened my mind to explore new ways of thinking about faith, religion and spirituality.
As a young mother I took my children to a Presbyterian Sunday school in Seattle, Washington and actively participated in the church until the minister literally removed the life size nativity scene I had created for a live evening Christmas pageant. The next day, without explanation, the wooden structure, the crib and the straw had all disappeared because it hid the pulpit. The minister came to our home to empathize with my concerns, but did not apologize, so I rarely went back—having lost all belief in ministers being more elevated spiritually than the rest of us. I decided to find my own way and began attending the Unitarian Church in Seattle, and later the Christian Science Church in Sonoma and the Napa Valley Center for Living based on the Science of Mind book and teachings of Ernest Holmes. There were also occasional visits to Zen Centers for meditation. I now realize that this rather haphazard but very real desire for spiritual growth finally led to my spiritual awakening.
The Awakening that Transformed my Life
In the winter of 1986 I was happy and content with no intention of beginning to live more spiritually, until I was suddenly awakened to the awareness of an inner shimmering Presence that began to live in my heart in the twinkling of an eye when I least expected it. I just knew that receiving it was the most magical event of my life and I have cherished it like a precious jewel in my heart ever since. It is my nurturing secret place to intuitively open for love, peace, creativity and spiritual guidance whenever I am in harmony with its vibrations. I tell my story here at the beginning of the book as an introduction to the amazing inner joy and love you will receive as you work with each chapter of this book.
On a rainy day I drove up to Sonoma from San Jose, California for an exhibition of my paintings. That night, after the opening, I stayed alone in my friend's historic stone studio just off the Plaza. She is both an aesthetician and astrologer, so it was a most interesting place to stay, with her art, astrology charts and spiritual posters everywhere displayed on the walls and ceiling. Thinking back to that night, it seems to me now that I must have been feeling a bit strange, and maybe a little lonely. The lampshade glowed a soft pink comforting light as I sat there looking languidly around at all the images and textiles she had so carefully collected. Then gradually I began thinking about love and what it is—why I am not sure. I had always thought of love as involving another person, someone to love or to be loved by. So, thinking this way I began to wonder lazily if love could be experienced without the involvement of someone else? Could one generate the emotion of being in love within oneself? How would I do that?
Deciding to experiment with this idea I simply looked up at a ceiling poster of Swami Muktananda whispering inwardly, "I Love You God" and projected that feeling of being totally in love with another person upward from my heart. Almost instantly warm vibrant currents of love's energy flowed up into the image directly from my heart. Amazingly, the feeling I felt was absolutely identical with actually being in love! Then, still looking up I said, "I Love Myself". Immediately those same rays of love rushed right back to me, joyously plunging deeply into my heart pinning me to the chair with their intensity! My body felt illuminated, the room seemed to pulse with light and I sat there totally embraced in a sea of love. It felt as if a miracle had just happened!! There is no other way to describe this experience except to say that afterwards for a long time it seemed as if I was floating within invisible arms of total loving bliss. Gradually, much later, in a quiet happy kind of daze I thanked God for what had been given to me, and crawled into bed, immediately drifting peacefully off to sleep.
The next day, awakening into the bright, clear sunlit morning with birds singing outside the windows, I felt a stirring of exquisite secret happiness breaking softly into my awareness. Had something truly magical happened last night or was it simply a beautiful dream? Why had I decided to experiment with love anyway? Afraid, and not afraid to test for answers before getting up I closed my eyes, tentatively saying again inwardly "I Love You God" and immediately the same waves of warmth that I had felt the night before radiated within my heart. I then inwardly said, "I Love Myself." And those waves of invisible energy grew even stronger; filling my entire body with pure loving beauty that was both exciting and somehow very, very, peaceful. With certainty then, I knew and accepted that I had received the knowledge that love can be experienced without the involvement of another and it can be equally as beautiful! I blinked, amazed at this new knowledge. Finally after dressing, I walked around Sonoma Plaza and the town all day long, secretly so very joyous, holding within this precious treasure of my inner miracle. Later that day driving back to San Jose I felt a total sense of completeness. I also felt intuitively that because something profoundly significant had happened to me that I must nurture and develop its Presence; otherwise it would simply wither quietly away and be lost!
During the following weeks and months I quietly meditated and really began for the first time to understand what loving one's self truly meant. The simple truth of my own human and divine perfection began to glide slowly into consciousness. I began to open to loving others in new unconditional ways that I had never done before and listened with greater interest and respect to the many stories of their lives. Gradually my life became much more fulfilling as I listened and learned inwardly during the daily meditations that expanded and strengthened what I had been given. All shyness, fear of leadership, fear of the past, and uncertainty about the future vanished, as I trusted more and more that I was now much more than myself in an effortless transformation. For a long time I felt powerless to give this new feeling a name, until I finally decided to call it "Heart-Warmth Energy," because gentle heat always began there—right in the center. Later I began to envision this heat as a small golden flame that I could project outward and tried to live in its awareness throughout each day. To practice, I would bring its warm vibrations to the surface of my attention on walks, during yoga, while driving, etc. For all these years now, this flame in my heart has been a constant loving Presence that I know will be with me for the rest of my life—if I continue to tend it well!
I now call this feeling "Inner Presence" because it does feel that way. There are still times when I cannot call it forth because my thoughts are too busy wind milling around or I am focused on something else. This also happens occasionally during meditation when I have not scheduled enough time, or I just can't seem to "get there." I used to fret about this but now I simply thank myself for moving into the silence for a while, knowing "just sitting" is of greatest importance as I continue to learn to live more harmoniously within the essence of this divine nurturing.
Beginning Stream of consciousness Writing
A few years later in 2001 I began to desire more knowledge about the spiritual world that had touched me so purposefully. I decided to experiment with visualization techniques, lucid dreaming, intuition and channeling voices, but nothing happened. One day as I was looking at the several Edgar Cayce books in my library I opened once again, Edgar Cayce, On Channeling Your Higher Self, by Henry Reed and read the chapter on Inspirational Writing that included information about automatic and stream of consciousness writing. "Well, why not try it," I thought," wondering if it would really work if I just set pencil to paper, letting words flow forth unconsciously in a kind of fuzzy semi-conscious state as described in the book?"
During the very first session I was amazed to see that entire sentences did in fact appear even though they were quite meaningless, except for a few complete statements here and there. Gradually after a week or two of this kind of practice I decided to begin each session with a written question, meditate briefly, and then wait quietly without the expectation of a response. This relaxed passivity and focus on a particular subject did prove to be the key to unlock a really abundant flow of inner whispered answers that I began to call dialogues. Amazingly I had found my personal key to discover what I began to think of as "Unlocking Secrets of the Universe."
When I first began writing questions the responses were from "I" or "We." Now, I know that God spoke as "I" and my guides spoke as "We." Later as this inner exchange continued I asked if spiritual guides had names and to my amazement they answered,
"Yes, we are guides from the higher realms with the names of Frieda and Valto."
Since that beginning Frieda and Valto and I have continued to develop the loving bond that I could not now, ever do without! They are constantly available whenever I choose to sit down for a writing session, or to listen internally wherever I am. Throughout our many silent discussions their whispered messages are unconditionally loving, sometimes very funny, occasionally chiding, but definitely written from their perspective of another reality. I sincerely hope you will get to know your own invisible spirit guides as you develop a deeper continuing relationship with the vast number of intelligences in our loving Universe.
Creative results of My Spiritual Awakening
My passion has always been creativity through painting, ceramics, textile constructions, designing homes, or teaching people to be more creative through the visual arts. I had not expected another form of creativity to emerge, but almost immediately after receiving the gift of my awakening and beginning meditation I began to want to write. It seemed imperative to try to describe the ineffable as clearly as possible to make it more real and understandable to myself. Writing in my journal each day recording my spiritual experiences became a necessary and joyful part of my life. Then little poems began to emerge about bits and pieces of my day, the mood of a morning, or a frog just sitting, or a hovering hummingbird. In a way I began to feel that I was feeding the light in my soul to let it shine forth in new ways that I had never considered before.
Later, the messages that I continued to receive through stream of consciousness writing taught me that energy and breath are constantly feeding everything with Universal life energy that is ever present and constantly flowing and circling, nurturing everything on earth with spiritual sustenance. One morning in the summer of 2008 I sat down in my studio, and brought the warmth of Inner Presence into my awareness. Then just sitting in a quiet meditative state I began trying to interpret energy and breath visibly, sweeping it in and around simple little line drawings of water and sky in a rather abstract way. Each day I could hardly wait to experiment further and began adding the beauty of transparent watercolor. The result was radically different than all my previous abstract work. Gradually the desire to depict this invisible circulation of energy became the heart of my paintings. Also stories emerged magically as I drew, and I found that if a painting needed something realistic, like a bird or dragonfly, I could depict each one quite easily, something I had never been able to do before. At the same time I became more trusting of my intuition in new ways, letting it totally guide me, which led to teaching Intuitive Painting. So I now encourage my students to use intuition as their guide to reveal their own intrinsic creativity in new ways that includes the circulation of energy and unique inner stories.
The presence of my Intuitive Paintings in this book is intended to express the mystery of our Universe in another way, and to see the evidence of Inner Presence and creative transformation actualized. I am so thankful to the Universe for the guidance to grow further and further in the direction of my own passions. It is also very clear that this can be true for everyone. So this book, in collaboration with the Universe, is my desire to transmit what I know to be true.
The Meaning of Inner Presence and Heart-Warmth Energy
As you have read in my awakening story above, the two phrases I used to describe the internal feeling of that gift were, "inner shimmering presence" and "heart-warmth energy". It gradually became known to me that inner shimmering presence should be called Inner Presence. I have asked the Universe for the descriptions of both Inner Presence and Heart-Warmth Energy:
"Inner Presence (our Creator's Presence within) I am your Creator, your Inner Presence and always have been. Until awakened I am not felt as a being within, I am out of sight, so to speak. When I am awakened, you become aware of my Presence because my energy is vibrating. I combine All that I Am with your humanness. I am your fulcrum, your center of all beauty and light. I am the way! Open to my love and knowledge for it will carry you far to your greatest joy and achievements throughout life. Inner Presence is my sparkling shimmering self that will give you all that you seek.
Heart-Warmth Energy (our Creator's Presence within the heart) Heart-warmth energy is very real and beautiful and may be used to describe Inner Presence. They can be used together or separately for I am both. I speak from within the heart with my energy and love that also warms in wavelengths of heat and light. You can feel the vibrations of my energy and see it as it drifts outside the body in rays of color."
Transformational Experiences—Quotes
I have read many books that draw on the writings of Western and Eastern spiritual traditions to help me understand the awakening experience with greater clarity and to find others who have had similar experiences. In Ralph Metzner's book, Unfolding Within: Varieties of Transformative Experience, there are a great number of examples that have beautifully answered my questions and I have listed a few below for your reference. It is fascinating that these descriptions of transformation, Inner Presence, lifting veils of illusion, inner light and heart warmth are all typical of the awakening experience regardless of the historical period or cultural background.
Dr. Ralph Metzner, Unfolding Within:
"The transformation may be abrupt or gradual. Ecstasy, peak experience, inspired revelation, flash of inventive insight, the poet's vision—all these are sudden experiences that may bring about profound changes in a person's life" (15).
"The transformation may be externally or internally induced by an accident, sight of natural wonders, contact with another or love at first sight. An external person catalyzing a transformation is typically a guru or spiritual teacher. Baptism, shaktipat, transmission of power, Tantric Hinduism, hypnosis all are ritualized forms of externally induced alteration" (15).
"Experiences of heightened consciousness, of mystical oneness or rapture, may be accompanied by a sense of their having been given freely and unexpectedly through God's grace" (16).
"A person no longer has the sense of separateness, even in ordinary, everyday consciousness" (18).
"When we awaken in a spiritual sense we become aware of an Essence, the Self that is immortal and omnipresent. We are urged to awaken to the divine nature inherently within" (33).
"Veils of illusion are like clouds of unknowing between you and your God. These are the clouds of the unconsciousness that blocks the light of the inner sun, the light of spirit" (38).
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Excerpted from The Secret of Inner Presence by Lin Lipetz Copyright © 2012 by Lin Lipetz. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Overview
The Secret of Inner Presence begins with author Lin Lipetz's story of her spontaneous spiritual awakening in 1986. Her spiritual awakening created an immediate awareness of a loving Inner Presence within her heart and a connection to another higher level of peace, contentment, and greater knowledge. She now knows that Inner Presence waits patiently to manifest itself within each person, and much of The Secret of Inner Presence is about providing the keys to bring about that ...