Inner dance explained

PART IV

MANILA, Philippines—PI Villaraza told me I could find some explanation of what the inner dance was all about and what happened during the dance in the book of Carlos Castañeda, “Magical Passes.”

I am familiar with that book. I told Pi I bought that book in 1999 but never read it. Pi said, “Read it.”

And when I did, I was really amazed at what Castañeda had to say about “Magical Passes” that Don Juan taught him but were never mentioned in his previous books, most of which I had read, beginning with “The Teaching of Don Juan” that became an instant bestseller in the ’80s.
That a person stores within himself/herself tremendous power and energy has been known since ancient times. How to release and control that stored energy has preoccupied mystics, gurus and seers all over the world.

Different names

What caused some confusion is the fact that such energy is called by various names. In ancient China it was called chi, in Japan ki, in India prana.

Western researchers like Reichenback called it “odic force” and Wilhelm Reich, “orgone energy.”

Indian yoga philosophy teaches that at the base of our spine lies a powerful force or energy called kundalini which, if opened prematurely, can be dangerous.

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus stated, “Everything is in a state of flux.” Nothing in the universe remains static or stationary.
Modern quantum physicists could not agree with him more because they have discovered that the fundamental stuff of the universe is energy, which is constantly in motion. Movement is the law governing the smallest particles of matter.

And the release or activation of that energy within us is the primary goal of the Babaylan Inner Dance. But what is activated is a feminine energy so it is gentle and safe.

Pi explained it this way:

“The word ‘dance’ may confuse people into thinking that the Inner Dance is a discipline. It is not. A discipline is something that can be studied and practiced regularly by a disciplined person. A discipline is an active cause that leads to a desired effect.

A mirror

“The Inner Dance is not a cause. It is an effect. Think of a cosmic mirror that reflects whatever kind of energy is within you. The acronym of the Inner Dance is ID, for identification. The Inner Dance mirrors who you really are outside of your masks and illusions.”

According to Pi, “People, for a long time, have been looking for an inner work that works, a way of connecting with our Creator” as sitting in meditation and memorizing prayers do not seem to do the job quite well.

He said the Inner Dance worked in several dimensions.

“First, it is a way of quieting the hyper-mental space of even the busiest workaholic.” Members of our spiritual discussion group, for example, are extremely busy businessmen and women.

“Second, it has miraculously healed some difficult ailments.” He cited two examples: a large cyst popped out of the wrist of a participant after he did the movements and a woman’s acute glaucoma was healed.
In our own group, several reported the complete disappearance of serious back pains, stiff neck and headaches.

“The third dimension,” according to Pi, “is the most important. The Inner Dance even clears a pathway to a higher state of energy awareness not in a conceptual way, but through a very real and often transformative experience in mind and body in a way that is difficult to doubt, especially once you notice your appendages moving without your conscious volition.”

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080128-115344/Inner-dance-explained

Like an Indonesian ritual

Part III

MANILA, Philippines—Jimmy was only supposed to take pictures, but right at that time I was feeling Samuel in the room, Jimmy started making noises through his throat, I think? He just dropped his camera and lay back on the chair,” Celia recalled.

“But since my eyes were closed, I did not know what was happening to him because he was getting affected by what was happening. All I knew was that everything would be okay. Although I was aware, because I could hear Jimmy, I was too relaxed in my state and was being told it was okay.

“Everything was recorded in that video. Jimmy’s hands also started moving in a very smooth way, not like him. The energy can lead anyone present in the room.

“What an experience! My lower back pain was so relieved. (My) stiff neck was gone. After the session, I could still feel the high. My body was still moving in that same motion.

“Once it is opened, it will always be there. And so now, I am able to do this inner dance on my own. It feels so great! It is a form of meditation that keeps you very focused.”

Ritual

When I first heard of this inner dance and after talking to Pi Villaraza about it, the process reminded me of the so-called latihan, an Indonesian ritual that was not a ritual.

I first came across this process in the early ’60s. Latihan is the main ritual or process of an Indonesian esoteric practice called Subud (if I recall the name correctly).

During latihan, participants, who may be complete strangers to one another, go inside a room. They are not told what to do or what to expect. There is no leader to lead the group or explain what will happen.

For a few minutes they start to wonder what the whole thing is all about. After a while they experience some uneasiness at the whole thing. Still, nobody talks or gives any hint of what is going on.

Somehow the energy in the room changes and one by one the participants in the room move or sway or drop to the floor. Others begin to roll all over the floor but nobody bumps into each other. Pretty soon, everybody is moving in whichever way the energy moves him.

After the latihan, everybody feels very good. This is similar to what happens during the inner dance. Pi does not so much lead as activates one or few persons and the rest begin to follow on their own with their eyes closed.

The second time I experienced the inner dance was with our small spiritual discussion group called the Areopagus, which meets once a month. I invited the members last year to meet Pi and be introduced to the Inner Dance.

Surprisingly, a great majority of them attended although I hardly told them anything about it except that the process was a very powerful experience that Celia and I had experienced.

If I recall, there were about 13 or 14 of us who attended that special meeting. Since they are publicity-shy and very private individuals, I cannot reveal their identities.

Remarkable & special

Almost everybody in the group experienced something remarkable and special during that inner dance session with Pi. He started by making Celia dance until everybody started moving on their own, propelled by an inner energy stored in their bodies.

At this time, something happened to me that I had not experienced before. I went into a trance and fell from my chair to the floor. Then I went into a journey back in time from my present adult life to childhood and then birth. I saw myself inside the womb of my mother. I crouched and assumed a fetal position for a few minutes, then I went forward in time again until I reached my present age. I went back in time and returned.

It was an inner dance—an inner rebirth. It was a very powerful experience for me and I found myself teary-eyed. It was a cathartic experience I could not forget.

Each one experiences the inner dance in his or her unique way. And each experience is not necessarily the same. About two members of our group said they felt nothing special. Maybe the place had something to do with it, maybe the group had something to do with it and maybe even the phases of the moon had something to do with these different experiences.

I wanted to find out more about it.

Source: http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080121-113863/Like-an-Indonesian-ritual

Demonstration of inner dance

POMPET VILLARAZA, the person who rediscovered the lost healing inner dance of the babaylan, was told later that he had to share the inner dance with his fellow humans.

That's when he started teaching the inner dance to the fishermen in Palawan and later to the farmers in Cotabato, at the foot of mystic Mt. Apo where he decided to stay. Once in a while he came to Manila to conduct workshops.

He found a ready audience among people he did not expect would be interested in what he taught.

He realized that what he discovered was the lost healing inner dance of ancient Filipino medicine men and women, the Babaylan, healer priests and priestesses of pre-Hispanic Visayan tribes.

As he said, he found his body creating movements on its own without his voluntary will. It was being moved by a very strong invisible inner energy.

He found he could transfer this inner energy to other people, who moved involuntarily, many being healed while doing the inner dance.

Later he discovered they could also send energy to other people and heal them. Today he has a good number of followers or disciples wanting to help protect the environment and heal planet Earth.

Activating the inner dance
When I first met Pi (as Pompet is known in Mindanao), he demonstrated the activation of the inner dance to Celia, who readily cooperated. I was content just to take pictures of the whole process because I never danced in my life. In fact, I panicked every time somebody asked me to dance.

I just watched the process from a distance. Pi asked Celia to sit on a chair and relax while he did some fancy movements and body contortions behind her back. She did not see what he was doing but all of us who were there could see.

Aside from Rosanna Escudero, the hostess, there was her family friend named Mike who was also very interested in everything esoteric, mystical and strange.

Pi started moving closer to Celia while moving rhythmically and swaying in a strange way. He was making quick motions, both with his hands and feet without touching her.

Then I noticed that Celia was getting into a trance-like state. She began swaying her head ever so slowly to one side then the other. Then Pi lightly touched the top of her head with his index finger. One of her hands began to swing, then the other. This went on for a few minutes as I continued to take pictures.

Shortly after he touched her forehead, I felt the energy in the room change and I went into a trance. I sensed the presence of a tall male spirit, like a shadow.

My camera fell on the chair beside the big armrest but I did not mind. I could not move. I let out an eerie scream and started coughing. It was as if negative energy was coming out of me.

I felt Pi touch the top of my head and my head started moving. He helped my hand go up by lightly touching my elbow. My hand began swaying on its own. I felt funny doing these motions, but I just allowed the energy to flow through me. I could not resist it, or did not want to.

Healing touch
After a short while, I felt somebody sit on the right armrest of my chair and place his hand on my chest, as if healing me. I thought it was Pi. I found out later it was Celia. She stood up, swayed and moved closer to me until she sat on the armrest and placed her hand on my chest.

I have a heart problem but Pi did not know that. Celia knew that but she had no recollection of what she did. Later, she was surprised to see herself seated on the armrest of my chair.

She said she felt like I needed healing. Pi explained that really happened during the inner dance. One felt like going to a person in the crowd and heal that person with no words being spoken. It was automatic. No one directed the movement.

This was how Celia described her experience to her cousin Billy, who was abroad: "What a super experience for us! We went to the house of Rosanna who had invited Jimmy to meet up with Pi Villaraza. He is the one doing this inner dance thing. Through the energies, he is able to tap something inside of you and make you move in a very healing and relaxing way. Each person moves in a different way. I was strangely sensual in my dance. Rosanna took a video of it. Nakakahiya nga. But I couldn't help my movements. Jimmy was supposed to be the one, but he just wanted to observe, so I was suddenly his 'guinea pig.'

"Anyway, he let me close my eyes just seated on a chair in the middle of the room. Then slowly I felt my head turning around. It was like some string was pulling my head toward a certain direction and all I did was follow whatever it was. My hands were also moving and later flowing. My back was moving, too. He only touched some points in my body, like the crown and some parts in the arm or back. It caused my arms to just lift up as if a magnet was pulling it in a very warm relaxing manner.

"While in that state, I was still conscious, wondering what this was that was making me move. It's just that the feeling was so nice that I just moved according to that energy.

"In the beginning of the session, I invoked Sam (her spirit guide) to be with me for protection, as I did not know what I was going to be doing. Then, in the middle of the session, I felt his strong presence and I felt better that he was with me in whatever I was doing."

Source: http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080115-112380/Demonstration-of-inner-dance

Ancient ‘babaylan’ healing dance rediscovered

Part I

MANILA, Philippines—Babaylan is a Visayan term that means medicine man or woman, in other words, a shaman.

For American Indian and other cultures, a shaman is a respected member of a tribe who is not only a healer and priest but also an intermediary or channel between the living and the departed.

It was only after reading the article of Jeffrey Tupas in the Sept. 16, 2007, issue of Philippine Daily Inquirer that I learned of “inner dance” in connection with the babaylan’s healing practices.

I found the article very interesting but rather sketchy and incomplete. It left many questions unanswered. I was told Gilda Cordero-Fernando wrote earlier a much longer article on the same subject that unfortunately I had not read.

I was still looking for Gilda’s article when I received a call from Rosanna Escudero (a natural catalyst and magnet for esoteric things) that Pompet Villaraza, the person who rediscovered the lost healing inner dance of the babaylan, would be a guest in her condominium in San Juan. She asked if I wanted to meet him. I jumped at the opportunity. I sent text messages to several friends who, I thought, would be interested in the subject but only Celia (not her real name), a real estate broker and educator, made it.

Accidental

The story of how Pompet accidentally rediscovered the lost inner dance of the ancient Filipino babaylan was fascinating. It reminded me of the story of how Carlos Castañeda, an anthropologist at the University of California in Los Angeles, met the Mexican Yaqui Indian mystic and sorcerer Juan Matus, who became his teacher.

Like Castañeda, Villaraza was in California when, in 2002, he stumbled on a mysterious Mexican in San Gabriel mountain, who taught him everything he knew about working with the subtle energy in the human body.

The mysterious Mexican named Francisco knew everything about Villaraza’s background and, like Juan Matus, actually anticipated his ward’s coming.

Villaraza followed the Mexican wherever he went until, after walking for God knows how long, Francisco collapsed. How long he remained unconscious, Villaraza could not tell. But afterward, he was a changed person.

“For what felt like two hours (it could have been no more than 30 long minutes), I was moved to dance in a way I didn’t think was humanly possible,” Villaraza said.

“I felt powerful surges of electricity [and] I was trying to contain them, but the only way I could keep from exploding—I really thought then I would combust—was to keep screaming. I cannot describe the actual movement in words. I was doing somersaults, something I cannot do, as I twirled this stick that lay on the sand. And I found an intricate and powerful stick-fighting technique which, I was stunned to find, I had unknowingly mastered.

“I remember praying in thankfulness for experiencing an inner gracefulness... And when it was over, the perfect moment collapsed into this dead-tired 29-year-old man spread-eagled on the beach, staring at a clear blue sky that was as empty as the conscious mind.”

Time to come home

Then suddenly a spirit of a woman appeared and told him it was time for him to return to his native country. So he did as he was told.

He came back to the Philippines to look for a place the woman described to him. He found it in a small, uninhabited beach called Kalipay on an island in Palawan. He stayed there alone for two years. He abandoned his work, his family, his friends and everything else about the modern world.

He ate only what he could find on the island, mostly coconut, bananas and other fruits. He became as lean as the coconut trunk he learned to climb to survive.

He was told by his spirit guide to use the name Pi in Mindanao. But in Palawan he was known as Juan Lima.

What happened to him in Kalipay Beach he could not forget. For three nights he could not sleep. Then a voice spoke to him and said, “The Mother and I are now One.”

This is how Pi Villaraza described what happened after that.

“In an instant, I was a human puppet and strings were dragging me from the first-floor hammock to the second floor of my Robinson Crusoe-inspired beach house. Without my conscious say-so, I was lying on the mat and my throat began to make guttural noises, finally settling into a primal yet rhythmically enchanting melody.

“The voice again whispered, ’It began in Africa.’ After about 15 minutes of these chanting sounds, simultaneously my hands ended up automatically making percussive movements on my lap, chest, hips and the bamboo floor mats. My upper body swung upwards and I found myself facing the leaves of the bamboo shoots directly bent over my ‘Flower-of-Life’ vegetable garden.

“I wasn’t possessed by some external force. That much was crystal clear. This was the first time it happened to me. A year before this, I fasted on a ‘tree bed’ I made in central Palawan for a week-and-a-half and, for the duration, my hands kept twirling over my seven energy centers as if directed by an inner force I knew was coming from within.”

Source: http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080107-110929/Ancient-babaylan-healing-dance-rediscovered

The Law of Causality

Another hidden law that governs our lives, the Law of Causality states that “everything has a cause.”

Put another way, “There is no such thing as an accident or coincidence.”

At first glance, it is difficult to accept this law from a purely logical standpoint because all of us must have experienced or witnessed coincidences before.

Things do happen sometimes for no apparent reason, or without any known cause. That is why we call them coincidences or accidents.

Let me cite several examples of extraordinary coincidences that have been documented:

1. A bouncing baby. “Joseph Figlock was walking down a street in Detroit in the 1930s when a baby fell on him from a high window. A year later the same baby fell on him again from the same window. Figlock and the baby both survived.” (This was related by Ms Arthur Figlock of Michigan).

2. Double jeopardy. “Jabez Spicer, of Leyden, Massachusetts, was killed by two bullets in the attack on the federal arsenal at Springfield on Jan. 25, 1787, during Shay’s Rebellion. At that time, he was wearing the same coat his brother Daniel had been wearing when he, too, was killed by two bullets on March 5, 1784.

“The bullets that killed Jabez Spicer passed through the holes made by the bullets that had killed his brother Daniel three years earlier.”

3. The bullet that found its mark. “In 1883 Henry Ziegland, of Honey Grove, Texas, jilted his sweetheart, who then killed herself. Her brother tried to avenge her by shooting Ziegland, but the bullet only grazed his face and buried itself in a tree. The brother, believing that he had killed Ziegland, then took his own life.

“In 1913 Ziegland was cutting down the tree with the bullet in it. It was a difficult job, so he used dynamite. The explosion sent the old bullet through Ziegland’s head and killed him.”

“Coincidences are baffling,” according to the Reader’s Digest book on mysteries, “because they seem to represent order arising by chance. They resemble the results of an orderly causal process, but they do not have a causal connection that fits our experience. They violate our notions of cause and effect.”

The great Swiss psychologist Carl G. Jung had long been fascinated by the occurrence of coincidences and even invented a term for it: synchronicity.

As defined by Jung, it is the “simultaneous occurrence of two unrelated but meaningful events.”

In his treatise “Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle,” Jung related an extraordinary coincidence that enabled him to break the psychological resistance of a difficult patient.

“A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream, I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned around and saw a flying insect knocking against the window pane from the outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a scarabeid beetle, the common rose-chafer (cetonia aurata), which contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment.”

Why do coincidences happen if we say that everything has a cause?

It is possible that coincidences are simply two points of a long series of causal connections that we do not see. We see only the beginning and the end, but not the psychic or unconscious connections between them.

There must be some mind at work that put those seemingly noncausal events together. In other words, there must be a cause behind these so-called coincidental events. That is what the Law of Causality says.

If we understand these four hidden or secret laws of nature, we will understand why certain things happen the way they do.

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20071231-109700/The_Law_of_Causality