Shock'n'Awe
A Maui Vacation?
Joanne and I recently spent a couple of weeks in Maui on vacation where the tiger sharks come in to feed this time of year. They consider humans a natural part of their diet, and have been known to eat license plates and tire parts. It’s not like they discriminate much about what they eat. So when I snorkel I have a humble feeling that I’m just part of the food chain. I keep my eyes peeled, stay around others, and monitor the fish and turtles. If they’re around, the odds of a shark being nearby are small.
On the second day of our trip our friend Mary, who lives in Kihei, left a message about a “shark attack.” It turned out that a woman writer on vacation was bit in the leg within a mile of where I swam that day. She didn’t lose the leg, so she considered herself lucky, but it was still front page news.
On our third day, the trade winds really picked up in the early afternoon. We had a relaxing morning, and I sat on our lanai and watched the wind line approach from the north. I could see white-caps and turbulence on the north side, and calm flat water on our side. When that line came through it was like someone turned on a switch, the winds gusted and the water churned.
Jo and I finished lunch and went to Wailea beach where the water and wind were so rough I could only manage a short swim. When we returned, Mary had left another message about a drowning on a beach just south of us! Four people got caught in a rip tide, and rather than ride it out, they tried to swim directly to shore, exhausting themselves. People on the beach helped by instinct, as there are no lifeguards there, but a 29-year old man drowned. He had been there for his wedding later that week, instead it became his funeral.
At this point Jo and I began to joke about what might happen next? It was very dark imagery and a somber way to start our vacation. In hindsight, these events also reflected what Jo and I were going through with the latest addition to our family, the Essence of Rose that Jo began to channel in April. We were in our first month and still didn’t know what to make of the situation. Was it real? Was there any pathology? How do we verify this claim?
Further, Rose had begun to put Joanne through a kind of “boot camp,” or rigorous training, that included getting up between 5 and 6 AM, and practicing her autotyping and voice channeling. So we were going through a bit of a transition to say the least during that time. However, this vacation was my first opportunity to interact with Rose/Joanne in detail. Part of me just wanted to have a vacation, but another part of me was fascinated by what was unfolding.
The Mysterious Laptop
Joanne also brought the laptop along, a definite no-no on vacation. But given the extraordinary circumstances we thought, “why not?” The interesting thing is that my laptop is now eight years old, a dinosaur whose screen had become intermittent, meaning that sometimes the LCD display would work, and sometimes it wouldn’t. Jo had gotten used to a morning Ouija and autotyping routine before vacation, and wanted to continue if possible. I wasn’t really surprised that the screen didn’t work during the first week.
Amusingly, around the fifth morning Joanne got up before me and turned on the computer to no avail. When I got up, however, I was determined to make it work. I used every trick in the book to cajole that damn screen to life. At one point, Jo was talking about her desires and wants, something we always discuss during our vacations, and something that Rose had been challenging us on, and the screen began to flicker to life! Naturally we got excited, and Jo played off that and continued talking out loud, as though she could somehow will the LCD display to work.
This time the screen just blinked, flickered, and acted in a way we never saw before. It was sputtering, trying to wake up, but then it just died. It was a lost cause, and I briefly considered driving to Kahalui to buy a new one. At which point I reminded myself that I was on vacation, just lighten up, and go with the flow.
So we concentrated on voice sessions during that first week, since knew we’d spend our second week in the remote town of Hana. And Rose said that she would dictate her agenda at that time, and make the computer work so not to worry. To which I thought, “Yeah right! That computer is hosed.”
Week 1 Voice Sessions
I want to share some of my notes, as this was the first time I really got a sense of what Joanne had been going through in the preceding weeks. It became clear that Rose was indeed here to stay, and not a plateau experience. She was putting us both through a kind of boot camp, though much of the focus was, and continues to be, on Joanne who is being state-trained to access deeper areas while awake, trained to discern the difference between her intuitions and Rose, since they sometimes merge, are sometimes distinct, trained to see how gullible she is at times and needs to use her inner skeptic to discern between fact, fiction, probability, and intentional contradiction used by Rose. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
During this time Jo was like a kid in a candy store. She is able to access Rose at will, and held ongoing conversations in her mind. I was very concerned initially, but it became clear that this voice was inside her head, not projected out there like John Nash (A Beautiful Mind) who wrestled with severe pathology. Still, it takes getting used to having a third personality in our marriage! When Joanne reaches a deeper state, her voice begins to get deeper, and a little raspy. We call it the Julianne Moore-as-Elias-cult-member voice (referring to a classic Saturday Night Live skit called Red Bliss Farm).
A sense of awe gradually dawned on us, after the initial shock of facing something so new. This seemed to be “the real deal,” to quote our friend Mary Ennis who channels Elias. We coined the term “shock’n’awe” on the third day of vacation because it aptly described what had become our daily experience, which was far from routine at that point, but was a mixture of fear, uncertainty, and delight.
In session 36, May 8th, a Maui sunrise voice session, Rose stated that three categories of material will be given: 1. morning sessions with Paul and Joanne to be voice/video recorded, 2. Jo’s autotyping and notes that capture the dialogue that goes on between them, and 3. spontaneous dialogue (pop-ins) that need not be recorded so as to nurture the spontaneous, creative nature of the phenomenon.
I pieced together a summary of the Rose agenda that had been mentioned here and there: 1. to serve, 2. to not be intrusive, 3. to throw curves, test, keep us on our toes, and 4. provide practices to help us connect directly with Essence through seedling, sapling, tree stages. I also noted Rose’s sense of humor that takes a little time to get used to! This important trait helps take the edge off whatever curve-ball she might throw next at us (more on that at a later time).
In session 38, May 9th, Rose outlined the titles for Joanne’s book series on “the Judea focus” or time of Christ we’ve discussed with Elias and Kris over the years. Rose and Joanne will collaborate on this book project. We also came up with the title to Rose’s blog, which we called The Rose Garden, but Rose later referred to it as “In the Rose Garden” and we thought that sounded perfect. The reason I mention this is that Rose is not giving us or anyone commandments here, but engaging a collaborative, creative process and partnership. She is also weaning us, especially Joanne (the kid in the candy store), of the tendency rely on her for answers to everything.
Rose suggested that my Integral Conscious Creation blog should remain as is—more technical, per my interests in integral theory and practice—but that her/Joanne’s blog would be more of an attempt to “spread the word” to a larger audience just as scientists attempt to translate complex ideas to a wider audience.
In session 39, May 10th Rose stated she would dictate her agenda through autotyping in Hana. Again, I was skeptical because we had not been able to make that damn LCD display work yet! She also stated that she would welcome any number of choices by Joanne and me moving forward, writing books, holding private/group sessions, seminars, radio—the whole nine yards. Rose also stated that her agenda was in line with my Integral Conscious Creation work, which will complement her work – “we serve others in their exploration of consciousness, assisting them in connecting with Essence.” I found that quite beautiful and reassuring though who knows what curves this contrary “nun” will throw my way futurely?
Can’t We Get Rid of that Nun Thing?
In session 39 we did an amusing exercise to replace Rose’s use of the word “nuns,” which I had strong initial resistance to. And boy did she set me up! Rose challenged us to come up with a better term, and the more we talked about it, the more we finally understood why she is using it: to bring some much needed restoring of the GREEN worldview’s BLUE law & order subsystem, which opens the flood gates to the shift to the integral or YELLOW worldview.
As Don Beck says, “GREEN sees YELLOW as BLUE,” that is GREEN will misinterpret a YELLOW “channeled nun” as a less developed BLUE worldview because its own BLUE sense of judging, discernment, moral compass has been blinded by its RED (egocentric, narcissistic, boomeritis) subsystem.
In other words, the Rose information will take on the “mean GREEN meme” that sees through “Rose colored glasses” but refuses to judge any color better or worse than any other, which is itself still a judgment. This performative contradiction riddles conscious creation groups and actually prevents people from shifting to the integral YELLOW worldview. This is the integral way of defining what Elias calls the shift in consciousness. (For more info on these worldviews see Emerging New Worldviews.)
Other Reflections from Week 1
Session 39 was another magnificent Maui sunrise. We made our tea, hung the voice recorder around Jo’s neck, and began. But Rose asked me to turn off the recorder, and instructed both of us to listen to the birds chirping away outside in order to go deeper within. She said we’d intuitively know when to turn the recorder back on. We weren’t sure exactly what to expect, so I practiced vipassana or witnessing meditation with eyes closed. Jo sat on the couch with her eyes closed and “rested in Rose,” a version of savikalpa samadhi, or subtle realm mergence. This practice is helping Jo to develop the waking dream state (see below). After ten minutes or so, I intuitively knew it was time to turn the recorder on. Rose returned and we continued with Joanne in a deeper more relaxed state.
In session 43, May 12th, I made a note about the “gossamer thin” feeling-tone of the energy exchange at this stage. It seems like such a wisp of a connection to Jo’s inner self, so fragile in which way it could go. I also noted that when Jo returned from a bathroom break, Rose picked up in mid-sentence where she had been interrupted. This was another positive metric of the authenticity of the phenomenon, as I have observed this with Elias/Mary Ennis.
Will Jo’s trance state deepen? Will we be able to discern clear state-stages? I believe so, but it’s still too soon to tell. Rose has alluded to three distinct states, each successively deeper, that will be involved down the road: 1. waking, 2. resting in Rose, and 3. waking dream. Getting to this third state is the goal of Jo’s current state-training.
Session 43 was our final sunrise session. Rose closed by saying she would greet us in Hana some fifty miles away, and we’d continue our vacation adventures there.
Week 2 Reflections
The drive to Hana was long and beautiful. It’s 36 miles of winding road through rainforest, mountains, and features over 50 small bridges, many with waterfalls. It took us about two and half hours.
Sunday, May 13th was Mother’s Day, and our 18th wedding anniversary. We had a relaxed, wonderful day.
On Monday, I knew that Jo would get up, and try to autotype on our lanai overlooking beautiful Hamoa Bay. I was almost hesitant to check on her when I got up, because I knew that computer was a goner and we both were looking forward to getting the Rose agenda. However, when I saw her typing away on the laptop, I just smiled to mySelf, and shook my head. Coincidence? Synchronicity? Miracle? Just another event beyond my ability to comprehend?
In session 45, May 14th, Rose dictated her agenda after giving Jo five pages of notes, which is a usual part of their process at this point. Rose challenged and trained Jo as she continued to autotype in the mornings all week long. The laptop had cast out its demons and been healed by the power of…? It even worked the first day back when Jo needed to retrieve some files from the hard drive she forgot to back up. Too funny! In hindsight, it’s clear that Jo needed the break from typing during our first week, and that also allowed us to do some intensive voice sessions, which complement the autotyped sessions.
Now that we’re back from vacation and have settled back into some semblance of a routine, we are getting used to having Rose in our lives, and also continue to explore this budding phenomenon. Speaking of buds, our two new rose trees planted just before Joanne began this energy exchange grew their first new set of buds when we returned from Maui, more imagery that our family, along with its new member, continues to flower into this shift in consciousness. No doubt there will be more shock’n’awe to follow, but Zen, Rose has also begun to provide us with practices to face things with equanimity and acceptance of what is, and what will be. More on that futurely.