Instant Creation And So Much More

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Author Richard F Holmes

Those of you that know me or who have been subscribed to my blog for some time, will be aware that I have had in excess of 200 astral adventures in the form of out-of-body experiences. You may also be aware that these experiences have been very scarce in the last few years, and you may be additionally aware that I’ve never really known the reason why my soul has chosen to experience these phenomena. Maybe the key to this conundrum is not to analyse, but simply to go with the flow and accept whatever the eternal moment of Now brings to the table. But, just for the sake of it… I’ve always felt that the reason I have these experiences is so that I can share them with people. To help people understand that there is more to life than the “daily drudge” of life on earth. Now… I know what you’re thinking… “why is he blogging about astral travelling if he doesn’t have the experiences anymore?” Well… it’s like this, good people of the Blogiverse, during the early hours of the morning of 30 December 2022, I had quite an amazing experience; and I’m going to share the whole lot with you right here. Hang on to your hats!

It started off as a dream; just like in the “old days,” and I’m going to share the details of the dream with you as well because of something very significant occurring just before I woke up. I was on what felt like a “lads holiday” with someone that I knew from years back; the location was hardly what you would call exotic. It was one of those dreams where the person you are with doesn’t look like the person in question, but all the same, you know it is that person. He appeared to be involved in drug dealing, which I wasn’t comfortable with, but it was OK. We walked past two girls and my “friend” got involved with a drug deal with one of them. It was like the worst kept secret in the universe being played out right in front of my eyes; “let’s do a drug deal but don’t tell Richard.” At one point we seemed to be in a bar when he said something to me about, “when you get home to Birmingham.” I have no idea what this means as I neither come from, nor do I live in Birmingham. Then we were stood by water, which was blue, like swimming pool water, but not clear; in fact it looked as though it could have been extremely deep. For some reason, I decided to jump from the ground on which I was standing to the ground separated by this opaque, blue water. Surely not? I would never make it across. But jump I did.

Now, this is the significant bit. As I jumped, I just seemed to glide above the surface of the water, eventually landing gently on solid ground. Realising that this is one of the gifts I associate with being out of my body, I woke up. Immediately on waking up, a scene appeared in my third eye. It was a strange, grey night time scene, with odd shaped black silhouettes populating the skyline. As I lay there observing this scene, I remember thinking to myself, “If there are no stars in the sky, then create some.” Incredibly, the sky was immediately filled with thousands of beautifully twinkling stars. I was amazed; Instant Creation. This could only mean one thing; I was out of my body. As I lay there sending out thoughts of immense gratitude for the experience, I was aware of being carried off on a journey. Just like the old days I thought…

We travelled through the darkness at speed, until we came to land in what I can only describe as a military-style command post. The strange thing was, that it seemed to have been erected in a built-up area, as opposed to a forest or jungle. I was standing at one end, hands behind my back, underneath the camouflaged net with just a couple of other souls standing at the other. Then more souls entered; they were a mixture of military staff and civilians that I presumed worked for the military. Then what appeared to be a very high ranking officer (a general or such like) entered. I remember thinking to myself, “I might be in trouble here, I probably should have saluted.”. But, nobody else saluted either, and as I continued to stand with my hands behind my back, I suddenly felt my shoulders become very broad. Maybe that was an indicator that I too possibly held some sort of rank. But also, the fact that nobody saluted could be a reminder, that in spirit, rank and status are non-existent. The so-called rank could have simply been an indicator of the job that soul performed. The atmosphere was very calm and relaxed, but before anything further could develop, I felt that familiar pull as though I was heading back to my body.

After a very short journey, I assumed I was back in bed but that assumption was very short lived as I soon realised that I was embarking on another journey. When we stopped travelling I decided that I would reach out in the darkness to whoever it was that had so very kindly given me the experience. I reached out my hand in gratitude and the darkness cleared to show that I was in what looked like a small bed-sitting room. My companion was a young black girl that I would put at about 22 years old in “human speak.” I thanked her profusely for giving me this amazing experience. She said, several times, “it’s OK, I know you.” She then referred to me by a name that I didn’t recognise. I said, “it’s Richard.” I felt very close to this soul and I remember putting my arm around her waist. She then proceeded to change form at least twice. What I took from this sequence of events is a reminder not to get attached to names and forms because ultimately, they do not exist. An older black woman then came to the door, but did not enter the room. Through the open door, I could see that it appeared to be a house of bed-sits; there was souls just hanging out on the staircase above; one young white girl was just sitting on the stairs with her face against the bannisters looking down at us. The scene then changed to a kitchen.

I was in the kitchen with a young black girl, but not sure if it was the same one who had changed form again or whether it was someone different. A man with a rather large waistline made a very brief appearance before disappearing again and I was vaguely aware of other souls, although only a few, looking in to see what was happening. I couldn’t help thinking that I was keeping my friend from her work and then I felt myself moving and in no time at all I was back in my body, laying there in bed wondering what this crazy life is all about.

I really don’t know why I should have this amazing experience after so long, but I’m not complaining. There is one thing worth mentioning though before I bring this marathon post to an end…the importance of expressing gratitude. During and after the experience I expressed gratitude on several occasions. Not only to my companion, but also to God. Not, I might add, to the religious version of God, but to this God.

But whether you call me Jehovah, Yaweh, God, Allah or Charlie, I am still who I am, what I am, where I am, and I will not stop loving you because you got my name wrong, for heaven’s sake.

So you can stop quarrelling over what to call me.

From: Friendship With God – Neale Donald Walsch

So, thanks Charlie, you’re a star!!

A Blast From The Past

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Author Richard F Holmes

Well, here I am, with my first post since November 20 last year. I must admit that I’ve struggled for inspiration and even considered abandoning this little project. But, once a writer, always a writer and surely, the world of wordery is a bottomless pit. I feel that I have come to the end of an era and eagerly await where the next fork in the path may take me. As I sat musing, well aware that I had not written anything for months, it occurred to me that this blog will be 11 years old this coming April. It also occurred to me how my writing has evolved with me as I have gone through several phases of change. So, purely out of nostalgia, and I suppose in celebration of getting the blog up and running and keeping it going for all these years, I thought I would repost my first ever blog article from 25/04/2011. It’s a piece entitled “God Goes Home” and I hope you like it.

PS I’ve also got an idea for another article, which I will post soon.

God Goes Home

Easter Sunday 24 April 2011 started off as a normal day. I was in no hurry to get out of bed, eventually doing so at around 09:20. Whilst having my first cup of tea of the day I went about my morning routine of going online and posting my thought for the day on Facebook and checking other online stuff. I went into one of my email addresses and there was one solitary email, from my friend V in South Africa. It was very short and to the point; it said quite simply “Swami has left”. I was quite numb at first. My beloved Swami, Sri Sathya Sai Baba had left his physical body. There had been signs for some time that Baba was getting ready to go, and in recent weeks it became increasingly apparent that devotees were going to have to accept that this was the case. It was still hard to believe though; you don’t expect Swami to go, simply because he has always been there. For a number of hours I cried intermittently; not out of grief, for I know there is no such thing as death, but for the sheer love of Baba and the realisation that he gave so much to us, yet took nothing for himself. His love was, and still is, boundless and I am truly blessed to have been touched by Baba’s love on many, many occasions.

I count my blessings that I received the call to go to Baba’s ashram, Prashanthi Nilayam (abode of the highest peace), on two occasions in the 18 months preceding his physical departure. It was during my second visit in February 2010 that I got my first hint that “Divine Mother Sai” may be preparing to leave. I was chatting to an American guy who had an apartment in Puttaparthi, where the ashram is situated. He was saying how Swami’s physical health had been going rapidly downhill and that he had made an unprecedented gesture. Baba had made an announcement formally inviting devotees from all over the world to attend the ashram during 2010, on a pilgrimage basis. My friend told me that this had never been done before in all the years that Baba had been resident at Prashanthi (since the 1940’s). My friend went on to say that he felt Baba was getting ready to leave his body and this was his parting gesture of love to devotees worldwide. Because of the sheer volume of people the pilgrimage was organised with the utmost precision and only so many countries at a time could attend, for periods of ten days only. Of course, this only applied to the organised pilgrimages; anyone can go to Prashanthi as long as they receive the inner calling “not even 20,000 horses can bring you here if you are not called” Baba

At the time I remember thinking that this was not to be taken seriously, and I politely humoured my American friend. Little did I know how right he was. Now as I sit here and muse about this strange day it hasn’t quite sunk in that Sri Sathya Sai Baba has left his physical body. Probably because I’ve had so many inner experiences with Baba… and a physical body has never been essential to our relationship in the past… so why should it be now? He always touched me with his love across time and space; so often my eyes welled up with tears of joy as he enveloped me in his loving light. On one occasion he even blessed me with an astral experience by lifting me from my physical body and carrying me off into the ether.

I suppose that, at some stage, even God has to go home…but I don’t expect it to change my relationship with him.

Jai Sai Ram

Everything Serves A Purpose

Posted on November 12, 2020 by Author Richard F Holmes

For the benefit of those who have not been following my blog for very long, I will just recap on something that I once wrote about on a fairly regular basis, before I get to the point of this particular post.

There was a time when I seemed to have a lot of out-of-body experiences. I estimated, that over the years; starting in approximately 1999, I had somewhere in between 200 to 300 astral adventures. Some were spectacular and some were not worth writing about. A couple of years back I wrote about how they had become very few and far between, but no sooner had I made that statement, they started again with a flurry. In 2020 I have had only five; the last being back in May. They now seem to have dried up completely. Every now and then I asked myself the question, “why, what’s the point?” I came to the conclusion that it was so I would be able to share my experiences (where appropriate), and reassure people that, “this isn’t all there is.”

OK, so that was a condensed version of my astral travelling experiences…

It occured to me very recently, that my initial assumption, although true, was not the complete picture. I have now realised that my experiences, some of which, that as time went by became quite tedious, brought me confirmation of a very profound truth and that it has taken me all this time to realise it. What I mean is this: I had the sensation of leaving my body; I also had the sensation of returning to my body. Then there was the bit in between where I had the actual astral experience, whatever form that took. But, the important thing here is that I was conscious of all aspects of the experience. Meaning, that my body is most certainly not who I am. When I was out of my body, consciousness was very much “alive” and alert. So, my body is not essential to my being, but consciousness is who and what I am. Indeed, my body is completely inanimate unless consciousness is present.

It is all very, very simple and I can’t believe that it took so long for the penny to drop. If it’s the case for me, then it must be so for everybody else. Of course, if you want to be pedantic about it and split hairs, you could argue that I know it is my truth because I had the direct experience, and possibly it would be different for others. You could add that individuals will only come to the same conclusion as me if they have the same experience. But, all said and done, I think it’s a pretty good indicator that we are consciousness and not the body.

Maybe There’s Something Bubbling Under…

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Author Richard F Holmes

Westbury Spiritual Centre 19 November 2013

Last night I was working in another town, Westbury to be precise, and I didn’t get home until late. As a result I went to bed late and planned to stay in bed a bit longer this morning. So, I was just a little disappointed when I awoke and realised it was still quite early. I was even more disappointed when I didn’t drop straight back off to sleep again. At some stage the inevitable happened and I entered the limbo state that I know so well now, where I am neither asleep nor awake; and at this point my third eye lit up.

I continued to lay there in anticipation as images of a young girl flashed through my third eye; it was a bit like those early films that worked on the same principle as flicking through the pages of a book at great speed so that the images appeared to be moving. I didn’t know who the girl was but I was enjoying the experience of my brow chakra being active and illuminated. I then felt something else that has become part of the norm over the years; I felt a strong but friendly presence envelop me. Now, you will probably think I am being greedy and over-indulgent, but as my recent spate of out-of-body experiences seems to have dried up I was anxious to get the ball rolling again. So, in an effort to kick-start my astral adventures I did something that I’ve not done before; I asked my companion to lift me from my body and take me on a journey. To my great joy, this is exactly what happened.

Westbury Spiritual Centre 19 November 2013

We travelled at speed, with me being held by my unknown friend, and as we did so I pondered what great adventure lay ahead. Or, I thought to myself, would this simply be a case of anti-climax. Sure enough, we reached a destination of sorts, but before I even had a chance to check out the surroundings and give thanks to my friend, I was back in my body (and just a touch disappointed). Those of you who have been following my blog for some time will know that I don’t normally write about every astral experience I have, because I have had so many over the years and some of them literally only last for a few seconds. But the reason I chose to share this one is because in the past when I’ve had some real humdingers, they have occasionally been preceded by very brief and uneventful experiences like this one. It might just be wishful thinking on my part, but maybe there’s something bubbling under…

Handy!

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Author Richard F Holmes

I recently had what was quite an amazing experience. But it has taken me the best part of a week to share it because at the time I didn’t really know how I was going to put it into words. As you probably would expect, it’s another out-of-body experience, but it’s probably the shortest one I’ve ever had; lasting no more than a few seconds. Over the years I’ve had many short astral experiences and don’t normally bother to write about them. But this one was so symbolically profound that I felt I just couldn’t not share it.

Like most of my out-of-body experiences it started off as a dream; but for the life of me I do not know what this dream was about. What I do know is that it involved me being in darkness and feeling quite vulnerable; that is really all I can remember about it. At some point I was lying horizontally in this great and vast space, that was pure darkness. It was then that I felt the unmistakable presence of spirit enfolding me and I was conscious and aware that I was out of my body. However, my mind was still quite dopey and I wasn’t as wide-awake as I normally am when I’m free of my body. Because of this I still had a feeling of vulnerability; being a tiny speck in this infinite darkness. Then the most amazing thing happened. I didn’t see anything, but I felt myself being supported by hands. It felt as though there may have been more than one pair, but I cannot be sure. The symbolism of this experience is really quite uncanny, but what is just as uncanny is that the events I’ve just described seemed to take place within no more than a second or two.

On feeling the support of those hands I was immediately back in my body; and being the greedy soul that I am, I was slightly disappointed that I was not taken on a “proper” astral adventure. It was nonetheless a truly magical experience for which I am eternally grateful. Yes, it was definitely a case of “you need hands”!

A Right Cockney Barrel Of Monkeys!

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

I love that expression, “a right cockney barrel of monkeys”. For the uninitiated it refers to a can of worms or something complex and baffling. I heard it for the first time on the Fast Show when they were doing a spoof of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

I thought it would make a good title for a blog post as I’m going to write about a dream/experience I had a few mornings ago that left me scratching my head.

Quite often my dreams take me back to periods in my life that were quite significant for me in terms of learning and life experience etc. So quite often I am dreaming away when I suddenly realize I’m either back in the army, working for NAAFI or working for the Royal Mail. Each time I know I’m there but the surroundings are completely alien; but I suppose that’s dreams for you! Anyway, the other morning I had a really strange one. I was back working for NAAFI, but for some reason, I was living in a military style dormitory. I had been away somewhere and when I came back someone had taken my bed space. But not only that, the dormitory had grown and had become a huge web of dormitories all lumped together. Also, the individual dormitories had grown bigger and had loads and loads of beds all shoved up against each other.

My bed space had been taken by a very tall Indian man. He was so tall he must have been twice my size, and I was looking up at him asking him if he knew where my things where. He acted as if he didn’t want to acknowledge me; just looking at me and looking away again with a kind of subtle contempt. I remember saying something like “hey, I don’t want the bed back, I just want to know where my things are”. It was at this point that things got interesting. I woke up but continued to lay in bed with my eyes closed.

All of a sudden (as happens from time to time in these situations) my brow chakra became illuminated and I could see a larger than life character right there within my third eye. The best description I could give is that he reminded me of a throw back from a sixties soft-rock band, such as CSN&Y, who reform 100 years later and look old up on stage. They still have long flowing hair but it’s all grey. He looked as though he was driving a truck whilst singing or chatting away to himself. What was strange was that his body language suggested that he was indeed behind the wheel of a truck, but I could see no steering wheel and no cab. Suddenly I felt something being placed in my hand; and this left me in a bit of a predicament. It felt oval-shaped, like a bar of soap, but if my feelings were correct and I was having an astral experience, I didn’t want to try to move or open my eyes because I knew I would simply be back in my body and it would be all over. But, on the other hand, because of the way I was lying, and where my hand was situated, I wasn’t able to use my inner vision either in order to see exactly what it was. It was quite amazing really; there I was laying in bed holding something oval-shaped that had simply been placed in my hand. By now my friend had disappeared from my brow chakra and before you could say “right cockney barrel of monkeys” it was all over.

The object didn’t actually feel like soap but that is what sprang to mind because of the shape. Having said that there is something else that is oval-shaped and is spiritually very significant; a lingham! Linghams are significant because they are symbolic of the eternal indwelling spirit that has no beginning and no end; hence the oval shape. When Sai Baba was still in his body he would materialize Linga on Maha Shivaratri; a very auspicious and important day in the Hindu calendar. They would form in his stomach from the metals naturally present within his body and he would bring them up and out of his mouth. Some of the Linga were very large in comparison to his tiny frame. He would also sometimes materialize them from thin air (see video below).

I suppose I will never truly know what it was that was placed in my hand. I would like to think it was a lingham. But then again the whole episode could have been nothing more than a right cockney barrel of monkeys!

When The Avatar Comes Calling Part Two

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

It’s now five days since loving Swami, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, paid me a visit and I’ve had plenty of time to reflect and try to understand the purpose of it all. Reflecting now over, I would like to share my thoughts with you.

There was three things in my wondrous Sai dream that stood out for me and conveyed a personal message. Firstly, why would Swami initially be laying down on a bed asleep? I’m sure that most devotees know that Baba never slept, so why would he show himself as being asleep? Having contemplated this the following interpretation came to me. Sai always used to tell us that he was in our hearts and there was no need to travel to him. Also, this entire experience took place on an inner level, so it was Baba’s way of showing me that he IS most certainly within me. But what about the sleep thing? Well, it’s also kind of common knowledge that the planet is going through a huge shift at the moment; a shift that is instigating an awakening of the human race. It’s also true that God resides in us all, not just a select few. So the fact that Swami showed himself asleep and then awake within me is symbolic of my own personal awakening at this time; an awakening to a greater understanding.

Secondly, I said to Swami “I have been missing you” which is not an expression that I would normally use. However, I HAVE actually been missing him, but not in the way that you would normally associate with a phrase like that. My recent post “Why Does Anger Exist?” (see link below) explains that I have been struggling with my energy levels for some time now. Well, unfortunately, this has interfered with my spiritual practice and I have strayed slightly from the path. So, in that sense, I had most certainly been missing Sai. In my frustration I had been missing his teachings in the sense of not taking them in.

https://richardfholmes.org/2012/07/17/why-does-anger-exist/

Finally, there was the business of Swami speaking and me not being able to understand the sounds that were coming from his mouth (apart from that one sentence “try not to worry so much”). I described these sounds as being like jumbled noises coming from a radio. Having also contemplated on this I feel that Baba was indeed giving me invaluable spiritual guidance, but he was communicating with me on a much deeper level than I was able to comprehend. The whole experience could be likened to an astral type experience, hence I was able to hear sounds although not with any clarity. I am convinced that his guidance penetrated much deeper within me, in order than I may call on it in the future. On a purely physical level I doubt that I would have been able to hear anything at all.

Sai Love to All!