The 4th phase of the Nurturer is the phase of Radiating. And in order to get in touch with the depth of this phase, it’s really essential that we’ve already received so much of that wellbeing into our bodies. Otherwise, it’s largely a mental fantasy of sending out this wellbeing to others. Now there’s nothing wrong with mentally fantasizing and wishing others well, it’s actually a very useful practice. And it’s a beginning way of working with the practice of Radiating. But to come into the deeper aspects of it, it’s very important that we have the foundation where we’ve already received a lot of wellbeing into our bodies and we’re filled up by it. So, if you’re not feeling it, I would suggest you go back and you work with the Receiving phase a little bit more until you feel filled.
And essentially the Radiating phase is our ability to transmit this sense of goodness to our environment and to other people. To be an ambassador for it in a very natural and uncontrived way. We’re simply an expression. We’ve heard so many great saints and teachers over the years speak phrases like, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.” People who have the deep aspiration to become an ambassador of this sense of goodness, that’s the basic ground of us. And that’s really what this phase is about – recognizing our intention to actually do good in the world. Recognizing that when we actually have the intention to spread kindness and wellbeing, we’re actually in touch with the natural state. It’s really the only thing that keeps us internally in a true state of happiness. When we’re not radiating wellbeing and goodness to those around us, we’ve actually stopped the flow of it inside of ourselves. We’ve cut ourselves off from that reservoir. And the interesting thing about being a human being is that radiating this sense of wellbeing is actually essential. We can’t just keep this sense of wellbeing for ourselves. It doesn’t allow us to become the full expression of ourselves and actually in a strange way, it limits our own sense of happiness. So, until we start to learn to become a conduit to this sense of wellbeing, to let it flow through us, we’re always going to feel limited in a certain way like we’re not living up to our full potential.
Now everyone of us is a unique person. We all have our own unique way of radiating that. But what’s common to all of us here is our innate ability to actually connect with this sense of wellbeing and allow it to flow through us. So, when we’ve received enough of this energy into our bodies, and we’re deeply in touch with the felt-sense of that, we can start to feel every cell of our body starting to fill with it. We’re ready to starting moving into this Radiating phase.
And the first part of the Radiating phase is to notice any part of our body that hasn’t received that wellbeing first. Is there a way in which we can spread that sense of goodness to every cell of our body? Perhaps there’s parts of our body that feel numb, that feel disconnected, that feel tightened. Is there a way in which we can actively send some of that energy to those parts of our body? So, for example as we’ve been working with the Receiving practice, we’ve been largely bringing it up from underneath our bodies in through our perineum into our belly. And perhaps at times we’ve been working from the place over our head, opening the top of our head and letting the energy flood downwards. And also breathing it in through the pores of our body. Let’s say we’re breathing it in through the belly and we’re resting there and we really have a sense of that deep feeling of wellbeing and nourishment in the belly. Perhaps we’re able to start to spread it through the pelvis down into the feet, the legs, the toes. And then upwards all through the body, the torso, the neck, the head. And perhaps you notice certain places that don’t feel like they’re able to naturally receive that. And without forcing anything in a very gentle way, see if you can radiate that feeling of wellbeing to those parts of the body.
Again, we’re not working with that 4th level of Alchemy, where we’re actively and consciously moving towards difficult experiences inside of ourselves, but rather extending that feeling of goodness to places that maybe don’t know how to easily receive it. Almost like we’re turning up the volume knob on the sense of goodness of the body and starting to spread it throughout the body. And if we stay in this experience for a while, it may start to feel that your body is brimming with this energy. Almost like the container of your body is too small for the magnitude of this goodness that wants to flow through you. Perhaps it feels like a wellspring underneath your body through your perineum and it’s filling up your body. And at that point it becomes very natural and organic for it actually to start to flow outwards from your body. You can feel what it’s like to fill the room you’re sitting in with this sense of wellbeing. A useful visualization might be feeling your belly or your heart expand like a beach ball. It starts to get bigger and bigger from the center of your belly and your heart, whichever one of those two resonate more with you. And just letting it fill that entire space, so that this sense of wellbeing extends beyond your body and that this wellspring that’s coming up and filling you, it’s actually filling the room very naturally and effortlessly at the same time.
And from there you can let it expand. Expanding greater and greater outwards from your body, and you can explore how much you want to do that. Maybe at times you just want to keep it in the room, which is perfectly fine. Perhaps in the entire building. Or perhaps everywhere. Perhaps at times when you’re practicing, it feels really organic and right to let yourself radiate this wellbeing to the edges of the galaxies. What’s it like to be that vast and offering that sense of wellbeing to flow through you effortlessly? And how does it feel to be an ambassador of that? That your life stands for goodness. In those moments where you’re radiating that, you’re doing such a service for everyone. Because this energy is very palpable and real. When we’re in mental fantasy and only visualizing this without the deep-felt sense of it, I don’t believe it does too much good to the outside environment. But when we’re in deep contact with this subtle energy inside of us, when we’ve built it up, we’ve cultivated it, we’ve become a conduit for it, I really, truly believe it makes such a difference in our environment. We’re actually a deeply benevolent force to everyone around us.
GUIDED PRACTICE
And recognizing and exploring your longing around that - your longing to become an ambassador of the sense of wellbeing. What’s it like to do that? And as an aid to feeling that energy flowing through you, you can use visualization. Visualizing this energy touching other people. Imagine smiles appearing on their faces. Imagine their shoulders softening, they’re deeply receiving this energy that you’re radiating. And perhaps you can even visualize that they too start to radiate this energy. It’s almost like the frequency that you’re sending out, their compass starts to pick it up and then they naturally start to radiate at that frequency too. So, it’s not so much that you’re giving them something, so much as they’re starting to vibrate in the same way that you’re sending it out. So, in that way you’re not responsible for anyone, you’re just openly allowing this energy to flow through you and noticing what happens in your environment with others. One of the core ways of looking through the Lens of the Nurturer is recognizing the basic goodness in other people. Recognizing that before good or bad, everybody is basically good. That people have this intrinsic goodness inside of them. And just by you recognizing that, your ability to radiate that to people in your environment. People start to recognize that. They’ll naturally notice that the way you’re treating them and recognizing that basic quality in them, it allows them to naturally activate it inside of themselves. But just remembering again you’re doing such a service to other people in your environment. Even if it’s not immediately noticeable when you radiate this sense of wellbeing to others.