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Some Principles

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Guided by? Usually with this technique someone provides “guidance” while you remain receptive to their words, rhythm and atmosphere. In the Seed Game there is no external voice leading you into a deeper state of awareness. Nor does the guidance here come only from you. Rather the sense of direction in your Imaginal experience arises in the same way a conversation between two intimate friends finds its own way.

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Guidance arises in a flow of call and response that becomes possible through a serene inquiry. One might begin with something like…”I’m concerned about my daughter. What would you like to show me?” The response from within might be an image, a phrase, or even a different question. To which one might say, “What does that mean?” And so on.

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Of course there is not an actual someone “there” with whom you are speaking. The apparent duality of this approach to inner guidance is simply a mechanism that enables energy to flow between poles. If it helps, you can think of this as an exchange between your intellect and your wisdom, which Inayat Khan calls the surface and the depth of the heart.

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Noetic. What does “sacred” mean? Can we truly define what we mean by “holy”? We may not be certain of the meaning of these words, yet we somehow know the experience they refer to. The word “noetic” is often used to describe this divine ambiguity—opening into a reality that is infinitely other than the dimension of worldly concerns, and at the same time is nothing other than this—the actuality of right here and now.

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The guided visualization suggested here is noetic in this sense. If we stay with the metaphor of a conversation between intellect and wisdom then we could say that this talk takes place in a hallowed space. By this we mean an enclosure, deliberately set aside from “main street” for the purpose of revelation, guidance, and communion. As with many churches, temples, mosques, etc. these spaces are often silent and yet one can feel the presence of prayer, faith, and hope.   

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A noetic space does not require a deity, or consecrated totems, or sacred ritual. In many ways it is best if it is devoid of anything. Imagine uncovering “within” yourself an open, shimmering emptiness vibrant with transformative possibilities which we might think of as “miraculous”.

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Imaginal. The Seed Game is, at heart, an exercise in mystery. It unfolds in our material surroundings—in the day to day fabric of our relationships—but actually takes place in the Imaginal. This bivalent ‘world’ in which The Seed Game proceeds, having both physical and metaphysical properties, is highly unusual in a couple of important ways.

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For one thing, it is GENERATIVE giving birth to and enabling the growth of higher capacities. It’s like the sphere of environmental conditions—soil, water, sunlight, air—necessary for an acorn to become an Oak tree. Just as a seed kept in your pocket will not grow, a spiritual aspiration that remains “unplanted” yields very little. The Imaginal is the rich environment in which our souls flourish.  

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Not only is it the garden in which love, intuition, compassion, wisdom, self-knowledge, equanimity, resilience, and countless other capacities can reach their highest fruition, the Imaginal is where the seeds of those transformations can be found.