I remember it like it was yesterday, despite it being over fifty years from my hazy past.

The cold, hard barrel of my SLR rifle was pressed against my forehead, the thumb of my right hand had taken up the first pressure on the trigger, and I needed just a few millimetres to end my painfully confused life.

It was 1969 and I found myself a reluctant draftee in the Vietnam War, contributing to and participating in man's inhumanity to man, the extreme insanity of war, and the penultimate act of separateness.

What I didn't know at the time was, this would be the commencement of a massive awakening to my true nature and the manifestation of an amazing life, which continues to this very day.

My healing took place in the remote and rocky Land's End in Cornwall, England, a place as children, we would visit once a year to languish, as much as three boisterous boys could, on the beach at the appropriately named, Praa Sands.

It was autumn, with chill, biting winds blowing off the English Channel, over the tentacles of rocks and into my face.

Almost immediately, the flashbacks commenced from the trauma of a few months earlier, and I found myself in excruciating and inescapable, mental and emotional turmoil.

For four days and nights the relentless imagery and noise filled my head, with rare moments of absolute stillness and freedom, where I would write exquisite poetry, having no idea where it came from. Exposed to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as a youngster convinced me poetry or his form of literature, was not going to occupy any great part of my life.

But these moments of peace were short lived and the sea swells beating up against the rocky cliffs looked ominously more and more inviting, albeit not the best solution to ending my sorrows.

On the fifth morning, I woke at daybreak with the sun streaming through my VW Kombi Wagon's curtain-less windows.
Finally, there was only stillness inside my head and to my amazement, I recalled each and every moment of my 12 month Vietnam sojourn, with no charge or trauma.

Zero!

It was gone, somehow miraculously departing my subconscious forever, and conveniently placed into my conscious awareness.

I was healed and several trips back to Vietnam culminating with an extraordinary reunion with my so-called 'enemy,' failed to stir up any pain or unwanted emotions.

Who or what guided me though this process, and I was most certainly guided, remained a mystery for nigh-on forty years, but one thing is for sure, it set me on the path of uncovering who I am at the core.

Along my Path, I met a fine array of teachers, whose compassion and patience guided me to where, and who I yearned to be.

Enter Sri Swami Kaivalyanda, a humble man from a long lineage of *Vedanta masters, who lived in a simple adobe dwelling by the side of the Mighty Ganga in Rishikesh, Utta Pradesh, in the foothills of the Himalayas.
I interacted with Swami over a two-year period, which culminated in a huge shift in my awareness, perspective and understanding of life (the Universe and Everything!)

Suddenly and at the time, inexplicably, I knew with certainty I was much more than my physical body, my thoughts, emotions and life story.

The physical world I had inhabited for nearly fifty years, pixelated and morphed into pure energy.
Waves and spheres of energy that felt oh-so familiar, as if I had finally arrived Home.
It was relatively short-lived, but none-the-less, a profoundly life-changing experience, which over the coming days would be integrated into the depth of my being, never to be lost.
To this day it arises spontaneously and profoundly, taking away my breath each time.

* Vedanta - based on the doctrine of the Upanishads.

Having married the philosophy and knowledge of Vedanta to the deepest awakening experience facilitated by Swami, it became my portal of wisdom, which I vowed to share liberally, like butter spread on hot toast.
With Swami's subsequent passing, it became second nature for me to incorporate this wisdom into over 7,000 hours of retreat content, Life and Spiritual coaching, trauma counselling, writings and interviews.
In short it has been my passion and purpose to pass on the gift that Swami so generously granted me.

Oracle of Consciousness

At this point you may be asking yourself, what has any of this got to do with the Oracle of Consciousness, and that would be a good question to pose.
From my perspective, there is no singular Oracle of Conscious per se, that one could seek out in the physical world, however, the collective consciousness that we simultaneously occupy and are, is accessible to those who are ready and willing to dive deeply within.

Ultimately, we are all the oracle of consciousness, participating in life within this dualistic multiverse, adding our experiences and knowledge into the pool of infinite conscious wisdom.

Everything we seek lays within us, patiently awaiting our enquiry.

And so it is that we find ourselves as the one human family, in a profound and unprecedented state of transformation.
It could be termed The Human Metamorphosis, not dissimilar to the caterpillar's remarkable journey into becoming a butterfly.

Joseph Campbell entitled his book 'The Hero's Journey' and this is precisely the journey we are embarking upon, from our head to our heart.

Our hearts, your heart, is the portal to the infinite consciousness that we are at the core.

By transmuting our thinking into feeling through our heart, we engage the perfect guide for our journey through life and ultimately, Home to Consciousness.

You are the oracle, be guided by your heart, intuition and the wisdom of Consciousness.

And by the way, Consciousness and Love are synonyms!

Love is the End Result

The journey from the head to the heart, to becoming more loving and caring, to living a heart-centered life, comprises of six heart values, or virtues:

Appreciation
Compassion
Understanding
Forgiveness
Humility
Valour (Courage and Bravery)

Each one of these values is an act of love.

Each comes from the heart, but it's not enough to know them intellectually, we have to embody these values.

We have to live them on a day-to-day, minute-by-minute basis.

Life presents us with challenges, that is a given.

Our ego also presents us with challenges, which are based primarily in fear, superiority, and separateness, along with judgment, criticism, and many other subsets.

These egoic traits we carry around represent the other side of the one coin, they're all there waiting to pounce upon us, whenever our guard is down.
And our task is to transcend these behaviours, by performing loving acts directed firstly to ourselves, having compassion for ourselves, understanding, forgiving ourselves, being appreciative, humble and brave.

And then we apply them to other people, to our family members, to communities, to the world.

If we do this, it can be said that we are now living a heart-centred life. One that brings a richness to life, and a profound quality.
It brings abundance to us, because we're now in alignment, in coherence with who we are at the core, this infinite being, this Consciousness, this love that we are, we are now performing acts, having thoughts and words that are in direct alignment with our true nature.

This is the hero's journey from the head to the heart.
It sounds simple in some ways that these words could have such a profound effect on our life. But it's not the words, it's the energy and embodiment of them and living them on a day-to-day basis, assimilating them as our own, not as something nice to do, but to sincerely and genuinely live them out.

And we'll need to remember to practice them!

There's somebody over here that needs to be forgiven, or needs to a little more understanding.

Or we may need to be a bit more appreciative towards them.

So, use these tools, transform your life and then watch the magic of others around you being transformed by your actions, your words, and your beingness.

In the end,
Love wins!