#beyond the threshold

DOORWAYS AND MEDITATION

Over the past few months I’ve been diving into a meditative technique I was instructed to do involving doorways in my mind. Having been given no other instruction other than “settle into a meditative state and visualize a doorway” the why isn’t exactly clear. It seemed a silly little bit reminiscent of a scene from a Stephen King novel to me. “Write down what you think is happening because you probably won’t understand it at first,” followed by “this isn’t an intellectual exercise” aren’t exactly clear guideposts either.

I spent 20-30 minutes a day sort of sitting on the threshold for weeks. Listening. Observing. Allowing the urge to unlock the mystery arise and fall in my mind. Just breathing. Being. Eventually sounds of seagulls emerged from beyond the threshold of what I thought to be a wasteland at first. So much for the “voice crying out in the wilderness” bit, this place has a pulse.

Curiosity urged me beyond the threshold and I found myself atop a cliff running along the Oceanside. Breathing in the salty air, hearing the ebb and flow of waves crashing with the tides I journeyed deeper. Submerging into this sort of sensory visualization is old hat at this point but I could hardly tell you where I was. I found myself sitting in sand just beyond the reach of the waves for longer than I care to admit. This sort of serenity isn’t exactly easy to describe in words so bear with me a bit.

At some point I realized I wasn’t alone and turned my head. My grandmother was standing there but she was much younger than I ever saw her when she was alive. I’m not even really sure if I’ve seen photographs of her at the age she appeared before me. She didn’t speak but I sensed her asking if I was surprised to find her there. Yes. Absolutely, as I have no idea where I actually am or how deep into my subconscious I’ve actually gone. Anyways, she holds her hand towards the water and I knew I was to walk into the ocean. So I did.

As I walked and waded into the water I eventually submerged completely. What followed is even more difficult to put into words. It was if I was expanding into the water. Dissolving is probably more accurate. I lost all sense of my physical self at some point and felt the pull of the tide. I was the tide, and the depth, expansive beyond description, as if I was slipping into something that was nothing and everything all at once.

Eventually I formed back into a body on a beach, beyond a door, in the mind of a man meditating in his sacred space. Where was “I” in all of this? Beyond the threshold was an understanding that I only exists in my mind. That fluid feeling is more than likely the true nature of reality. We are but drops of a soul in a vast ocean of souls. Yet here “I” am allowing intellect to fail in accurately describing the experience beyond the doorway.

Yingthi: “Beyond the Threshold” Review

Just a year after Yingthi released her debut album everything is an ocean, she’s following up with this year’s Beyond the Threshold.  And a year of earth-time has done nothing to tame the local artist/galactic traveler’s singularly eclectic sound.  Beyond the Thresholdis a fantastically weird amalgamation of noise and electronica.  Yingthi’s inspiration seemingly draws from the furthest corners…