The first time an entity appeared during the middle of my meditation practice, I nearly screamed my face off.

I was sitting in a chair, chanting “Om Namah Shivaya,” over and over again.

This mantra is an expression of appreciation and reverence for the Lord Shiva, who is the Ultimate Consciousness. It translates to “I bow down to Shiva.” Bowing down to Shiva is like bowing down to the reality of your deep, authentic self.

At the time, I didn’t even understand the depth of this mantra. I had heard it on a track, and just felt it calling me. So I sat every day and chanted it for 10 minutes.

During one of my sessions, this being appeared.

He had red hair and a pale face. His eyes were hollow, yet full of wisdom. His lips were moving, as if he was trying to tell me something, but there was no sound coming out. No sound that I could really hear, anyway.

My shrill scream caused the being to evaporate into thin air.

And once I knew it was gone, I was surprised by the disappointment I felt. Like I had missed an opportunity.

What did he want to tell me? And who was he?

I instantly had labelled him “evil,” but that was just merely due to the fact that he scared the hell out of me with his spontaneous visit.

It was only after he was gone that I realized that there was no “evil” emanating from him. He was simply a being from a deeper plane of existence.

When we meditate, we are raising the frequency of our vibration, tuning it to elements that are beyond this earthly realm.

And when we do that, on occasion, we might rub up against other energies. We can think of them as entities, guides, aliens, displaced souls, spirits of deceased loved ones…These beings radiate at higher frequencies than we do, and as we raise our own frequency, our energies lock in to one another. And then we are able to create a bridge from his world into the next, where it is possible to see into another form of existence — a form of existence that all of us have experienced before life on earth.

A little intimidating, yes, especially at first. But I couldn’t help but become insanely fascinated by this sudden encounter.

For weeks, I tried to call him back to me. I sat in meditation, repeating “Om Namah Shivaya” until I was blue in the face, hoping he’d return. But he never did.

I’m sure it was due to all the expectations and pressure that I had brought along with me to my meditations. The biggest thing I learned, as I went more deeply into my practice, is that you can never approach with expectations. That’ll just kill the buzz, right before you even truly get started.

Once I started loosening my grip on all the expectations, I found that I could feel and sometimes see the presence of other beings during my meditation, again. I had no fear this time. I would see faces, hear various forms of communication — and I would just sit in stillness with it. Oftentimes, after meditating, I would find the details of the encounter fuzzy. Almost like my conscious mind simply was not vast enough to contain the mystery of what I had just experienced. I would just have these feelings of comfort and bliss radiating within; and that was enough for me.

I talk to a lot of people who want some support in how to meditate without connecting to the spirit realm. They want the benefits of meditation, but they’re not comfortable with interfacing with the unseen forces that exist beyond this world.

In these cases, I tell them that before meditation, set an intention and ask that no spirits or beings disturb you. And ask with love.

If there’s one thing I’ve come to understand, more and more, it’s that these entities are not actually evil. Evil is something manmade. It’s something that exists on this physical plane. It simply cannot be found in spirit. Yes, some spirits may be operating at a lower vibration than others, but they’re not negative, evil presences that want to suck your soul out from the top of your head and do away with you.

We must trust that all things unseen, those energies that are holding the foundation upon which the universe throbs and pulses, are energies of love and creativity.

When I started trusting this, I felt everything in me surrender into a deep state of relaxation. I knew I was safe on this earth. Protected. Bound by a line of energy that connected me to the mysteries of the other side from which I came.

The journey continues to grow richer and richer, each time I sit in meditation. I don’t see entities every time I meditate, of course. Every experience brings with it a new story, and that’s just the way I like it.

So grateful for my practice.

Namaste