Three Mystical Powers, by Fred LaMotte

I have attained three supreme mystical powers. I am going to teach them to you, if you are ready. These siddhis overcome all obstacles, stun all enemies, and open all the portals to the Infinite. Normally I would keep them a secret, only for the initiated, but because we are nearing the collapse of the empire, I must share them with you in hopes that you will use them as talismans for your journey.

These three mystical powers have been hidden for thousands of years in the monasteries of the Himalayas, but they must now be revealed. Of course, you received these secret initiations when you were a baby in the crib, goo-gooing, burbing and farting, muttering "Ga!" "Hu!" "Mama!" "Bha!" and other bija mantras of supreme wisdom. But you exchanged your radiance for an education. Now you must be re-initiated.

1. First, whenever you are sad or angry or confused, take it as a sign to abandon your mind. Sink down into your body. Feel your heart-beat. Just stop whining, fall down, and enter your heart-beat.

2. Don't take your next breath, receive it.

3. When you've fallen into your heart-beat and realized that every breath is a gift to be received, not taken, then offer the gift back to the Giver, slowly breathe out, and listen. Listen to what? Between breathing out and breathing in, listen to the quietest most distant sound. Just for a moment. This moment is an eternal door. This door is in the center of your chest, between going and coming, between beats, where there is no journey, no thought, no "I."

Listen to what? Listen to the space beyond the faintest sound. Listen to the vibrating aliveness of listening itself. Listen to the symphony of your flesh, the chorus of electrons, the song of distant stars falling into the neurons of your solar plexus. Drown in the hum of silence.

Now you must pay me. Here is your initiation fee. Because if you don't pay me, the mystical power of these secret techniques will not be activated. OK? So please send me tidal waves of compassion. Forgive me for ever having imagined there was anything to learn but listening, pulsation, and friendship with your own heart.

Fred LaMotte is a poet.

Seed Questions for Reflection

What does the notion of receiving your next breath open up for you? Can you share a personal story of a time you were able to abandon your mind when you were sad or angry or confused? What helps you listen to the space beyond the faintest sound?

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Add Your Reflection

20 Past Reflections

Annaki

Oct 5, 2025

Today I say watching my breath, eyes closed, "thinking thinking" when my eyes darted open and as I watched out of them, three baby calves run down a hill with their legs splaying in all directions, and there was a feeling that emerged in my chest that stayed until it passed, and i watched how fleeting empathy/ love is, how a moment appears and returns back into its sacred abyss... "thinking thinking"

Jo Anne

Aug 30, 2025

Falling into my heart, tears falling, lips smiling! Love and Love

Sally G

Jul 26, 2025

Trees. The silence of a forest walk. I have felt two specific trees sending me energy, like they were trying to talk to me. Their language is 0penness to the forest and our symbiotic relationship with them. We literally can not live without them, because they breathe for us. They speak not just to our ears, but to our whole being.

Robert

Aug 6, 2024

Standing by the ocean, moving to the rhythm of the waves. Realizing that it is not "I" who breathes but rather that the world / that life breathes me. Oneness. 2). Being obsessively stuck in thought patterns I believed to be who I am. Reading a book on Buddhism. Reading that the mind is a sixth sense. Being suddenly struck with the understanding that I am not my thoughts. Watching the many year old obsession and addiction melt away. 3) At night, when my body awakens me to go pee. Peeing then kneeling beside the bed and dropping into silence, silence deepening as the mind chatter quiets down, sinking deeper into a silence beyond silence. Waiting. Patiently. ..... " teach me, show me how to love," I pray

Ashvin Mistry

Apr 8, 2024

Thanks a lot

Shruti

Dec 17, 2023

Thanks for writing this and sharing it. Could imagine myself as a child, and an adult and none at the same time. Could feel the silence as the words revealed themselves, and as the breathing softened. So beautiful!

sandra

Dec 11, 2023

I have recently been called by stillness. While walking outdoors the other day, I found myself stopping and listening to the stillness. The stillness brought me peace and comfort. Awareness of my breathing heightened. It was a beautiful experience.

Arundhati

Dec 9, 2023

This practice makes me grateful for this life ,this breath. .
It makes me aware of space that stretches and expands forever.
It makes me feel oneness with all other breaths ,where only breath exists and that I am here now.
When angry, hurt or confused it helps to breathe and move out of the turmoil in the mind . The heart is always ready to send oodles of love to the person or myself or the thing that is hurt intentionality or otherwise and that helps elevate personal wear and tear and helps in accepting my nature and faults and that of others . Giving myself a little of that' timeless-breath pause ' helps me get my footing back and feel i am right where i am meant to be.
Surrender to the Guru helps me focus on the faintest sound .

purvi m shah

Dec 5, 2023

the notion of receiving breath ,takes away 'doership' in that 'I am taking the breath in '. In fact ,I am receiving breath and along with it love from the universe,so I am a vessel of receiving .
Once I was cooking meals for a relative with love,and she would criticize daily ,so it made slightly sad and angry ..
but I let these emotions just pass by ,and I complimented myself in my own mind as I found the food delicious...and then I was no longer slightly sad or angry over time..and the relative also stopped complaining.
Praying with an attitude of surrender to a higher power,helps me to empty my mind of thoughts ,and listen to the space beyond the faintest of sounds.

stream

Dec 5, 2023

I breathe in forgiving myself. I breathe out forgiving every one and everything else that stands in the way of Love. Ya'rauf , Ya'rahim. Names of the mysterious oneness of mercy and compassion that live in the realm and house of the roots of letting go of the millenniums of patterning based in fear. Submerging in peace, with nothing to do except to keep breathing deeper.

Zorra

Dec 5, 2023

The mind is a funny thing. There is so much to do! We can plan, sort, categorize, we can vision, and we can go back into the past and relive. We can go into the future and imagine. And we can do so much more! we can create anything in our minds. New Worlds. Fantasy, fiction. These three techniques are a way to simply be present. To be in the now. To appreciate what is here. When we can settle into this moment without anticipating the next or wishing to change the last, we can begin to understand our place in the great I Am.

Julie

Dec 5, 2023

Receiving!

Anil Pandit

Dec 5, 2023

Indeed the easiest way to feel the everlasting connectivity with Universe.

Mamta

Dec 5, 2023

Love this. I feel as if I am receiving a piece that was missing till now. I am a student of instinctive meditation, based on radiance sutras. To think we give up our radiance for education is mind blowing. To think as babies we are chanting Bija mantras feels wonderful. And the power of listening, being with the heart resonates deeply. I have felt this instinctively that emotions are a gateway to a deeper space in the heart.

Muriel

Dec 4, 2023

Why visitors still use to read news papers when in this thing is accessible on net?

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stan

Dec 1, 2023

Receive the next breath... receive the next inspiration
seek it... find it... live it

David Doane

Dec 1, 2023

The notion of receiving your next breath opens up for me the notion of there being separation between human me and breathing, and there is none. Human I and receiving my breath are one. I breathe. I can control it, at least briefly, but for the most part human I breathes, no separation. I think of my mind as the hub of my cognitive abilities. There have been times I have abandoned my mind and let emotions overrun my mind. When my father died, I let go into my sobbing and it felt very good and I felt cleansed and relieved. What helps me listen to the space is discovering that such listening is worth doing, the space is the Source, it's peaceful and awesome -- it makes the awesomeness of the space of the Grand Canyon pale.

Jagdish P Dave

Dec 1, 2023

I deeply appreciate reading Three Mystical Powers written by Fred LaMotte. Reading this article, I got three precious gifts of living a full life. First gift: Abondon noise making mind, noise of anger, fear, frustaration, and resentment. By letting go of the noise in my mind I hear the sound of silence. In that silence I listen to my heart beats of love, compassion, and kindness. Second gift: The joy of giving, of seeing the light of my Real Self. Third gift: Liberating myself from the bondage of craving and lightening my self-created load. When I let go of my growth-binding breath, the door of my heart opens up to see the light and be free from deep darkness. Walking on the path of awakening is not an easy journey for me. Sometimes I run into self-created walls, the walls that obstruct seeing the ligth of truth. I stumble and fall down and hurt myself and others in my life. Such stumbling wakes me up and I see the light of awakening and resume my pilgrimage of living fully a... View full comment

Amy Dec 9, 2023

So very good! I will read this again! Amen!