484. Ishtar (Thomas Howell)

NDE, Ascension Meditation, and the Subtle Realms

Summary: A conversation about a childhood sense of Presence, a life-altering car accident and near-death experience, and the long search that led to meditation. The discussion also explores monastic training, subtle perception, and how Presence became more deeply anchored after leaving the ashram.

Questions This Interview Explores

• How can a childhood sense of Presence be disrupted by loss and later rediscovered through practice?
• What was it like to move from intense ascetic discipline into an effortless meditation path?
• How did monastic life shape experiences of silence, miracles, and subtle perception?
• What changed after leaving the organization and living outside the cloistered environment?
• How can intuition, astrology, and meditation be used together in a grounded spiritual life?

Ishtar (Thomas Howell) is a meditation teacher, Ishaya monk, gardener, writer, and intuitive astrologer. A sense of himself as Presence was a pronounced feature of his life until about age 7. At age 13, he was in a car accident that took his mother’s life, and initiated an NDE that brought about a profound experience of Samadhi that in the subsequent months he experienced right along with an intense process of grieving. After the Presence faded, he longed to return, resulting in an energetic spiritual search. At 17 he began a regimen of meditation practices and ascetic disciplines that included waking to cold showers at 3 AM, fasting, and 6 hours of daily meditation practice. Longing to find his path, he encountered a practice known as the Ishayas’ Ascension, an effortless and deeply pleasurable form of meditation, which he quickly recognized as the path for which he’d been searching. Several months after learning Ascension, he found himself living on the Oregon coast in a monastic environment dedicated to the practice.

The ashram life brought about a rapid acceleration of growth, leading to ever more consistent experiences of Silence, in closed eyed meditation practice, while cooking in the community’s café, doing service work, and planting gardens. After going through a 6-month intensive Teacher Training program, that involved 12-16 hours of closed eyed meditation a day, he began teaching classes around the world, and living in various regional meditation centers around the world. Seeming, miracles, wild manifestations, witness consciousness, and celestial perception were frequent occurrences, as Awareness slowly but surely saturated more and more of life.

In 2008, he left his monastic organization and then took an extended break from meditation teaching. The years lived outside the semi cloistered environment of the ashram were often challenging, but ultimately led to a more deeply anchored Presence. Subtle barriers fell, opening to the experience of the world as the Self. This process continues to unfold and expand.

Since 2014, he has again been teaching Ascension and working as a spiritual guide, giving people a reliable practice with which to cultivate Awareness and assisting people in relaxing into Presence as a constantly lived experience. Since 2015 he has also been working as an intuitive Astrologer, with a primary focus on helping people align more completely with their soul’s purpose. More information can be found at these websites: ascension-meditation.com and awakenedlightastrology.com.

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Transcript, summary, and key takeaways from this interview

Interview recorded October 30, 2018, in Sedona, Arizona

YouTube Video Chapters:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump
• 00:06:44 – Early Spiritual Experiences
• 00:12:06 – Dressing up as Sherlock Holmes for Psychic Investigations
• 00:16:16 – The Visitation of Spirits
• 00:21:02 – Transition to a Better Opportunity
• 00:26:09 – Childhood Moments of Stillness
• 00:31:23 – The Great Wound and Blessing
• 00:36:18 – The Car Crash and Revelation of Love
• 00:41:13 – Transcending Grief and Finding Presence
• 00:46:43 – The Journey to Meditation
• 00:51:03 – Meeting Guides and Mentors
• 00:56:21 – Small Town Stories
• 01:01:06 – Visions of an Ashram Room
• 01:05:16 – The Power of Meditation and Urgency in Life
• 01:09:43 – The Importance of Seizing the Moment
• 01:14:11 – Opening of the Heart in Meditation
• 01:19:09 – Enlightenment and the Workshop Experience
• 01:24:05 – A Surprising Opportunity in Oregon
• 01:28:30 – Clarity through visions and confirmations
• 01:32:57 – A Profound Experience in Switzerland
• 01:37:49 – Feeling Connected to Everything, Getting Kicked Out
• 01:42:27 – Leaving the Group, Growth, and Gratitude
• 01:46:35 – Spontaneous Manifestations and Awareness during Sleep
• 01:51:04 – A Surprising Rush of Customers
• 01:55:49 – Questioning the Organization
• 02:00:18 – The Illusion of Self-Obsession
• 02:04:24 – A New Path and Meeting My Wife
• 02:08:42 – Exploring the World of Subtle Perception
• 02:13:42 – The Subtle Realms and Multidimensional Experience
• 02:18:17 – Folklore and the Subtle Realms