America does have a national religion, and last night its annual mass was celebrated in Hollywood.

Regardless of other more official affiliations, we Americans look to movies for our spiritual growth. We don’t call it religion, of course. Yet given how routinely we exchange the price of a movie ticket for deeper knowledge of human truth, we might as well be making our financial offerings on a collection plate.

Even when we stare at the big screen for sheer escapism, we still can be inspired. So what if the transcendental transformation happens in God’s usual way? Anonymously.

With religious battles over ideology temporarily set aside in the pursuit of entertainment, millions of us, regardless of creed, can share an ennobling experience. It happens every day, one flick or TV show at a time, as we identify with a series of voluntary, non-sequential, screen reincarnations.

What do movies mean to you? This question, repeatedly asked last night, wasn’t addressed to any spiritual teachers. If this one had been asked, here’s what she would have said: 

Movies mean opportunity for spiritual growth. Through watching strongly projected emotion, brilliantly designed visuals, plots and writing of uncanny force, we experience life more vivid than life. And these vicarious adventures accelerate our usual human process of spiritual growth through trial, error and consequences; bliss and lessons. Our biggest growth comes when we innocently follow the plot, opening our hearts, rooting for the good guy. Not when we’re pushing for piety.

EVOLVING AURAS

Movie watching is an excellent way to evolve, provided that (as with any officially meditative spiritual practice) we take what we learn and use it in real life. What’s religion good for, if not our words and actions? Part of the fun of the Oscars is watching the shift from script to spontaneity, when award recipients stumble over their intended lines.

But at Academy Awards 2002, without question, the best part for me was the auras. Even more than the three scripted tributes, the significant wins of Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Ron Howard and Randy Newman, I have to tell you, the aura presentations were, to me, the significant win.

Why watch auras at the Academy Awards? The glitterati are plenty of fun to watch just on the surface—their impossibly perfect faces and bodies, their outrageous clothes. It feels good just to recognize favorite stars and wax sentimental over the shared history we viewers have with them (as fantasy kin, movie stars are far easier to love than our off-screen families).

Given all this fun on the surface, why bother to watch the auras? Movie stars, and other top-notch creative artists being honored at the Academy Awards, are different from regular folks. They move energy big-time, spectacularly and, often, contagiously. Some of that energy flows as emotions, but aura reading shows even emotions at greater depth, then auras go on to reveal the core intellect, sexuality, physical presence, and more.

Moving into perception at this level, you enhance the viewing experience exponentially. It was fascinating, for instance, for me to watch Jennifer Connelly receive her award for Best Supporting Actress. On the surface, I noticed her professional composure mingled with strong emotions. But as an aura reader, I was stunned to feel how her emotional body shook; her use of will to steady herself, despite nearly uncontrollable inner sobs of surprise and relief, brought great poignancy to her outward composure.

In his acceptance speech for Best Director, former child star Ron Howard said that he was no longer a good enough actor to dissemble his true feelings. And, I’d agree, the speech he proceeded to give wasn’t acting—that is, he didn’t project emotions he didn’t, internally, feel. Nor did he shift his aura to a configuration it wouldn’t, otherwise, have. Unlike him, actors do both forms of transmutation both well and often at the Awards. But aura reading makes the game even more delightful to witness.

Although last night showed some intriguing displays of acting, even that isn’t what made the program so extraordinary for me. Here’s the new thing that showed on the show: The Hollywood community has been evolving. Exponentially. Spiritually.

The third eyes I saw last night were so open, my jaw dropped as a kind of involuntary imitation. Open-mouthed, my heart dazzled with joy, I watched all the way to the end of the show, awed to watch big spiritual awareness shine from the foreheads of actors, directors, and musicians.

This aura reader is pleased to report that nearly every actor, every award presenter and speaker on that TV broadcast now has an aura with a high degree of spiritual awareness. Not just stars like Robert Redford or Whoopi Goldberg, who’ve carried huge consciousness for years. I’m talking about stars whose names I won’t mention, who’ve gone from teensy closed-off spiritual self-centers to something big, vulnerable, wondering and sacred.

I followed the cameras, probing with my inner sight, amazed, as close-up after close-up revealed these spiritual role models. Crystal clear. Wide awake. No pretense. The real big self-aware huge self thing. 

THE DAY AFTER

Waking up today, I re-felt Halle Berry’s sobs at receiving her award. TV doesn’t usually stick to me that way, but what happened last night was powerful. I rejoiced with her at the breakthrough of her precedent-setting award, felt community with all who care about the rights of minorities; then I went on with my usual morning routine. For me, a common breakfast ritual is vitamins, food, and The Washington Post. Like a pre-schooler, I mostly read the pictures, rather than the words. Unlike a pre-schooler, what I’m reading in pictures is the auras.

Eagerly I turned to the feature on the Academy Awards, and there they were: Denzel Washington, Hugh Grant, Sandra Bullock, Reese Witherspoon, Randy Newman, Sidney Poitier—and all of them with glorious third eyes.