Divine Presence Collective

16/01/2025

https://medium.com/refresh-the-soul/the-art-of-becoming-44e381a19127?sk=8dfaac3ab31ffb637b683e018c55f7fd

Check out my latest on Medium if you're looking for a great read on cultivating silence and surrendering to your divine nature.

Awakening authentic truth: a practice of being

09/01/2025

Surrender to Silence - Awakening the Infinite Self

Hello creators! A warm New Year's greeting is due; I hope you all have a great start to 2025!

I have just completed a new meditation video. It will also accompany part 4 of my soon-to-be-published Discover Your Divinity article on Medium:
The Art of Becoming - Awakening authentic truth: a practice of being

Inspiration: On my journey of inner discovery and tuning into the presence of Divinity, I found that completely surrendering myself, all to give and to want, to the silent presence within opened the door of this silence widely, opening it to me as an embrace of pure love, acceptance, and timeless knowing. From this surrender, I molded words and images that echo the opening with tonal vibrations that were fundamental for my surrender. May this video be instrumental for you! Sink into a chair, lie, or sit in lotus with a good pair of headphones and soak this one in.

OM - Duncan

21/11/2024

PART 1 — DISCOVER YOUR DIVINITY

Uncover Your Bold and True Self By Discovering Your Personality Type

Exclusive Access 🌟: Keep reading for free on Medium 📖—exclusively for my Facebook Friends! 🎉

https://medium.com/refresh-the-soul/uncover-your-bold-and-true-self-by-discovering-your-personality-type-eff9c1abe8a0?sk=d5a6f51d1c4bce771a74bc6bec2c8a27

This is the first part of a four-part series aimed at helping you discover your inner divinity.

There are two contrasting personality types:
One is dominated by constant thoughts and stress, while the other focuses on presence and intuition. Which one are you?

I explain the concepts of awareness versus identity and the role of the ego in shaping one’s self-perception. I emphasize the importance of shifting focus from thoughts to sensory experiences to achieve a more balanced state of being. I conclude with a practical method for quieting the mind during daily activities, encouraging readers to be more present and less identified with their thoughts.

PRACTICE:

Here is a simple but powerful mindfulness technique for daily activities such as walking, cooking, or cleaning:
Step one: As you go about your activities, bring awareness to your breath and lengthen it. Take time to slowly breathe fully in and out, intentionally making each breath longer while you continue in your activity.

Step two: If a thought enters your mind, acknowledge the thought, saying, “Thank you. Be still, please. I am (insert activity) and breathing.” Allow your attention to return to your activity and breathing.

Believe it or not, your mind will understand and respond accordingly. You are not using your mind to think because you are doing an activity and breathing.

With a little time, you will notice your mind won’t disturb you with random thoughts while you work, do chores, walk, commute, etc.

Aim to incorporate this practice regularly and gradually shift your awareness from persistent, random, and emotionally charged thinking to a more present, intuitive state with the thoughts you choose.

OM - D.P.

Transform your daily routines into mindful practices that connect you with your inner divinity

24/10/2024

Hey, everyone, here is a new experience to check out now on Medium, as of 11.24.24! Use my friend link to read for free:

https://medium.com/refresh-the-soul/your-eyes-are-the-windows-to-your-soul-e3aff63e1d1c?sk=9c67bc3730a97d8fdd430918c7abc950

"Your Eyes Are the Windows to Your Soul," Explores how vision serves as a gateway to spiritual awakening by moving beyond seeing and naming the world around us to the act of seeing itself. Tuning into the more profound "awareness," of vision, we tap into the Divine within. This practice expands consciousness—first by observing how we see, then by focusing inward. As you deepen this connection, you may experience profound shifts, from observing the mind's inner screen to a direct encounter with Divine light and bliss—a profound journey into unity with the presence of Divinity.

21/10/2024

Finally! I Captured Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS with my D3

This comet has been a highly anticipated celestial event, and I had to wait days for my western horizon to clear enough to give me a glimpse. So you can imagine I was thrilled to get a clear western sky after counting the seven days past since the 14th. Despite the late timing, the anti-tail was still faintly visible, a treat to capture. What truly surprised me were the subtle colors around the comet's nucleus, which added unexpected nuance to the shot. I snapped 60 frames at 30 seconds each with a gain of sixty for precisely 30 minutes through the built-in visual filter just before the comet dipped behind nearby trees.
Here's a fascinating fact about Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS: it's hurtling through space at an astonishing speed of approximately 290,000 km/h on its journey towards the Sun. What's even more mind-boggling is its estimated orbital period of around 80,000 years! This means we're getting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness a rare visitor from the farthest corners of our solar system, making each observation of it all the more special.

21/10/2024

https://youtu.be/0_scwPf_KUk

Hey everyone, want to try an easy, enlightening meditation while walking and seeing. This original meditation will have you seeing everything in a whole new way. Next time you go for a walk, give it a try!

Expanding sight or vision as you move, by observing your entire visual field, not just the center point, you will naturally move away from thinking into awar...

17/10/2024

Celestial Wonders: The North American and Pelican Nebulae as a Stunning Poster!

Hey everyone, it's been cloudy here lately, so I made a poster! I used my Dwarf 3 panoramic capture of the North American Nebula (NGC 7000) and the Pelican Nebula (IC 5070). I've included titles and interesting detailed callouts spotlighting the stunning deep-sky objects (DSOs) within the nebulas. Also included is a small star atlas view of Cygnus, pinpointing where the nebulas reside in Cygnus.

Both Dwarf 3 Captures of the Nebulas were 300x30 sec subs at 60 gain and 4X binning with the Dual Band filter under B3 skies over two nights. AI enhancement was OFF. Post-processing in TopazDeNoise AI, star minimalizing in Photoshop, and final color adjustments in Lightroom.

10/10/2024

Discover the limitless dimensions of your True Self beyond body and mind. Explore how cosmic energy and breath connect you to the Eternal, awakening deeper awareness of the life force within. Dive into this transformative journey of expansion and love—your next breath might just be the key!

When I obviously am those, plus a few other things

07/10/2024

My latest Space shot! M45 the Pleiades, not the new scope, the old scope, My Dwarf 2 with many more exposures! Almost 700 at 15 seconds each.

03/10/2024

Moods of the North American Nebula
Last night, with my new Dwarf 3 Smart Telescope fresh out of the box, I set out to capture the iconic North American Nebula. Using the built-in dual-band filter tuned for Hydrogen-alpha (H-alpha) at 656.3nm and Oxygen III (OIII) at 500.7nm, I captured 145 live-stacked shots with 30-second exposures, totaling just over 72 minutes of capture time. The D3's built-in stacking handled the process effortlessly, producing results that rival what would typically require far more expensive setups and hours of imaging.

After processing the stack from the Dwarf through TopazDeNoise AI and applying color adjustments in Lightroom, I was impressed by how much I could manipulate the data.

The first of my three final images emphasizes the Cygnus Wall, the nebula's most striking feature, where nearby young, hot stars light, dense clouds of gas. This region is an active stellar nursery, and the D3 captured the sharp edges and texture of the Wall with remarkable clarity, revealing both the dark, dust-filled filaments and the glowing ridges of gas with ease. In my second image, I shifted to the orange and red end of the spectrum, showing the full extent of the nebula. The D3's sensitivity to H-alpha emissions brought out the vast, glowing structure of ionized gas across the region, highlighting the nebula's scale. Finally, the third image shows the nebula's colors straight from the scope, capturing the "natural" hues of the emission lines in vivid detail, if you see in H-alpha!

The Dwarf 3 proved a competitive astrophotography tool, revealing fine details in a single session that would typically require longer exposures and pricier gear. With its precision and ease of use, the D3 is quickly becoming a game-changer in affordable astrophotography!

Hey, let me know what mood you prefer!

22/09/2024

ELEVATE YOUR CAREER BY BREAKING THE THOUGHT CYCLE
Discover how shifting your awareness can help you overcome repetitive thinking, unlock mental clarity, and elevate your professional potential.

Reclaim your Focus and Mental Clarity by Shifting your Awareness. Divine Presence Newsletter s1 v8 In the fast-paced world of work and life, we often need a release from our repetitive stress-inducing thinking.

15/09/2024

Exploring the Milky Way Galaxy with DWARF II: The Stunning Eagle & Omega Star Forming Regions.

Over the last three weeks, I've been seizing the moments of clear weather to photograph two incredible nebulae—the Eagle (M16) in Serpens and the nearby Omega (M17) in Sagittarius using my D2 scope. I aimed to produce a panoramic image that beautifully displays these nebulae's stunning features and surroundings. I successfully captured 8 images with 15-second exposures for 500 subs at 80 gain and 4x binning and IR Cut to maximize detail and minimize noise. Moreover, I captured 6 overlapping areas to create a seamless panorama.

After gathering the data, I processed each stack through Topaz DeNoiseAI, my favorite noise reduction software. This step was crucial in bringing out the fainter structures of the nebulas while preserving their clarity. I then used Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom to stitch these frames together, carefully aligning the overlapping regions to maintain a smooth transition between each capture. The final panorama captured the nebulae's vastness and intricate surrounding areas.

I then focused on the best individual images to zoom in on the finer details—like the intense star-forming regions in the Eagle Nebula and the stunning gas clouds of the Omega Nebula. Using Photoshop and Lightroom, I enhanced the contrast and fine-tuned the color balance to reveal an even more incredible structure hidden in the data.

I finally created a stunning image that captures the beauty of the nebulas and surrounding star clouds. The central panorama is the focal point, and I also added text annotations to give it a visually engaging National Geographic-style infographic fold-out feel.

This was one of my most rewarding astrophotography projects, with the Dwarf II performing beautifully for these deep-sky targets. However, it had its challenges, such as periods of cloudiness and often intruding planes and satellites. Overcoming these obstacles made the final results even more satisfying!