If the universe speaks, it’s a good idea to pay attention...

I’ve written a couple of these blogs about transcendent personal experiences while meditating, mainly to give an idea of the sorts of experiences that are possible, particularly if spiritual awakening is on your mind. I said very little about longer term implications and now seems like a good time to say more about that in the hope that it will be helpful to those wondering about the direction to take in their life.

I mentioned a kundalini experience from decades ago that had a profound effect on me, not least in terms of taking up a meditation practice which has only deepened over the years and been one of the most positive influences in my life. (see the blog ‘A kundalini experience while meditating’, 11th February 2023)

On the other hand I had another profound but different experience about five years after that, only this time I did not follow it up and yet it is the only time in my life when I had a very clear and transcendent vision. I’ve never written about it before and only mentioned it to a small handful of people, but I suppose I had better say something about it or you’ll wonder what I’m on about! 

My wife at the time and I, with two friends, had gone to a wood in the Chiltern Hills and had decided to each walk in a different direction to enjoy and appreciate some quiet time in the wood. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I paused under a beech tree to look around. As I stood there I felt a powerful yet peaceful presence and was surrounded by a bright light. Then I ‘heard’ a voice that seemed to come from everywhere, from outside and within, not a sound per se, but loud and clear anyway. This may sound contradictory but it’s as close as I can get to how I experienced it. The voice said, “All life is one life. What you do to one, you do to all.” And that was it. The light subsided and the feelings gradually faded and I made my way back to the car. I should probably add that I had not consciously come across any of the branches of monist philosophy, that all life is connected in some way, before this.

It was a stunning experience and, as I say, nothing like it had happened to me before or since. You would think that something like that would be life changing and perhaps it was, but not in the way you might think. When I got back to the car and shared the experience with my wife and friends, the response was something like, “That’s nice dear. Now, what’s for lunch?” ‘Unimpressed’ is the word that springs to mind...

If I had reflected even a little on the experience at that time, my life would have gone in a more positive direction. As it was, all I did with it was think of myself as the kind of person who has spiritual experiences – in other words, I used it to inflate my ego in a foolish and trivial way.

In retrospect it now seems clear to me that, having ignored the positive message, I had to learn some important life lessons the hard way – broken relationships, unnecessary conflicts and experiencing the consequences of becoming more self-absorbed! Getting my life back on track, and actually acting as though we are all deeply connected, took many more years than it needed to if I had paid attention to the implications of that experience.

Most people aren’t as fortunate to get such a clear message from the higher self, or whatever the source was – I prefer not to make assumptions about the source because the experience didn’t come with an introduction such as, “Hello, this is your higher self speaking…” Most people who write about such things get much more subtle messages and then have to reflect carefully about their meaning and implications.

On the other hand you may be one of those fortunate enough to seek experiences from a higher perspective and then reflect deeply on what comes, in the way that Gary Schwartz describes in ‘The G.O.D. Experiments’ (BTW, his choice of ‘G.O.D’. rather than ‘God’ is deliberate and it’s worth reading the book to find out why). In that book he asked G.O.D. a question, received an answer and then used that in positive ways.

So, if something that feels profoundly wise, kind and transcendent prods you with a suggestion that has implications about how to live your life and which direction to take it in, please take a hint and follow it up. Don’t do what I did and just ignore the obvious or, even worse, make an ego thing out of it. You could save yourself a lot of time and suffering, and inflicting unpleasantness on others! 

Bibliography

Schwartz, G. E. & Simon, W. L. (2006).  The G.O.D. experiments: How science is discovering God in everything, including us. New York: Atria Books.

Key words

transcendence, connection, universe, monism, non-dualism, unity,

Image

The picture is of my dive buddy moving in harmony with a shoal of fish while diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. After the dive she said that she felt a sense of connection with the life on the reef.