One day, during my last term in school, I walked out alone in the evening and heard the birds singing in that full chorus of song which can only be heard at that time of year at dawn or sunset. I remember now the shock of surprise with which the sound broke on my ears. It seemed to me I had never heard the birds singing before, and I wondered whether they sang like this all year round and I never noticed it.
As I walked on, I came across some hawthorn trees in full bloom, and again I thought I had never seen such a sight or experienced such sweetness before. If I had been brought suddenly among the trees of the Garden of Paradise and heard a choir of angels singing, I could not have been more surprised! I came to where the sun was setting over the playing fields. A lark flew up suddenly from the ground beside the tree, and then sank back still singing to rest. Everything then grew still as the sunset faded and the veil of dusk began to cover the earth. I remember now the feeling of awe that came over me. I felt inclined to kneel on the ground, as though I had been standing in the presence of an angel; and I hardly dared to look on the face of the sky, because it seemed as though it was but a veil before the face of God.
I was suddenly made aware of another world of beauty and mystery such as I had never imagined to exist, except in poetry. It was as though I had begun to see and smell and hear for the first time. The world appeared to me as Wordsworth describes it, "The glory and freshness of a dream." The sight of a wild rose growing on a hedge, and the scent of lime-tree blossoms caught suddenly as I rode down a hill on a bicycle, came to me like visitations from another world.
But it was not only my senses that were awakened. I experienced an overwhelming emotion in the presence of nature, especially at evening. It began to have a kind of sacramental character for me. I approached it with a sense of almost religious awe, and in a hush that comes before sunset, I felt again the presence of an almost unfathomable mystery. The song of the birds, the shape of the trees, the colors of the sunset, were so many signs of this presence, which seemed to be drawing me to itself.
An experience of this kind is probably not at all uncommon, especially in early youth. Something breaks suddenly into our lives and upsets the normal pattern and we have to begin to adjust ourselves to a new kind of existence. This experience may come, as it came to me, through nature or poetry, or through art and music; or it may come through the adventure of flying or mountaineering, or of war. It may come through simply falling in love, or through some apparent accident, an illness, the death of a friend, a sudden loss of fortune. Anything that breaks through the routine of daily life may be the bearer of this message to the soul. But however it may be, it is though a veil has been lifted, and we see for the first time behind the facade the world has built around us. Suddenly we know we belong to another world, that there is another dimension to existence. We see our life for a moment in its true perspective in relation to eternity. We are freed from the flux of time and see something of the eternal order that underlies it. We are no longer isolated individuals in conflict with our surroundings. We are parts of a whole, elements in a universal harmony.
~
Writing: Bede Griffiths, The Golden String: An Autobiography
Art: Robin Urton
One to One
Q: While walking in a field I had a strong experience which totally broke down the reality of the world. I clearly saw everything as a mental construct of the mind, but this experience slowly faded away after two weeks. I was terrified by this view because I had no idea who I was. My previous identity of who I thought I was got shattered.
A: Seeing everything as a mental construct is the best experience one can have. Why were you afraid? All is a mental construction. When there is no mind there is nothing to touch or see or realize—just like in the sleep state there is nothing. When it happens in the waking state it means the person is reaping the rewards of his longings. This experience can happen anywhere—in fields, in forests, while awake or asleep—it doesn't matter. When this happens you don't need to know who you are! When you question, "Who am I?" there must be a subject and an object. But when everything is an illusion, as you saw it was, then this subject and object is also an illusion. Nothing exists. This is the Truth.
Q: After the last Satsang I experienced the luminous One for several hours. Then the mind and duality slowly came back. There had been no mind and no identification.
A: If mind appears, tell it you will not identify with it. Hit it with the sword! Don't identify with any duality. How simple. Why get into trouble? If duality appears say, there is no duality and no unity either. Challenge all thought with the sword of discrimination, and nothing can touch you.
Q: I have experienced two different states. One is peaceful, spacious, and limitless with nothing there. The other is like being in a womb, very much in contact with a lot of energy.
A: Who is discriminating between these two states?
Q: My mind.
A: Both states are notions and equally unreal. Both of these states are transient projections, as is the mind itself. It is mind that likes one state and not another. Who is experiencing these states and discriminating them? Find out! Who is creating the differences? One state is labeled good and the other is less than good. Who is seeing the changes? Return to where all states vanish then you will enter Peace—absolute Peace. Mind is discrimination itself. Question the source of this mind. Where does duality arise from? Go there and you will be in the source, absolute silence. Go to where differences arise, before they are different. Do it here and now. Go there, but do not give rise to any intention or effort, and then you will see. Do it now.
Q: Thank you! It has gone so quickly!
A: Yes, nothing will arise here. Duality will not arise here. This is Freedom. This is your own nature. Your own nature! Recognize and identify with this, merge with this. Then you will see that all of manifestation is in the center of this Consciousness. Everything is yours, and you become all—no states. "I Am all of this!" From here you dance.
Q: When you say thoughts and feelings are not real, I get confused.
A: Thoughts and emotions are not real. Discriminate between what is eternal and what moves like bubbles on a lake. This bubble moves across the surface of the lake, shining, sparkling, but it doesn't have anything to do with Reality. With just a small gust of wind the bubble is broken and returns to its substratum. Then it is no longer a bubble, it is the lake. Name and form are not real. Look at the substratum from where they arise. That is real. It will not change. Anything that arises—be it thought, desire, emotion, feeling or object will give you suffering. But the wise discriminate between the Real and the unreal. They know what is Real, and so allow their feelings and thoughts to arise because they know all is One and the same! In this way you will not suffer.
Q: I want to experience the One.
A: Who experiences your suffering and your joy? Who is the witness of enjoyment when the body is enjoying? The witness is not engaged, but only witnessing. This is the Self, your own beloved Heart. You are That Itself.
~
Dialogue: H.W.L. Poonja, The Truth Is
Art: Salvador Dali
Beautiful Words
I have passed a mountain peak and my soul is soaring in the
Firmament of complete and unbound freedom;
I am far, far away, my companions, and the clouds are
Hiding the hills from my eyes.
The valleys are becoming flooded with an ocean of silence, and the
Hands of oblivion are engulfing the roads and the houses;
The prairies and fields are disappearing behind a white spectre
That looks like the spring cloud, yellow as the candlelight
And red as the twilight.The songs of the waves and the hymns of the streams
Are scattered, and the voices of the throngs reduced to silence;
And I can hear naught but the music of Eternity
In exact harmony with the spirit's desires.
I am cloaked in full whiteness; I am in comfort; I am in peace.—Kahlil Gibran, from The Beauty of Death
Art by: Rassouli
Sights & Sounds
—Scene from "I Y Huckabees"
"This is the Answer!"
3:00 min
Funny One
"If God dropped acid, would he see people?"
—Steven Wright
Back to Index: Back to Newsletter Index
Back to Website: Living In Peace - The Natural State
The One Life ● One Heart ● One Love newsletter is compiled by Stephen Wingate and is not for profit. It is distributed freely for educational purposes. Copyrighted material may be used in accordance with the doctrine of "fair use" as set forth in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act -Title 17 U.S. Code. If your material has been used and you'd like it removed, contact us and we'll remove it: stephenwingate11@yahoo.com
To subscribe to the free One Life ● One Heart ● One Love newsletter, send an email request to stephenwingate11@yahoo.com
