We are or I am. Take your pick!
We are or I am. Take your pick!
There is something happening within my experience which is calling me to look at the realms beyond egoic consciousness. Whilst I have a strong conceptual and intellectual understanding of what this means, I am curious to extend my glimpses of this hinterland. To spend longer in the space which lies somewhere between Bill the experience and Bill the idea. To boldly go where no Bill has gone before.
Whilst these glimpses are common to us all, and though they are not necessarily recognised as a spiritual state, I have come to regard these glimpses as direct encounters with spirit. In the spiritual state of Samadhi the mind becomes still, one-pointed or concentrated while awareness remains present. I believe that spiritual state can be attained whilst sweeping the garage or hitting a golf ball as readily as it can in meditation (more so in my case). It is only our reflection on and subsequent judgement of the experience which differentiates them.
The glimpses I have had have been those moments in sport, in study, in nature, in relationship, even at work in which I somehow escape the confines of time or space or explanation. It can be a time of pain which morphs unexpectedly into joy. It is that precious moment when my attention shifts from self to the space in which self expresses.
That space is inclusive of self, without being obsessive about self. It is the subtle difference between self conscious and self aware. A mature ego, and most spiritual seekers, intuit that there is something beyond self. The realisation of that space is sometimes known as the zone. Be it in meditation, sport, pain or love, the slowing or disappearance of time and limitation is the experiential connection to and confirmation of that space.
Naturally the ego says "lets do that again!" and goes in search of the zone. Each act or thought of self reflection or measurement in search of the zone takes us further from it, in a beautifully crafted game of hide and seek! The ego attempts to build an idealised version of self, and gets plenty of help and distraction from a world full of solutions.
However, at that level of consciousness there are no solutions, just displacement and distraction. Some distractions are beautiful, exciting, joyful even. Others are painful and harsh. All are compelling. They are life after all!
In the zone the ego seeks, life goes on pretty much the same, it is simply that we do not experience it as separate from ourselves. Life happens through us rather than to us, we lose self reflection and are literally absorbed by life, we become life.
We are. Or, more familiarly, I am.
With love
Bill