Journey of Lessons

Journey of Lessons

I was hiking across the U.S. by myself. My adventures and misadventures had been many...some life-threatening. I hitched rides that scared the hell out of me, and traversed desert landscapes that almost killed me. Through it all, I remained pretty much me, the me who started this journey, months before. My travels were aimless, no direction sought, no direction found. Until Albuquerque, where I spent a few nights, off-the-road, with friends.

One day, while my friends are out food shopping, I stay behind and relax in a big easy chair in the living room. I’m wide-awake and happy to be off the road. Except for me, the house is empty. It’s quiet. In fact, it’s more than just quiet. It’s a surreal quiet. No usual sounds are to be heard. No birds chirping. No traffic noises. No talking or footsteps from people walking by. The quiet is so intense it makes me wonder if it’s possible to hear quiet. It’s peaceful, too.

The clock on the mantle reads twelve noon. My concentration goes from the all-pervasive quiet to something rather startling. One by one, all the objects in the room are disappearing. They are replaced by a white nothingness, a comforting light. 

The first to go is the clock on the mantle. Next is a picture on the wall. Then the nothingness swallows up the entire mantle and fireplace. A wooden chair vanishes in a split second. In a few more seconds, my world of three dimensions is completely gone. Nothingness even gobbles up the walls, the ceiling and the floor. 

As if all this isn’t amazing enough, I’m stunned with the realization that my body has also disappeared. All that’s left of the me I’ve known for thirty years is my consciousness, wondering just what’s happening. Strangely enough, there’s no panic, just utter amazement at my situation. 

Everything is calm. My consciousness just seems to be floating in a beautiful, white, nothingness. I’m bathed in this warm, not harsh, white light. I have no depth perception. It’s almost like being in a cloud. There’s nothing to focus on. Then I hear the voice. It’s mesmerizing. I hear it even though I have no ears. I have to remind myself that I have no body, no head, and most assuredly, no ears. Yet, I had heard a voice. 

It’s a deep, soothing voice. It repeats, many times, "God is love” and "Love is God." 

Does this mean that God loves me? And that I love God? 

I've never had a personal relationship with God. That’s why I never had much to do with organized religion. For me, religion without spirituality is just so much ceremony. This was not ceremony. 

I've always envied those who professed a personal connection to God. I know it’s not the kind of thing one could fake. Either you have it or you don’t. Until now, I didn’t. It’s a personal connection to spirit; something greater than one's self. Hard to believe. Yet, what’s happening now is as real as anything that’s ever happened in my life. If this isn't real, then nothing’s real. 

In answer to my query about whether God loves me or I love God, the voice is quite specific. The voice says that there’s no separate me to love God and no separate God to love me. God and love were, and are, the same thing. Further, separation from God or spirit is only an illusion. All life and all spirit are connected, forever.

We all have a special mission in this life. The answer to what it is can be found within. Living it is living the life you’re meant to live. It’s as Confucius said, 2,500 years ago: “Find work you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Then it got downright cryptic – “Follow the Path and teach it to others.”

“What the heck does that mean?”

Even now, more than 50 years after this life-altering event, I get goose bumps just thinking about it. I've never felt alone since this episode; never doubted its authenticity. Things happen when and where they are supposed to happen. There are no coincidences.

After what seemed like a long time, my consciousness realized that my friends would be returning soon, and this experience was not to be shared at this time. With this knowledge, my entire three-dimensional world began to rapidly reappear. The voice and light/nothingness faded away as objects returned. Even my body returned. Within a matter of seconds, my old, conventional world was back and my new, non-physical, world was gone. The clock on the mantle read 12:30 p.m., which meant that the entire incident had taken thirty minutes of what I now understood to be linear time.

I heard my friends approaching the front door. They entered and just stared at me. I must have had one heck of an expression on my face because all three of them asked what had happened to me. They said I looked awestruck—as though I'd seen a ghost. I certainly felt awestruck, but, as instructed, I wasn't about to discuss it right now. I assured them that I had not seen a ghost. I'd just had an amazing thought and that it was time for me to move on...I'd be leaving in the morning. 

Early the next morning, I left to continue my journey west. Not the me who left New York last June. Not the me I had known all my life. Not a me I was familiar with. No. This me that continued on-the-road, had a new perspective on life. I was now on a mission that blind-sided me on my 30^th birthday. The gift I received on that day cured my aimless loneliness. It showed me that I was part of something greater than myself.

I have never taken my life for granted since that event, 50 years ago. The lessons learned then have been a great comfort to me, and have allowed me to comfort others. What started out as a journey of self-discovery, has led to years of inner peace, shared with thousands of others. My path has become their path. What could be simpler? Know yourself, and practice the golden rule.

The End