Today I experienced...something

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan It is gratifying to see that others have some idea of what I am trying to describe.

In my case it's "flow". I'll get into something and I won't lose track of minutes, I'll lose track of hours.

[Pete]

It's like riding a bike. Now that you know it's possible, with a little effort you can learn to will it.

[RonBoyd]

Perhaps it was similar to what Abraham experienced in the desert. If you heard a voice speaking to you... This could be the start of something big.

[Walt34]

The moment for me was flying an airplane at about 5,000 feet over Chesapeake Bay. Over land in a light airplane there are generally thermals that bounce it around a little bit, requiring constant minor corrections, much like driving a car.

Over water, the air is often perfectly smooth, no ripples, no thermals. The airplane was perfectly trimmed, and it felt like sitting in a living room chair. I didn't touch the controls for about 15 minutes. No autopilot either.

And there I was, knowing that the nearest person was at least a mile below, enjoying the day and the view, and it just ..... was.

[mbooth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 The moment for me was flying an airplane at about 5,000 feet over Chesapeake Bay. Over land in a light airplane there are generally thermals that bounce it around a little bit, requiring constant minor corrections, much like driving a car. Over water, the air is often perfectly smooth, no ripples, no thermals. The airplane was perfectly trimmed, and it felt like sitting in a living room chair. I didn't touch the controls for about 15 minutes. No autopilot either. And there I was, knowing that the nearest person was at least a mile below, enjoying the day and the view, and it just ..... was.

Meanwhile, below on a cruise-liner, several hundred innocent souls seeing a light-aircraft plummeting down into thier summer vacation bliss, seemingly with nobody in control (or the pilot under the influence of mild-altering drugs) were frantically running for cover, sheltering thier children or down on thier knees praying for deliverance. But hey, just as long as you were in the zone!

[theloneranger]

I felt a moment also, Orizaba and Sotano del las Golondrinas; what a trip!!

[ladelfina]

I had a wierd fugue state crossing a crowded pedestrian/traffic bridge, as I did at least 2x/day. I had a sensation of feeling every person and car on the planet moving simultaneously on their various trajectories. This was a couple of years prior to the film Koyaanisqatsi which I did not see except for bits of the trailer.

This was a gut feeling more than a visual or abstract sensation.. it was more as though I was an ant and "knew" what all the other ants were doing, or that I was a molecule in a bloodstream. I wouldn't say it was pleasant.. nor was it particularly unpleasant.

More recently, at a local dance class, I had this overwhelming feeling of love for all the dopey, clomp-y, dancers just like us. I even had to say something to someone about it, so I approached the teacher: "don't all these people just give you a 'tender' feeling? Like they are little kids?" The Mr.-Professional-Dance-Judge-Teacher thought I was crazy. He just saw hopeless clompers. But I loved every expression at that moment: the young and arrogant, the older and serious, the people of all ages with their tongues sticking out of their mouths sideways with effort...

[Khan]

I had a different but also disconcerting moment a few months back: I looked into the mirror and saw not me, but my mother (who has been dead for several years). I really do look almost exactly like her at age 60 or so.

[bbbamI]

I swear, I just get the warm fuzzies reading this thread.

[Helen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan I had a different but also disconcerting moment a few months back: I looked into the mirror and saw not me, but my mother (who has been dead for several years). I really do look almost exactly like her at age 60 or so.

I caught my reflection in the window of a subway car about 20 years ago and whirled around to see where my Mother was seated. When I realized it was me, it really freaked me out.

[Telly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purron This reminds me of the experiences Carlos Casteneda went through with Don Juan. Don't know if you read any of the books, but they attracted lots of interest many years ago.

That reminds me, need to add Peyote to the shopping list... running low.

[Telly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFWR He'll fly his astral plane Take you trips around the bay Brings you back the same day...

Now he really IS dead. But is he outside, looking in?

[NW-Bound]

I experience moments of bliss (is this the same thing as people described above?) all the time, ever since I worked only part-time. Oldies music from the 40s and 50s really help. One such is Petite Fleur, with such beautiful French lyrics. I wonder if there is an English translation.

There are also times when I feel the love for the people around me, like ladelfina has experienced. Could this be the Zen, or the Buddhism we all read about?

And Khan, I just learned from this thread and another that you are a woman. Shocked me a little as you did fool me, as well as other long-time members. No matter though, as I would make fun of your bumper crop of cucumbers just the same.

By the way, when I told my wife about this forum, she surfed a bit, and said she saw something about this interesting guy Khan. Perhaps most of the prejudices or perceptions about a person come from the name.

[Urchina]

I have a similar feeling a couple of times a month as I'm falling asleep. I'm not aware, but I'm not asleep, either -- I just exist, weightless.

Then I realize that I'm existing, and I come to with a start. Funky, but fun.

[Zoocat]

Oh yes, the I am that I am. Read "The Power of Now" or "A New Earth" by Tolle.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purron This reminds me of the experiences Carlos Casteneda went through with Don Juan.

related but not quite the same experience. castaneda's writings deal with dreaming (what he calls sorcery) accomplished by "fixing attention," it does not in itself, at least on the surface, deal with oneness. one creates worlds, while the other deconstructs them. even the approaches of eastern & native american mysticism converge (or parallel each other) from very different directions.

in tibetan dream yoga, for instance, one of the "goals" is to experience what in the west is referred to as an out of body experience (obe) and this is done by practicing lucid dreaming and using dreaming to understand what is in essence referred to as the illusionary nature of reality.

conversely, in toltec dreaming the dream is the reality and an obe is used to strengthen the sorcerer's ability to fix dreams (fix as in intent, not as in repair). to be able to control the motion & direction of your so-called astral body during an obe is, in toltec dreaming, the ability to handle life's energy directly: not a goal, just a tool. for them, dreaming is the goal.

castaneda's work, really like all, should be read as metaphor and his, especially, should be understood in light of the paranoia the author suffered. i didn't read his work until late in life, i think it was in the art of dreaming where i found some nicely described techniques which i've utilized in some of my dream work to--well, i'll just say--very fun affect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladelfina I had a wierd fugue state crossing a crowded pedestrian/traffic bridge, as I did at least 2x/day. I had a sensation of feeling every person and car on the planet moving simultaneously on their various trajectories

i wanted to make lox, eggs & onion (with capers) tonight and all i was missing was a good bread. but i didn't feel like going out to the store so i decided to take a nap instead. just as i get comfortable, there's knocking at the door. a friend of mine stopped by to drop off a lovely loaf of fresh made multi-grain bread from a local shoppe.

Synchronicity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

cbs2chicago.com - Twin Girls Reunited After Both Abandoned; Adopted

"...it is imperative to cast off certain prejudices of the western mind...

what we term natural laws are merely statistical truths and thus must necessarily allow for exceptions...

the western mind carefully sifts, weighs, selects, classifies, isolates... (but) ...the moment encompasses everything down to the minutest nonsensical detail, because all of the ingredients make up the observed moment...

an indicator of the essential situation prevailing in the moment of its origin...

synchronicity…a point of view diametrically opposed to that of causality...takes the coincidence of events in space and time as meaning something more than mere chance, namely, a peculiar interdependence of objective events among themselves as well as with the subjective states of the observer"

(but of course, here’s the east/west rub)

“(while) causal connection is statistically necessary and can therefore be subjected to experiment…as situations are unique and cannot be repeated, experimenting with synchronicity seems to be impossible under ordinary conditions.”~~cg jung, 1949 foreward to wilhelm’s & baynes’s translation of the i ching.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urchina I have a similar feeling a couple of times a month as I'm falling asleep. I'm not aware, but I'm not asleep, either -- I just exist, weightless. Then I realize that I'm existing, and I come to with a start. Funky, but fun.

Hypnagogia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I experience moments of bliss (is this the same thing as people described above?) all the time, ever since I worked only part-time. Oldies music from the 40s and 50s really help. One such is Petite Fleur, with such beautiful French lyrics. I wonder if there is an English translation. There are also times when I feel the love for the people around me, like ladelfina has experienced. Could this be the Zen, or the Buddhism we all read about? And Khan, I just learned from this thread and another that you are a woman. Shocked me a little as you did fool me, as well as other long-time members. No matter though, as I would make fun of your bumper crop of cucumbers just the same. By the way, when I told my wife about this forum, she surfed a bit, and said she saw something about this interesting guy Khan. Perhaps most of the prejudices or perceptions about a person come from the name.

But does knowledge of my gender (or age or whatever) change how you interpret what I write?

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan But does knowledge of my gender (or age or whatever) change how you interpret what I write?

Not sure. Will have to review some of your posts in light of this info! I think we all assumed you were a man because of your forum name. The crisp, concise nature of your writing gave no clues. Which illustrates the stereotyping we all do every day.

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Which illustrates the stereotyping we all do every day.

I am guilty of this sterotyping . In fact Meadbh , I thought you were a guy . Your avatar used to be a guy sitting on the beach . So I guess we are all gender confused on the internet.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan But does knowledge of my gender (or age or whatever) change how you interpret what I write?

No. But I admit I would be more impressed that you changed your engine oil. I had to run off to double check your old post to be sure. I know of no woman doing that. Nor one who sampled squirrels!

About age, I still think you are around 60, yes? If you were a 30 y.o. youngster, then perhaps I would wonder how you have hurt your knees. That's all.

Hmmm. Now I wonder if some of those fellow "grease monkeys" who claimed to have rebuilt engines are really women. Leonidas, FinanceDave, and others, are you there?

P.S. About Petite Fleur, I gathered that it was a piece by Sidney Bechet, an American jazz artist. The French loved it so much, and wrote lyrics for it. There are at least two French versions (I understand them). There is no English lyrics that I am aware of.