Wow. That is all I can say.

[donzieja]

Hello, everyone. I'm sorry for my absence. I'd like to share with you an experience I had today.

For a good while now, I've made it a habit to practice meditation for half an hour or so about three hours after I wake up. Today, I decided to use a different mantra. I usually use "Om". Today, though, I began using the mantra "Om namah shivaya". I sat cross-legged, on my living room couch. The house is empty, besides me and my dog, as both my parents are at work and my mother brought the other, smaller dog (she's a nanny, and they love her). I sat there, took a few slow, deep breaths, and eventually settled my hand posture as having my palms open on both knees, facing upwards.

I closed my eyes, ran the mantra through my mind a few times, and began chanting. My focus was continually drawn inward, and my eyes rolled gently toward my third eye area. I kept going deeper, and eventually I found a good way to chant the mantra, so it would resonate properly. I kept going deeper, and suddenly, I was... I don't really know what or where I was. I could sense myself, my body, chanting in the room, and I could sense my surroundings; but I could also sense something bigger. It was this awareness, and rather than noticing it suddenly, it was more of a realization that I've always known this, but not in a conscious level.

It wasn't so much an external intelligence. It was an internal, infinite mass of awareness, from which all minds protrude. The best way I could describe it would be like this:

In a forest, trees are often connected underground by their roots, and therefore, the entire forest of trees is one large tree. In my experience, I was one of these trees, and I was able to look downwards and see the soil from which I'd sprouted, as well as everything underneath. It was truly an amazing thing to behold.

Then, my dog began to bark loudly, scaring the crap out of me, for lack of a better term. I screamed involuntarily, and was thrown from the state. I suppose that my consciousness must really have shifted away from the physical world if that startled me so much.

What do you all think of this?

Thanks for reading and any replies!

~Don N.

[Volgerle]

The best way I could describe it would be like this: In a forest, trees are often connected underground by their roots, and therefore, the entire forest of trees is one large tree. In my experience, I was one of these trees, and I was able to look downwards and see the soil from which I'd sprouted, as well as everything underneath. It was truly an amazing thing to behold.

What a beautiful metaphor! I really like this description.

Do you think that your experience was so profound because you used this mantra? (I'm asking maybe to give it a try).

[donzieja]

Thank you!

Yes, I do believe that my experience was as profound as it was due to the use of the mantra. Bear in mind, however, that it was not unaccompanied by the acknowledgement of the mantra's meaning:

"Om namah shivaya" = "I bow to Shiva".

"Shiva is the supreme reality, the inner self. It is the name given to consciousness that dwells in all. Shiva is the name of your true identity - your self."

^ The website from which I learned the mantra is the source of that quote.

Give it a try, and let me know how it goes!

~Don

[Lionheart]

 Hello Donzieja and Welcome back!   Thank You for sharing this with us.

I have had a couple of quests in a land similar to yours. The area was incredibly vivid and full of life. There was a feeling here of incredible "connectedness". I saw a flower, next thing i know I am walking on the pedals in some kind of shrunken form, then I was the flower. I could feel the how the sun as it helped me to grow. I reached up to it's warmth. I saw how all the Trees had their roots connected. How the grass ran into the sand, the sand ran into the water, then once again the water ran into the sand and the cycle was all interconnected. It left me feeling great afterwards for about a week. It was such a beautiful experience.

I think the message of all this was that we are all one. We really are all connected to everything. But choose to see life for some reason as from a singular viewpoint. This is likely so we may experience the many experiences that are available and open to us on more of a personal one of one level. For life is all about experiencing. The good, the bad and the ugly. They are all experiences!  

[donzieja]

You said it, Lionheart!

My experience wasn't nearly as visual as yours, as it was more of... a sense that I didn't know I had xD