The room is growing increasingly comfortable, slowly filling up with the subtle aroma of the special herbal incense that is soothing but not arousing in any sense. The lights are dim and the very soft music that is playing seems so far away, just loud enough to be noticeable without being distracting or even engaging. The breathing slows down, and the mind settles down, tired of its little game of chasing after shapes, lights and colours, it eventually quits chasing even mere thoughts, and readies itself for something truly engaging and meaningful. It is now time to gently start linking the breath with the mantra that holds the keys that would open the next door.
The attention drifts momentarily, many times, then even that gets too boring and meaningless. Almost predictably, as many times before, the silence becomes real, almost palpable! The silence that follows in the wake of the fleeting interlude with a total absence of thoughts.
Simultaneously, the space around grows! The inner space! The only space that matters now. Where time stands still. The space that encompasses more than just the now and here! Serenity abounds everywhere. Sure, there are voices far in the background. But the soft music and ambience seems to hold those in abeyance. There is no fear of being disturbed by anything outside or from the inside. This faith helps him to hold the gentle focus. The state of passive focus, when the mind does not need to be forced or enticed to focus on the present state, but when it chooses not to leave or drift away!
In this level of perception, the body begins to feel different. The same familiar body, but a different plane of awareness. There is the definite sense of a flow of energy. The vibrations and gentle tremors that are felt are almost physical but not quite. If willed, these tremulous perceptions could be brought into the physical body, in the form of somatizations, when one begins to actually feel the muscles trembling and becoming taut, and the fiber-groups twitching! He actually tries doing that, focusing on the familiar spots in the temples, a little above and in front of the ears. Soon, he arrives at the peculiar headband sensation, that is perceived not just around the head, but also as a vertical band that goes up from the ears on both sides, and feels just like the bands of a heavy pair of headphones resting atop one's head. And the familiar sensation of formication, a hallucinatory sensation of tiny ants were crawling under the skin, in a whorled pattern. Another 'game' that needs to be played and gotten rid of from and by his system!
As the space leaps away and enlarges, he perceives the presence of conduits of energy into this space he is in, the sacred cave in his inner space. Suddenly, the last bit of the frailest wisp of tension vanishes. A curious form of 'light' that can be sensed more easily than seen fills up the vestibule of awareness. And it is accompanied by the now familiar presence of joy, pure joy, that can only be called 'love'.
The feeling that is experienced by a weary traveler returning home after weeks of grueling experiences in some harsh and unfamiliar wilderness. A pure emanation that touches, encapsulates, flows through and out of him, making room for more 'waves' to come in and cycle!
The 'presence' does not feel like it is a sentient being, or an entity or spirit. The very act of consciously focusing on its nature makes it fade away a bit. The music grows dim, as does the light, and the space around shrinks! Gentle defocusing brings them all back. Like turning the focusing ring on a camera lens! Almost as if the 'observer' moved away from the plane of experience when consciously focusing on the presence, rather than the other way around.
While, the pragmatic, business-like part of the observer wants information at that point, and wants answers, for himself and for others, there is a part within which just wants to bask in this glowing light of love, for some more time, ... forever! The part that is smiling right now, even as this gets written, the part that has to do with 'emotions', the part that some do not talk about much, but without which, we can never connect to the brightness that lives within our universe. The part that makes the match and then steps aside from our awareness, waiting patiently, while the wordsmith handles the communication. The part that *knows* that this experience is important and in order to stay 'connected', it must continue to feel the full intensity of this light and love. It must maintain its continuity with that plane of existence that *just is*, that connects all _that_ that forms the universe, the creation. "The ONLY way for him to reach us is through 'FEELINGS'", they had said, so long ago!
What could have been simpler? What could have been more elegant? Or more effective?
Author Unknown
