Then one day I looked at Chris as we grappled with a tough decision. It may have been something about whether to move back to the US or to stay in the UK. I looked at Chris as we balanced our shared desires for our life together and it hit me: as hard as this journey can sometimes be, this would be so much harder if I were I paired with someone else. It would be pure hubris to continue to believe that it was through my infinite wisdom that I made the choice to marry him. In fact, looking back at our meeting at age 14 and his unwavering presence in my life, it was almost laughable that I hadn't seen it before: my relationship with Chris and the love we share was a gift for us from the Universe for this journey, this life.
In that moment, because of my relationship with my husband, I came to believe in a higher power, or, in my lexicon, the Universal.
So, thanks to marriage, I crossed the river.
I think there are many paths in life towards an experience of the Universal. And. as described by Marcus Borj in his book (I don't know how to underline in this program!) "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time," that moment of accessing the Universal is a sensation of parting the curtain and seeing reality from another (truer) perspective. Then, for most of us, the curtain drops. For some that moment is transformative. (Borj argues that every now and then in history there is someone, like Jesus, who never drops the curtain.)
I know there are other means to access that curtain-lifted sensation. Meditation? Chanting? Childbirth? What do you think? Have you had a moment where you have a sensation of accessing knowledge of the Universal?
I have been fortunate in that I have had experiences glimpsing the other side of the curtain. The most powerful have come on unexpectedly, usually in times of crisis when I can no longer trust myself to be in control of what is going on around me and I release myself into “his hands” – empty myself/ego – are drawn into the universal -
ReplyDelete(whatever metaphor works). These are profoundly peaceful (though not really relaxing) moments sometimes accompanied with images and a whole lot of light. Some have been spontaneous, as mentioned above, and some have come on through the use of active imagination. Jungian in nature for the most part. I must admit now as I find myself of a certain age I am less inclined to seek it out nor, when I brush up against it, to dwell on it, as I trust I will be drawn into the universal permanently before too long... so I am not in a particular rush. I am grateful however for these clarifying moments.