My second year in India was now almost over when I began to feel a foggy sense of confusion and needed to have a break. I travelled to a charmingly run down ashram on the banks of the Ganges. It was surrounded by jungle and didn’t have electricity or running water. A youthful Swami lived there on his own and didn’t teach. I was the only guest.
It had was just what I wanted – plenty of peace and quiet. While there a very weird thing happened to me that totally changed the entire course of my spiritual life…
I was gazing at the beautiful scenery of the Ganges valley when I noticed something in the air in front of and above me. It was a strip of foggy, indistinct images, feelings, experiences and knowledge – a sort of visual/emotional collage of my entire spiritual life up to that moment. As I noticed it there was a strange feeling of winding down and suddenly everything that I held dear about the world of spirituality became literally meaningless!
In the space of two seconds my life in the outer world of spirituality had totally ceased. I would have been completely devastated, but this was instantly followed by a blinding flash of insight. I suddenly knew with absolute certainty that whatever I wanted to know, or needed to know about spirituality already existed within me – all had to do was to dive deep enough to find it. I needed to go deep enough to at least glimpse beyond the Sense of Self.
This seriously weird event was over in a few seconds. I was no longer a spiritual seeker in the outer world of spirituality and my path had changed to an entirely inner one. I felt exhilarated to have found the spiritual path that was perfect for me. This was a crucial turning point and a liberating experience. I felt my real spiritual journey had just begun…
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