A glimpse of reality

Satoris and glimpses of enlightenment are commonly discussed amongst yoga and meditation practitioners. For example, I remember a state of clear and causeless confidence and connection that I tasted back in 2008. That was only one instance of a very old acquaintance. The sensation can perhaps be described as coming home. Imagine having an invisible itch that hasn’t been scratched for aeons, which leads to this enormous residue of suffering from the past, which translates in the present day reality of the mind space into a familiar, natural suffering. Since such suffering hasn’t been questioned and resident in the mind for such a long period of time, it feels like it is part of home. It is a suffering coloration to the mind, and when one assumes that it is native to the mind, it is easier to lose hope. Let’s consider the practice of simply noting, “this is not native to the mind” or “this is not the true nature of the mind”  when the first person experience of such a mental state happens. 

The true nature of the mind, according to those who have plumbed the depths of their own minds, is spacious, peaceful, equanimous, radiant, blissful, kind and joyful. This is something that can be taken on board as a working hypothesis. Given my past experience, to me it is much more than a hypothesis. When I tasted whatever that I tasted in 2008, I noticed that confidence and interconnectedness were the real flavors of it. Since everyone else was part of me, there was absolute confidence in the world around me, since there were no others. The scriptural statement that is most reminiscent of this state comes from the ancient Tripura Rahasya, the nondual scripture that is focused on the divine feminine. The Goddess Tripura says, “The entire universe rests in confidence.”

I believe that whatever experience I had back then gave me a taste of this aspect of the enlightened mind.