Inspiring Experience from Invincible America Assembly

Please enjoy this inspiring experience, presented last week during the Invincible America Assembly's daily experience meeting.

This is from a very humble and modest Invincible America Assembly participant (from the Maharishi Patanjali Golden Dome) who apparently has been witnessing his sleep, dreaming, waking--everything--all nonstop without a single break--for two years. He is also experiencing some of the things Maharishi said would be present in the state of cosmic consciousness--including an unbroken sense of eternal freedom, eternal liberation.  Asked to share his experience with our group, he wrote:

"Cosmic consciousness arrived, softly and unexpectedly, as I exited the Dome one morning in November 2008. I was 64 years old. I had been doing Transcendental Meditation since 1973 and the TM-Sidhi Program since 1978.

How did I know cosmic consciousness had come? All I can say is it was clear that pure consciousness (pure "being") was with me as I exited the Dome. It was clear that soft transcendence, that feeling of unboundedness I had become accustomed to in meditation all those years … was now with me in activity. Everything was different - yet the same. This new element was with me as if dogging my footsteps--this new soft sweetness, this new purity, this new feeling of lightness, this new utter clarity.

As with most of us, I had a career to manage during all those years, and a family, with children, to support. But I made time for my program twice a day no matter what, even if it meant, as it often did, meditating in a bus, an airplane, a library or even more unlikely locations.

It never occurred to me to stop meditating, or even miss a meditation. I knew before my intro lecture was half over, that I would do this TM thing, and would never stop.

Over the years, I waited expectantly and patiently for "cosmic consciousness" to arrive. Always feeling it must be just around the corner.

As decades of practice elapsed and I grew older, I began to abandon any notion that I would reach cosmic consciousness in this life. I never stopped believing it was a reality, nor that Maharishi's TM and TM-Sidhi program could lead one there. I just stopped believing that it was going to happen to me.

While I usually enjoyed my programs, there was never anything "flashy" going on. As years passed, it even seemed that the multitude of changes I had noticed in myself when I first began meditating … had dwindled significantly or even disappeared. I felt like I was on a plateau. Like I was walking in place.

My general attitude was, "OK, it's not going to happen in this life. But I know TM is a good thing. I've always known that, from my very first meditation. So, I'll just keep doing it because I should go as far as I can in this life. Who knows Š maybe next time around …"

So, when cosmic consciousness tiptoed up to me that November day, just after I turned 64, I was absolutely astounded and delighted. It seemed so delicate, fragile, almost shy. I did not expect it to last. As days and weeks went by, the experience not only endured but grew in strength. I finally came to accept without any doubt -- it was here to stay.  With that, I began to relax into it and just let it be what it was…without any expectations or preconceived notions.

I was as surprised as anyone that such a thing could happen to me. As far as I or anyone could tell from my life, I was as unlikely and undeserving a candidate for this as anyone I could think of. Even after years of meditating I still had flaws you could drive a truck through. I was nowhere near as well studied in the Vedic literature as so many around me. One might call my daily routine marginally ayurvedic, I suppose. But even that would be a stretch. Given all my responsibilities, I figured I was doing the best I could.

Yet here IT was and IT was undeniable. I thought perhaps it was one of those 1% chances of a cosmic mistake I heard Maharishi talk about once. And for quite a while was sure that as soon as the mistake was discovered by the Cosmic computer, it would be rectified.

Two and half years later, to my increasing delight, the experience of cosmic consciousness has matured into something even grander. Being shines at me from all things and all people. My own Self is everywhere, in everything and everyone. The burdens, troubles and vicissitudes of life seem all but gone or, at least, drastically mitigated. In their place, is a lightness, delight, sweetness and ease … that is absolutely indescribable.

Believe me, I know this is no accomplishment of mine. Any kudos for this are due to Maharishi and Guru Dev alone. This is not false modesty. This is the truth.

The only thing I ever did was to follow the simple (thank goodness) instructions Maharishi gave for the practice of the TM and TM-Sidhi program. Really, that's all I ever did. That it resulted in this experience for me … is as miraculous as anything I can think of. Yet it's utterly real, utterly simple, and utterly available to all. That I know for certain.

If my life serves no other purpose, it is to demonstrate that, if this can happen to someone like me, it can happen to anyone. It can happen to everyone. That it did happen to me… reveals the immensity of Maharishi's knowledge and remarkable power of his techniques--and of course the unfathomable silence, bliss, and sanctity of our beloved Guru Dev."

Jai Guru Dev