Ah, Love.
It’s at the epicenter of so many great works of art, poems, songs, paintings. It is the reason some people end their lives and the same reason that others want to live forever. There are so many kinds of love: there’s the undeniable love we feel for our children; the camaraderie we experience with dear friends; the blood love of family; the romantic love of lovers.
Today, let’s talk about the kind of Love that might be the hardest to explain—the kind we can sometimes experience when we connect with God, Goddess, Allah, the Universe, or my current personal favorite term—the Great Mystery.
When I was seven years old, I remember standing on the upstairs veranda, experiencing a moment I’ll never forget. I was watching the wind move through the trees and noticing how they seemed to dance. The subtle sound of the wind and the trees’ movements felt like a divine orchestra, and I experienced a feeling of peace come over me… the magical intersection of light and dark, good and evil, the middle space where all is neutral, all is exactly as it should be, a slice of time and space that is all there is—pure Presence, if you will.
Little me literally had what I would now label as a “God moment.” Have you ever had one of these? It’s when you, all of a sudden, touch into something much deeper and more profound than our typical human ego state of being. It’s a moment when you have a deep inner knowing that everything is indeed all connected, and that we really are all one (yes, it sounds cliché and most cliches were born from a truth). It’s a moment of inexplicable understanding, connection, and the type of Love that permeates all things, seen and unseen, known and unknown, embodied and beyond. It is not linked to a specific faith or belief system. It is not Christian or Buddhist, or even Nature or Science. It is an experience of pure Presence and Consciousness. It is beyond label so pardon my meager attempts to put words to something that is, as the Sufis say, “nameless.”
When we touch this place, we are often reminded that the present moment is all there is. No matter what we “believe,” whether we pray or not, whether we explain it in scientific terms or not, there is indeed a Great Mystery all around us and inside of us that is the ever-present energy at the core of this Great Shenanigan. All of time and space seem to slow and it is nothing short of awe and Love in its purest form.
This morning, I had been brainstorming on what I wanted to share today. I went to a yoga class, and all of a sudden, I touched into this divine place. I was reminded that this, this is the most important thing, and we all need this reminder (like a million times a day). When we are in this place of remembrance of the interconnectedness of all things, we know that The Great Mystery exists in all things—you, me, the poor man on the street, the tiny baby, the trees, the air, every single molecule of all in existence. We remember the truth in The Beatles’ seemingly childish but brilliant song: “I am you and you are me and we are all together.” This Divine Remembrance brings more kindness and compassion into our lives. This is why those who spend their lives in various manners of devotion to their version of The Great Mystery have more of a consistent capacity to live with the acceptance of the Buddha and/or the ecstasy of a dervish. This state of being literally makes us more kind and loving to ourselves and others.
So, today, this is my reminder that you will experience more love and compassion when you touch in and connect with the Energy of God, whatever he/she/they might be like for you. After all, as Ram Dass once said, “We are all just walking each other home” (and apparently there’s a coocoocachoo and some walruses around, too).
I’ve been blessed to have several of these “God moments” in my life so far, and the more I dial up that hotline, the more frequently I’m connected. I welcome many more moments of Divine Connection. Perhaps you’ve had your own? We always love hearing from our readers and you are welcome to email us with anything you’d like to share that may be inspiring to others. Drop a line at olivia@oliviapool.com.
