Practicing Everyday Transcendence
Photo by Joshua Woroniecki on Unsplash
Some of the best time I could spend is with the people I love, almost all of whom live elsewhere. Whenever I can visit family or friends, we pack in as much conversation and togetherness as possible, because time and space reign over the visit. Since I have lived far from loved ones for practically my entire life, I have spent decades grappling with a sense of scarcity. Particularly right after a visit, it is all too easy to miss the people I love, to feel sad, and to long for more time together. In recent years, I have been working to shift this perspective. Rather than focusing on limits, I have instead been focusing on transcending the world of time and space that seems to divide us all from one another.
With my siblings and long-time friends, it has become apparent to me that there is a timeless quality to our connection. I have had many experiences of seeing these loved ones after years and feeling as if no time has passed. We quite simply pick up wherever we left off. Of course, we experience changes that come with time: we’re all getting older and facing new challenges and problems. Nonetheless, the connection between us is timeless. What I have been working towards is embracing the idea that space also does not matter. We do not need to be in one another’s presence to feel the connection. As I practice letting go of the expectation that we need physical nearness to feel our timeless connection, my experience of closeness and union with loved ones is gradually widening and deepening. For example, the sense of scarcity that I have associated with living far from family and friends is diminishing.
Below, I introduce two practices that can help you to experience everyday transcendence. The first one promotes closeness and connection with loved ones despite distance, and the second one promotes the experience of peace and union without reference to particular loved ones, while also implicitly including them. Both are drawn from the traditions and teachings that I reference most in this blog, which are all non-dual. Buddhism trains the mind towards awareness of a unified consciousness, Hinduism trains the mind to embrace ultimate reality (Brahman), and A Course in Miracles trains the mind to dissolve the barriers to the awareness of the presence of infinite love in our minds. In their own way, all of these teachings/traditions highlight not just our interconnectedness, but our actual oneness in reality, beyond the world of space and time. They all offer opportunities to transcend our everyday experience of limitations due to the world of form that we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste.
Dual teachings and traditions are more widespread than non-dual ones. The notion of separate individuals is at their foundation. Examples include humanism, the scientific world view (although quantum physics may be “non-dual adjacent”), Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Dual traditions can also support a shift in perspective beyond bodies and forms. What is needed is letting go of the emphasis on differences and separateness, and focusing instead on union and sameness. A further step towards everyday transcendence is to endeavor to touch the eternal, whether at the core of each individual, or without reference to people (or animals) in particular. This eternal quality can be conceived of as spirit, essence, light, or love. No matter, then, whether a non-dual or a dual framework makes most sense to you, my main suggestion is to set the intention to transcend the limits of time and space. Regularly bring to mind ideas and work on practices that can move your experience beyond perceptions of limits and separateness, to a sense of interconnectedness, and even oneness.
The simplest practice for transcending the limits of space and time that I would like to offer in this post is Metta meditation. This is a very old practice that likely predates the Buddha. It is the practice of loving kindness or wishing well. It can be directed towards oneself or towards others, and the suggestion here is to practice Metta towards loved ones (but feel free to practice in other ways, like towards yourself, or towards strangers). It is worth mentioning that the loved one can be someone who has passed away. To do this practice, select about four or five well wishes to direct towards the person you have chosen as your focus. The ones I often use are safety, happiness, wellness, peace, and freedom. When you are ready, bring the person to mind, whether as an image, an idea of the person, or by name. Then say each wish for that person slowly and intentionally, whether quietly in your mind or out loud, as you prefer:
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be peaceful.
May you be free.
(If you prefer, you can use the person’s name during each well-wish.) You can repeat the well-wishes several times for one person, or you can move to another person whom you love, bringing that person to mind, and intending each wish for them. There is research evidence showing that doing a brief Metta meditation daily for about 6 weeks can improve personal well-being. That sounds good to me! Even more than this, though, my experience is that this practice helps to strengthen our connection with others who are not physically present.
The second practice is drawn from, A Course in Miracles, and it is a different way to experience union, in this case by visualizing light and bringing to mind the idea of oneness. As a preparation for this exercise, I will quote two paragraphs in full from a section of the Course called, “Beyond the Body” (found in Chapter 18). The quote describes spontaneous experiences of joining and union that probably every one of us has experienced at one time or another. A Course in Miracles describes this as, “a sense of being transported beyond” oneself, perhaps while looking up at the stars, at a concert, or during a moment of deep inspiration. Even if there are parts of the quote that are not immediately clear, let the words and ideas wash over you, taking in whatever resonates, and relating it to your own experience:
Everyone has experienced what he would call a sense of being transported beyond himself. ²This feeling of liberation far exceeds the dream of freedom sometimes hoped for in special relationships. ³It is a sense of actual escape from limitations. ⁴If you will consider what this “transportation” really entails, you will realize that it is a sudden unawareness of the body, and a joining of yourself and something else in which your mind enlarges to encompass it. ⁵It becomes part of you, as you unite with it. ⁶And both become whole, as neither is perceived as separate. ⁷What really happens is that you have given up the illusion of a limited awareness, and lost your fear of union. ⁸The love that instantly replaces it extends to what has freed you, and unites with it. ⁹And while this lasts you are not uncertain of your Identity, and would not limit It. ¹⁰You have escaped from fear to peace, asking no questions of reality, but merely accepting it. ¹¹You have accepted this instead of the body, and have let yourself be one with something beyond it, simply by not letting your mind be limited by it.
This can occur regardless of the physical distance that seems to be between you and what you join; of your respective positions in space; and of your differences in size and seeming quality. ²Time is not relevant; it can occur with something past, present or anticipated. ³The “something” can be anything and anywhere; a sound, a sight, a thought, a memory, and even a general idea without specific reference. ⁴Yet in every case, you join it without reservation because you love it, and would be with it. ⁵And so you rush to meet it, letting your limits melt away, suspending all the “laws” your body obeys and gently setting them aside. (T-18.VI.11.1-12.5)
I want to highlight that spontaneous experiences of joining and union described in this quote are positive, evoking feelings of joy, or peace, or even love. The second practice for transcending the limits of space and time sets the stage for experiences like this. It is intended help us to get closer to the idea of union with everyone and everything, and it may even directly lead to experiencing a sense of freedom and joining. It uses visualization of light and the idea of limitlessness to train the mind along the lines of this kind of experience. The exercise should bring with it feelings of peace, or joy, or even love. If at any point it does not, simply let the ideas go.
The visualization is drawn from the section, “The Forgotten Song,” found at the start of Chapter 21 of, A Course in Miracles. I paraphrase paragraph 8 of that section here to form this exercise. Read through the instructions so that you are prepared with the steps. When you are ready, sit or lie comfortably with closed eyes and take some moments to calm your mind, perhaps with a few unhurried breaths. In your mind’s eye, imagine traveling “beyond” what you see or know about the physical world. Perhaps travel past the horizon of the sea or travel beyond the galaxy to the edge of the universe, whatever speaks to you.
Now imagine “an arc of golden light that stretches as you look into a great and shining circle” (T-21.I.1). Make this circle really, really, really big.
As you see the circle in your mind’s eye, imagine the circle gradually filling with light.
Now imagine that the edges of the circle expand, and expand, until they disappear from the edges of your visualization, because the circle is so vast.
Consider the idea that, “[the] light expands and covers everything, extending to infinity forever shining with no break or limit anywhere” (T-21.I.4).
Bring to mind the idea that within the light, “everything is joined in perfect continuity.” Then bring to mind the idea that it is impossible to imagine anything outside the light, “for there is nowhere that the light is not” (T-21.I.5-6).
Rest in the thought that everyone and everything that you love is there with you in the light, because it is everywhere and there is nothing outside of it. Be with this light as long as feels right to you, whether briefly, for a few minutes, or longer. When you are ready, open your eyes.
Whenever it is time to part ways from family and friends, I remind myself, “We are never truly apart.” Sometimes I say this to the person I am saying goodbye to. That way, it brings to mind for both of us the idea that our connection is not rooted in space and time. Then, usually with the help of planes, trains, or automobiles, we travel to our respective homes. I endeavor to remember that if I were truly ready to experience perfect Oneness and truly ready to never part ways with anyone again, I would no longer experience the world of form as I know it. Although I am not ready for that, I am ready to practice everyday transcendence and experience the benefits of our Oneness in manageable increments. Perhaps you are too.
A Course in Miracles is published by The Foundation for Inner Peace. All the books comprising the Course, along with the supplemental pamphlets, are now found online:
https://acim.org/acim/en
All quotations of A Course in Miracles in this blog post are drawn from this version of the Course.