Given the approach of our planetary heart opening, I asked Narendra if he would give us an account of his heart opening.
His experience sounds like Brahmajnana, God-Realization, or seventh-chakra enlightenment (however, I am not an expert), which would be a more complete unfoldment than my fourth-chakra experience.
My Heart-Opening, or Samadhi, (1) occurred several years ago, around the turn of the millennium. As I reflect now on the experience it really did proceed exactly as AAM said in your last post – going deeper, higher, broader into meditation. (2)
For several years before that I was in the daily practice of performing mantra japam – recitation of mantra using a rosary of 108 beads (a significant number for Hindus).
It was difficult at first, the mind being very easily distracted. But I persevered, adding various breathing techniques (pranayama) as I went along. My meditation was on the form aspect of the Divine Mother and the symbolism of Her form. It was a purely mental exercise. I did not see much growth in myself during that period.
Then, spontaneously, everything changed. Well, to be honest, there was a trigger. I was deeply depressed from the break-up I recently had with the girl I intended to marry.
After many days in that depression I needed help. I turned inward to God. I started to move mentally from picturing the form of the Divine Mother to Her formless aspect, as pure golden-white Love/Light that was, in the words of the Upanishads, ’subtler than the subtlest, vaster than the vastest.’ Every night, as I sat in meditation I went deeper and understood more.
My focus moved from my mind to my heart, to my very Soul. I became aware of my Soul’s true identity with God. The teachings of the Vedas and Upanishads popped into life – “I AM God.” I was completely submerged in bliss. I knew that all sins from all lifetimes were forgiven.
Then I knew that there was no sin – only experience, that everything was the Will of God. God is the Divine Director, Producer, Scriptwriter, and Actor. There is only God. This Being that I identified myself with was only one aspect of God in His/Her infinite play of creation.
Coming out of deep meditation at the time did nothing in terms of leaving that state of awareness. I was Love. I saw Love everywhere. I saw the Mother/Father in everything. I knew that every blade of grass was deeply loved. I saw the Divine in even the ‘evil’ persons, who were nothing more than the Divine Mother Herself fulfilling that role.
Paradoxically, I wanted everyone to know and attain that state of BE-ing Love, yet knowing also that everyone was where they should be. All fear, worry and concern left me. I knew that the Creator (Father) and Creation (Mother) were one and the same, that the Divine Mother had become everything. I saw the plan for creation, that every aspect of creation would be rejoined with God at some point. There would be nothing or no one left behind.
Having this experience changed me in so many ways. My personality became lighter and more humorous. I could see the God spark in everyone and loved that spark in them. I related to everyone in/with/through Love. And they did the same to me. People would every so often say they saw a glow around me.
Once I was told by a couple of friends they saw an orb of light following me around. I was admittedly a bit jealous of them being able to see the orb. During my times of meditation I could feel the presence of Ascended Masters and Angelic Beings with me, but could never see, nor identify, them.
At the time I was working as a Systems Administrator in the IT department of a small manufacturing company. As a result of my experiences I decided to quit my job and do something that would be of direct benefit to the society.
I decided to become a teacher, that I could pass on more than just academic knowledge to my charges and teach them the value of Love. The resultant decrease in salary was of no consequence to me. When I told my boss, the CEO, that I was leaving, he remarked, “You have changed this company by your very presence. The way you interact with people and how you make them feel.”
My daily prayer routine also changed as a result of my changed relationship with God. No longer was it focussed on ritual. It had become much deeper.
I understood the genesis of ritual as being outwardly symbolic of that inner relationship with God. I would worship the external Shiva Lingam, but in my mind I would worship God who is everywhere and everything. “God is worshiping God,” I’d think. I stopped short of putting flowers on my own head, as I would later read Ramakrishna did. (3)
I did not then have the words to describe the state of being I was in back then. I did not know about Ascension, nor had I even started reading books on the lives of the Masters, Autobiography of a Yogi, Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, etc.
Now I believe it was a 5th dimensional experience or state of BE-ing. I was fortunate that I stayed in this state for a few months, almost a year. The feeling of bliss persisted at all times, accentuated during times of meditation, but never really subsiding as I made my way throughout the day.
The pinnacle of the entire experience came one night, in my deepest meditation yet. A voice within me asked, “Are you ready to go to the next level?”
Without thinking I answered, “No. I want to bring everyone to this state of knowing You. Cast me back into Maya (the illusion of separation) if you wish, so I can be of service to you there.”
I knew that I would not be forgotten, that I would be cared for. Afterwards, I suspected that had I answered yes, I might have left the physical body.
As per my request, about two months after the conversation, the entire experience and state of awareness started decreasing until I was back in Maya – the 3D world. (4) Fortunately, it was at a much higher level of awareness than I had before the experience.
But the heart-feeling, the Love, was not the same. On occasion I would return to it, not quite at the previously attained levels, but only briefly and return again. I understand now what AAM refers to when he says we are moving back and forth through the portal.
I hope that the much anticipated Event brings a permanent return to that state of heart-opened consciousness. Of once more BE-ing Love at all times, at all places. When everyone is in that state of 5D awareness, then most assuredly we will have a “world that works.”
Footnotes
(1) Samadhi is a trance state or state of concentration, in which one of the states of enlightenment takes place.
(2) “Go higher, go deeper, go broader and, celebrate, sweet angel.” (Archangel Michael in “Activating the Well-Spring – Part 2/2,” at https://goldenageofgaia.com/2016/05/08/activating-the-wellspring-part-22/.)
(3) “Many of [Sri Ramakrishna’s] actions, contrary to all tradition, seemed sacrilegious to the people. He would take a flower and touch it to his own head, body, and feet, and then offer it to the Goddess. … Naturally the temple officials took him for an insane person.” (Swami Nikhilananda in Nikhilananda, trans., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1978; c1942, 14.)
(4) All experiences short of Sahaja Samadhi, a full and permanent heart opening, are temporary.