What were these possible trigger events?
I won't be offended if you prefer to keep it private.
Well, I believe that perhaps everyone has the potential to be triggered into such a state, as long as they don’t specifically seek it, but instead remain open to it when it does begin to occur. It’s so easy to become frightened or to try to judge it as it begins to happen, that I think many beautiful opportunities are lost as a result. I debated about whether to reveal the story or not, because whenever I have told close friends this story, it’s almost always met with disbelief. In a way, it’s indeed very personal, and the only way it can be appreciated and be “believed” is by being in such a state yourself.
But, even though one risks ridicule, I think it’s the duty of those who have been in such a state to pass along whatever they can so that others will be prepared for it when it does begin to happen to them. A small inner voice might then be remembered, and say, “remember that weirdo who had that mystical state and what he said?” I’m sure there are as many “triggers” as examples of such states, but if enough people relate their stories, perhaps some common element or understanding can be gained. At the very least it might help in being more prepared. So, with those provisions, I will here relate a brief summary of what I remember happening.
it was a very strange occurrence. It happened during the late 1990’s, when I was still very deeply involved in Grail research. An author who wrote several Grail/Hermetic-related books posted a picture in the back of his first book ("Bloodline of the Holy Grail") done by an artist (Peter Robson), showing a battle between Roman soldiers and early Gnostic British warriors (Celts). The battle is occurring on a chessboard surrounded by symbolic Grail, Holy Bloodline, esoteric and alchemical imagery: Mary Magdalene, the Sun and Moon, the table of the Last Supper, a Unicorn purifying the Underground Stream, a painting by Da Vinci, Arthur’s round table (from Winchester), a spear striking a dragon, etc. Much of it is reminiscent of Dan Brown’s book, but this was before his book. (The group I was involved with was discussing just about everything important that Dan Brown relates in his book – but we were doing that during the 1980’s at the time Baigent’s book “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” came out. One of the participants I communicated with at that time was the first to come up with (and write a book about) the theory that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were man and wife. Brown never acknowledged her theory in his book). Anyways, the Grail is obviously one of the pieces on the chessboard.
The artist was selling numbered large framed prints of the painting at the time, and I purchased one (along with two other related prints of his paintings). I studied the painting very intensely, and was able to figure out which soldier or Celt or object represented which type of chess piece. I figured that there must be an underlying message behind the chess layout, since at the time, the author was undertaking a contest along with his books, related to the imagery behind the paintings.
My son was interested in chess at the time, so I asked him to set up a chessboard with the pieces as I indicated. I had about 15 books on chess, many of which showed many dozens of famous or obscure chess layouts. I picked up a single book at random and opened the book at random. The book fell open the first time, to the one picture in all of my books of that particular chess layout in the Grail painting! What were the odds of that happening!! It was an obscure layout of a chess game that took place, I believe in the early 1900’s. I later calculated the odds of that configuration matching the illustration, and it was something like billions of times less likely than winning a Lottery!
Not only that, but the chess layout was also, appropriately, an example of “chess blindness”. This means that one of the elite players was so involved in trying to determine the intricacies of the next move, that he missed the very most obvious step. It’s like what happens to us on a constant basis – we always tend to miss the most obvious. This is also said of Alchemy. We look for the most complicated solution, but miss the most obvious.
The very incredible synchronistic nature of having that particular book open at the very and only illustration of the Grail chessboard layout (every single piece fit perfectly) in my entire collection of chess books, at the very time I also happened to be reading Carl Jung’s books on “Synchonicity” the evening before, so suddenly shocked and enthused me at the same time, that I had an intense “Ah Hah!” experience which not only jolted my body, like being struck with electrical energy, but seemed to bring me to the point where it seemed to trigger my whole body and soul into a most deep euphoric state. It felt like my entire body was very hot, almost feverish, and it felt like I had goosebumps everywhere, inside and out. The feeling intensified over the next hour or so until I and the mystical state was synonymous. I recalled later, that during that state, I was not only aware of everything, but I WAS that awareness. It was the moment that I realized for certain that ‘God’ (Awareness) is not just some separate entity towering over us, asking us to worship it, but that we and everything is all one seamless ‘part’ (not the correct word but am only using that word to make it a little more understandable) of ‘God’. I had numerous other insights (which seemed to happen instantly) which I won’t get into here. Only the tiniest fraction of the realization remained with me once my ego returned and began analyzing what happened.
The glowing state lasted for a day or two afterwards, while I kept thinking of what happened, but it was nowhere as intense as the state itself. I have never before or since come anywhere close to that single state (although I had other very unusual psychic-like “experiences” in the past).
There you have it. As far as I remember, in black and white, this is exactly what happened - and this is not an allegorical story.
