Cosmic Consciousness: The Man-God Whom We AwaitMcIvor-Tyndall, Alexander J. (Alexander James)
Religion
Cosmic Consciousness: The Man-God Whom We Await
McIvor-Tyndall, Alexander J. (Alexander James)
Theosophy
"At this time I was between seven and eight years of age, and although I
was far beyond children of my age, in my school studies, I was frequently
admonished for being 'stupid,' owing to the fact that I could not remember
the names of objects, nor could I be trusted on an errand.
"While walking from our house to the grocer's, scarcely a block away, I
would feel that sudden wonderment and awe of my name steal over me, and
again I would be transported to some unknown, yet immanent region, utterly
losing consciousness of my surroundings. I would sometimes awake to find
myself standing before the counter of the grocery store, struggling to
remember who and where I was, and what it was that I had been sent to that
strange place for."
This lady relates that she never dared to tell of her strange experiences,
although she did not "outgrow" them until early womanhood, when she dropped
the abbreviation of her name, and assumed her full baptismal name. Whether
this latter fact had anything to do with the cessation of the experience is
doubtful. At the same time, she declares that she can even now induce the
same sensations, and transport herself into childhood again by repeating
her childhood name.
The following extract from a paper published in London, England, in 1890,
gives a description of an experience of a young man who had fallen into a
condition which the physicians pronounced "catalepsy." This young man was
at the time a medical student, and had always exhibited a tendency to
entrancement, or catalepsy. On recovering from one of these cataleptic
attacks, and being asked to give a description of his sensations or
experiences, the young man said:
"I felt a kind of soothing slumber stealing over me. I became aware that I
was floating in a vast ocean of light and joy. I was here, there, and
everywhere. I was everybody and everybody was I. I knew I was I, and yet I
knew that I was much more than myself. Indeed, it seemed to me that there
was no division. That all the universe was in me and I in it, and yet
nothing was lost or swallowed up. Everything was alive with a joy that
would never diminish."
Such, in substance, was the attempt of this young man to describe what all
who have experienced cosmic consciousness unite in saying is indescribable,
for the very obvious reason that there are no words in which to express
what is wordless, and inexpressible. This authentic account of a young man
under twenty years of age, however, serves to prove that there is no
special age of physical maturity in which the attainment of this state of
consciousness may be expected.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account