Glimpses Into Higher Worlds

It happens at unsuspecting times. There's no telling when: it could happen when working, when in synagogue or when jogging down the country roads in Rehoboth. I don't know what to call it but when it happens I feel an ecstatic sensation of euphoria, of peace, and an incomprehensible connection.  The thought that accompanies the feeling is that life is fantastic and incredibly awesome. Lately it's happening more frequently; often several times a week. This all started for me years ago. My first clear recollection of these experiences seems to be related to my training for certification in Polarity Therapy.

I'd like to briefly share one of these early encounters. This took place in a most unlikely setting for me. I was invited by a friend to an ashram, a yogic teaching center, to witness a celebration of the guru's birthday. The auditorium was overwhelmingly jam-packed, but through my friend's influence we were quickly ushered in to meet the guru. It happened in her presence. I found myself almost dumfounded and confused at first and then illuminated like an incandescent bulb. I also felt touched in every sense of the word, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Soon afterwards we left the ashram in silence and when we arrived back at the hotel where we were staying, other acquaintances in the lobby asked, "Where were you?" Again I was silent. I couldn't say a thing. "Look at your face," they said, it's radiant; light is beaming from you. Some weeks later I told the full   version of this story to my teacher at the Polarity Wellness Center in Cambridge. I asked him, "Why would an experience like that happen when, in fact, my friend who visits the ashram frequently never experienced anything?" He replied, "because you were open to it."

I tell this and other stories like it because such experiences are available to all of us and perhaps my stories will encourage others to open their hearts. What I subsequently discovered is that I can recreate these impassioned emotions Jewishly: studying Torah, performing Mitzvot or sometimes how I pray. Take Shabbat, for instance, I realize that this is a lesson in trusting G-d and perceiving the perfection of the universe. I don't work on this day, so I'm free-the freedom of redemption-to explore myself for twenty-four hours; something I can never do during the week.

I can look around and realize, for example, that all the edible delights are as available as they were in Paradise. Yes, I know we bought all those groceries in the supermarket yesterday and paid for it with the money we earned all week. But I can use Shabbat to imagine the Garden of Eden, its glory, its holiness and bask there in my mind. The power of the imagination brings to us all the energy of the original Garden. Imagination is the door that opens to possibilities of higher worlds where scientists, artists and mystics receive their inspiration.

And so it is the same for all of Torah: the stories, the statutes and the precepts.  Each narrative and each Mitzvah has a special purpose that aids in opening us to higher levels of consciousness. On the surface they may not seem very practical-they certainly won't help you get a job-but they were formulated, over the millennia, to plumb the depths of the soul. The effect of each mitzvah we do (Torah study and prayer included) resonates through all levels of consciousness, from the body to the soul and from p'shat (simple understanding) to sod (mystery).  I see this very same phenomenon occur in Polarity therapy. A body contact or a certain movement, a word, a thought sends energy waves to the core of a person to be later distributed wherever it's most needed for healing.  Jewish tradition talks about five levels of soul. The highest which an ordinary person can attain is called neshama. Perhaps these experiences are glimpses into neshama consciousness. Who knows.