Have you ever experienced spiritual sight as love at first sight? Each day we are given the gift to see spiritually with wonder and newness, much like a child might experience their world or someone might experience falling in love. I am revisiting this blog post and adding a recent experience I had of this spiritual "Love at First Sight." I had been traveling and got back home into my regular routine of going to exercise class at the gym. All of a sudden, this strong inner feeling and knowing arose from within and I felt deep love for all the people around me. After this experience I was reminded of a similar experience Thomas Merton had who was a monk and mystic.
Here is what happened to him:
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander pp 153 – 154 "In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness. The whole illusion of a separate holy existence is a dream."
There can be other ways of experiencing spiritual sight, but often we need a shift in perspective or a Holy Bump on our Spiritual Journey. I work with people frequently who are in a spiritual rut and need a reboot or a new perspective. Sometimes slowly reflecting on a spiritual writing, poem, song or art will facilitate a Holy Bump.
Take a moment to read and reflect on the following excerpt slowly several times and notice if any word, phrase or idea shimmers for you:
"The true power of love at first sight is often missed because we insist on limiting it's meaning to the sweep of falling into another person upon first meeting. To appreciate the deeper sense of this we must uncover and reclaim the importance of first sight itself, which has more to do with seeing things essentially, rather than physically, for the first time.
We all walk around within the numbness of our habits and routines so often that we take the marvels of ordinary life for granted. It is first sight that opens the freshness of each moment, unencumbered by any of our habits and routines. First sight is the moment of God-sight, heart-sight, soul-sight. It is the seeing of revelation, the feeling of oneness that briefly overcomes us when nothing remains in the way.
At it's deepest and most real level, the notion of love at first sight is spoken of in every spiritual tradition as the reward for being fully awake. Such seeing anew restores our sense of being alive. Paradoxically, first sight is recurring. In the same way that we wake every day, we regularly return to first sight in the rhythm of our wakefulness of spirit. Whenever we can see with that original vision--with nothing between us and the life around us--we can't help but love what we see......
In this regard, first seeing is an ever-present threshold to the majesty of what is." (The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo)
Close your eyes and take your word or phrase deep within and simply notice, then rest in the moment.
Open your eyes and anticipate noticing and seeing with new vision like love at first sight.
Consider journaling your reflections.
Feel free to share your reflections or experiences of spiritual sight or insight in comments.
If you are desiring to experience new life and sight on your spiritual journey, feel free to contact me for a complimentary 30-minute zoom discovery session to find out more about spiritual direction and coaching with Soul's Sanctuary. ( beingwiththe1@gmail.com )
May this day bring you renewed sight!!
Carol Mullen
Spiritual Director & Coach
Contact for a free 30-minute zoom discovery session: beingwiththe1@gmail.com
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