Reality is Beautiful

One of my marvelous commenters pointed me to this essay, describing the spiritual journey of someone I would call an “advanced philosophical Taoist”.  It’s pretty darn awesome.

It also contains this passage, which jumped out at me right away.  I think it describes very well the type of “spiritual experience” I’ve had as a result of the meditations I’m learning, which I’ve called (tongue-in-cheekily, if you didn’t notice) “rock-solid evidence of the spiritual realm”.

Cheekiness aside, though, this is worth numbing certain lower extremities (cheeks included ;) with long bouts of kneeling on hard floors:

Normally, your attention is focussed, on something you are looking at or listening to, or in a semi-dream-state of reverie, but with a meditative sense of attention this focus and dreaminess vanishes and you are immersed in a total, holistic sense of the real. It is both magnificent and calming. It humbles you, and brings you to the realization of how beautiful simply living is, and how trivial all your worries and difficulties are. Profound insights about the world would strike me whenever in such a state, leading far more readily and powerfully to an understan[d]ing of myself and the world than studying or reasoning ever did.