Observations placeholder

The Mystical Life – J H M Whiteman

(August 1932) While apparently awake physically, I entered a state of extreme freedom and found myself standing upright in some open place where the air was fresher and the light brighter. The space around could be almost tangibly felt. My mental state, which was vividly real and quite unmistakable, but almost impossible to describe, was that of an infant, lonely or lost, and trying to bear up, without crying, against the emptying feeling produced.

This mental state in no way seemed that of another human being; it was mine, although I knew it objectively. After a few moments (to describe things very inadequately and from an adult point of view) I became aware of a presence nearby inspiring comfort and identified with the idea of ‘Mother' (not a specific person, but something more archetypal, while still being individually and solidly personal).

Nothing could be seen; but I tottered forward as very young children do, and at once heard, in extraordinary reality, the sound of the deep steady breathing of someone far larger, close at hand. The sound was almost in the ear when, by a quick change, consciousness was restored to the physical body.

I then began to put into words and adult ways of thinking what previously had been directly identified and recollected perceptions and feelings.