style="font-size:15px;"> I told the admissions officer how something inspired me to stop as I passed their campus. I showed him my letter of acceptance to dental school and asked how their course requirements compared. He said they were almost identical and that there was only one space left in their upcoming class; he asked if I wanted to apply. I pulled out the application that I had completed the night before, along with my transcripts. He reviewed them and looked up with a surprised expression. “I’ve never done this before, but if you want the slot, it’s yours!” He then indicated that I was only required to pass two of the three science courses required by dental school.
By the time I returned to the University of Georgia the following week a conditional letter of acceptance was waiting for me. I passed the two courses at the University of Miami that summer and began studies at Southern College of Optometry in the fall of 1969.
Foresight Is 20/20
Many years ago while observing an artist at work, I noticed he periodically stepped back and gazed at his canvas. I asked him what he was looking at. He told me he was not aware of looking at anything specifically but just stood back to see if anything seemed incomplete. As he stood there I noticed that his eyes were randomly scanning and only paused when something called their attention. It soon became clear that the artist’s eyes showed him where more attention was needed on the canvas, in the same way our eyes are drawn to whatever requires our presence in any given moment.
Our eyes are continually responding to the light that catches them. As we discover this subtle yet profound aspect of our makeup, we begin to trust its guidance and follow it without question, heightening our ability to see the inner workings of our lives with greater clarity and acceptance.
During the separation period prior to my divorce in the late 1970s, my life consisted of a series of extremely upsetting events. I kept having recurring confrontations and reacting to them with angry outbursts. One day, after one of these experiences, I recognized why this pattern was repeating itself in my life. After that, the lag time between one of these incidents and my awareness of why it was happening shortened. I realized that consciousness evolves and, at times, I was able to recognize what was happening as it occurred. Immediately I thought, “Aha! I’ve finally arrived!” — but as soon as my ego wanted to take credit, I ended up right back at square one.
After a while, however, I had a magical experience. In the midst of a situation that previously would have disturbed me I felt calm and fully aware. I felt a deep sense of humility, as if I were in a state of grace. Shortly after that experience I was once again stopped in my tracks. An event would occur and I would immediately realize that I had sensed it happening just a few minutes earlier. Was this merely a coincidence or can awareness precede experience? Is it possible that we are inseparably connected with the intelligence of life, guided by a form of precognition?
Before giant waves slammed into Sri Lanka and India’s coastlines in December 2004, wild and domestic animals seemed to know what was about to happen and started shrieking and fleeing to safety. As a result, very few animals died when the waves hit — yet more than 150,000 people were killed.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, experts believe that animals possess a sixth sense that enables them to recognize imminent danger long before humans do. But humans also possess this sixth sense. The only difference is that we have been taught to question what we instinctively “know” and to trust what we “think.” We believe “hindsight is 20/20” because most of us become aware of things after they occur. But what if we are designed to perceive things before they occur? What if foresight is actually 20/20? In Jungian psychology, intuition is the psychological function that allows us to sense what will occur before it happens. Many artists are “ahead of their time,” trusting their intuition to guide their visionary work.
Seeing the Invisible
In 2010 I was elected president of the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM), an organization of scientists, physicians, and wellness practitioners interested in the impact of consciousness on health and well-being. Three weeks after our annual conference, I had an extraordinary experience.
After falling into a deep sleep one night, I became aware that I was observing myself sleeping in bed. I noticed the rise and fall of my chest and the sounds of my breath. I was also cognizant that my sleeping body was dreaming, as I was able to see the dream.
In the dream, two people were introducing me to a large audience at the 2011 ISSSEEM conference — one was my daughter and the other a close friend. I then proceeded to deliver the presidential address, after which I received a standing ovation.
A couple months after the dream my daughter called and asked if I thought her partner at the time could submit a proposal to speak at the 2011 conference. I agreed, but since he led safaris in Africa I could not imagine what he would present that would be pertinent to the focus of the group.
In early October the Program Committee met in California to finalize their list of presenters. When we began discussing applicants, my colleagues were excited about a proposal from this fellow who wanted to discuss conscious human contact with animals in the African wild. I listened quietly. Within minutes the committee had agreed to invite him to speak. I had never told them that he was my daughter’s boyfriend.
As it turned out, my daughter attended the 2011 conference with her partner. When a former ISSSEEM president who was slated to introduce me became ill at the last moment, my daughter and close friend Brian ended up doing it, and following my presentation there was indeed an ovation. I had not been dreaming after all.
This experience was fascinating for many reasons, including the fact that everything I had previously learned about sleep described deep, dreamless sleep as unconsciousness. Yet consciousness was obviously awake and aware, pointing to the ever-present nature of awareness.
As an example, a 2013 study published in the journal PLOS ONE found that experienced meditators who claim to be aware during deep sleep exhibit brain activity typically seen during waking consciousness. To further confirm this, a recent meta-analysis published in the December 2016 issue of Trends in Cognitive Sciences suggests that consciousness does not turn off when one enters deep sleep. According to Evan Thompson, professor at the University of British Columbia and one of the paper’s authors, “Consciousness, in the sense of sheer awareness or feeling of being or existing, continues in deep sleep, even when ordinary mental activity (thoughts, emotions, mental images) has quieted down or stopped.” The evidence presented in these studies along with my direct experience led me to believe that, like light, consciousness is all-pervasive.
An Ocean in a Drop
Years ago while spiritual teacher Ram Dass was visiting Maui, I invited him to sit in with a men’s group I had been part of for many years. During our sharing, one of the members asked Ram Dass to speak about presence.
“Presence,” he said, “is like baklava — it includes everything. . . the nuts, the honey, the phyllo dough.”
It was a funny way to describe presence. Yet it was so true. Presence is pure awareness and includes everything, even those times we do not think we are being present. Most of us think of being present in relation to others, our feelings, or a specific situation. But that is based on the idea that we are living life separately from one another rather than recognizing that we are life, inextricably linked to every living thing.
In any given moment everything and everyone is intimately connected to and collaborating with everything else. The same force that moves the tides and changes the seasons also animates the beating of our heart. So when an insight or a feeling suddenly imprints on our awareness, it is not an accident. The intelligence of life is looking for us,
