(Photo by pareeerica on flickr)
In my last post, some of you mentioned Egypt as a place high on your list of travel dreams. Reading about Egypt in your comments made me recall about an experience I had regarding this place. No…I have not been there physically. Rather, I traveled there in my mind. It was a “travel” that took place last year. If anything, the journey also got me to truly understand what abundance was.
The event happened during a period when I was contemplating if I should go back to the banking profession. The job market was booming. Salary prospects looked promising. “Would I sell my time once again to doing something that I am not inwardly passionate about,” I asked myself. “The money sure looks attractive,” I reasoned.
My then 6-year old elder daughter, Hui, came to me for a school project that she needed help in. Everyone in class was to present the country they would like to visit most.
“Now which country would you like to visit?” I asked.
“Egypt”, she replied matter-of-factly.
Egypt? I was confused. What did she know about Egypt? I have not mentioned Egypt as a place that I wanted to go nor did I recall ever having much conversations with her about pyramids, Egypt and all. Where did she get the idea from? I wondered.
“Honey, how about you present some place else?” I asked. “How about Disneyland in the States or Japan? Or how about presenting about Australia?” I wanted to change her mind, as I would rather help her with a place I knew more about or had an interest in. Talk about being such a practical mother!
No, it had to be Egypt. And neither could she explain the exact reasons why she was choosing this place.
Exasperated, I gave up persuading Hui after two days. In the end, I asked my husband to help her with the school project instead. It would not be too difficult for him as he had been to Egypt while he was a student. After viewing the completed project made in power point slides and complimenting Hui for “a great job”, I promptly forgot about her project.
One evening, some one to two months later, I was about to meditate. I decided to make an intention. A request, really. To ask to be shown what abundance was. (I was at that time still in turmoil, undecided whether or not to go back to my former profession.) I have not always gotten my prayer requests answered so quickly but strangely, my experience with this one was different.
As soon as I went into the Silence, I got a flash.
I “saw” a girl about 7-8 years old. She was dressed in white and standing next to a river. She could also be standing in a boat. I tried to get an impression of where she came from. She sure looked different. She had short hair in a bob style; and if anything, seemed to be wearing robes of a different era (definitely not modern!).
Mentally, I asked: Where is this place?
The answer was instant: Egypt.
What river is this?
Answer: River Nile.
I tried to get a sense of who she was and how she was like. She was wise beyond her years; beautiful, quiet.
I then asked: Do I know her? Who is she?
Inner knowing arose swiftly.
I was her.
The flash was gone.
I came out of meditation, filled with questions. What was it that I have just experienced? Was I really her? Was there a message for me? I could not wait for morning to come.
I called my friend the next day. She was an advanced meditator. Being intuitively attuned, she did a quick reading for me. Yes…I was the girl in Egypt. She warned me not to seek for answers. The answers will come naturally in a meditation, if they were meant to.
Was I going to listen to my friend? No. I was too anxious for a message. I needed to know. I needed to find out.
The next evening, I went into meditation, intending to find answers to my questions. Almost immediately, I was transported back to the same era. I saw the same girl this time, lying on a concrete slab.
Wait! Hold on a minute! She was terminally ill. She was incredibly sad. I felt her immense grief. Her emotional pain was more than the physical pain.
Was she leaving someone behind?
The answer was yes - she was.
If you use the camera, you’d know what I would be talking about here. It is like unzooming to get a wider perspective and you begin to see this other person in the same image. A little girl was standing next to her.
Tears started to roll down my cheeks.
I asked mentally, Who is this little sister?
The word “Egypt” popped into my mind.
Instinctively, I asked: Is she Hui?
Answer: Yes.
The dying girl did not want to leave behind the little sister she had. She found it hard to let go of her attachment to her sister. She loved her and knew that her little sister looked up to her. Her lifetime was just too short to experience all there was, with her sister.
Her grief consumed me. Like a floodgate, tears started to pour.
I could bear it no longer. I was sobbing at this point. I wanted to come out of my meditation. The last flash of insight came, just before I opened my eyes: Before passing on, the dying girl intended to meet her baby sister once again.
It was already 3 a.m. I sat on my bed in darkness, awakened. After all these years, I finally understood what abundance was. The chance to experience love again with Hui (and most likely, with each of my family members too). Love was the answer I was seeking for. Not money, not material wealth or a career with prospects.
I felt the raw emotion of pain and suffering. At the same time, I was grateful for the insight that came to me at such a deep level. Any knowing that my life was blessed was purely superficial up to this night. I had previously taken far too many things for granted. From the looks of things externally, I was abundant. But I had always focused on my lack; lamenting about the places I have not been and the things I did not have. What an idiot I was!
There and then, I made up my mind. I decided not to go back to a banking job; so that I would always be available to walk my daughter to and from school. I’d cherish the chance to hold her hands as we take the walk together every day. I’d be there if she needed me.
Overnight, I experienced a shift. I started appreciating all the little things in life; being joyful in each moment of Now. I swore that I would not waste my life or ever to walk in unawareness of the beauty around again. I began to embrace whole-heartedly and deeply a wider definition of what abundance is: Peace, Love, Light, Joy, Beauty and Wisdom.
My “travel” to Egypt was the start of more revelations to come. By now, I already have a record of a number of “travels” in handwritten notes; enough to fill a book. Each time, my soul intended to come back to complete unresolved issues, to experience love again, to finish off lessons that I have yet learned. In a sense, I have never really “died”; merely transformed.
Lastly, I also decided to stay true to my meditative experiences. Still, it has taken me about a year before I am finally sharing more about them on my site.
Strangely, I felt a jolt while scouring through pictures of Egypt to go with this post. Will I want to visit Egypt physically? I don’t know. I really don’t. Perhaps, if I do ever make it there, I will have another tale to tell on this blog.
Now, over to you. Do you have any similar experiences to share? Do you often feel inclined to dressing up as someone from a different culture? Or have you ever gotten a deja vu feeling about a place you thought you have never visited before? Please write your story below.
(Photo by pareeerica on flickr)
In my last post, some of you mentioned Egypt as a place high on your list of travel dreams. Reading about Egypt in your comments made me recall about an experience I had regarding this place. No…I have not been there physically. Rather, I traveled there in my mind. It was a “travel” that took place last year. If anything, the journey also got me to truly understand what abundance was.
The event happened during a period when I was contemplating if I should go back to the banking profession. The job market was booming. Salary prospects looked promising. “Would I sell my time once again to doing something that I am not inwardly passionate about,” I asked myself. “The money sure looks attractive,” I reasoned.
My then 6-year old elder daughter, Hui, came to me for a school project that she needed help in. Everyone in class was to present the country they would like to visit most.
“Now which country would you like to visit?” I asked.
“Egypt”, she replied matter-of-factly.
Egypt? I was confused. What did she know about Egypt? I have not mentioned Egypt as a place that I wanted to go nor did I recall ever having much conversations with her about pyramids, Egypt and all. Where did she get the idea from? I wondered.
“Honey, how about you present some place else?” I asked. “How about Disneyland in the States or Japan? Or how about presenting about Australia?” I wanted to change her mind, as I would rather help her with a place I knew more about or had an interest in. Talk about being such a practical mother!
No, it had to be Egypt. And neither could she explain the exact reasons why she was choosing this place.
Exasperated, I gave up persuading Hui after two days. In the end, I asked my husband to help her with the school project instead. It would not be too difficult for him as he had been to Egypt while he was a student. After viewing the completed project made in power point slides and complimenting Hui for “a great job”, I promptly forgot about her project.
One evening, some one to two months later, I was about to meditate. I decided to make an intention. A request, really. To ask to be shown what abundance was. (I was at that time still in turmoil, undecided whether or not to go back to my former profession.) I have not always gotten my prayer requests answered so quickly but strangely, my experience with this one was different.
As soon as I went into the Silence, I got a flash.
I “saw” a girl about 7-8 years old. She was dressed in white and standing next to a river. She could also be standing in a boat. I tried to get an impression of where she came from. She sure looked different. She had short hair in a bob style; and if anything, seemed to be wearing robes of a different era (definitely not modern!).
Mentally, I asked: Where is this place?
The answer was instant: Egypt.
What river is this?
Answer: River Nile.
I tried to get a sense of who she was and how she was like. She was wise beyond her years; beautiful, quiet.
I then asked: Do I know her? Who is she?
Inner knowing arose swiftly.
I was her.
The flash was gone.
I came out of meditation, filled with questions. What was it that I have just experienced? Was I really her? Was there a message for me? I could not wait for morning to come.
I called my friend the next day. She was an advanced meditator. Being intuitively attuned, she did a quick reading for me. Yes…I was the girl in Egypt. She warned me not to seek for answers. The answers will come naturally in a meditation, if they were meant to.
Was I going to listen to my friend? No. I was too anxious for a message. I needed to know. I needed to find out.
The next evening, I went into meditation, intending to find answers to my questions. Almost immediately, I was transported back to the same era. I saw the same girl this time, lying on a concrete slab.
Wait! Hold on a minute! She was terminally ill. She was incredibly sad. I felt her immense grief. Her emotional pain was more than the physical pain.
Was she leaving someone behind?
The answer was yes - she was.
If you use the camera, you’d know what I would be talking about here. It is like unzooming to get a wider perspective and you begin to see this other person in the same image. A little girl was standing next to her.
Tears started to roll down my cheeks.
I asked mentally, Who is this little sister?
The word “Egypt” popped into my mind.
Instinctively, I asked: Is she Hui?
Answer: Yes.
The dying girl did not want to leave behind the little sister she had. She found it hard to let go of her attachment to her sister. She loved her and knew that her little sister looked up to her. Her lifetime was just too short to experience all there was, with her sister.
Her grief consumed me. Like a floodgate, tears started to pour.
I could bear it no longer. I was sobbing at this point. I wanted to come out of my meditation. The last flash of insight came, just before I opened my eyes: Before passing on, the dying girl intended to meet her baby sister once again.
It was already 3 a.m. I sat on my bed in darkness, awakened. After all these years, I finally understood what abundance was. The chance to experience love again with Hui (and most likely, with each of my family members too). Love was the answer I was seeking for. Not money, not material wealth or a career with prospects.
I felt the raw emotion of pain and suffering. At the same time, I was grateful for the insight that came to me at such a deep level. Any knowing that my life was blessed was purely superficial up to this night. I had previously taken far too many things for granted. From the looks of things externally, I was abundant. But I had always focused on my lack; lamenting about the places I have not been and the things I did not have. What an idiot I was!
There and then, I made up my mind. I decided not to go back to a banking job; so that I would always be available to walk my daughter to and from school. I’d cherish the chance to hold her hands as we take the walk together every day. I’d be there if she needed me.
Overnight, I experienced a shift. I started appreciating all the little things in life; being joyful in each moment of Now. I swore that I would not waste my life or ever to walk in unawareness of the beauty around again. I began to embrace whole-heartedly and deeply a wider definition of what abundance is: Peace, Love, Light, Joy, Beauty and Wisdom.
My “travel” to Egypt was the start of more revelations to come. By now, I already have a record of a number of “travels” in handwritten notes; enough to fill a book. Each time, my soul intended to come back to complete unresolved issues, to experience love again, to finish off lessons that I have yet learned. In a sense, I have never really “died”; merely transformed.
Lastly, I also decided to stay true to my meditative experiences. Still, it has taken me about a year before I am finally sharing more about them on my site.
Strangely, I felt a jolt while scouring through pictures of Egypt to go with this post. Will I want to visit Egypt physically? I don’t know. I really don’t. Perhaps, if I do ever make it there, I will have another tale to tell on this blog.
Now, over to you. Do you have any similar experiences to share? Do you often feel inclined to dressing up as someone from a different culture? Or have you ever gotten a deja vu feeling about a place you thought you have never visited before? Please write your story below.