“Long before enlightenment you can have a sense of non-doing, of not being the doer of doing, the actor who acts. It happened to me 30 years ago. In this state every little ordinary act, no matter how menial, can cause a thrill of bliss. It comes with a feeling of non-resistance to actions, and it is that which causes the sense of joy and freedom. This is both mental and a physical sensation similar to Tai Chi or Chi Gung where it feels your body is very nimble and athletic and walking down the road can feel like a dance. Literally. But I have a feeling that this may not happen to everyone because people are different from each other and some have more of a tendency for certain experiences than others. Having said that I have to add that I cannot speak for everyone.

But in this state even the sense of a Witness is not there. It is as if you were absent as a self. It feels like a total non-resistance as if the universe was just moving through you and you had no part in it, no part to play, nothing to do, and no volition. The whole universe seems to be flowing at once in an unrestricted flow of infinity and you feel a boundless energy and a sense of well-being and health.

I was walking across a field with my dog and the whole world seemed to stop. Everything was still. My mind was silent. It was as if the ordinary me was not there anymore. This has happened to many ordinary people throughout the ages. It can be very awesome. But one odd thing was that I knew every thought I was going to think before I thought it. There was no sense of time. It was like that, but to a lesser extent, for two years till it gradually faded. But it came back years later with the second initiation.”