From time to time all of us experience unusual moments of - is it insight? - is it revelation? - simply a shift in awareness or a glimpse of enlightenment? Such moments come up unannounced, intruding as it were upon a walk, a sit, a reading, and a conversation. Sometimes they strike one powerfully as a brief insight that tells us of further reaches of mind, of our relationship with the universe, an epiphany.
These are humble moments, seemingly nothing special, but they leave a taste, a confirming realisation, transcendence, and a joy. Even a minute’s worth can do it – far more an hour. Epiphanies vary in depth and clarity. Some have the paradox of a koan latent in them. Others call forth a line of poetry or more. Some may later stimulate philosophy. Some seem worth recalling, indeed may insist upon it. They may mean nothing to someone else – or trigger a sort of mutual understanding. Sometimes they can be shared in the very moment of experiencing. A meeting of eyes, a remark, a laugh, a phrase in a book can do it. Statues may start one off. The sun emerging from cloud - moonlight through pines -
What is it that allows such moments? They are not predictable but a combination of highly focussed attention, unconscious of its origin or presence, and a particular, meaningful setting seem common contexts. They are a common stimulus for writers, painters, and artists of all sorts, music.
In the brief verses that follow simple events and insights set something off – not at all always the same thing - maybe a simple insight, maybe a sudden joy, maybe a momentary epiphany - rarely - an enlightenment going beyond discussion.
Here are a few such. Maybe they will help you recall or discover your own.