This glimpse is called the memory door.
One of the helpful pointers that's often used by meditation teachers is to tell a student to try not to attempt to recreate a positive meditation experience or to chase after a good state.
Instead,
The instruction is just to simply let everything arise naturally without hope or fear or expectation.
This is good advice.
However,
Here is one way to use a past experience as a doorway to what is here now.
Here's how I discovered it.
A first-time student came up to me during the first break of a day-long introduction to open-hearted awareness.
She said,
I'm so frustrated.
I don't get the spaciousness or the peace or the well-being that everyone else seems to be experiencing.
I said to her,
Okay,
Do you have a minute?
Sure.
Can you think of a time that you did feel peace,
Spaciousness,
And well-being?
She looked perplexed for a moment,
But then she said,
Oh yeah,
A couple of weeks ago I went hiking with some friends and we went to the state forest and walked up a hill.
It was beautiful.
I felt so good.
Great,
I said.
Let's use that experience,
Which happened in the past,
To help you realize that that same natural capacity is here now.
Here's the exercise I did that you can try now.
Close your eyes.
Settle in.
And now allow yourself to choose a memory of a time when you felt a natural sense of well-being,
Of awareness,
Spaciousness,
Presence,
Sense of peace of mind,
Of loving-kindness,
Of unconditional love,
And connectedness.
Remember that time,
And now,
In your mind,
See and feel every detail of that day.
Hear the sounds.
Smell the smells.
See the colors.
Feel the air on your skin.
Notice the enjoyment of whoever you're with or wherever you are.
Feel yourself completely in that experience.
Now visualize and feel yourself as if you're right in the middle of that experience.
And focus on the arising of these natural qualities of well-being.
Feel the openness,
Connection,
Sense of peace or well-being or whatever it is.
Savor these experiences.
Feel them right here and now,
Related to that experience.
Feel what it's like to be without dissatisfaction,
Without seeking,
To be here,
To be happy,
To be joyous and free.
Now,
Feeling these feelings,
Feeling from being,
Begin to slowly and completely let go of the visualization.
Let go of the past and all associated memories.
Remain connected to the joy of being that is here now.
Feel that this is naturally arising without a memory,
Without an association.
That you've opened a door,
That you've discovered a way to uncover what is naturally here.
That you didn't need to go anywhere or do anything.
Realize that the well-being that was experienced then is also here now and does not require any particular place or activity.
Once you've discovered,
It's within.
Slowly open your eyes,
Feeling this sense of well-being,
Of joy of being.
That has nothing now to do with the past or the future,
But has been uncovered and revealed,
Not to be a state associated with an experience,
But your very ground of being,
Who you are and how you can live.
Thank you.
