The Vision of Mr. A. (a) "I went to bed and was on the verge of nearly falling asleep when, through my closed eyes, I saw a round shape of light to the left of me. It moved towards me, growing larger as it came, until I was surrounded by it. So brilliant was the visual effect, that I received the impression that the room itself was lit up. At the same time there was a powerful pulsating vibration going on around me, as if dynamic energy accompanied the light. With it all, there was a strong feeling that P.B. was present, or somehow associated with it, and with him, strong peace. But as I had never before had any mystic experience or any, in my ignorance, intellectual familiarity with the subject, I became alarmed as to what would happen next, and quite frightened, got up and brought the experience to an end. A week or two later, while sitting at a crowded public function, the peace returned very markedly but briefly, yet I saw no light. A couple of weeks later I stayed awake in bed for some time unable to sleep. Then the light appeared to the left of the bed. It expanded until the whole room was full of it. I got a feeling of boundless energy being at my command, with its centre in the region behind the navel. Another few weeks and a third experience happened. I had just switched off the bedside lamp and in the darkness that fell with eyes only half shut I saw a vertical shaft of light in the distance. I felt myself drawn out of the body and propelled forward at jetplane speed into space. There was peace and power but in two or three minutes it was all over. The light remained in the distance all the time I moved towards it." (b) "Generally the experience started with inability to sleep at night causing a restless feeling, but around midnight a throbbing of the solar plexus started and this powerful force was felt there. It mounted and then there was a kind of change of consciousness, a feeling of not being the body, almost of being out of it and separated from it, of being weightless and in space yet near to the body, developed. The dynamic character of the experience was followed by a sense of utter peace. Nevertheless I seemed to know that there was something beyond this which I had not attained. I wanted to attain it so I resolved to continue the meditation practice regularly if possible."
-- Notebooks Category 22: Inspiration and the Overself > Chapter 4 : Introduction To Mystical Glimpses > # 196
