My Encounter with Spiritual Revelation

Page 100: Ives in a moment of pure clarity that he would always remember, began to feel euphoric,
all the worlds goodness, as it were, spinning around him.
In Mr. Ives Christmas, Ives has a moment of spiritual pleasure/awareness/oneness on Madison
and Forty-first street. He recounts the following: Ground shifting, buildings bowing, the physical world
simply a grand joke, feeling life in concrete below and envisioning the complex networkings of pipes,
cables, and wires, as if he could hear molecules grinding, see light shifting, feel the vibrancy of things
and spirit everywhere, anything seeming possible, the sun enlarged, four colors pinwheeling in the sky, a
love for all things, judging himself saintly, recognizing that to hear, to smell, to see, to feel, are all
miraculous. This experience seemed to happen out of nowhere and contain perceptions beyond what is
human. Ives felt a lasting impact from this experience. The experienced confirmed the otherworldly and
served as something to strive for. Ives even sought out other similar stories across religions. I had a
similar experience with similar sensations and lasting effects.
This is a personal story which I have told very few people due to its nature and onset. I was in
Rochester, Michigan for a music festival called The Electric Forest. The music is mostly EDM (electronic
dance music) with some indie-pop and experimental alternative. The festival lasts 3 days and all
attendees camp on-site. These factors contributed to a shared love among all forest-goers. We were a
family with a home. Our destinies brought us together to celebrate the love we share and the beauty of
the earth. I had never seen so much honest, unconditional compassion and happiness.
This music and atmosphere lent itself to a pervasive amount of drug abuse, particularly of
psychedelic and euphoric drugs. Many foresters used drugs to a dangerous excess. A man died of a
heroin overdose hours before the forest even opened. Many foresters attributed their sensations to
their drugstheir fun, their connection to the music and the universe. On the first full night, I took a hit
of LSD. As with my previous drug experimentation (alcohol and marijuana), I hoped to see the world
from a new perspective. I sought insight into the mysteries of reality. I wanted that experience to grow
with, and I knew the forest was a safe space I could do this in.
The LSD was pure, creeping up on me, altering my perceptions (mostly visual as the world
breathed, physical boundaries fluctuating and bubbling), then sending me on an initial trip to the border
of my consciousness, then settling back down into that altered reality that seemed as though everything
could be seen in its true form. I was mentally and spiritually primed, as if I was able to see the fabric of
the universe that we are all made of. Reality was subjective in its physicality and origin in space and
time. I could see auras emanating from people and nature, and in the forest this energy was
everywhere.
I then added the drug mali to the mix, a complex synthesis of MDMA/ecstasy. Experiencing a
dump of dopamine, I entered a carpe diem sort of mentality, where everything was go, and yes, devoid
of any sort of negativity. The world was a playground and anything was possible. I could create my own
destiny. I became entirely aware of every part of my body down to the nervous systems electrical
impulses. I desired to be more fit. I could feel colors and music physically and spiritually.
Most of all, I could feel energy. All around me there were people doing whatever they loved,
outwardly expressing who they were. Some became touchy-feely, some became entranced in a
forest/rave activity (dancing, gloving, juggling). I became an adventurer, exploring the forest by instinct,
witnessing love, facilitating it and contemplating it. I could literally feel the joy that others felt. I
recognized myself as a conduit of light. I was a guide and leader. There was oneness in all things,
connecting us so intimately that there was little to no disparity between me and anyone else and
everything that ever was.
As a spiritual person, everything I was experiencing to me was a confirmation of all that I had
believed to be true about God/love. I philosophized about the beauty of this omnipresent love. I became
fully aware of who/what I was and where I was in the universe, unendingly grateful and humble to God.
I shared that good news with others, helping them understand what they were feeling. The forest
became a metaphor for what life can be like when one fully flourishes and when we collectively share in
love. Drugs were never necessary. All these truths had always existed. It became clear that our duty as
spiritual beings is to fully embrace the human experience while we are human, as all these other feelings
will have their season. Obedience to God/love is what is important and what will lead us to a fully
spiritual existence. The rest of the night I watched the clouds and trees sift in transcendent beauty. I
couldnt help but feel perfect joy in the promise/evidence of love/God.
Like Mr. Ives, I carry my spiritual experience with me. I oftentimes can feel the same kind of
sweeping, omnidirectional flow of Gods presence in all things, especially in the presence of nature. I
seek to reveal my experience as an everpresent truth on earth, though the human condition involves
great suffering that makes identifying such feelings very difficult, requiring deep understanding and
intonation and a constant desire to learn and love as much as possible.

(Forgive me if this isnt entirely tangible to you as a reader. It was difficult to put into words.)