Tuesday, January 24, 2006
More about Beautiful Odors
After I wrote the above entry about the glorious scents I experienced when I visited the beautiful meditation garden of the Yogananda ashram in Encinitas, California, I learned more about others who have had similar experiences. One friend, who has been undergoing intense Kundalini awakening for many years, says that for a very long time she smelled what she called "weird odors." I don't know if they were pleasant or not, but they definitely were there. And I heard from another friend about two people who were ill and had sought the help of a Zen priest/healer. Even when they returned home, they could smell the sanctified odors of the healing experience.
W. B. Yeats (the great poet/occultist of Ireland in the first part of the past century) reported that his house was filled with the smell of roses the night his son was born. (He also sensed noxious odors at other times).
And I remembered that once, many years ago, I could smell the odor of violets in my palm, and when I offered my hand to my friend, she could smell them too.
After I came back from my visit to southern California, I noticed that a particular soup tasted extremely salty and strong. However, a few days later, the soup was bland rather than pungent.
Now I am wondering if these acute sensory responses occur when one enters a heightened state of awareness, so that even a tiny variation in the sensory field becomes detectable. On the other hand, I love to believe that this effect comes through a kind of grace, a token from the divine of sacred love and holy embrace.
In any event, it feels like a blessing bestowed by heavenly beings, the unseen spirits who surround us and lift us forward in our lives.
W. B. Yeats (the great poet/occultist of Ireland in the first part of the past century) reported that his house was filled with the smell of roses the night his son was born. (He also sensed noxious odors at other times).
And I remembered that once, many years ago, I could smell the odor of violets in my palm, and when I offered my hand to my friend, she could smell them too.
After I came back from my visit to southern California, I noticed that a particular soup tasted extremely salty and strong. However, a few days later, the soup was bland rather than pungent.
Now I am wondering if these acute sensory responses occur when one enters a heightened state of awareness, so that even a tiny variation in the sensory field becomes detectable. On the other hand, I love to believe that this effect comes through a kind of grace, a token from the divine of sacred love and holy embrace.
In any event, it feels like a blessing bestowed by heavenly beings, the unseen spirits who surround us and lift us forward in our lives.
