Beyond the Known
Lessons in Life School (Lesson 7)
Play to Listen.
There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen. ~ Rumi
Beyond the Known
“Have you ever had a transcendental experience?” I heard that question this week and it seemed to capture this week’s focus pretty well. Wherever I went, whomever I talked to, whatever I did, the veil was lifting beyond the physical, material world. Words associated with what is beyond the known have become a part of my daily lexicon: God, Source, synchronicity, Higher Self, spirit, Guides, heart center, energy, chakras, frequency and vibration, Knowing, Love.
(Beyond the Known is also the name of a book you should read. It might just blow your mind.)
But I digress.
It occurred to me today how huge a disparity there is between the my personal reality and the reality portrayed in the news. The images on the nightly news are fully grounded in the human experience as it exists in the material world. That includes such things as cancelled flights, heavy traffic, snow storms, political discord, as well as acts of violence, warfare, flood, and famine. And while I understand that all of that is happening (and sometimes, to me), those things occupy such a small bit of my lived experiences.
It begs the question: If the media covered the lives of people like me, what would the nightly news be like? I thought it would be interesting to share some of my recent brushes with the transcendental where the presence of God is more real than cancelled flights. And allow me to suggest that you check your own lived experiences to see what you find.
More Common than You Think
As you might already know, when I’m not writing something, I’m playing my gong for people. Earlier this week I played for a group of four people in a home. Before we began I mentioned to the group that the gong will provide for you what you need - be it clarity on a burning question, a transcendental experience, or even healing of something emotional or physical. I was pleased to find afterward that two people had significant, metaphysical experiences.
One individual heard the assuring voice of her Higher Self in response to a burning question. She seemed surprised and taken aback. She wasn’t in the habit of hearing such a voice before. I suggested that it was likely her Higher Self and that her Higher Self was probably elated to finally get a message through! “It’s that essence of you that existed before you were born and will continue to do so when you are gone. It has access to all Truth and will give good guidance,” I assured her.
Events like this make my heart sing, because I know I’m engaged in my life’s purpose.
Another individual experienced a vivid out of body visualization resulting in powerful imagery and messages in response to her intention. She was awestruck but didn’t quite know what to make of it all. She also had lingering questions. “Why not ask your questions to be answered in your sleep?” I said. Since in our sleep state we are most connected to the Beyond, that often works for people.
Believe it or not, such powerful, metaphysical stories are becoming common when I play my gong for people. Events like this make my heart sing, because I know I’m engaged in my life’s purpose.
Transcendental, even miraculous, moments can happen when you least expect them. A friend of mine shared a surprising story this week. Not long ago she had gotten a text from her mother-in-law. . . some weeks after her mother-in-law had died! My friend told the story in such a way that she made it clear she had been searching for a reasonable explanation. (Others in the family had received the same text some time BEFORE her death.) To her the incident was strange, surprising, and simply too odd. To me it was a potential miracle moment demonstrating the existence of the soul. Why couldn’t this be a miracle? Many others have had similar experiences. (I, too, have had an unexplainable incident involving text messages, but that’s another story.) I suggested to my friend that she simply not file this away under “forgettable.” Why not at least begin a journal list of those unexplainable happenings and see where the evidence leads?
I had my own brush with the beyond, too, this week. Not long after a second session of releasing the heart wall (an energetic wall around the heart), I was struck with an inspired thought out of nowhere: I could create a course for people that would combine the power of the gong with the power of the tonglen meditation and the release of the heart wall. I immediately went into “creative teacher mode,” and wrote up the entire course in a day! I even solicited a focus group to try it and then give me feedback. I have found such moments of inspiration to be quite common in my latter years as a teacher. I don’t take credit: it’s divinely inspired.
The New Norm?
To step beyond the known can happen in special or everyday moments, but it can also become a way being. A good friend of mine recently has been relaxing completely and entirely into her alignment with Source - for months. A few months ago she left her home in Australia to head to India (see photos above). She wanted to experience an ashram, a vow of silence, and anything else India would bring her way. She has only begun to unpack her experiences, but the common thread is her growing comfortability beyond the known. Instead of planning every leg of her trip, she has allowed the day itself to reveal her destination for the next three or four days, including her accommodations. She tells me she is gaining “lifetimes of spiritual learning” while on her pilgrimage.
It’s not just that a few of my friends and I are having transcendental experiences, I’m going to assert that all of humanity is. These are the times we live in. So many shared experiences are serving to wake us up to dimensions beyond our 3D reality. It doesn’t take much to see the collapse of long-held systems. You don’t have to look far to witness the transitioning landscapes due to natural disasters or man’s influences. Covid-19 alone served as a huge wake up: we suddenly appreciated the healthcare workers as essential workers; we realized our lifestyles weren’t as secure as we had thought; existence itself became life and death. There was - and is - no sinking back into complacency. As humanity, we are finding ourselves beyond the known.
So perhaps now is an appropriate time for us as individuals and humanity as a whole to allow for a new reality to emerge. Let those strange, other-worldly moments settle in. Collect them with curiosity like pretty shells on a beach. See where the evidence leads. Perhaps what emerges will be so new and unusual that we could hardly believe it! Perhaps it will be miraculous as we find ourselves beyond the known.
Suggested Reading
Selig, Paul. Beyond the Known: Realization ( Channeled text). St. Martin’s Press, 2019.
“An essential read to journey into the new world and feel the daily presence of the God within. Read this book and experience the "shift" in energy uplift in reality awareness.” (Gustav - comment from Amazon)
You can find all of my series in the archives:
Adulting 101 Coupons: A Gift from your Parents
Partnering 101: A Deep Dive into Leaving Kindly
Me-Time: Self-care in the time of Covid
Reasons for Hope
From Fog to Flow
With a Grateful Heart
Lessons in Life School
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Writer. Gong Player. Teacher.
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All photos by © Brenda Brayko 2023 unless otherwise credited.
What a journey we are on! I agree with JJ....'We're movin' on up!' I find it amazing that we're having similar experiences yet each person's encounter "beyond the known" is unique to their "awakening". Excellent, Brenda, and thank you!
Your assertion is true….
“ It’s not just that a few of my friends and I are having transcendental experiences, I’m going to assert that all of humanity is. These are the times we live in. So many shared experiences are serving to wake us up to dimensions beyond our 3D reality.”
This is the beauty of the times we live in. Thank you for capturing the beauty 🙏