Myrtle Beach - first experiences of bliss

August 1992

I was 40 years old and had been invited by a friend to spend a week in Myrtle Beach in August - an incredibly crowded time of year. I was enjoying swimming in the warm water, playing in the sand with my toes, and just plain relaxing.

One morning later in the week I arose early and went for a walk on the beach. Weather was perfect - too early to be hot yet. As I walked down the beach, barely in the surf I felt pure joy. A man and his toddler daughter were walking toward me and he smiled at me as though he knew exactly how I felt. After they passed I turned facing outward at the ocean. A feeling of pure bliss flowed through my body. No thoughts. Purely peaceful silence.

Chinatown in San Francisco

November 1994

This was on my first trip to California. My friend and I were wandering through Chinatown - the first time I'd ever been in the Chinatown of any city. As we walked down the street my friend decided to look around a fish shop, and I stayed outside on the sidewalk. I noticed that I heard no English being spoken anywhere and everywhere I looked everyone was Chinese - no other tourists like myself were about. At that moment it occurred to me that I could actually be in China. These thoughts combined caused me to have a moment of blissful silence. It felt like a rush of pleasure.

Big Sur

November 1994

On my first trip to California I went to Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur with my friend and his dad. My friend and I climbed up the huge pile of rocks/boulders on the southern end of the beach, and we perched on a large boulder just out of reach of the huge waves splashing our feet as they crashed. Near sunset my friend left to go down to the beach to take some photos. I watched him climb down and noticed most people had left and that my friend's elderly dad was just sitting on the sand enjoying the view. I turned my head back around to the ocean view and at that moment 5 or 6 pelicans flew past. I flushed with a feeling of euphoria, that the world was perfect, my life was perfect, no hunger, no thirst, no pain, no negative emotions, no thoughts, just silent bliss...... That moment in time froze for what seems a very long time... though I'm sure it couldn't have been more than a minute or two. A pleasant feeling of total contentment stayed with me for hours.

Note: the photo is the same general area referred to, but this photo was taken a few years later.

Nashville

1995 or 96

I think this is in an odd place for this to occur - not a place of natural beauty. I accompanied a friend on a business trip to Nashville. While he was at a meeting I wandered around an old touristy section of the city. I went into a shop with nostalgic items for sale. It was somewhat crowded. While feeling quite pleasant and browsing the shelves I suddenly felt this rush of bliss. Accompanying it was a feeling rushing through my body - can't recall whether it was head to feet or feet to head. My friend who had studied many types of spiritual paths thought it sounded very much like kundalini. It was hardly kundalini or enlightenment but it was certainly an extraordinary and memorable experience and it took me completely by surprise.