Conatus: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

the broken symmetries and ‘flaws’ we encounter in the world of everyday experience. But — it’s ambiguous.

From what others report — or perhaps from what the reader herself may have experienced directly — this is certainly the most desirable, life-changing and wonderful experience that any of us could hope to have. There is a deep sense of well-being and ‘rightness’ to everything. We feel outside ourselves yet at the same time more deeply ourselves than ever before.

It would be wonderful if such an experience could be brought about on demand! (And perhaps, dear reader, you’re already thinking of various methods right now!) But, generally speaking, it happens only as a result of deep meditation or as just a random event that can happen to anyone, at any time.

One contender for the mountaintop is simply called ‘flow’. Flow can be experienced in many situations. It is generally a happy state and sometimes referred to as ‘being in the moment’. So it has something of a similar characteristic to the mountaintop as it takes us towards a sense of being outside of time.

There also seems to be a connection of the mountaintop experience with a near-death experience, a loss of ego and a belief in ‘enlightenment’. Near-death experiences and the idea of enlightenment certainly suggest a profound interpretation of what the mountaintop may be showing us.

Perhaps the mountaintop expereince is just an

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