Sacramental universe (ICA) [1]

In this state, an individual perceives the mystery of life within each and every thing. Examples are: seeing a patch of grass through the clouds from an aeroplane and noticing that it becomes a grave; or in Sartre's novel "Nausea", when he reflects on the meaninglessness of life as he describes a puddle of beer on a café table; or watching the flames of a fire and finding one's self recalling past events and dreaming of the future. D.H. Lawrence captures the mysteriousness of one tiny creature when he says: "The mosquito knows full well...he is a beast of prey...he only takes his bellyful, he doesn't put my blood into the bank."

A dimension of this experience is a sense of awe, that is fear and fascination. Even the most mundane thing explodes with meaning; one feels perpetually astonished with life. At the same time, one begins to ask one's self if there are any answers to anything. There is a sense of frustration at being wholly engulfed by the inexplicability of life.

Standing in awe at life's unpredictability, the decision is to continue pursuing the unfathomable, daring to bleed the meaning out of every situation, knowing that one will finally come face to face with the mystery itself. Everything becomes a symbol of the sacred in life. Such a simple thing as a rock becomes a treasure as it continues to remind one of the mystery within everything.

This state is number 36 in the ICA Other World in the midst of this World.