Transcendence

 It was in high school. In PE we were running 400 meters for grades. I was running with a guy I didn’t know. Not as tall as me, but built like Arnold Schwarzenegger, he was a competitive rower. ‘Upper body muscles don’t imply speed’, I thought to myself, but boy, was I in for a surprise. He charged out of the gate the way I would have run 100 meters. It hurt as hell to keep up with him, but I stuck to his heels. Then 300 meters into the race something miraculous happened, I couldn’t feel my body any longer. I perceived only thoughts. I heard a voice, ‘now is the time to leave him behind’, and I did. Needless to say, we both got As for that performance.

 

The philosopher Karl Jaspers once had this to say about transcendence. Philosophers write so much when they explore deep subjects with just one motive in mind, to transcend, to reach that higher state of being that so rarely comes but is worth devoting their lives too. Then I had little idea what he meant, whereas today I can honestly tell you that you don’t need to be a top athlete or a philosopher, transcendence of who we perceive we are happens all the time. A spiritual quest sets us up for it. We may have to learn a few lessons to get to that state but eventually transcendence is effortless, just merge with the priceless moment at hand.