Synchronicity

••••••••••

Eupsychia Institute
PO Box 151960
Austin, TX 78715-1960

(800) 546-2795
Local (512) 327-2795
Fax (512) 327-6043

* SPIRITUAL EMERGENCY OR THE STORMY SEARCH FOR THE SELF, by Stanislav and Christina Grof, is one example.

As you become more practiced and disciplined in your inner work, there's one aspect that remains light, spontaneous, and lots of fun: Synchronicities begin to occur all around you. When signs manifest in your outer life, reminding you that you're on or off the mark, you are experiencing synchronicity. Synchronicity is actually a principle that ties archetypal events to outer activities. The connection between the inner and outer event is acausal (seems to be coincidental), yet is rich with a meaning that you alone can give it.

Here's an example that occurred in my own life: I was riding in a crowded car with friends one evening, debating about whether or not to speak on the topic of Infinity for a group the following day. As we got out of the car, I stepped on a string that was in the shape of a figure 8, the infinity sign in mathematics. We all stopped and stared in amazement. I gave the talk, and it was well received.

Or here's another: On the evening I first spoke with my editor at Bantam Books about the possibility of publishing this book with them, just as I hung up the phone a tiny toy rooster my friend's child had left behind fell off a table and hit me on the foot. (The rooster is Bantam's logo!) I signed with Bantam a few weeks later.

Another incident of synchronicity occurred years ago when I was in a restaurant with friends, processing a disagreement I'd had with a former boss. (I'd just quit my job.) Just as I made a thundering proclamation reeking of righteous indignation, the music playing in the background began building until it became evident to us all: It was the ending of a dramatic John Philip Sousa march. It seemed as though the Higher Power had been orchestrating the background music to reflect my rising aggravation! My friends and I had a "cosmic chuckle"a truly healing experience for me. A synchronistic event such as this can lighten intensity, reminding us that we're connected and, on some level, above it all.

The examples above are lighthearted and humorous. But sometimes synchronicities can be even more profound. For example, in one of my workshops, I was equivocating about adding a certain type of ritual to our psycho-spiritual work. I took the risk and tried it. The energy was high and holy, and the participants seemed to gain a lot from the experience. Afterwards, several members of the group called me to come see what was in the foyer: The indoor lights had made on the wall a design in the form of a perfectly shaped six-pointed star. It was beautiful! A security guard walked by as we stood there staring and said he'd never noticed that star before. We all stood in awe, feeling we had received a "sign" that the new work had been accepted by the universe. These types of experiences reveal the Higher Power in action.

Synchronicities become a major part of our inner work when we learn to recognize them: they're the threads of our bliss we can follow by watching carefully and taking note. When we do recognize them, there is often a feeling that "something spiritual has happened," and a sense of purpose, no matter how slight, is added to one's life. Like little spiritual landmarks, synchronicities keep us moving toward our future destiny.

Scientists do not honor synchronicity as "real" yet, because they cannot tie these occurrences to an observable chain of cause and effect. These "chance" happenings, however, never seem like chance to conscious co-creators; they see synchronicities as Higher Power's scientific law of cause and effect! Jungian theorist Jean Shiboda Bolen says of these high experiences, "Every time I have become aware of a synchronistic experience, I have had an accompanying feeling that some grace came along with it." [excerpted from AWAKENING IN TIME, pg. 240-241]

• • • • • • • • •