Quickly now, all things around me suddenly shone with a pure, brilliant radiant light, quietly and swiftly streaming forth from everywhere at once, bathing mind and body with electrifying clarity and peace. I stopped, overwhelmed by this exquisite and astonishing moment, as a silent blast of wind swirled through my soul, sweeping away the tired dust from my living eyes.

Existance changed in an eyeblink. All things were just so correct, so normal and ordinary, yet vastly different from what had been before. The world I had known evaporated as if a dream, replaced by this true world that stunned me in it's profoundity, beauty and truth.

The entire universe became a living, organic being in that wonderful instant, and I saw that I was "It". A complete universe inside, and out.

I knew in my heart that it has always been so, is now, and will be forever. For hours, this exhilarating feeling persisted, breathing new life into my heart, and showing me a world of wonder at my fingertips. I became transformed.

Then, as sunset shadows crept over the temple, I began to wind my way back down off the slope and back into the city of Nagano. I returned to this dusty world joyful, renewed, and ready to continue my journey...