Below is an extract from an email conversation regarding a few questions about the Clear Light. It is provided here for any illumination it may provide.
Question: I’m curious if E.J. is always connected to the state of “Clear Light Void” that he speaks about?
Me: My understanding of the Clear Light is that it is always here, there and everywhere. As far as connection goes, consider this thought experiment.
Imagine yourself walking hand in hand with a friend/spouse on the boardwalk.
As you walk you are aware of the presence of this friend, you can feel their hand in yours, and you may even feel a deeper connection between you and them. However, your connection is not so overwhelming that you lose connection to the boardwalk, the beach, your current self, etc.
But, then again, the description of entering the Clear Light during transition through the Bardos sounds very much fully immersive — no you, no boardwalk, no other, no nothing, just Clear Light.
Question: Have you and others working with E.J. experienced it also?…It’s something I’ve never experienced.
Me: There’s two types of “experiencing the Clear Light”.
There’s staring directly into the Face of God, devoid of mind, body, and all other earthly bits of the machine, blasted into the heart of the Clear Light.
There’s also entering into a state where the Clear Light becomes less of a rumor from a book and more of something experiential.
The American Book of the Dead tells us that during each transit we will have the type 1 Clear Light experience. But, the moment we are back in the machine the results/ramifications of being in a machine will prevent an unfiltered recall of that experience.
The type 2 experience is much more available. The nature of this experience will change as we walk our path.
In the beginning we might identify an experience as a brush with the Clear Light only to discover in retrospect that it was probably bad potato salad. Curiosity and embracing mystery will help in this regard.
While working with the Clear Light prayer, maintain an attitude of openness without FOMO (fear of missing out), cynicism, fantasy, unrealistic expectation that your experience match some predefined definition of what the experience should be, and all the other baggage that happily jumps on board. A sense of play, wonder, and levity could help.
One’s experience with the Clear Light will refine, mutate, and develop itself over time.
Perhaps you are old enough that you may have had an experience of watching a photo develop — going from white, to slightly foggy, to less foggy, to clearly defined image.
I would recommend pursuing a vision in that way.
Today in a zoom meeting with about 30 people, I asked them if they have had an experience with the Clear Light. Most everyone nodded their heads yes, probably, I guess, I’d say so, etc. But, when asked if they could stipulate for sure (pinky swear) that it was the Clear Light and not some other higher state they weren’t able to.
I don’t know if any of this answers your question.