Lessons from almost forgetting the most profound experience of a lifetime

What if I were to tell you that a total stranger died in my arms once and perhaps even more amazingly, I very nearly forgot all about it until much later in life.

I was 19 and another mindless, mid-morning motorcycle ride around town had all the trappings of a boring day until I witnessed a person fall off his bicycle and strike his head against the edge of the sidewalk.

Of course I called for help, waited until for emergency services to arrive and accompanied this total stranger to the hospital. Looking back now, I remember his head resting in my lap, as he wove in and out of consciousness along the bumpy ambulance ride. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

For most of us, in non-dangerous professions, this should be an exceptional occurrence and indeed an unforgettable experience? How is it possible that one can forget such a unique even profound experience? Yet, somehow, I did. For many years, until much later in life, I lost that memory somewhere in my mind.

Why do we forget experiences that seemed all too important to us at some point in the past? It is possible that perhaps the experience was not that important after all or that we’ve had other more important experiences that have taken up prominence. It is equally possible that the mind was distracted or not fully immersed in that moment.

It is possible to forget important experiences and recall it again at some future time.

You have probably heard of some people for whom re-lived experiences are even clearer than the original one. Not only do they experience the entire associated emotional arc of the original but sometimes in a more heightened manner. You have also likely witnessed situations when two people in the exact same situation, circumstance, place etc. experienced it in entirely different ways. Have you noticed the times this has happened to you (e.g. food when you are hungry or sated, a friend or acquaintance who giving you complement v. an insult.)

If an experience can be forgotten and then recalled, and the same external stimulus can elicit different reactions - there must be some component of your mind at work in creating your experience. One conclusion that can be drawn from this is that your experiences are neither positive nor negative but colored as such by your mind. If all incoming stimuli are neutral and devoid of any inherent qualities then it must be the mind that creates any and all qualities to our experience. From this statement, we arrive at a most subtle and profound truth, that the mind actually creates the phenomena itself. But what is the mind? The mind is many things but one definition is: that it is the sum total of all your memories and experiences.

The mind harbors incredible powers and most of us can use but a small portion of it. Your past experiences has a direct bearing on how you experience this present moment. It is very important to gain some level of mastery over this instrument in this lifetime. Why?

The full creative power of the mind is manifested once the body is gone. The mind can conjure up very real worlds to fulfill its desires - this is why it is important to train the mind. Most of us are familiar with the inability to take some desired action during the dream state (e.g. run away from something fearful). Unless it is harnessed, the power of the mind to create can become a source of great distraction in this life as we go from thought to thought.

All practices that help focus the mind are a great blessing in this lifetime. The recent growing popularity of meditation is a testament to this but there are many other practices that will help you experience each moment more fully. Rather than saving you from pain, the practice of mindfulness will make even moments of pain full of clarity.

Gather up the mind and make it still in this lifetime. Many eastern traditions invoke the metaphor of the lake bottom that comes into view, once the turbulent surface has been calmed. There are many methods; choose one that works for you and follow it diligently. It is by diligent practice that habits are formed. Chanting, repetition, prayer, mindfulness, song, music, work, love, compassion are but a few methods listed.