Mystical Experiencer: Male in early seventies
Current location: U.S.A.
Age at time of experience: 22
I was at an outdoor buffet steak dinner. Our mascot, a dog, greeted me, then went and urinated on a tree stump. I thought how wonderfully uninhibited animals are. Then I felt a physical sensation. I thought God was touching me.
I saw a light, like sunlight streaming through a green canopy, a feeling of a peaceful, bucolic environment. I lost the fear or knowledge of death – that was tremendously liberating. I felt a sense oneness and everything was right with the world. All of time was happening at once. I felt that I fully understood the nature of things.
Then I looked down at the steak I was about to eat and it seemed as if a movie projector was turned on inside my head. I saw a cow, moving like an icon when downloading a program. I could not eat it. I’ve been a vegetarian ever since. I also could not drink milk. I didn’t at the time know anything about vegetarianism.
After this, I walked away thinking I’d had a psychic experience. Years later I read Cosmic Consciousness by Richard Bucke.