Transcendental Experiences of ordinary people: Dr. Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall, Conservationist, Tanzania

As explained in my previous post about former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell, I have compiled and researched over the course of more than a decade testimonies from individuals who have experienced higher states of consciousness, regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds. Yogis speak of Samadhi, the ecstatic unity with the divine. For instance, Yogis speak of Samadhi, the divine ecstasy of unity with God. Jesus Christ referred to the “Kingdom of Heaven within”. Gautama Buddha described Nirvana, a transcendent state beyond ego, in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. Zen masters call it Satori—the state of sudden, indescribable, intuitive awakening, and Hindus of “Moksha,” a state of liberation and bliss #awakening #yoga #enlightenment. After studying Edgar Mitchell's books, I encounterered the writings of Dr. Jane Goodall’s writings, true testaments to a higher power, excited to pursue my investigation.

Jane Goodall, Conservationist and Animals Welfare Activist #animalrights

The internationally famous Cambridge-educated primate expert, anthropologist, UN messenger, and environmentalist Jane Goodall is best known for her nearly six decades of study of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. She has gifted us with her numerous discoveries on the behavior of chimpanzees, indicating their great kinship to human beings. Goodall believes in a purpose for life on Earth and in a divine power sustaining it. She recalls the two mystical experiences in her memoir Reason For Hope: A Spiritual Journey, which shaped these beliefs. One of these ecstatic experiences happened while she sat in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, gazing at the light filtering through a stained window #mystic:

“Many years ago, in the spring of 1974, I visited the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. There were not many people around, and it was quiet and still inside. I gazed in silent awe at the great Rose Window, glowing in the morning sun. All at once the cathedral was filled with a huge volume of sound: an organ playing magnificently for a wedding taking place in a distant corner. Bach’s Tocata and Fugue in D Minor. I had always loved the opening theme; but in the cathedral, filling the entire vastness, it seemed to enter and possess my whole self. It was as though the music itself was alive. That moment, a suddenly captured moment of eternity, was perhaps the closest I have ever come to experiencing ecstasy, the ecstasy of the mystic.”

These experiences are profoundly transformative and affect the way people function in the world. As psychologist David Elkins wrote, “Awe is a lightning bolt that marks in memory those moments when the doors of perception are cleansed and we see with startling clarity what is truly important in life.” These openings are humbling, inviting us to recalibrate our purpose on earth and operate from the heart, for the greater good of humanity. As Goodall further described:

“It is hard now, after twenty years, to recapture that moment of ecstasy in the cathedral, although the experience has never left me. It became incorporated into the warp and woof of my very being. If I hear Bach’s fugue, no matter where I am, the result is the same: just as the chimes of Big Ben trigger an unconscious spasm of fear, so that music floods my whole being with love, joy, and a sort of spiritual exaltation. It was not important, I think, whether the music was Bach or that particular fugue. And I suspect the experience could have occurred in another cathedral, or a church, a mosque, a temple, a synagogue. It was the glorious reverberation of the organ in an ancient place of worship, sanctified over hundreds of years by the sincere prayers of so many thousands of people. The impact was so powerful, I suppose, because it came at a time when so much was changing in my life, when I was vulnerable. When I was, without knowing it, needing to be reconnected with the Spirit Power I call God or perhaps I should say being reminded of my connection. The experience, whatever else it did, put me back on track; it forced me to rethink the meaning of my life on earth.”

At the time, however, Jane Goodall didn’t know what had happened, but it was a defining moment that marked the beginning of her spiritual journey. The second mystical experience occurred in her natural church, in the heart of Gombe’s forest. Before dawn, Goodall followed a family of chimps as they climbed the mountain amidst the forest. Soon they arrived at a lake, its calm waters shimmering with the first rays of sun. Stunned by the beauty of the scenery, she rested in awe:

“Lost in the awe of the beauty around me, I must have slipped into a state of heightened awareness. It is hard, impossible, really, to put into words the moment of truth that suddenly came upon me. Even the mystics are unable to describe their brief flashes of spiritual ecstasy. It seemed to me, as I struggled afterward to recall the experience, that self was utterly absent: I and the chimpanzees, the earth and trees and air, seemed to merge, to become one with the spirit of life itself. The air was filled with a feathered symphony, the evensong of birds. I heard new frequencies in their music and also in singing insects’ voices, notes so high and sweet I was amazed. Never had I been so intensely aware of the shape, the color of the individual leaves, the varied patterns of the veins that made each one unique. Scents were clear as well, easily identifiable: fermenting, overripe fruit; waterlogged earth; cold, wet bark; the damp odor of chimpanzee hair, and yes, my own too. And the aromatic scent of young, crushed leaves was almost overpowering… That afternoon, it had been as though an unseen hand had drawn back a curtain and, for the briefest moment, I had seen through such a window. In a flash of “outsight” I had known timelessness and quiet ecstasy, sensed a truth of which mainstream science is merely a small fraction. And I knew that the revelation would be with me for the rest of my life, imperfectly remembered yet always within. A source of strength on which I could draw when life seemed harsh or cruel or desperate.”

Through challenging times, her indefectible belief in a divine plan and in a purpose for life on this planet helped her overcome the trials of life. Her work with the chimpanzees convinced her that every living being carries a spark of divine power, and that each of us should do all that is in our power to protect life and conserve all species on this spaceship Earth. This is the essence of the message that she relentlessly teaches all around the world, including at the Life and Mind Institute founded by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, a non-profit organization bringing together science and contemplative wisdom. This post intends to render homage to Mrs. Jane Goodall and her dedication to protect the environment, celebrating her courage in sharing transcendental experiences that revealed to her the profound interconnectedness of all life and the urgent need for us all to honor and safeguard Nature. This message is the essence of the work presented here.

Warmly,

Oriane Livingston