the best feeling in the world

Today, I have a big announcement to make: 

I have discovered the best feeling in the world!

Would you like to know what it is? By the end of this blog, you will. But first, I want to answer a few questions you might have about it:

Q: How did you come across this feeling?
A: I have been looking for it my whole life. As a boy (yes, that's me in the pic), I may not have known much, but I knew how to feel things fully, and I also knew what felt good to me. I have always remained true to that part of myself. Today, I look in the mirror and see the same boy, only wrapped in older skin. Five decades of life experience have taught me how much there is to feel in this life. And in recent years, I struck a vein of gold by discovering an experience that can only be described as “the best feeling in the world.”

Q How can you be sure that this is the best feeling in the world?
A: Inclusivity. I know this is the best feeling in the world because the entire universe is sharing it with me. This feeling takes me, in the words of Buzz Lightyear, “to infinity—and beyond!”

Q: Isn’t it presumptuous to claim that you have found the best feeling in the world?
A: Not really. I trust my intuition. And I am not claiming that you will agree with me. If you want, I can attach some disclaimers, such as: “I’m speaking only for myself” or “This may not be true for everyone.” But in my heart of hearts, I know that no disclaimers are needed.

Q: Is there scientific proof of your claim?                 
A: I know this is the best feeling in the world through my own personal experience. And the only way to validate my claim is through your own experience. There can never be scientific because it is 100% subjective. Once you know the best feeling in the world first-hand, proof is not an issue because it hardly matters to you if anyone else agrees.

Q: Is this a physical experience?
A: Yes. As long as I am living in a human body, all of my experiences are physical.  The feeling I am going to describe for you involves a total body experience. After all, how can something be the best feeling in the world if you cannot feel it head-to-toe?

A: Is this a spiritual experience?
Q: Yes. I consider it spiritual because it meets the following criteria:

1. It does not come at someone else’s expense. If it did, then only someone with no capacity for empathy could find it perfectly enjoyable. For anyone else, emotions like guilt, shame, or remorse would creep in, taking away from that great feeling.
2. It has no letdown. If this feeling were followed by an emotional crash—as is the case with some drug highs—then the aftermath would take away from the experience. The same would be true for experiences that make me sick or that are self-destructive in other ways. Can something be the best feeling in the world if it is followed by one of the worst feelings I can have? I don’t think so.
3. It makes me feel more connected—not less. If the experience made me feel isolated, alienated, or lonely, it would be disqualified.  One way or another, the best feeling in the world has to involve others. Even if nobody else is physically present, the feeling has to be inclusive in some way. If it involves emotions such as love, kindness, or compassion, then there is room for others in the experience.
4. It shows me who I really am. An experience is spiritual if it takes me beyond surface appearances and reveals core truths that might otherwise be hidden from me.

Now, without further ado, here is the best feeling in the world:

In ecstasy, the one explodes into the many,
And in bliss, the many melt into the one.
I am the one, the many, the exploding and the melting.
I am the one going into the many, and the many going into the one.

If you know what this feels like, I would love to hear from you! And if not, no worries; I will flesh out the experience more in my upcoming blogs. Next week, I will share some practical things you can do in order to experience the best feeling in the world. In the meantime, you can read more about it in Deep Creativity.