Circle of Love:
A Spiritual Experience
by Kay Seliskar
Every once in while we are given a glimpse of heaven right
here on earth. And if we’re really blessed, we realize we can co-create that
here and now. Here’s the story of one such life-changing experience I had in
the summer of 1996.
I headed to Boulder, CO, for a 3-day
‘train-the-trainer’ session with a company I thought I might deliver classes
for in the future. It was a time for the company to share their training
philosophy and techniques with about twenty potential instructors, and for both
sides to see if there was a ‘fit.’ The company was looking for people who
could teach and respond from their hearts,
not just their heads, when dealing with class participants. In the intense first
two days, each participant built awareness of his/her ‘blind spots’ and
‘baggage’ that might get in the way of truly responding from the heart.
Little did I know that the third morning would change me forever…
As I entered the room that morning, I prayed to be led to
the right table with the right people for whatever God had in store that day. I
placed my stuff at one of five places around an empty round table and joined the
gathering group for coffee. When the session was about to begin, we all took our
seats. There were 5 women (including myself) at the table I had been intuitively
guided to. While the 5 of us had met during the previous two days, we did not
really know each other.
Our assignment for that morning was for each table/group to
communicate an emotion/concept without speaking. We were to be the
‘senders’, and a team of people from the training company (including the CEO
and head trainer) were to be the ‘receivers’. The ‘receivers’ would not
have any idea what emotion/concept we were communicating. If they did not
clearly feel and experience the emotion/concept of what we were sending in their hearts, we would have to go back and keep trying. The
advice was to “try to be the essence” of whatever word or concept we
were assigned. Each group would have three separate concepts to communicate, one
at a time.
Our group drew the words “love,” “integrity,” and
“authenticity.” We took a deep breath and chose “Love” to begin with.
(I have now learned that love is always the best place to start!) In the
middle of the table were supplies—construction paper, scissors, markers,
tape—which we could use to aid our communication. The first few minutes were
spent discussing how we could cut out hearts and use them somehow to express
love. It felt like we were creating a cutesy skit from our heads. Then I
remembered what the instructors had said about trying to be the essence
of what we wanted to communicate. We talked about how we might do that, how we
might BE LOVE…What happened next was, I believe, Divinely
guided.
Naturally, instinctively, wordlessly, each of us held out
our hands to the people seated next to us, and soon we were all connected, hand
to hand. Silently we began to look deeply into each other’s eyes, into each
other souls. Each of us, in our own way, found that place of unconditional,
loving energy and shared it with the person whose eyes locked with ours.
Feelings of peace, joy and total acceptance washed over us. The tears began to
trickle down our cheeks. There was a point that each pair reached when both
people knew they were ‘there,’ that they had connected totally and
completely in love. There was a silent acknowledgement, a sense of completion,
and then our eyes moved on to another person in our growing circle of love. We
experienced this with each of the other four people at our table, each person
giving and receiving the gift of pure love.
At one point an older woman and a younger woman were
attempting to create their connection of love, and it just wasn’t working.
Finally the older woman, with great love in her voice, said, “Let down your
walls.” At that moment, we could feel the younger woman open her heart, and
the loving energy flowing between them was palpable. More cleansing tears,
healing tears traced pathways through our souls.
Since there were an odd number of women at our table, we
did not always have a ‘partner’ to connect eyes with. However, none of us
ever felt left out. The ‘solo’ person was sending loving energy and thoughts
to the entire circle.
After we had each established the connection with every
person at the table, there was one more brief moment taken to reinforce the
heart connection by one more meeting of the eyes, the windows of the soul. It
seemed as if we took one final breath as one, and the circle of love was
complete.
Tissues were shared to wipe away the tears of pure joy.
“Wow! We were there. We really were love, are love. I know it!” Our hearts
were filled with a ‘peace that passes understanding.’ For the next few
minutes we tried to find the words to describe what had happened, what we had
felt, what we had become. We looked at each other in a new way. Our hearts and
souls had experienced true, unconditional, pure love, and we were transformed.
At this point we realized that from the perspective of the
training session, we had just completed our ‘practice round’ or dress
rehearsal. We had not asked the ‘receiving team’ to be present and observe
our communication of love. “Well, let’s call them over. We were love once,
we can be love again.” There really was no doubt that we had truly become
love. Whether or not we could do that again with an ‘audience’ was yet to be
determined. The ‘receiving team’ was called over. They had no clue what our
emotion/concept was going to be…that’s what they were to discern from their
experience.
Once more we joined hands around the table. Once more our
eyes and souls met. Once more the circle of love expanded. Time and space faded
away. All that we knew was love. Somewhere at the edge of our awareness we
noticed that the entire room had grown silent. The other four teams in the room
who had been busy talking, preparing, practicing their ‘sending’ had stopped
all movement, all sound. The whole room had become filled with the energy and
light. It transformed into a sacred space of love.
When there was again the sense of completeness, our circle
of love brought our awareness back into the room. There were tears on many of
the faces of others in the room. After a brief moment of continued reverent
silence, the ‘receiving team’ said, “By any chance, were you love?”
The rest of the day others in the class would come over to
our group and ask about our experience. They, too, had felt the sacredness of
what happened in that room. Many of them asked how we were able to achieve that
state. Some shared the warmth and awe they had felt as they witnessed the flow
of pure love. Most said they wished they could have been direct participants in
our circle of love. All were touched by it. In response I felt the love in my
heart spilling over, reaching out to each and every one of them, too.
Since that day, I don’t think any of us have been quite
the same. I don’t think anyone could be touched by such unconditional love
from ‘strangers’ and not be changed. Perhaps that’s why Jesus was able to
transform the hearts and souls of he world. He was able to see deep inside each
person’s soul, and He loved them unconditionally—and they felt it in hearts
and in their souls.
After the oneness and connectedness of that experience,
I’ve often wondered about the power of such circles of love to change the
world. If small groups of people came together with the intention of truly
loving each other unconditionally, of Being Love, I believe we could transform
the world. Without words, without deeds, but just by Being Love we can create heaven
on earth. Are you willing to be a part of changing the world? Then bring
together a group of people to form intentional circles of love and experience
the Love that you really are. It’ll change you. It’ll change the world.
