ABSTRACT
Epiphanic experiences are characterised by a feeling of wholeness and oneness with the universe. How can this be? The world is out there and I have my skin boundary that separates me from that world. While I might agree that I am part of that world, I nonetheless have a separateness that is indisputable from an existential perspective. I live and move in and through the world as an autonomous being just like all the other autonomous beings—people, trees, kangaroos, fish, sunflowers, and amoeba—that are identifiable as separate and separable. The world and autonomous beings are, yes, it is true, intertwined, but at the same time their uniqueness and individuality is what we all experience. Given this distinction, I explore how change is affected by short-lived collapse of the distinction. I ask, ‘What is going on when this collapse occurs?’ I discuss the notion of change in relation to our growth, the effect of change on consciousness, and the reciprocity of consciousness, embodiment, and the Natural world and environment.
