Miracle Pond

Miracle Pond

The voice echoed in my ears once again.

“Wait.”

I instinctively raised my hand to stop my teacher.

“Wait a moment. I just felt an incredible vibration. It was coming from that direction—”

He pointed to a small, weed-covered depression. About fifty meters away—from there, a vibration, almost like a tremor, flowed deep into my body.

My teacher nodded quietly.

“Ah, is that it?”

“Miracle Pond.”

“Miracle Pond…?”

My teacher’s voice was quiet, but its resonance resonated deep within my heart.

“This is the place where the Buddha once performed a miracle. That’s why it’s called that.”

My heart suddenly began to stir. Miracle—just the word itself made my blood flow.

The teacher began to explain.

Sudatta, a great leader of Shravasti, had invested a large sum of money in the Buddha’s behalf and built a great temple on this site. Buddha’s fame spread quickly, and disciples and seekers flocked to him. However, the leaders of surrounding temples were jealous of his fame and derided him as “all talk.”

At the time, a requirement for leadership was supernatural powers. But Buddha did not demonstrate these powers more than necessary. As a result, other religious groups stepped up their attacks, and eventually challenged him to a contest – with the loser having to leave the area. Sudatta finally urged the Buddha to accept.

That day. As the crowd watched with bated breath, the Buddha stood on the terrace of a three-story tower.

My heart beat quietly but surely.

Buddha climbed over the railing. The moment he stepped into the air, the surroundings fell into a frozen silence. Everyone held their breath, and then the Buddha slowly rose to the surface, standing above the garden pond.

The Buddha stood silently on the water’s surface, rippling in the breeze. His upper body glowed like fire, his lower body a transparent light reflecting the water’s surface—the sight imprinted in my heart both indescribable fear and awe.

I placed my hand on my forehead and listened intently to my teacher’s voice. A soft vibration flowed deep into my brain, and a concept quietly but surely seeped into my heart.

At that moment, a shiver ran through my entire body. I felt as if my blood had drained, time had stopped, and I was overcome by an overwhelming power beyond comprehension. My heart trembled, my thoughts quieted, and I could only exist in that place.

“Teacher… What does it mean for the upper half of your body to become fire and the lower half to become water?”

It was as if I was hearing a voice from the depths of my own mind.

“That’s… the result of an incredible radiance of energy from every chakra in his body.”

I answered.

“To levitate, the Buddha concentrated his consciousness and power to the utmost in every chakra. That radiation, like flame, became light, and water, shaking the world. As the Yoga Sutras state, at the peak of chakra power, the body becomes transparent, reflecting the surrounding light and water. The appearance of the Buddha’s lower body as water was precisely this phenomenon. This miracle represents the pinnacle of Kundalini Yoga.”

The Buddha’s training, which I had previously written about, was now vividly realized before my very eyes. My blood trembled, my heart was consumed by overwhelming light, and my soul took a step toward awakening—I will never forget the impact.

The light disappeared, and the pond’s surface returned to its original, clear, tranquil state.
I remained on my knees, catching my breath. My body was trembling, but for some reason my mind was calm. At that moment, a subtle sense of discomfort ran through me.

It was fear.

No, more than fear, it was a trembling beyond comprehension.

Having come into contact with the light and momentarily united with the consciousness of the universe, something inside me still rang.
It was a deep awe at the very idea of ​​being alive.

“Is this… mine?”
The question arose in my head.
Hot and cold still mixed inside my body.
Fire and water—the scene still shakes me as an afterimage.

Is this enlightenment?

I had seen the light and felt the vibrations of the universe. But that doesn’t mean I understood it.
Enlightenment isn’t simply about being bathed in light; it is something that emerges from the subsequent inner stillness and interaction with the outside world—a vague thought seized me.

My teacher quietly approached me.
His eyes were filled with soft compassion and unwavering serenity.

“You feel fear, don’t you?”

His voice was soft, but it felt as if it was touching my heart directly.

“Yes… after seeing the light, something unfathomable surged into my heart.”

The teacher smiled and placed his hand on my shoulder.

“That’s a natural feeling. Seeing the light is like touching the entire universe. Your ‘little self’ trembles before the unknown abyss. Fear is also a precursor to enlightenment.”

“How do you distinguish this from enlightenment?”

“Fear is a reaction to the unknown. It shakes your body and mind, and your mind cannot fully comprehend it. But enlightenment is the serenity that comes after that trembling. You can accept the experience of being bathed in light and maintain that awareness in your daily life. It’s not about avoiding fear, but about being able to see the whole picture while embracing it.”

I nodded.
The lingering sound of the light still hummed softly deep in my chest. The fear had not completely disappeared.
But now I could no longer reject it, but simply allow it to be.
I quietly realized that this feeling was proof that I was standing at the threshold of enlightenment.

I looked up at my teacher’s face.
There was a sense of relief beyond words, and an all-encompassing silence.
The fear and joy I had experienced in the light were all part of this world.
Enlightenment is not about separating experiences, but embracing them all.

I took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.
The lingering light washed over my heart, and the fear became soft waves that settled quietly deep in my chest.
This was one step towards enlightenment.