I watched Paul Foot’s Dissolve show last night.

Apart from being very funny it was also very interesting hearing him talk about his moment of enlightenment which he refers to as ‘the event’.

In a recent Guardian interview he says:

It was a moment that was both extraordinary and ordinary – like stirring from a dream. It was just, ‘Oh, I’ve woken up …’ And it didn’t matter that I’d spent 28 years in a state of depression. It was gone. Everything was different.

Experiences like this interest me because they fall outside the stereotypical contexts of so-called spirituality, contemplation and meditation.

It appears he wasn’t consciously seeking or looking for anything but it seems his unconscious was ready to ‘break’ and allow a profound shift in perspective.

Jung would a have a field day.

He speaks about joy, the ‘end of suffering’ and ‘ego death’ in a very ordinary and matter of fact way.

I’m reminded of Zen teacher Charlotte ‘Joko’ Beck’s description of the awakened perspective as ‘nothing special’.

Sounds about right to me.