The Maya Gaia website (begun in 1997) is a chronicle of my efforts to integrate a spontaneous transcendent experience which I had back in 1970. At the time, I was almost completely naive regarding philosophy or epistemology of religion or metaphysics or mystical, spiritual, or paranormal phenomena of any kind but the experience started my search for explanation that is still ongoing. My journey can best be shared by those with critical thinking temperaments that balance a healthy skepticism with an open mind as my itinerary through the various disciplines of religion, metaphysics, and science is an intellectual minefield of controversy, contradiction and fantasy. Starting my journey as an agnostic, I easily ignored the dogmas of the prophetic religions but discovered my major challenge was in applying this balanced approach to the reductionist, materialist, scientific viewpoint and that of open-ended, new-age spiritualism. Fortunately a synthesis is evolving from new physics, quantum consciousness and metaphysical concepts derived from the nondual traditions and the revelation from my own experience that suggests a deist, rational-based meta paradigm for the nature of reality. In 2001 I created a website- Cosmic Consciousness exploring this topic. The original Maya Gaia pages present what insights my transcendent experience inspired and in subsequent content added since 2006- tentative concepts about its reality as an ultimate Nirvikalpa Samadhi- based on both historical Vedantic, Buddhist and Tao sources and the accelerating expansion of the universe of information on the internet from which I've selected resources to serve as my personal library. The hope is that I'll actually get time to read everything in this growing compendium and at the same time keep it updated. I've presented links to many of the arguments and resources that challenged me to choose pro, con and maybe- for compiling a model of reality that seems most plausible to me at the moment, so the reader can make up their own mind regarding various issues. update 10-2008: "Taking heed of some wisdom in the Tao- as well as inspiration from Samadhi- Evolution of Soul- I am shifting my mission from obsessing about intellectual comprehension of my Samadhi to a more intuitive integration of the Maya (detachment) versus Gaia (engagement) dilemma. Am also looking into how I might participate in some virtual bhakti kirtan since there are no satsang in my neighborhood. My latest (02_09) reflections on the purposefulness that my samadhi has graced my old age here. - EF
Postscript: At the time these words are being written- 09 25 08, I am well into my 80th year of life so may konk out at any time, but the hope is that these chronicles will continue to be read after I'm gone. The point is to preserve with as much directness as possible a classical Nirvikalpa Samadhi experience whose features were recalled in exceptional detail. Some Vedantic sage observed: every thousand years someone awakens. If anyone would like to consider co-producing the Maya-Gaia website with me while I'm alive and taking over full management when I'm gone- send me an Email and we can explore the possibility. ef
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