When I was 25 I had a life altering experience (at the dentist office none-the-less) where I was completely engulfed in an unbreakable state of bliss, where time had no purpose, and I had the clearest vision of how everything is intrinsically connected (from a blade of grass, to the entire universe).

So when i read this interesting post on the Daily Galaxy about the “Overview Effect”, I finally was able to confirm that this was not an isolated incident.

According to the article there is a phenomenon called the “Overview Effect” that Astronauts can experience when they witness the earth from afar.

Quote from the Article:
He describes becoming instantly and profoundly aware that each of his constituent atoms were connected to the fragile planet he saw in the window and to every other atom in the Universe. He described experiencing an intense awareness that Earth, with its humans, other animal species, and systems were all one synergistic whole. He says the feeling that rushed over him was a sense of interconnected euphoria. He was not the first—nor the last—to experience this strange “cosmic connection”.

The parallels that both my experience and this Overview Effect have with the basic principals of enlightenment is astonishing, and well worth the read. http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/12/will-our-brains.html