by Michael Cocks
Have you experienced synchronicity yourself?
Probably all of us from time to time become aware of the strangest coincidences. We can hardly believe it has happened. They seem very meaningful. They have come at an important moment in our life. We have the feeling that they are saying something to us, although perhaps we can’t interpret it precisely. We are at an absolute loss to know how it happened. It can’t be chance we think, but how on earth….?
Carl Jung called such meaningful coincidences, “synchronicity”. Others might detect in them the hand of God, of Providence, or they may perceive guidance by the Holy Spirit. Whatever the language, such coincidences are seen as deeply meaningful, inexplicable and no smart talk about the statistical likelihood of strange happenings will dissuade us from seeing the meaning, the utter appropriateness of the event.
Sometimes we can have a string of synchronicities, and life takes on a dream-like quality. We may then think a little more deeply, and come up with a thought like “Are we and these events being dreamed up by – by a Mind that encloses all of us? Does this Mind dream ourselves up, as well as some of these strange events where we can trace no possible cause and effect?” And of course, that is the theory that makes sense to me, and why I name my book Into the Wider Dream. If we have experienced sufficiently remarkable strings of synchronicities, we will find our feelings about life forever changed.
This is very apparent in the synchronicities that I relate in this book, that have been experienced by myself and a number of special friends over periods of many years. A philosopher/psychologist in Vancouver, Prof Steven M. Rosen, has been linked with me by almost unbelievable synchronicity on several occasions. Yet we have never met. He has been kind enough to write a review of my book, from which I quote the following words:
“The title of this book reflects its author’s conviction that reality as we commonly encounter it can in fact be considered but a dream had by a ‘wider mind.’ This holistic order of mind or being surpasses our everyday sense of existing as separate individuals, detached from each other, and from the world around us. While ordinarily experiencing ourselves as standing apart, Michael Cocks tells us that, at bottom, we are actually immersed together in an indivisible field of all-embracing wholeness. And on certain extraordinary occasions, this otherwise obscure field is lit up by a lightning flash of connectedness known as synchronicity.
“Cocks is an Anglican clergyman so the subject of religion of course figures prominently in his presentation. Despite his personal commitment to Christianity, his approach is broadly inclusive, encompassing many other spiritual traditions. Under Cocks’ generous umbrella, even the old polytheistic religions have their respected place. “Another aspect of the book that impressed me is the author’s humble bearing and sincere motivation. Acknowledging the highly speculative nature of some of his conjectures, he repeatedly questions himself, always looking to keep himself honest, and to avoid a mere regression into superstitious or irrational patterns of thought.
“Into the Wider Dream is a thought-provoking work written in an engaging style that brings to life the author’s personal experiences and ideas about synchronicity. Here Michael Cocks makes no claim of providing a systematic philosophical analysis of his subject or of going into technical detail and depth on the issues of theoretical science he raises. Rather, his intention in citing the literature of science and philosophy is to support his experience of synchronicity and his intuitions of universal meaning and undivided wholeness in a manner that can readily be grasped by a lay audience. To that end the author clearly succeeds. I thoroughly enjoyed this enchanting book and recommend it to all readers interested in the phenomenon of synchronicity.” – Steven M. Rosen. June 2015