REVELATION: A SHORT STORY

He knew what happened now.  His blog came to an abrupt halt because suddenly something had changed in him, which he interpreted as the "dark night of the soul."  God had abandoned him, was how it felt, although he still seemed to have a sense of God's presence, but something of equal weight as God was missing.  Finally, in meditation, it dawned on him what had happened.

His spiritual inspiration and passion he attributed to the Atman.  The Atman, in Vedanta, is the personal aspect and experience of the Brahman.  But alas more recently he had been neglecting it, referring instead to what he had come to call simply "This" or "Whatever this is," by which he meant the Brahman.

The Atman, all the while, is a category of the Chosen Ideal, so-named.  It is an intermediary between a person and the ultimate, God.  Depending on one's background and culture, this Chosen Ideal may be Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Ramakrishna, or any number of other beings, usually perceived as avatars.  The Chosen Ideal is an aid, a way to experience "a personal relationship with God," and it works, he had found.  He knew now that it works, for certain, because he returned to the Atman and it made all the difference in the world.

Alas, then, God did not leave him, but he left God, as the Atman, and he paid the price for it.