Hendrix and the absolute

When Jimi Hendrix asked "Are you experienced?" he was essentially asking, "Do you know the nature of reality?" And reality, as he found out, was too hot to handle. When we observe the experience of others who seek the ultimate experience and burn out in the process, we may be understandably skeptical of whether it is worth it. Now certain spiritual teachers would caution us that our experience is not our experience in any case; that we must see it as an illusory construct attached to an illusory identity. That may be true, but there is something in Jimi's question that cannot be easily dismissed. If we answer with anything but "Yes," we are unfulfilled, and nothing, including the most profound insights of saints, will keep us from answering it for ourselves.