I have had awakening experiences regularly throughout my life, but the very earliest recollection was at the age of 8.
As I was walking back to my house, a feeling of calm, peace, and spaciousness came over me. I found myself smiling and stopping. I looked down at the stones on the road. I crouched down and looked at a narrower and narrower group of stones until I chose just one. I focused all my attention on that one stone. Its size, shape etc. The following internal commentary arose;
‘Look at you. Who are you? Where did you come from? How long have you been around? A very long time I think. Why are you here? You are just one of many, yet you are so significant, aren’t you? You are but one, but you are ….. in fact …. everything. You are them all. You are all the stones. All the stones on Earth.
With this insight, my awareness expanded to the entire Earth, and the universe. This little seemingly insignificant stone was, in fact, infinitely significant. Because it was and is everything. As a child, I had similar awakenings with blades of grass and small insects. Other times it would just suddenly be that I was melting into my environment, wherever that was. It often happened when I was in a new place, and/or when I was very hungry and becoming weak.