So...the minstrels of past present and future all converge on the site of enlightenment to ring the bells of joy and sing in praise of the One!
On the subject of awakening. I am, have been, stranger to this world. Strange world. Harsh place. Bad air. At this point, I'm rather excited to have found people, finally! like me. Like ME! Where the hell have I been? In Hell, no doubt. So it seems to be part of my work, at least for the time being, to be ridiculously isolated from all aspects of higher life, except for intuitive flashes of perception. Then there was my own awakening of course.
This occurred about two and a half years ago, left home for college, previously maddened by the horrid alienation and cruelty of the people with whom I would associate. Wanted to die, lost heart. Jesus God! Please take me, bitter tears, God please, please, be my friend...
Where do I turn? Ram Dass said, "The Way is the Way is the Way..."
No more doubt. Went home, went to sleep...Just light, just life, just what I had always been, no more, no less. The blissful embrace of death. Next day, began to return to what had so long been agonizingly absent. Too physical...ripped my heart apart.
My friends, my loves, this place is absurd. Why have we all come? Out of compassion, wisdom. Our Bodhisattva's vow of eternal compassion, never to depart and leave them/us all behind. My loves, my friends, let this be my first announcement, my first cry of recognition to you who have gone along with me, though separate, never apart.
My loves, my friends, as a young boy, always looking to the stars, always reading of the other worlds, never once disbelieving. As a teen, terribly alienated, out of place. Tried to fit, couldn't, of course. Read much of the beyond, the dimensions, the black holes, consciousness of the animate and supposedly inanimate, never once doubted. My poor parents, not my parents, how could they know? All my romances, always ending in wrenching disappointment.
Soon, I'll be stabilized enough for the higher learning which is part of my work, and I'll be moving on into a more fluid, flexible environment. Learning to take all this crap, and turn it into gold.
Thank You All For Being
W.L.