Follow The Drinking Gourd

A group of 5 children accompanied 2 adults on their way from the slave plantation to freedom. It was the beginning of the winter, and already the slaves could see, it would be a long, hard, bitter winter. Although ole Kentuck lay on the border of Ohio, there was the Ohio river that needed to be crossed to freedom.

It was late and they had been traveling 3 days. they were close to the Kentucky border, when one of the adults was unable to continue, he was carrying children across a ditch and fell backwards, with his leg stuck in the ground, tearing his knee to shreds. He waited in the bush, not betraying his position, so that the group could progress and not be found out.

They waited until night to cross the final ten or so miles to the river, hoping that there would be some help from the other side in the form of a boat, to ferry them across. Slave catchers, poor whites and poor free blacks abounded on the Kentucky border. But tonight, something special, and heartbreaking was to occur.

A slave catcher, one of the best was onto the trail of the children. He tracked down dozens of escaped slaves, nearly a hundred in the last few years. His dogs were well trained, knew the scent and were always allowed to rip into the flesh of the runaways that were found.

This man looked upon his trade as a business. nothing more. He was sanctioned by the law. The law was on his side. As much as he could make the skin crawl of even the most weathered and conditioned slave owner through his calculating ruthlessness, he was not so much evil, as he was unfeeling.

as he came upon the trail, he gave the signal for his dogs to become quiet, so that the element of surprise would be his.

When he caught up to the children, they were making their way through an orchard in the half-full moonlight. dashing from tree to tree. brother, sister, cousin, friend, following the movements of their one remaining adult, 19 year old "Jebby". the youngest of the children, 7 year old Freddy followed. His eyes wide, stomach empty. feet raw, he fed on the anticipation that came with the promise of being so close to freedom, and hot food, a warm bed, and some form of roof over their head. he would so gladly trade his terror and loneliness for that.

The slave catcher eased up to the children. They were still a mile or two from the river. They would not succeed tonight. Surely, they would be punished, whipped, the oldest would be cut to ribbons. The children, branded, or an ear cut off, or teeth knocked out, to label them more easily should they try to run away again. worse than all of this, they would be chained and made to walk the 300 or so miles back to the plantation, struggling on already raw and bloody feet, to keep up with the slave-catchers horse.

The slave catcher caught up to the last one in the line, grabbed him fiercely by the neck and ordered the others to stop dead in their tracks, as she cocked his pistol against the child's head.

the slave catcher stood between trees in the orchard, his dogs at bay as he watched 2 more children come out. The sight of the young children took even his hardened eyes aback. two of the children were nearly white. all of them wide eyed, tired, cold, hungry. another child came out. tall, sleek and beautiful and dark. quiet and beautiful. and finally, Jeb came out, with 7 year old Freddy in his arms. The whole capture took less than 10 minutes.

The slave catcher was used to fighting to the death, running, stumbling, wrestling, and his dogs biting and tearing before the final struggle for freedom was decided.

As the children, Jeb, the slave catcher and the dogs stood in the light. All silent, and then it happened. The slave catcher looking at these children. beautiful, quiet, so close to freedom. the impossible occurred. He was moved, as he had never been moved before. he began to cry. at first covering his mouth, and then his face grew contorted under the strain of emotion and he let the gun fall in his hand to his sides.

This was the night, he stopped being a slave catcher, and became a conductor on the underground railroad. He looked up in the sky, finding the drinking gourd and pointing out the north star. he let the boy go that was in his grasp, and then, he joined the group in their dash between the trees of the orchard on their way to parts north.

within the hour they were at the Ohio river. The slave catcher knew these lands. Where he could go, the shortest point in the river. he stole a boat from a boat house near the river and he himself ferried the group of children to the other side of the river to freedom. All of this happened without so much as a word. No explanation, no thank-yous, just the drinking gourd, and the final dash to freedom, and a conversion in silence.

When the children grew up. they told the tale to their children, and their children, adding to the legacy, the magic, and redeeming power of the drinking gourd.

doing nothing...

one interpretation of "doing nothing" is just that, to do nothing.
whether this term "doing nothing" in spiritual parlance represents the translation of some word in a foreign language, or an English approximation of that word, is unknown to me.
however, knowing semantics and the ways in which language works as an arbiter upon the many realms of comprehension, especially with regards to ones spiritual aspect, 'doing nothing' is clearly an " interpretation" of a mental state, or a physical description, that must be re-interpreted, contemplated, acted out, revisited and discussed, in order to meaningfully derive the nectar of it's concept.

what this idea means to me, or has come to mean to me is severally manifested.

1. making an active effort to unite the many different faces of personality, into a uniform whole which is adept at reacting appropriately to the contingencies of the situation, yet, consistent and deeply resonant with a core truth that extends wholeheartedly within and between all self-aspects.

2. approaching each interaction as a relationship, whether nascent, seasoned, or transitional. there may be purpose, or an end (as in shopping, requesting information), yet at the same time there is an awareness of the ever-present pregnancy of possibility within each moment that beings share as they knowingly or unknowlingly exchange vital selfness. (you can not communicate with another without exchanging a physical/tangible aspect of self.. it is wholly intimate... our ability to accept this offering from others and accept it lovingly is what allows others to move and progress in their thoughts and self-expression in meaningful and full ways).

3. returning to meditation, which is the most radical and literal form of "do nothing", so that the emptiness, the non-personal, the non-contiguous and unknowing aspect of self, may pervade , such that the universal state of cleansing silence can refocus and reawaken my being to the moment of flowering freshness to be forever groped and grasped, and silently imbibed of it's bouquet to the fullest aspect of ones ability.

4. that when doing all of the above, fear and emotions are stayed, by the freshness and naivete of surprise and wonder, and thankfulness for all experiences.. such that the present of the present, is continually unwrapped and worshipped.

it is my hope that as i tune in (to my core being), turn on (my wonder and gratitude) and drop out (of the preconceived and obligatory), i can help to realign others to this orientation in a subtle, truthful and yet profound way that can be sustaining and beautiful to them. for to share, and exchange in this way, is an evolutionary/revolutionary opportunity for all who are aware and present.

'doing nothing' means, that you do not grasp for that which has been grasped, so that one may allow that which is thrust to enter one fully and in a manner of resonance

'doing nothing' is to engage in an active satsang in a waking, walking, living, talking, relating way. receiving the embodied reality moment, in whatever form it is given (sunshine, a fellow being, sustenance, ideas, wind, passion.... the list is truly endless, and the receiving is never stopped...)

'doing nothing' means that one need not do anything more than be oneself consciously, for everything to be achieved.

to 'do nothing' is to do and be, and be present to everything in a purposeful way.

to me, that is what is meant spiritually by 'doing nothing'. not that the one on the path does nothing. but rather, he is doing nothing that is unusual and contradictory to the deepest aspect of dualism (self and other) in the action of his being.

the aliens finally came.

the aliens finally came.
they were highly intelligent.
amazingly they were low tech.
they did not like our creations because they were too toxic.
they showed us how to have technology that did not poison our environment
they showed us how to make enough food to support all humans
they had the wisdom to show us how to stop the cycle of violence, kick our addictions from drugs, eliminate greed, lust, abuse, exploitation.
they taught us how to contemplate upon matters, in the manner of a meditation and they gave us such fulfilling ideas and truths, and their pathways to enlightenment so well lighted, that all were able to achieve a deep knowing and peacefulness.

once that had been achieved along with the fear of food, of education, of a future, almost all walls fell down.

humanity entered a golden age, lead by the aliens who were beyond our imagination in that they were not advanced, rather, they seemed to embody the ancient wisdom of olden times.

we wondered how they had achieved the great secrets of time travel, space travel. how had they found us?

they explained to us, that they lived in harmony with their home planet which was much smaller, colder and less hospitable than our own.

somehow this condition allowed them to realize what we seemingly realized, but were incapable of embodying, which is, that they must live in accordance with their world and resources. in this way, they were able to persist in their civilization for millions of generations.

the effect of this, was that they were able to see that there are no "new" ideas. and so, they did not change, or chase technology. each "advance" was not embraced, ideas and ways of life that had worked for millenia were not abandoned for "advances" that resulted in the waste of precious resources and "garbage".

these advanced beings, embraced only that which was biodegradable or easily deconstructible. besides their technology, they did not embrace complex structures. they left their craft in space, far away from their planet.

their children were raised as simple beings, knowing nothing of the space. when they were old enough, once they understood the care of their environment, they were then allowed the oportunity to become educated in their higher technology. such wisdom was revered and taught only to those who would be the equivalent of shamans in our society. their idea was that mechanical technology was used to preserve life off of the planet, but not to be used for life on the planet

they saw their purpose to simply preserve their world for future generations.

for those in space. they saw their mission as the study of the universe. it was a burden, a calling and a yearning that us on earth also share. somehow, they had the ability to monitor all life in the universe. somehow, they had devised a way to identify all planets with life.

for those planets, they saw their mission as to spread the ideas of how to continue their species. just as we see ourselves on this planet as all one people (granted, this was not our original idea), they see all life in the universe, as one people.

the effect of their wisdom was simply devastating upon our civilization.
but the foolishness of allowing greed and money determine the destiny of our planet, became plainly evident. how had we allowed a "free market" to become our oppressors? how did we allow an idea, or ideas, or profit, or "standard of living" to become more important than life itself? The aliens revered indigenous culture. They found such great resonance with native american tribes, African tribes, those who lived on the islands and all cultures that lived peacefully in harmony with their environment. They saw non-symbiotic food gathering, whether it was hunting/gathering, or politically organized food production as the most vital threat to peaceful co-existence.

to the aliens it made no difference why we had lost our way. what was important was to find our way. we did not have to contemplate "how" we had lost our way anymore than we had to contemplate "how" a honeybee learned to fly.

the death of our human egos was at first hard, but as the first waves of people shook off the oppression of greed, lust, and thoughtlessness, it became easier for others. it was supportive to enter the world of the egoless, earth loving, life loving first wave of converts.

of course there were those who could not make the transition. they were not allowed to live within our peaceful society. they were forced to live with one another in a secluded area where they had to fend for themselves. they were all continually given the opportunity to repent and steadily as children were born, others died, and others became tired of the grind, they became extinct due to assimiliation and isolation.

and so now man had to face perfection straight in the eye. the loss of power of human destiny was hard for some to take. although the aliens saw us as their brother, many humans felt that we would have arrived at the same conclusion eventually. many humans felt that we had been robbed of our ability to pick and choose our own destiny. many argued that technology would have eventually yielded a solution to our environmental issues. Those that hold these ideas are viewed with suspicion. Many humans hope that our alien brothers do not leave us, for fear that a faction of technology loving humans will once again dominate. some see it as inevitible.

but this was a small minority. the vast majority, cared not where the good ideas and good speech came from. all they cared for, was that it was true and right and assured that all of our errors would be erased.

some aliens lived among us to help consult, but not more than 3-4 at a time which was more than sufficient, for even one of them had the power of mind and speech to transform our entire world.

and things wound down on earth. life slowed, populations decreased, food and education became plentiful, and as the aliens cleaned our messes and purified our air, land and water, diseases decreased. as diets got better, health improved, as anger and stress decreased, happiness increased, families became more stable. sharing, community, education, mind/body connections flourished.

man had truly entered their golden age. once things were on line, many political bodies dissolved, for they were not needed. communities were so fully in control and engaged, there was no use for systems beyond regions.

this all happened within 3 years of when the aliens first landed.

it was not something we could anticipate. it took all of us completely by surprise.

life is a flash

i had a dream where i realized i was dreaming.
walking by the subway entrance, i fell to my knees, closed my eyes and began to meditate.
what would happen?
it was just like a conscious meditation, the only difference being that the "reality" of the dream melted away and disappeared. my eyes were closed, and the sounds of the city, the feeling of depth, the sound of depth in my ears disappeared. there was only me.

since that time, one of my favorite places to meditate are in high traffic places, even on the train.

the beauty of a world that does not melt away when your eyes are closed. the beauty of a meditation, that no matter how deep you get, the world does not go away.

it helped me to realize many things.

when we meditate, once our minds are empty, then we have achieved. to be aware of the sounds of the world, to be aware of others, of the moment.. those are all beautiful gifts and to be aware of them should deepen your meditation upon reality, not lessen it. there is no such thing as a distraction, unless you allow it to distract you. and if it's reality, then it can not be a distraction from your reality.

it's a subtle difference, but significant.

it also taught me an essential truth of our existence.

our existence, is defined from nothingness, by the fact that there is an element of continuity, of continuation, of persistence in reality. in physical reality. in our integrity as beings.

somehow an opportunity was provided for reality to freeze for a period of time.

life, as it were, represents a freezing of a consciousness within a living being.

and so the beauty of death can also be seen.

death is the unfreezing of this conscious being.

this being is released, where? to where it was before it was frozen.

and this seems to be one truth that may be inescapable. that death, as unknown, as strange, as mysterious, as sad as it is for those of us who remain alive, is not so much a mystery, as it is a return.

how beautiful, that although reality may exist for billions, or even trillions of years (?), we only have to wait a few years to return to that whence it all came... HA!

it seems that the only way reality can exist is if all that was given to it, is one day returned. everything that exist, must not exist again.

perhaps like an amoeba, existence moves through different dimensions, bringing it's beautiful reality "freeze' to other forms of consciousness, living and otherwise.

and so, as i sit upon the train, meditating, being aware of this persisting reality upon my consciousness... a consciousness made up of and made possible by this same condition, i allow this awareness and this condition, to elevate my meditation to a prayer for the moment.