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Essays, Memoirs & True Stories
The Important Difference
Self-righteous attempts at conventional religion; experiments with grass, acid, speed; chanting Hare Krishna down Fifth Avenue; endless wanderings around the earth — so began the search for enlightenment among my friends more than 10 years ago. It’s hard to see if anyone has become enlightened, and if they have, they haven’t become better human beings for it.
July 1974Space Seed, Space Egg
High up just inside the dome of the great public domain, there is being prepared now a World’s Fair, a great unveiling.
July 1974
TM: Touching The Source
Like everyone, I was looking for inner peace and happiness. There were the days of booze and drugs. The two hours each day of Yoga positions which included breathing exercises that almost blew my head off. Concentrative meditation which was preceded by a primal scream for everyone to be quiet.
July 1974Good Heavens
To come to an understanding of the intrinsic workings of everyday life, primitive man sought order amidst the chaos of his existence. Tides came in and washed over ground that was dry and untouchable only days before. Cold made barren the lushness of a summer forest.
July 1974
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Astrological notation
Astrological notation, rows of numbers, and the arcane symbolism of the Tarot filled the page.
July 1974
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Before I went traveling I lived in a house
Before I went traveling I lived in a house where we banned the word “Enlightenment.” At the time it was the impossible, unreachable, unfathomable dream, and I suppose we couldn’t take the pressure of being held up to our Goal, being only human as we were.
July 1974The Enlightenment Game
BODY enters world. Spirit enters body. Go.
July 1974
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Whether life or its meaning comes first becomes irrelevant
Whether life or its meaning comes first becomes irrelevant. Love is meaning. Life without love is meaningless.
July 1974On Not Believing
If you look hard enough for a reason to support something you want to believe in, you’ll find it. We select a belief as we do a mate, seeking for that which best reflects ourselves and our needs. Both are fragile and tenuous affairs, but how much more fervently one will hold onto some beliefs, after many loves have come and gone.
July 1974
And Then, Forever
“Well, is the house still there?” she asks in the morning, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Yes, I think, it’s there: the universe holds together. This morning, as every morning: the house, the street outside, the house across the street: their lives, our lives. What more assurance, what greater truth, can we ask for?
July 1974
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