PART OF A STORY IN A BOOK ABOUT A MAN'S EXPLORING.
A MEETING WITH WITH AN EASTERN TEACHER
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS WAS WRITTEN BY DR. ALPERT PHD,MD- FORMER HEAD OF THE HARVARD PSYCHOLOGY
DEPARTMENT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
""I WAS TRAVELING WITH A YOUNG WESTERNER IN INDIA, WHEN I WAS BROUGHT TO AN
EASTERN TEACHER. THE NIGHT BEFORE I HAD BEEN IN A CITY A HUNDRED MILES DISTANT,
AND WHILE OUT UNDER THE STARS I HAD LOOKED UP AND HAD EXPERIENCED THE PRESENCE
OF MY MOTHER. IT WAS NOW NOVEMBER AND SHE HAD DIED IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTES,
THEPREVIOUS FEBRUARY, OF A SPLEEN INFECTION. HER SPLEEN HAD ENLARGED, IT HAD
BEEN REMOVED, AND SHE HAD DIED. I HAD BEEN WITH HER DURING THE TIME SHE WAS
DYING AND HAD MEDITATED IN HER ROOM, SO WE WERE ABLE TO BE VERY CONSCIOUS.
WE WERE ABLE TO TRANSEND MOTHERNESS AND CHILDNESS, DEATH AND LIFE, AND BE
TOGETHER SO WHEN SHE DIED I DID NOT FEEL ANY LOSS. I TALKED WITH HER ABOUT
DEATH THE WEEK PRIOR TO HER DEATH AND THE RESULT WAS THAT MANY TIMES LATER ON
I FELT HER PRESENCE. BECAUSE OF THE CLOSENESS OF THE STARS IN THE NIGHT, THIS
BEAUTIFUL, WARM INDIAN NIGHT, IT WAS ONE SUCH TIME.
NEXT DAY THE FELLOW I WAS TRAVELING WITH SAID THAT HE HAD TO GO AND SEE HIS
HIS GURU. HE SAID HE WAS A HINDU AND THAT UPSET ME. I DID'T WANT TO SEE A HINDU
GURU, BUT HE HAD THE CAR, SO OFF WE WENT. WE DROVE UP INTO THE MOUNTAINS,
STOPPED BY A SMALL TEMPLE, WENT UP THE SIDE OF A HILL, AND CAME TO A MAN
SITTING IN A FIELD SURROUNDED BY 8 OR 9 INDIANS. MY FRIEND DID
DANDAVAT-PRANAM: HE STRETCHED OUT FLAT ON HIS FACE BEFORE THE MAN'S FEET.
I WAS NOT ABOUT TO DO THAT, BEING A WESTERNER OF GREAT DIGNITY, SO I STOOD AT A
DISTANCE WATCHING.
THERE WERE SOME EARLY COMMENTS THEN THE MAN MOTIONED ME TO SIT.

HE SAID IN HINDI,
"YOU WERE OUT UNDER THE STARS LAST NIGHT."
         ""YES!""
"YOU WERE THINKING ABOUT YOUR MOTHER."

    NOW IT'S REASONABLE HE MIGHT EXPECT I WAS OUT UNDER THE STARS BECAUSE IT'S
VERY DIFFICULT TO BE IN INDIA WITH OUT BEING UNDER THE STARS AT SOME TIME,BUT
TO THINK ABOUT YOUR MOTHER IS LESS PROBABLE.

"SHE DIED LAST YEAR."
        ""YES!""

HE CLOSED HIS EYES, LEANED BACK AND SAID,
"SHE GOT VERY BIG IN THE BELLY BEFORE SHE DIED-'''SPLEEN'''."

HE SAID THE WORD SPLEEN IN ENGLISH, NOT IN HINDI, AND WHEN HE DID AN
INTERESTING THING HAPPENED TO ME. MY MIND, WHICH IS LIKE A COMPUTER, AS ALL OUR
MINDS ARE, WENT FASTER AND FASTER TRYING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF HOW HE DID IT.
IMMEDIATELY I ENTERTAINED EVERY PARANOIA I EVER HAD; IN AMERICA WE CALL THEM
OUR CIA PARANOIAS. I ASSUMED THAT SOME HOW HE WAS THE FRONT MAN FOR AN
ORGANIZATION THAT HAD TAKEN ME OVER. HE WAS LIKE 'DOCTOR NO' OF SCIENCE
FICTION. HE WOULD PUSH A BUTTON, THE EARTH WOULD OPEN UP, AND THERE WOULD BE A
HUGE FILE ON ME. I WAS MERELY A PASSANGER IN AN AUTOMOBILE AND YET THEY KNEW
MY MOTHER HAD DIED LAST FEBURARY OF A SPLEEN INFECTION. NOT ONLY THAT,
THEY WERE READING MY MIND. WHOEVER THEY WERE THEY WERE BETTER THAN ME, SO IF
THEY WERE THE BAD GUYS THEY HAD WON. NO MATTER HOW FAR OUT OR EXTRAORDINARY
MY PARANOIA GOT, IT COULDN'T HANDLE THIS. IT WAS JUST TOO UNLIKELY THEY WOULD
HAVE THEIR FRONT MAN SITTING, WITH A LITTLE BLANKET, UP IN THE MOUNTAINS.
WHY THERE ? WHY NOT IN NEW YORK CITY ?

YOU SEE, IN THE PAST, WHEN I HEARD OF THINGS LIKE THAT, I, AS A LIBERAL
WESTERN SCIENTIST WOULD SAY, "VERY INTERESTING. WE MUST KEEP AN OPEN MIND ABOUT
THESE THINGS. HUMPH !" BUT WHEN IT HAPPENED TO ME IT WAS SOMETHING ELSE AGAIN.

AFTER MY MIND HAD GONE FASTER AND FASTER AND FASTER AND COULD FIND NO
SOLUTION AT ALL, IT JUST STOPPED. IT WAS JUST LIKE A COMPUTER; THE RED LIGHT
GOES ON, THE BELL RINGS, AND IT SAYS, "REJECT! WHAT EVER INFORMATION YOU ARE
GIVING ME ISN'T SUFFIENT TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM."
MY RATIONAL MIND HAD BEEN BOGGLED ! AT THAT POINT, WHEN IT WAS AS IF MY MIND
HAD BEEN BEATEN, I FELT LIKE A CREAKY DOOR BEING OPENED, A WRENCHING EXPERIENCE
IN MY HEART, AND I STARTED TO CRY. I WAS NEITHER HAPPY NOR SAD. I WAS JUST
CRYING. IT WAS VERY MUCH A RELEASE, AS IF "I'M HOME !" I CRIED AND CRIED AND
WAS SO MUCH TAKEN OVER, THAT THE NEXT DAY WHEN I CAME TO VISIT I HAD NO
TROUBLE STRETCHING OUT FULL DOING DANDAVAT-PRANAM. WHEN I LOOKED NOW ALL I
SAW WAS LIGHT. ONCE MY HEART HAD OPENED AND I HAD ALLOWED MYSELF TO LOVE THIS
BEING I BEGAN TO SEE WHO HE REALLY WAS.

ALL THE BOOKS IN YOUR LIBRARY TALK ABOUT A HIGHER STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS; THEY
DON'T TALK ABOUT SUPER-RATIONALISM, THEY TALK ABOUT WHAT IS BEYOND. WHEN YOU
MEET A BEING WHO LIVES IN THA NEXT PLANE OF CONSCIOUSNESS YOU ARE METTING
SOMEONE WHO IS MUCH MORE THAN WHAT YOU CONSIDER A HOMOSAPIENS.
THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE DONE THE SAME EXPLORATION AS I, REALIZE HOW PRESUMPTUOUS
IT IS TO THINK THAT RATIONAL MAN IS THE HIGHEST ON THE SCALE OF EVOLUTION. WE
ARE BORN INTO THE PREDICAMENT OF HAVING A MIND WHICH IS TUNED TO CHANNEL 9,
OR THE PHYSICAL PLANE, SO WE GROW UP THINKING CHANNEL 9 IS REALITY.
WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THE ABOVE SITUATION HAPPENS, YOU SUDDENLY REALIZE THAT
NOT ONLY IS THERE CHANNEL 9, BUT THERE'S CHANNEL 8, AND 7, AND 6 AND 5 AND...
THE MINUTE WE BREAK THE IDENTIFICATION WITH THE RECEIVER WE CAN TUNE INTO A
GREAT MORE.
BEING SOPHISTICATED WESTERNERS WE KNOW THAT IN THIS ROOM THERE ARE MANY
CHANNELS, AND IF A TELEVISION SET WERE BROUGHT IN, TURNED ON, AND TUNED, IT
WOULD PICK THEM ALL UP. THEY ARE RIGHT HERE BUT WE DO NOT SEE THEM BECAUSE WE
ARE NOT TUNED TO SEE THEM.



and the story goes on ......

end of file