Profile
"Lives are like rivers. Eventually they go where they must. Not where we want them to." – Richard Russo, "Empire Falls"
I joined the CBS News organization in New York, a starry-eyed intern confident that broadcast journalism and working for Eric Sevareid was my destiny. It was here I found my niche in electronic media and the written word. Five years later the U.S. State Department recruited me to Washington, D.C. with the promise of free passage to everywhere when I entered the foreign service. A restless spirit with eyes on distant horizons, the "now" was never an option for me. So the search for Who Am I took the long and tortuous path across oceans and continents, from the African bush to the roof of the world, only to find the answer dwells within.
Europe during the Cold War, Third World poverty, political assassinations, an emotionally shattering Vietnam War were some of the more stressful environments in which I lived and worked. But the rich diverse cultures of Japanese, European, Islamic, Southeast Asian and African peoples played a defining role in the person I am today.
It would be impossible to forget the friendship and generosity of those whose lives were entwined with mine like interwoven wickerwork–my American foreign service colleagues, and the myriad foreign nationals who opened their homes and hearts to me. How grateful I am to have known every single one of them. Clearly, a family of one consciousness.
After many years overseas I was assigned to the Washington, D.C. Office of Public Affairs where I wrote and produced educational documentaries for the Agency For International Development. My spiritual journey led me to a frozen Himalayan mountainside described in my article, "The Eternal Search For Who Am I?," where for a brief moment a mystical stranger opened a portal to an indescribable spiritual experience only to have it close for a long time.
I've been guided by and to many spiritual teachers. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi made me a teacher of Transcendental Meditation (TM); Siddha Yoga masters Baba Muktananda and Gurumayi Chidvilasananda from whom I received shaktipat (kundalini activation) over many years. Dynamic spiritual visionary Panache Desai remains an inspiration and loving presence in my life. Sri Bhagavan is an Indian spiritual master and founder of Oneness University, a spiritual school located in Southern India. I spent considerable time studying there and had many mystical experiences. But as Maharishi taught us long years ago, spirituality is not a series of flashy phenomena. It is those very 'ecstatic' experiences that attract like a drug, keep you coming back for more, but take you nowhere. Sri Mooji (a disciple of Papaji of Lucknow) is from the Caribbean island of Jamaica. His simple message is: "Stop. Be quiet. You already are what you are seeking."
Having had many ‘incarnations‘ in this very lifetime, I’ve been a writer in all of them. While I know I’m not the doer, the source of the writing is unknowable. Like any creative endeavor, it happens naturally and when it's supposed to. As Sri Mooji says, "Since the day is already written, all you have to do is show up."
"What a liberation to realize that the voice in my head is not who I am. 'Who am I then?' The one who sees that." – Eckhart Tolle
Diamond level author at ezinearticles.com
I joined the CBS News organization in New York, a starry-eyed intern confident that broadcast journalism and working for Eric Sevareid was my destiny. It was here I found my niche in electronic media and the written word. Five years later the U.S. State Department recruited me to Washington, D.C. with the promise of free passage to everywhere when I entered the foreign service. A restless spirit with eyes on distant horizons, the "now" was never an option for me. So the search for Who Am I took the long and tortuous path across oceans and continents, from the African bush to the roof of the world, only to find the answer dwells within.
Europe during the Cold War, Third World poverty, political assassinations, an emotionally shattering Vietnam War were some of the more stressful environments in which I lived and worked. But the rich diverse cultures of Japanese, European, Islamic, Southeast Asian and African peoples played a defining role in the person I am today.
It would be impossible to forget the friendship and generosity of those whose lives were entwined with mine like interwoven wickerwork–my American foreign service colleagues, and the myriad foreign nationals who opened their homes and hearts to me. How grateful I am to have known every single one of them. Clearly, a family of one consciousness.
After many years overseas I was assigned to the Washington, D.C. Office of Public Affairs where I wrote and produced educational documentaries for the Agency For International Development. My spiritual journey led me to a frozen Himalayan mountainside described in my article, "The Eternal Search For Who Am I?," where for a brief moment a mystical stranger opened a portal to an indescribable spiritual experience only to have it close for a long time.
I've been guided by and to many spiritual teachers. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi made me a teacher of Transcendental Meditation (TM); Siddha Yoga masters Baba Muktananda and Gurumayi Chidvilasananda from whom I received shaktipat (kundalini activation) over many years. Dynamic spiritual visionary Panache Desai remains an inspiration and loving presence in my life. Sri Bhagavan is an Indian spiritual master and founder of Oneness University, a spiritual school located in Southern India. I spent considerable time studying there and had many mystical experiences. But as Maharishi taught us long years ago, spirituality is not a series of flashy phenomena. It is those very 'ecstatic' experiences that attract like a drug, keep you coming back for more, but take you nowhere. Sri Mooji (a disciple of Papaji of Lucknow) is from the Caribbean island of Jamaica. His simple message is: "Stop. Be quiet. You already are what you are seeking."
Having had many ‘incarnations‘ in this very lifetime, I’ve been a writer in all of them. While I know I’m not the doer, the source of the writing is unknowable. Like any creative endeavor, it happens naturally and when it's supposed to. As Sri Mooji says, "Since the day is already written, all you have to do is show up."
"What a liberation to realize that the voice in my head is not who I am. 'Who am I then?' The one who sees that." – Eckhart Tolle
Diamond level author at ezinearticles.com
