Paradise in the East
I was guided by a stranger one day to a remote village outside the city and was amazed by what I found. A tall, lithe man with bright gray hair named Cheerinjuva had told the villagers that the Americans were coming and he'd prepared them for several years. He taught them perfect English and aroused great enthusiasm for their arrival. The Americans found him.
I was taken to a tiny hut where they were all sitting around relaxing and chatting. Cheerinjuva sat and talked about life with much animation. The 'collapsable man' made us laugh -- how he could fold his body up where he perched, very social and talkative with several major teeth missing, and be so comfortable with all these rather clumsy specimens from the West. And then dinner was served. We were led to a veranda and seated on mats in a single row facing the hut. A white candle had been placed before each person's spot on the floor and a beautiful vegetarian meal was deftly set down. We ate facing the wall. The people were exquisite.
I can't remember exactly how long I stayed there, it was another dimension in time and space. I recall one day walking through a field playing my guitar, the others dancing around, and I realized I was in paradise.
Cheerinjuva planned to come to the States to start an ashram, but he never did. Later, in London, I met a man who had been to the village before me. I wept when I saw him. He died soon after of a heart attack. I met with his friends in NYC when I returned to the States and we said goodbye, goodbye to our friend and goodbye to the jungle paradise in the East.
In the meantime, I was advised by a psychic to avoid groups. She said that I didn't need them, no use to cling to the idea. Now if all the lively Aquarians around here, rising, climbing, or otherwise, would simply dematerialize, maybe I could follow her advice.
Looks like I'm stuck. At least until Neptune gets out of my 11th house. Along with the North Node, of course.
Photo: Luca Invernezzi Tettoni
posted by jm at 8:10 PM
12 Comments:
How interesting. Love the story.
Last night i was on the phone until the wee hours with a friend - our topic- The Group- and the consequences of not belong. The dynamics are fascinating.
And yet here in this medium you provide a home for we the ungroupable. It is an amazing gift, it truly is JM. To come in, go out, connect and share as selves without being asked to conform or face the ostracism of not. The solitary traveler with the courage of self has found rare welcoming hostel. To live whole has generally meant to live separate.
A rare safe harbour, you create, in the Raging Universe.
Tseka! Yay!
Jm, I bet you'd be a very fun fellow traveler. Up for anything, maybe?
This is wonderful, tseka. I would like to hear some more about this phone conversation.
This experience was one of the biggest in my life and the advice against the group has always haunted me.
And yet here in this medium you provide a home for we the ungroupable.
Absolutely incredible words. Now it's all beginning to make sense. If I achieved this, it is probably my greatest so far. I'm so idealistic.
The solitary traveler with the courage of self has found rare welcoming hostel. To live whole has generally meant to live separate.
These are some of the profound changes I'm experiencing.
Thank you for this magnanimous encouragement.
Travel chrispito??? How 'bout Sikkim?
In my early years I was kept out of the group, so in High School I finally formed my own small group of interesting people. Very small. But one unusual member of the main clique decided to be friends with me anyway. She treasured our relationship.
The meeting in Calcutta was beyond any reality I'd experienced so far. I intended to join Cheerinjuva when he came.
You know I'm not much for hocus pocus, and this woman was the only real psychic I ever knew.
She was raised as a Rosicrucian and recognized by them as a saint. She was told that her first child would die at 14 months and this happened. I don't think many people knew about this and she never revealed her psychic abilities. She didn't even tell me about the group thing directly. My aunt relayed the information. It felt important.
I've traveled solo or one-on-one since then. but it must be wired in us to want to belong, maybe back to ancient need for protection. Women especially used to group together to protect the young when the men were out hunting.
The thing that bothered me about the group was this. They invite you in for your identity and individuality. But once you belong, they demand you conform, and if you don't, they spit you out for the very same reason they took you in.
So I followed the advice, still seeking entrance, and feeling a lot of conflict.
This has been a major turnaround, and if I am now with the collective, it must mean that all this Aquarius-Pisces is really working on a much broader, stronger level. Maybe some real ideals are being developed in social congregation. If not, I can't stay.
My psychic was a dancer, an angel, a gorgeous, graceful human. There is connection.
Here's another connection.
The symbolism of nourishing ourselves facing the wall instead of one another is important. The alone-togetherness. Eating is so personal and I thought this was advanced behavior. Connecting with self right next to the comfort of the group. Facing a solitary white candle. A lot of society's problems center around the unhealthy rituals of food intake.
This is Cancer-Aquarius. The autonomy of self within the group, especially where it concerns Cancer nourishment. This is mastery of interpersonal intimacy without being swallowed.
I'm a Cancer with mostly Uranian energy, the Venus-Uranus conjunction being the trigger point in my chart. Any Uranian-Aquarian types with Cancer or strong Moon placements are cut out for this job.
The difference here is that it goes beyond the primitive and the sentimental. Not coddling or stemming from personal insecurity. With Aqaurius, the nurturing can be detached and more in line with what's best for development.
Very interesting, we could apply this idea to art as well. The nourishment that the individual provides by facing away from the group but still in communication with the whole. Perhaps in fact laying the groundwork for the group as it transitions to its next level of comprehension.
Very interesting the ideas on nourishment and the group.
I remember thinking once, while dining out alone, that eating IS such an intimate experience. In a restaurant, one can dine 'alone' while being a part of the energy of the group in this ancient ritual of eating, feeding the body. I have often done things alone but want at times to feel the energy of other humans without actually engaging with them. The wallflower/observer participant. It is similar to me to an observation I made once on listening to the radio. I enjoy being home alone but when I don't want to feel completely solitary I realized that putting on the radio is more than just for the noise or stimulation. It is actually an energetic, streaming, palpable connection to another place. it isn't always the information or music that i want, I sometimes just want the energy, the connection....
Tseka, I love what you said about art, about the artist creating or taking in nourishment solo while maintaining a connection to the greater whole... I love your vision.
Mercury, ah Hermes!, is playfully making alphabet soup of my thoughts and ability to express them.
Marvelous thought and this is exactly how I'm going to proceed. This is a hard one to master. To look but not look. Always looking at the larger dimensions of purpose.
Perhaps in fact laying the groundwork for the group as it transitions to its next level of comprehension.
Do I ever love this.
meristem, everything you said resonates.
I realized that putting on the radio is more than just for the noise or stimulation. It is actually an energetic, streaming, palpable connection to another place.
This is exactly how I've done it for years. Radio is in realtime and the connection is genuine.
So is the blogosphere.
I have often done things alone but want at times to feel the energy of other humans without actually engaging with them.
Meristem
Your thoughts resonate with me as well, Meristem. That must explain why I often enjoy driving through the city at night, even just by myself... to observe the nightlife and simply take in the experience of the moment.
Such a relaxing image, neo. Thank you. I'm still feeling good now, a day after reading it.
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