My Real Education - Part I

I have been thinking lately of the time when I was to become acquainted with my first Teacher under the category “spiritual”. ☺) I smile because that has become such a loaded word. Not unlike “nondual”. (One, not-two etc.) Regardless of the loadedness of the words, I will employ them both here in hopes that readers will not lay too much heaviosity to hang on them, as they are wobbly enough. Ahem….

Sometime in 1985 I was invited by management in my company to attend a human potential weekend seminar. These weekend-enlightenment circuses were all the rage in the early 80’s…..primarily begun by the famous EST group by Werner Erhardt. Werner was not in charge of the seminar I attended, alas I attended EST Lite, or EST for Dummies, a basically ESTesque seminar put on by folks calling themselves PSI World; “People Synergystically Involved”….yeah I know……that’s why they called themselves “PSI” (pronounced “sigh”) World. These seminars were designed to produce a radical new POV in people to help them unleash their full potential, using various tactics such as sleep deprivation, group think pressure etc. These HP seminars were all about that. But they’re beside the point. The seminar served as arena for what was going to happen next.

A little backstory: I had already had experiences of a nature far more profound than what was to be offered at any weekend human potential shindig. In ’81 I had a remarkably transformative awakening to the Absolute Nature of Being, as Love. After requesting help from what I then thought of as Source/Creator/Divine, I was answered by a force so powerful I was smithereened at the heart. Spun my worldview completely around and healed my psychic wounds from the past, instantaneously. Put my feet firmly on the “path” so to speak. Then in ’83 I had what was described by the head Psychiatrist at a private hospital as “a spiritual experience misdiagnosed as psychosis”. In other parlance, it would be termed as a “kundalini awakening”. So I was no stranger to psychic openings.

At the PSI World seminar I met a woman who was the most spiritually aware, cosmically hip, avante garde, outrageously fun person I’d ever met. Her given name was Grace, but she went by the name of Dulalee. This name she told me, was one which Krishna was supposed to have used as an endearment for his consort Radha. Being that Dulalee was a big fan of Krishna, this made sense. She definitely held the opinion that if Krishna were to incarnate now, he’d be a big fan of HERS.
She was to become a dear friend and ally in what I sometimes call Cosmic Trekking. She didn't drink alcohol, had never done drugs, the strongest substance she was into was coffee, yet she was an incredible "tripper". On the natch. She knew that non-dual place of "All That IS". She spoke straight out of her higher consciousness most of the time. And she was fun to the tenth degree. Super fun and spontaneous.

She was open to all possibilities and from this her spontaneity was a constantly renewable resource. As I said she was open to all possibilities; except one. She could never have been cruel; hers was a wide open heart, yet with an eagle eye for chicanery and tricksters of every variety. Her one complaint about the seminar we were attending was that they were only exploring the MERELY human potential within the psyche but leaving untouched the depths of spiritual experience, spiritual awakening, and that is what Dulalee was all about.

She, herself was a trickster of sorts in that she was not what convention would approve of as “seemly’ for a spiritual person., at least in those days. The way we met was during a break in the action, out in the hotel lobby, she excitedly approached me, grabbed me by the arm and said breathlessly, “You are so goddamned sexy! You remind me of ME, 15 years ago! Come on, let’s get some coffee!” I don’t know if it was her exuberant smile, her utter confidence that I would WANT to waltz away to the coffee shop with an utter stranger or the intuition that I was about to embark on a serious adventure (probably all three), but I didn’t hesitate for a moment. Off we went for a cup of Joe.

I don’t really remember our opening conversation as we sat in that booth, but I DO remember her saying to me that “the highest Being on the planet right now, in my opinion is a guy named Da Free John.” She quoted something of his, I said “hmm, I don’t get it.” She said “YES you do.” and handed me a Laughing Man magazine which she yanked out of her cavernous handbag. That “YES you do.” was to become a regular mind-stopper she would use on me whenever I was uncertain about my knowingness of something REAL.

end of Part I