Computers are kind of an insult to this Calligraphress. Much prefer the 3rd-dimensional approach to writing: various nifty tools & inks, textured paper in rainbow hues, shapes of the alphabet to convey emotions…
But I’m settling in to this new laptop– just wandered into an Options category, and now I’m all set up with a screensaver image of stars flying thru space… highly significant, and here’s why:
We were put to bed as children promptly at 7:30 pm. Sometimes the sun was still up!! As an adult, my most creative time begins at sunset and continues on into the night, ’til as far as I can push my body thru the waves of creativity that break over me… This trait I was born with– I’d lie there in bed and listen for the clock on the mantel directly beneath to strike. It was a Seth Thomas, in the family now for 6 generations. Before striking it’d make a few little cricking sounds… when I inherited it, I discovered an alarm was built in, and set for 6:15 am, when my father got up for work… never did hear it go off as a child!
So there I was, lying in bed ’til all hours… ’til after 11 pm, anyways…
Only my body was lying there. Early on, I’d discovered a way out: at the 3rd eye there was a little crooked path. It had a kind of slippery hoopdedoo– once past that, I’d shoot on outta there into the starry Universe, stars flashing by as I headed for outer space, flying and free.
I did this for YEARS. Never mentioned it to anyone, though. Never had anyone close enough for that kind of conversation, and in fact, during the ’40’s and early ’50’s such an event was not in the mass consciousness.
One evening, and I figure it was when the hormones were beginning to rise, it was suddenly and disconcertingly difficult to locate the entrance to the little crooked path… as if there were dark and sticky veils hanging over it. I parted the veils and escaped for yet another evening– but the next time, the veils were too thick and I couldn’t get past them. I turned over, went to sleep, and forgot about my little crooked path for a couple of decades.
In my early 30’s I was drawn to be initiated by Saran Singh-ji onto the path of Surat Shabd Yoga, the most restrictive and demanding of the Yoga paths: Planet Earth was regarded as the highest level of the 3 Hells. Everything here was a trap to keep you… therefore, live tightly so as not to create any more negative Karma, eat nothing intended as vehicle for higher life forms, and spend 1/10th of your time in meditation (2 1/2 hrs per day, they dropped the odd 10 minutes in our favor)– and preferably between 2 am and 4:30 am, when the sun and moon were in positions best allowing escape from the body. We were given a mantra to keep our minds busy as we looked for the entrance to a little crooked path at our 3rd eye…
I sat there for 3 months before I remembered! I used to be able to do this before!! Before my hormones bound me to the planet…
Seemed to me that after menopause, by their decline my hormones would allow me back out again… Girl Friend, I’m sad to report that this is not the case. Appears to be more a matter of mental entrapment: my busy mind has enthralled me and now I cannot escape it so easily.
Many paths later, I am back to the simplicity of Now. My mantram is Every step a blessing, every breath a prayer.
Looking to see you without benefit of your body. We’ll meet, we’ll blend, we’ll join the Greater Oneness all around… and meantimes, I’ll count you as one of the stars on my screensaver.