Dear Friends -
When I began this Ki Earth Journey and Journal, one brother advised me to forget about the books I had written or need to finish, and just write about my adventures on the road, and another brother said to do the same without the philosophizing.
I’m not sure what philosophizing means.
Imagine sitting by the ocean at sunset and describing the deep sea blues and the breaking surf as it hits the sandy shore, and the orange, red, purple blending sky behind the rich golden sun, the smells, the sounds and all of paradise. And then, suddenly to your surprise, just as the sun drops below the horizon - a most incredible emerald green light flashes at the point where it had just disappeared. You can’t help yourself - you are totally moved by what just happened. It’s not your mind thats moved. The mind could only blabber. It’s your heart and soul that responds to sudden beauty beyond words. This is exactly how I felt when I saw my first “green flash.”
It is one thing to paint the picture of the scene - that’s important, but it is equally important to write about what is FELT. How did I feel at the moment of the green flash? Honestly, I felt blessed. I was almost moved to tears. And if I were to elaborate on what that blessing and the tears meant to me, I suppose it would be called philosophizing.
I’m sitting here and I can’t remember what day it is. Big trees, shrubs and plants border the green lawn in front of me, as it slopes down into the still Louisiana bayou. Just about everything I see in front of me, except the two hungry chickens, is a shade of green. It's like the sunset ocean green flash has been slowed down a billion times. I am so blessed.
In real time - right this very moment - in the I don’t remember what day it is, me and the chickens and the bayou time, I pull a card from the Osho Zen Tarot:
The Fool . . .
Moment to moment, and with every step, the Fool leaves the past behind. He carries nothing more than his purity, innocence and trust. He is in harmony with all that surrounds him. His intuition is functioning at its peak. At this moment the Fool has the support of the universe to make his jump into the unknown. Adventures await him in the river of life.
If you trust your intuition right now, your feeling of the ‘rightness’ of things, you cannot go wrong. Your actions may appear ‘foolish’ to others, or even to yourself, if you try to analyze them with the rational mind. But the ‘zero’ place occupied by the Fool is the numberless number where trust and innocence are the guides, not skepticism and past experience.
Whatsoever experience comes to you, let it happen, then go on dropping it. Go on cleaning your mind continuously; go on dying to the past so you remain in the present, here-now, as if just born, just a babe.
I’m almost half-way through Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic 900 page Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Even after being ‘sold down the river’ (from Kentucky to New Orleans) as a slave, losing his happy home, wife and children to face what was known as the worst possible human degradation, Uncle Tom never lost his trust and faith - faith that all is good and blessed. Uncle Tom was the consummate Fool.
Uncle Tom as himself - the fool - simply observed and blessed it all, and guess what? Only good things happened to him. He went on dying to the past and remained in the present, here-now, as if just born, just a babe.
So, I’m accepting the Fool that I am. This Ki Earth journey is MY return to innocence. I'm just the fool writing about it. Writing about Me not having a care in the world, walking into danger with a shit eating grin on my face. I am truly blessed - no doubt - and all I can say is - what’s next?
Two days ago I was going to leave Monroe. My 'Mind,' not my heart/soul or my emotions, my mind, directed me back to Seattle. It had a bunch of "reasons." But other things happened - for example, for two months my mind didn’t want me to buy a $100 book - a $100 book!! But in the end, last week on Chattanooga my Soul directed it. It's becoming more obvious that my Soul Directive (foolish innocence?) is becoming more powerful than my Mind Directive. And therefore I’m staying here until the book arrives - whether it makes logistic sense or not.
I pulled the Fool card this morning because the deck was there - on the couch were I sat looking out upon the bayou. The fact that this tarot deck was even there is a miracle. Last winter almost everything Chante owned was consumed in a house fire here in Monroe. Her Zen Tarot deck was one of the few things (and the only made of paper) that survived the fire. It was like a gift for me. Two nights ago I pulled only one card from that deck. Yesterday morning I pulled only one card. In a well shuffled deck of 98 cards - I pulled the same card twice. Thus my souls message:
Ordinariness
Beauty can be found in the simple, ordinary things of life. We so easily take this beautiful world we live in for granted. Cleaning the house, tending the garden, cooking a meal - the most mundane tasks take on a sacred quality when they are performed with your total involvement, with love, and for their own sake, without thought of recognition or reward.
You are facing a time now when this easy, natural and utterly ordinary approach to the situations you encounter will bring you far better results than any attempt on your part to be brilliant, clever, or otherwise extra-ordinary. Forget all about making headlines by inventing the latest widget, or dazzling your friends or colleagues with your unique star quality. The special gift you have to offer now is presented best by just taking things easy and simply, one step at a time.
Blessings and continued love as this fool moves forward, one step at a time,
David Dakan Allison
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