|
|
 "I am everywhere and nowhere. There are no beings only Being" O.B. Ray From the earliest I can remember, I have been amazed at the fact that anything exists at all, and always thought it curious of adults who never spoke of the bare fact of existing....but instead were conversing as if everything was all about themselves and their story of themselves. Seeming to think that the purpose of existence was for human beings to play out their story, and for them to pretend as if they knew what this mystery is and therfore not a mystery at all.
In my mid teens I turned to religion. I became interested in fundamental born again Christianity, predominantly Baptist. I was somewhere in my late twenties that I droped my interest in Christianity as a way to realize "GOD."
About that time, the book "Be Here Now" by Ram Das was published, and I read it soon thereafter. This introduced me to the possibility of other avenues for realizing the "Truth." While searching through these other avenues the teachings and photos of Ramana Maharshi were always showing up in my search. Through these the knowledge of my own true nature became intuitivly clear, which is the True Nature of all beings. I then read the book,"The Knee of Listening" by Franklin Jones, who was also known as Bubba Free John, now know as Adi Da . At this time there was a community gathering around Bubba Free John, and even though I felt him to be a genuine spiritual master, I was desiring to wander a bit and live like a yogi in the mountains. I ended up camping out on Mt. Shasta in Northern California, and ran into a wandering homeless Buddhist monk named O.B. Ray. He and I hung out for total of a year and a half or so. It was through his patience and friendship that I learned how to live in the wilderness, do Zen meditation, and contemplate the nature of our True Self. We shared Zen stories about enlightenment, and in general contemplated the nature of existence. I practiced meditation half heartedly on and off for several years with nothing to report other than it seemed like a natural enough thing to do when I felt like doing it.
After this period with O.B. on the mountains and in the San Francisco area. I joined the Bubba free john (Adi Da) community in San Francisco. I was able to spend some time in the company of Bubba (Adi Da). It was always obvious to me that He understood who he is and what the Nature of existence is but after many years of struggle I was not suffering any less, thus I turned to the internet, books and word of mouth and spent numerous hours for almost two years researching every possible awakend person and their teachings or pointers. I took several trips to meet some of these teachers in person. I found there to be other genuine teachers who were not functioning as Guru, but never the less served to point to others this realization of our True Nature. It is with the help and guidance of many of these people that shared their understanding that I was led toCandice O'Denver.
My Heart is in service to Candice O'Denver, founder of Great Freedom (www.greatfreedom.org) for her Selfless service to human kind, dedicated to the reintroduction of Awareness to and as our lifes. She herself is living as and serving as Awareness. By her gracefull teaching I am living as my true and fundamental nature rather than the illusion of seperatness I give gratitude and aknowledgement to: O.B. Ray, Adi Da Samaraji, John Wheeler, Sailor Bob Adamson, Jean-pierre Gomez, Burt Jurgens, Catherine Ingram, U.G. Krishnamurti, Baba Ram Das, Annette Nibley, Charlie Hayes, Leonard Jacobson, Gangaji, and Adyashanti. A special thanks to Patrick Fesler and Carolyn Cobern who sponsored, nourished and supported me during many of my years of searching. Now I am resting with Candice O'Denver and all those in Great Freedom. I am Currently resideing in Bolinas Ca. |
|
|