My friend and contemporary Dacks (whom I mentioned in Connecting Consciousness) recently wrote to me from Vietnam. Before he left, we were discussing Ken Kesey, the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Herman Hesse and how he had been bringing “down a lot of barriers/open[ing] doors to different perceptions” as he prepared for his own “Journey to the East.” Dacks told me he was intending his trip to Southeast Asia to continue cleansing his “Doors of Perception” as Huxley, Morrison and William Blake all experienced in their own way.
Ah yes, welcome to my world. Through my daily practices, I have committed to consciously (and unconsciously) unwinding my rigid perspective of reality, experiencing it unravel like a loose thread of an ugly Christmas sweater as it gets caught on a branch of the pine tree…on the one hand I’m disgruntled that my Red-Nosed-Rudolph-the-Reindeer sweater vest that I’ve had since I was 4 years old is being slowly reduced to incomprehensible threads, but on the other hand I have this subtle, yet comforting feeling that a new, softer, warmer, more versatile and custom made cashmere sweater is simultaneously being woven from the ashes, so to speak.
So Dacks is traveling while he has the summer off from his job as a high school math teacher at Frances Perkins Academy in Brooklyn and from his Master’s program. (On another side note, I was also considering enrolling in a Master’s program before I found myself enrolled in a different kind of post-graduate study at the Universe City of the Hub). In Dacks’ e-missive on Monday he relayed to me this story:
“I met a dutch dude at a party…someone threw on some Gui boratto [a DJ and producer that Dacks and I both really like] and I cheered, only to be received moments later by this same person who said ‘ye man this is me, I put this on, you like Gui?’… we talked for a bit and he described to me this saying they have in Holland about the onion… how people who know what’s going on (in this context w/ respect to good electronic music) are at the center of the onion - the heart, while others who attempt to be a part of it (futilely) are on the outskirts, the surface layers”
I got a lot from this story. It really sums up what I have been actively doing at the Hub through yoga, breathwork, meditation, movement and all the other transformative practices housed here…peeling back the layers— physical, mental and emotional— so I can realize the pearl that exists as a seed at the core of my own heart. The seed contains all of the intelligence necessary to sustain and recreate Life. I am learning that these practices and teachings aren’t so much concerned with the understanding of intellectual or philosophical information or “finding answers.” More-so they are tools of the learning process that aid in peeling back the dense layers “protecting” the intelligence laying dormant within. As that intelligence starts to radiate outward and break through the surface, it can connect to the core of other beings it comes into contact with, forming a bond that I like to call teamwork.
In the case with Dacks and the Dutchman above, they were able to relate and connect through the language of good electronic dance music, but more importantly I take it as a sign that they have both peeled back enough of their own layers and developed a connection to their own Hearts, that they were open enough for an interaction like that to manifest, resulting in mutual respect, understanding and the realization that they are on the same “team” in life on some level.
A year ago I rode a converted school bus Craigslist rideshare to Burning Man at the end of August, half of the 19 people being from LA and the other half from the rest of the world: Australia, England, France, Ireland and Israel to be exact. Back to the brilliance of traveling: especially in this fashion, providing the opportunity to make connections I would have otherwise never made, all helping to peel back more layers and leaving me more available for the connection of community and teamwork.
Jimbo was the on the bus: a rad, traveling surfer from Australia. He reminds me of one of the characters from Endless Summer, but with a bit more sophistication. Before setting out on his travels, he earned a degree studying human ecology and sustainability. From his postgrad studies in travel, he holds the wisdom of an elder that comes across in his modest retelling of any of his numerous adventures from all parts of the globe. We definitely formed a strong bond during our time at Burning Man, and he ended up staying with us in LA three times after the festival when he had layovers between his South American and Australian flights. When staying here, Jimbo took full advantage of the Hub, already keenly aware of the benefits of yoga on his lifestyle and his surfing. Before he left in April, I gave him a copy of one of my books from my yoga teacher training and a few weeks later he told me he had been reading and rereading the book and even beginning to teach some of his fellow travelers what he knew as they backpacked along through South America.
I get how much Jimbo is connected to his core, to his heart, as his desire has led him to enroll in the Jay Co School of Yoga Fall Teacher Training starting in September (my alma mata). He is going to live at our house for those 4 months while studying with Jay and doing work exchange here at the studio. I now see how our core internal intelligence aided in building this connection, and forming the strong bond that has now created the opportunity for him to live in LA and study at the Hub. Traveling is definitely a great way to peel back those layers, eh Dacks?
I am realizing how there are many different ways to peel away the layers and connect to one’s heart. It is definitely a journey though, and not always a sunny walk in the park. It takes discipline, desire, commitment and hard work to forge the path. As Dacks wrote to me “indeed, habits are layered, calloused, deep - something we aren’t aware of as we build them, but once we gain insight or alter perspective they become all too clear as distorted… shit man, it’s heavy stuff to peel back those layers…” Dacks you speak my language and are definitely on my team!
Cheers,
Ish
