Many Mystical Moments

Following is a collection of true stories...my "Many Mystical Moments"...gifted from my heart to yours...

The Big Indian: A True Love Story

Morning meditation is a chorus of Love. I contemplate---what is Love? What is its inherent power? How does Love affect the world in general? If I Love unconditionally, do those around me receive? How will I know? Shall i ever really Know?

These questions reverberate....I am suddenly inspired to take a walk. I'll bring boundless love to my walk, today, I decide. I will beam it like a lighthouse. Bathed in love’s warmth, i leave the apartment on the city's east side. I am staying with a friend bordering the “rough” area of town, but this is of little concern. The door to my heart opens as the apartment door swings shut behind me.

The day is sunny and encouraging; easy to shine the radiance. I walk to the end of the block and turn north, keeping a purposeful stride. Passing the ethnic corner store, I notice neglect; windows smeared with a greasy film, a mask to the Light within...I note the metaphor. Ethnic, social and cultural diversity surrounds me. Enjoying the variety of people and wares, I pass a used record and book vendor, a tattoo shop, spicy lingerie, and a hair salon flagging pink and blue streaks in a wild Mohawk. So much richness...I "love" the color of Life!

I pass a young man clad in black leather pants and singlet, laden with chains, glinting with the most piercings I’ve ever seen on one body---lips, eyebrows, ears, tongue, cheeks. Intricate tattoos mask his shoulders, torso and arms. He must really "love" piercing and body-art, i muse...he he...

Three blocks up, I approach my fave used clothing store. Despite its location next to the city’s seediest park---“Needle Park”, this region is fringed on the west side by one of the most stately, affluent areas of the city. The wealthy discard their designer clothing here, depositing it in excellent condition, most often barely worn. A bargain hunter’s nirvana!

I spy a light mauve sweater in the display window---awesome! I can’t resist, ducking into the store. Immersing in rack combing, I send my spidey senses out to source the best finds. Suddenly I am aware of a strong presence behind me; a warm pressure upon my back. Glancing over my shoulder, I check back toward the entrance of the store.

Startled, I view a 6’5” Native American man, towering at the front of the clothing racks. He is gazing toward me, but somewhere above my head, at what appears nothing in particular. It seems odd behaviour. I wonder what he is staring at---certainly not clothes...and not me either. I scan the store for, perhaps, his acquaintance? But there is no one else here. He doesn’t appear inebriated, if anything he exudes a grounded power. I try not to stare back as he remains fixed toward, but above my head. Mesmerised, I pretend to not notice, when suddenly, something changes---I glance back to see he has vanished, just as quickly as he appeared. Strange, I consider. Who WAS that Big Indian??? Apppearing like the famous fictitional character out of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” there in real time. Hmnnnn....strange and curious indeed.

Bargain after bargain slides off the racks into my arms. My pile a towering heap, I head off to the change rooms. One of my choice pastimes---to play bargain store dressup. Choosing the faves I visit the desk and drop my only ten dollars on the collection---it is a good hunt---I am supremely pleased.

Now with a substantial bag to cart, I must return to the apartment before continuing on the morning stroll. Retracing steps, I exude gratitude for the finds, the sunny day, and, of course, LOVE! Boundless infinite LOVE! Each step becomes a bouncy meditation---love, love, and more love.

Some blocks down, I again pass the tattoo shop---several colorful characters are sunning themselves upon the front steps. They glance in my direction with apparent disdain: probably thinking how boring I am. Ahead I notice some formidable street characters standing on the corner---blocking the exact spot where I must pass. Nearing them, the shortest of the two, shabbily attired, unshaven, with long, greasy hair, begins his appeal...

“Do you have any money---?” he begs. Nope! I shake my head---just spent my last 10 bucks! Startled, I notice the tallest of the two---its the towering “Big Indian” from the second-hand store!!! They both focus intently upon me, as I sidle by them---the street-light changing in perfect synchrony---phew. I launch off the curb.

“Well, could you just LOVE US, then?” the man blurts. My heart jumps as shocked with paddles. YES! Of course...I can just love them! Unconditional love for One and All...Wasn’t that my very meditation on this day, theme of the excursion into the grimy eastside cityscape? To just LOVE???

“OH!” He exclaims as I enter the street. “We can see that YOU ALREADY DO!!!”

They do?!? Was it THAT obvious? I spin an abrupt about face from the middle of the street, in electric eye contact with the Big Indian and His Shabby Sidekick. Something feels to be up! Is...it...just...possible?? Could these two Eastside characters be angels-in beggars-clothing with a special message of Love, sent just for me?

We all stare in fixed fascination, suspended in one long, full, timeless moment. Giving the highest “thumbs up" ever, i make a deep bow, a loving silent affirmation, to them, to Love, in concert to the deafening chorus in my heart.