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…recently I misplaced a large amount of pesos.  I never keep much money around.  I took a couple of 100 peso notes out of the stash and hid it…or at least I thought that I had hidden it.  The next morning I went to retrieve the money…and it was GONE……I looked everywhere…and it was not to be found.  I kept looking and my mind came to many different conclusions about its whereabouts, including the possibility that it was stolen.  Mistrust…anger…frustration…sorrow…attachment….it all came up.  I told my friend Bill about it and he conveyed a similar story that had happened to him.  He told me that the money that he had lost reappeared after he let go of looking for it…he advised me to let go….This morning…quite early…I awoke around 3:30am and could not get back to sleep.  Around 4am I got up and went online to check my email.  I received notice via Caring Bridge that a dear friend, Aria Rose had passed on after a bout with cancer.  Her passing touched me very deeply.  She was one of my core friends and fellow refugee from the demise of Rajneeshpuram in the mid 80's.  We were a bunch of misplaced returnees from an overly extended Summer of Love in India and Oregon… a close knit group trying to create our lives in the world again.  One of the sayings that I remember Bhagwan imparting back in those days was, "Be Realistic…Plan for a Miracle"  I remembered those phrases the other day when I was looking for my lost pesos.  This morning, in tears, after learning about Aria's passing, I asked her to send me some sort of sign from the other side.  I forgot about my request as I showered and got ready for the day.  I went to put on a shirt that I rarely wear anymore…it has a floral muted design…I pulled it out and felt paper or something showering on my bare feet…the lost pesos!!!!!  I fell to my knees in a bittersweet puddle of tears…Not crying about the money…I felt the presence of magic and my friend Aria and the Miracle of just letting go.  I am reminded of when Juan Diego opened his cloak for the Spanish Bishop to reveal the apparition of Guadalupe and roses cascaded from the cloak and fell at his feet….the pesos and the magic falling on the floor around me…what a gift that I received from a Dear Old Friend on her way to the next adventure……Be Realistic….Plan for a Miracle…..

 

 

…….it has been a busy time  We just had our Radiant Edge Opening at the Chapel of Jimmy Ray and it was full tilt boogie till 5pm on Saturday the 28th……So I am decompressing (not really)……It is always a busy time and it will continue hopefully for years to come.  What we are costructing here is so powerful to me on so many different levels and ………..the only way for it to continue to grow is to continue to work.  Many years back, when I was with Bhagwan, and the Commune was trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the local authorities in Oregon, we used to call the Work:  Worship…I always took anything from those days with a grain of salt….but in our world today here at our compound, in many ways…our work is a form of worship…..not for a deity…or the property…but the pure act of immersion in the doing of it all…..and I like that…..I like that a lot!  My gratitude guides the way to the core….I continue to dig through all the different moments in time…….learn from mistakes…rely on friends and helpers…and life happens while I am busy living it……

…life is continually unfolding.  So many things appear and are gone…people come and go…beginnings and endings…my connection to my Teachers fluctuate and sometimes end or discontinue…what I have learned sometimes needs to be unlearned.  I have been seeking "the real thing" all my life…at times I believe I have had glimpses and at other times I feel so fast asleep and unaware…yesterday we went to visit an old friend of mine named Kathy whom I met 40 years ago when I was passing through Art School…we  had re-found one another through Face Winifred from San Francisco…it was such a rich encounter…there were no Fireworks…but a depth of sharing and celebrative grooving…I can only describe it as moment of absolute authentic relating with nothing to win or loose or hide or seek…just a meeting of hearts and souls…I am forever grateful for all the instances in my past and present life that give light and creedance to this suchness…this ordinary movement in a solid groove…when you meet a friend in this life and there is a genuine connection then everyone is blessed and that is how I feel about my friend, Kathy…she is the "real thing" and I am glad that I am her friend…..

……from the lobby of the Hotel Milan in Mexico City I send greetings and wish to announce (from my vantage point) the next Exhibition at the Chapel of Jimmy Ray:  Radiant Edge.  I have invited 13 artists for a group show.  I have asked them to contribute a piece that flirts with their own individual edge… where risk is involved.  I will fill in more details at a later date, but it feels very exciting and another deadline to bring to life.  Lots of work is still happening on our property and we hope to present another beautiful day for our community on July 28 at 1pm…so….Be There…..

…..here are two photos that I found taken a few days after the Groundbreaking for the Chapel of Jimmy Ray…before we began construction….I had no idea what was going to happen…in a way…I still don't and as Richard would say, "it is part of my charm"…..we will be working on the Chapel Compound for as long as there are more ideas….

We were clearing for the original Casa de Caca…the location changed…..

Burying the time capsules…behind us is the present day location of Casa Kali Chico Che. Ironically, our dog Kali appears in this photo.  She was run over a year later and is buried near the site of the before mentioned Casa…hence, the name we gave the building….

…thanks Vic Chesnutt for the title for this post.  This post is about Life. Yes: Life and Life Only…
I got home Wednesday afternoon last week and I am settling in….Friday morning I was making my breakfast and I heard my dogs loudly scuffling outside…I rushed out and found them attacking one of our cats:  Chico Che…I screamed and jumped in the middle of the ravenous mob and kicked them away…the cat ran but they caught him again in a ravine on our property…I was shouting for Carlos for help and I kept sobbing No! No! No! as I watched 5 of my beloved dogs become a murderous pack…Carlos appeared and was able to get the dogs away….somehow he and his brother Margarito were able to place Chico Che in a cat box and get him to the doctor.  Sweet ginger boy died that afternoon of internal injuries…So yes….Life…and yes…death too.  I am grieving for this sweet animal that was born in our closet who was always just a bit out of step from the rest…kind of like me.  I have also forgiven our dogs…this is Nature…they were only responding to their Instincts and the Gravity of the Situation….I have buried Chico Che next to our original Mexican dog Kali down near the Chapel…sweet Beloveds…I have renamed the building next to the burial site:  Casa Kali Chico Che….in loving memory of our critters who remind us of our True Nature and the Gravity that we share…