PREFACE
This book is a very important segment of my life. It is my journey. The shared experiences with my best friend and mate Gela were profound, incredibly loving, difficult, growing and mirroring. In learning to let go of him now, I can only give thanks, for without his loving energy this saga would not be experienced nor written. The first draft, a chronological account of events was extremely important to me, just as it all happened. But I eventually learned this is not necessarily the best read. Finally after many rewrites and several years later, as wisdom and knowledge shaped my growth, I allowed myself to let go of exactness and lend to the journey. Oh, what a journey! And that ol’ question…if you had it to do all over again what would you change? Not a thing. Not one thing. The spiritual journey that light and dark forces initiated are all instrumental to this book. I cried many a tear, oceans of them, finding them valuable to cleansing the heart. Laughter has lent itself to a lightness of being and an appreciation for life. Struggles, so many of them, have left me at times sitting absolutely motionless, holding my breath, daring not to move lest I break into a million pieces.
The incredible learning lessons passed on to me by those who have been instrumental to my growth and knowledge have become sacred teachings expressed within these pages. The search for self in the spiritual, materialistic and realistic world has pushed me constantly forward. We’ve all been the teacher and student at the same time, elder watching youth stumble through the trials of life, or observer peeping the observed. It’s unavoidable and part of the human experience. There is a middle ground, however, where both are able to communicate oneness. On The Path reflects a way to the middle ground through a sharing of unique experiences.
I have met teachers all over the world and I have made an account of those who walk in the light, and those who manipulate the light for their own personal gain. And then there are dark forces that always seem to creep in making certain situations horrifying. Although I’ve experienced many teachers and guides, there is one teacher, Ananda, for the last 10 years, that has influenced me strongly enough to include his teachings in the Final Gate of this book. His bold, brazen, raw lectures are so electrifying I chose not to alter or substitute his words for my own. What you read is true to his expression and experience.
Through example, Ananda has shared techniques to enlightenment and bottom-line truth. He has taught me and many others to “stand in the totality of yourself no matter what you are” and has been influential to my stripping away layers of illusions and crust, so that I may finally…come to me. And now, with his health failing, the letting go process will inevitably have to happen, once again. In these precious moments he is teaching us how to die in order to live our lives with joy. Ananda is the living example of truth personified.
It is my sincerest desire and goal to become the ‘beacon’ of light for others, as Ananda has been for and to me. Knowing that I am not invincible, I am not immortal, I AM going to die, propels me to live life fully, embracing every moment whether wee or grand. “Be present now…now be present!” his voice booms. It is my destiny through this saga, to pass these teachings on, sharing the meaning of laughter, tears, loving and letting go, for in this life all of us are truly the vehicle, the journey and the destination...on the path.
With light, spirit and love,
Christa Victoria
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