Are You Here To Be A Successful Author? 165it may be, even the experiences I have labeled as “bad” in the past, or as
not being evolutionary, or as not being helpful.
The path of discovery of who “I” am is the pathless path. One of
the interesting paradoxes of life, this apparent world that we’ve created,
is that opposites exist simultaneously all the time. As a result, it’s not
possible for the intellect to be able to reconcile them. One is the idea
that I am infinite, eternal, and unbounded and yet at the same time I
experience myself as bounded, limited, and living within the context of
a world with apparent rules and natural laws. Yet both things exist
simultaneously and the only way for us ultimately to come to a place of
peace with who we really are is to be able to let go of the intellect and
simply experience both realities simultaneously, as both are expressions
of the nature of who “I” am.
What event or series of events led to your discovery?
For me the path began when I went to University. I went to the University
of California, Santa Barbara and lived in a place called Isla Vista, right
next to the University. It was a time of great upheaval in America and in
the world. The Vietnam War was going on and in Isla Vista there was a
big structure in the middle of town, which was the Bank of America
building. It had been built like a fortress.
Within a few months of my arrival at the university there was a
big outrage for a variety of reasons. Thousands of students went out onto
the streets and some of them broke down the door of the Bank of America
and burned it to the ground. All night there were people clashing with
police and there was a lot of drama.
I was there trying to figure out what was going on and what my
part was in it. At one point I thought, “Well what really matters to me,
what I’m really committed to, is to making a significant and positive
difference in this world and changing the way in which people relate to
each other.” What I was seeing there was war, a battlefield in the streets
of this university town, and I thought there had to be some better way. So
I worked very hard and I became part of the resolution. As the Planning
Director for the Community Council, I helped to create some great
projects.
But I was soon full of stress, overwhelmed by everything, and
there was so much responsibility thrust on me at the age of twenty. I
didn’t know how to handle it. One of my friends told me about this thing
called Transcendental Meditation® and suggested that I go hear a lecture