14 ... Gabriel Morrisbecause it offers a deep and reassuring presence when allowed to
flow freely through one’s being. It is the life force energy, and feeling
it makes one feel more alive and more at peace. It is a peace based
not on leaving one’s lower self behind, but instead on finding balance
and resolution with it—as they say, oneness between the yin and
the yang, recognized as equal and essential aspects of one unified
circle of consciousness. Union between these two forces, rather than
separation, brings about a deep and real satisfaction of being fully
present, fully whole, fully here and now.
The union of the rainbow—of high and low energies, positive and
negative, masculine and feminine, centered in the heart, grounded
in the root, enlightened in the crown—is the eventual purpose and
ultimate goal of the awakening Kundalini energy. Kundalini is the
biological force that has the power to bring human consciousness out
of its fragmented and diminished state and into brilliant and vibrant
wakefulness. This force exists like a sleeping, coiled serpent in every
human soul. Whether or not we allow it to awaken within us and
honor and align with its purpose, is up to us. We can choose denial
and unconsciousness, or we can choose to experience the glorious
potential of our fully conscious awareness. I don’t claim to actually
be at that point yet; but of course, my hope is that at least I’m travel-
ing down the path in the right general direction.
After another night of deep sleep in the woods near Telluride, I con-
tinued hitching north through Colorado, spending the chilly nights
alongside the two-lane highways. There were a number of places
along the way where I thought I might be stuck hitchhiking for days,
since I was taking small roads with little traffic, traversing the remote
parts of Colorado as I headed for northern Washington. But always,
some kind person would come along after a few hours, just as I was
beginning to wonder if my guiding light had abandoned me.
I turned west into Utah, where I splurged on a campground one
night, and decided to shave my now-bushy beard, just for a change.
Afterwards, I looked five years younger. But it was good to see my