I woke at 4:30am.
I skipped breathing exercises so that I could witness the sunrise on my walk to the track.
When I arrived at the track the sky was beginning to lighten and after one set of muscle exercises I rested on the stone wall, which is two feet high and twenty feet in length. I sat in the middle of the wall to relax mind and body.
As I rested in the darkness a physical presence emerged and stood next to me, directly to my left. Startled, I observed the figure and realized it was the man whom I had seen sitting at a table next to the tennis court, apparently having slept there through the night. I had obviously come to his attention and now he was standing beside me. I carefully monitored my emotional response, relieved that mind and body were in a calm, relaxed state.
"Good morning."
The man ignored my greeting and bent over so that his face was inches from the wall, seemingly looking for something. I sensed I was being confronted by a demon and I remembered the dream where I was approached by demons while relaxing on a park bench.
Still in a relaxed state and sixty seconds having passed, I had no reason to continue sitting and calmly stood up. As I did so the demon also stood up, quickly moving to my right and bending over anew to study the wall. I did not pause nor respond and walked to the next exercise station without looking behind me. I felt a shiver arise in the center of my body, which I took to be a sign that the demon had intended to do me harm.
I hoped that by crossing paths with the demon that his life was going to improve, because each morning I pray that The Great Protector bless whomever crosses my path. If someone I cross paths with harms me, I ask that The Great Protector bless them x 100.
During the next loop I again sat on the stone wall, during which time I heard the demon vocalizing angry sounds. I arose from the wall and walked to the next station, which was in the direction of the table where the demon now stood. I smiled when passing and he allowed me to continue without interference.
I crossed the demon's path once more, without disturbance, and having finished the circuit exited the track and walked the lakefront trail to the beach and the Wishing Tree.
At the Wishing Tree I had only a small amount of rice to offer, no flowers having appeared at my feet.
My food and cash supply is dwindling.
Ayn Rand wrote "It's easy to be Buddha when you have money in the bank."
