Today I walked the Wishing Tree path and as I left the track I crossed paths with a meditation master disguised as a coyote. I was on the lake shore and the master sat quietly on the ice next to the water. I felt inspired to sit and found a comfortable resting place and faced the master, twenty yards distant. The master looked at me and I looked at the master.
I am discovering that while walking the path I am utilizing things James did and learned in his life. Lessons learned from long distance running help me to navigate the cold winter landscape of Chicago. Little did James know that the training was to serve more than race participation. When studying James' various haphazard activities I keep returning to the one year period of his meditation studies. What James experienced during that time increases my faith and determination to return to the secret place he discovered. A meditation master once scolded James for entertaining the idea of trying to return to experiences of the past. Perhaps the master is correct, even so, wanting to return to that exhilarating space of freedom and bliss, how can that be a bad thing? If I can get close to that place my inner life would be transformed into something solid, steady, joyful, and authentic. And so, odd as it seems, I have chosen James and his year long meditation experience to be a guide on the path. I can clearly see how James prepared himself, what he did and what he avoided. He created a map showing how to find the golden flower and I intend to use the map to find it for myself.