Journeys within — how I have loved them all. Carrying with me guitar and pen, I plunged below reason and listened to the demons sing, then soared above, thrilling to the music of the angels.
On reason's either side, below, above, Odysseus whispered in the wind to me, "Be not afraid. Travel on. Ascend!"
Hesitation fled when I turned first to embrace the darkness. In neon night and glittering light, I drank red wine, kissed red lips, and burned my time to ashes. I moved among shadows, brains afire, rock 'n' roll my anthem.
Many shared the music there. Thunderspun down to bottomland darkness, we burst all bounds. Reason fell before pleasure's rush and fiery pain. Passion whirled our bodies. Arms and legs jittered and danced with a life of their own. And there, in madness, laughter, heartbreak, I explored sensation.
How pure, how true, the rage released. How beauteous my dancing flames. How daring the transgressions. How glorious the music. Adventures of the night, I loved you, yes. For, yes, you eased my sorrows.
And then but one page turned. A single bell chimed. And, lo, I stood upon a ledge. I stared into the black and shadowed void. Nor did I fear. Laughing comrades staggered by like drunken ghosts, fell over the rim, into the maw, disappeared. I heard their cries, then silence vast as night. Satiated, spent, weary, lost, I lifted mine eyes to the rising sun.
Neon night and glittering lights faded pale before the morning's skysong splendor. Gentle winds bore scents of aspen and roses, willows and streams, green mountain meadows, fresh April earth. I watched a naked boy and girl, silhouetted before the rising sun's resplendent golden radiance, innocently jumping and splashing in River Time, laughing as they frolicked. Love filled my heart.
Then fear shivered my skin, prickled my hair. Oh, River Time, I know thee well!
As I watched, Odysseus appeared again within a breeze and stood by my side, transparent, his beard on fire, his hair aflame.
"My friend," he whispered low, "now you know your demons, devils, dancers, jugglers and clowns. Enough. There's more. Be not afraid. Travel on. Ascend!"
He laughed and winked, beckoning me to follow as he faded upward into light and disappeared.
I sat upon the great maw's edge and closed my eyes, guitar and pen at rest. By day, silver sunlight bathed my hair and face, my hands and thighs. By night, luminous stars watched over me while I turned my eyes within and listened, still and calm, silent as a statue.
Stimulation, intoxication and madness vanished like a dream. Deep within, far from the surface of my being, I lifted one veil after another. I danced with laughter, tears and flesh; toyed with acquisition; wrestled with power; juggled gleaming words of science, philosophy, religion. Each I enjoyed. Each I left behind. Each in the end proved but a seductive fabrication that left the whole untouched.
And then, as if suddenly, in the deepest center of my heart, a silent silvery lake appeared. No ripple stirred its pristine face. In the center of these still waters I sat atop a great translucent crystal, naked as a child. It rose from the deep, gleaming in the sun, silent, grand, magnificent in its splendor.
Throughout the days and nights, snow-capped mountains, towering pines, blue sky and castle clouds, the vast velvet nightsky, the diamond-blue stars—all reflected perfectly upon these inner mirror-waters. Above, below, like a sphere turning about me, earth and heavens slowly revolved as a single, silent whole.
No word intruded. No thought emerged. No voice within disturbed the calm. Like mist in sun I vanished into Spirit. Such joy and light and silence!
A music emerged within shimmering light. Stately drones infused the cosmos, slow and steady, deep, profound, eternal. Above the numinous hum, celestial melodies shimmered and sparkled like golden dappled sunlight. I heard timewinds, galactic thunder, and high beyond, angelic choirs, as sweet in alluring serenity as those distant voices heard in Siren songs of old. And there on the far side, Odysseus stood and beckoned, "Travel on. Ascend!"
Awakened, renewed, I returned to my native land, guitar and pen in hand, and spoke to others of what I'd seen and heard. Many listened and many understood, for, yes, they, too, had sought and found these wondrous realms within. And the music flourished, like lilies and lupine and poppies.
The marketplace was harsh, of course, and yet I did not doubt the music’s beauty, truth or power. I knew then, as now, that music is a process alive, a holy impulse resounding from the heart of timeless silence.
Music arises in the cosmos like an arching tree and sings throughout the universe. On our small blue globe, each branch becomes a culture, each flower a musician, each leaf a song. Just like a child, an orchid, a dove, a planet, a star, a galaxy — music in all of its manifestations sings with a life of its own. Music, a vital power, the breath of being, the face of God, is as beautiful and indestructible as cosmic joy itself. Listeners who seek will find. And those who listen well will always hear its heartsong.
Today I give my life and soul to those courageous travelers who dare to visit realms on either side of reason; to those who explore the depths of the psyche, the heights of the soul; to those who bring home to me the angels who sing to them from deep within the heart of serenity's silent smile.
Beside still waters, bathed in silver light, we walk in peace as friends who hear and trust the living truth in living sound. Nor do we fear. Indeed, the music lives among and within us, magical in its strength, radiant in its love, abundant in its joy, eternal in its mystery, forever beauteous in its transcendent grace and infinite compassion.
