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INTRODUCTION
I've heard “You must write a book” more times than I can recall over the years. The prompting would invariably follow the recounting of one or another of the numerous experiences contained in “Here There & Beyond.”
My typical response would be that it was just one experience out of a never ending series of them over my twenty month travel odyssey. I would usually follow with the statement that “my ego doesn't need to write a book,” or “it's all up here in my head where it needs to be.” In brasher moments I would suggest it needed to be a movie not a book.
I've increasingly realized over time how significantly the life-changing quantum leap I made from a secure and successful life in one of the world's most desired cities significantly impacted me afterwards both personally and in my life pursuits. More recently, before my latest travel abroad, the advisement I received to write about my experience shifted from those who wanted to vicariously hear more about my travel exploits to those who counseled that it was important to do it so others might benefit from the inner process that encouraged me to make the dramatic life change. This slowly began to register with me.
While visiting Alexandria, Egypt for the first time this past year I visited the new replacement of the historic Great Library of Alexandria. I was awed by the facility's design as I approached and filled with inspiration as I stood in the center of the main reading hall. It was as if standing in the center of a crystal cathedral and a sacred moment for me.
An inner call sounded to sit down, then and there, to begin writing the manuscript. I returned to the library every day to write longhand in notebooks. A break in writing was taken when I returned to Cairo and resumed and completed when I arrived to my retreat on the Greek Aegean island of Samos over the late spring and early summer weeks.
If I had been compelled to write this book at an earlier period it would have solely focused on the captivating and intriguing events I experienced during the travels: adventures, serendipities, miracles and loves, all of which make for quite a story in their own right. These are what made for interesting tales, but that it is only half the story.
The inner mental, emotional, and spiritual changes that evolved within were the more significant other half that needed to be acknowledged to make the story whole. Thus, self-discovery and self-growth insights as they took hold in me are weaved into the storyline. They are witness to the symbiotic relationship our inner have with the outer: “As it is within, so it is without” as the adage goes.
It has only been after my study of western Buddhist spiritual teachings in later years that I can appreciate and put into context and a spiritual framework the instinctive inner realizations that occurred during this two year period. Through this filter I can clearly see the seeding and early germinating of my spiritual growth was in alignment with the teachings of Eastern and Biblical prophets of past millennia.
The story lends itself to three distinctive phases. Part 1 — “Here,” relates to the period of discovering and acting on the inner call that compelled me to make the leap into the uncharted territory that followed. The “Here” also refers to the fact I still resided in San Francisco during the “break-out” period.
Part 2 — “There,” takes place during the first year abroad, when I'm literally on training wheels with respect to a fresh life style and a new reality. To be sure, it all was spellbinding and adventuresome, but was only preparatory to entering into the third phase.
Part 3 — “Beyond,” is the theme of the last year where the experiences that took place on my second pass through the continent went beyond the events of the extraordinary preceding phase and beyond what I could possibly have imagined. It was a time when I was “in the flow,” or in the zone as some would put it. Seemingly every action, activity, and thought of mine unfolded in a manner that suggested “my path was becoming one with the path I was on.”
The places, events, and people appear as they chronologically occurred. The places are the actual ones passed through, and all the individuals are referred to by their real first names. I leave most ambient details of the wondrous places visited to the travel guides as this is not about how very special they are, but how very special my experiences there were
I acknowledge in a heartfelt way all those individuals who entered my life and crossed my path during this odyssey. These include my loves, friends, and all the brief acquaintances I came across who are integral to this story and irreplaceable links in this magical chain of experiences. This story has infused every day of my life since with childlike wonder and gratitude.
