For those of you who were wondering, I found my bag with everything still in it (including my travel pass) except my notebook. That’s annoying, but not a huge loss.
I didn’t end up staying at the Rainbow Gathering. Everyone was speaking French, and I couldn’t follow a word of it. So when a (bilingual) lady offered me a ride to a native “Circle of All Nations” happening about four hours north of Montreal, I accepted.
This turned out to be a wise decision. There was a significant flaky New Age presence – a workshop entitled “The Teachings of the Incas” turned out to be about ascended masters and chakras and “co-creation” – but also traditional sweat lodge ceremonies, a Huichol shaman, drumming and so on, all set against a beautiful lake in the woods. The air was clear, the stars were out, and the company was great: definitely a positive way to spend a weekend.
All the talk about healing, though, got me thinking. Healing is a major part of most religions, but why? Isn’t there more to exploring the nature of the cosmos than simply not being damaged goods? I see myself as a machine, and perhaps the machine needs to be repaired. But once it’s in working order, isn’t there some function it should be serving? What seems to be the case is that psychological damage is so ingrained and commonplace that we can’t even imagine what a healthy relationship to the universe might entail, or – better yet! – what an entire society might look like if wellness, not affliction, were the norm.
Anyway, speaking as someone who now feels well – or well enough – my search for a function is drawing me next to Florida, to meet up with a friend of mine. We will see what happens.
Morgan Page said,
August 5, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Once you get past the need for healing, one can begin to evolve to a higher state. It’s my personal belief that our function as humans is to serve God, and all of the faces of Her/Him (Orishas, Loas, God/desses, Devas, et al.), and thus serve the Universe. To spread Enlightenment throughout the Universe, to become healthy cells in the Body of God, would allow God to evolve, the Universe to evolve, into Something Else.
~Morgan
mikeb said,
August 11, 2008 at 12:19 am
Paul, I find it very interesting that you seem to have healed up in such an open-ended way. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) For many people this “healing” is inextricable from having a sense of function or purpose. That you are well and not bound to that which made you well is probably much to your benefit. It puts you in a place of freedom which is unusual. Or perhaps we should understand this freedom to be wellness in some sense.
Nick said,
August 20, 2008 at 6:31 am
Other than a small observation, all I can say is that you’ve expressed powerfully what I’m questioning, as well. I’ve noticed in many of the Mahayana texts here that Buddhas seem to have one activity: after perfecting themselves and doing everything they need to, they go off and teach. But that assumes that the others are sick, as well… is there some sort of endpoint? If everything becomes fully enlightened, what then? Just take a tea break for all eternity? Your post, and these two comments, will give me much food for thought.
-Nick