It’s been a few days since the end of the PTS tour of Turkiye. After getting over my bout of illness in Antioch I was in such a high state of surrender to the flow of bus, hotel, excursion, meal, just to relax and go with the current of events seemed enough.
The thing is, the amount of travel and activity was immense, and without the support of the Traveler’s energy field that we worked with so closely on the trip, it would have been impossible. Even our guides at the beginning of the trip were amazed at the amount of travel we were undertaking. And it was a testament to all involved, including the folks over 80 or folks who had trouble walking or folks like me hanging onto the shoulder of my roommate David for guidance, it’s a testament to all of us how gracefully we completed, and not just completed, but triumphed over everything and made the most of it all.
Less is more. I’ll share now with you a great highlight I experienced in Cappadocia, a mountainous region where early Christians fled from Roman oppression. Like many others before, they carved caves out of the soft volcanic rock to live in, even cook in to conceal the smoke from their fires from being seen by Romans. And as I walked through some of those caves which have now become churches and monuments, I felt such a presence. A sacredness, something timeless and wonderful that I couldn’t explain. And one of our group, I don’t know who, started to chant Ani Hu, then others joined in, and soon a chorus of chanting worthy of Tibetan monks was filling the cave and echoing like a joyous musical choir throughout my consciousness and into the open air outside.
I was completely struck by this moment. On the face of it people chanting in a cave. On the deeper levels of my experience, it became something completely ethereal and majestic. Something I don’t have words to describe. Something that was already there and took ornamentation from our inspired chanting to bring it even more present.
I’m sure you’ve had experiences like that. Where something is so beautiful and meaningful for you, and when you try to describe the nuts and bolts of the experience, they just don’t add up to the overall grandeur and wonder of it. I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about. So, I invite you to revisit such an experience now, and let’s create room for more to come. These moments are waiting for us!
Love,
Matthew
