February 15th , 2005 Part I

I recently worked with a group of people to produce an evening in Manhattan Beach. This group, which came together only on the internet, combined efforts to create Rama's Birthday Celebration, 2005.

Each person worked on their own tasks, and the results of those combined efforts offered an evening of fun, food, music, and reminders.

           Reminders of sitting together.
                 Reminders of the power, love and magic.
                      Reminders of those extraordinary moments.

Reminders of who we are, distant memories of who we used to be.

            Reminders that just inside ourselves,
                   behind all of our useless limits, is the music of light!

As in all moments, there was another story happening. For me, it went something like this.

After weeks of preparation, there was the packing, and after the packing the commuting, and after the commuting the set-up. The final hours before the event, there I was, in the middle of myself. Stressing. Doubting. Spinning.

My ego was in full swing, those parts of me that I thought were history surfaced and danced through the evening. Mindful of Mindfulness, and seizing these moments and their opportunities, I noticed that my thoughts which were rooted in ego did not always triumph.

I slipped into the energy of the night:

when I heard bits of the speaker's stories
                 when the music played
                       when her voice filled the room

while I talked
           to old friends
               and new friends

when the Dharma Center students who offered to help
                                     did
                                         with such poise and grace.

and finally, when I couldn't sleep because the
                the energy of the night was so sweet!