Inner Guidance: In 1979 I, and my family, departed Palo Alto and after some months of travel and exploration we settled on Orcas Island. What had led to this move came as a result of many messages, which I heard inside. The messages started when I took a ten-day solo-backpacking trip in the High Sierras in California.
I had fasted before the trip and was determined to continue the fasting until I became aware of my inner guidance. Some parts of that trip were uncomfortable, some were risky, and some were exultant. Each day I became more and more aware of an inner voice that was guiding me. I would ask which way to go... I could hear things and see things in nature that I had never experienced before... like the sounds of panpipes in the watery music of streams.
After only eating dry rations for four days I came to a patch of wild onions right near Virginia Lake. I was the only one there. It was late afternoon. I decided to cook the onions into a stew... after I ate the onions a tremendous rush of energy came into my body. I felt exuberant and after rolling out my sleeping bag I decided to explore the region around me. These were west facing slopes so it took quite awhile for the light to fade.
There seemed to be deep meaning and a feeling of awe and mystery all around me. I found a sacred ritual space I had known as a young man where I meditated and called out my gratefulness for guidance. That night I lay awake for hours in my sleep listening to a nearby stream I could feel that I was not alone... something was accompanying me inside helping me feel my choices. I now know that something was presence.
