Kwee Cha:La Atsay, ULC

Buddha I am not, nor Gandhi or even The Devil (though there are some who will heartily disagree with the last).

I am a seeker – a seeker of knowledge about why I am here, how I came to be here and where I am headed when I leave. Seems simple enough, but somehow this has become a lifelong search, not quite an obsession but much more than a passing interest.

Even as a child I felt that there had to be more to life than just arriving, studying, working hard, retiring and then leaving again.

As a teenager I was first exposed to the esoteric side of life, courtesy of an inquisitive band of peers all looking for the same answers I was. We read tea leaves, Celtic Cross spreads, were even for a time interested in the writings of Anton Sandor LeVey (see above…) but somehow the mere tools of the quest were not enough. Granted it was mighty cool to do a reading and then have parts of it come true. But was that divine provenance or simple law of averages?

I strayed from that path, reading on a variety of religions and even for a time studying Christianity (a powerful spiritual experience that would have probably been life changing if I had run into Tom Harpur at the time!). Still a small void though, a nagging ‘there must be something else – something bigger’.

I strayed again, blocking out any instance of spirituality, even incurring the wrath of one of my wives for my reticence at observing HER religion of choice.

And then… well not quite an epiphany, more like finally returning home after a long journey into unknown and often unfriendly territory. I met a teacher, a good one, one who was willing to listen to what I had to say, confirming that which seemed to make sense to her, challenging me to explore further those parts of my spirituality that were outside her frame of reference.

And so I continue to walk, sometimes in soft grass, more often these days on flinty roadsides. But you know, one thing I have found on this journey is that it IS the journey that makes life, not arriving at a destination.