A Fellow Traveler

While in Taos, New Mexico, I stepped into a gift shop because it had an alluring collection of rocks and crystals. As I browsed, I was in the zone and quite unaware of others around me.  A voice from behind me quietly said, "You are a fellow traveler."

Somewhat startled, I slowly turned and looked into the face of a man who smiled and looked into my eyes with a level of recognition not reflected in my own."Yes, I am on vacation," was my reply.  He chuckled quietly and said, "No, that isn't what I mean. I can see that you are on a conscious journey and that you like to explore the Universe."  My mouth hung open and my eyes widened.  There are many in my life, family included, who claim to know me well and who have never once recognized me in this way.

Humbled, I confirmed his insight and recognition of my true nature and met his smile with joy and gratitude.  Then he took me by surprise again.  "Will you look into my eyes and tell me what you see?" he asked. I thanked him and quietly explained that I didn't read people in that way and that, even if I did, I would feel uncomfortable in so public a setting. He stood quietly and held my gaze gently. It was then I realized how truly private our conversation had become.  It was as though we were sheltered in an invisible cocoon as we share an altered state of consciousness. He suggested it would only take a few moments and that he was willing to let me look into his soul and tell me what I found there.

What I found when I looked into his eyes and then said to him was private and, to be honest, quickly forgotten by me. What can be shared is the deep connection, the oneness, that we all share when allow ourselves to simply "be" one with each other. In that moment when I met a fellow traveler, time and space enveloped us and we were truly one. Everything that transpired between us was sacred, loving, and private. We did not need names or job descriptions or belief systems to give us common ground. We existed together in the Oneness of All That Is.

Namaste is a well-known expression now. We bow when we say it as a greeting or farewell.  I will end this entry with a lovely interpretation of Namaste:

When I am in that place of oneness within my True Self and you are in that place of oneness within your True Self, we are Truly One with Each Other.   Namaste.