Patterns of Serendipity

I have just come across a term from the Tibetan language: tendrel, which means both serendipity and the interdependence of all things. Very apropos to my experience in California.

Over the years, related events may occur -- "If I hadn't done this, then that wouldn't have happened." At the time an experience occurs, do we always know what caused it or where it's leading? From another, perhaps larger perspective, could it be seen that events had different relationships altogether?

Several coincidences led me to the work I was to do immediately after graduation from Lone Mountain. A mimeographed booklet of some of my poetry made its way from my English teacher to the office of the college president, to her secretary, to a woman who edited journal articles written by physicians in the Neurosurgery Department of the University of California Medical School at San Francisco. This woman was looking for an editorial assistant.

She saw and liked my poetry. In addition, I had learned to read proof and mark it up with typographic symbols while editing our high school literary magazine years before. More recently I had learned medical terminology on the job as a transcriber at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Everything fit, and I was hired. All this in turn led to my ability to earn a livelihood for years to come. And, it led to something more.

One day, I received a flyer in the mail, announcing an unusual lecture series (for a medical school) -- the lectures were to explore some of the frontier territory between medicine and spirituality. The flyer was late, as the series was to begin the next morning. The first lecture was to be given by a man named Jack Schwarz, who had been studied by Elmer Green and other groundbreaking scientists in biofeedback at the Menninger Clinic. Schwarz was able to put himself into a meditative state and then push a large needle completely through his arm without pain. The wounds closed as soon as the needle was withdrawn.

Ordinarily, this wouldn't have been of particular interest to me. But an intuitive prompting nagged at me until I raced over to the medical school a few moments before the office closed for the day, to sign up for the first lecture. The woman who signed me up must have been more than a little surprised at the pennies and other loose change I used to pay the fee. I spent every cent I had on hand (no ATM's in those days!) in order to attend that lecture. This was a leap for me.

Schwarz's lecture turned out to be a wide-ranging exploration of the human body's chakras and auras, the vibrational frequencies of various colors and sounds, and the energy fields of crystals and herbal remedies. He danced from topic to topic, weaving ideas together in a fascinating fashion. I had never known about any of this material.

Schwarz also taught the audience to use mental imagery. First he asked us to imagine a school blackboard. I couldn't picture anything at all. Then I got the image of a whiteboard. He proceeded to have us draw a sheep on the board. My imagination drew a herd of buffalo. Then he asked us to have the sheep do a particular thing (I can't recall what). At first my buffalo just sat there; then suddenly they all got up and ran off the edge of the whiteboard. I really had to laugh at this exhibition of the stubbornness and contrariness I admitted were part of my personality.

Next Schwarz led us in a guided meditation. It was similar to those now found very commonly in use as healing or relaxation meditations. He asked us to imagine ourselves walking through a beautiful forest, and from there moved along to places we saw, beings we met, and the like. I was amazed to find that almost from the beginning of the meditation, I would see the images on my mental screen before Schwarz gave each instruction. I was "reading his mind"!

So what does all this mean? Schwarz had opened the door to a whole new, previously unknown area for me. Following an intuitive leading got me to this lecture, and again, as with my encounter with Christian Science, prepared me for an experience that would not manifest until more than a year later.

Intuition, serendipity, spiritual leadings, or being led by God -- call it what you will. To learn to follow such promptings regularly, even moment-to-moment, is a tremendously important skill!