Noah's blog

Dancing in a Heartbeat. Whenever a peak experience occurs, it can always be traced back to other significant events that lead up to it. Of course it is a purely subjective perception of how and why peak events happen in the first place, but nevertheless it is a way of finding patterns and themes in one's life that can be useful whether looking back or looking forward. Here is my story of how I became a Dancer in a Heartbeat. After moving back to Greece in 1973, I spent a great deal of time wandering around in Athens. I also kept coming up with every conceivable reason for not continuing my high school education... I refused to cut my hair and was not accepted for school in Greece (it was a dictatorship after all, thank goodness)...

One day I walked past an English language bookstore. In the window prominently displayed was a book, "The Autobiography of a Yogi" by Yogananda. I was compelled to buy it. It is a thrilling story of someone's personal awakening, quite phantasmagoric in nature but nevertheless it captivated my imagination and the expansive realm of what may be possible... there was one Guru he described as a thousand year old still living in the Himalayas, in a semi ascended state. In it he wrote that if you look into the picture and say his name with reverence you will get a direct blessing.

So, with that thought in mind I took the book and sat down cross legged with a lit candle and began to silently call out his name... I had attempted before to sit cross legged and meditate but found it very uncomfortable... this time it did not bother me at all... after a while I stood up and felt no discomfort whatsoever, when I looked at the time I realized I had been sitting there for two hours...

I moved back to Greece in September 1973 with my parents after living in Canada for 7 years. I was looking forward to returning to my country of origin... But first a bit of levity...
A few weeks before our departure for Canada in 1966, my grandfather took me aside and gave me some words of advice that I will always remember: "You are going to a country where there are English people.(he had spent some time in the company of English soldiers during the 1st world war, so he knew of what he spoke) There are 2 things that you must remember. 1. When you sit down to eat with them do not burp; they will think that you are a barbarian.(in Middle eastern/Mediterranean culture, burping is considered a form of compliment for a good meal) 2. At the end of the meal when they start farting, pretend you do not smell it." Words of wisdom to a 9 year old for sure!!! We landed in Athens in the early morning. Of course there was no way I could sleep the first day. My father and I went downtown to have a coffee at the Syntagma Square in front of the Parliament building. Suddenly we heard some yelling and singing coming from one of the streets. We got up to see what was going on and walked right into a demonstration against the Junta governing Greece at the time. Whoa! what a way to be welcomed!