Spiritual Traveler
Sally and Randy from Illinois loaned me a book called Coming Back to Earth by Gil Lock.
I had never heard of the author who was well-known as the Central Park Guru in the 1960’s. He would sit in the park day after day for years, rain or shine, meditating, and he radiated something that brought many people who were happy to sit in his presence and gaze upon him. Eventually, many, just like him, dropped out of the world as we know it, and followed Gil Lock wherever he went.
Gil had been a Marine, gone to college, and became a wealthy businessman. Suddenly, he stopped, provided for his wife and children, and left and became a hippie and spiritual traveler all over the world.
He spent years in silence, not in a cave, but in everyday life. He would spin around to discover what direction to go in. He looked at the tip of his nose. He grew a long beard and would, often as not, wear a tablecloth wrapped around himself. He had no money, and yet, it would seem that everything came to him. Someone would give him food, hand him a plane ticket to India, and so forth.
I have to tell you that the photographs of him in his book are powerful. There is something in his face that certainly made me stop and take notice. I could see how people would just want to be in his presence. He is, of course, quite in line with Heavenletters™ as he emphasizes that we are One with God.
I’ve got to tell you that this man has a great sense of humor. It is by his sense of humor that I know him as real.
I’ve also got to say is that this spiritual traveler is also very puzzling to me. I will tell you what I mean.
Gil Lock discovered God on his own. He didn’t belong to a school of thought etc. He was definitely his own man. As he traveled, however, he followed various religious practices of the world. Gil had God right in the palm of his hand, so to speak, and then he followed strict observances. Here he was, such a free spirit, and he sought and found tradition. He went from Hinduism, Christianity to Judaism. He didn’t just study these various religions. He became them. He became them wholeheartedly. And then after years, he would question and go on to something else until –
He is now a devout orthodox Jew and lives in Israel. He practices all the proscribed routines and loves doing so. It is where he is. His heart is there and has stayed there. Still he comes across as a character.
His story is amazing and puzzling to me — how after great freedom — and I mean great freedom from all the rules of society — he wound up following a very detailed path. How is it that he would go from great freedom to strict observances.
I suppose this blessed man had God so deeply that he did find Him everywhere, including in an ancient religion.
Note: Dear Blogreaders, this blog entry is not about religion. It is not meant to bring up a discussion of religion or any specific religion or to favor one religion over another. Choice of religion or no religion can be quite an emotional subject, and I think it’s better if we don’t discuss religion here.
Godwriting is a blog by Gloria Wendroff and is about Gloria's daily life as the Godwriter of the Heavenletters project that is having a profound effect on the lives of people around the world.
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