Over the course of the weekend, Derek and I ventured to Toronto so we could watch a rousing game of hockey between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers. We also both fervently desired to use the flotation tank at the Toronto Healing Arts Center. You could say we got “tanked” at the Arts Center and then we got “buzzed” on a few excessively priced beers at the game. All in all, it was a good journey.
Thanks to thousands of pounds of epsom salt, the flotation tank mimics a twilit float in the Dead Sea. The experience was serene and placid. If I positioned my feet in a very particular way, it felt as though my feet were going around my head, around my back, and then around my head again in a spiraling, whirling, tossed-in-the-wash pattern. I felt like an astronaut slowly drifting through interstellar space. At one point I felt like a refulgent dolphin in an ocean composed of giddiness and buoyant delights. At another point my genitals felt like they disappeared. Here I had the sensation of being a woman. When I got out of the tank, I felt exhilarated, elated, and alert. I definitely feel compelled to go back for future excursions in the dark, womb-like space of the tank.
While I was in the tank, Derek was kindly approached by a Korean evangelical proselytizer at Christie Park near the Arts Center. After talking to Derek for close to an hour, the Korean man wanted Derek to come back to his car with him for a quick prayer. Derek obviously declined. When Derek got to the Arts Center, he handed me a little pamphlet the man had given to him in hopes of converting him. I quickly riffled through it. While perusing it, I saw an image that caught my attention. The picture showed a solitary, black, featureless, anonymous, and sinful man standing on a cliff. A disembodied, holy, monotheistic God was presumably standing on another cliff. The gap between the two cliffs is where the “leap of faith” took place. Later on, when Derek and I were in a speeding, raucous subway train, I saw a warning decal that said “Mind The Gap”. In my mind’s eye, I superimposed this warning decal caveat over the evangelical cliff scene. I internally laughed. Mind the leap of faith gap, religious zealots.
On Saturday, we also checked out Alex Grey’s art exhibit, ‘The Anatomy of Being,” at the Meta-Gallery. There were many illustrious sketches and paintings. There were different adaptations of the “Bardo Being” painting. One was a “Hi, I am high on tryptamines” version of the hypnotic rendering. One was festooned with effervescent diamonds. One was adorned with a sacred, yellow language. There were also two new paintings. One depicted a couple kissing. From the center of the amative kiss came a magnificent white ripple. The background was green and electric. The other painting featured a couple copulating. The eye of galactic awareness was omnipresent where their heart-spaces coalesced. The painting was indigo and seemed to take place in a crepuscular, cosmic, and erotic space. I was completely awe-struck by Grey’s ability to paint the inexpressible.
Books purchased:
The Inner West- Jay Kinney
The Spiritual Teaching of Ramana Maharshi
The Watercourse Way- Alan Watts
Siddartha- Hermann Hesse
DVD purchased:
The Mindscape of Alan Moore
Good night.
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