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Meeting With
a Remarkable Man
As I touched down at Charles de Gaulle in Paris, I flashed
back to that meeting with the wise woman near the bay. "Let's see," I
thought, "what were we ever talking about?" My mind went blank, but 10
seconds later, something began to emerge. Ah yes, the TV story with the
synchronicities, and my mention of the feeling of déjà vu while visiting the
Acropolis. And then I recalled standing there watching her disappear into
the distance, wondering what was the meaning of the mysteries we had just
shared.
I reached into my back pocket, pulled out my wallet, and
found the card she gave me -- the one for Growth Online. I looked at it a
moment, lifted my head, and turned my gaze outside the window of the plane.
I flicked the card under my chin, contemplating the meaning of it all. I
then thought of the fact that twenty-five years earlier I had taken off from
Athens to Geneva, Switzerland, also gazing out the window; also thinking
about the remarkable events of that week.
After several moments of reverie, I turned away from the
window and looked down at my feet where my briefcase was sitting. I then
remembered why I had come to Paris in the first place. I was on a business
trip to meet a colleague about setting up some sort of web site.
Jason Lambier was an old friend of mine from my Syracuse
University days. Back then, he was an exchange student from Florence who had
come to SU for the semester. I was also an exchange student who got to go
the other way -- to Florence for six months. (At the time, I thought I had
the best of that deal!)
When Jason contacted me on the phone two months ago, he
briefly alluded to the fact that he was building an interesting web startup
company. Somehow, he was able to find me and my company. Needless to say, I
was eager to learn why he considered us for the project. I was also curious
to see how my old friend was doing.
I drove up the Rue de La Seine and looked for the entrance
to his office. I was not surprised that it turned out to be an old 4-bedroom
apartment, which had been converted into a loft/work area -- not so
different from flats that had recently been converted for use by dotcom
start-ups in the Mission district of San Francisco.
I then climbed up the three steep flights of spiraling
stairs, and arrived at a kind of reception area. The friendly receptionist
greeted me with a bright smile and vigorous handshake, and told me that
Jason would be out in a minute. I sat down, and scanned several journals,
much of which I did not understand since I never did very well in Mrs.
Pierre's eight grade French class. After a five-minute wait, I heard a
familiar booming voice.
"Bon Jour, mon ami! It's been way too long!"
The last time I had seen Jason Lambier was thirty years
ago. We had briefly met at the Syracuse airport. He had just arrived with
others in his group of exchange students from France to Syracuse. I was on
my way out with my corresponding group of SU students to Florence. I guess
the departments heads arranged it just perfectly so that the incoming and
outgoing group would meet at the airport.
In the midst of the confusion, I bumped into this large
young man. He said "Excuse-moi;" and I said "ouch!"
After glaring at one another, we were chatting away like old friends
several minutes later, discussing the great changes and adventures that were
in store for us. Just before parting, I wrote down his new location and
phone number at Lawrence Hall, and he jotted down his home address and
number in Perche.
There were two additional things I remembered about that
initial conversation. The first was that he was eager to see a Syracuse
football game, especially if we played Penn State, our archrival. The second
was that he told me he had recently seen God.
In front of me was a tall man, with rugged features and a
lot less hair then the thick-mained young man I knew thirty years earlier.
Still there was the mischievous smile, and that same twinkle in his eye.
"Jason, isn't this amazing?" I said.
He led me into a conference room, and sat me down at the
large oval table, on which were spread assorted books, contracts, printouts,
and computer laptops. The energy I felt around me was clearly one of an
Internet startup, with people dashing to and fro, as they worked on dozens
of projects simultaneously.
Jason looked at me for a moment. No words were exchanged.
It was the type of silence that connects two worlds.
After this quiet moment went on too long, I nervously
said: "So Jason, are you still talking with God?"
His brow furrowed for a minute as he tried to understand
my remark. Then he raised his hand to his chin and stroked it for a moment.
He then looked dartingly at me.
"Yes, I think I remember what you are referring to. I was
going through some extraordinary things back then. Yes, I see what you are
getting at."
He thought for another moment, and then continued.
"You see it was all so amazing, almost silly really. I had
this astonishing realization -- epiphany if you will -- in the middle of the
most common of things.
It was holiday season and I was watching
The Wizard of Oz film with Judy
Garland. I had seen it half a dozen times as a child in French. Now for the
first time I was watching it in English. Then somewhere in the middle of
this film, I had a profound experience. At some point, I realized that
Dorothy was in search of God!"
"Yes it all made sense. I had been reading spiritual
literature, including Aurobindo of India and Alan Watts of your California,
when I suddenly realized how the whole story perfectly fit together. And in
that instance I felt an inner stirring so deep that one can say that the
rest of my life has been a mere afterthought of that moment in time."
I sat there hypnotized by this startling turn in the
conversation. It was thirty years since we had seen one another, and yet
Jason Lambier had gotten right to the point. No discussion of our careers,
our families, our experiences. Instead, he went directly to the heart of the
matter.
He continued:
"You see, it all fit perfectly. If you will indulge me for
a minute. As you remember, Dorothy runs away from home when the evil woman
tries to snatch away Dorothy's dog for allegedly biting her. This is the
injustice and the rebellion that propels Dorothy on her journey. She then
leaves home, meets a sideshow magician, who tells her to go back home
because her family misses her, which she does. However just before she
reaches her house, she is caught in a twister; she gets a bang on the head,
and, voila, she ends up over the rainbow!
There she then begins her search in earnest. She meets the
straw man who is seeking knowledge. He is the symbol of Dorothy's
mental development. She then meets
the tin man, who wants to have a heart so he can truly feel. He is the
symbol of the development of Dorothy's
emotional, vital being, seeking fulfillment through one’s needs and
desires. She then meets the cowardly lion who yearns for physical and
psychological courage. He is the symbol of the development of Dorothy's
physical being, including her
strength and her will to action. It is thus Dorothy’s attempt to evolve by
integrating all three parts of her being simultaneously. Isn’t it just as
Aurobindo has presented it? Do you remember?
But there is much more!"
Jason breathlessly continued: "They have been told that
there is a magnificent wizard, who can give them their hearts desire. So
they embark on a journey to find him in the emerald city of Oz. Each of the
four has a purpose. For Dorothy it is to get home; but what it really is is
to find the integral wholeness of her being, embodied by her three
companions who represent the mental, emotional, and physical parts of her
self. Thus, in essence, the entire journey is to bring about Dorothy’s
integral progress!
Now please stay with me.
And so they move through life's experiences, which greatly
tempers them. Poppy fields, evil witches, flying monkeys, danger, and other
dangers challenge their personal limits. And yet their real goal is to find
the force, the power that will
bring them their heart’s desire. And so they reach the mighty Oz, who they
hope is their salvation, the Truth. When they meet him, they discover that
he is a phony. And yet though he is a fake in his outer life -- i.e. the big
show of power; the fire and brimstone -- he
is in fact able to give each of
them their heart’s desire -- i.e. greater wisdom, compassion, and courage,
respectively.
He also grants Dorothy her wish to go home, by having her
click her bright red shoes. Actually, he gives her something more; something
she would have never ever dreamed of -- deep happiness and joy. In fact,
when she arrives home, she expresses profound gratitude and love for the
people around her. She is also filled with spiritual-like appreciation for
her home -- the place where her journey began. She has now returned to the
world as an integrated being who
has discovered higher aspects of herself, which brings ultimate delight and
joy.
Mon ami, it is precisely the path that Sri Aurobindo has
outlined in his yoga, his path of conscious evolution!
As a result of this epiphany, I now clearly saw the path
to the Divine, to God, and how to traverse it. I perceived the way of the
yellow brick road to the Infinite, that really exists within us. Like
Dorothy, I felt I had communed with the Supreme consciousness, who revealed
all of His secrets in a single flash!"
Jason looked straight at me. He was beaming.
I looked down, bit my lip, smiled nervously, and shook my
head side to side. That's quite a start to our reunion, I thought. I raised
my head and looked at the imposing Jason who stood before me. His face was
filled with light.
And yet for some reason instead of responding to his
powerful tale, I instinctively reached into my back pocket, took out my
wallet, and shuffled through it until I found the card I was given by the
older woman at the edge of the bay several months earlier. I laid it down,
and pushed it across the table until it was in front of Jason.
"Mon ami, you are kidding of course! That is one of our own web sites!"