Stop!
One of my favorite places for brunch in New York City is the French restaurant “Buvette” on Grove Street in the West Village. It’s a tiny restaurant with tiny tables but charming in that old French way. They play a lot of Django Reinhardt and 1920s jazz. The place is quite eclectic but what is most remarkable are the tiny the tables and seats. Even the knives and forks were tiny and the plates that they served the food on were tiny. If it weren’t for the delicious food, it would be downright uncomfortable. The food is delightful! I highly recommend it for brunch (my only experience there).
So we were having a delightful conversation over this delightful food about perspectives that led me to talk about one of my favorite subjects: Portals. We moved on to many other engaging subjects, but as soon as we stepped out of “Buvette “and made our way to the corner, I immediately noticed some examples of exactly what I was trying to share earlier about portals.
The first thing that caught my eye were two street signs, “One Way” on the near corner and “Bleeker Street” on the far corner; and the red street light:
For me this clearly meant that everyone should follow the “One Way” sign, follow the herd, where everyone else was going and what everyone else was doing. There is the stop light for those who immediately don’t follow the herd, are thinking about going another way, indicating that this road is closed, not accessible, even perhaps dangerous. In any case it implies, why would you want to go that way when everyone else is following “One Way”? The sign that is on the far side of the street that’s further away and from the perspective of being on the near corner, much smaller as in “the fine print,” indicating that if you do follow the herd down “One Way” your future will be “Bleeker.” Obviously this warning goes unheeded and unnoticed by the herd.
For the few that dare to question the common wisdom of “One Way” and the red light is insufficient to deter them, there is another sign on the corner directly opposite the “Bleeker Street” sign, indicating in large bold letters:
It is in not so subtle terms stating that if you are seriously thinking about taking a different path from the herd, the masses, it is going to be a long and arduous journey, so please stop by and have a “Scotch and Soda” on the house to douse your pain and suffering, make you believe that everything is okay and to help you forget the true path that would lead to your liberation. Perhaps by then you’ll forget about that cockamamie idea of taking the road less traveled and go on your way with the masses down “One Way” and “Bleeker Street.”
So after a few glasses of top-shelf “Scotch and Soda” you walk out deflated and now oblivious to your new found pursuit of truth and liberation, you start to make your way down “One Way.” As you cross the street you look up and see…
…a fire escape. A portal. A way out. A reminder that there are escapes to find liberation everywhere. You just have to look. Almost anything can serve as a portal. Just before we had talked about signs and how they serve as Portals. For instance, we were just in Mesa Verde, Colorado, and while walking in the mountains, we are climbing up a hill and amongst all the trees and beautiful flowers, we saw the following….
…a stop sign. How did it get there? It seemed completely out of place. But the overwhelming message was stop and smell the flowers. Open your eyes and see. Just stop!
For those who unwittingly chose to follow the herd, the masses, the ant heap down “One Way” and “Bleeker Street,” all is not lost. There are more signs, more reminders to assist them, guide them towards liberation. First there was this sign:
How much more obvious can it get?! Just think back to where this all started: “Buvette,” which means “refreshments.” Sure there were gastronomic refreshments, but there were portals everywhere to guide us to liberation. We just have to open our eyes.
Some of the herd commented on another sign as they passed by:
It said “Numero 28.” They were jokingly asking “Why number 28 and why not 74?” No dog biscuit! Try again in the next life! The number, much like everything else we hold onto and to which we give importance in this life is irrelevant. It’s just something to anchor us into this reality. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with this because it’s all beautiful. We are here to have this human experience. It does help however to realize that none of it matters. The next sign we passed provided the answer:
It’s all a divine comedy! A play of Lila! Another sign immediately afterwards. The magic continued:
It’s all on air! All of it an illusion. Just play, enjoy! When you can see and feel the magic, that’s the path to liberation. There are signs all around us, like the Air Marshalls guiding the planes in on a dark and stormy night. Just look!
While being bombarded with these messages, contemplating all of this magic, we succumbed to the hot sun beating on our heads and stepped into Scotch and Soda for a quick drink. SEE!!!
I am an emergency physician, writer and a lover of life. The purpose of this blog is to share my ideas, experiences and perspectives as they relate to Consciousness, and as they evolve. Consciousness encompasses everything in my life, your life, the world, the Universe — in other words — EVERYTHING! As the great Shaman Don Diego used to say: “It’s not the most important thing, and it’s not the least important thing…It’s the ONLY thing!”
Check out my novel: “The Twin Flames, the Master, and the Game”! It’s available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Balboa Press.
