The first time I realized how life at my house contrasted sharply with others was during an overnighter at my best friend Diane’s house. They lived on top of a gas station in a tidy 3 bedroom apartment. Her dad worked the station and her mom was the homemaker. Conversation rallied around logistics, chores, money, church. Our family never talked about any of that! Our dinner dialogues had more to do with philosophy, art and scientific discoveries. That the house was mildly dirty or the cooking minimal never bothered me because I didn’t know it was supposed to be otherwise. Harry might pose a question such as “Where do you go when you die?” and let us all answer over the course of the meal. My brother and sister and I might offer some childlike ideas, my mother Brigitta would talk about reincarnation and Buddhism, and Harry would describe going back to the source. We were an un-churched family.
One night after the plates were cleared, Harry explained his perception of how the individual fits into the greater dimensions. He placed a glass of water in front of us and asked Brigitta to find a fountain pen. As he carefully picked up the pen, he described how the soul, once departed from a human body, goes back into the “Great Oneness,” as he called it. As individuals on planet Earth, we go about our business and have consciousness to whatever degree our current state of enlightenment permits. But once we complete our mission on Earth (which could take many lifetimes) we ultimately reunite with the Universal Spirit.
