Great Heights
Gunung Agung
A culture steeped in Hindu traditions, the Balinese people revere the tallest volcano on the island, summiting at an early age to bring her offerings.
Gunung Agung
Bali, Indonesia 🇮🇩
Where does life feel alive again? Where do the senses awaken & the dead become undead? Where does spirit flow without effort both inward & outward to self & source?
11 long & not-so-long years ago, I summited Gunung Agung, the tallest volcano on Bali. It created a tectonic shift in my own dealings with the world & gave me a taste of true freedom.
It showed me that life exists beyond the griping rigidity of routine. That living so, if we’re not careful, can slaughter the senses, cripple vitality, & still the effervescence of our being.
There’s something hauntingly spiritual about walking through the night. The darkness of night deprives us of everything that gets in the way of making contact with the deepest parts of ourselves.
The blackness sharpens everything. With nothing to see, clarity of what’s within is gained. There is nothing to be heard & the physical exertion further silences the mind. A long draught of water tastes & feels like the elixir of life. There is an earthy grounding with each push-off of the foot, pressing firmly into stone, absorbing & channeling its sturdy, steady strength through the muscles into the very marrow of bone.
Clouds at arm’s reach
“Excuse me while I touch the sky”
Jimi Hendrix
The connection with self penetrates deep into the body. Reality surpasses the constraints of time and space. There is only the moment at hand and the only task is to advance to the next.
Breath, once taken for granted, reclaims its title as life-giving & is ravenously devoured when there are breaks in the climbing.
The cool air is piercing & invigorating. Everything feels so alive it crackles with electricity.
All this achieved only through innocent, unsuspecting & unexpecting eyes. Ones that are filled with innocent wonder with every turn, stop, and inhale.
The sun rises turning black to indigo & the rest of the colors arrive in timely order, illuminating the clouds that are but at arm’s reach.
At such great heights, there is only respect and reverie, awe and appreciation, and a fullness for life and all the possibilities that are and that have not yet been dreamed.
At such great heights, all one sees is majesty, mysticism, & the infinite possibilities all around and within.
