Scottish Power is Appauling

 Scottish Power - Avoid them - I use Octopus without problem.

I have heard so many people saying Scottish Power are demanding unreasonable amounts,or  false billing, setting up direct debits without authority, faulty meters.  Personally I left them several years ago and they tried to bill me for hundreds of pounds even thugh I had a pre-payment meter, but must say after I left they sent me a cheque for money they had overcharged me due to a faulty meter two years prevuously and never told me about.

Tories Out - Nuff Said

 

 

 

 

I Thought I Was A Bag of Wet Dirt

 I Thought I Was A Bag of Wet Dirt

Whether i am a bag of dirt or, as Joni Mitchell sang, stardust and golden, my body is mostly composed at a few elements: carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorus and a few others; and what an amazing element carbon is at it can bond with itself and other elements, in rings and chains. Water, H2O, is pretty essential too.

But is that all I am - all you are?

Of course, not, we are bags of wet dirt / stardust that thinks, tries to communicate with other bags, moves, feels, loves, hates, fears and has wishes for the future and memories of the past, and even types on Facebook etc.

The Hopi Indians said that mankind's problem stems from his inability to see life in a stone. Does life imply awareness, consciousness, or is it just a complex series of chemical reactions and electrical impulses?

Two chemicals, as we are shown in basic chemistry lessons, sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid, when missed with water, react. They effervesce, they change. They become something else. Are they actually aware of each other? Do they think about it and decide what to do, or is that reaction under those conditions, inevitable. The chemistry teacher would probably say the latter.

So what if there is a form of life in a stone, under the Hopi definition? Before the stone solidified from its molten state billions of years ago, as Earth formed, was there life in that larva? And before that, was there life in the star dust, in the stars , in the atoms and molecules that make up the stars and the planets? Is life scattered throughout the Universe, in very basic forms maybe, a sort of cosmic awareness? Or is it reserved form planets like the Earth, albeit probably, we are told, a lot of them?

The modern day idea of where the Universe came from is the Big Bang Theory, based on the observation that it appears to be expanding and reversing that would take us and everything else back and back in time to a single point, a Singularity, where all matter was compressed, all atomic structure broken down, into a form of energy we cannot imagine. A single point in the Universe that contained all space and time itself, the very beginning. Not that it was so much of an explosion, more an expansion, of space and time itself.

The other ideas are that either the Universe has always existed pretty much as it is today, with new matter and energy filling the inevitable gaps as it expands, or that some Creator Being made it all in six days, vomited or ejaculated it, imagined it or that it is just a massive hologram.

Whatever the truth is, we still have consciousness to deal with. Let's strat with consciousness on Earth.

I have come to realise that I experience consciousness myself, within this bag of dirt that seems still to limit me - dust to dust - and perceive it in others. What is more, I can remember my experiences as far back to when i was about three years old: I was "Dopey" on a float in a parade celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Barry in South Wales. I also remember a few months later I first met by baby sister.

I can only assume that those and other memories, are true: actual events. Of course God could have made me yesterday, complete with those memories, or the whole thing could be a dream. Science tells me that everything around me is made of atoms and molecules but most of that is just space. I have read that a hydrogen atom can be liked to inside of a huge building such as St Paul's Cathedral, with speck (a proton) floating in space at the centre and surrounded by clouds of energy (electrons) a long was from the centre. The rest of it is space. And the same in a Cathedral next door and so on. Mostly empty space.

But I (we) perceive it, or at least our brains enable us to do so, as solid, liquid and gas, so we can actually live in it.

So, millions of years ago, one theory tells us, lightning hit a pool of muddy water containing just the needed mixture of chemicals and caused them to combine is stable way into the likes of proteins and amino acids and eventually that magic genetic double helix called DNA which is capable of evolving, mutating and reproducing, the basis of all us humans and animals that can feel and communicate and so on. That took billions of years for us humans to work that out.

Like I say, on the other hand, life arrived on earth on a wondering meteorite, spaceship or bay the hand of some sort of god-like being - unless of course it is all holographic or imaginary!

Now back to the Big Bang.

So all matter and energy was there in that Singularity. Question is now was there any consciousness at all, or was that compressed too?

How "long" had it been there like that (remembering that was the beginning of time, in theory, so there was no "before"). What caused it to expand? Was it by the will of a Creator (that was lonely)? Or was it inevitable? Did the lack of matter means there was no gravity, so it had to expand or explode and if so, why then, a measurable estimation of about 13.8 billion years ago (not that we had "years" back then).

The very fact that I KNOW I have consciousness now makes me think that there was consciousness then. Hey, guess what, I believe in God the Creator! Not that I believe in those six days or the vomiting or ejaculation, or the hologram.

I recently watched a documentary called 'A Trip to Infinity', in which scientists and philosophers discussed whether the Universe is finite or infinite. Infinity is a strange concept. It is not a number and lives outside the laws of mathematics. Infinity plus one is infinity. Infinity plus infinity is infinity. Infinity times Infinity is infinity.

One scientists said he first though of it as a child when he started counting and realised that the counting could go on for ever. Infinity is greater than all the grains on sand on earth, all the stars and planets and black holes, all the subatomic particles.

All those numbers are finite. The Universe as we it and as the scientists calculate it to be, in finite. So it's a finite "thing" expanding into infinity; like it's in abubble or box.

Then they told us that because there is a finite number of particles (packets of energy) there is a finite number of ways in which they can be feasibly arranged. When that number is reached, because it is all within infinity, they rearrange themselves in ways that they were arranged before. And they do that an infinite number of times.

One of those ways is the way it all is now - the way we are - and I mean you and I.

So, they said, because it goes on and on and never stops, this way - the way we all are now - has happened and will happen an infinite number of times. There has been and will be an infinite number of me and of you. And in other variations, I am you and you are typing this and you are me trying to fathom it all out .

As John Lennon sang: "I am you and you are me and we are altogether." (I Am The Walrus).

Get it?  Please leave comments below and keep in clean!

 

It's So Good

 IT'S SO GOOD
by Alun Buffry, October 2022

So good to see that Light around,
So good to hear that inner sound,
So good that place inside to reach,
Where I can feel that inner peace.
So good to know and inside feel,
Something I know that doubtless is real,
So good to feel that inner me,
The one that makes me feel so free

FEELING PEACE - better than thinking peace

When one FEELS love or peace or joy, where is that feeling?

Is it in the hand or the foot or the elbow? Is it in someone else or the sunset or the dinner or the book?

 

Or is it in the head - do we just imagine it, think it up? Ask yourself!

 

When one thinks that one is in love, one is just thinking, not feeling. A thought is not the same as a feeling. And along comes desire and lust, jealousy, frustration, even anger. And how long does that thought that one is in love last?

 

But when one FEELS love, one KNOWS love - that feeling is unconditional as long as it lasts. And if and when it fades, is it still there, just that one no longer feels it.

 

Same for peace and joy - one does not have to analyse it or understand it or explain it - the feeling is itself enough, it brings contentment, satisfaction and, one hopes, gratitude.

 

Whether or not one is religious, books tell us what those that others say were masters or teachers said. Socrates said "Know Thy Self"; Christ said "The Kingdom of Heaven is within"; Buddha said that the whole universe is within; Krishna and Nanak said it is within; Mohammed said peace is within (the word Islam means peace, however the fanatics want to distort it into hatred).

 

Yet we look outside to find something that will again spark those feelings within.

 

If only we could learn how to look within and find those feelings without needing anything in the world to be "just right", the way we want it! Those that can and do seem to say that they feel gratitude, thankful for their breath, one of the few things we need no effort to take. And it is between the walls of birth, the first and essential breath we take, and death, the last essential breath we take, that we live. Sad indeed when one does not enjoy.

 

Almost everything beyond our basic bodily functions that we do not have to think about, is taught to us. Those that teach are the teachers or masters.

 

So, if we do not KNOW how to tune in to that love and peace and joy that is sitting inside us waiting for us to feel it, could it be that we need to be shown? And if we need to be shown who will show us - and is it worth the effort.

 

If we lose something within our own house, what is the point of looking outside.

 

For me, I was and am grateful to my dearest friend and teacher who not only showed me where and how to look almost 50 years ago, but has constantly been here for me; and he made it SO EASY and free - asking only that I give his techniques a chance, don't show them to others and be committed to myself.

 

By now most of my friends know his name

 

 

50 Years of Practising Self-Knowledge

 Taken from My Piece of Peace by Alun Buffry
ISBN 978-1838440121

One of the many things that I have learned is that it is more important how one reacts to the events in the world around us than the events themselves, in particular events that we cannot control or avoid. Obviously it makes sense to get out of the way of a car that is speeding towards us, to look both ways before crossing the road, to take precautions, look before we leap or whatever. Whilst it makes sense to try to avoid illness and injury, we cannot avoid the inevitable.

Prem talks about the two walls we encounter. The wall of birth and the wall of death. We have been born and we will die. It's the bit in between that is called life and that is the bit we should enjoy.

In the present we experience the point where the future becomes the past. Rather than wallow in the past in regrets, guilt or sorrow, rather than fret and worry about the future, it simply makes more sense to enjoy the present, as “the present is the gift".

That is not to say that we should not learn from our mistakes or make good plans for the future. It is to say that everything is really about now, the eternal now.

In one of his recent talks, Prem mentioned the finite and the infinite. To summarise, he said that we were not, we are and we will not be, but the universe was, is and will be. We are the finite and the universe is the infinite and our life is the time when the finite and the infinite meet. What is more sensible than seeking the infinite. Prem never speculates or tries to tell us what will happen when we die, just that we will.

When he was still quite young, somebody asked him precisely that “What will happen when I die?” “Die and find out,” he answered.

Another thing I have realised is that the answer is mostly in the question. That is, if we can really understand the meaning of the question, what the words mean and what is behind them, we will often see the answer. I think that is how the likes of books such as the I Ching work.

I have met many people that ask questions such as “Why are we here?” “What is the purpose of life?” “How do I find peace and fulfilment?”

Well it seems to me that if somebody is thirsty then they need a drink. Yet even when a drink is offered, people may refuse it if they lack trust. They need to trust whoever is offering the drink that it is not poisoned. The more thirsty and desperate they may become, the more likely they may be to accept the drink.

Likewise those people unable to find their answers need to trust someone offering the answers. There are certainly a lot of people offering answers in this world, some genuine and some not. There are many different paths to peace or enlightenment being offered. Some offer immediate sensory gratification whereas others tell us we will get what we want in heaven or some sort of afterlife. My thoughts are that it is a shame if we have to live our lives in ignorance, dissatisfaction, confusion and fear, just so we can get to heaven when we die.

If people want to believe that, then so be it. I think whatever, we should try to enjoy our lives so long as we do not deliberately harm others or the environment. We all make mistakes but out of those mistakes should come wisdom, not regret.

Prem often talks about gratitude. That’s not just saying thanks but something deeper.

For instance, a child that wants a specific item as a gift for a birthday may well say “Thank you” for anything that is given but will feel real gratitude for the gift he or she really wanted. A person may say “Thank you” for a drink or a bite to eat whenever it is given, but a person dying of thirst or hunger will feel true gratitude for just one cup of water or morsel of food. When a person takes their last breath what would most give for another.

I am not saying that we need to be dying to feel gratitude, but that we need to appreciate this life and the fact that we get each breath without effort, as if it is a valuable gift (which it is). Appreciation of that above all else, above all our ambitions, desires, memories, possessions, beliefs – well, in my experience that does bring inner peace and a sense of fulfilment. Just being thankful that we are still alive. Gratitude not fear of what may happen or guilt over what has happened, or wishful thinking for how we would like the world to be. Simply feeling gratitude for the next breath! Without gratitude what else is there?

I remember going on holiday, for example to India. At one stage we were on a coach going from Delhi to Kashmir. I cannot say it was a comfortable ride. It was jerky. It was hot. It went on and on.

Whilst some of the views were incredible, for many hours it was dark and I got little sleep. Then, during the night, the bus broke down. We had to sit on the bus for ten hours in the middle of nowhere with just a small chai shack nearby, whilst they brought another bus from Delhi.

So, did I enjoy the bus ride? Did I enjoy India. On the whole, yes, but overall I was glad we went. I think life is like that. I wrote a poem about that bus ride.

RAM RAM BUSES

From Delhi on an Indian Tourist bus,

We left thinking they'd take care of us.

An Indian video humbly plays and we're

Told in 24 hours we'll reach Kashmir.

The journey goes into the darkest night,

As jungle and hills slowly dodge our sight,

The road now is just long and straight,

No bumps and bends or jerks to hate.

We're speeding along, ever so fast,

As if this journey is our last,

The road the driver's trying to keep,

Me - I'm just trying to fall asleep.

Suddenly, we swerve, a crash, a jolt,

Us thrown around, bus comes to a halt,

We look through windows only to see,

We hit a small tractor and just missed a tree!

Spite driver's brave efforts to curve and sway,

One side of the bus has been torn right away!

Amidst cries of Oh God!" - in Hindi "Ram Ram",

And in my own mind "Oh shit, oh damn!"

No one here seems able to tell,

Whether we're earthly or in heaven or hell.

But nobody's hurt, so we all get out,

A policeman a sweeper's given a clout.

For without thought he's just learned that he'd officially signed

A statement unread because he was blind.

There's nothing to do now but sit and wait,

Arriving Kashmir we know we'll be late.

Then mosquitoes surround us and all rush in,

"There's three dozen humans in a half open tin!"

They must have shouted and told their friends,

"We can buzz all about them and insanity send!"

Well I know it's our blood they are trying to drink,

And "Kill the bastards" is what I think,

And now the sun has gotten bright,

People are gathering to smile at our site.

Apparently the tractor driver was drunk,

The cop wanted baksheesh or he'd be sunk.

Ah, now they're trying the bus to fix

With hammers, wires and broken sticks!

It'll be midnight tomorrow before we arrive,

If just 36 hours more we can somehow survive.

But surprise, surprise we weren't there all day,

For two hours later we were on our way.

I read somewhere that as they die, many people think or say something like “Oh shit!” or “Oh God!! or the equivalent in their religion or language, such as "Ram Ram!” How much better if it was “thanks!”

How much better to appreciate life than to feel bitter about it. Gratitude that we were still alive and that we had reached our destination was better than worrying about the next bus ride or moaning about the last. That does not, of course, prevent one from telling the tale and enjoying the telling of it!

So, it seems to me, how important to seek the source of love, peace and joy. Obviously in those times we feel those feelings, we feel them inside ourselves, not in the other person or the sunset or good meal. It may be that those external things stimulate the feeling temporarily, but the feelings themselves are within.

In fact, they are always within. So it makes sense if we could somehow “tune in” to them despite outside events.

It’s obvious that riches, fame, even health and glory, what the world thinks of us, having a good job or family may help, yet some people with those things live in misery and confusion, even kill themselves, or stop caring even about themselves. They play roles, we all do, but in public they may seem happy and successful. In private maybe not.

It took the Universe almost 14 billion years to make you and you are a success. Success is not about reputation, fame, achievement or the opinions of others. It is recognition and acceptance of who you are. That does not mean that we should not make effort to improve ourselves or the world around us, just that we ought not be controlled by those things.

Personally I don’t think we should spend time trying to change what we cannot change.

For example, we may not be able to dig everyone’s garden, but if we can dig our own (or get somebody to do it for us!), maybe it will influence our neighbours and they will dig their own. In that way it may be possible to change the neighbourhood.

I hope I am not sounding like a preacher, by the way, just telling you about what I think and how I feel!

Then there is greed. We all know about greedy people. Not just people that want more and more, but people that want more at the expense of others, Yet they are seldom satisfied.

There was family living in a tent. They had few possessions. They got their food day-to-day. Nobody tried to steal from them. They had little to steal.

One day the father got a job, He was better able to provide for his family, Eventually he managed to build a hut and get some items of furniture, some toys for the children and some jewellery for the wife. They built a fence around their hut and put a lock on their door, There were thieves about. That man became an oil mogul millionaire. He moved into a mansion, sent his children to a good school, was driven around in an expensive limousine. He hired body guards, bought security systems, lived his life in fear of being robbed or conned. He was seemingly more comfortable but was he really more content? Was he so truly happy knowing that one day time itself would take away everything he had? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. All that he had was just dust. In truth he never ever had anything except his life and he only had that for a while. Did he appreciate life for what it was, or was he distracted by all that dust?

Now I am not saying that one should not have ambitions or try to improve the quality of life. I am saying that maybe we should understand what the priorities should be. If only the priority is to appreciate more the life itself. That is one thing that Prem has taught me through The Knowledge.

My friend asked me what it’s all about. I say maybe he should focus more on enjoying it than asking questions that only he can answer. He says he does. He asked me what is the purpose, then tells me there is a purpose in everything he does. He tells me he can look after himself. So why does he ask me questions? It is obvious to me that he doesn’t want to listen to what either I or Prem says. To me he seems to be living in confusion. He says he is just waiting til he dies. I have learned that all I can do is listen.

Don’t fret because on cannot change what one cannot change or that you cannot have what you cannot have!

Television can be fun, entertaining even educational and inspirational. It can also be fearful, annoying, misguiding and indoctrinating. What I dislike is the news, which usually consists of fear-mongering, and advertising which creates dissatisfaction. So I try not to watch that. I don’t mind fiction that claims to be fiction but I detest fiction that claims to be fact.

Prem recently said that most of us look for the truth in the lies and the lies in the truth.

Decades ago, people talked about war in Europe or war in Vietnam. More recently war in Iraq or Ukraine. Years ago people talked about the ozone layer or nuclear radiation. More recently it’s about pollution or Covid19. We all know about overpopulation and world poverty. Many people run their lives on credit cards and mortgages. Every country in the world is in debt, well maybe not some of those that own all the oil. Many young people live their lives like there’s no tomorrow as many don’t think there is. I didn’t when I was at their age. Many older people live in fear of streets (their world) full of drugs and thugs, whilst others find solace in alcohol or antidepressants. Few seem to realise and appreciate or accept the availability of a practical way to get above all that. Most people want to blame the parents for the way the youth can behave or the Government or even God or Devil for their problems. Talking about positivity makes one weird!

POSITIVITY (2015)

by Alun Buffry

Always to be found in this the same place,
Throughout our universe of time and space,
On I will travel, at my own pace,
Can you now see it, in my face?

Never to question how or why,
Upon this earth I find I,
Content and amazed beneath earth's sky,
Yet soaring above white clouds on high.

Hidden within us there is a clue.
It looks like I, it looks like you
For once we were one and that is true,
Now one of so many amongst quite a few.

There is a Love, there is a Light,
Forget any guilt, ignore any fright,
Focus within on a wondrous sight,
The future is now and it's ever so Bright.

How can one find positivity? Positivity and negativity are attitudes. They are inside us, always. So we need to look within. That is what Prem has helped me to do. Not just in my head but in my heart. I am forever grateful for that.

Smoke.

Well I cannot deny that cannabis has played a major part in my life. I smoked and enjoyed it for most of fifty years. It was through cannabis that I met Australian Paul and Lorraine in 1971, and it was through them that I heard about Knowledge. Through cannabis I met probably thousands of people in many countries, all sorts of people, different ages, cultures, jobs from the unemployed to the criminals, from drivers to doctors, lawyers and of course musicians. All sorts. That incudes Premies.

I don’t regret any of that, even the time in prison. I stopped smoking in February 2020, out of choice, first for two weeks, now it’s been over two years. I do not miss it at all. The only difference is that I get and remember more vivid dreams, some good, some bad; it depends on my day and to a large extent the TV! I don’t regret stopping smoking (I stopped using tobacco in 1999 and that did me good) and I would not say I will never smoke (toke) or eat it again. It’s just that right now, I don’t need it.

Also over those years I campaigned for a change in statue law to stop the punishment of people that have done no harm to others and to protect their Human Rights and Freedom of Choice. I believe in “No Victim, No Crime”. I even founded a single issue political party in 1999, called the Legalise Cannabis Alliance, which had candidates in over 80 elections in seven years; I stood for Parliament myself in 2005 gaining 620 votes in Norwich South. I spoke at many events including Hustings, at Universities and a girls school. I debated at the Oxford Union, testified before a Parliamentary Select Committee and spoke on radio and TV. It was a tremendous experience. Having the Knowledge helped me cope with all that too. It also helped me let go when the time came. No regrets.

I have also always wanted to help spread Prem Rawat’s message and the Knowledge, believing that it will make the world a better place by bringing peace and fulfilment to more people. Of course not everyone listens, it seems that Knowledge and its practice is not for everyone, at least for now. What to do about those that do not even want to listen?

In the Gospel of St Mark in the New Testament, one version says quite clearly, quoting Christ (as it has been interpreted) “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.”

For me, having been one of those people who, for a while, did not listen because I did not understand, I am not sure I go with that. In fact, in one version, it said to leave a curse!

Then there are people that received Knowledge and never practised, or practised and stopped. There are even people that have turned against Prem, or Guru Maharaj Ji as many still call him.

There are even ex-Premie websites on line. Mostly written by people that criticise his personal life or got caught up in the concepts of what sort of life he or they should be living.

Yet Prem himself has never said, as far as I have heard, how to live one’s life, what to do or not do, whether or not to eat meat or smoke cannabis or take drugs or get married; he has just said that true peace is not in those activities and lifestyles, that we should see peace inside first, that we should give Knowledge time, trust it and be focussed. In fact many people have said that Prem drank alcohol, ate meat and took drugs. We know he got married and has had four children. Many times, since his first speech at Glastonbury Festival in 1971, Prem has said quite clearly that he is a human being, not a god!

Prem’s marriage, at the age of just 16, was announced thus:

“On May 20th 1974, at 8 pm, Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat) was wed to Marolyn Lois Johnson in a small chapel in the Colorado Rockies.”

That did cause quite a stir, not just because he was so young and it was not expected by most people but also because she was American and several years older than him.

It didn’t really bother me, but I heard that his mother (who was referred to as Mata Ji or Holy Mother) was upset as were many of the early Mahatmas. I heard a story that one Mahatma took a plane back to India but upon his arrival took a plane back to the US.

The couple went on to have four children. Prem has continued in his efforts to spread peace throughout.

“"I am simply offering an experience of life. God is in you. You can experience the Knowledge of God, you can enjoy it. It's a practical thing. Incredible. Life. And there's an experience to it. There is love of the Creator to enjoy.”

For me that is indeed simple. Knowledge is not about the world around me. It is about an inner experience. Like everything we do, if the experience is enjoyable, do it; if not stop. I know a lot of people that have stopped and they all told me that they found something beneficial in it. For whatever reason they stopped or maybe just distracted for a while, bless them so long as they do no harm to others. There are many routes to London, some direct, some can go many miles even in the opposite direction. The key is in the journey. London is still there, even if you go via Sydney.

Well maybe that’s enough preaching from me for now, not that I set out to preach, even if it comes across as that.

Now, 2022, we are (hopefully) coming out of the lockdowns and misery created by the way the Governments have handled (or mishandled) the so-called Corona virus pandemic (Covid19) and people are talking instead of the fear that the Russian invasion of Ukraine could lead to nuclear war, here I am writing this. It’s not the first book I have written. In the last twenty years, in fact mostly in the last eight, I have written many, including poetry, for want of a better name. Many of them are about places I went to, people I met, along my pathway. Some include elements of fantasy or Science Fiction. Although I do of course hope that many people will read them and be inspired to travel think or write their own books or poetry or even seek Knowledge, but the joy has been in the writing. I have heard about many many writers, artists, musicians, that have produced some wonderful work but had no desire to share it widely or be published, many that shun fame. I decided to publish mine of Amazon and Kindle and one can find them there; they are hardly best sellers. To do that I have had to learn how to format a book and set myself up as a publisher, which has enabled me to offer the service to others. That in itself has been a distraction from writing. But I enjoy it, so what!

So that has been my story of my time with Prem Rawat, my personal memories of my experiences.

Now I feel fulfilled and grateful for the Knowledge that peace and love and joy are within inside of me and for the techniques for finding that place.

I have written this, not to sell books, but for the joy of expressing my feelings in the hope that maybe, just maybe, it will help others to find their own piece of peace and enjoy their lives as much as I have enjoyed mine.

>>> PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW  <<<

TREES - looking at you looking for them?

September 1972: Back to UK, Hospital, The Guru and Norwich

 Taken From All About My Hat The Hippy Trail 1972 ISBN ‎ 978-0993210716

On the final morning (in Tehran), sure enough, a car from the embassy arrived and took Al first to the American Express where he picked up just twenty pounds that had been sent to Delhi and then he headed back to the hotel. He paid his bill.

After a small outing to a nearby restaurant where he ate vegetables and rice again, he went back to his hotel feeling very tired as if it had been a hard day, and soon again he was asleep.

The following morning after breakfast, Al went out and bought some limes as he had been told they were good to fight Infectious Hepatitis.

Soon enough, the car arrived again and Al was taken to Tehran airport and given his ticket for a flight to London Heathrow airport. He asked the driver to ask the embassy to phone his parents to tell them he was due to arrive, writing down the phone number.

Al put me into his rucksack and that was all I knew until we landed.

Al had to go through customs at Heathrow.

They opened his rucksack and there I was, soon to be back on Al's head and back in communication.

Next to come out was Al's worn and dirty sleeping bag – but as it was being pulled out, about half a dozen limes came with it, falling to the ground and rolling down the slightly inclined floor. The customs officer quickly caught them and put them back into the rucksack saying “Thank you, you can go!”

Al found a phone box and phoned his parents in Wales, telling them he would catch a train to Cardiff and then a bus.

Al's mother said “We'll pick you up in Cardiff. We have a little car now and your Dad is driving. We had a little win on the pools just after we heard you were ill and that was how we got the money so quick.”

“Prayers do get answered,” thought Al to himself.

When his parents met Al on Cardiff General railway station, his Dad said “You look like Gandhi – you are so thin.”

Back in Wales, the following day, the family doctor visited and said that Al would have to go to hospital and stay in for a while and have tests to see what was wrong. Al explained that he was on tablets from the hospital in Iran and that he was diagnosed with Infectious Hepatitis and dysentery. The doctor asked to see the pills.

“I'll keep them, you don't need them and we don't know what they are. They may not be good for you if they are from Iran! We'll get the tests done and find out the problem.”

So Al was taken to a hospital near Cardiff. He had written some letters to friends in Norwich, such as Pam and also to Australian Paul, as well as John's parents saying how sorry he was to hear the sad news about his death. Al asked his Mum to post them. As he was leaving his parents house, he picked me off the hook I had been on, saying “Mustn't forget my hat, my old travelling buddy.”

Al explained to the doctors that he was vegetarian and had been told not to eat fried food, fruit or salads. The doctor said “We'll see when we've done the tests”

They fed him on salad and chips!

Al's Mum visited every day, and one day she came again, with some letters from Norwich and a newspaper.

One letter was from two good friends, Pam and Steve, saying that he could stay with them when Al got back to Norwich and saying how sad they had been to hear that John was dead.

John had been a very much loved man and admired man by so many. Everyone that knew his was devastated at the news, they wrote.

But “stay away from Paul, he's taken up some sort of Guru called Maharaji”, they wrote.

The second letter was from Paul, saying how he had given up drugs and was meditating on something called “Knowledge” that he had been shown by a boy just of fifteen years of age called Guru Maharaji.

There was another letter too, from John's parents, wishing Al well and saying “John died amongst the people he loved so much.”

Al finished reading the letter and picked up the newspaper. He opened it randomly and there in front of him was an article about the “Boy wonder Guru Maharaji” that had come from Haridwar in India, an ashram called Prem Nagar, to bring his “Knowledge” to the West. There was a small picture with a caption that read “Lord of the Universe”.

“How strange,” thought Al - “that must be the place opposite where I nearly drowned in the Ganges. I wonder if that is some sort of child prodigy for that Maharishi Yogi guru guy that the Beatles had seen – but that was called Transcendental Meditation and now this is called Knowledge”.

A couple of days later, the test results were through and sure enough he had Infectious Hepatitis and dysentery – they gave Al pills and a strict diet of no alcohol, no fried food and no fresh fruit or salad.

He went home and stayed with his parents for several weeks, putting on weight and rebuilding his strength. I stayed on a hook by the front door.

Later Al put me into a special box.

The next thing I knew, I was in Norwich.

Al was staying with his two good friends, Pam and Steve, and visiting Australian Paul and his wife. There were no more chillums and joints with Paul. Instead, Paul told Al much about his boy teacher, the Guru Maharaji, and the techniques that the boy gave to enable people to experience the "Knowledge" within inside themselves.

Al was now actively seeking some sort of answer to an uncertain question about life and the universe. He started asking the ‘I Ching’,the book that Diane had given him in Kabul, for guidance.

One day whilst Al was about to consult the "I Ching" again, having thrown the coins and drawn the lines that would reveal the "hexagram" and reading, there was a knock on the door.

It was Australian Paul and his wife and another follower of the Guru Maharaji.

Al did not want to be unsociable, so made tea, and then whilst the three guests chatted away, telling him once again about this "Knowledge", Al could not resist picking up the book again.

The "lines" pointed him to read Hexagram 5:"The Waiting": as he wished that Paul would stop talking so that he could focus on the reading, Al reached the lines that read:

"Six at the top means:

"One falls into the pit.

"Three uninvited guests arrive.

"Honour them, and in the end there will be good fortune."

It did not take Al long to realise that the three uninvited guests may well have been sitting in his living room.

So he started listening and began to understand that Paul was talking about some sort of experience within a person, an experience that he called peace.

Al started going to public meetings about this Knowledge. The meetings were called "Satsang". He learnt that it was free for the asking but took commitment, "to yourself," the Guru said.

One day Al picked up his "I Ching" again and asked "Who is Guru Maharaji?"

The result was the revelation of Hexagram 1 "The Creative" changing to Hexagram 50: "The Cauldron" with changing lines in positions first and fifth.

Al was determined to find out – but that is another story.

I can tell you now, that Al never saw Mike, Miriam, Hellmut or Diane again and never went back to Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran or Pakistan. He wonders to this day where those people that he met were today and whether they were still alive.

I have since travelled with Al on many occasions and I have more adventurous tales to tell you about. Until then,

Peace be upon you. Myhat.

NOTE: Guru Maharaji is now known as Prem Rawat

UK Energy Bills

 

Published Letter Evening News Norwich: Social Housing Policy Needs Urgent Change

Social Housing Policy Needs Urgent Change
by Alun Buffry
Pub Date: 16 August 2022
Evening News, Norwich

Dear Sir, I am concerned about Norwich City Council's social housing options policy which does nothing to solve the problem of loneliness for the elderly.

I read about Government and other concern about loneliness amongst the elderly, many of who are forced to live alone due to Norwich City Council's housing policies.

I understand that two bedroom bungalows and two bedroomed ground floor flats are reserved for families and not available for the elderly, as a matter of policy.

Those families could be housed in upper storey flats or houses, whereas older people often have problems with stairs or noise made by tenants of flats above or below them.

Many elderly people may had lost a partner and suffer from living alone, even if they are still physically capable or have home helpers.

They would surely benefit from being allowed to share two bedroomed accomodation?

There is an urgent need to get this policy changed. I realise there may be a shortage of two bedroomed bungalows but it seems senseless to give them to families rather than elderly friends or companions.

In addition of course those elderly people who may have to live alone are paying more in energy bills, TV licenses, phone and internet services and probably food bills, often out of their only income which is their pensions.

Can I ask readers to contact their local councillors about this issue?

Alun Buffry 

 https://www.buffry.org.uk/enlet160822.html