Spirituality and Religion
Words of Wisdom
On July 22, 2011 in Connecticut, my former spiritual teacher spoke to a group of people who traveled from around the country to see him for his once a year visit. I was supposed to be at this session but unfortunately life got in the way and I was not able to make the trip back home.
These are not his exact words, because for a newcomer his verbiage is a bit foreign to those not familiar with him. I received the full transcript of the session, but these are just bullet points of information that are for everyone, not just the people that were in the room that evening.
- There are many things going on with the Earth today. During this time you must not give up. You must stand strong and be powerful. Stand tall and say, “This is what I want in my life” and the Universe will provide it. Accept it and allow it to come. Too many people push against it saying “No, I have to do this, I have to do that, I have to do this”. Everything is very simple. It is only man that complicates things. State what you want and allow it to come. It doesn’t mean that you don’t work toward it but you don’t push toward it. It is very important, very important.
- There is a lot of confusion going on. Mankind is very confused. He does not have any idea what is going on or how to handle it. Stay positive. It is your only protection. Stay in the spiritual side of yourself so that you are not ever negative because that will bring about more negativity all around you that would have nothing to do with you. Stay positive in your thinking as well. When you get have a negative thought change it immediately, right then, because the energy you put out comes back to you.
- Things are not changing fast enough. People in your government cannot make up their minds about anything. It is not good when people cannot talk. Anger is mankind’s worst enemy. When you become angry you are not living in the spiritual side of yourself.
- Every motion that you make, everything that you do, comes from a decision that you yourself made which makes you responsible. Nobody likes to hear that because nobody wants to be responsible…..but you are responsible.
- When dealing with people you are going to have moments where you are frustrated and angry because they are upset. Try to understand that all the people that are irritating you are going through their own learning experience – so you must also love and allow. Bless the being and the path they are on. It is not your path so be grateful that it’s not. You do not have to look for trouble! When you hear something that sounds irritating say to yourself “This is not mine” and bless that being and go your own way.
- You are going to hear about people in high power that are going to leave this plane of existence.
- Again, stay positive as it is your greatest protection. Without using that kind of protection, what you do is you feed the negative energy and that is never good at all. I think I have probably told you this many, many, many times, but now it is important because at the present time it can affect everything you want in your life. I don’t want to see you lose anything. I want you to have the greatest and most wonderful life that you all have come into this Earth plane to experience. Therefore, when you hear negative energy, negative words, negative actions, you see them…..you cannot help but to see them…..but you don’t internalize them. Don’t bring them into your being because they don’t belong to you. Just calmly say, “Bless the being and the path he is on” and then let it go because a thought is energy, and thought creates more negativity and there is enough in the world already. This world is shaken. Keep it calm from within yourselves. One little light from your positive thought can lighten a room that is filled with darkness so this is very important.
- I am really giving you the key to the Universe. Never send negative energy back. Move forward. Love yourself. All that you have given and put out comes back in positive ways and sometimes in irritating ways. But you can move aside from it. What is it a martial artist says? “Yield to the force.” You do not block it. You cannot break Universal law or karma but you will break yourself against it. Love and allow. You don’t have to love what someone does but you have to love the presence of that being because in each action is a lesson and in each lesson is a gift.
- I also want to tell you Obama will become president again so if that does not vibrate your feelings in a positive way I do not know what will.
The Rapture
This past weekend was to be our last, according to a Christian extremist in Oakland, California. May 21, 2011 was designated as “Judgment Day” when a rapture would begin and God would take with him to Heaven those he had selected to “save”.
Now that this date has come and gone, social media sites are running amuck with jokes and laughter about our impending doom that never happened. I have made a few of my own jokes as well, but to be honest with you, based on all I’ve heard myself from my own spiritual sources, along with what I’m witnessing, it is obvious to me something is going on with our planet. The Japanese earthquake, the tornadoes in the south, and what has happened in the last 24 hours is frightening.
Yes, May 21st came and went and we’re all still here, and now the man who started all of this is saying that May 21st was only the beginning of the rapture and that there would be five months of torment before the Earth is destroyed by fire on October 21, 2011. When I read this it made me think about my blog I wrote in March relative to the Earth ending in 2012, which is yet another prediction that is circling the internet. I think a few people read that blog. I’m sure there were also some who read it but put little value in it, which is fine with me. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink. I will communicate the information I receive, but I will not be using my life’s savings to create billboards or to decorate my car.
I will reiterate the channeled information I received and posted at that time. “The end of the Earth is not going to happen. It is when the Mayans ended the calendar because they had no concept of it going any further. The end of the world is not going to be a big explosion. It is going to be a change in understanding.”
So what does this mean, exactly? Here is my take on it. Human beings are a tough nut to crack. Unless they go through pain and suffering, they seem to learn at a snail’s pace. Most everyone I know that has evolved spiritually has done so as a result of some sort of challenge or difficulty that has brought them to their knees…myself included. Pain and suffering causes us to look within, to look towards God, to unite with others emotionally and spiritually, and to discover what is most important in our lives. It is not our houses or cars or boats or designer clothes that mean the most to us. It is the love of our family, our friends, our pets, and our children that bonds us to one another. Love is what matters most. Love of others, love for ourselves, and love of God. Jesus tried so hard to teach this: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” How did Jesus love? Unconditionally, that is how. He also did not limit his love to family, friends, pets, and children. He loved ALL of us no matter what our sins and no matter what our indiscretions. This is the missing link we continually choose to ignore.
If the information I received is accurate, then it would make sense to me that in order for a global change in understanding to occur, challenges or difficulties must arise on a global level, correct? Using only Twitter as my source of information, the following tweets have gone out since Saturday, May 21st. I find this list of destructive events within a 48-hour time frame a bit daunting to say the least.
- Powerful storm in Tennessee destroys at least 30 homes, post office, fire station.
- Flash flooding has caused a portion of Hwy 62 in Carroll Co., Arkansas to collapse this evening.
- Missing people, multiple structures collapse around Richfield, Pennsylvani, following strong thunderstorm, possible tornado.
- Line of severe storms approaching Columbus, Ohio. Damaging winds are main threat.
- Joplin, Missouri tornado, killing at least 89, is single deadliest U.S. tornado since Worcester, Mass. 1953 tornado. Update: More than 1,000 people in Joplin area have been hospitalized following tornado. Update: 116 confirmed dead in Joplin, city manager says.
- Thunderstorm warning issued for Dallas region; dozens of flights delayed at DFW.
- Storm, tornadoes in Minneapolis area cuts power to 20,000 customers.
- More tornadoes touch down: Oskaloosa, Kansas; Hickory, Oklahoma; Fillmore, Missouri.
- Tornado reported on ground 12 miles east of Topeka, Kansas.
- 5.8 magnitude earthquake strikes near east coast of Honshu, Japan.
- 5.0 magnitude earthquake strikes in Banda Sea, south of Indonesia.
- Earthquake, preliminary magnitude estimated at 6.1, strikes Kermadec Islands, New Zealand.
- Volcano erupts in Iceland, spurs 50 quakes. Similar eruption occurred in 2004.
- Landslide hits Malaysian orphanage, burying about 20 children, state media reports.
This list saddens me because I know people have lost their lives and others their loved ones as a result. But it also saddens me because no matter how much I talk or write about it, no matter how much other spiritual teachers talk or write about it, and no matter how many films are made that speak to this, people are just not paying attention. As a nation and as a planet we are supposed to be evolving, which would require UNITY and LOVE and PEACE amongst us…..ALL of us. Yet all I seem to be witnessing these days is an overwhelming amount of hatred for one another because of politics, race, religion, gender, and sexual preference. If I were God I would probably be thinking “Man, I messed up somewhere in this design. It’s time to wipe the slate clean and start over.” So if the end of the world is upon us, I so get why as a parent, he has hit his limit of patience.
Rather than focusing on the end of the world I am choosing to align my thoughts with the information I noted above about 2012. I am also going to post additional information I received a few weeks ago because it speaks to many of the natural disasters going on right now. These are not my words, but the words of an ascended master speaking to a group of individuals, like myself, who want to understand what is taking place upon the Earth right now and what we can expect in the future:
“It’s like most of the adults in the world think that if you have war then you are going to do something wonderful, that you are going to change things. All you are going to do is expedite it and make it bigger, make it worse and make the anger huge. In doing this, when you think there is a war here and this person is doing things wrong, understand that their karma in other countries is their own karma and it will be lived out in their own way. Interference is not good. Not in your lives and not in the lives of the people. That is one of the reasons you are seeing earthquakes and tsunamis because the earth and you are part of each other. It’s one growing, living thing. And when man blows off bombs and kills people, that energy is being absorbed by the earth and the earth rebels; and it rebels in that manner. Think about this. You have seen volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, storms that have killed thousands of people and war in equal numbers. It is a karmic destiny for the Earth to do one thing and mankind to do another. So it has to stop. These people are going to live the way they are going to live when the wars stop. War is not going to change them. They will return to what they believe and for them it is not wrong. Because one group of people attacked this country, it does not give anyone the right to go back and destroy three other ones. If any other country in the world did that then this country would be against it. If Pakistan went after Libya then the world would be against it. The US would be against it. If Afghanistan went after Israel then the US would be against it. Yet if they’re your friend – if Israel went after Gaza – then the US would stand back and watch. That is not balance and it is not wise. There needs to be a calming amongst humanity. The depth of the soul and the spirit in each person is not recognized. It doesn’t mean because you are a Muslim that you don’t have a depth of spirit because you do. It doesn’t mean because you’re a Catholic that you’re wrong and that you don’t have a depth of spirit, you do. Christians and Jews and Muslims are all children of the same universe, you cannot deny that. They are all part of you. If you reach out whoever you touch is your brother. You don’t have to look at them, you don’t have to desire to understand them, but that is your brother. That is your family. It’s the family of man and people have to understand that.”
There it is….LOVE THY BRETHREN. If you’re not sure how to start I suggest two things. First is to make a donation to help others in need right. You can do without your Starbucks coffee for a day or two to help a brother out, right? Second is to look within yourself for the prejudices and hatred that you might be holding onto right now and try and find the understanding you need in order to let that hatred and negativity go. As so many spiritual teachers have tried to teach, everything is energy and that includes us. So if our collective energy is negative and creating chaos upon the Earth, then it is time we work together to shift that energy in a more positive direction. We, as human beings, can do it on our own, and if we don’t, I can assure you that the continuation of these disasters all over the world will cause the shift anyway.
Namaste (The Divine in me honors the Divine in you).
11:11 ~ 2012 ~ And The Apocalypse
Thursday morning when I looked at my Twitter feed I read that Japan was hit with an 8.8 earthquake. It seemed like every day I was reading about an earthquake somewhere in the world. China, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and even Arkansas! I even posted on my Facebook status that with all of these seismic shifts around the world, that California’s “big one” must be right around the corner.
While listening to the media yesterday about the earthquake in Japan I heard the word “apocalypse” used more than once, and with 2012 being just around the corner, I thought this might be a good time to share information that I had received not only about 2012 but also about changes taking place on our earth right now. My source of information is not of this world, which means some of you will believe in the credibility of the information, and some of you will dismiss it. That is your choice.
So let’s start with 2012. When I asked the question if the Earth was going to come to an end in 2012 this was the response I received:
The end of the Earth is not going to happen. It is when the Mayans ended the calendar because they had no concept of it going any further. The end of the world is not going to be a big explosion; it is going to be a change in understanding. It is going to be a good thing but it’s going to take people like you and others to bring that understanding to bear. There are great difficulties that will arise, especially financially, and people will need to learn acceptance as you did. Accept what is and work with it. You cannot break Universal Law but you will break yourself against it. Universal Law says this is the perfect way for it to be, and to ignore that sets you up for your own self-destruction.
Another question in the back of my mind is why is there all of this attention being given to the number 11:11 on clocks. People seem to be acutely aware of its presence, and they also make a “wish” when they see it. Here is what I was told:
11 and 11 are master numbers and it is a moment in time when mankind aligns with the masters. The visual message is reminding the individual to align themselves with the Universe and focus.
The following is a summary of some of the information given at a group reading in January 2011. It speaks to what will be occurring in the very near future for all of us….and what is to come. Again, you can choose to accept this info or you can choose to dismiss it. After 25 years of receiving information from this 7th dimensional master, I have learned that his predictions and insights for the world are veracious.
January is the door that opens up a very difficult year, especially for those who refuse to understand what it is all about. You must remain strong and stay on the path you were meant to be on. Do not make big changes now.
February will be a difficult month. Man makes everything so difficult. This is a month where you are going to see a lot of change. There will be more anger and more hatred between individuals. Stand strong and be helpful and kind. Do not fall into a path of anger or hatred. If you fall into it you dignify the anger that is present. Never give dignity to that which is harmful to other beings who are your brothers and sisters.
In March things will begin to clear up. It is not going to seem that way at first but if you hold on, it will. It’s very important that you know that. But it won’t happen unless it has your help. Remember that it is time to walk your path in kindness and with compassion. Do everything while watching your priorities. Make sure everything is very clear to you. It’s very important. Also, do not jump blind-folded.
As the year goes on you will see the world wobbling in its emotion. As the months pass….things will get better. The economy is going to pick up….but the anger imbedded in the spirits of those who are now angry and going without is still going to be there. It will take them time to work it out.
You all have an important position in this. Bring your light into a darkened nation. Love each other and love everyone you talk to….everyone in your life. Remember what I always tell you. Bless the being and the path he is on because you don’t know that path…..you don’t walk that path……and you don’t know where that path is leading them….so bless their path. Do it with kindness and silently. You don’t have to say Bless You out loud. That is what you do for sneezing. You don’t have to say anything…just smile. Be quiet and understand that they are travelling a path that you may not understand but that does not make it a wrong path, it is just not your path and each and every path is different.
This year is a master year. Everything you’ve learned to this point you are going to have to express in one way or another. All these years have brought you to this year to prove yourself. Prove that you know what you speak of. So you better get afoot. Stand tall in what you believe and no matter what anyone says to you….don’t think about it. It’s not important. Know who you are. Know what others say about you is not always true. I want you all to benefit from this. Got it?
The Buddha’s Eight-Fold Path
Throughout my spiritual journey I have been subjected to the opinion and judgment of others with regard to The Buddha. Many Christians would like to equate him with evil. I once gave my former secretary a statue of the laughing Buddha, which represents good fortune (and why you see him in many Asian establishments), and her father, who was an Episcopalian minister, in his spiritual ignorance, made her throw it away. In spite of all of the heat I have taken about The Buddha, I will stand strong in support of him as much as I do in Jesus of Nazareth. If those that judged really took the time to explore The Buddha’s philosophy, they would realize that these two spiritual masters taught the same thing. One thing I do know for sure, is that followers of The Buddha would never be found standing on a street corner protesting Proposition 8, which is probably why I personally gravitate to this Eastern philosophy more than traditional Western philosophy even though I was raised a very strict Catholic. So for those who are interested in why I love The Buddha as much as I do, here is an abbreviated version of a paper I did for a philosophy class a few years back.
Let’s start with a little bit of history. The Buddha was born, according to scholars, around 563 B.C.C., as Siddhartha Gautama in a small kingdom called Kapilavastu in India, which today would be in southern Nepal. The king knew Siddhartha was unusual and because of this the king consulted an astrologer to predict Siddhartha’s future. He was told that Siddhartha would be a great renunciate or Buddha. So to protect his son from this destiny his father gave Siddhartha many riches in the form of three palaces, all the material possessions he could ever want, and beautiful women. He had everything a man could ever want, yet he was still curious about the outside world. So at the age of 29 he took a chariot ride through the city, and after exploring the city several times, he eventually left the palace, his family, and everything he owned, and wandered in the forest for six years. He joined a band of ascetics and survived on one grain of rice per day, all in order to seek enlightenment which he finally accomplished one day under a Bodhi tree. This is when he became The Buddha, which means The Awakened One, and it is also why the Bodhi Tree became known as the Tree of Enlightenment.
The D’harma is a collection of The Buddha’s teachings which was written down many years after he passed in 486 B.C. His 45 years of teachings were meant to be read, recited, copied, and explained to others. One of his teachings, known as the EIGHTFOLD PATH, was an outline for others to be able to attain happiness through the elimination of suffering. Although it was written 2,500 years ago, this path can still be used as a guideline for spiritual growth today. These are the eight parts of The Buddha’s Eightfold Path:
- Right View or Understanding speaks to seeing things as they really are in order to be set free from the cycle of pain and suffering. We are the only one in control of our thoughts and our behavior, so if we choose to think negatively, or we choose to behave negatively, then we have no one to blame but ourselves for the suffering we feel which may be in the form of hurt feelings, sadness, loneliness, or loss. If we change the way we think about a situation, or the way we react to a situation, we can put an end to our own self-inflicted suffering.
- Right Thought or Purpose speaks to freeing ourselves from attachment as well as hatred. Being attached to someone else in a toxic way is not healthy for us or the other individual. People sometimes feel they cannot survive without the other. This kind of attachment is what causes jealousy if someone else gets too close to someone we love (that we think we own), and it also perpetuates the fear of losing that person as well. Hatred is negative in any form whether it’s toward someone we love or someone we don’t even know. It causes a negative vibration that flows outward into the universe and causes others to withdraw from us as well as returns back to us in another form (this is what is referred to as karma….which can be both negative and positive).
- Right Speech speaks to abstaining from lying, idle gossiping, slanderous talk, harsh, rude, impolite, malicious, or abusive language. If we speak with kindness to others as well as about others we will be respected and trusted. This is probably one of the hardest guidelines to follow in the eightfold path because it encompasses swearing and being verbally unkind to others. We all feel the need to let off steam now and then, present company included. I personally know only one person that I can put into the category of speaking to others with kindness at all times. This spiritual practice requires a great deal of awareness and discipline to master but it can be done.
- Right Behavior or Conduct speaks to reflecting on what we do or how we behave as well as our intentions behind our actions. The Buddha outlined five precepts for us to follow which was no killing or inuring of another living creature, no stealing, no lying, no unclean or excessive sex, and no drinking of intoxicants. Thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not steal are both part of the Christian-based Ten Commandments and probably not a surprise to anyone. However, I believe The Buddha was including animals when he spoke of killing others. Although many would say we don’t personally “kill” animals in order to eat them (someone else does) we are participating in this negative act by the purchasing of the meat that we bring to our dinner table. The meat industry is extremely violent in nature and many I feel certain, if they took the time to watch films or read books that have exposed this industry, would modify their food choices. With regard to excessive sex, The Buddha was not stating that we should not have pre-marital sex, as many religions teach, but more that one should not be promiscuous or obsessive about sex because that is when it transforms from being a beautiful spiritual act to an act based in primal need and impulsive desires. Although prohibiting the drinking of intoxicants may seem a bit archaic, I believe The Buddha set this guideline forth because of its addictive quality and the detrimental deterioration of the body when one consumes excessive alcohol. One of the more subtle parts of this guideline is intention. Sometimes people do good things for others because they want something or expect something in return. It is important to examine our intentions closely to assure that they are pure and that we are not attempting to manipulate or take advantage of another because of the power we may hold or because they have something that we want.
- Right Livelihood speaks to choosing a profession that does not harm or hurt others or take advantage of others for our own personal gain. It means making a living through honest, ethical choices. This guideline has surely gotten lost over the last 2,500 years as we have engaged more in consumerism and corporate greed. What about our military? These jobs require their enlisted to kill others in the name of war which at times is corrupted at its roots. What about selling cigarettes or alcohol? These are products that definitely harm the health and well-being of others yet if there is money involved, people will participate in the production and promotion of these products. A prime example of a good profession would be to become a teacher where one can serve others in a positive way.
- Right Effort speaks to having a strong will and abandoning negative thoughts such as greed, anger, selfishness, lust, or delusion which are unloving. The objective is to focus on our good qualities and nurture them so that we are doing our best at all times and having good will toward others rather than wasting our effort on things that harm ourselves as well as others. These negative emotions are not only toxic to us and our bodies, but to those in our environment as well. It is not to say that we should never be angry. This is one of the most common myths about being a religious or spiritual person (that you shouldn’t get angry). Anger is a normal human emotion that we are born with because in a flight or fight situation we may need to use it. It is what the everyday person does with their anger that becomes destructive whether it be vindictiveness, blaming others, or abusing others in a physical or verbal manner causing harm to them. Anger, if used positively, will help us to draw boundaries for others so as not to place ourselves in a situation where we can be harmed. There are times when we need to be selfish like when we need to take care of ourselves physically or emotionally. The type of selfishness that becomes destructive is when we have little to no regard for others in order to obtain what it is we are after.
- Right Mindfulness speaks to focusing on one’s body, feelings, and thoughts much like an athlete in training. The objective is to become aware of our negative thoughts and then learn how to restrain and control the mind so we can overcome hatred and ignorance. Being mindful is all about being in the moment, as opposed to your mind being caught thinking about your past and what you did right or wrong, as well as being caught up thinking about your future conversations, actions, wants, needs, or desires. Spiritual teachers stress living in the moment because if we are caught up in the past or the future, we cannot enjoy the present moment and that part of our spiritual journey.
- Right Concentration speaks to meditation which is a trance state that prepares the mind for understanding. As we quiet the mind negative thoughts are discarded and replaced with positive thoughts as well as awareness, detachment, and peace of mind. Meditation is not only a trance state, it can be practiced in a variety of ways, but the end results are the same. It can be done sitting quietly as we stare into the flame of a candle or a fireplace, or it can be done while we’re walking through the park breathing in the fresh air and taking in the beautiful blue sky and the lush green grass with flowers of all colors along our path. It is only when we quiet our mind that we can really become aware of our innermost feelings and the truth of who we are.
The Eightfold Path is a process of spiritual purification and following it can be compared to the nurturing of a garden. The mind is the ground and the thoughts are seeds. Positive thoughts and good deeds are like water and fertilizer and the best way to care for a garden. Negative thoughts and negative deeds are like weeds that we need to pull out much in the same way that we do in our garden. In the end, harvesting our spiritual growth is the only real path to inner peace and lasting happiness.
EAT PRAY LOVE
Last night I ventured to the movies to watch the highly anticipated EAT PRAY LOVE starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem.
I actually remember the first time I was exposed to Elizabeth Gilbert’s story. She was on Oprah when her book Eat Pray Love was soon to be released in 2006. I had drifted from my spiritual path because recent life events had been extremely unkind. But I also know without challenges we would never grow as human beings. I recognize now it was just cynicism at its best, but I distinctly remember thinking “Oh just what we need, another book about spirituality. So what she had a spiritual awakening? So what she found herself through her spiritual journey? Some of us found ourselves back in the 80’s.” However, once my spirit had time to catch up to my cynical mind I realized that everything happens for a reason and there must be some reason why someone of Oprah’s caliber was endorsing this book. That endorsement still wasn’t enough for me to run out and buy the book at that time, but it was always in the back of my mind that someday I might.
In 2008 I knew I’d be riding the commuter train to work and was looking for things to read for the 40 minute ride to and from. THAT is when I finally picked up a copy of this book and read it. Mind you, I’ve read zillions of spiritual books by some of the best authors on the planet – Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Neal Donald-Walsch, Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, Jack Canfield, Gary Zukov, and many many MANY more. However, right into the first chapter I realized that Elizabeth Gilbert had a style of writing that was quite unique and fresh compared to everything I had read previously. Her authentic self intertwined through her hilarious sense of humor about her very personal and poignant spiritual journey, kept me captivated from beginning to end. It still took me a long time to finish this book because my eyes have grown weary over the years, and between working on a computer all day and then having to read textbooks for school, I rarely have the inclination to read a regular book if at all. If I do read a book I do so by purchasing the audio version so I can listen while driving. You also cannot read as many spiritual books as I have and not find the redundancy of concepts a bit disappointing. For the most part if I buy a book it sits on my bookshelf unread indefinitely and 95% of the time when I begin reading a book I never finish it. That was not the case with Eat Pray Love. It took me 18 months but I finally finished it and when I was done I still wanted to read more. Truly, it was one of the best books I have ever read.
Needless to say, as an actor, a spiritual seeker, and spiritual advisor, the release of the film version of this book excited me. I was even more excited when I entered the theater last night and saw how many people were in attendance. I’m sure the casting of Julia Roberts had a lot to do with its box office success, but you could hear a pin drop during this film. I do believe everyone was as enthralled with it as I was. Every frame was beautifully done and the film captured the essence of the book and Elizabeth’s compelling spiritual story. In interviews Elizabeth would remark that this was “everyone’s story” and I have to agree. How she found herself, through the pain of several relationships, is familiar to many of us. However, very few of us have traveled to Italy, India, and Bali to expedite our healing process the way that she did. She learned in one year what it took me 10 years to learn and that is what is so different about her story.
The actors in the film, Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem, did not disappoint, and Richard Jenkins also deserves an honorable mention for his work in this film as well. I believe the true success of a film has to do with how it makes us feel as the viewer. In my opinion, if a film can make us feel, laugh, cry, and more importantly, think, then it has surpassed mediocrity in its purpose. Eat Pray Love is the best spiritual film I’ve seen since Avatar and definitely one I would see again, which is not something I can say about most films these days. I’m sure this is the reason why Brad Pitt signed on as executive producer. As one of the more “evolved” celebrities in Hollywood, he was fully aware of its powerful message.
If you haven’t seen the film yet do so. If you haven’t read the book yet, do so, even if you’ve seen the film. There is obviously so much more to Elizabeth’s story that cannot be captured in two and a half hours so it is still worth the read. I take my hat off to Elizabeth Gilbert and I sincerely apologize for judging her book by its cover. It’s just another lesson in humility for me and one that I graciously honor and accept.
My next read, without a doubt, will be Elizabeth’s latest book COMMITTED – A SKEPTIC MAKES PEACE WITH MARRIAGE. The title alone makes me feel like she may have written this personally for me.
Imagine No Religion
Last week one of my co-workers and I engaged in a conversation about her religion (Christianity), and during that conversation she quoted that all-too-familiar phrase “But the Bible says…..”, which always sends me off to a place of frustration. I swear if one more person says this to me as an argument to defend what their belief system is I’m going to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge.
Although I am an ordained minister, and I do believe that Jesus walked the earth, it is not as easy for me to come to such a rigid and narrow-minded acceptance of all of the dogma that is fed to and regurgitated from the followers of this religion. I also want to point out that I am not singling out Christianity, but because it is a major religion, I am using it as a prime example for the purposes of this blog.
I guess the reason I don’t accept dogma at face value is because I have taken the time to study the history of religion as well as the fundamental core beliefs of many major religions. Knowledge truly IS power and the conclusion I have come to is that they all teach the same fundamental values. So when I continually encounter people who quote Biblical scriptures as if they were absolutes for everyone on planet Earth, that is when my frustration rears its ugly head.
When people come to me for guidance because they are confused about their religion, which is in direct contradiction of how they desire to live their life, or they are starting to have a lot of questions, to which they cannot find any answers, this is what I tell them. Go to your local college and take a history class on religion. When you’ve completed the class, and you realize how and why religion began, it may be difficult for you to put any real value in any of these man-made belief systems.
I am not saying I want to discount or dismiss religion entirely because I do believe it had and still has a divine purpose, which is to create a moral code that governs the conduct of human behavior in our society. By the same token, spirituality can, and often does, accomplish the same results. Many people ask me what the difference is between the two and the best answer I can provide is that religion is a set belief system declared by someone else that you must buy into and follow to be part of that particular specific spiritual community. On the other side of the coin, spirituality allows you to explore the divine connection to God or a higher power in your own way, thus creating your own personal truth or belief system.
Obviously the latter is a bit more empowering to the individual, which could be why traditional spiritual leaders go to great lengths to denounce and diminish any contemporary belief system they are not in agreement with. If everyone bought into spirituality as a means to maintain their connection to God and keep their human behavior in check, there would no longer be any use for organized religion. Let’s face it, that would not only put a lot of people out of work, it would reduce the amount of power that organized religion has over people. Where there is power there is usually money or political gain. Need I say more?
Spiritual belief systems not only existed prior to Christianity, they existed even during prehistoric times and it wasn’t until the invention of writing (5,000 years ago) that its documentation began. Hinduism, which is the third largest religion in the world, existed around 3000 BC. An awareness of Abraham, the patriarchal figure in Judeo Christian and Islamic religions existed quite a few years later around 2000 BC. Zoroastrianism started around 1700 BC and by 1250 BC the first books of the Torah, the sacred scripture of Judaism were composed. This was followed by Jainism, an Indian religion that existed in 877 BC and Confucianism, a Chinese religion which existed around 500 BC.
Prince Siddhartha Gautama, better known as the Buddha, and also one of my personal favorites, walked the Earth teaching his wisdom around 563 BC, long before Jesus was even conceived 600 years later. I find it extremely fascinating that people can so easily negate the Buddha’s existence (or somehow connect him to “the Devil”) simply because they were born on the western side of the planet and only learned about Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure in Christianity. But even with really cool dudes like the Buddha and Jesus, that did not cease the creation of new religions like Gnosticism which was created by the prophet Mani around the year 140. Muhammad was the founder of Islam, and the sacred text of that religion, the Qur’an was completed around the year 650.
Christianity obviously took on a life of its own. Although it began around the year 301 in the near east, it became the state religion of the Roman Empower around 380 and went on to be the largest religion ever. But then political and cultural differences got in the way and so it split into Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy around the year 1054. In the early 1500’s theologian Martin Luther reformed the teachings of the church and the Protestant religion (Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Calvinism) were born. In the 1700’s the Baptist and Methodist religions were formed. Here’s a fact I’m sure most do not know. During slavery, many were stripped of their African belief systems and were denied free religious practice. Slaves managed to hang onto some of their practices by integrating them into Christian worship in secret meetings. These practices (dancing, shouting, and music) remain a large part of worship in the African American church today. Before and after emancipation racial segregation prompted the creation of African American denominations, the first of which was the AME Church founded by Richard Allen in 1787.
Some of the more contemporary religions are the Bahai Faith which was founded in the early 1800’s around the same time as Mormonism. Then Rastafarianism and the Nation of Islam were founded in the 1930’s. We can now fast forward to 1952 when Scientology began followed by the New Age Movement which started in the 1960’s. All of these newer religions are condemned by those that practice some of the older more archaic religions, but honestly I do not understand what all the fuss is about. So some guy decided that Scientology was the only way to worship. That is exactly how MOST religions were formed. One person who was courageous enough to disagree with a religion that was already established founded their own religion based on voices they heard in their head that they assumed were God, or simply by their own egotistical need to have some kind of power over others. Either the religion took off or it didn’t. But does that make one any more legitimate than the other? I don’t think so.
So with all of the knowledge I have acquired about how religion was formed, I personally don’t see it as something that can be documented as an absolute. I also don’t see it as very useful, especially in light of the fact that it seems to cause more divisiveness, hatred, judgment, condemnation, and wars than anything else in the world. In my opinion, and it is only my opinion, religion is for the non-thinker or lazy spiritualist who wants to be told what to believe so they don’t have to take the time to really explore their divinity within. A few weeks ago Deepak Chopra put out a post on Twitter asking his followers what they thought about organized religion. I responded to the tweet “I think all religions are cults.” Deepak quickly responded “Agree. Religion is a cult with a large following.” Within minutes people were re-tweeting my tweet, something that has not happened with any of my tweets since. I believe it flew threw the Twitter universe so quickly because many feel the same way that I do. That religion is used to brainwash, control, and abuse others, which is pretty much the definition of a cult.
I’ll leave you with this last thought. If your religion is working for you, meaning it provides you with inspiration and you are uplifted, energized, and fulfilled on a spiritual level, then by all means keep doing what you are doing. But if it makes you feel guilty, ashamed, condemned, or oppressed, then I suggest you begin the journey of soul-searching so that you can connect with God in your own way, a way that works for you. What you will find is that your spiritual journey will excite you rather than weigh you down.
Namaste (The Divine In Me Honors The Divine In You)!
California: The LIBERAL State!
Whenever I feel angry I also feel the need to blog. I guess it is my way of getting my anger up and out in a cathartic way. Anger is rarely useful if kept inside, but maybe something I say here today will affect just ONE person’s mind on the subject at hand.
When I made the decision to move from the east coast to California one of the primary reasons was because I had always assumed it was a “liberal” state. I understand that some people use the word liberal as if it were a swear word, but I am proud to be a liberal American because to me liberal = compassionate, empathetic, open-minded, and tolerant. Isn’t that the reputation that the state of California always had? Maybe that is what it used to be, but now that I’ve been here over six years I have to say my experience says nothing could be further from the truth.
During Governor’s Schwarzenegger’s campaign, didn’t I see a commercial where he talked about California being a place where you could be who you truly are and what you wanted to be? I think it’s ironic that he would put out such a message in lieu of the fact that he represents a political party that is the extreme opposite of what “liberal” California is all about, and what I am most upset about.
To give a little history for those not familiar with California law, this state has done a great deal of flip-flopping on the issue of same-sex marriage. When I first moved here in 2004, same-sex marriage was not allowed. Then, for a brief period of time it was allowed. You may remember seeing photographs of Rosie O’Donnell with her wife on the steps of the San Francisco courthouse where Mayor Gavin Newsom married them. Then shortly thereafter they decided all those marriages were null and void. Then, finally, in June 2008 they opened the door once again to same-sex marriage and I was ecstatic. Although I had officiated a number of same-sex commitment ceremonies, I was thrilled to perform my first “legal” same-sex ceremony in August of 2008.
Then only five months later, Proposition 8, the California Marriage Protection Act arrived citing “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California”. This prop overturned the California Supreme Court’s ruling that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
The controversy that ensued during this time frame was astounding to me. The amount of money spent on the part of many churches to pass this proposition were daunting as well. Catholics, Mormons, Jews, and Christians all jumped on board. The most frustrating part of all of this, was that the way in which the proposition was worded confused people. So many voted thinking they were voting FOR same-sex marriage, when in fact, they were voting to ban it. I’m sure that was intentional since fear and manipulated facts are used a great deal during political campaigns to obtain the desired end result.
But the gay community did not give up, nor should they. A ballot initiative was proposed to repeal the California ban on same-sex marriage earlier this month. I learned that the backers of this initiative failed to gather enough signatures to place it on the ballot in November. Supporters will now have to try to qualify the measure for the November 2012 election.
Then to add fuel to my fire I read a disturbing article about an elderly same-sex couple in Sonoma county where, because one of the partners became seriously ill, without authority, the county took everything they owned and auctioned it all off. Then they removed one of them from his home and confined him to a nursing home against his will. The county terminated their lease and surrendered their home to the landlord. Three months later one of them passed away and because of the county’s actions, his partner missed the final months he should have had with his love of 20 years.
So yes, I am angry. I am angry that voters are arrogant and selfish enough to think that it’s perfectly acceptable to deny the rights of others, rights they themselves already have. How would THEY feel if this happened to them because tomorrow the “government” made a determination that even traditional marriage between a man and a woman was null and void? People that support the ban say that they feel gays should not have the right to redefine marriage for everyone else, yet they believe it is perfectly acceptable for THEM to define it for same-sex couples!
I am angry that more conservative states like Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, and even MEXICO have same-sex marriage and that we, California, the LIBERAL state does not.
I am angry that religion has become intertwined in our politics and now it appears to have a say about who can be legally married and who cannot. If that is something that a certain religious sect wants to do within their own church, that is fine and acceptable by me, but I do NOT think they have the right to speak for the rest of us. I also feel if they want a say in our legal rights then they need to PAY TAXES just like the rest of us do in order to be able to have INPUT to those rights.
Honestly I don’t understand what all the fuss is about regarding the “sanctity of marriage” anyway. Divorce rates are higher than ever. Celebrities like Tiger Woods and Jesse James make a mockery of the sacred vows they made to their spouses. There is VERY LITTLE RESPECT for these vows from heterosexual couples, so what exactly are they protecting? This whole topic isn’t about the sanctity of marriage. It’s about homophobia which is alive and well in our country and even in the “liberal” state of California. So as far as this straight ordained minister is concerned, I think we should ban marriage for EVERYONE until such time it is a legal right for ALL.
Why I Became A RENTHead
Every time I tell someone that I’m a RENThead they ask “What’s a RENThead?” I respond by explaining to them that a RENThead is an individual who has become obsessed or addicted to RENT and has seen it well over five or six times and plays the music almost daily for months on end. My explanation is usually followed by them asking “What is RENT?”
RENT is a Broadway Musical that opened in 1996 and played for the next 12 years closing in September of 2008. In 1996 after its opening it won a Pulitzer Prize, four Tony Awards, Six Drama Desk Awards and on and on and on. In November 2005, RENT was made into a major motion picture with the majority of the film cast being the original Broadway cast that opened the show nine years earlier.
So what is so special about this particular Broadway show and film? God knows I’ve always been a big fan of Broadway. In 1974, when I was only 17 years old I saw my first Broadway show, SUGAR, and that is where my interest into the world of acting and performing began. SUGAR served as a springboard for my own non-professional acting career, and my childhood dream was that one day I would be performing on one of those Broadway stages in New York.
Well, my Broadway debut never arrived, although my Off-Off-Broadway debut did arrive in 1994, but that’s another story I won’t go into now. Instead of becoming a working actor I went on to become a minister and a spiritual teacher, and this is the primary reason I became a RENThead. Because I believe that this masterpiece of art has a grand spiritual purpose, and its creation is much larger than it becoming a successful smash hit on Broadway.
Jonathan Larson is the genius behind RENT. He wrote the book, the music, and the lyrics. Jonathan’s interest in Broadway began, like mine, as an actor. Eventually he realized what brought him the greatest happiness was writing music. He was so dedicated to his dream and believed in himself so much that he lived a Bohemian lifestyle in order to stay dedicated to his craft. For seven years he worked every day, full-time nonetheless, on the music for RENT without anyone paying him to do so. He barely supported himself by working part-time as a waiter at a small diner in Manhattan. As a true Bohemian, he had a total disregard of money for the pursuit of music.
RENT is the modern interpretation of Puccini’s opera La Boheme which is about a group of young and hungry artists in New York City’s East Village. Not only does this show resemble the story of the opera La Boheme, it also has intertwined within elements of Jonathan Larson’s personal life experience. This was Jonathan’s first produced show, as well as his last. The show opened at the New York Theatre Workshop, an Off-Broadway theater in the East Village in 1996. After the final dress rehearsal, and at the age of 35, Jonathan passed away quietly in his home from an anorthic aneurysm. From a spiritual perspective, it was almost as if his soul was saying “I came here to do one thing. To deliver a message. A big message. I’ve completed that task, so now it is time to go back home.”
I believe, as many spiritualists do, that we choose to re-incarnate lifetime after lifetime, and we also choose when we will arrive and when we will depart along with what we are here to learn or accomplish. In my spiritual opinion, Jonathan Larson is a testimony to that belief. We all re-incarnate to planet Earth because we all have work to do. Figuring out what that work is, is sometimes the most difficult struggle for many of us while we’re here. But that did not appear to be the case with Jonathan. He knew in his heart, in his soul, what his purpose was, and he held strong to that purpose until he completed what he set out to do.
I do not believe that RENT was about a personal success for Jonathan or about anyone making a lot of money from this production. That has simply been the byproduct of this masterpiece. RENT was about a message that needed to be delivered, and that is the reason it has surpassed many other Broadway musicals in its 12-year run. I believe the film version was created so that this brilliant work of art could touch a much broader scope of people than those that attend New York theatre. I was actually one of those people. Although I tried several times to see the Broadway Show, the people I invited to attend the theater with me always wanted to see something else. No one wanted to see yet another story about struggling artists in New York. “It’s been done a zillion times” they said. No one wanted to see a story about Aids. “It’s too depressing” they said. Even one of my gay friends said they didn’t want to see yet another story about Aids. Go figure.
In 2004 I moved to the West Coast, never having seen the Broadway production. On November 23, 2005 Sony brought us the film version of RENT which was directed by Christopher Columbus and produced by Tribeca Films, the organization that was co-founded by another master of his craft, Robert DeNiro. After watching a performance of the opening number, SEASONS OF LOVE on the Ellen DeGeneres talk show, my interest in this show peeked once again. Yet I still had trouble finding someone to attend the film with me. As a result, I was never able to see it on the large screen.
I ended up renting it on DVD (no pun intended) and fell in love with the script, the music, and the energy behind this production. Two months after viewing the DVD I returned to East Coast to officiate a wedding and finally had the opportunity to see the Broadway Show in New York. That did it for me. I understood completely why RENTheads were drawn back to the theater to see this show ten, twelve, and fifteen times. As many RENTheads have testified, RENT is a life-changing show. It reaches down into the depths of your soul and touches you in a way that is difficult to explain to others. Even after watching it eight times I still sob through most of the second half of the show. As a spiritual teacher, I stand strong to the notion that there is much to be learned from this great piece of work. Yes, it is a show about friendship, struggle, Aids, and love, but it is the way in which it communicates its spiritual messages that makes it so inspiring to others. This is the kind of spiritual upliftment that many of us long for in our daily lives, without ever really knowing that this is what is missing. Once we find it, through the experience of this show, we are reluctant to let it go and it is ultimately why many of us have become RENTheads.
As noted before, the show opens with a song entitled SEASONS OF LOVE which asks us how we measure our life and its value. Do we measure it in sunsets? In cups of coffee? In laughter? In dollars? In contracts? There are five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes in a year. How do you measure your years? In births? In deaths? I believe most people measure their years and their lives by success, and more specifically, by financial success. But is that what God intended us to do? Is that why we are really here? Do you think God wants us to measure our life by what we have or what we’ve accomplished? I don’t think so.
Love is what God is made of, and we are made from God, therefore we should be made of love as well. The message of this beautiful first song is that we should measure our lives in love and only love. In this show we have the opportunity to see a lot of love exchanged between the eight friends that form the foundation of the story. We get to experience romantic love through Mimi and Roger. We get to experience same-sex love through Collins and Angel as well as Maureen and Joanne. We get to experience friendship love through Roger and Mark as well as all of the other characters in the show including Benny, and we get to experience unconditional love through the character of Angel. The song ends with “Remember the love, know that love is a gift from up above, share love, give love, spread love, measure your life in love.” This song in and of itself is a very powerful message for all of us.
The pivotal character in this show is, believe it or not, a drag queen by the name of Angel, who shows all of the other characters in the story, as well as all of us, how to genuinely love others completely and unconditionally. How many people do you know that can love in this way without fear of being hurt or without any conditions attached to their love? I do believe Jesus was able to master this kind of love and he set an example for us to do the same, but we have failed miserably at it for thousands of years. The character of Angel reminds us of what Jesus has tried to teach us for centuries. He tried to teach us not to judge others but to love them for who they are and what they are no matter what the circumstance. Imagine what our lives would be like if we were able to love everyone around us in this way. I do believe that this is our ultimate spiritual goal, to love everyone, all of our brothers and sisters, without condition, and to accept everyone, all of our brothers and sisters, for who and what they are.
Jonathan Larson not only uses serious songs to get this message across but he also uses a more humorous approach that speaks to loving others unconditionally as well. TAKE ME OR LEAVE ME is a musical number in which two characters are asking for total acceptance from the other while listing all of their idiosyncrasies and flaws. So many people try their best to change the other person that they are in relationship with. This power struggle is not only prevalent in romantic love but it also rears its ugly head in parent-child relationships and friendships as well. Why is it so hard for us to love others unconditionally? Why is it so difficult for us to “take others for who they are and what they are meant to be” as the song suggests, rather than trying to change them for who we want them to be? I believe it is because most of us do not know how to love and that is why such a high percentage of relationships fail. We are all looking for what we can GET out of a relationship rather than what we can GIVE to a relationship. It’s all about getting our own needs met rather than trying to be there for the other individual. What we need to realize is that in order to get the love we want, we have to be willing to give that same kind of love to others as well. Integrating this concept into our lives is not as easy as writing the words now is it?
Aside from the blatant messages in this film to love and love unconditionally, there is another theme that persists throughout the production. Many of us live our lives as if we have a billion tomorrows and have consistently put off things we’ve wanted to do with our lives day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year. What this show teaches us is that life can be very short and that we need to live for today and only today. The lyrics to ANOTHER DAY as well FINALE B tells us “I can’t control my destiny……I trust my soul……there’s only now……there’s only here……give in to love or live in fear…….there’s no other path……there’s no other way……there is no future……there is no past……thank God this moment’s not the last……I live this moment as my last……there’s only us……there’s only this……forget regret or life is yours to miss……there’s no other road……there’s no day but today”.
How many of us work at jobs that do not fulfill us simply for the money we are paid or for financial security? How many of us do not pursue our real dreams and passions because they seem like the illogical choice? This is one of the grandest spiritual mistakes we all make. For what is life without a dream or passion of some kind? I believe life without a dream or a passion is dull, boring, and very monotonous. We settle for mediocrity in our lives and then we turn to alcohol, drugs, food, sex, and material possessions to try and fill up the empty hole created by the lack of our dream, our passion, and ultimately our purpose. For our passion IS our purpose. Once we make that connection we’re half way there!
There is another musical number in the show called WHAT YOU OWN where the characters of Roger and Mark sing about living in America at the end of the millennium. They point out how unconnected we are as a society and what an isolated age this is. We all need to realize that we are not our jobs, we are not what we own, but rather we are our purpose. Through Roger’s creative endeavor of writing music, and Mark’s creative endeavor of making films, they both come to realize how this connects us all to each other and that we are never ever alone.
Tell me, how would you live your life if you knew you only had a few months or years to live? It surely is something to think about. Why not start today to live for today and begin to move in the direction that will fulfill you the most and honor who you are as a human being? We all have a spiritual purpose here. Now go and figure out what that is and move in that direction! If we don’t, then we’ll die without ever having left our mark on society.
Jonathan Larson communicates a message about leaving our mark on society through the character of Roger, a has-been rock singer, who talks about making his mark before “the virus takes hold”. He wants to write just one more song……a song about love………a song to leave behind……one last blaze of glory. Having Aids has helped him to realize that at one time he had the world at his feet, yet he wasted that opportunity and became a junkie to escape the pain in his life, forfeiting the wonderful creative career that he had been so successful at. How many celebrities do we see living this drama out? Quite a few if you ask me. Roger wants one more song to redeem what he now sees as an empty life. And when does he find the lyrics and music to this last song? Once he lets go of his fear and allows his heart to open through his love for Mimi while she is on her deathbed. Is that what we are waiting for to leave behind our one last blaze of glory? The threat of death either to ourselves or to someone else we love?
That musical number, ONE SONG GLORY speaks to Jonathan Larson’s mark as well. Not only did he write one song as a blaze of glory, he wrote an entire production filled with blazing glory and again, this was all accomplished long before he died or knew that he would die. Can you not see the irony in all of this as I do? It was as if he knew he wouldn’t be here much longer and wanted us all to learn what he had learned in his life……that you must follow your heart, your dream, and your passion or your life will have not served its purpose.
One of the best musical numbers in the show is another song that speaks to Jonathan’s life as an artist. LA VIE BOHEME celebrates the Bohemian lifestyle that Jonathan lived. As it rapidly recites the names of former artists who serve as inspirations and symbols of the Bohemian and vagabond lifestyle, it also validates Jonathan’s choice to live the way he did in order to express and communicate his message through his music. It talks about going against the grain and hating convention. Through this one musical production we learn to be who we are and to hell with what society says we should or should not be. Amen and thank you Jonathan Larson!!!!
The end of the show comes full circle. As the first musical number in the show speaks to love, so does the last number entitled LOVE HEALS. Unfortunately the last number didn’t make it into the film version but Christopher Columbus created an ending in the film that is just as powerful. “There are those who shield their hearts……those who quit before they start……in the dark they’ve lost their sight……like a ship without a star in the night…….but hold on tight…..love heals. When you feel like you can’t go on……love heals. Hold onto love……it will keep you strong……love heals. Hold on to love…….it will bring you home (which is to God). When life’s unfair……..love heals. When you feel so small……like a grain of sand……like nothing at all……love heals. When you look out at sea……that’s where love will be……that’s where you’ll find me……don’t forget……love heals.”
RENT is a unique and brilliant tapestry that Jonathan Larson wove very intricately through the book he wrote, through his music, and through his own life story. And that my friends, is why I became a RENThead. God Bless you Jonathan Larson wherever you are…………….
Will & Grace & Will
I would love to take credit for this next blog, but I can’t. It was written by my Facebook friend Will Radford who is a working actor in Los Angeles. I was so touched by his story that I asked if I could post it here on my website, and being the gentleman that he is, he agreed. This story encompasses two things I am very passionate about…..television and spirituality. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Will Radford: Sometimes, it’s the little things…
In late September of 1998, a pilot episode for a new four camera sitcom aired on NBC. I was fortunate to have been cast in that pilot. Fairly recently out of school, and still new to the idea of acting as a job, and having already done a few things, this was seemingly just the next step along the way. I’d already done a couple network sitcoms (one of which was a pilot for CBS which didn’t air) so I was a bit familiar with the format, and definitely grateful to be working.
I don’t remember exactly how many days we worked on this pilot—I think it was maybe eight or nine. I do remember that every day, in addition to table reads, rehearsing, rewrites, and photo sessions for the four series regulars (one of whom I’d previously worked with on that CBS pilot) that members of the “guest cast” (of which I was one) were changing every day. As scenes were added or cut, so were the actors appearing in those scenes. I was just in one scene—the very last one—but fortunately it was with two of the leads. Still, none of us knew from day to day which of us would get voted off the island, so we just all showed up each day and did what was asked of us.
But there was definitely something different about this pilot. One thing I noticed was how nice the accommodations were—little dressing rooms instead of trailers. And the craft service seemed especially upscale. But mostly what I noticed was the incredible camaraderie between the bunch of us—the regulars and even us little guys who were just there for the episode. We all ate together, hung out together, laughed together—after all, it wasn’t really a “show” yet, just a pilot, and we all knew it might never air. But there sure seemed to be a lot of “buzz” about it. We had a very well-known director, and for the last four or five nights after rehearsing, taping, rewriting, etc., the head of the network would personally take all of us in the cast out to Mexicali. Yup, even me—and I was just in the last scene, and who even knew for how long. And he even knew my name!
One day I was standing at the craft service table, and the actor who did those “Joe Isuzu” commercials came up to me and asked me how “your show” was going. Wow. At that point I felt like if Joe Isuzu is coming up to me, I must really be a part of this whole thing. Even if it was just a small part.
Since I had a lot of down time on the set, I found things to keep myself busy. I helped one of the regulars run his lines; after all, they were changing for him on a moment by moment basis as the show was being fine tuned. I hung out with the other regulars and guest cast. And I stood behind the director when he conducted the tech rehearsal with the level of precision smoothness and flawless execution that only comes with having done this kind of thing for many, many years.
Finally, it was show night—like opening night of a play—with a packed house and everyone wishing each other well. And believe it or not, I was still in the show! Of course they shot the show chronologically, so after several hours of stop and go, retakes, etc., I got to do my one little scene at the end with two of the leads. And it all just went great. We all got called out individually for our sitcom rush-out-and-bow curtain call to the receptive audience’s thunderous applause. I even had several people from the audience come up to me afterwards to say hello and congratulations.
Afterwards, I got hugs from everybody, and introduced my girlfriend (she sat there all four hours to get to see me do about a minute worth of work) to the four leads and a few of the others. We all wished each other luck. Then the two of us walked one of the other actresses to her car, got in my car, and left.
After dropping my girlfriend off at her place, I headed home. I already missed everyone. It was one of those good gigs you never forget. It was one of those times when you really felt you were part of the team.
Well, not only did the pilot get picked by NBC for it’s Thursday night lineup, but it continued to be a blessing to me. Yes, I was there when it aired, in the last scene. A week before it aired, I got a call from someone I knew congratulating me for being in the show. ”How did you know I did that show?” I asked. “Because there’s a big color picture of you and two of the leads on the cover of the Sunday New York Times Arts & Entertainment section as one of the new hot shows.”
I went down to the local newsstand. Damn!! She was right. I bought like eight copies…
That tiny scene I did opened a lot of doors for me—and right near the beginning of me thinking of myself as a possible “working actor.” It led to other work, a new agency, stuff like that. I still had a day job at the time, and over my desk, taped to the wall, was the NY Times photo—just in case anyone wondered why I’d have to leave work from time to time in the middle of the day. I guess it was kind of like my “license to leave for auditions.”
The show went on to be a well-known series. And for some reason, this pilot episode got a lot of play. Of the things I’ve done so far, it’s had the most reruns. It even had a lot of those great primetime network reruns we all love so much. For several years, NBC would run it in the summertime as like a “where it all started” special. A documentary about the series was eventually made by Lifetime, and (can you believe it) my scene was in that too—and I even got paid for it!!
But the funniest part of the whole thing to me is that, back when I was originally called in to read for it, I think they told me the title of the new show, but for some reason I either didn’t hear it or it just didn’t register. The CD had cast me in that CBS pilot before, and so I just showed up at the producer session, picked up the sides there, and just went in and did it. Although it wasn’t a funny part, I think I got a chuckle or two from the two writer/producers and the CD. Then I was off.
On the drive home I stopped at a payphone to check my voicemail messages. I’d just left the CD’s office fifteen minutes before, but now I had a message to call them back, which I did. For some reason that day, I’d really been thinking a lot about the word “grace”—one of my favorite words. When the associate came on the phone she said, “Congratulations, Will!! You booked the pilot—the role of Henry, the bar patron.” She said she’d be calling my agent, and to expect a call from wardrobe in a few days.
“That’s great!!” I shouted. “Thanks for having me in again!!” then, just as I was about to hang up, I asked her, “By the way—what’s the name of the show?”
“It’s called Will and Grace,” she said.
And who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor??
That pilot episode is airing for the umpteenth time this coming Monday morning on Lifetime. Depending on where you live and what kind of TV service you have, it airs between 8:00AM and noon (check local listings or TIVO, etc. for “Pilot”). It’s definitely not worth watching or recording it on my account. But if you’re a fan of the show who never got to see the pilot, here’s your chance. And if you do, and happen to watch it all the way to the end, and don’t blink, you’ll probably see me toasting the happy couple.
Years ago, a gentleman I know who’d been an agent at ICM was advising me—”Will, it’s better to do a small part on a big show, than to do a big part on a small show. ” I’ve done both, and stuff in between, and it’s all good. But this definitely fits what he was saying. I guess it’s all about loving what you do, and hopefully getting to do what you love. It’s really all about grace…
WR
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
This week I have been engulfed in fighting a battle not so much for myself, but on behalf of others who may be impacted more than I but are not in a position to be able to speak up for themselves.
I truly believe in peace and harmony, but sometimes you have to ruffle a few feathers and overturn the applecart to get things moving in the right direction. Controversy doesn’t always have to be negative. Sometimes it can bring about change. With courage and a passionate purpose, people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harvey Milk have changed the world in which we live.
My daughter who is 14, attends a performing arts school. In the two years she has been attending this school I have been fairly active in the monthly parent-teacher meetings. Last year, and again this year, discussions took place in those rooms with regard to the selection of plays that would be performed during the school year. Heated arguments took place because some parents appear to have a problem with their children “swearing” on stage.
Seriously? With all of the problems surrounding our youth today (i.e. teen pregnancy, drugs, alcohol, pedophiles, and dropping out of school), we’re going to focus our energy on teen swearing? I thought we came to a compromise last year which resulted in a new process. If a show was going to be produced that had what some parents considered “inappropriate” or “adult” content, then the parents would be asked to sign a waiver allowing their children to be part of the production. That seemed to work for everyone involved at the time.
Fast forward to the new school year and a change in the administration. The theater chair, who was previously a Broadway actor in New York, decided to return to performing and a new director relocated from Massachusetts to accept the open position. With him he brought a lot of ambition, vision, and drive which was a perfect fit for this fairly young performing arts school. There was only one problem. From the day this man began his journey at the school, it became obvious to me that a witch hunt ensued because he’s, oh dear shall I say it here? He is a homosexual. I have sat back, watched, and said little for seven months, but as an advocate for gay rights, I knew that I could no longer keep quiet.
The first show of the season was Everyman and the middle school students who performed the show did a fantastic job. The second show of the season was The Wiz and for obvious reasons everybody was thrilled with the production. The most recent show performed last weekend, with high school students only, was One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Although my daughter was not in the show, we attended in support of the school and this new theater director.
If you have never seen it, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is a provocative piece of work, but it is also viewed as a modern literary classic. It is read and studied in schools throughout the U.S. and has continually been in print since its publication in 1962. As a play, which premiered in 1964, it has had two revivals; off-Broadway in 1971 and a Broadway production in 2001. When adapted to a film in 1975 starring Jack Nicholson, it won 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Overall, it is a pretty impressive literary pedigree.
I thought in spite of its adult theme and its “offensive” language the students pulled off the production brilliantly. Once again this phenomenal theater teacher deserved accolades. Unfortunately, on Wednesday of this week one of the parents sent an email blast out to the entire school community discrediting everything that had been accomplished. Here is just a small part of that email.
“It was a great performance with offensively shocking language and subject matter. It is unfortunate that their talents had to be used on projects that are not as widely view as good or universally appropriate materiel. It was very discouraging that much of the language in Cuckoo’s Nest was inappropriate for small children and even offensive to some adults. The show would not have lost any effect by changing the language. The use of the F-bomb was completely unnecessary as much of the other profanity. It makes no sense to me that the students would be placed in a situation where they were forced to perform inappropriate material for their age group. Outside of the show they would have been suspended for using these words. I do understand that the subject matter of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is adult in theme, so I would hope that since we entrust our children to your care, you would carefully consider which plays our children will be performing. As a concern, evolved and loving parent I am pushing the envelope back to say these things are not acceptable. Hopefully the Administration will rethink how it chooses what our kids perform and are exposed to.”
Forced to perform? To my knowledge no one is every forced to audition or perform at this arts school. In addition, I felt this kind of communication should have been sent to the school’s director, not posted in such a public manner for all eyes to see. I was the first one to write a retort. The bottom line of my argument back was that not everyone should be subjected to this one person’s value system when choosing or performing a play at the school and posting his remarks discrediting the work of the teacher in such a public manner was something I found to be even more inappropriate.
Other parents joined in, some in support of my viewpoint and some in support of his. One parent captured her sentiments perfectly in one sentence. “As a writer, it worries me when we suggest changing an author’s literary work to make it more acceptable to suit our beliefs. That’s called censorship.”
To add fuel to the fire, the moderator of the parent-teacher email distribution list emailed me privately to tell me that I should have emailed the offended parent privately and not use the group’s list to respond. It became very clear to me that not only were there parents who wanted to censor the literary work performed at the school, they also wanted to censor me. My only choice was to make it clear that no one was going to censor my input or feedback and since the original sender posted his viewpoint in a public manner then my responding in the same manner should be perfectly acceptable.
In spite of the retorts this man was not backing down. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this sooner, but I then Googled this parent to find out exactly who he was and why he thought he should have full control over what was occurring at the school (because it is not a private school in which he contributes money). The results of my search clarified everything for me. This parent was the pastor of a newly formed Christian Baptist church in northern California. That is when I knew I had to approach this from a different angle. There was a spiritual agenda at work here, one that I am all too familiar with, and one that I personally have a problem with.
I have nothing against organized religion if it is what helps an individual to find their spiritual core and their connection to God. Where I begin to have a problem is when one group of spiritual seekers feel they have the right to infringe their belief systems on those outside of their congregation or religious sect. It has always been my personal feeling that if people took the time and energy it takes to really learn the history of organized religion along with the how and why of its formation, they would not put as much value in it as they do. But that’s an entirely separate blog.
My point is that I am also an ordained minister, and I have my spiritual beliefs which are solid as a rock, just like the pastor in my story here. Is there art that I find offensive? Yes there is. I do not listen to or enjoy rap music or hip hop music because I find the word “nigger” and “ho” to be pretty offensive along with many of the lyrics that are written today in this art form. However, the one thing I would never do is push my spiritual agenda on anyone else that didn’t come to me for spiritual guidance or advice. Everyone is entitled to their own choices and their own path and frankly I am tired of this particular religious group, with their condescending judgments of others and their narrow-minded spiritual ignorance, thinking it is perfectly acceptable to infiltrate our schools and our political system in an attempt to make us who they want us to be.
So for that reason I kept pushing until the truth of the matter was finally revealed. This parent was the father of one of the Cuckoo’s Nest leads, and he also had a younger daughter who worked backstage on the production. He knew up front about the content and language (because he had gone to the school administrator about it weeks prior to the performance), but in spite of this knowledge he let his daughter perform in the production anyway. He felt to pull her three weeks into rehearsals would have been unfair to the rest of the actors and the teachers. Seriously? He felt strongly enough about the “content” to create this whirlwind of emails and controversy as he tears down the teacher and administration involved in producing the show, but he let his daughter go through with the performance anyway. In addition, he allowed his younger daughter to work backstage. If you had felt as strongly as he did, would you have let your child perform? I have to honestly say I wouldn’t have. The bottom line from where I sit is having his daughter in the performance spotlight took precedence over his concern about inappropriate content. If that’s not spiritual hypocrisy I do not know what is.
I wish this pastor the best of luck in his new church endeavor and I hope he is met with great success there. But if he or any other parent tries to resurrect their spiritual agenda at this school again, or elsewhere in the community where it effects my child or my life experience, I will be standing strong to fight them on behalf of ALL creative artists as well as the gay community.
Standing strong and tall…………….Peace Out!
