Sonam Dorje (Richard Rudis) Gong Bath 09-09-09 at TSA

[Sue Furman]

Since 2001, the triad of days, September 9, 10, 11 has been a period of hightened emotion and awareness. Sept 9, 2001, my father,a difficult and overly powerful person; one of the reasons I believe I chose this incarnation; had a stroke. He waited eleven hours after the first symptoms for my return call, to advise him what to do, even though my mother was right there with him. He was all about control, personal and communal. He was given a reprieve, one day, Sept. 10, my birthday, to speak and move some of his limbs for the last time. He chose to belittle my mother's efforts and to fail to say that I "had done good" in life and that he loved me. Of course, we all know what happened Sept. 11, 2001. I experienced the shock and pain of the rest of the world, for a very brief time. Within an hour of the plane crashes at the Twin Towers, I received the call to come to the hospital. He had had a second stroke, so catastrophic it rendered him mute, unaware and tied to his bed. I never heard what I so desperately needed from him, or from my mother, for that matter.

So, what does this have to do with a gong bath? A lifelong depressive, I have searched for the meaning of my existance, my purpose in life. Settling in with the ideas of Theosophy about 6 years ago, I started to become more "soft" with myself. I became aware of possible reasons I'm on this planet, in this lifetime. Music has been my lifeline, the thing I turn to when all else fails.

I volunteer a short number of hours each week at the TSA center in Wheaton. I had seen Richard bringing his gong to Olcott before. As a musician, I knew what a gong sounded like in the orchestra. It was Sept. 9, I was back in my confused depression; I was turning to music. I was going to my first gong bath.

And, what MUSIC I got! My intention was set at the labyrinth, I will let go of the damaging thoughts of my parents and my past. As we settled in for the two hour gong bath, I began to hear the sounds of the spirits. The entire first movement, as I call it, came to me as sounds of the angels, of animals; wolves, coyote, dolphins. In retrospect, I know the divine was letting me know I was surrounded by love and support. I was uncomfortable, stiff, achy, hot. But the gong continued its work. Soon I heard singing. I'm a singer, I know singing when I hear it. I tried to hum along, to match the pitches. I gave up, settling into a comfort zone of blissful music and vocalization. The second movement, so to speak, had begun. I could tell the musical "form" had changed. Having been put into a receptive state, the sound spirits became doctors, healers, cleansers. Gently nudging and prodding, the sounds from the gong began to push down on me, from the crown of my head, through my torso, my hips, to my feet. The pain in my hips was intensifying. Every time I shifted for relief, my "life knot", the deep tension under my right shoulder blade would scream. As the gong sounds intensified, the psychic pressure I was feeling grew. Although never having given physical birth, I was feeling birth. The sound was an army, marching down my spine from my head, through to my toes. In front of it, it pushed "stuff" down and out; cleaning house with hoses and brooms, so to speak. I settled in to a more comfortable position. I felt as if my soul, my spirit was starting to rise above my physical body, ever so slightly. The dancing began. I didn't see anything different in the physical world. My "third eye" did not see light patterns or forms moving. But dancing there was. Gentle waves, twirls of energy, moving in a counter clockwise rotation, all to the music of the gong! I love dancing as much as music, and I "danced" along with my spirits. My breathing was deep and even. After much hip joint and spine cracking, I had found a comfortable position to lie in. The dancing reverie floated on and on. The gong music was changing ever so slightly, the third movement was about to begin. This music was contempletive, by gently more insistant. I began to feel a "filling up" sensation. The intensity and volume of the gong ratcheted up, step by step. I was peaceful, the sound did not hurt. At the apex of arc of sound, I heard, and felt, an icy, cold, stinging sensation around my head. It went on and on, battering, pushing, engulfing my psyche and body. Aha - the divine had returned in all it's force and mighty power. Yes - I AM. I am still here, still breathing, still looking for my purpose. But I feel peaceful. The intensity subsided, the tension released into a lullibye. The sound army started its retreat. I became aware of the dancing, but it too was receding. My soul was one with my physical body again. I was lying flat out, no pains in my hips, no life knot screaming in pain. The singing came from quite a distance, soft and gentle. I tried once more to sing with them; I may have succeded. DONA NOBIS PACEM.

[Janeth]

I second my friend Frank's sentiment's; thank you.

[Frank McLaughlin]

Thanks for sharing that.