The event below is one which actually happened to me, and some of The Eleventh Ring plot revolves around this concept. I'd like to know what people think about this - I'd like to know if you think events in your life are basically random, or if there are other forces at work whereby you draw events and people to you, then have the choice of either accepting or rejecting the learning opportunity which results. I'd also love to hear any related stories.
Tom Hoffman
I was meditating at home when I heard a voice. I am a very visual person and when I close my eyes I always see things -- scenes, people etc. I’m used to that but I never had heard a voice before. It was very clear and may have been my own "thinking voice", but I don't think so. Hard to tell. The voice said “xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx”. (the name of a very popular band in the 1970s which I don't want to reveal) I figured it must have some symbolic meaning and spent the next day at work with a friend trying to remember all their songs and see if any were symbolic of something happening in my life. Nothing came up. At this time I was getting calls from a very obnoxious person who wanted to do some freelance work for my department (art dept in an ad agency). He seemed so arrogant that I told a co-worker, "I’ll never work with that guy in a million years." I told the caller we didn’t really need anything done at this time. A week or so later we got a big job doing some marketing stuff for an airport (big renovation). They called and told us who they were using to do the architectural renderings (this was before computers when people actually did drawings on paper!). It was the guy I said I would never work with. I thought “Oh crap. I have to work with this jerk.” I called another graphic designer that I knew in town and asked him if he’d heard of this guy. He said “Oh sure, he did some work for us. At first he seems really arrogant, but he’s really a pretty nice guy. And he’s an incredible musician. He was the bass player for xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx for 15 years.” My hair just stood on end. I couldn’t wait to meet him. He came to the agency and I told him I’d sort of been expecting him. Told him the story. He apologized for seeming so arrogant. He said that after he left rock and roll he’d learned all the art stuff on his own. He hadn’t gone to school for it and was very insecure about his skills in that area and made up for it by seeming overconfident. He said he’d studied music in India over the last couple of years and gave me a tape of sitar music that he had. About a month later he called me at home and asked if I belonged to any church. He said he had a “hole in his soul that needed patching up”. I told him no, but I would be happy to talk to him about anything he wanted. He said that sounded great and he would contact me later. I never heard from him again. I heard later that he had gotten a divorce and left the state.
The Eleventh Ring
discussion
Tom Hoffman
I was meditating at home when I heard a voice. I am a very visual person and when I close my eyes I always see things -- scenes, people etc. I’m used to that but I never had heard a voice before. It was very clear and may have been my own "thinking voice", but I don't think so. Hard to tell. The voice said “xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx”. (the name of a very popular band in the 1970s which I don't want to reveal) I figured it must have some symbolic meaning and spent the next day at work with a friend trying to remember all their songs and see if any were symbolic of something happening in my life. Nothing came up.
At this time I was getting calls from a very obnoxious person who wanted to do some freelance work for my department (art dept in an ad agency). He seemed so arrogant that I told a co-worker, "I’ll never work with that guy in a million years." I told the caller we didn’t really need anything done at this time. A week or so later we got a big job doing some marketing stuff for an airport (big renovation). They called and told us who they were using to do the architectural renderings (this was before computers when people actually did drawings on paper!). It was the guy I said I would never work with. I thought “Oh crap. I have to work with this jerk.” I called another graphic designer that I knew in town and asked him if he’d heard of this guy. He said “Oh sure, he did some work for us. At first he seems really arrogant, but he’s really a pretty nice guy. And he’s an incredible musician. He was the bass player for xxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx for 15 years.” My hair just stood on end. I couldn’t wait to meet him. He came to the agency and I told him I’d sort of been expecting him. Told him the story. He apologized for seeming so arrogant. He said that after he left rock and roll he’d learned all the art stuff on his own. He hadn’t gone to school for it and was very insecure about his skills in that area and made up for it by seeming overconfident. He said he’d studied music in India over the last couple of years and gave me a tape of sitar music that he had. About a month later he called me at home and asked if I belonged to any church. He said he had a “hole in his soul that needed patching up”. I told him no, but I would be happy to talk to him about anything he wanted. He said that sounded great and he would contact me later. I never heard from him again. I heard later that he had gotten a divorce and left the state.