Mysticism in Newburyport: Mystic Rider

By Peter James Ford

This is the second book of lighthearted tales in this seven-book series, under the title: “MYSTICISM IN NEWBURYPORT.” This is the personal journey of just another soul re-awakening to his divinity in this lifetime and reuniting with his true self. Peter was to have many profound spiritual experiences along the Merrimac River in Newburyport, Massachusetts. So, to honor this unique, historic seaport, he has chosen to use this title for his seven-book series on his continued journey of awakening. These personal accounts of Peter’s journey are more of an individual perspective of life, rather than any particular location. ‘Book One’ was introduced at the Miami International Book Fair as a modern-day version of the Herman Hesse classic novel called: “SIDDHARTHA.” After a profound spiritual awakening, through the grace of a Meditation Master, Peter was to personally have the experiences from long nights along the river in meditation, that the fictional character had experienced in Herman’s classic novel. These writings are really a ‘Unique School of Thought’ from Peter’s insights through Nature. As in Newburyport where the river revealed all its secrets. Now, the shifting sands of the Southern Maine coast are revealing its secrets for book two. Peter feels blessed as the treasures from Nature are so abundant in New England coast and in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

After growing up in Lynn, Mass, where Peter was involved with heavy alcohol consumption, sixties drug use, arrests, broken bones, violence, motorcycle crashes and high-speed chases. Peter realized a deep love for motorcycles and physical training during his early years. Peter was to end up in the 12-step program at nineteen years old. He entered the program over fifty-years ago in March 1970, and almost immediately had a spiritual awakening. There is a difference between a spiritual awakening and a spiritual experience. On Peter’s path he was to experience both; as did the founder of the first 12-step program. Seven years sober, Peter was in deep emotional and mental pain (experiencing despair) and from this pain (pain is the touchstone of spiritual growth), he was to have his first spiritual experience. Peter now knew deep in his heart that God was actually The Intelligence Behind Nature and also that this intelligence was in his every cell of his body, as it is the giver of all life. It was around twenty-five years sober that Peter’s older brother introduced him to a Meditation Master, who was to become his guide at these higher levels of understanding and evolvement. Peter has said: “That the more he learned about the Ancient Universal Principles, the less he felt he knew.” Peter said: “It is kind of humorous that when you actual attain something worthwhile, what goes along with it is humility, just another soul on the path; another bozo on the bus.” Best Wishes on Your Personal Journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Aug 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781982271954

Peter James Ford

Peter James Ford, The Unlikely Messenger, is a unique individual with a broad understanding of life from having lived life from many lifestyles. Peter experienced the good, the bad, the ugly, and then an awakening and redemption. His younger years found him struggling with alcoholism and the drugs of the sixties, with having learning disabilities, including attention deficit disorder, and growing up in a violent environment. Peter turned to physical training and motorcycles and found much satisfaction in both. At an early age Peter crawled into the 12-step recovery program a broken man. This was the beginning of Peter’s spiritual journey. Over the years, Peter attained the promises of the program and began living a great life. Many years later, Peter was initiated into a yogic path that had begun thousands of years ago by an ancient lineage of Masters. Peter did not realize that his profound spiritual experience at that time was actually a powerful “Kundalini Awakening” within him. Shortly after his awakening, these mystic tales of past lives and powerful wisdom truths began flowing. Peter has just completed his seventh book about his life adventures and spiritual journey. Peter hopes people find something useful in his writings, or at least that they will bring a smile to your face when thinking about Peter, this “Unlikely Messenger.”

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 Peter James Ford.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written

permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

844-682-1282

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed

since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of

treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or

indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest

for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself,

which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-7194-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-7195-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021914665

Balboa Press rev. date:   11/05/2021

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my brother Skip and his wife Harriet, who lost

their son Michael, their daughter Bonnie, and their grandson Bobby.

This book is also dedicated to Michael and his wife Tammy, and

to her son Bobby, and also to Michael’s brother Shawn.

My brother Skip and his wife Harriet have lost both a son a daughter and grandson.

To Tammy, who lost her husband Michael and their son Bobby.

To Shawn, who lost a brother, a sister, and his nephew Bobby.

001_a_xxx.jpg

Michael ‘In the Wind’

002_b_xxx.jpg002_a_xxx.jpeg

They say that the worst thing that could happen to a

parent in this lifetime is the loss of a child.

This book is dedicated to the loss of so many loved ones from this family. There

are no words to describe such a loss. I am at a loss for words to even try to console

them. Sometimes life just seems so unfair and far too much to be burdened with.

They will always be in our thoughts and prayers.

Below is a picture of a Ford Family gathering.

003_a_xxx.jpeg

There are no words for this kind of loss, just prayers…

Sincere Thanks

004_a_xxx.jpeg

Special Acknowledgements

To Kay Butler, a great friend, and someone that has been so supportive, kind and helpful to me with both my books. I would have given up with the first book, if it were not for Kay’s kind words and her belief in me. I am thankful with all my heart for the privilege of having Kay in my life.

To Robert Hawes, a great friend, and Bob has also been someone that made my dream of completing this book a reality. Without Bob’s help I would never have completed both my first and second books. A sincere thanks to a great friend, Robert Hawes.

To Dan Svenconis, a great friend, and he came into my life at the perfect time. I had run out of energy and motivation as I neared the completion of this book and his kind and supportive words reenergized me and I was able to complete this book. Dan is a very knowledgeable person about all the literary field and after he read the first story commented that my style of writing is writing in a Stream of Consciousness. Dan said my style was very James Joycian. That was great to hear as James Joyce was such a famous writer. Huge thanks to Dan and he is someone that it was a pleasure talking with and so grateful for his help.

To Via Nielsen and Tara Atkins, from Balboa Press, for being two, true sweethearts and so supportive in helping me complete book II. They both went above and beyond to make my book reach its fullest potential. Big thanks to Via and Tara for being so kind, helpful, and professional. Also, a big thanks to the Design Team at Balboa Press for being so helpful, supportive and for an exceptional designing of my book, thank you so much.

A special thanks to D. R. (Ram) Butler, the author of the correspondence course called, Living in the Truth of the Present Moment. I have read Ram’s lessons for the last thirty years. I would have to credit Ram and his writings for the majority of any wisdom or knowledge that I might have acquired. I have read endless books and listened to countless teachers and masters over these thirty years, and I have never seen anyone’s overall knowledge of the ancient teachings that can compare with Ram’s knowledge. I would highly recommend to anyone to read Ram’s course, as it is the most complete overview of the spiritual path, I have come across in my daily study of the Truth of Being for the last thirty years. Ram’s wife, Kay Butler continues to send out the course and she has made it available to everyone after Ram’s passing. Ram is always in my thoughts and prayers.

This was always the hardest part of the story to write, when I have had a lifetime of people helping me and so many times saving my ass. If wealth is based on how many great people you have had in your life, then I am one of the wealthiest people on Earth. Thank You, God, with all my heart for all the people that you have worked through.

The best place to start would be with my Father and Mother, the best parents I could have had and amazing people to have put up with such a troubled, pain-in-the-ass son like me. They provided a safe home and environment for me and my three brothers and were a part of what they call The Great Generation. That generation had men and women volunteer to go into World War II and unselfishly fight for the country. My father and his five brothers all volunteered and the write up in the local newspaper had a picture of them calling them The Fighting Fords. It was the generation where professional baseball players (and other athletes) played sports for the game and not for the payday. Today, some baseball players get fifty-million-dollar contracts for a couple of years. I’m not sure how the owners pay that. My father, a disabled veteran, worked two jobs to provide for his family and would give anyone a hand in need. He had an easy-going personality and was liked by everyone. He was an amazing man. My mother had the difficult task of dealing with the four sons, while my father worked. From the first police incident with my oldest brother to the last incidents with my younger brother, she was dealing with police on a regular basis.

Both of my parents were exceptional people who unselfishly put their children first. When my father retired, they spent the winters in Florida. My mother did not fly, so my brothers and I would take turns driving them back and forth from New Hampshire to the West coast of Florida. There is something about the warmth of Florida sun in winter and I said to my father, how much I loved it. He replied: Your day will come. Well, the karmic train rolls on and my life keeps unfolding and I have found myself in Miami. I did not expect to be back here, as years ago I had spent time here after my first divorce, back in the wilder days. But the warmth of the Florida sun feels just as great, and I am adjusting to the next, new, even better chapter of my life. They seem to go in seven-year cycles for me, but I don’t ever see myself leaving here. Well, my father’s prophecy came true for me and I will be eternally grateful for my parents. I thought they would be the best people to start with for my gratitude and thanks for all they did for my brothers and me.

In the Dedication is a picture of the whole Ford Family, with the exception of my children, my granddaughter, and my brother, Phil’s son, Noah. I was always so busy stuck in survival mode that I never realized how great a group of people formed our family. A sincere thanks to all my brothers, and the whole gang.

This next Thank You really goes to God for the gift of my son and daughter and now my granddaughter. If I have any regrets in this life it would be that I was not there for my children in a healthier way, as most of my life I had been self-consumed with anger and always fighting life. I felt like I was walking into a North East blizzard all the time with my depression and struggling with a learning disability. The worst part was trying to work through my misperceptions of feeling I was being attacked and trying not to react. They talk about the reactive mind and if your perception of life is filtered through fear, everyone appears to be your enemy. So, much of my life was trying not to react violently and trying to convince myself that everyone was not a threat. Thankfully, there are solutions to all these types of ailments, and I have been blessed to make the right connections through the wisdom from many cultures. I must say that the gift of my having children was beyond anything I could have expected. Anyone who has children knows how life altering it is and how it awakens a part of you that was dormant.

My children and granddaughter were the greatest’s gifts to me, thank you God

My son Benjamin James Ford was first to be born

006_a_xxx.jpeg

My daughter Rachel Elizabeth Ford soon followed

007_b_xxx.jpeg

Rachel and my granddaughter, Shayla Elizabeth Howell

007_a_xxx.jpeg

A picture from the first book of Grandpa and Shayla.

Shayla deep in thought, wondering is this character really my Grandpa?

008_a_xxx.jpeg

My first book was dedicated to Shayla. This was her picture on back cover.

009_a_xxx.jpeg

Sincere Thanks to all the friends I made in the 12-step program over my fifty years practicing the principles. Thanks to Tim, who was a great friend and mentor. All the people from Hard Nocks Gym, the Nock family, Matt, Larry, Len, Dave, Tommy, Tyler, Shawn, Phil, Chris, Gregg, The Fowler family, Ben and Dan, Andy, Tony and the whole gang. To Unity on the River, Siddha Yoga (ashrams, centers, monks, great people), my great friend Tyler, who has been through thick and thin with me over the years. Barbara Eleanor Parton, probably the most influential person in my life ever. Barbara believed in me before I believed in myself, and for the first time I experienced ‘unconditional love’ in a physical relationship. I experienced trusting a woman, it may be the best gift of all.

Two of the sweetest women that I have been blessed to have in my life, Michele and Karen.

010_a_xxx.jpg

Special thanks to Karen Davis, aka Wonder Witch, owner of Coon’s Card and Gift Shop and businesswoman of Salem, Massachusetts this year, 2020. We had shared so much together years ago and when it ended, I must have reverted back to my immature self and ‘unconsciously’ never mentioned her in book one. Really, it was unconsciously left out, but probably I was just being a spoiled brat that our time had ended. Karen was a little surprised that she was left out of the stories, after all that we had shared. Back then, there was a group of us in Newburyport that resembled the show ‘Friends’. Karen, Michelle, Jeff, Big Chris, Lisa, Phil, Beth, Rick, Al, and Andy just to name a few. It was a time in our life that we all were probably the healthiest. We shared a lot at that time, and I talked about that in the first book. Life is full of turns and Karen is back in my life and we will always be connected from here on out. Also, some of the others from this area are George Fowler, Ben Fowler, Dan Fowler, and Big Ralph. Ralph, Bruce Whittaker and myself all owned Keystone Choppers from ‘Thunder Mountain Custom Cycles’ out of Colorado. The Nock family, the Fahey Family, the Mystery Woman of Newburyport, and Matt Sherrill from Amesbury, Mass. I have left out many, but you are all appreciated, thanks for sharing this journey. It was a special time in my life in Newburyport.

Of course, I cannot leave out Sandi who has had a profound effect on my life. We have shared so much over the years and she has a piece of my heart. As, I write this part of the book, I am realizing how fortunate I have been for the women that have been in my life and the gift of their companionship and friendship. For an average guy, I have been blessed with more than my share of sweet women in my life. They all have a piece of my heart. I remember in the Harry Potter movies how the evil wizard broke his heart into seven pieces (horcurtzs), funny how in this life it happens in a similar way. Growing up, it may be a belief taught in Church, that you will only love one person in this life. Turns out that is not true for some of us, as there are a number (maybe seven) of women that have a piece of my heart. I am grateful to every one of them and wish them the best on their journey.

I listened to Joel Osteen this morning and he was talking about sometimes getting the inner prompt and the guidance that comes from your heart and not your head. Joel mentioned how this inner prompt can seem like the wrong direction or a mistake, but it is God speaking to you. Gregg Braden has said that when you get an inner prompt, it is telling you that there is someone who needs what you are getting prompted to create. I know in my heart that I am meant to write these books, I have no clue as to the purpose for them other than the personal growth for myself of cleaning out all the ghosts and demons in my psyche. With the first book, I had torn it up three times and experienced an awful pain in my heart, until I began to write the book again. I may have thoughts of giving up, but that kind of pain is very motivating, so I will play the part God has for me and finish this book, again.

Someone’s teachings that I treasured were from Hugh Greer Carruthers, an Englishman, surgeon, scholar and he was to spend seventeen years in an ashram in Tibet. I found valuable pieces and validation that put my ‘Tale of the Sevens’ and ‘The Seventh Son’, together in a coherent form. In this ancient ashram, the records and history of Christ were kept. I was to read how all the Yogic paths from India, Tibet and Egypt had a deep love and adoration for Christ. I did not expect that. More and more, I see all of these ancients’ paths as one and as all connected. They are all telling the same story. This is why the conclusion for this book is One Story. I have been able to read with different eyes and see the true meaning behind a lot of the teachings from the ancient Hebrews and the Bible. The stories and tales of the ‘Wisdom Lodge’, and stories about Egypt and India seekers were just amazing. This man eventually came to America and Hugh began a correspondence course on the ancient wisdom truths. President Calvin Coolidge had taken his correspondence course. I saw a picture of Calvin Coolidge and Yogananada, another great saint from India, together at the White House. I thought Calvin is definitely someone I am going to research with his being involved with two great spiritual teachers. Like many of the great saints and teachers, they were unknown to the majority of the world and never got the recognition they deserved. It is just the way of the physical/material world.

To all the teachers, monks, swamis that helped me so much and were so kind. Something I learned a long time ago was when you went out to a single’s dance, not to expect anything, just sit back, and have a coke and watch all the girl’s dance. I would end up being asked to dance all night long. So, when I would go to the spiritual retreat in Upstate New York, usually in winter when it was pretty vacant, I would get a coffee and sit quietly alone in the corner of the lunchroom. Before long, a monk would come in to get their popcorn that they made in the microwave and they would see me and come right over and ask if I would like some company. I was so blessed with numerous conversations with many monks. My first trip to the New York spiritual retreat was quite an experience. I was in extreme mental and emotional pain and the sweet receptionist took me to the temple and said that the noon chant would start soon. I sat at the entrance and within a few moments of being near the energy of the temple I broke down and ended up in the fetal position sobbing uncontrollably. I guess it is a pretty common experience at this holy place because no one tried to help me, they just stepped over me and went inside to chant. I spent the next five days breaking down emotionally and when I asked the Swami what was going on, he replied: For all the times you could not love, that sadness is right in your cells and now it is being expelled. You are going through a purging. Any embarrassment of being so humbled falls away, as you know everyone’s day will come and there is no avoiding this process of clearing out all the sadness and baggage. So, a big thanks to all the wonderful people in this organization.

I realized I had mentioned Bob earlier, but his help and encouragement with my books deserves my sincere appreciation. He has been one of my best friends ever and Robert Hawes, a Professor of Mathematics. His family tree goes back to people that came over on the Mayflower. His family also had strong roots in Newburyport, Massachusetts where my spiritual awakening happened. Bob has been a great friend and we have shared a lot of karma together. He offered to do the initial reading/cleaning up of the books for me and answered countless questions about pronunciation and basic writing skills. Bob is truly a great friend and a Godsend as my book would not even have been completed without his help, so big thanks to Bob.

I could fill a whole book of thanking and appreciating all the people that God has worked through to help me, so I just will do a blanket acknowledgement to everyone, and for all to know that I am sincerely grateful for you in my life. I am glad we shared karma together and I know we have always been connected. Like Big Ben said: We will meet again.

True wealth is shown by the people that loved you and the people that you have loved. That makes me one of the wealthiest persons ever. I have been richly blessed.

So grateful for my time with Barbara Eleanor Parton, and our home we named Thunderhaven.

013_a_xxx.jpeg

Contents

Dedication

Sincere Thanks

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

1.A Rider’s Tale

2.The Return of the Mystic

3.MIND

4.Wisdom Quotes

5.PJF (Peter’s Jewels Forever)

6.The Metamorphosis of the 12-step Program

7.The Seventh Son

Peter’s Riding Tips

Conclusion

Helpful Books And Great Teachers/Mentors

Book Reviews of my first book, Mysticism In Newburyport

About the Author

Foreword

Picture of Newburyport Harbor, Fisherman’s Monument & the Boardwalk)

015_a_xxx.jpeg

Welcome to part two of Mysticism in Newburyport. This is a seven-book series, and the second book is called, Mystic Rider. I chose to continue to use this title to honor the quaint, little, magical, historic seaport town of Newburyport as it was where I was to have a profound spiritual awakening during a long night of meditation along the river. These stories are more about a unique ‘School of Thought’ that has arisen from within me, than any particular locations. Book 1 was written from my insights from Nature after long nights in meditation, contemplation, silence, reading ancient texts and solitude along the Merrimac River, Plum Island Nature Reserve, Salisbury Reservation, Old Burial Hill, Pow Wow Hill (ancient Native American Burial Grounds) and Market Square in the center of Newburyport. Book 2 is based on my time along the coast of Southern Maine and my communing with Nature in the White Mountains. I had a lighthearted vision about writing the final book in this seven-book series in Miami, Florida, or maybe Key West where Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote. I had loved something that he wrote, about him thinking of swimming as deep down as he could and then blowing out all his air, naturally that would be the end. I would smile to myself and know I was never trapped in this life and I always had the choice of filling my pockets full of rocks and swimming as far out into the Atlantic Ocean as I could until I was exhausted and that would be the end. I do have a funny sense of humor and I really have never feared death, as somehow, I knew there is no death, only the death of our ego. No one ever goes anywhere, the physical and subtle world (made up of our mind, emotions, memories, ego) are intertwined and present in this moment. Even as the subtle body leaves our physical body, it is still intertwined with the physical world. An example is that I feel my father’s presence as much now as when he was in his physical body.

Well, back to the point of this foreword and that is that things change quickly in my life and I have found myself writing book 2 in South Beach, Miami, Florida. I may be seventy years old next month, but I still have the heart and mind and body of a twenty-five-year-old and watching the girls strut down the boardwalk in high heels and thong bathing suits will ensure that I will be young (like Rod Steward’s song called, ‘Forever Young’), until they bury me. I have repeated this mantra so often that it will be still playing in my coffin for weeks. It was mind-opening for me when reading the ancient texts that in regard to a practice called ‘Renunciation’ they said: The only thing to renunciate is renunciation. Everything is a part of God as there is only one that has become everything and everyone. So, you can equally see the beauty and magnificence in a sunset or a beautiful painting or a new Corvette or a five hundred horsepower V-8 Chopper or in a beautiful woman.

For some the great works of Art are paintings and music as they are the masterpieces for them. For me, the masterpieces in this life have manifested in the women. I believe that the woman is the physical manifestation of the Goddess aspect of creation. I always seemed to know this even as a young boy. When the other guys were treating the women as second-class citizens, I knew that the women were to be treated with the upmost respect. I kept it to myself as my so-called friends would have turned on me for being what they considered weak. They believed a real man keeps women under their thumbs. Maybe it was the Catholic schools, but that was not the relationship I wanted with women. I liked an equal partner. Along the way after practicing yoga and seemingly acquiring some charisma, I would smile at a woman in the gym and say, you know when a man finally matures (as I have) that he has a deeper appreciation of beauty and the most beautiful creation in this life are women. The girl would usually smile and let her guard down and we would share some quality time. One day, I realized that the joke was on me as I realized my pickup line was the truth. As you mature you do have a deeper appreciation for beauty. I am always the last one to see the truth about stuff. I am reminded time and again that it is always about Love. As, seeing the beauty in an early morning sunrise while standing on a beach, feeling the sun’s warmth on your face and a gentle breeze touching your skin while digging your toes into the sand and just feeling so a part of Nature is Love. Enjoying the touch and companionship of a beautiful woman who reaches in and touches you deeply inside in your most private place is once again love, too.

Book one’s conclusion was that After all is said and done, it is always about Love. Book two’s conclusion is coming back to the fact that it is always about ‘One Story’ which is the ‘Play of Consciousness’ which is love and compassion, once again. One day I thought about the word Universe and it was obvious what the word meant as ‘Uni’ meaning one and ‘Verse’ meaning story or text, so universe meant ‘One Story’ which is the ‘Play of Consciousness’ or the Experience of God within us. Along the way, I was to hear Wayne Dyer tell how ‘Universe’ meant one song. Maybe he read it in my first book, lol.

Well, these writings are really about what I have witnessed about the behaviors of human beings and societies. These stories can appear to be contradictory or paradoxes, but it is because two things can contradict themselves and both be true. This drove me crazy as I would read something from an ancient text saying one thing and the next day read farther in the text and see something that was the complete opposite. One day I realized that the purpose of those writings was to force me to go beyond my conscious, rational, reactive mind which bases everything on the limited five senses. The conscious mind wants everything to be clear, to be either right or wrong, good or bad, black or white and cannot stand anything contradicting its limited belief. Once your mind opens to a higher intellect, your intuition (which is your sixth sense or God) you realize that the contradictory statements are both true. Along the way words like right or wrong, good or bad, white or black, should or have to, all fell away from my vocabulary. Life is all choices, and the way out is doing what you want to be doing. The whole process has been enlightening and pretty disorienting for me, but when it is your time to begin the path there is no going back.

I find (which is surprising) that my writings are coming out in a similar way as the Masters or Teachers had written, as they would seemingly talk about one subject but the true teaching or purpose of the talk was slipped in subconsciously while the student was consciously listening to the surface story. I realized this while writing A Rider’s Tale which I thought was going to be about covering the last fifty years of my love of riding, which it does, but also so many insights have come from my being willing to get still and sit and write. I don’t think of myself as a teacher and I don’t want to become anything. I have already lived enough false identities. I am just another humble seeker on this path returning to his own heart. I am just so happy to have the privilege to be the student of these ancient Wise Ones and Masters. This writing process has become my way of continually improving my conscious contact with the God of my understanding and my way of growing. I can sit quietly anywhere today, and I can have direct conscious contact with God. I can have any question answered and the writing out of issues is one of the most powerful ways to do it. Also, writing out your desires is the most powerful technique as everything I have written out for the last 30 years has manifested in my life. Here is another paradox, the Masters teach you how to create any of your desires, then they write that when all desires are exhausted, instead of you pursuing something, that power that we call God pursues us. So, do you create your dream life, or do you just completely surrender? When that makes sense to you, that will show you have attained something really worthwhile. Since experiencing the power of writing stuff out, back in my early days in the 12-step program, I have always said: There is magic in writing stuff out. Once again, what I had planned to write for a simple foreword has turned into a flow of much different wording than I had planned. What I have found is that everything I did or tried was just another of life experiences and it did not really mean much.

These stories are really about my personal experiences and witnessing human nature in action. Really, just another story about people and their lives. A lot of this information will be in a tale that I will call ‘Conveniently Forgotten History’, it will be in book III. My eyes have opened, and I am just amazed at the evolution of humans and also man’s inhumanity to man. On one hand some people have evolved to the greatest heights and others have progressed to the worst behavior ever, such extremes in this world. My lesson, if I want peace, is not to judge, and to try to live by the teaching: If I accept and respect the world as it is, the world will accept and respect me as I am. My work is trying not to be one of those individuals creating nasty karma for themselves that will eventually return to them. So, hopefully, this will give you an idea of what is written in this book of lighthearted tales and make it more enjoyable for you. Thanks for participating in my process back to my own heart…

Just another seeker, Peter James Ford

018_a_xxx.jpeg

Preface

I read a writer’s definition about what a Preface and an Introduction was to a book. I liked his perspective on this subject and have chosen to use his logic. His view was that the Preface is regarding the purpose of the book and an Introduction is an overall view of the writings. For me, the Preface to this book has gotten very simple and it comes down to two reasons. Remember when you would see someone that wanted to tell you something that was going on in their life and they looked like they were going to burst. Well, my motivation for writing is similar, but more along the lines of trying to stop the pain that arises inside me. They say that pain is the touchstone of spiritual growth, and it is really still a motivating force in my life. For some reason, I need to continue the cleaning out process that I had begun fifty years ago in the 12-step program. Which is of writing with rigorous honesty about everything and anything that needs to be exposed and let go of. This cleaning out, growing and evolving has become my new way of life now. Only when I resume writing do I experience peace again and that pain in my belly, like being gut shot, goes away. So, the first reason for me to continue writing my ‘tales’ is to relieve myself of any and all dark energy from lifetimes of karmic baggage and destructive, hurtful misdeeds. I was never interested in becoming a good person, so God used pain to get my attention and to motivate me to awaken to the true purpose of life.

The second reason is also a very selfish motive and that is that I want to create books full of all the uplifting wisdom, quotes and teachings that have touched my heart and transformed my life. These teachings from the Great Ones, which were from all walks of life and from all times, going back to the very beginning of the awakening of spirit and hearts of individuals, are like gold and silver to me. Some believe the beginning time of wisdom awakening was about seven thousand years ago, when the axle sages (wiseman) began appearing. That was the time that horticulture was developed, followed by agriculture being created and for the first time we could store food and people started having time to contemplate about life. Some believe the first written forms of spirituality was about seven thousand years ago in the Vedas from India, but most believe there have been Masters since the beginning of time, that there have been Masters (both male and female) since there have been human beings and language. Language began 100,000 years ago with the appearance of chromosome number seven in human evolution.

So, my Preface is short and sweet, as they both are really just my selfish needs to be free of pain and to continue to grow and to have reference books full of all my treasured beliefs and new concepts of life. Of course, if even one individual received help or grace from these rambling tales, that would be the greatest gift back to me. I chose to call these writings, books of lighthearted tales, and my great friend, Moe, from York Maine, said after reading the book, that he really enjoyed it, but it was anything but a book of lighthearted tales. Moe, a retired military officer said, This guy is deep, what happened to me, lol. So, here we go again with a second book of lighthearted tales and I hope it brings a smile to your face.

Best Wishes on your personal journey.

020_a_xxx.jpeg

Introduction

021_a_xxx.jpeg

MYSTIC RIDER the second book in this seven-book series is really a continuation of what began unfolding for me during my spiritual experiences in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and what was to occur during the writing of the first book. Book 1 was filled with all the wonderful awakenings that I was having from my meditative practices and many hours communing with Nature. One of the most profound experiences was when my friend, Jeff, who had come down to the river late one night, gave me the Herman Hesse classic novel, SIDDHARTHA. As I read about Herman’s main character and the fictional experiences that he was having in the novel, I was filled with gratitude. From the grace of a Meditation Master whose teachings and practices I was following, I was to have the actual experiences in real time and in real life, that were attributed to the fictional character in Herman’s classic novel. Even the name of the boatman, Vasudev, in his novel was to come true in my life. At that same time, I made another journey to Upstate New York to the spiritual retreat, the home of the Meditation Master in America. I was to have the privilege of having an audience with the present-day head of this path. My intermediate for this meeting was a Swami named Vasudev ananada, the same name that I had read for the first time ever, just a few days before.

My first book, MYSTICISM IN NEWBURYPORT was introduced at the Miami International Book Fair as a modern-day version of the Herman Hesse Classic Novel, SIDDHARTHA. I was filled with gratitude for that gift. Funny, how today I am living in Miami on South Beach. Life is full of surprises. One of the stories from my first book was called, Shakti Burn, referring to an experience of spiritual energy flowing through you which causes your whole face and head to get bright red, like a bad sunburn. That tale tells all about the trips of the ‘Three Amigos’ to the ashram in New York and all the unexplainable visions and insights that happened to Big Chris, Jeff and me during this period. I have since realized that somehow the Mediation Master had imbued his own state into me, and it is the only explanation for the miracles and highly evolved experiences I was having. So, my first book was basically about my awakening and insights at that time in Newburyport and now book two is about the continued insights from Nature and Meditation along the Southern Maine Coast and my time in the White Mountains. Funny, that I am writing about the insights from when I was up North while now being in Miami. Well, I probably will end up writing book VII, MIAMI TAILS in the Mountains or National Parks out West this summer. When I moved down to York Harbor and the first book was completed, I thought I am done with this writing stuff as it takes so much out of me. Well shortly after thinking that, I would find myself walking or running the beach early in the morning and the stories started to flow again.

Initially, when I started writing the first book, I was doing it with my conscious mind relaying the stories, but then the information started flowing automatically from another source. I was confused but elated as I realized this was where any great writer, composer, athlete or entertainer is coming from. Our limited conscious mind is the little league but when you tap into this source, whether you call it the subconscious mind, intuition, God, higher intellect, Tao, or being in the zone, you are connecting to unlimited knowledge, wisdom and energy. Carl Jung said that the subconscious mind knows not only all our past lives but knows anything and everything that has ever been known to anyone over the eons. Carl says we can tap into unlimited wisdom for use in our lives. So, as I walked the beach and this source began to pour out stories for me to write, I accepted that this now is my life. I don’t think of myself as a writer, I just write down what flows out. I have no idea who it is even for or for what purpose? These are God’s books, but I do know in my heart this is exactly what I am meant to be doing at this time in my life. That is pretty great to know your destiny.

Some of the stories for book 3 will be: The Rise of the Nations of Color, The Pendulum has Swung, Numerology, The Castration of America, The Rebirth of the Warrior/Ego Societies, MIND part II, PJF part II, Wisdom Quotes part II, Devil’s Ride, and a bonus tale, Conveniently Forgotten History. I have not finished my second book and I already have all the stories for the third book. These books are so meant to be. It really is such an exciting time for me as I am experiencing the teachings that I have read about. I watch how it is all connected, everything comes back to ‘One Story’. I watch the surf slowly roll in and how it slowly goes out and I feel it is one with my breath, coming in slowly and going out slowly at the same pace. And that our breath and cosmic consciousness are intimately linked, as our mind and breath are directly connected. I don’t really know how to explain this stuff, so I really leave it for others much more qualified than me to verbalize these miracles and I just enjoy the ride. I just want to be the reader and the student and not the writer or a teacher. But I will play my part and share everything that I have found that helped me in my books for anyone that might be interested. This is my way of giving and of my way of playing my part. I guess the best way I can put it into words is that I have experienced a continued ‘Oneness of Everything’. The overall view of MYSTIC RIDER, is just the continued lighthearted tales that flow out onto the paper as my journey continues. I love the fact that I don’t have to be the teacher, I don’t have to have all the answers for everyone, I can just be another soul on the journey and learn from the Masters.

Barbara’s beaming face is etched into my mind with the best memories. Barbara was the love of my life and we spent the best years riding together in the White Mountains.

023_a_xxx.jpeg

Best Wishes on your personal journey,

Peter James Ford

A Rider’s Tale

(Four Brother Riders)

024_a_xxx.jpeg

T his Tale begins way back in the early nineteen sixties in East Lynn, Massachusetts where my three brothers and I grew up. The sixties were a time of real social change with wild new lifestyles emerging. You had the whole sixties drug scene of grass, hash, psychedelics, magic mushrooms, LSD, and free love bursting wide open. Lifestyles of free love and drug use (the Hippies) and the rise and organizing of the Bike Clubs sprang up across the country. Somehow, in my drunken stupor, I missed out on all the girls giving it away for free. Maybe it was a good thing that I was oblivious to it happening, because I was full of alcohol and numerous drugs on a daily basis, (so many others at that time). So, my drunken state was actually a good thing, as at that time I could have easily fathered many children. Years later as the women’s freedoms increased with having more equal opportunities, they really became sexually liberated and started acting like the men sleeping with multiple partners. They began acting like men and would come on to anyone they liked. So, I made up for my drunken years of missing out on the free lunch back in the sixties, as the new women’s movement grew. As, I said, the sixties were a time like no other. Late at night you would have boats pull right up in Lynn Harbor and unload their contraband onto moving trucks, then the trucks would head up the highway with a State Police escort, usually towards Newburyport, Mass, and into New Hampshire. Those State cops eventually went to prison with long sentences (smuggling and trafficking).

We all had the muscle cars of the sixties, which were Corvettes, Dodge Chargers, G.T.O.’s, Hemi Barracudas, Plymouth Road Runners, and our Harley Choppers. High speed chases with police were a regular occurrence back then and many nights the whole gang would get together, and we would go out road racing at very high speeds, usually with the cars full of booze, drugs and weapons. My first book I needed to write with complete honesty, but with this book and future books, I could write and enhance a character under the genre Realistic Fiction if I wanted. But, instead, I have actually chosen to actually down-play the people and stories instead of enhancing the real stories from back at that time. I choose to leave a lot out of what went on back then, for a number of reasons. One reason being is that I don’t want to replay the past, as it is really a miracle that some of us are still here and it also gives me nightmares. So, I will keep it a lighthearted tale, and leave out the really good (or bad) stuff, depending on your point of view.

It is interesting how two Harvard Professors, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, (Ram Dass) were to be really responsible for this huge psychedelic movement (LSD) in the country. They both were to be fired from Harvard and followed their search for personal evolvement. Ram Dass was to end up in India and was to have a transformational experience and he was to become one of the biggest teachers of the Eastern Philosophies in America. Ram found so much more than he ever expected and devoted his life to the service of others. It was later in the seventies, but Steve Jobs was another one who also journeyed to India. Steve dropped out of college and spent seven months in India, and he had a huge opening of his mind and heart. Steve returned to create Apple, a college dropout and an LSD user (Steve’s drug of choice) and created technical wonders. At Steve’s funeral he had handed out copies of a book that I loved, Autobiography of a Yogi, by Yogananda. Interesting, how so many people (founder of 12-step program, Harvard Professors, Steve Jobs, the Beatles) had great experiences and insights using LSD, while my trips were nightmares full of demons. I was later to see the same demons in the movie called, The Tibetan Book of the Dead. I wondered if what I saw in my bad trips were something from a past life in Tibet? Such a recurring theme, among the people I have met on this path, is that they have devoted their lives to providing the Ancient Truths in the easiest and most understandable writings. I don’t know if I will ever get to that place, as I have had my hands full just trying to master my own mind. I have spent most of my life in the survival mode. It is kind of interesting, as of late, that I find myself doing my part in being a channel for this unseen voice. I smile and think to myself; I am an ‘Unlikely Messenger’. It seems to be my work, my life right now, just being the typist for this voice and creating my books for some purpose, unknown to me. I do know that a huge part of my writings is just a cleaning out process of baggage and getting a better look at who I really am. My writing is my therapy. In these modern times, who does not need therapy? Life is all about just doing the next obvious, right (healthy) thing in this present moment. I like using the words, the next healthy things, and dropping the words, the right things.

I know in my heart of hearts, that I am meant to be writing and creating these books. I don’t really know the purpose, other than this clearing out process for my own personal development. I really do not want any success in the world, as I want to be off the grid and under the radar. Like when they fly the drug planes in from Mexico, just under the radar and they go unnoticed, that is how I like to live. Being nobody will give you a much happier and peaceful life. Become someone or something special in the world, and it will cause the world to attack you in more ways than you can believe. Live with no opinions, no judgements of anyone or anything and this takes away people’s ability to attack you. As there is nothing for them to grab onto. You can live your life as a free man or woman and walk through the valley of the shadow of death and be untouched. At this time in the sixties a whole drug culture exploded across the US and England and even the Beatles got deeply involved in the psychedelics. They even traveled to India to meet spiritual teachers (Gurus). In 1967 after the Beatles really got into the LSD, like Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), the Beatles named one of their songs in their new album Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, referring to (LSD). Thanks to the Beatles, we all remember ‘Carnaby St.’ in London and the miniskirts of the English girls. That image of those long-legged beauties with their mini-skirts and boots was burnt into my consciousness. If you are going to have a memory of the past, that is a great one for me. They were so full of life and so cute.

Many people experimented with LSD, even the founder of the 12-step program, Bill Wilson, who did control LSD trips with two scientists/doctors, in which he had a type of spiritual experience, a good experience. My trips were always nightmares, it was as if my demons were on steroids. It was like throwing gas on a fire (my endless issues burning brightly). The LSD around New England was not pure, as it was cut with speed to keep you up and enhance it. So, if you had bad trips, like I did, you just hung on for twelve hours, until you finally came down. It was a living hell for me. Seeing things seemingly from another evil world was more than I bargained for. Now, being an alcoholic, I would soon forget and when I would be drinking, I would take another trip again. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I was pretty insane at that time. But it did bring me to my knees sooner and to my surrender to alcohol and drugs. I entered the recovery program young, right after the sixties. Maybe some of the problem for my bad trips was that I was full of alcohol and numerous other drugs (sometimes seven or even eight other drugs in one day, plus lots of booze). Can you picture someone in this state of mind, out riding wildly with a pack of other bikers, with a throw-away 38-revolver in his leather jacket?

I rode out of Nahant, Massachusetts, one-night heading for Lynn, Massachusetts, and our pack of bikes were going about a hundred miles an hour across the causeway. It was a two-way highway. There were only two lanes on this road, and I was hallucinating badly, I did not know which lane I was in. Right around this time another stoned rider died in a head-on crash on this road. As, we came into Lynn and I was listening to the roar of the bikes, I watched one of the riders ahead of me reach up and touch the sign saying entering Lynn, Mass. The sign must have been twenty feet in the air, and I thought, that is a little unusual, maybe he has long arms. In my hallucination, he also looked like a Walt Disney character. It was fun trying to drive the bike with all this going on. To say the least, I was a pathetic mess in those days, and I was just an accident looking for a place to happen. People like me at that time did not get arrested, they got rescued and also locked up. Long before The Fast and the Furious, we would street race on the bikes through Lynn and many lost their lives or limbs during this period of time. This next story will give you a clear picture of my state of mind in those days.

We were all drinking and drugging, and we broke into a place, as the boys wanted to test a new type of bomb that they had made. They came up with the idea to clean out the refrigerator and stuff it into it. That is just what they did, and I was standing beside the refrigerator and I was laughing so hard. I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever heard, putting a bomb in the refrigerator. Well, everyone cleared out of the house, as I stood there laughing uncontrollably. When the bomb went off it propelled the front of the refrigerator right through the front door of the house and onto the street. As this happened I fell to the floor laughing hysterically. If I had been anywhere but beside the refrigerator, I would not be writing this story. If I was writing it, it would be called something like, Mystic Rider in Heaven. Around the same time, a bomb went off unexpectedly and the whole side of my friend Ben’s building had nails propelled into it. Another friend, a master gunsmith was changing the semi-automatic guns into fully automatic (machine guns). One friend had the same type 45 caliber as you would see in the Al Capone movies, a Thompson machine gun. This was fifty years ago; I can’t imagine the weapons they have now.

There are thousands of cities that live in this same survival mode, just in our own country, not even talking about other countries. I love reminding myself of this truth, that my having a gun will create the need for a gun. All that a gun would do for someone like me, is take my freedom away. It is way to easy for someone like me to use a gun. In a moment of false pride or ego and coming from my reactive mind, it could cost me my freedom and independence. I rather be on South Beach surrounded by bikini clad beauties, than in an overcrowded prison filled with people that hate me. The people that fill the prisons are not career criminals who consciously and emotionlessly plan out their actions. Ninety-five percent of the people in prisons for violent crimes, crimes of passion were acted out because of their reactive minds, false pride, ego, emotionalism, and without their conscious consent. That is why right understanding of our minds is so important, at least for me. I love my freedom and independence. To live a free man within myself and also in the physical world is such a gift.

One of the girls from Mexico, who loved my first book, friended me on Facebook, and she sent me a picture of her family cookout. Which I was invited to. In the picture, there were automatic weapons and handguns on the picnic tables and everywhere you looked. Not crazy about her family, but she was hot. I thought, well it appears that one of the Mexican Cartel’s families likes my book. Another group that my books are doing well is with a world-wide cultural and poetry society. That is kind of humorous, but this seems to be the beginning of my following, talk about a diverse group. Back to the story about all the troubles at that time and we had been chased by the police in my muscle car and we had pulled into someone’s back yard to hide. It was New Year’s Eve, and the trunk of my car was full of drugs. It was the sixties; everyone’s trunk was full of drugs and most people had a case of beer on the front seat. It was how people lived at that time; it was not a big deal. The police officer started to get out of his patrol car and the guy in the passenger seat of my car reached into his coat and pulled out his 357-magnum handgun. The sweat was dripping down his face and he was in a state of drug-induced paranoia. I knew he was not going back to jail alive. I tried to calm him and then I jumped out of my car to meet the cop half-way. Even though I was drunk and high, I was very polite and gave him my papers. The police officer checked them out and handed back my papers (which they did often in those days for drinking and driving) and he said, it was my lucky night as the drunk tank was already full. He got back in the cruiser and drove off. I thought, it was not only my lucky night, but it was also his too, as this guy in my car, would have blown him away, in the blink of an eye.

In a moment your whole life could be affected tragically from your poor judgement or just from the actions of another. Our cousin Lenny had come back from Vietnam with a bad heroin addiction and began robbing banks. He eventually shot a cop to death coming out of a bank. As I write these stories more and more memories keep coming back. I realize how many times I could have gone to jail for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. One night back in the late sixties, I met a friend who was coming from his house, where he just got his gun to shoot a couple cops that had just roughed him up earlier. In the world, that I was living at the time, shooting a cop or a judge was not something to fear, but a badge of honor. The years I spent training at Hard Nock’s Gym, I was to meet many law enforcement officers. I consider them to be great friends. I watched people willing to do this tough job and they were some of the most stand-up people I have ever met. Back in Lynn, there were a number of people, including my cousin, that had shot police officers and also had robbed banks. My friend died shortly after that night from a drug overdose. That saying of, ‘live by the gun, die by the gun’, was very true. A number of my younger brother’s friends had died violent deaths. Every city in every state in the world it is the same cycle of violence.

One other time I ran into another friend that had invested all his drug money in apartment houses. As we talked, he kept looking to the roof of this building (one that he owned), he finally said to me "watch as the boys are going to throw