INTRODUCTION TO A LIFE OF PLAY

Although born into a working, middle-class family in a small coal-mining town in central Pennsylvania, I was nonetheless fortunate menough to have known many of the great spiritual teachers of the last half-century. They represented almost every major religious tradition but I spent the majority of my time with Vedantists, Zen teachers and Daoist masters. (I prefer to spell the name of the religion from China “Daoist” instead of the more familiar “Taoist” because it is phonetically accurate.) My mentors are the treasures of my life for it was they who showed me how to Play. I grew into my present identity as being a lowly, run-of-the-mill avatar and professional holy man because of their endless patience and love over a long period of time.

Everything of value in this book came through them and if there is a common theme to those divergent spiritual people, it is this: regardless of what one is doing, life can be Play.Filling out your income tax can be Playful; you can relax and enjoy chaos and confusion and you can even accept suffering and death without losing your sense of lightness and centeredness. In other words, Play is not limited to what you do; it is a perspective and it is what you are.

The kind of “Play” I refer to (Play with a capital “P”) is certainly not the play of the idle rich, nor is it limited to throwing a Frisbee around on a warm summer day. A child is incapable of Play as I define it, for children know nothing of time or consequences. To confuse the difference between being childish and childlike is to miss important dimensions of the kind of Play I am trying to describe. Play can only be manifested by an aware, mature adultwho reflects the playfulness of the universe in its many expressions of spontaneity, novelty, mystery, miracles, paradox, synchronicities, meanderings, humor and “being in the zone.”

Play is also a perspective, and perspectives create our world. Years ago, eclipses of the sun caused mass panic; today, people go out of their way to view them. Same phenomena, different perspectives—different reactions. The way we respond to things largely determines the quality of our lives, so imagine how our lives would be enhanced if we were constantly in a state of Play. I have also observed that growth most easily happens when one is Playing. Each facet of Play will be clearly defined or expressed in due time.

While life seems to flow effortlessly for people who can truly Play, it does not mean there are no challenges. Play can happen in any circumstance and often includes all the pain and drama life can bring. However, those “in the flow” Play no matter what happens to them for they are not strongly attached to their egos. I am constantly telling my girlfriend, “Size does not matter.” How strongly we are attached to our egos, regardless of size, is more important. It is often more difficult to transcend a small, restricted life than a more expansive one. A lack of attachment to ego is one of the foundations of living a life of Play and everyone has the potential to transcend yet include their egos. Only a few people in any era completely succeed, but they do exist, and this book is about my relationship with them.

Play is also knowing the instant-by-instant delight of pure being. A spontaneous person dances for the joy of dancing and for no other reason. Joy is like a good wine and as my often-inebriated uncle used to say, “Wine complements a good meal, and a bad meal demands it.” If you don’t like your present life, then change it until every moment is joyous, Playful and sacred to you.

In its highest expression, Divine Play is when one participates in the co-creation of the universe. Similar to a state of lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is aware he is dreaming and decides to have fun with the dream, a person in a state of co-creation experiences every action as being an effortless, natural response to every circumstance. Within that state, there eventually arises the realization that everyone and everything isoneself and that everything one does is done tooneself. That all-encompassing state of identity with the Other is the origin and foundation of love and compassion. When that realization becomes an abiding state, you are expressing yourself from the depth of your being.

When I refer to the Divine, I am not referring to an intellectual understanding or belief in the Divine, but to a knowing that is expressed in, "I am that I am," which can only come from a complete identification with the Other.

The connection between Play and the Divine first occurred to me while reading the Mahabharataof the Hindus by Krishna Dharma. That epic poem refers to this manifest world as the Lilaor Play of the Lordand emphasizes the fact that we in our essence are Divine. If the core of our being is Divine, and if the Lord is constantly Playing, then why aren’t we?

This world is not a cosmic mistake, nor does it have to be a veil of tears to be endured and transcended as soon as possible. It is a Divine Playground when lived as Play because the Divine loves to manifest and Play.And how do I know that? I was just speaking with the Divine the other day and she verified everything I have written. (My tongue is never far removed from my cheek.) Finding and living with people who manifest Divine qualities was always a priority for me and this book is filled with the lessons I learned from each of them.

To read about the lives of the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Zoroaster, Milarepa, the Holy Mother, Ramana Maharshi, Ghandi, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr. is inspiring in itself, but to have lived with such people and cultivated oneself under their tutelage is quite another matter. How would you feel if you had lived in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus and never met the guy? What a tragedy it would have been to have known the Buddha personally, but due to religious prejudice or tunnel vision, a person remained closed to his message of compassion. Seeking the council of those whom you deem wise is a great way to live. The only thing better… BE one yourself!

And what makes you think you are not one of those remarkable souls right now?I had no idea of my inner spiritual potential when I was young. It is never too late to know your own innate Divinity, so real-ize it (make it real) by any means natural to you. Just be sure your path is integrated.That means your body is healthy, flexible, and energetic; your emotions appropriate to the situation; your mind alert, curious, and clear; and your spirit is all-embracing and tranquil. As these facets of your being are integrated with each other, use your mature ego to benefit all beings.

If there is no trace of love, selflessness, spontaneity, paradox and mystery in your life, there is no real Divinity or Play, in my opinion. I chose those particular aspects of the Divine because they are most often absent in people trying to be spiritual or trying to appear spiritual to themselves and others. Are all those qualities present in your life?

How I learned to Play and how you can learn to Play is what this book is all about. Being an expression of Play, this book and my life are filled with stories of the unexpected, the spontaneous and the unbelievable synchronicities that characterize a life of Play.

Within these pages, you will share in my mystical experiences as a child in the mid-forties; my humble beginnings in the hills of Pennsylvania in the fifties, and the extraordinary lives of my Hindu teachers and my eight years of psychic and spiritual development with them in a Hindu ashram in Florida in the sixties. I then describe my dissolving into the void while meditating with a famous Zen Buddhist in Tassajara, California in 1971. All that was dwarfed by 8 years of intense self-cultivation under a powerful Daoist/Wizard in the wild and dangerous hills of Malibu in the late seventies and early eighties. That era of my life also includes the remarkable circumstances surrounding my Chinese teacher coming to the USA; my training in Tai Ji, acupuncture, Daoist exorcism, spiritual sexual practices and how to integrate our three energetic bodies: the physical, the bio-electrical and the Auric body.

In the chapter on “Learning to Play while Thinking,” you will learn where we as individuals and we as a species came from and at which stage of evolution we are in now. What we might expect in the future is also discussed. There is a section on Feng Shui and how topography grows different psyches. Ken Wilber’s integral theories are discussed with practical examples on how to apply his incredibly vast and all-embracive perspective in everyday life situations.

I then go into the really weird stuff like marriage and raising a family. There is also a section about teaching Tai Ji to many of the famous actors and actresses of today; my recent attempts at transcendence through ultralight flying; arguments as to why nature and enlightenment are both overrated and conversely, why reincarnation is underrated and an important factor to a life of Play. I then finish with observations as to why humans are such strange creatures and my fanciful yearning to return to the Andromeda galaxy where things are a bit more sane.

The underlying theme of this book is: if a basically average, lazy human being like me can Play in every instant, then you surely can too. To the extent my life went beyond the norm, I hope it inspires you to take the plunge into the unknown in your own life. So now, join the cosmic court jester and universal trickster as I meander my way to a life of Play. Let the mystery, magic and miracles begin!

Mark Johnson
Fall, 2008

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