It's been a few days since i came back home after spending a week in the heart of San Francisco. I came there driven by a personal quest of self discovery and a convergence of unconnected events that guided me there. It was a ritual event ran by the the shamans of modern day and some of the best practitioners of the art of piercing and firebrand, but essentially it was about the mastery of spirit. There were shamans and their apprentices, top professionals in this esoteric field of knowledge, and a few novices like myself who came for different reasons of their own, and it created a powerful confluence that elevated all of us. It brought an amazing human atmosphere of aspiration, respect, and compassion that was genuine and deep. The teachings were intense and went on daily from late morning till sunset, in a private place on a border of a homeless haven.
That is what I'd like to share with you, the impression this sanctuary city made on me - the haven sanctuary it has become. I stayed at night in a dorm in the middle of it and eventually just on a sidewalk with homeless people who offered advice and a comfort of closeness. But before settling for the night I walked all around the city like many others with a little backpack on my back, crisscrossing it from one side to the other under the street lights and in the dark alleys filled with homeless people who are everywhere there; among them many autistics and trans people as well. At night the sidewalks belong to homeless, and they size you up and recognize you as your own by some strange perception that lets you know, and they greet you when they see you as one of them.
I've seen a few strugglers but mostly they were not unhappy people. Many were in the world of their own but not depressed, mostly they were vibrant, seemingly not worried about what next, just being, living in the moment. Not intrusive, yet a bit curious, and mostly friendly, treating you with respect and compassion.
It is different in New York. Perhaps the weather makes that difference; but mostly I think it is the policing. The police in SF is not at war with you, they let you be, and it makes it easy on them and homeless as well. It is a different attitude that takes the stress away, when you know that you are safe from them and perhaps even protected. It is rare and precious.
I've thought what would happen to our people when the walls of institutions where they are kept will come down, and the locks on the doors that keep them captive will be smitten, as I see in my visions. I worried what will happen to them as they become homeless. Will they be devastated by the harsh freedom. I think not. Not in San Francisco.
