Once I was a magic rug dealer in the old country. Life was wild and dull at the same time, same as now. So, from curiosity, I did what everyone expected of me and sat in stillness on one of my favorite prayer rugs until I felt light and airy, until the rug lifted easily on the wind, with me weighing nothing. With this rug I floated here and there, finally heading toward a mountain cliff utterly unreachable by foot or hand. Landing, not landing, there is no difference, so I landed. And there, while still seated upon this nearly perfect carpet, I dreamt of a city, a city so filled with people that life itself was round and full. And that city was there, was created. This city became like a fire, with each coal finding ignition from the others and being for those very others the spark. From such heat the stories of each rose up, a lick of flame now present, now gone, but having effect. High above the fire, our essence found its cooling. We were like nothing, and yearned for the embrace that could return us to our source. That embrace came, of course, but what a surprise for so many... A speck of nothing-dust floated by, a sparkle from the glance of God, a charged moment in space. We couldn't help ourselves, and rushed to be there, forming droplets, coming together, becoming heavy and cool, appearing (our first sight!) white then dark, then whooshing down as rain. What joy it is to fly as rain, such fullness. And then we touched the earth, an ancient city of still warm coals, vaster than imagination. Our joy was complete, beyond human description. What we had been above, yearning and finding such embrace, was matched below; we disappeared within the coals, a miracle of absorption. We were gone, nothing, we were transformed, we became clay. We slept. Somewhere above, around, something was moving. It was no concern of ours, our existence was dispersed beyond any caring. Yet, we warmed in the new sunshine, and while sleeping, something happened, something entered us, a wind, a presence beyond measure, a breath gathering in from the complete vastness, causing us such dreaming, filling us with the yearning to wake and follow that breath back home. In our dream we woke and went about the morning's business, with just the slightest hint of rain and clay and God's sunshine still noticeable on our tongues. Some neighbors had given a gift of the most marvelous tea, which we tasted while sitting on nearly perfect carpets, waiting to learn what was expected of us....