Friday evening, after a week of process and pain, upheaval and enlightenment, I scaled, with the company of five friends and the help of a 4 wheel drive Cherokee Jeep, the top of Mauna Loa. Not only is Mauna Loa is the largest volcano in the world, it is also the highest from base to summit. Its gentle slope and shield-like shape belie the greatness of this edifice.

Here’s an excerpt from a website I just downloaded that descibes the make-up of the mountain how, when all is said and done, it is 56,000 feet from top to bottom!!!! This I stood upon:

The heights of mountains are generally given by their elevation above a datum, such as sea level. The highest point on Mauna Loa is 4,170 m (13,680 ft) above sea level. But the flanks of Mauna Loa continue another 5,000 m (16,400 ft) below sea level to the sea floor. The massive central portion of the volcano has depressed the sea floor another 8,000 m (26,000 ft) in the shape of an inverted cone, reflecting the profile of the volcano above it. Thus, the total relief of Mauna Loa, from its true base to its summit, is about 17,170 m (56,000 ft).

Wow!!!

We arrived at the 13,680 foot summit just as the last glowing drops of the sun fell gracefully behind the miles and miles of clouds that lay before the horizon. The scene the sun left behind where earth meets heaven was a brilliant ban of Carnelian Orange glow, fading into gold then green then the most brilliant clear shining indigo blue sky I have ever seen. So vivid, so clear, standing there inside a dome of pure principle, God’s carefully crafted light. The temperature was probably a good 30 degrees, a signifigant drop from the consistent 80 degrees I have become accustomed to at my home 12000 feet below. We were all shivering but so very alive, lighter stanced, each step softer than the ones we are used to on lower ground. I do believe we were all a bit giddy from the lack of oxygen!!! The terrain all around us was all sloping, red tinted black lava rock, creating an atmosphere akin to what you would experince say, on Mars. And to add to this otherwordly quality, dotted about this barren landscape are multiple silver domes that house the most advanced telescopes on the planet. You know all those majestic images of galaxies, constellations, nebulas and stars being born? It is from this mountain many of them are discovered and documented.

We danced a little, we ran a little, we shivered alot and watched in awe as the sky sang into its night glory and Venus appeared so bright. Then we headed on down to the observatory at 9000 feet where we drank hot cocoa and gazed through telescopes at Saturn and the moons of Jupiter as they peered out from behind their planetary consort.

Sunday:

On Sunday my friend Ron and I went to a famous snorkelling locale in south Kona called Two Steps (thus named for the convenient ledges of lava rock that guide all snorkellers in the sea) I practiced again my free diving and found a whole new level of freedom and meditation in the practice. I made it as far down as 25 feet this time, my deepest depth yet! There was one dive where I took some kind of quantum leap, not only in my diving, but in my consciousness, a true moment of “Zen” where all thought, fear, tension, or concern dropped away and my vision became all seeing and I felt nothing but a calm and spacious peace. Hard to describe but it felt truly interdimensional. It was this dive I went down the furthest. Upon coming to the surface, my friend Ron was in awe and saw how something fundamental had shifted in my approach/experience. Its as though something in me that has been asleep is being awoken again in the waters, some primal remebrance that we once belonged to the sea and knew no bounds. Epic!

We were later met by a new friend Matisha www.songofhome.com, who is some kind of wondrous magician under the sea. The image attached is an example of the “art” he creates under the surface. Gorgeous rings like magical glowing irridescent hula hoops emerge from his mouth, one after the other, creating a scene unlike anything I have ever seen. Blue blue blue all around touched by the grace of these silvery opalesecent rings. We would dive under them and through them, like circus animals in some ethereal dream and dance about as gracefully as the dolphins themselves in that ocean clear like crystal water, warm and thick like our very own blood. We also swam through bubbles created by scuba divers that acted like the bubbles in a champagne glass, only they were 30 feet long and 5 feet wide. They feel so good as they tickle your skin and dance about your every move.

So from the heighest heights to the deepest depths, I found something of stillness, something of grace, something of eternity, not to mention some serious chills and a mild sunburn. Another weekend in Paradise……

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I find that in the blue depths all worldly hindrance and self-importance slips away and a kind of simple awe arrives. In the clearest turquiose depths, I watch the light dance on the ocean floor, ripples and curves of golden light cascading through the luminescent blue. Today the water felt like silk and was the temperature of blood and I would watch my hands sift through the waters all lit up like some apparition-my own hands so holy! When in the midst of lifes sweet quiet splendor living on and on beneath the surface of the sea, one can barely comprehend how there could ever be an unkind word spoken or toil born. I do not understand.

I love to hear the dolphin song before greeting them- you know they are close and yet all you can see at first is the vast expanse of sea of sea of sea and perhaps some coral or rippling white sand or little fishies laid out before you, until suddenly they appear-graceful angels of the oceans lore- all smiles and movement and light. And imagine, all you need is a snorkel mask to experince such heavens. I love them so much!

Today I was able to free dive further than ever before and with the most ease yet ( I have been practicing) -I think I made it down past 15 feet and I swam under the surface alongside the dolphins for the first time-totally immersed with them in their sweet and enchanted, serene and peaceful underworld. What a gift! What a gift! And when they went along their way into their dreaming sleep state where I could not follow, I stayed behind and practiced my newly found swimming skills under the waves. I spun and I danced and I twisted like a corkscrew through the soft, pearlescent sea-a feeling like nothing you can experience above the water-weightless, full of grace, at ease somehow in the watery world below.

Meanwhile, above the water, many good people gather. Divine muisic strings out from steroes and guitars and flowers of every shade exclaim their lively wonder for the world to behold. Goofiness and sweet laughter rule the roost here as it is nearly impossible to take life too seriously upon these blessed shores. We’re pretty sure we’re becoming 3 years old again-a practice I highly recommend it to all ye grouchy faced modern day city dwellin’ adults in need of some humor! Like in the movie Mary Poppins where the key to levitation is through laughter! ‘Tis true, ’tis the way! 
Today I saw a carpet of firey magenta blossoms covering the road, coupled with a carpet of lavender violet jacaranda flowers- whole roadsides made of flowers!!! And oh the luscious scent of gardenias and oh the intoxicating aroma of night blooming jasmine and oh the sublime subtleties of the plumeria and macademia and coffee blossoms and the great displays of orchid trees and bougainvillea and hibiscus. And don’t get me started on the fruits- lilikoi vines covering miles of fences, papayas infinitely producing their sunrise hued fleshy fruits, Suriname cherries transluscent red sour sweet sublime, and the mangoes now officially in season literally dripping off their branches-such golden sun drenched nectariferous yumness!

As you can see I am enchanted and graced and full of such gratitude for what beauty life can hold, here in Hawaii. I pray we all can experience some kind of wonder today and everyday, that helps feed the god within and break the spell of disillusionment and dis-ease, that we are all blessed by the warm touch of the sun and a friends smile and a good laugh and some light inside and throughout the tunnel….

Sending you all good vibes and pearly visions,

Caitlin

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