On Saturday, Brock Pierce, Crystal Rose, Ben Sigman and crew drove down to visit us in Caguas and enjoy a meal together. It was a magical day. As we toured the neighborhood, we stopped in the community bar/market to get some drinks and as change was given, Brock felt strongly to look at the coins in his hand. He looked, saw nothing significant, and was about to dismiss it when he got the message to look closer.
He found a wheat penny and gave it to my son Devon, telling the story of what he just experienced listening to the universe.
It was a cherished gift. My son was so happy to receive it and so careful not to lose it. He asked me to hold it for him so it wouldn't fall out of his pocket as he road his bike home. The next day he went and got it from his place of safekeeping as we started our game of Cosmic Encounter so he could flip it and determine who would go first. After the game was over, we cleaned up to go do separate things and later realized...
The penny was lost.
We've searched everywhere, asked the girls, looked around... and it has yet to be found. At one point Monet told us how she found a penny, so we were hoping it was the one. As he looked through her purse, Devon shouted out "I've found it! I've found it!" and a wave of relief parents understand swept over me.
Only, he didn't find it. Not at all. It was just a penny with a similar color. I was so confused. "Devon, what makes a wheat penny a wheat penny? Did you check the penny closely before thinking you found it?" Sometimes I worry about my son's epistemology. It may be one of the few worries (fleeting though it is) I have in this world.
This penny was a special, treasured gift. A todem. A reminder of a special day. And it was lost.
Here's where the metaphysics comes in.
I've been on a journey to understand things and non-things. I've met people I love and trust who have had what many would consider fantastical experiences. Astral and Etheric projection, shamanic journeying, reading the akashic records, oracles, astrology, remote viewing, and many other things I would have previously completely written off as crazy talk. As you may know, I've gone through a process of losing eternity, so much of this is way outside my "normal." I thought to myself, if the universe really did communicate an intention for this penny and direct Brock to give it to my son, then maybe we can connect with that same signal and ask it where the penny is now.
Almost sounds like a rational experiment, doesn't it?
If you're not familiar with remote viewing, this post by 
I'm currently reading the My Big TOE (Theory of Everything) series by Thomas Campbell and really enjoying it.
I'm starting to appreciate the importance of experiential learning and how some of these crazy-sounding things can be viewed from a very rational, logical framework. Testing something like remote viewing through mantra meditation doesn't have to be as crazy as it sounds.
I've been learning about meditation through Sam Harris and others, but most recently enjoyed some talks from Vinay Gupta. I settled into a groove of sorts focusing on the Sri Yantra (if you're curious about that one, I now have a prototype you can view here https://sri-yantra.lukestokes.info/) using my Oculus Quest. Unfortunately, my Quest stopped working so I fell out of regular practice. How convenient for this penny to come along and give me something new to focus on.
So I mentioned this idea to Devon that we could try testing out if this penny could be found via focused meditation. Of course he was intrigued by the idea of a mystical / magical / other-worldly possibility and agreed to explore this potential with me. We also had a good discussion about how some thing like this (if real) could be considered a powerful tool which requires deep character and integrity to use wisely (character and integrity have been a theme lately we're working on). We also talked about the importance of good epistemology and how, whether or not we find the penny, it has already taught us why "I found it! I found it!" before having strong evidence makes no sense. It also taught us about the importance of protecting and safekeeping the things we value.
Will it teach us something more?
I'll run the experiment and let you know how it goes. :)
