(Published October 22, 2009, in local Eastern Washington newspaper.)

Dear Editor:

As a newcomer to Washington, I have been especially pleased to be close to the abundant wildlife of Lincoln County. We have regularly seen small herds of black-tail deer, large flocks of California Quail, and a myriad of other beautiful and harmless wild creatures near our dwelling place since arriving here in June.

Our hearts have been made happy and given solace through interaction with God’s wild creatures--an experience that is all too rare in 21st Century America.

But a pall descended on our world at dawn October 17 when the 2009 deer hunting season opened here.

Since, we have seen none of our timid animal friends with whom we had sought all summer and fall to establish rapport. There are no deer grazing behind our back fence now. And there are no deer in their usual haunts when we take our walks.

Nor have the flocks of exquisitely beautiful California Quail that had graced our lives each afternoon returned.I assume these creatures are either dead or in hiding because of the ghastly spectacles they witnessed over the weekend as hunters from throughout the state descended on Lincoln County to bag their limits in a barbaric ritual called "sport hunting".

The fall skies weep, as do we, that so many innocent expressions of love, beauty and goodness have been snuffed out by misguided men who find pleasure and sport in killing beings that have done them no harm.

Dixon Haynes

 From William Buhlman's "Adventures Beyond the Body"...

Journal Entry, January 3, 1987...

"I feel the vibrations and lift out. I'm standing in my bedroom and, looking around, I see that the surroundings are similar but not exact. The woodwork and walls are different from those of my physical home. I move to the door and step through it. Instantly, I'm in a new environment. A woman that I somehow seem to know approaches me. She is tall, with long brown hair and sparkling eyes. She steps close to me and smiles, "I've missed you." Spontaneously I respond, "Me too." She kisses me warmly and takes my hands. Suddenly, we're in another environment.

A magnificent parklike setting comes into focus. We stand together at the edge of a crystal blue-green pond. Everything around me--the trees, the grass, the pond--are vibrantly alive. As I look at the woman, an intense feeling of love swells inside me. She stares at me and holds both my hands. "You travel so much. I need you here." I hold her close. "I'm here now." Her face and body seem to shine like ten thousand points of light. We kiss and a surge of energy floods into my mind. Our bodies and minds come together in an intense explosion of pure energy and joy. Our thoughts merge and touch one another in a thousand subtle ways. I feel immersed in her mind and she and I become as one. The ecstasy is beyond words. For the first time, I feel complete and whole....

As we evolve, we will begin to chart the unseen universe much as astronomers are now charting the visible universe. The exploration of the interior of the universe is a massive endeavor reaching far beyond our current intellectual concepts of time, space and energy. The exploration of the unseen dimension is a task that all of us will eventually confront, for it is our birthright and our destiny to explore beyond our primitive biological vehicles and experience the magnificence of our true home within the multidimensional universe.

Every physical problem is a new opportunity to grow; each hardship helps us to develop our inner qualities of courage, love and compassion; each new challenge is a new opportunity to learn. In a sense, each of us uses matter as a tool of transformation.

Our biological bodies are temporary vehicles for expression and experience in this dense realm of matter. The very act of assuming physical form and being human is an integral element of our development. Each of us is currently experiencing the most effective system of growth ever devised: evolution by direct personal experience, by the very act of being.

It doesn't matter what we believe or don't believe; each of us will shed our temporary biological vehicle and continue to evolve. We are all active participants in a magnificent evolutionary system that extends far beyond the narrow limits of our physical vision. Birth and death themselves are essential elements of our progress--the entrance and exit of consciousness upon the molecular playing field of evolution...

The continuum of consciousness extends inwardly to the very heart of the universe; unending levels and frequencies of non-physical life and realities exist just beyond the dense limits of our sight. Each of us has much to look forward too: incredible worlds of beauty and light patiently waiting for us to explore... ."