Fantuzzi / Dancer Love At First Bite

Adventures of a 21st Century Troubador
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4835-8901-5
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 282 Seiten

The fascinating and extraordinary story of a man who transcends the most difficult of beginnings, escaping a life of drugs and violence to become globally known as the charismatic, spiritual free spirit FANTUZZI. Fantuzzi's fascination with snakes and his consequent misadventures form the backbone for this dramatic, illuminating look at a life well-lived. A life full of famous encounters, spiritual awakenings, divine celebration and sensual rapture, Fantuzzi's story is a lesson in achievement - that anything is attainable and all is possible with faith, compassion, conviction and a little luck!.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fantuzzi

Dancer, Kat

Leseproben

LOVE AT FIRST BITE a rattlesnake bite, memories, mostly of Mother India Under the blue sky's arch and bright Topanga sunshine I first notice your beautiful skin and voluptuous curves. I see a glint of something fascinating in your eyes so I reach out to caress you. I want to draw you to me and kiss your smooth body, talk to you, stroke you. My breath hovers between lips and sky, motionless you hang, beautiful. Whipped back and forth, faster than a gasp of air, your head blurs my vision as you strike; deadly aim, piercing irrevocably deep, pumping poison through blood and skin. You sink your fangs into the base of my thumb and index finger and grin. I reel from your sting. Rattlesnake, if you would have shook your spinetrembling rattle before I stooped to gather you into my arms, I'd have known what was coming, but you coyly hid your true self until I was utterly under your spell, bending close, stretching out my fingers to touch your diamond-scaled back. This is how I live, acting as my heart tells me - living without a safety net, embracing whatever comes, my direction steered by the grace of the goddess. I look at my hand and the feeling is strange. I'm disconnected from my brain. Suddenly I hear the pounding of my blood surging from heart to arms and legs, now I feel and see my skin pulsing with every heartbeat and I know I am surely going to die. We've all seen it in the movies, I know I have to suck out the poison. I look around and pick up a stick, scratching and stabbing at my hand until I bleed. I suck. No-one in the movies feels the way I do. All that poison that was out there at the end of my arm…now I have sucked it into my body, into my head, so close to my heart. That was a dumb thing to do! A kaleidoscope explodes in my head and it's brilliant! I love it, wow! What an awesome experience, this is the coolest thing…except… a great wave of exhaustion sweeps over me, I can hardly lift my head and I want to lay down and drift away on this wonderful cloud of sensations until a small voice inside reminds me that if I do, I'll die. The voice whispers to me that I've gotta run back up the trail to the house and get help. So I turn and force my legs to move, although my head is swimming. Wow, this trip is great! I feel higher than any time in the '60s, it's more profound than any revelation from my teachers, this is a journey deeper, wider, stronger than all my meditations… I know my legs are moving, carrying me up the hill, I know the dusty track curls behind me like the snake, I know I reach my house, but strangely I hear the shrieks and cries of crowds of Hindus gathered in their millions by the Ganges to celebrate. The dusty trail behind me is the Ganges unwinding as we are walking and running naked; sadhus thronged together clothed in chalk and ashes, and I'm one of them, delivered into their midst by the holy waters of the Ganges despite my friend's warnings not to go. I am engulfed in the greatest spiritual gathering on earth, the Kumbh Mela. The mountains melt and the famous river makes its way through mother India. In the north at Haridwar, the water is super-cold, super-fast. In 1974 I jumped in it with a dear, wonderful friend Billy Mitchel, and cruised down a couple of miles. Vibrant, alive, ecstatic! Water felt really really crystalline clear and pure – that would feel so good right now, my hand is on fire! - completely the exact opposite of the image most westerners have of the brown waters of the Ganges further south. We came upon the spot where the holy men (sadhus) were having their holy dip at the most auspicious time - all connected with an alignment of the planets. My swimming partner was a massive, handsome Lebanese man who had traveled on bicycle for 10 years all over India. He did not feel that it was appropriate to swim into the holy bathing ghat. I tried convincing him but it would not work. There is a side of the sadhus that is heavier than Hell's Angels bikers and you don't want to piss them off! My heart gave me a green light and said “go join your brothers” so I followed my heart and my friend and I parted ways. It does help to have brown skin and look a little bit like 'em! When I swam into the bathing ghat hundreds and hundreds of them started splashing me screaming Jai Bhagwan! Jai Maharaj! (Victory to the light / Praise God! Great king!) They recognized me as much as I recognized them. We were all like children celebrating the blessings of the "holy dip" and it was one of the most ecstatic moments of my life. I splashed them, they splashed me, we rubbed each others' shoulders and praised God exuberantly. God help me now! I stumble down the dusty path with the writhing body of a snake in one hand and a throb of death in the other. Kumbh Melas call me back to mother India again and again – 7 times so far - to be amid the sadhus…these saints on straw mats…to the world's most massive act of faith, they come by the millions! Arriving by train, bus, car, ox-drawn carts, others by horses, camels, elephants and by foot. This flow of beings is awe-some; coming in all manners, coming in all states to be here, in this place, right now. The noise and smell of such a gathering can be powerful and intense. Some naked, covered in ashes, we parade to bathe in the holy Ganges, tens of millions of us chanting hara hara maha dev. We prepare with a chillum at a duni (sacred fire) and when the moment to start the procession comes our naga baba guru bhai throws off the potato-sack cloth on his back, runs off grabbing his trident and trumpet, and jumps on his dozing dusty horse blowing his trumpet. This is the signal! The horse startles into a stiff-legged trot and the crowd of millions proceeds toward the sangam (where the Ganges meets Yamuna) for a holy dip. Our Akhara (sadhu sect) is given the honor of leading this mass and merging in the river at the most auspicious time. Back at our headquarters we are served tea by a tantric sadhu baba who had served us tea and food for weeks as a silent servant. His hands and feet are hardened and calloused, toughened by his long life and endless seva1 , his skin is deep rich brown, body thin like a rake, his face is creased, his eyes so deep, black, like wells of ancient knowledge and his hair in dreads that hit the ground and go for three feet afterwards. He is all dressed in black as tantrics do, for they are the mystical side of sadhus. He turned out to be a master yogi, but only showed us a little of his amazing powers. This little old man decided to inspire us by letting us see, or giving us a peek of, his amazing physical strength. As he sat cross-legged, he motioned for the two biggest westerners to stand on each of his hands. He then lifted himself up between them, put himself into a full lotus and proceeded to flip over backwards and forwards several times. The man who was our servant was really our angel and teacher, disguised as a humble servant. As I see the sadhu's strength in my memory, my own dissolves into the present. My steps are getting shorter though the need for speed is more urgent. I must get help soon. Although I first visited mother India in 1971, it wasn't until '74 that I made it back and somehow heard about the Mela, so I went to Haridwar and later to four other Maha Kumbh Melas in Allahabad. Camping at the Ananda Akara with Ganesh Baba was amazing. This psychedelic hipster, a sadhu in his 80s, studied quantum physics alongside Albert Einstein. Haridwar means Gateway to the Gods, it is said that taking a bath here purifies the soul and opens the way for the ultimate freedom - Nirvana. Kumbh Mela happens in four cities2 where according to Hindu mythology, the nectar of immortality fell to earth during a war between the gods and the demons. Of the four drops that fell when the struggle was going on, one fell in Haridwar, so it became one of the holy places to gather. I immerse myself in the ceremony, the prayers, smoke, meditation… I remember my friends said I did not belong there, but the men I see gathered in prayer take one look at me and welcome me as a brother. The 50 million people of the Kumbh Mela are a tiny drop in the ocean of swirling images that are flooding my being, drawing me closer to death, closer to the light. The crowds of faces change color and swim in and out of focus like a wild acid trip…horns blowing, elephants trumpeting, horse hooves thudding on hard-packed earth, clang and crash of metal bowls, teapots, gongs, bells ringing, sadhus chanting, noise taking over again… What happened? June 18, 1991, I was just going to water my plants, enjoying the walk along the dusty path, smelling the sweet scents of earth and flowers, taking a break in this glorious day. I'm busy making music, chasing a record deal, making it big, whatever "it" is. I love snakes. I don't know where it comes from, but when I see a snake I want to pick it up and give it a kiss, to connect with it on a spiritual...