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As members drank cocktails and munched on crackers and cheese, and readied themselves to leave the meeting, a voice roared from the door, “Wait, wait...Please don’t go away yet.” All heads turned, followed by audible gasps. Dudley Shamus rolled through the doorway in a large electric wheelchair. While his body seemed diminished, his strong aura filled the room. Most striking was Dudley’s radiant smile, which made his face look uncharacteristically kind and gentle.
“Good to see you, Dudley,” said Antonio. “It’s a hell of a surprise. How are you doing?”
Dudley beamed at Antonio. “Better, my friend.” He turned his gaze to the group. “This is an august assemblage. I’d be grateful if you would take some of your valuable time to listen to my story. Do I have your permission to speak?” To a person, the group returned to their seats, many calling out greetings to Dudley.
Asking permission for anything was so unlike Dudley. Antonio smiled. “The floor is yours, brother.”
“My brush with death sure was a game changer, to say the least. After that big bang, I immersed myself in an involuntary, but much needed, personality makeover!” Dudley’s humor brought smiles to the room.
“I know the reports of my near-demise were on the news—and I don’t blame anyone who took pleasure in learning about my fiery fate. My body was all fucked up, for sure, but I encountered some mind-boggling experiences that were beyond anything I ever thought possible. At the risk of sounding like a lunatic, I’d like to tell you what happened. People don’t talk about this kind of stuff because it sounds pretty nuts. But I’m here to tell you about my crazy trek into another life. Try riding in a burning plane in the middle of its death spiral into the ocean and see if your thinking doesn’t change,” said Dudley.
Laughter spread through the room as Antonio chided Dudley. “Did you get a chance to figure out why everyone hated your guts?”
Dudley smiled. “That’s exactly what I discovered, Tony. I know why they detested everything about me. I hated my own guts and didn’t even know it! As my plane tumbled downward, I was faced with the facts—like what an absolute asshole I had been. The complete narcissist, totally selfish and unbearably condescending. I had also possessed a great ability to bring out the inner narcissism in others. I felt as if I had opened Pandora’s box and out came the crazies and the meanies. They loved my Supreme Individuals group because it allowed them to pander to their insane needs, heedless of harming people, humankind, and nature. And I was the worst of the pack. It took being certain I was plummeting to my death to force me to wrap my head around the reality that I didn’t have one single person I could call who truly gave a fuck about me—about Dudley, not Dudley’s power and wealth.
“To my amazement, I didn’t die. Instead, I was yanked back into the game of life. But I was changed. You’ll find this hard to believe, but I was filled with overwhelming compassion. I felt everything that everyone else was feeling. I suffered the pain of my co-pilot, Richard, trying to save me as the force of the crash thrust him violently out of the fuselage. I felt the courage of my pilot, who beat out the flames on my chest with his bare hands and pushed me into the emergency dinghy. I felt the concern and caring of my employees as they swam from shore to the dinghy despite my spoiled, brutish behavior toward them.” Dudley swiveled around to look at Antonio and Alicia. “And I felt Antonio and Alicia’s kindness as they made a big detour to rush me to the hospital in Honolulu even though they had been the recipients of my utter contempt just a day before.
“People showed such goodness despite my cruelty. My gratitude for these unselfish acts made me fight to stay alive. I wanted to make up for the venom I had spewed on others. A review of my own past behavior sickened me. In a magic instant I had become aware of how connected all of us are and how our fates are intertwined. But I was so tired. I closed my eyes.
“When I woke up, I discovered I was in the hospital burn unit. I heard the medical staff say I was comatose, yet I was aware of every single event going on inside and outside of me. I was in the middle of a big commotion, but I was flying twelve feet above the floor. I heard someone call my name. I looked down and saw figures scurrying around in medical garb. A man lay motionless beneath me, covered with beeping and bleeping medical devices. I thought, ‘This is strange.’ Suddenly, it hit me. That was ME on the table! I wondered, ‘What the hell am I doing in both places? Which is me?’ Then I got it—the only logical answer: I was dead!”
A murmur rose from the group.
“I felt no fear, no pain, no anxiety. I was filled with laughter as I looked down at the healthcare experts who were running around, agitated and frantic. I called out, ‘Hey, relax. It’s okay. Don’t worry.’ But they didn’t seem to hear me. I yelled louder, but it did no good. I felt energy all around me. I joined some force bigger than myself. I was awed by a feeling of ever-changing infinity, the kind of emotion we experience when we walk on the beach and see magnificent clouds on the horizon reaching down to the sand. I grasped that everything in the world is interconnected and interdependent.
“As I floated about, I was drawn to a pinpoint of light in the distance. As I got closer, the freer I felt. My ego was gone. I was totally at peace. It was as if I had tapped into a kind of collective unconscious. The glorious light dimmed slightly, and I knew I had a decision to make...to keep going toward the light or go back to the table. My desire to be with the light was irresistible, but I knew I owed it to the people who had saved me, to my wives and my children, to those I had manipulated, cheated and stolen from, to return and make amends. At the instant I thought this, a firm but definite force pulled on me. And...bam...I was no longer floating.”
Dudley glanced pleadingly at Antonio before turning back to the group. “I hope you believe me. I know how clichéd “I’m a changed man’ sounds, but I am a changed man. I saw the truth—that there is never an ending. Death is nothing to fear. I had a lot of time to think about what Tony and Alicia said to me the night before the crash about how my ancestors and I stole the lands from Hawaiians. What we call progress is endangering our climate and killing off species. The Earth will be in tatters in coming decades if we continue to plunder our natural resources with no thought for the future. Instead of greed motivating my immense success, I could use my business savvy to help make this a better world. My realization of what an uncaring and self-centered bastard I’ve been all my life makes me want to be one of the good guys, to be among those leading the charge to save the planet and change the prevailing mindset focused on what we can amass to one of kindness and caring. I dissolved the Supreme Individuals group and I am asking for converts.”
“Wow. We’re stunned and really elated to hear you say that, Dudley!” blurted Antonio, as the rapt audience clapped and yelled out their approval.
Alicia chimed in, “I sort of feel like somebody should pinch me!”
Dudley confessed, “I’m scared shitless. We’re playing for high stakes. And, maybe as many of you here do, I fear the loss of status, power, self-image, privilege and wealth. But if we don’t come to grips with the truth and be brave enough to do something concrete, our planet will plummet into an uninhabitable mess. Humanity will be shaken off like fleas on a dog.
“Just one more thought. Ironically, when I was a college freshman, my first advisor at the University of Canelo studied near-death experiences. He became this world-renowned expert. Cynic that I was, I dismissed his research as far-fetched baloney. Now I know from a personal perspective what he was talking about—that near-death experiences change the way we think and might push us toward enlightenment and maybe even help us to evolve into a higher life form.[56] I think mine did.”
Antonio walked up to Dudley and held out his hand. “Thanks, Dudley. It takes guts to speak from the heart. I recently did much the same thing. Do I sense that you’re feeling pretty much like everyone here?”
Dudley kept Antonio’s hand in his grasp. “I guess so, Toni, I know you are here for a reason. It revolves around spreading a new world paradigm with aloha as an integral part. Now I know I’m here for a reason as well. I want to keep our planet alive and kicking for as long as possible instead of greedily destroying it. So, yeah, I want to join up. My time, effort, and money will be dedicated to this cause. I’m still no saint, and I’ll probably argue with all of you about methodology, but I’m in—if you’ll have me.”
The participants cheered. “Dudley, old boy,” said Antonio. “The Keala Institute obviously would be delighted and honored to have you as a member.”
“So what are we doing still sitting here?” questioned a gratified Dudley. “Let’s get moving!”