While flying into Heathrow.....................

A few years back I was attending the World Humanities Conference, which had Members of Parliament, and Ruth Carter Stapleton, and all kinds of impressive people.  I was on the program, and I was to be met by dignitaries.

Except that I didn't get through customs.

I wasn't carrying anything, but I was on a list that said that I was "not conducive to the well-being of the United Kingdom," mainly because of my affiliation with Timothy Leary.  So I was detained, and then I was thrown out of the country.

Now, I had planned to arrive and be welcomed and be taken to a hotel, and instead I found myself sitting in this green room with guys guarding the doors.  I was sitting there with Pakistanis, and South Africans, and all these people who were also not conducive to the well-being of the United Kingdom.  We were a great group and we had a wonderful day.  It took me a few minutes to go from "What?" to "Wow! This is a much more interesting day than I expected to spend."

It's always a question of how long it takes you to let go.

-Ram Dass, Changing Lenses:  Essential Teaching Stories from Ram Dass