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THE MONK STRUCK BY VISION

Early, impulsive nondream sketch, 1979 or 1980, by Chris Wayan

I sympathize with visionaries whose gift is so urgent and extreme, most would call it illness.

How can you function, when, without warning, your body dissolves and you're lost in the other world?

I sympathize, but you have to be careful with mystics. They--well, let's be honest here, we--can be thorny, proud, difficult people. Suffering can stimulate ambition (good or ill), to compensate for one's daily incompetence...

Over all, I'm glad my visions so neatly tuck themselves in bed with me, letting me act semi-normal during the day. Life as a part-time mystic's as much as I can handle.

Ink sketch of a monk stunned by a vision.
But full-time prophets? Whew. All too often, messianic lives begin with a mess and end in... ick.


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