Turak made his debut on Soul’s Code, the community-run site where everyone seeking or talking about personal transformation is a guru. Fasten your seat belts as August Turak takes you on the ride of your life. Sit back and enjoy as he side swipes death in an icy blizzard riding shotgun for his wild, wonderful West Virgnina Zen master.
I was 21 years old. And for the first and only time in my life, I was sure I was about to die. I was in the passenger seat of my 1963 day-glo green Ford Econoline van with a bubble-shaped skylight on the roof and a madman behind the wheel – a West Virginia hillbilly who happened to be my Zen Master. We had been on our way out West when he’d gotten news that his son was in trouble back in Wheeling, and now he was barreling home with me in tow to do what he could.
The trip had started out two days before on an almost comical note. On a cold dark morning at 5:30, his usual starting time, I was coming up his front steps to pick him up. My van was parked across the street and according to his careful instructions, was full of enough tools, extra tires, and spare parts to rebuild it on the fly if necessary. And because of the Arab oil embargo that year, it was stocked with fifteen gallons of spare gasoline in three five-gallon cans….Read More
Oh, Augie! You had me in stitches with this trip down memory lane! I have never met anyone remotely like Mr. Rose – that man was something else!
Boy, did you describe him to a “T”! I lost it when you wrote: “What’s the matter Oogie, scared to die?” I could just see him saying that, driving like a crazy man in that hat etc! We were so lucky to experience and learn from that man! Thank you, Augie for writing this. It is really special!
Thanks so much Ninushka. I tried mightily to capture the essential Rose. And yes like calling you Ninushka, I remember how he fondly called me “Oogie.”
I wrote this initially as an opening chapter to a book on Rose. I meant it to be and still think of it as a metaphor for my spiritual life both with and without Rose. An authentic spiritual journey is voyage into the unknown that feels a lot like sliding down some slippery Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole in a vehicle barely under control. Sooner or later you realize that you are not even at the wheel of this crazy vehicle called “self” merely a passenge. There is something “else” at the wheel and what “control” there may be is not your own. And though you desperately want to believe that this madman at the wheel is what some might call “God”, you never know for sure until you arrive back in Wheeling, “safe and sound”