Grateful Dead

Jerry's dead
An era has ended

And here we are...still.

All these years,
The Dead concerts have been spirit

Made manifest,

Deep connections     into...
Living     Vibrant     Love
Now The high priest     has     split.
The Tao Te Ching speaks of the best leader as one who leaves
The people thinking they did it all themselves.
Jerry was that kind of a leader.

He turned the power back to the people.

He, and the band...they have never really bought into
****SUPERSTARDOM**** They have seen themselves     more     as     catalysts In the magical mix of the moment That allowed each person at the gathering to feel safe enough to
Become self-luminous.

So now Jerry has dropped his body...
And here we are... still.
Through him and his mythic playmates came the sound that
Connected us to our deeper selves...
This was our spiritual practice... our doorway...
Genuinely ours... and it worked...
Now Jerry isn't
And we are...still.

So...     has all that free     form     ecstasy

That we garnered from an otherwise shadow world

Transformed us?          Or made us more free?
Or    Has it just left us a group of
          Sad Grateful Dead addicts

In withdrawal?

For sure we will grieve the monumental loss of our friend...Jerry

For a long...long...long...time.

Most likely we will go through some powerful depression
And despair...
We may even court cynicism...
After all...it's not easy to lose your connection.
But Jerry's legacy to us is more profound than all of that.
He is in us...
Just as we have been in him.
We have all been not a tribe... or a family,
But a bubble of awareness
Riding upon the ocean of sound
That is in and beyond the sounds we ear hear.
Now it's up to us to co-create other safe spaces
Where we can listen to hear what Jerry heard

And to allow our love-light to Shine.

Jerry is gone in one form, But...like the magician that he is,
He has explosively been transformed into    A million Jerrys...    One...improvising in each of our hearts. Jerry...We express our gratefulness...

By becoming the memory of you.

-Ram Dass

This passage is an excerpt from GARCIA - A Grateful Celebration, originally published in 1995 by Dupree's Diamond News. To learn more about Dupree's Diamond News or how to obtain a copy of GARCIA - A Grateful Celebration, click here.