JOHN LILLY, PERMISSIONARY
by Frankie Lee Slater


I was privileged (and delighted) to live at the home of Dr. John Lilly for nine months in 1988-9. Along with an extended family of people several of us affectionately refer to as "the lilly pod," I have considered him to be a stand-in dad. These are some of my thoughts written just after his passing on Sunday, September 30, 2001. I discovered he was in Los Angeles that week through one of the wonderful synchronicities John's life was so full of, the kind he referred to when he spoke of ECCO (the Earth Coincidence Control Office).

He is now a bridge between worlds for us all. Those who knew him well would say he was that all along.

I was fortunate to visit with him the preceding Friday evening at his hospital room at Caesar's Sinai where he awaited what was considered to be a minor operation to clear out an infection he had developed in his chest. He looked particularly clear and serene that evening. Everyone was optimistic that he would soon be back on his feet, but his 86 year old body was apparently ready to free him of its containment.

Our experience was one of gazing in one another's eyes and smiling. Words seemed redundant in this presence of absolute connectivity, love, light and mutual admiration. It is this image that will live on indelibly in my mind's eye, this image of knowing in eyes smiling that I wish to share with you here.

John modeled enlightenment free of any pretense. I remember being amused when people would come to Decker with all sorts of projections about how John was behaving when he acted "as if" he wasn't interested so he could relax in his big easy chair and read his book - amused that they were seeing what they were seeing rather than marveling at the fact that this man, 30 or 40 years their senior, accepted any and all walking around his living room in the first place.

One of my favorite illustrations of a John Lilly moment was the first day I was living in the motor home that he had hooked up to the front of the house for me. The toilet had backed up and I ran into the house to tell John who was immediately on his feet, waddling out to the motor home (John waddled) and, without skipping a beat plunged his hand literally into my sh-t. Nobody but nobody I'd ever met before or since was less affected by the stuff of the world than John. He was a self described "Permissionary" and we are all the freer for knowing him.

In the Native American understanding, when someone we know and love makes his transition, it is a "loan of power" to those who will carry on here on Earth, a "rite of passage" affirming that we have reached a place in our lives where our elder brother can now move on, knowing we are capable of carrying on in a good way.

I would like to offer this possibility for anyone who has ever known John Lilly up-close-and-personal or been hugely influenced by his work and example - that we take this opportunity to step beyond any perceived limitations, rise up to ourselves and, like John, make our unique contributions.

When he and I connected the other night I was telling John what I've come to understand "beyond the surface appearance" about this time and my part in helping to shift the planet. He spoke very little, simply to affirm, "You see the connection in all things. I love that you see the connection." I see it now John, and I promise to share what I see with the world - that the truth of our being is absolute connection through love and harmony and beauty, and all else is the illusion.

Thank you John Lilly for gracing us with your presence. It is said the great Siddhas go beyond death to became the stars. I will look for you there.


WEB SITES

   John Lilly Web Site

   Frankie Lee Biography