The gates of Heaven

One time many months ago, a young man ate the "magic mushrooms" used by mystics and philosophers throughout time. That young man was me. Forty five minutes after the shrooms were consumed. My world began to melt and blend around me. My trip mates, who are also my best friends, and I decided to walk to the seven eleven around the corner. The journey was cut short when we noticed the trees on a certain street had no leaves on their branches. We were a little scared, but followed them to a large park. My friends sat in the middle of the basketball court while I climbed a nearby tree. I climbed only a few feet before realizing that all of the surrounding trees had begun to turn beautiful shades of purple and magenta. I got down and walked up to my friends, who had also begun to trip intensely. I looked up at the trees and in a quick flash the entire world jumped towards me. I closed my eyes and when I opened them I noticed something I had not seen before. There was a beautiful weeping willow beside the basketball court, and it was pulsing with a beautiful white light. I told my friends to follow me, and we all went and stood under its internal canopy, amazed at its beauty. Suddenly I looked up and noticed another entire part to the park beyond the tree. We walked out and saw that there were swings in the distance. We all broke into a run and jumped on the swings like first graders at recess. After swinging for a few minutes, my friend Karlos felt sick so he got down and walked behind a small clump of trees. My other two friends and I kept swinging for a few minutes, but started to worry about Karlos. We got down and called for him, and from in the clump of trees we heard, "Guys come here, youve got to see this". We walked behind the trees and saw that millions of leaves on the ground were glowing an irridescent blue. We looked up and noticed yet another part to the park, this one more beautiful than anything we had yet seen. Huge bronze sculptures of dolphins, and turtles were lurking in the woods, which gave way to a large field and a small bridge over a beautiful stream. We passed the sculptures and wandered onto the bridge where we layed down and watched the trees sway while discussing philosophy. My friend Nicholas and I wandered back to the sculptures. I layed on the dolphin and watched the swaying trees paint incredible luminescent, rainbow trails across the night sky. I actually thought I was in heaven. I watched the moon dance above the trees across the lush green field. The grass began to turn into a huge rainbow of colors as my friends walked across it to wake me from my philosophical coma. We left heaven and walked back to our dorms. Karlos departed our company, and my friend Mikal and I wandered into another nearby park, while Nicholas walked back to his house commenting on how purple the sky was that night. Mikal and I layed down on the grass and examined the stars. We discussed where we wanted to go in our lives, the point of life, the existence of life on those planets we thought we could see surrounding each star, and our friendship. Mushrooms opened my mind to thoughts I didnt know existed within my own consciousness. The level of awareness that resulted shocks me even now. I discussed Buddhist philosophies with a friend whom I had never discussed religion with before, and as I wandered to bed, I realized that I had discovered heaven a long time ago. Heaven didnt exist in any park or drug. I discovered heaven the day I was pulled from my mothers womb. This life we have been given is so full of beauty and wonder, that it can never be fully explored in the short time we have. We can only hope to live each day to the fullest Peace. John.