The Dreamer and the Dreamed

Welcome to the wonderful world of the ‘Dreamer and the Dreamed’. These are my recollections of the extraordinary life and times of my oldest of old-friends - Ben Dooley; dreamer of legends; finder of lost treasures; navigator to the silent heart. I offer them as the simple curiosities that they are; and yet, each one exists somewhere between a treasure hunt and an epiphany. The overall effect, however, seems to be that of a life lived with Zen-like equanimity. Whilst the journey through the darkness, and back toward the light, is something that is common to us all, Ben's journey seems almost archetypal. Within this mysterious and moving story, hidden in plain sight, is an ancient and profound truth. It is something that speaks of - and indeed to - our true nature. By ‘true nature’, I am referring to the ‘you’ that has no name; the one that waits-not, just below the river of your thoughts; forever veiled by the endless turbulence. I first met the strange, and enigmatic, Ben Dooley, on the day of his enigmatic, and strange, arrival at my village school, and suddenly, nothing was ever the same again. Not surprisingly, the extraordinary chain of events that followed from our unforgettable meeting would take a small book to convey. So I can only hope that you will choose to read the gently inspiring story of his mysterious journey; and that, in so doing, you will find something to illuminate your way. Perhaps it will be a long-lost joy in the simple immediacy of being; or, possibly, a mysterious, if momentary, brush with magic. But if, as you turn the last page, your prevailing emotion is one of hope, then we should both be content.