All that I know about Angelo’s history is what I heard from him. And some from Ceuta actually.
Angelo left home at 15 with an older man (I assume it was an older gay man), from Venezuela and went to Montreal, where he lived for a while. I believe he went to school there and then moved to Oakland and I guess (according to what Angelo told us) he danced with the Oakland ballet. I’m pretty sure that he did that. And then he moved to L.A. and pursued acting. I believe he was a hustler as well in L.A. and Florida. I’ve heard it from some people there. There was a tenant in the building that was an actor that had appeared in a lot of old TV shows. He knew Angelo from before and he told me that Angelo was a prostitute. And then in Florida… one day I heard him on the phone and it was pretty clear what was going on. He had two phone lines at the time. And I heard him on the phone, saying in this deep voice, “Oh, you won’t be disappointed.” I asked him about it later and he said it was nothing – but he was evasive about it. Then, a few months later I saw a magazine that was open on his dresser -- opened to an ad for a call-boy (or whatever.) I looked at it and was like, “That’s your body in that ad” He denied it was him of course. But I’m pretty sure that’s what was happening. I asked him what he was doing but he kept refuting it. But one night he called me up and said “One of my hypnotherapy clients is over here and he’s drunk and won’t leave. And I’m afraid that he’s going to do something crazy.” So I got in my car and drove over to his place to try and help him. The man was definitely drunk, but by now he had calmed down. And he was pleading with Angelo to be with him sexually. Even at the time I realized… this doesn’t seem like a therapy patient. It seemed like something else from what the man was saying.
In as much as he was very active in that whole life (which I didn’t understand at the time because I had no experience with it) it also seemed like his life changed after being revealed the Knowledge. Oh, Ceuta told me something interesting about how that happened as well. She explained that she had The Knowledge revealed to her and that she wanted Angelo to go with her the next night, but he didn’t want to go. So, she kind of dragged him there, saying, “I’m going to cut your balls off if you don’t come with me” The initiation was intended for people that had been there before and when asked, Angelo lied and said that he had been, so he got the techniques revealed to him. And consistently, Angelo always said that when he started meditating…and I heard him say this from day one so I believe it… that he literally didn’t go out of his house and got very blissful and intoxicated with God and he was changed. And I believe that. Because even when I first met him --even though he wasn’t actively a teacher. I could tell that he was in love with this experience and he definitely was in love with God and that was the main part of his life.
Anyway, that’s the picture I had of his life before I knew him. But the whole thing about his being a prostitute didn’t bother me because I was so open to the possiblity that anyone can change. Even if he was, it wasn’t like a big deal. I would have rather he had told me the truth than lie to me… but I’m sure it was embarassing at the time. But I took it as, “Wow, he can have his faults and I can have my faults and we can still meditate and be awake.”
