05/27/2026
Once upon a time and space in the Royce Hall library at UCLA, a stranger noticed that I was reading the teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda. She also noticed something more. Perhaps it was the beads that I was wearing or the hair down to my shoulders. Or possibly the Peace sign proudly displayed on my notebook. I cannot be sure. It was the time of Woodstock and, too, the protest movement against the war in Viet Nam. The counterculture was in full swing and I loved being part of it, which showed. In a glance, she must have seen it all. Next I knew, this warm-hearted stranger with compassionate eyes invited me to Santa Cruz. She told me about a gathering in the Redwoods, at UC Santa Cruz where Jean Houston was offering something more than a workshop.
Those two days and the weeks that followed changed my life. On Sunday evening, before our closing ritual, most unexpectedly, out of over two hundred people, Jean, in her intuitive, oracular way, selected six of us to join her at her home in upstate New York. We were asked to do nothing less than “transform the world.” At her home, in sacred ritual, she elaborated. Connected to the energies of the Cosmos, Jean channeled “You are the catalysts, children of the Universe, here to serve the highest intention.”
Communicate through telepathy, she mentored, no need for words here. I was in a state of awe and wonder, and, too, naiveté. This was new to me. Yet, I felt deeply “seen” by Jean.
Jean Houston was, and I do believe continues to be, one of the world’s great visionaries, mentors, and philosophers. A pioneer of human potential, she orchestrated human capacities beyond what so many of us imagined possible. She lived, she embodied, she embraced, “the Possible Human.”
Over a fifty-year mentorship, then friendship, I discovered time and again, that more than anybody I’ve encountered, she could enter states of consciousness that for me, and others, were at the edges of awareness. She gifted the art of “becoming.” With Jean, one imagined the new possible. As I read in a tribute to Jean Houston, “She lived life to the fullest and kept traveling, speaking, teaching, and writing. She was one with the life force itself.”
My life, my family’s life, has been, and continues to be, deeply influenced by Jean’s presence. I am eternally grateful.
Recently, I had the privilege of spending an afternoon with Jean at her home in Ashland, Oregon. In that sacred time out of time, before passing, Jean was filled with the Eternal. Her ageless wisdom, extraordinary perception, human sensitivity, and endearing humor were all alive in our conversations.
In addition to her extraordinary scholarship and teachings, I felt, once again, that I was sitting with an evolved being. A woman who dances with the cosmos, listens to the voices of the eternal, and experiences the call of the future. I was sitting with a sage.
Jean, thank you for tending to my entelechy over the years.
I love you deeply.
Warmy,
Dr. Stephen Aizenstat
