Moving Beyond the Ego - Higher Self Part 8

It has been a few weeks since my last post and I am not sure why. Everything was going brilliantly for me creatively and now everything has seemed to stop. Even my work on my first screenplay was going well. It seemed that every time I would ask a question, I would meet someone with the answer, or I would find it in a book I picked up or a bus passing by. It was like I had a direct connection to my higher self, but sadly over the last few weeks it feels like that connection has broken. Since the death of one of my old teachers Stuart Wilde I no longer feel the Higher Self in and around me. It has got to the point that even when I am about to go somewhere on a bus or tram they do not even stop for me any more. It has even got weirder with the first draft of my screenplay completed I am not even able to open the document and even my back up copy is corrupted.

Having been ranting and raving a bit since, having tried everything I know to open the document, I thought it was time to take time out and write this blog post. Interestingly the next part of the 'The Way of the Initiate,' I was to share was about moving beyond the ego. Perfect timing because I am stuck right in my own ego and that is why I cannot hear the voice of my Higher Self. They say we always teach what we need to know. Maybe spirit is telling me to take a step back and allow the next step in my journey to be unveiled.

Have a read of the short chapter below and I will hopefully meet you on the other side.

Moving Beyond

Before sitting down to dinner, the old sage sat cross-legged on the ground. He took a few deep breaths, holding each one for a moment, then released his breath, and with it energies from the day that he did not want to hold onto.
"What are you doing?" asked the young man.
The old sage smiled and opened his eyes, turning all his attention to his young apprentice. "I am moving beyond the ego. At the end of each day, I play the day back in my mind's eye, and when I come to an event when the flow of my energy is stopped by my ego, I take a deep breath, reflect on it for a moment, and then release it into the ether."
The young man returned the Sage's smile, but he was still confused, a state he was experiencing a lot since he began his journey with the old man. "What do you mean by the ego, and how does it stop your energy flow?"
"There are those that say that the Ego is the mediator between the conscious and Subconscious minds. There are others who say it is our identity, while some say it is what gives us our sense of self-worth or self-importance. In a way, it is all those things, but for me, its greatest weakness is that it stops the flow of information from our higher selves and disconnects us from everything else in this beautiful universe. Think back to the other day when you woke and found me gone. It was your ego that went into a panic. It was only when you calmed yourself down and reconnected with the spirit that you became part of all things, and at that moment you knew where I was."
"Sage, why do we have an ego if it limits us?"
"The ego gives us a sense of ourselves. It is important in our first few incarnations, when we are here to learn lessons of a more Earthly nature. It is only after our sixth lifetime, when we begin on our spiritual path, that we begin to move beyond the ego. The ego is the source of most of our weaknesses. Most of our weaknesses come from the various manifestations of the ego's fear of death. Fear is the ego's weapon that stops us from moving forward in our lives. The ego is lazy. It does not want to try new things. It would rather stay in the negative state it has grown comfortable with than take a chance on a better life. Change is the death of the ego. Once you start to realize that the ego is holding you back, then little by little you can move beyond it to a life where you are in the flow, where it does not matter what is around the next corner. Whereas the ego will stop you from living, being in the flow will allow you to experience opportunities you would never think possible."

As I thought I have allowed my ego to take me out of the flow. When I look at what has been happening such as the death of Stuie, and thinking about my own future I have allowed the fear of death and the fear of the future to creep into my own life. Time to have a chat to my ego and tell him kindly to piss off and open up to the flow that courses through all of us. Time to take my own advice and be open again to what the universe has to offer.

See you again soon.
Blessings and Peace and may the real you manifest what it needs, to take you where you need to go..

************


The 33rd Sage and the 33rd Sage and the Initiate are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Watersons, Xlibris, a number of online book stores and on my websites.

The Way of the Initiate will be published mid 2013

Twitter @GeofSpalding
Official Author Blog - the33rdsage.authorsxpress.com/
Translatable Author Blog - 33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/
Book Websites 'The 33rd Sage,' at www.33rdsage.com
'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' at www.the33rdsage.com

Connect with the Wisdom of your Higher Self - Part 3

The Illusion Of Separation

How did you go with practicing seeing the energy that exists in all things and playing around with the exercises and concepts in Part 2? I did the exercises myself and allowed myself to experience them as if it was the first time. What I noticed was that in allowing all preconceived ideas to fall away I could truly experience it like it was the first time. It was with childish glee that I saw my etheric dancing between my fingers, but then I noticed something else, not only was the etheric connecting my two fingers it also spread out to the tree that I was sitting next to. It was a cool moment when I experienced again the connection with all things. Today I am going to share with you another excerpt from my upcoming book The Way of the Initiate, in this section the young boy learns about the illusion of separation.


After a restful night’s sleep, the old sage and the young boy enjoyed a breakfast of rice as they hung their feet in the winter chill of the stream. The moment they put their feet in the water, an icy spike shot up both their bodies. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling because they both felt truly alive. As their feet became acclimatized to the chill of the water, the sun had risen higher enough in the sky to warm their bodies. It was early winter, but the element of Fire from the sun was very much alive and giving its gift to them both. A whisp of air caressed them as they filled their bellies with the rice flavored with miso.

The young boy was not aware of it, but the old sage was having him experience the elements through his five senses. It was to be the beginning of another teaching, which on some level was being guided by the young boy's higher self, a teaching that the old sage had the ability to tap into. After so many years of training, it was just as easy for him to tap into the higher self of another as it was to tap into his own higher self. There was never any thought of judgement or manipulation when he tapped into the mind of another. His days had taught him that we are all connected, and to do something to someone else was really only doing it to yourself.

After breakfast, he took Huo over to a plum tree and told him that today they were going to practice mindful meditation. When the young man gave him a weird look, he just smiled. "Don't worry, my boy. It’s as easy as holding this plum in your hand." With that, he gave Huo a plum and asked him to sit under the plum tree. "I want you to close your eyes and focus all your attention on the plum. Think of nothing else; the key to this exercise is to learn all you can about the plum."
Huo closed his eyes and started to put his attention into the plum. This is ridiculous, he thought to himself as his mind began to wander. He could hear the wind whistling through the trees and the river babbling in the background, and he could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin; in fact, the only thing that he could not focus on was the plum in his hand. He opened his eyes, only a little bit, to see firstly if the old man was watching him and secondly if the plum was still in his hand.
The old sage grinned back at the young boy and mouthed the word 'Focus.'
Huo closed his eyes again and tried to focus on the plum. It was still not working, so this time he held the plum in his left hand while he explored it with his right. He knew what the plum tasted like, but being a child, he had never held a plum long enough to understand what it felt like. At first, it felt shiny; no, that was how he expected it to feel. He explored it again, this time letting go of any expectations. The skin was tight, but underneath he could feel the liquid, the softness. He began to explore with his feelings rather than his fingers, for he realized that his fingers were showing him what he expected to see. The first feeling that came back was the word ‘refreshing’; he went deeper into that feeling and saw a picture of himself in the future as a young man enjoying the juice of the plum as it ran into his mouth. Then his feelings changed, and so did the picture in his mind. The feelings had now taken him to the orchard where the plums were grown, and he could see - no, it was more than that: he could feel - the orchard existing in this one plum. Then his feelings went deeper into the plum, and he experienced all the elements that went into making the plum: there was the Fire of the Sun, the Water of the stream, the warmth and coldness at the right time of the Air, and this all took place in the minerals of the Earth.
His consciousness was expanding too quickly; he had become open to everything, but his mind was not ready to cope with what he was experiencing, and he shut down and fell into a deep sleep under the plum tree with the plum still held in his left hand.

The old man moved over to him and placed his pack under his head. The boy had gone far deeper than he had expected, but he would soon recover, and he knew the young boy would never look at a plum the same way again. Although the young boy may not yet realize it, he had learnt that we are not so much what we think, but more what we feel. He had begun to experience the Godforce/Tao in all things, and just as it had been in all things, it was in him; he was just another aspect of the Tao. Of course, it had all been too much for his young mind, a mind that was not ready to accept that there is only One.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the teachings imbedded in it. For next couple of days why not practice putting your focus into the world around you; start to truly experience things for the first time, whether it be your morning coffee, a sunset, the food that you eat or even the touch of your lover, allow all of your senses to be fully alive and see if you can experience the feeling that everything exudes. When I first tried this with a cup of coffee it was like I had never drank coffee before, it gave it a freshness and a vitality that the thousands of coffees that I drank before did not. There was even a point in my mind's eye where I caught a vision of where the coffee was being grown. This may sound a little weird but over the years I have discovered that there is an infinite level of information that you can receive when you become one with all things. In my second book The 33rd Sage and the Initiate the main character Conway has many such experiences while on his quest. I would like to think that we are all on that quest, but only that our journeys are different.

Blessings and peace and may you begin to see the infinity in every experience.
Geof

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The 33rd Sage and the 33rd Sage and the Initiate are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Watersons, Xlibris and a number of online book stores.

The Way of the Initiate will be published mid 2013

Twitter @GeofSpalding
Official Author Blog - the33rdsage.authorsxpress.com/
Translatable Author Blog - 33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/
Book Websites 'The 33rd Sage,' at www.33rdsage.com
'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' at www.the33rdsage.com

The Legend of the 33rd Sage - Chapter 27

Chapter 27 - Emotional Discipline

It was during a late afternoon meditation that his thoughts turned to Love. It was not the kind of love that he felt for his parents or even the kind of love that he felt towards Qing; even though he had not seen her in many years, his love for her was still strong. The love he was feeling was not those kinds of love, but a love deeper than any emotional love. Emotional love was attached to something but the love he was experiencing in the meditation had no attachments.

The thoughts soon disappeared and were replaced with the feelings of love. He put his attention into his heart and the feeling became stronger and deeper. Something told him to open his eyes and as the sun was setting he saw it for the first time. He had always been able to see auras around people, animals and even plants but this energy was nothing like this. He continued to watch as great swathes of energy, purple in colour were emanating from his heart and connecting with everything around him. He watched as the purple energy first connected with the trees, then the animals and then to the mountains beyond. It was surreal, the purple energy which was emanating from his heart was also returning from the beings who had felt it from his heart; there was a real connection between all things.

In a matter of minutes he was surrounded by the animals of the forest, there were birds of every description, badgers, field mice and a whole feast of insects, but it was the color and magic of the butterflies and the dragonflies, surrounding him, which took his breath away.

Nature had come alive for him. It was nothing he could tell anyone; in his silence he could only experience the beauty of a love that connected all things.

The more he went on his journey the more silent he had become. It was a strange and wonderful thing. The more he knew the less he physically shared it with people and yet by internalizing it, more people received his teaching than if he had shouted it from the mountain tops.

His life had become about detachment, which is a little weird when you consider he was more connected with everything than he had ever been in his life. This was not about a detachment from life, it was about being detachment from the ego's emotions, so he could see the world as it was rather than the ego's limited perspective.

To others he would have seemed like he was on drugs or having a mental episode, but he had never been more present because he was seeing and experiencing the energy behind the form. He held a butterfly in his hand and just by his inner perception he could see every lifetime this butterfly had experienced; he was surprised to see that it had experienced over fifty lifetimes as light. He opened up to the butterfly and she allowed him to experience those lifetimes of light. Huo felt humble in the presence of the butterfly, a being who had experienced so many lifetimes on the earth plane. It was then that he understood that there was nothing higher or lower than him in the universe, they were just different expressions of the same energy, that some would call the Godforce and others would call the Tao. Even by naming it people had tried to capture its essence but no words could describe the 'all that there is.'

It was by going beyond his emotions that Huo was able to peek into the Tao. He did not try to understand it logically, as he knew that could not be done. Even experiencing it for a moment could never be explained; for as soon as he started to explain what he had experienced he knew that it would be his ego explaining it and trying to hold on to the experience in the hope it could make itself more important.
The beauty of the Tao was in the experience of it.
It would soon be time for the sage to come down off the mountain. There was a point in the experience of the 'all there is' meditations that the ego would start to see him as special and that was when it was time to move and change to another discipline.
The way of the initiate was all about silent power and discipline.

*********

My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other wonderful bookstores and online sellers. If you want to read more about 'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' have a look at my website on www.the33rdsage.com or my translatable blog at http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

The Legend of the 33rd Sage - Chapter 24

Chapter 24 - The Lightness of Being

The young prince had been coming to the Forest of K'an for almost two years and his paintings were becoming renowned throughout the kingdom. The sage had noticed in the last couple of months, that as his fame grew, so also did the young man's arrogance. It seemed that whenever they spoke the prince thought he knew more about everything than the sage. The sage did not judge the arrogance, but he did wonder what was underneath; for he knew that arrogance often came out of fear.

It was no longer appropriate for him to tell the young man what to do, for he had come to that point in the teachings when it was important for the prince to take control of his own teaching and to open up to his Higher Self. The sage knew that could never happen while he was arrogant; for to be able to connect with the Higher Self you needed a lightness of being, with the ego no longer blocking the way.

What was the sage to do?

In the end he left it to the Tao to handle; for he knew that by opening to the wisdom of the Tao, an opportunity would arise from which they both could grow.
It was late summer when the Tao sent forward them the opportunity. The sage would welcome the opportunity; he understood that his life was alway about new beginnings. I cannot say the same for the Prince who was now resisting any new experiences or any new teachings. He thought because he could see the life in things through his painting, he had reached the ultimate teaching, but that was merely his ego, which had become comfortable with the recognition it was receiving.

This day the prince wanted to go deeper in the forest to paint.
The sage could feel in an inner part of himself that it was not a good idea, for the weather, the heat and the wind were giving him signs that were not positive. He tried to talk the young prince out of going on, what he knew would be foolhardy, but the prince would hear none of it and ordered the sage to come with him.
In the end the sage agreed, 'It would be as it would be," he thought to himself.
They were deep in the woods and the prince was congratulating himself on capturing the essence of the forest in his painting. He had even painted himself into the picture and against the Taoist tradition his portrait took up more than a third of the landscape. His arrogance was getting more and more out of control.

The sage heard a crackling sound and immediately knew that his element, the element of fire was very active. For a moment he drew deep within himself, fearing his own  lack of balance had drawn the fire to them, just like it had done to his parents in the past. He need not have worried. When he went deep within, all he saw was the smiling and proud faces of his parents. He nodded to them and then came back into the outer world. By this time the crackling had become louder and the smell of smoke surrounded them.
He looked to the prince who seemed oblivious to what was happening. He called out to him and got no response. He called louder and still nothing. He struck the young man across the back with his walking stick. The young prince turned with a look of anger on his face, the like of which the sage had never seen. Heng was about to strike the sage when he smelt the smoke and heard the flames which had almost reached them. His anger turned to fear and he started to tremble.

The sage surveyed the area and could see they were surrounded by a ring of fire. They only had seconds to make a decision as the fire rushed towards them.
"Let's make a run for it," said the prince his fears clouding his thinking.
The sage touched him gently on the arm but you would think he had been stuck by a spear; so much energy had been transferred to him. The prince took a deep breath and began to relax. He could still see no way out, but at least he was back in control of his mind.

The sage went deep within and he could see them walking through the fire, not one lick of the flame touching their bodies. The sage knew with his conscious mind it was impossible and his ego was already telling him that he was mad and would die in the flames. He turned to the prince. "We have to close our eyes and walk through the flames. If we align to the element of fire then we will not be killed by it or because of it."
"Your mad," said the prince, "If we close our eyes and walk through the fire we will surely die."

"If you can let go of your fear of death and embrace life. If you can respect the elements and become the element of fire then you will be safe. Trust me."

The young prince did not know what to believe, was this a trick by the sage to punish him or was it a plan that had been hatched by someone who wanted his throne. All manner of thoughts passed through his mind; they were all fears, fear of death, fear of loss and the fear of being burnt. Just as his mind was about to go into overwhelm he took a deep breath and stilled himself for a moment. The sage had never harmed him; in fact everything the sage had done for him had only increased in him the person he was becoming. It wasn't the sage that was trying to trick him, it was his own ego.
He did as the sage suggested. He closed his eyes and imagined becoming one with the element of fire. At first nothing happened, but when he gave thanks to the fire for its teaching everything began to change. He could see himself becoming the fire, not as an intellectual exercise; he could feel the element of fire rising up from within him. He knew in that moment that the fire would not hurt him. With his eyes still closed he reached out and took the hand of the sage and walked into the flames.

He could feel the warmth of the fire brush his face as he moved through the flames. Twenty meters further on and he experienced a whisp of cooler air caress his cheeks. He opened his eyes to see they had gone beyond the fire. He looked down at his clothes and apart from one small burnt patch, neither his clothes or his body had been burnt in the fire.

He looked into the eyes of the sage, "I am sorry that I let my ego take control of me. I had forgotten for a moment that you were a gift from the Tao; a gift that the Tao could have just as easily taken away from me." Heng hugged the old sage. It was the hug of one friend for another; they had become for the first time equals. It was a defining moment in the young prince's life; the moment when his ego was no longer in charge. He was now free to become the person he was destined to become.

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My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other wonderful bookstores and online sellers. If you want to read more about 'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' have a look at my website on www.the33rdsage.com or my translatable blog at http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

The Legend of the 33rd Sage - Chapter 16

Chapter 16 - Life is Sacred

Hello all,
Today we have almost reached the halfway point in the story and I thought it would be a good time for a chat. A few of my writing friends have questioned why I am willing to put out the first draft of my story knowing that the grammar, writing and the story itself are not even close to the final form. They said they would be too worried by the criticism.

If you have been reading this story you will understand that it is important to not only live your truth but also to not worry what others think of you. I have chosen to share this early version for two reasons. Firstly it is a good lesson for me not to worry what others think, although I will always listen to constructive criticism as I develop my story telling skills. Secondly I published this early draft on my translatable blog for my friends who do not speak english and the likelihood that it will never be published in their language.

Thanks for the chat now it's back to the story.
Blessings and Peace to you all.
Geof

Chapter 16 - Life is Sacred

Huo wandered through the countryside for many months with one goal in mind, to find the Forest of K'an and journey to the mystical Lake of Li. The old sage had talked often about this magical lake and the forest. Over the last two days he had found the Forest of K'an and now he was heading towards the lake. He knew intuitively where the lake was; he could feel her presence with every part of his being.

On the journey to find the lake he had many adventures and had met many strange people. The strangest being the badger that could talk; well, talk was not quite right but he could communicate with Huo in the most unusual way. It happened over a month ago when Huo first thought of finding the Lake of Li in the Forest of K'an. He had been sitting by a stream meditating when a picture of the Lake of Li came into his mind. He knew it was the Lake of Li because of the description that he had received from the old sage. He could even see the large rock that Chung Fu used to sit on when he was teaching his students. In the meditation Huo could imagine himself sitting on the rock and staring into the Lake of the Li. The more he stared, the more real the picture became; it was so real that if Huo had wanted to he could have transported himself there in an instant, but of course he was not yet aware that he had those abilities. He opened his eyes with the knowing that came from deep within that the next part of his journey would take him to the lake the old sage had talked so much about.

He returned to his camp to the find a badger, a big fat badger, fossicking through his pack, for what little food he had left. Years ago he would have become angry to lose the little food he had, but he was different now. He understood that the Tao gives and takes away. So rather than express his anger, he sat down on a log of wood and watched the badger, for the inner part of him knew that the badger had a message for him.

Badgers by nature were very independent and this one was no exception. The badger turned to look at Huo, but the look was brief and he went back to eating the food and destroying Huo's pack. He certainly was an individual. Huo knew that badgers were very different from most animals in the forest and they did not seem to care what humans and other animals thought about them.

Huo sent a molecule of himself into the badger and what returned did not surprise him. He could almost hear the badger talking to him.

"Walk your own path at your own pace. Don't defend yourself. You are what you are, so be proud of it. If someone attacks you don't defend, just walk away. You are an infinite spirit walking your own journey; be proud of yourself, but at the same time do not judge others because you do not know what their journey is, or where it will lead. You don't have to explain to anyone what you are doing. You are following your inner spirit and to explain it would be impossible; it will lead you in ways that you would not think possible."

Huo was not sure the words were coming from the animal or were just the workings of his own mind. It did not matter for the teaching was the same. It was time for him to go back into the world and take what he had learnt to the people who were drawn to him.

He looked down at the badger and offered thanks for its teaching. For its part the badger gave him, what appeared to be, a grin and then scurried off into the forest without any apology for destroying Huo's worldly goods.

No longer encumbered by any earthly goods Huo continued on his journey to the Lake of Li in the Forest of K'an.

                      **********

My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other wonderful bookstores and online sellers. If you want to read more about 'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' have a look at my website on www.the33rdsage.com or my translatable blog at http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

The Legend of the 33rd Sage - Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - Be Honourable

Thanks to everyone who is reading and following the progress of the Legend of the 33rd Sage. I have viewers from many countries and it does my heart good when I see people from Russia, Korea, India, South and Central America and even Bangeladesh reading my story on my translatable blog. All the lessons and disciplines the young apprentice goes through I have experienced and I can tell you that if you live and breath these disciplines and teachings it will lead you on a wonderful life filled with adventures and experiences you would never think possible. My book the 33rd Sage & the Initiate, which has just been released follows very much the adventures that have happened on my own journey and the weird, wonderful and amazing character I have met along the way. My hope for you is that your life will be filled with such magic. All you have to do is take the first step by asking your God, higher self, the Tao or whatever energy you believe in, to be given wisdom and then be open to wherever this comes from.

Today's chapter is about being honorable. I hope you enjoy and sometime in the future when I wander to your little part of the earth we may meet and share some stories.

Blessings and Peace to you all.

Chapter 12

"Honour is the nobility of the soul, it is about being consistent in your every thought, word and action." Were the words that broke Huo free from his sleep. He opened his eyes to see the old man standing above him. "Today we will begin a new exercise. Meet me outside the pagoda in ten minutes and we will begin."

Huo splashed water on his face to wake himself up. He was tired; surely it was not time to get out of bed. There were sometimes when the disciplines of the old sage seemed downright ridiculous. He hoped whatever the old man had planned that it would have some value. Huo's thoughts and motivations were not quite right this morning; he had travelled with the sage for nearly ten years. His life had been full of experiences and along the way he had helped many people, but what of him, what was he getting out of it? Where would it lead him? Even Sages have their bad days and for some reason that Huo was not able to understand this was starting out as one of his. It was what it was. He had learnt by now not to suppress any of the feelings that came up, not to react to them, but to observe them as they would be his teacher. That was all well and good, but this morning he could have just as easily walked away from his apprenticeship. What of having fun with friends his own age or finding a woman to fall in love with and marry. Since they had been staying in the Pagoda in the city he had seen others his own age enjoying their lives and having fun. Sometimes a normal life had its advantages.
Out the front of the Pagoda all was quiet. There was no noise in the city as everyone except him and the old sage was asleep; even the shopkeepers who woke early to prepare for the daily market were still asleep. What madness did the old man have planned for this day.

Huo found the old sage at the side of the Pagoda, where he was carrying rocks from the front of the Pagoda to the garden on the left side. The old man simply looked up and with a wave of his hand he expected Huo to follow his example. So for the next two hours they shifted hundreds of rocks from the front of the Pagoda to the garden. By the time the sun had risen hundreds of people had walked past the Pagoda, many laughing at the old sage and his apprentice moving the rocks to the garden. Huo was becoming angry at the passers by but the old man's demeanor never changed. He greeted their laughter with a nod and a smile and continued moving the rocks. By the time they had finished moving the rocks Huo was sweaty, tired and exhausted. He tried on many occasions to question the sage but each time he received no response. In the end he gave up asking; he knew better than wasting his time trying to get the old man to talk when he was in one of his focused, silent moments.

Once they were finished the old man suggested that they clean up and meet again in the garden after they had meditated and broken their fast. Without another word or explanation the old sage walked back towards the entrance to the Pagoda, where he bowed three times, removed his shoes and then entered the sacred space.
All the way through the meditation and breakfast Huo could not help thinking about why they had moved all the rocks during the middle of the night; maybe it was to be a surprise for the monks in the Pagoda; maybe the old sage wanted to do it because he had something special planned for the day. Millions of thoughts ran through the young man's mind, so many that he had not even noticed that the old man did not meditate with him or that his breakfast had been improved by extra helpings of many local delicacies, thanks to the young girl in the kitchen, who had taken a shine to the young man. If he had been in the moment rather than worrying about the future or the past he would have noticed these things; especially the young girl who served him his breakfast, for if I do say myself she was very beautiful, with her jade green eyes and blue black hair, that she wore back in a long ponytail. But then I may be biased as she was also to become the apprentice of the old sage, a fact that Huo was totally unaware of.

Huo wandered out to the garden when he had had his fill of an excellent breakfast, which this morning was waisted on him. There, waiting him for him in the garden was the old sage. The moment Huo arrived was the moment the old sage began to work. Huo watched in a measure of horror and mirth as the old man picked up a rock from the garden and carried it back to the front of the Pagoda. Shaking his head Huo joined in and over the next few hours, amongst swearing and other unkind words the two of them moved every rock from the garden back to the front of the Pagoda.

It was while carrying the last rock that Huo totally lost it. It was not in the way you would think, for two hours he had ranted and raved, but now while carrying the last rock he began to laugh for he began to understand why the old sage had them doing what to any body else would have seemed ridiculous. After he placed down the last rock he went over to the old man and gave him a hug. It was the first time he had really shown this type of affection to the old man. In that moment the future and past drifted away and he was totally in the now. The old man smiled, a tear escaped from his left eye. It had taken ten years but now the young man's heart was beginning to fully open. At last he was honoring who he was and what he had become; he was honoring the process of life.

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My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other wonderful bookstores and online sellers. If you want to read more about 'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' have a look at my website on www.the33rdsage.com or my translatable blog at http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

Thanks to Anthony Hopkins & the essence of life for the use of this beautiful photo

The Legend of the 33rd Sage - Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - I Am That I Am

Over the next couple of years the old sage and his apprentice travelled all over the countryside stopping every now an again where the sage would heal people or teach children about nature and the Elements.

It was during one of these stays in the village of Te Dang when the old sage asked the young man to begin teaching the children about the inner self. For the old sage knew that to master a subject one needed to teach it to others, to allow the teaching to come from within and be expressed as an aspect of the young man in the outer world.
The young man had been nervous all day. In the years he had spent with the old sage he had always been the student, never the teacher, although from time to time he would aid the old sage in his healing of the sick, but he never led anything; always in support. This would be the first time he would take the lead. It was exciting and yet at the same time daunting. He had watched the old man engage with his audience in a matter of seconds and although he sometimes spoke to hundreds it always looked like he was speaking to each one of them individually.

How could he ever be like that? The old man had a magic about him; the magic of the Initiate. He never put himself above anyone. He never engaged anyone in an argument. He never foisted his opinion on anyone, preferring to only answer questions as they were asked. He always accepted without question what each day would bring. He never asked for anything but his needs were always provided.

He remembered back to the day when his pack and the dragonfly pendant were stolen. It had been a horrible day and yet as he looked back on it, it was one of the best teachings he had ever received. Since that day he had become the observer and like the old sage he was now taking each day as it came.

As he relived that day he tried to remember what the old sage had taught him. What had the old sage said; he was having difficulty remembering. Huo took a deep breath, held it for a moment and in seconds he could feel the calmness and all knowing of the Initiate come around him. In his minds eye he could now see the old sage sitting in a meditation.
All at once he opened his eyes and words fell from his mouth although he still seemed to be in a deep trance. The words that fell from his lips were from a deep part of the old sage, in a voice which was very different from the Sage's normal voice. "It is important that you believe that you are already the Initiate and that you have this power within you. You need to make it a part of the your now and not off in some distance future. You need to create the Initiate within, before it can express itself in the outer world. It is in the mirror worlds of the inner self where all creation takes place. What happens in the outer world is but a mirror to what you have created within. If you want to understand what you are creating with your thoughts and feelings all you have to do is look at what is happening in the outer world. If you do not like what is happening then you need to change what you are feeling and thinking. To be the Initiate you have to be able to believe in a life that you cannot hear, touch or taste, but a life that you will eventually begin to feel. It is strange that by believing and opening yourself up to being the the Initiate and walking the way of the Initiate that something inside you opens up to the possibility.

"As you walk the path you will begin to understand that the love that comes from the Tao or God is impartial. Although this energy does not care what you do with your life, it is possible to direct the energy and create whatever you want in your life. I do not mean that if you have a wishy washy thought that you want something that it will come into your life because it won't. You first have to create the feeling of already having it in the inner worlds and then this energy will be expressed and delivered in the outer world and the godforce will manifest what you already believe is yours."

Huo felt reenergized. The words of the old sage coursed through his entire being and then out into the audience before him. Children who were loud and raucous only minutes before were sitting quietly waiting for the young man to speak. "Let me tell you a story," said the young man and the children hung on his every word. "It is the story of a young boy  who was taken in and became an apprentice to an old sage. The old sage taught him about nature and the seasons. He taught him how to connect with the animals and become their friend. He taught him how to sit in the forest and connect with his inner self and to understand that everything in the universe was connected."

As he went deeper into the story and the teachings he received from the old sage he could see the connection he was having with his young students. Their eyes started to bulge as they took in everything he said and even more than that they could take in everything he felt. In many cases they could not understand what he was saying with their logical minds, especially the younger ones, but on some level they all understood.
As Huo was talking a picture began to form in his mind. He continued to teach the children, but a deeper part of himself was focused on the picture which was building in his mind. It was a scene from what looked like the future. As he focused deeper he could see himself as the old sage and following behind him were a number of apprentices, but the landscape was different and this certainly was not China and many of his apprentices were definitely not Chinese. He went deeper into the picture with his feelings and he knew it to be true. Was he creating this future because of his belief in being the initiate or was he growing into a life that was predestined?

Those thoughts and feelings disappeared as he put his attention back on the children before him. He may have had a glimpse of his future but it was what he was doing in the present that would determine what he would become.

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My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other wonderful bookstores and online sellers. If you want to read more about 'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' have a look at my website on www.the33rdsage.com or my translatable blog at http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

The Legend of the 33rd Sage - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Discipline is the Doorway to the Infinite Self

It was just after 4.a.m when the old sage shook the young man awake.
"Huo after what happened yesterday I want to change your training. Rather than continue to work on connecting you with your inner-self, which seems to be taking on a life if its own, I believe it would be best to work with your physical self. Today we will begin your lessons in martial arts and also in meditation. If you inner life continues to develop at the current rate it is important that you learn physical and mental discipline to be able cope with the changes."

"Master how will martial arts help with my inner life."

"Your inner world expresses itself in your outer world and unless we discipline, your mind, body and emotional responses then you will create your outer world based on your childish reactions to what you perceive as external influences. Everything in the outer world is only an expression of what it first created in the inner worlds. As you open yourself up to the inner worlds you will get messages from your higher self. If you are not a clear channel then these messages will be distorted by your ego and emotions. When the  message tells you to go forward your ego may tell you the opposite. It is only through discipline that we can quieten the ego and clear the subconscious mind of its previous programming.

The old sage moved into the horse stance; he took a deep breath and then closed his eyes. "Now Huo I want you to attack."
"But Master you have your eyes closed and you are so old. I am afraid that I will hurt you as I will be too quick for you."
The old sage smiled, the young man was much like he had been those many years ago. "Yes you are probably right but please do this as a favour to an old man. Attack me."
Huo faltered for a moment. Then he moved forward, dancing around the old man flicking out the odd punch, more to test if the old man would respond rather than trying to hit him.
The old sage never moved.

Huo's confidence began to grow. He would not hit the old man hard, just a light tap on his head to teach him a lesson and show him how fast he was. Before the fist reached its target Huo could feel himself being thrown in the air. As he struck the ground feeling every bruise, he replayed in his mind what had happened. His fist was about a hands length from the old man, when the old sage moved inside the fist, grabbed his arm and in what seemed an impossible move the sage went underneath him and launched him into the air. "Teach me," was Huo's only reply.

And that was when his Martial Arts training began. Each day well before sunrise the nocturnal animals would gather around in a circle to watch the old man and his young apprentice practice, using stances the animals themselves used and also working with the energy of the elements to understand how to read your opponent, but more importantly to learn how to understand and observe yourself; to move to that stage where there was no reaction. For it was in the reaction that the old sage knew that moved you out of the flow.

Month after month they practiced. First Martial Arts and then the daily meditation; one minute of meditation for each hour of the day. At first the young man could not hold his emotions in check, reacting to the strikes of the old sage which always ended up in him getting another bruise or landing on his backside. He was progressing well with the physical aspects of the training, but he could not move beyond his emotions; something he would need to do to move on to the deeper aspects of the old Sage's teachings.
The old sage was not worried, "for it was what it was, it was neither good nor bad." the young man would move beyond the ego in his own good time. It just meant that he would have to slow down on the inner work.

It was after a particularly bad session when the young man had received far more bruises than normal, the Sage's inner voice suggested they do the meditation by a stream which ran a few hundred meters from their camp.

As soon as he saw the stream he understood what his inner voice was trying to tell him. Even after all these years it was the inner voice from his Higher Self which was always there when needed. The key, as always, was to be open enough to listen.
They sat beside the stream only this time the old sage asked Huo not to close his eyes but to stare into the water and allow it to take him into a meditative state.
The young man watched the stream, not quite sure how this was going to help him to go into a meditative state. All the same after a few minutes he found himself very calm and he released the frustration he had experienced from the early training session, where once again the old man made him look stupid. It no longer mattered for he began to understand that he was not fighting against his Master but himself. That one realization released any anger he had stored in his body. At once his body healed itself, the bruises disappearing and along with it the aches and pains. He even noticed that his paralyzed left arm was now completely free from any pain and he now had full movement of it. He looked to the old sage for an answer but the old sage had disappeared. Unperturbed he looked back into the water for in that moment he knew that it was his teacher that morning.

He watched as the water flowed on by kissing the bank and givings its life force to the plants and animals who lived along the stream. He looked into the middle to see a large rock rising out of the water. The water did not seem to fight against it, but simply flowed around the rock. It did not need to react, it just found another simpler course. He understood that in time the water would defeat the rock but that it would be done in a calm balanced way. The water had so much power and yet at the same time it gave life to everything around it. He had never looked at the elements in this way before, but from that moment on he would begin to observe more, for there was far more to this world than he had previously thought possible.

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My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other wonderful bookstores and online sellers. If you want to read more about 'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' have a look at my website on www.the33rdsage.com or my translatable blog at http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

The Legend of the 33rd Sage - Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Nothing is Ever Lost

"Nothing is ever lost. Everyone who has ever lived and everything they have created," said the old sage, as he reached out his open right hand, "Is there for anyone. Nothing is gone. All you have to do is open yourself up to the vibration and you become a channel into the past, present or future. When you go into your inner self you connect with everything that has been or will be. All the geniuses or masters are waiting for you to tap into their energy. If you want to be a great artist all you have to do is imagine in your inner being that you are that great artist and then allow him or her to open up their genius to you.

"When I was studying to be part of the 33 Sages of the White Brotherhood I would sit for hours and open up myself to the sages who had come before me. I would learn in days what would have normally taken lifetimes to understand."

"Teach me," said the young man, whose mind was already opening itself up to the Cosmic Mind which held the memory of all things. The young man soon found himself wandering through the hallway of a large castle. At the end of the hallway was a doorway. From beyond the doorway Huo could see a blinding light forcing its way around the edge of the wooden door which framed the doorway. His ego mind was telling him not to go any further. He hesitated for a moment and then continued walking. His ego spoke louder, almost screaming for him to stop. In that moment he understood what the old sage had taught him about the ego's fear of death. He took a deep breath and stepped through the door. He was immediately enveloped by the light and transported to another place and time.

Once Huo's eyes become accustomed to the light, he was aware that he was surrounded by thousands of people, many who looked exactly like him. One young man came towards him. At first he pulled back, for a moment not realizing that it was another part of him from another dimension. The shock sucked him out of his body and back into the present where he was sitting by the fire with the old sage.

At first he could say nothing, for he was truly in shock, a part of him now existed in the other world and he could feel it pulling on his being. He was no longer sure what was real. Until a few minutes ago he believed the world he lived in was reality, but now he was no longer sure. He had been to a world where there were thousands of being just like him. In his feeling self he knew they had all come from different dimensions and worlds to meet together in the world which existed beyond the doorway. Would he be able to go back there? Did he want to go back? For that matter did he have a choice; for he felt like there was a part of him which now existed totally in that other world and he was not sure whether he needed to go back and retrieve it or was that the way it was meant to be. Was he in fact drawing from his others selves all the time, or maybe it was a way for him to experience other worlds and other parts of his eternal self?

He looked across at the old sage who was quickly making a pot of herbal tea. He had never seen the old sage rush with anything. Huo sat there experiencing his own infiniteness; he no longer felt shock, no now what he was feeling was a sense of calm, but beneath the calm was another feeling, it was the sense of wonder. No longer could he look at anything the same way again. He picked up beetle that was scurrying beneath his feet. The beetle stopped scurrying and looked into the young man's eyes and for a moment they shared a piece of each other.

The old sage had never seen anything like it. He quickly poured the cup of herbal tea in the hope the events of the last few minutes would not send the young man mad. It was more than anyone could stand without years of meditation and discipline. But he need not have worried. By the time he offered the tea to the young man he was calm and serene. In fact he was more than that. The old sage watched as the young man connected with the beetle in a way that he would not have thought possible. The old sage stood in awe as the beetle and the young man became one. It was not in a philosophical sense; for they had truly become one. The aura of the young man and the beetle had entwined and now the energy and memories of each were now available to each other; although he was not sure how the beetle would cope with the memories and teachings the young man had given him. The old sage was not sure anymore who was the teacher. The old sage was trying to teach him that he could draw from the teachings of the masters in previous times, but the young man had gone beyond that and he was showing the old sage he could learn from his infinite selves and even from the insects of the earth. He knew the young man was special when he had seen him in his dreams those many years ago, but now he was beginning to see how truly special he was.

It was now important for him to speed up the teaching he was giving the young man, as he was growing far quicker than he would have ever thought possible. Which in itself was a wonderful thing, but it also had its downside. Did the young man have the mental capacity to cope with what was occurring?

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My new book the 33rd Sage and the Initiate is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other wonderful bookstores and online sellers. If you want to read more about 'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' have a look at my website on www.the33rdsage.com or my translatable blog at http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/