Connecting with the Wisdom of your Higher Self - Part 5

Fear And Feeling Tones

On the next step in learning how to connect with our Higher Self I thought it would be appropriate to look at fear and what I call our feeling tones.

Fear is such an amazing emotion. In small doses it stops us from walking into situations where we can be harmed. It would have been great for Neanderthal man as it would have stopped him from being eaten by a lion or a poisonous snake, but in those days fear came with a certain amount of inner knowledge. Our ancient ancestors lived in touch with nature and the elements and so when they went into situations where the fear hairs stood up on the back of their neck they had a reason to listen.

Today it is a different story. The fight and flight reactions that were hard wired into us in the past are not needed as much and yet when you look at the people around you, there seem to be more fears today in our safer world than there ever was. Why is this? I believe it is because we are out of touch with nature and the cycles within nature. Those who still live on the land are still in contact with these cycles and for the most part seem to have less fears than us so called civilized people that populate the cities. I am not suggesting that we all pull up stumps and move back to the country or take up a nomadic life, but I am suggesting that we get back in touch with the cycles within ourselves and within nature. Most people seem to have forgotten that we are made up of these cycles. There are our biorhythms, our sleep cycles, women's menstrual cycles and even the greatest cycle of all, our conception, birth, death and rebirth and many more. All of these are natures cycles and yet many of us seem so divorced from nature and our own cycles.

How can getting in touch with these cycles allow us to reduce or move beyond our fears? I believe that once we reconnect with these cycles that an inner or innate knowledge starts to come alive and we begin to see and feel things before they happen. In my books and some of my blogs I talk about using a molecule of your feelings to send into to situations where you are not sure and allow whatever returns to guide your next move. It starts with a stillness and being able to open yourself up to the answer which lies within. This one technique has given me more information than I could ever have received from a mountain of books.

All life is energy; so when you meet someone new or meet a new situation then it will have an energy. Get in the habit of stilling your mind chatter and allow the feelings to come forward; these inner feelings will always steer you in the right direction. These feelings are not emotion like anger, frustration etc, but a feeling tone that comes up from deep within. As I was writing this blog I came to a full stop. I quieted myself for a moment and saw in my minds eyes two roads representing different ways the blog could go. The first road was where I talked about the fear itself and the second where I talked about the energy underneath all things. As I wandered down the first road I could feel an energy that was stuck. I immediately knew that this was not the road to go down. Like many of us I would normally have been inclined to continue down that road not trusting the inner voice, blaming it for being lazy or wanting to take the easy way out. These days my inner voice seems to be louder and more insistent when I ask it these questions.

It is hard to describe to anyone who hasn't experienced it, but let's have a play with it. Let's have a play with the energy in the universe. I want you to look at an area of your life where you have at least two choices on how to move forward. As you begin to practice, probably not such a good idea to look at major changes in your life, something smaller to start with. It could be as simple as looking at a menu and decided what to eat. Start small and don't give up. In the early stages of anything new it will feel weird, silly and uncomfortable, but if you have discipline and a little bit of good old tenacity then your efforts will be worth it.

To begin with have you options metaphorically or physically in front of you. I used the technique this morning when I was deciding what to write. My first thought, not a feeling, but my first thought was to work on my third novel The 33rd Sage and the Ancient Ones. I opened the file and sat there looking at the empty page and there was nothing. I typed a few words but soon deleted them. There was just nothing there. It was then that I sat for a moment and stilled my mind. It helped that I was sitting in the garden surrounded by plants and trees and a beautiful blue sky. Still winter in Melbourne it was a bit chilly but I was in touch with nature and I find it easier to still the thoughts of the mind when I am surrounded by trees. It even seems to keep out the noises of cars, trucks and building projects going on in my street. After a few seconds my mind started to become still. If it takes you longer that is okay as I have been doing this technique for many years. Once my mind was still I allowed the feelings to come up from within. In moments a picture appeared of a blank page. My first reaction was that a blank page was what caused the problem in the first place. Then I sent a molecule of my feelings into the blank page and what returned was a feeling of new life. In the early days of my metaphysical training I would have just pushed the feeling aside, not realizing that it was the answer I was looking for. When these feelings come forward try not to judge them because this engages the ego and blocks these wonderful gifts which come from your higher self.

Once I opened a blank page and allowed the feelings and thoughts to flow I was soon looking at these words now before you.

It really is as is simple as that to engage your real feeling centre and allow the higher self to show you where to go. Practice it. Play with it. Make a fool of yourself. Once you get to the stage when you accept the information that comes forward, something happens and you open up a doorway for your higher self to come through more often. To others you may seem like you are in a dream world, but you are in bliss. My partner notices when I go there and she just smiles and lets me be as she knows that I am in my special place and when I return I will be in very positive state.

As with all these techniques practice makes perfect. Don't spend all day practicing them as this would out of a balance. Don't talk to others about what you are doing until you feel comfortable with the technique as it will dissipate the energy.

Have fun with it. Share your experiences on my blog.

Blessings and Peace and may you higher self whisper to you and share its beauty.

****
I have included the chapter on Fear and Feeling Tones from my upcoming book the Way of the Initiate. Much of what I have written above comes from this book but for some of us the best way to learn is through story. I hope you enjoy the story of Huo the young disabled boy who begins to walk the path of the Initiate.

The Way of the Initiate
Fear and Feeling Tones


The young man's night was filled with dreams of old sages sitting around a table, each one of them coming forward to teach him about their individual aspects of the thirty three. Of course, when he woke in the morning, he would remember none of it other than a queer feeling in his stomach that would stay with him forever, appearing whenever a deep teaching came forward from the Tao or one of the 33 sages.

When he woke, he looked around but could not see the old sage. Something wasn't right; the uneasy feeling he had in his stomach made him feel uncomfortable, and at the same time he began to feel fearful. Had something happened to the old sage? Had he done something to upset him? In a panic, he looked around where they had camped overnight, but there was no sign of him. He looked over to the mountains and could see that the sun was already peeking over the range. He had slept in; it was well past the time they were meant to be on the road. Had his lack of discipline caused the old sage to leave him behind?

He was becoming more anxious and overwhelmed. What if he never saw the old sage again? Almost involuntarily, he took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and immediately began to relax. He took another deep breath and held that for a moment, and his attention moved from the forest around him to a point deep within himself. In the deepness, he could see the old sage in the forest, no more than five hundred meters from where he was now sitting. He put his belongings in his pack, put the long staff through the pack, and tossed it over his shoulder, then he followed the inner feeling, sure that it would lead him to the old sage.

He found the old sage in a clearing, where he was sitting around an open fire. The old sage gave Huo a cup of of tea and motioned for him to sit on a log beside him.

"Fear is such an amazing emotion," he said. "In small doses, it stops us from walking into situations where we can be harmed. If we are really in touch with these inner feelings, the fear or energy that comes forward is not a creation of our own subconscious mind, but inner promptings from our higher self, which can truly show us the way. Our ancestors, those who lived in touch with nature and the elements, had a sixth sense; so, when they went into situations where the fear hairs stood up on the back of their neck, they had a reason to listen. Everything in the universe has a feeling or feeling tone, a vibration, if you will, that you can tap into or feel.

"Today it is a different story, as more and more of our people live in villages and cities. The fight-or-flight reactions that were hard-wired into us in the past are not needed as much, and yet when you look at the people around you, there seem to be more fears today in our safer world than there ever was. Why is this? I believe it is because we are out of touch with nature and the cycles within nature. Those who still live on the land are still in contact with these cycles and for the most part seem to have fewer fears than us so-called civilized people that populate the villages and cities. We need to get back in touch with the cycles within ourselves and within nature. Most people seem to have forgotten that we are made up of these cycles. They are our biorhythms, our sleep cycles, women's menstrual cycles, and even the greatest cycle of all, our conception, birth, death, rebirth, and many more. All of these are nature’s cycles, and yet many of us seem so divorced from nature and our own cycles.

"By reconnecting with these cycles, an inner or innate knowledge starts to come alive, and we begin to see and feel things before they happen. Whenever you go into a new situation or meet a new person, send a molecule of your feelings into it or them and allow whatever returns to guide your next move. It starts with a stillness and being able to open yourself up to the answer that lies within.

"All life is energy, so when you meet someone new or meet a new situation, it will have an energy. Get in the habit of stilling your mind chatter and allowing the feelings to come forward; these inner feelings will always steer you in the right direction. These feelings are not emotion like anger, frustration, etc., but rather a feeling tone that comes up from deep within. When you awoke and found that I was not there, your initial reaction was to panic and become fearful; that was just your subconscious mind, your ego reacting to the unknown. When you took a deep breath and began to quiet the mind you were tapping into, the energy of the situation and your higher self allowed you to connect with the feeling of where I was.

"It is hard to describe to anyone who hasn't experienced it, but when you begin to play with the feelings, you will be lead to deeper understandings than your rational mind could give you, for your rational mind is trapped in the matrix created by your ego. I want you to practice using your feeling tones whenever you have a decision to be made. In the early stages of anything new, it will feel weird, silly, and uncomfortable, but if you have discipline, your efforts will be rewarded.

"To begin with, have your options metaphorically or physically in front of you. After a few seconds, take a deep breath as you did earlier and allow the mind to become still. If it takes you longer, then that is okay, as I have been doing this technique for many years. Once your mind is still, allow the feelings to come up from within or simply send a molecule of your own feeling self into the situation. In the early days of my training, I would have just pushed the feeling aside, not realizing that it was the answer I was looking for. When these feelings come forward, try not to judge them because this engages the ego and blocks these wonderful gifts, which come from your higher self.

"It really is as simple as that to engage your real feeling centre and allow the higher self to show you where to go. Practice it. Play with it. Make a fool of yourself. Once you get to the stage where you accept the information that comes forward, something happens and you open up a doorway for your higher self to come through more often. To others, you may seem like you are in a dream world, but you are in bliss.

"As with all these techniques, practice makes perfect. Don't spend all day practicing them, as this would push you out of a balance. Also, don't talk to others about what you are doing until you feel comfortable with the technique, as it will dissipate the energy."


***********

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

Connecting with the Wisdom of your Higher Self - Part 4

The Concept of Flow

Today I want to talk about the concept of flow or being so open to the universe that you always seem to be in the right place at the right time. In my book The 33rd Sage and the Initiate the lead character Conway begins to understand the meaning of being in the flow and it leads him further and deeper on his quest.

The concept of flow is fascinating; right throughout the universe there is a conscious energy that is to connected to all things. It is this concept that allows faster speeds than the speed of light or the ability to remote view through time and over amazing distances. Some have called this non local. I would prefer to see it as a local effect because everything we do and are is connected to the great flow that occurs within this and other universes. Even the concept of an expanding universe which occurred after a big bang is a scientific understanding of something far greater. The difficulty for scientists is that they try and reduce things and it is only the genius of an Einstein who has the ability to step back and see what is really there. Have you ever thought of the idea that the universe is not so much expanding but is in the breathing out process. Having breathed in over fourteen billion years ago and then then started to breath out. From our limited perspective we would see an expanding universe. Do this, stop for a moment and take a deep breath and then breathe all that air into a ballon and what you will see is what is happening to the universe. The universe is a living thing and it expresses itself in the breathing in and out of its own energy. This cycle continues over and over and from our limited ego selves we cannot see the truth that lies before us. If human beings are so smart then what of the energy of the universe; surely it's consciousness would have a depth and knowledge far beyond our own.

When one of us mere mortals has a religious moment or that beautiful moment of being connected to the all that is, what we are doing is tapping into the flow that is the universe. The experience and the beauty does not last because we try to rationalize it with our ego mind, rather than accept the experience for what it is, a moment of being in the flow, of being one. It is something that cannot be explained; it can only be experienced and once having experienced it you cannot put words to what you have felt, but you know in that moment you have been changed forever. Even though your ego will again take control, there is a bit of you that will stay forever connect to the all that there is and it is this little part that makes it easier for you to connect with the all that is in the future.

The more we live in the flow the more the universe reveals its secrets. To others you will appear that you are drifting through the day without a care or a purpose but you will have never have been so connected. You will see the magic in the mundane. You will pick up a flower, a child, an animal and see the greatness of what some of us call god flowing through it. Everything has this beauty and life force in it, it is just that not all of us have the eyes to see it or are not connected enough with our hearts to feel it. I wrote in another blog how I believed that creativity was the way to God and that is because when we are  creative we open up ourselves to the experience of creation and is those moments we can experience momentary glimpses of the One, the all that there is.

The key is to be open to the experience. For me writing or travel has been the touchstones which allowed me to connect with the One. As a male I was a little slow and it took many years of meditation before I began to experience the connection. These days the connection can happen at anytime. Today I am writing this as I sit in the beautiful sunshine in the garden and it is as if my heart has simply opened and these words and thoughts have flowed onto the page. At my feet is my gorgeous little dog Beatrice whose name means bringer of Joy and she has certainly been that in the five years she has been with us. She is not the sharpest tool in the shed, unlike our other dog Horatio, but these is a sensitivity and a beauty that I have never seen in all my previous dogs. When we first got her she should have been put down because she was incredibly unwell, but even then there was a beauty that I still can't describe. I find if I look into her eyes I am still brought to tears by this one of the most sensitive of God's creatures. Over the years of good food, exercise and countless homoeopathic remedies she now has almost perfect health and there is not a day goes by where she does not repay us a thousand times for our kindness.

Having never been blessed with children of our own I wonder what an amazing thing it is for parents who can see the act of creation at work in their own children. For the rest of us to feel and connect with the one, a creative outlet is another way to go.

There are other ways to begin touch with the flow and one of the best is meditation. There are many forms and practice of meditation; for me the easiest is more relaxation rather than meditation. There are some meditation practices where they have you practice by  focusing on a candle or a single object or thought or chant; these are all helpful but I find for most people when they stop saying the chant or focusing on the candle that there mind is once again full of the mind chatter that they had before the meditation. For me the object  of meditation or a relaxation technique is to still the mind to allow the higher self to come through and enlighten your day.

The easiest way to do it is to listen to relaxing classical music or sounds of water or even better than that if you can listen to the sounds of an alpha or theta meditation. Rather than try to focus your mind I would prefer you trust listen to the sounds and allow the mind to relax itself. Initially your mind will be full of a thousand thoughts, but then just imagine that these thoughts are actually sitting on a river and rather than focusing on them allow them to float on by. Your ego will want to deal with them and every now and again they will come up again for your attention, but just allow it to be and let it float down the river. Now I don't want you to spend time concentrating on the river; it is just an avenue for your thoughts to float away. You will find over time that there will be spots in the river where there is no thoughts and then eventually feelings, impressions or pictures will come from your higher self to inspire you or lead you on the next part of your journey.

You will know when you get input from the higher self as there will be a change in your feelings; for some it will be a few moments of complete calm, for others a smile might break out across their face and occasionally that moment when you know you are One. They won't last because your ego will try to hold onto them because it wants to feel special.  Don't fight the ego, just allow it to be and in time it will not feel threatened by these moments of connection with the One or the higher self. In turn these moments will come more often and for longer periods of time; although the concept of time will definitely feel irrelevant.

Play with it and don't expect to see God in your first meditation; like all new skills it takes practice. The practice here is to let go. In time you will be able to quickly go deep in your meditation and then you can begin to ask questions which will often be answered in the meditation itself in the form of symbols, pictures and feelings or the answer may come in the hours after the meditation in the form of a chance thought or a moment of synchronicity when the actual question you asked is answered by a comment on the radio or a sign on a bus going by. The more you accept that we are all connected the more you will see these connections and begin to be a part of the flow. It is a courageous to give your life over to the concept of flow. Never knowing what is around the next corner but being truly open to the beauty of life and truly living your life as it was meant to be lived.

My old teacher taught me that it was like being a warrior sage or silent warrior, because it is in the silence, in the stillness that the universe reveals itself to you. I won't say the journey is easy, that is unless you can simply let go of any preconceived thoughts and ideas; yes then it will be simple and easy. For most of us it will take discipline as we release the thoughts that don't allow us to see the beauty of the world and every creature in it.

Blessings and Peace and may your connection with the higher self bring a smile to every cell in your body and reflect it in the world around you.


Here below for your enjoyment is the chapter on Flow from my upcoming book The Way of the Initiate.


The boy woke after sleeping for eighteen hours with little to no memory of what had happened the day before. After waking, he stretched both arms above his head as if to welcome in the day, little realizing that his partially paralyzed left arm was no longer paralyzed; there was still some scarring, but during the night it was as if the withered muscle in his shoulder had come back to life. The healing had begun, but there was no need for the old sage to acknowledge the changes - for that would be living in the past, and there was only the now. He would one day teach Huo about the reality of time, but for the moment he would just allow him to exist in this moment in time. The healing had occurred because he had begun to release the pain from the fire, a pain that he had caused himself, but there would be time enough later for revelations.

The old sage greeted his young apprentice. "From this time forward, Huo, we will rise at 4 a.m. and walk in the dark and allow our energy to go forth in the day before the animals in the forest or the people in the villages wake and fill the day with their energy. Each day, we will let our feelings lead the way. We will rise in silence and stay silent for the first hour of our walk. As part of this exercise, I would like you to silently ask the Tao a question you want answered in that day. If you are open to it, the answer will come to you in any one of a hundred different ways. It could be a word or vision that comes around your subconscious mind, an answer from nature, or someone we meet along the path; be open, and the answer will come. Having the courage to give yourself over to the beauty of the higher self allows your life to enter into the dynamic spontaneity of the flow of the universe. It is about taking life as you find it, rather than forcing it into your preconceived notions of the world. By giving the infinity within you credence, you empower that same infinity to come into and be a part of your life. Let's now be silent for the next hour while we let our spirit be our guide."

The young boy packed up his pack, put his long staff through it, and tossed it over his shoulder. There was much he did not understand about the old sage, but if there was one thing he was sure about, it was that his life would never be the same again. Until this journey with the old sage, much of his time had been spent talking to the elders of the village because they were the only ones that did not seem to be scared of his looks. He would sit and talk with them for hours. Most of them were uneducated and simple people, but if you delved deep enough, you would find that they had a deep understanding of the cycles within nature and a knowledge of human nature that could not be found in the few books the village possessed. Each of the elders was like their own little library of information, and Huo had consumed whatever they taught him. Even as a young boy, he was well versed in the art of fishing and carpentry, and his understanding of farming was not too shabby either. Not too shabby. He laughed at that last thought because if he had a mirror, he would have looked pretty shabby in his worn out clothes.

What question would he ask the Tao to answer? He mulled over that for about an hour, although for the most part it was at the back of his mind while he enjoyed the bounties of nature. It was cold when they first started out, but he loved the cold; in many ways, it allowed him to bring forth his own nature. Even as a very young child, he had a way of bringing up the fire from within his own being. He was never cold, even on the coldest winter night; all he had to do was imagine a fire, then he could draw the heat of the fire to himself. It was as if he could heat himself from within at will. Of course, the ability was a two-edge sword, and this ability had been at the heart of the fire that had killed his parents. He had learnt early on that the element of Fire was either a boon or a curse, depending on how you used it. He wondered momentarily about the other elements, but that soon passed and the element of fire, his element, returned. For the first two years after the fire, he stopped using the techniques until he realized that it was not the Fire that was the problem and that he would need to be careful when he used the element because he never wanted anybody to suffer at his hands again.

While walking silently and looking back on his life to date, he felt a gentle wind come around him; she caressed him with her icy fingers, not yet touched by the morning sun. He stopped for a moment to fully experience the wind when he realized that the wind was coming from within him. He reached out his hand and watched as the feeling of the wind, from within, wrapped itself around his fingers, then progressed up his arm until it came all the way up to his head and gently caressed his face. He looked deeply into the energy that surrounded him and knew at that moment that he was the wind. He was not sure yet whether he had created the wind or if he had become one with the wind; it did not matter, though, for in that moment he realized that the illusion of separation no longer held him in her grasp. He had only been with a the sage a few days, but in many ways he seemed years older than the young boy who left the village. He had seen the energy behind the form, and no longer would he feel separate from anyone.

He took a moment to sit by himself and experience the connection with all things. First it was the Elements dancing around and through him, then it was the forest and the animals who were becoming active; not only could he see them all, he could feel them all and had become them. It was then that it struck him, and tears began to escape from his eyes as he realized: if he were connected to everything, then he was still connected to his parents. He began to understand what the old man had meant when he said, "Nothing ever dies."

With tears streaming down his face, he realized that the Tao had not only given him the answer to his question, it had done more than that and allowed him to see a deeper connection, a connection he had with everyone and everything that had ever existed or will ever exist. The concept was too much for his young mind, which was being stretched in a thousand different directions.

He looked across at the old sage, who was watching the young man with an enigmatic smile on his face. "Welcome to the flow. It is something you will never be able to describe, for to describe it puts barriers around something that is infinite. It is like trying to hold an ocean in a tea cup. The beauty of the flow is to experience it and to know that you are always connected. Now, let's take 24 minutes to meditate and reflect on the lessons we have both received this morning."

The young man and the old sage put aside their packs and sat with their backs touching an old tree as they reflected quietly on what they had experienced that morning. Each of them was in their own world, but they were both connected in ways that they were yet to understand.

Blessings and peace and may you begin to see how you can connect with the flow in every moment of your life.
Geof

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

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

Your Higher Self

In the 1970's and 80's there were many channelers, channeling information from a number of great teachers such as Seth, Ramtha and Old Chinese. When the channelers went deep into trance these energies would come through them and teach the students that were drawn to them. For the most part when they came out of trance the channelers would have no idea what information had been channeled.

It is my belief that these beings were coming through their Higher Self and as Old Chinese once taught that when a message comes from our higher self that the ego or subconscious mind would have no memory of what was coming through. If the channeler had a fully memory of what had come through then it was because it was created by his ego to make him or her more special.

In the twenty first century there seems to be many individuals who seem to be channeling information from the gods, Angels, beings from other planets and other dimensions or from great teachers of the past. What makes them different from channelers of the past is that in many cases they have a full memory and understanding of the channeled information. Normally I would have let these teachings go as manifestations of the ego, but I have seen and met many of these, so called, channelers and modern day mystics who have access to the inner worlds. Although much of this information appears to be coloured by the thoughts and belief of the channeler, there appears to be wonderful information that is coming from the area of their Higher Self which is connected with everything.

My old teacher quite often talked about the spiritual quickening which was going to take place on the planet in the last twenty years of twentieth century and on into the twenty first century. I wonder whether this quickening includes greater access to the information that is stored in our higher selves.

Old Chinese was an energy that came through Marshall Lever to teach a group of students who wanted to move beyond the ego and the Earth plane. His teachings required discipline because he believed it was necessary for discipline for the individual to move beyond the ego; for the ego doesn't like discipline because it wants to have its own way. By providing it discipline it tends to quiet and let the higher self come through and around the subconscious mind. This energy from the higher self allows the individual momentary glimpses of the divine. In those moments when we have this connection with the higher self we are connected to all things. The challenge is that as soon as we recognize these moments of pure creativity coming from the higher self; the ego tries to hold on to it, but in the process of hanging on to it, all that is left is the ego and its self importance. Like the Tao the Higher Self is an energy that is indescribable. We have moments of it enlightening our lives or a situation, but because in most cases these moments are so brief we cannot describe them and in the end the higher self withdraws into itself and our ego believes that it does not exist and that it was an epiphany from our own wonderful goodness or intelligence.

You can recognize that it was your higher self because, it is an energy that you cannot put your finger on. You have a wonderful insight and then it is gone; most times you don't even have a memory of what the insight is.

Through discipline, such as meditation, fasting and time spent in nature you can slow down your ego to the point where these insights increase. You can even ask a question and an insight is immediately given; sometimes in the form of a feeling or a single word; sometimes these insights come from something in the outside world such as a sign or a word that would not normally have this effect on you.

Another discipline that allows your higher self to come forward is the discipline of creativity. It would seem funny to use the words creativity and discipline in the same sentence, but to be truly creative, you must have discipline. It is one of those strange quirks of fate that when you are at your most creative, whether a writer, painter, sculptor or anything that is creative, that in that moment of creation your are extremely focused and yet also in a meditative state. People who meditate regularly will tell you that in those moments when you are in your deepest meditation are the moments when you are connected with everything around you. If you want to feel the energy of the higher self then find what is your stick, what it is that drives you creatively. For me I am at my most creative in three situations; firstly when I am writing, secondly when I am teaching spiritual or metaphysical concepts or when I am meditating. In all these situations it is like there is a little voice that I am not aware in my normal life that comes around my subconscious mind and shares its wisdom. The trick I find is not to try and hold on to the little voice, but allow it to share what it needs to share and let it go. When you try to hold onto the little voice or the concept that is coming through it is only your ego which is feeling full of itself as it believes it was the creator of the idea or concept when in reality it comes from the higher self. But I hear you say that if it is from the higher self does that mean that we cannot create by ourselves. My answer to that would be it is the act of creation that we allow a window between ourselves and the higher self. If we could keep our ego out of it and continue in the act of creation like a little child then these moments of connection with the higher self can become longer.

Interestingly last night I had one vision and one dream. The vision occurred during my meditation. When I was completely relaxed what appeared to be a tunnel could be seen off in the distance. At first I thought it was the tunnel to what some have called heaven, but which is in reality a tunnel which can take you to the spirit world and a number of other dimensions based on our belief patterns. Unlike the normal tunnel which usually appeared right beside me this one appeared off in the distance and I found myself just staring at it - not sure whether to go towards it or not. It was then that my spirit guide Bartholomew (great name for a guide - he is also sometimes called Nathaniel, but that is a story for another time) entered my meditation and told me that the tunnel in front of me was the connection to my higher self. Connection was not quite the right word though because we are all connected to our higher self. What Bartholomew explained was that each of us has the opportunity to open up and enter into our higher self, where we will have the knowledge and understanding of what we have ever been and ever will be. I immediately felt nauseous and was almost spat out of the vision. As I opened my eyes I had a feeling that we are not meant to strive towards this connection with the higher self, but through our work on ourselves we draw the higher self to us.

That same night I had a dream where there was a group of us sitting around a table and I was teaching them how to connect with their higher selves. It was fascinating as I was sharing stories and teachings that I had been receiving and yet most of what I was teaching was from my upcoming book 'The Way of the Initiate,' a book that was written in parable form about a disfigured young boy who becomes a wise old sage and an Initiate of an ancient brotherhood.

Blessings and Peace - may your higher self give you a hint of its magnificence


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.

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

Healing and the Subconscious Mind

Healing and the Subconscious Mind

"In Old China an emperor stood upon a very high hill. Spread through the valley below him was all of his great army. He could see where a battle would be fought and where the other armies waited. He had developed an intricate system of commands for the generals and officers of his army and the battle beganThe emperor could signal to the right, and the right would attack. He could signal to the left, and the left would attack, or the middle. With another signal, each would retreat then attack again. The battle went on for hours. When the emperor saw a weakness he sent troops to that area and eventually they overcame the other army."

Chung Fu

This analogy fits your conscious and subconscious minds. Your conscious mind is the emperor and your subconscious, the army, does not see what is going on.

When we are talking of healing what we are really talking about is the subconscious mind. When we look at the physician analogy in my previous blog it is important to understand that our subconscious mind is a wonderful, natural force. It is how we exist in this world. It allows us to have memories of past situations and it is the place where the conscious mind implants all it's belief and knowledge. This can can either be a positive or negative experience. If we place in our subconscious the thought that the world and it's people are filled with great beauty, then that is what we will see. On the other hand if we focus on the pain and suffering in the world all we will see is pain and suffering.

Many of my readers will have an understanding of what I mean by the Subconscious Mind or the Subconscious as it has also been called. Before we go into more detail on how to get the best out of and work with the Subconscious I would like to give my quick explanation of what I believe it is and why it is so important.

When we incarnate into our bodies before birth or shortly after. What is is that incarnates? Some have called it the Soul others have called it the Subconscious and I would guess that if you look into many of the religions it will be known by many other names. For me I will call it the Subconscious. It is my belief that our higher self sends of aspects of itself in the form of the Subconscious to inhabit a body to increase its experiences in this plane. When the subconscious takes residence in the vehicle it is blank and has no knowledge of other lives or of the Higher Self. This is done so that went it incarnates it comes without any knowledge; so that it can work through the issues that it came here to experience. It is not a hit and miss exercise as the higher self and the aspect which incarnates understands what are probabilities for it in the first thirteen years of its life. It understands the parents weaknesses and strengths; it understand the culture it is being born into and it understand what is happening on the world at this time. Yes for it's own experience it chooses to live in Africa, Indonesia or America. It is only our misunderstanding of the wonderful opportunity that we call life, that we judge people for where they are born, the colour of their skin, their culture and their parenting. Mark my words it is the choice of the incarnated to where and when they choose and it is only our lack of understanding that makes us judge others to be different or less than we are.

When we incarnate we even choose what Element we will incarnate into as this elemental bias will allow us the best opportunity to experience what we came to earth to experience. When people start to learn about the Elements or deeper understandings of the Subconscious mind it is because they are ready for it. It is time for them to go beyond their Subconscious Mind.

But what is there to go beyond and how do we do it? Although our subconscious is an empty book when we arrive it comes programmed with our elemental perspective. We have also chosen our genetics because that will offer us the right environment in disease and health patterns to experience what we came here for. Incarnation into the Earth-plane is all about experiences; whether we are human, animal, plant or mineral. If you are attracted to these writings then you have done at least six lifetimes as human and many in all the other dimensions.

Even before your are born your subconscious is taking in impressions from your world. The Subconscious mind takes in everything; hundreds of thousands of inputs every minute. As the old computer saying goes, "Garbage in, garbage out." Before you start feeling guilty for the garbage that you have fed yourself or your children. Stop for a moment, breathe and understand that with regards to yourself you can become like the Emperor in our story and start to take control of your Subconscious mind through Conscious Mind. With regards the children you will have to wear that one. Sorry only kidding. Remember that your children chose you for all the crap that you and the world around you has given them. They understood what they were coming here to experience; they chose it. They get their revenge though. Every child feeds back to their parents and society what it taught them in the first thirteen years. We always blame the teenagers, but maybe we should look closer to home and be thankful that our loving teenagers are giving back to us what we taught them, so that we can deal with our own stuff. Scary thought that. Remember there are no victims. This is one concept that I have had the most difficulty understanding as I watch people in pain and suffering.

The subconscious mind has the ability to create in your world whatever you program into it and whatever you program into it is what you will get in return. The key if you want to change your life is to start taking care with what you program into your subconscious.
Begin today by becoming the observer. Watch how you respond to people and situations. When you meet someone new do you react positively or negatively and why?

When you get angry. Why are you angry, is it something they did or are you projecting your weakness onto them? Often I find it is when we meet someone who shows what we don't like about ourselves or a weakness we have that we can react.
If something makes you sad - why?
If you judge something or someone - why?
If you are fearful - why?

Don't be too tough on yourself; just observe; as you begin to become the observer you start to understand why you respond and then you can rise beyond it. Sometimes it can be a great challenge when you have believed these things for many years. Remember you are here to go beyond your Subconscious mind and have it work for you. It is time to understand your Element and then go beyond it to the Element of Ether. If you want to learn more about the Elements my first book 'The 33rd Sage,' is filled with the teachings I received from my old Chinese teacher.

We live in amazing times when all of us have the opportunity to be the creative essence we were meant to be.

Blessings and Peace and May your god give you the strength to realize how wonderful you are. One day you may even discover that the God or the Godforce that you seek has always been inside you.

**********
The 33rd Sage and my second book The 33rd Sage and the Initiate are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Watersons, and a number of online book stores. Bricks and mortar stores can order the books through my publishers, Xlibris and Dog Ear Publishing.

Twitter @GeofSpalding

Official Author Blog - the33rdsage.authorsxpress.com/

Websites www.the33rdsage.com and www.33rdsage.com

Translatable Author Blog - 33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/

Maya Doves and the Cities of Light

Maya Doves 2012

I was lucky and privileged to be one of 39 individuals who came together to experience the Maya Doves tour of the Mayan Ancient Cities of Light organized and led by Aluna Joy.

For many the Maya calendar was about the end of the world and the closer I came to the trip the more I could see, hear and feel the increase in people's fears as the date got closer to 21/12/2012. Even some of my own friends were questioning my need to be in Palenque Mexico on the 21st of December. It is hard to describe to anyone who hasn't experienced an inner pull to a sacred site, but for those who have had those feelings, it is easy to describe. One day I woke up knowing that I wanted, no it is more correct to say I needed to be in the land of the Maya for the end of their calendar.

There are many reasons I could give to satisfy the curiosity of many of my friends, such as to experience the culture and sacred sites of the Maya; to be there when their calendar ended; to experience the galactic alignment - an event which happens only once every 26,000 years or even to experience another culture. But the real reason was none of these. I felt drawn to the land of the Maya by a force which is far beyond my capacity to explain. My spiritual journey really began in 1983 when the Sun was first starting its 33 journey across the galactic centre. Of course I did not know it at the time, for what I was experiencing was the beginnings of the spiritual quickening which was affecting our planet. Many people all across the planet were beginning to feel this pull to the more spiritual aspects of their lives.

My old teacher Stuart Wilde termed the phrase the quickening or maybe it was his old Chinese teacher. As one of the leading metaphysicians on the planet Stuart was one of those individuals who was always one step ahead of the curve and many of his students were prepared for the quickening. The quickening has occurred on many levels and you just have to look at the world around you to see evidence of it.

Was it any wonder that as part of my 33 year journey aligned to the sun going through the galactic centre that I would be drawn to the Maya lands during this time. If anybody has read any of my books or blogs you will see that I am highly influenced by the number 33. The reason for this has many aspects but the the most important would be a teaching by my old Chinese teacher which taught about the 33 energies beyond the earthplane which are in charge of ours and the earth's evolution. It is these same 33 energies who have been called the White Brotherhood and many other names over the last few thousand years. In my second book The 33rd Sage and the Initiate I share many of the teachings that I received from my old Chinese teacher about the teachings from the 33 energies. These 33 energies guide and support our evolution, but because we have free will we have the ability to choose or disregard the energies that they bring forward. Even when we are doing things which are negative or do not support our highest energy, they do not judge and allow us to learn from our own mistakes; for they realize that we are all Eternal, Immortal and Infinite and this one lifetime just adds another book to the library that is our higher self.

Although it may seem like I am wandering in my thoughts as I explain the Maya Doves tour of 2012, I could not do it without some explanation of how I got there and if I am to be honest the spiritual journey always seems like we are wandering, as spirits little voices point us in the direction for our highest good and it is only that sometimes we do not always hear these voices which causes us to wander off the path every now and again.

It is funny how what may appear as little choices can have a major impact on our lives or send us off in directions that we would not previously have thought possible. For me the booking of my Maya trip was one such turning point. Initially it was booked out and I had to go on a waiting list, but as usual when something is meant to happen a space on the trip became available. The moment I booked the trip was the moment when all writing on my third book in the 33rd Sage series stopped. It did not matter what I did, I could write no more. It was becoming frustrating, I had taken a year and a half off from the corporate world to complete the series and here I was not able to write another word of the third book.

It was during one of these moments of frustration that the little voice whispered to me in the stillness of my mind. At first I cold not hear anything, then it became a rumbling sound as if coming through rushing water. Each time it came I could feel and hear only one word - Legend. I explored the word for a couple of days but was no closer to any deep understanding, so I decided to start to write about what the word meant, for in many times I learn about things through writing about them. It is as if a channel opens up within and information flows forward that I would not consciously know or create.
After writing a few pages about the term Legend a picture started to form in my mind of my old Chinese teacher, but this was not a contemporary picture but a picture of him in ancient China. The more I looked the more I saw and so I started to write. After a couple of hours I had the first few chapters of the Legend of the 33rd Sage or The Way of the Initiate. Over the next few months I wrote feverishly as one chapter after another appeared on my iPad before me (I have shared many of the first draft chapters on my blog). It is written in almost parable form and it is the story of how a young boy becomes apprentice to an old Chinese sage and walks the path of initiation. Each of the chapters represents one of the steps along the path of the Initiate.

Although it was only a first draft I could feel the power and energy that were in each of the chapters. For anyone who had the eyes to see or ears to hear what they had in front of them was a guide to initiation. It was the culmination of my thirty years on the path. The more I learnt the simpler the concepts became and so by the time I shared them in the story many would have appeared too simple, but the words of my old teacher came back, "if you cannot express an idea simply then you do not understand it."

Everything was going swimmingly until I reached chapter 30. Then all of a sudden I could write no more. Just like the final book in the 33 Sage series I could not go any further. In hindsight I could see that I needed to go to the lands of the Maya before I could complete both books, but at that stage I did not have the benefit of hindsight.

It was only a couple of weeks now before the trip to Central America and although I could not write I found myself with more than enough on my plate just preparing for the trip. As with any pilgrimage one has to prepare the outer self and the inner self and if one is entering sacred sites it is always good to get permission of the gatekeepers before entering.

My preparation included walking 14 kilometers per day, when I would imagine walking in the lands of the Maya and asking the gatekeepers for permission. I felt this permission was granted for Palenque but not as yet for the other sites. I could sense there was something that I was not quite understanding. I gave up on trying to understand it and gave it over to spirit while I completed all the outer world stuff like first aid kits, torches and all manner of stuff I would need on the outer journey.

Of course when we arrived in Villarhermosa my baggage was nowhere to be seen, which was appropriate as Aluna had said that part of this journey was to leave our old baggage behind and my inner being had taken it literally. After a few days of wearing the one same outfit Tas who I shared a room with was kind enough to lend me some clothes. The lesson for me was that I did not need anywhere near as much as I thought I needed. This was the first of many lessons I was to learn on this trip from the universe and the wonderful people I was surrounded by on this journey.

Palenque was the first sacred site on our Journey and we arrived there on the Winter Solstice 21/12/2012 - the end day of the Mayan calendar.
I would like to share a little bit about each of the sacred sites that we visited, but before each I thought I would like to share the words that Aluna Joy has written about each of these sites because in those few words much is shared.

Palenque

Aluna said, "Palenque is the water aspect of the cities of light. It is considered the home to the great hall of records, a living library of ancient wisdom. It is also aligned with the solstices, equinoxes, eclipses and zenith passages of the sun and was built with advanced sacred geometry. Palenque and the surrounding sites like Bonampak and Yaxchillan, have held mystery and intrigue for hundreds of years. It is considered by many to be an ancient school for spiritual initiates. In some writings it is considered the head of a huge, geographical dove grid anchoring a new definition of peace and wisdom. It is also the centre of the Earth's Merkaba that connects with the universal grid. The locals call Palenque the navel of the world. Palenque shelters a living library that reveals universal truths to those who listen with an open heart.

"The area that encompasses Palenque, Yaxchillan and Bonampak is where the ancient starry ones lived heaven on earth. Pacal Votan's energy, a Cosmic Messenger, still radiates from the temple of inscriptions in Palenque. Many of the Great Masters influence the energy of this area, including the elder race we call the Star Elders or the Invisible Council. It is even believed that Jesus healed the sick and performed baptisms in the Queen's Falls when he visited during his so-called 'lost years.' it is believed he learned from the star elders about cosmic time, and he taught them about the heart and peace. Palenque is an activator for intuitive understanding. By listening to the site, we are able to access the Hall of Records. This knowledge is stored in the intuitive water in our bodies."

As we stood in the circle to celebrate the solstice and the end of the Mayan calendar, the rains began to fall and when I say fall it was like the gods were emptying every last drop of water from the sky upon our head. Palenque was definitely the water element aspect of the Five Cities of Light and we were all experiencing the element in all it's glory. Amazingly not one person broke from the circle as ceremony continued; funny how each time a new person came into the centre to lead another part of the ceremony, the rain just got heavier. We stood there for hours getting drenched in the Element of Water and not one person complained or showed their frustration. The negative emotion of the Water Element person is frustration and although we were being challenged not one person showed the least frustration. They were all being challenged by the element and each and everyone of the circle seemed to be able to step above the emotion and see the beauty of water for what it provided. For without water there would be no growth, no life.

When the ceremony was finished most of just laughed and like children we splashed our way around Palenque, enjoying the water falls that appeared on the temples and the rivers that were flowing through the site.

Aluna made the comment that we were here to create our new selves, that our old selves would not be taken into the new world which we and others were creating. As usual my inner self always like to make a physical statement when there is a new teaching for me to learn. It is always great for my story telling but sometimes it gives me wonderful challenges and opportunities for change. When we arrived back in villa after walking the few kilometres from Palenque the first thing I noticed was that there was not one thing that I was wearing or had in my pockets or in my backpack that wasn't wet except for my IPad.

Seems that God still wanted me to write.

When I took out my money much of it looked like it was actually made from water and I attempted to squeeze the water out of it and then tried to dry it with a hair dryer. Strangely two weeks later some of the money was still wet. Worse than that was my passport which resembled a sponge and when I looked at the passport photo it looked like my face was dripping away. So much for creating a new me; even my passport was expressing what was happening in the inner worlds.

When we were be drowned in Palenque I had a vision (similar to Aluna's) of the two pyramids joined at the base, one pointing into the air and the other into the ground. Inside the two pyramids was one sphere which seemed to fill up the space. Also in the pyramids and I believe emanating from the sphere was what I could only describe as coloured lightening. The lightening was flicking at the sides of the pyramid and each time it struck the sides of the pyramid, the pyramid seemed to lose its shape, not collapse but to be able to morph or change its shape.

Over the next couple of days every time I closed my easy I would see what looked like stone heads come rushing towards me. Over time these heads started to come alive and appeared to be trying to communicate with me. I was a little too thick to understand what they were communicating. When we were in Tikal I meditated in front of the jaguar temple. One minute in and the faces started to come again but this time it was only one face and it kept telling me to be open as it had information for me. To date the only realization I have had is that the pyramid in Palenque was some type of a doorway. If I get any more insights I will share them.

Talk about instant Karma. On this trip it was as if when I had a thought I would be challenged by it immediately.
We all survived our trial by water.
One sacred site down and another four to go.
I personally was worried what I would experience at the next two because their elements of earth and fire matched with my own elemental preferences and I wondered what lessons they would have for me.

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/

Twitter@geofspalding

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The Legend of the 33rd Sage - Chapter 31

Chapter 31 - Riding the Dragon

Time seemed to speeding up and yet he was not aging. The old sage was now in his late sixties and yet if you met him he would have appeared to be a man in his early to late thirties. It was not his diet that made the difference, although these days he needed to eat little to maintain who he was. As he made the journey from Ego to Spirit he realized that he no longer had any real needs. He accepted life for what it was; somedays he would eat, other days he would not. Some days he would stay in a Pagoda, other days he would sleep under the stars. To him it mattered not; from the quieting of the ego he understood that he was all things and he would draw to him what he needed on his journey. Of course there would come a day when the journey ended and he would shake of his mortal body and enjoy the freedom and lightness of being that he experienced in the spirit world.

There was a part of him that would have been quite happy to go to sleep one night and for his physical body not to wake up; for he knew that he was Eternal, Immortal and Infinite. It was with those thoughts that he went to sleep next to an open fire, with the full moon and all the nocturnal animals for company.

He drifted down in his levels of consciousness to the point where he was in a deep sleep. It was the level he experienced in his deepest meditations; the level where all things are connected. It is the level where the heartbeat that can be felt is the heartbeat of creation, which is accompanied by a song not unlike that of a bird song. Some mystics had called it the sound of the earth, but it was far deeper than that and Huo had remembered hearing the sound when he went up the tunnel and into the spirit world.

In what appeared to be a dream he was once again sucked up the tunnel and spat out into the spirit world. For a few moments he floated around the world and reconnected with some of the places and people he had seen and met previously. It was such a freeing experience to throw off the physical body, part of him wondered why we ever incarnated in human form. He knew the answer was to experience a life of emotion and the ego; to understand its strengths but also it's weaknesses and ultimately to transcend the human condition.

In many ways he was already more spirit than ego; he had seen the energy beyond the form; had experienced the wonders of the Tao and been one with nature. But deep in his heart centre he knew that his journey was not over. There was much more that he had to do in this world. Maybe this journey to the spirit world would give him some more answers or at least send him on the next part of his journey. In his inner self he asked to be shown where to go next on his journey.

He stopped floating through the air when he came to lake which reminded him very much of the Lake of Li, in the Forest of K'an. He floated down to the shore of the lake and there to greet him was the old log, from the real Lake of Li; the log where his students would sit when he would teach them.

He sat upon the log as if he was visiting an old friend. To him the log was very sacred. It reminded him of all the students he had ever taught and how their faces would light up when he told them one of his stories; stories which often came from so deep within him that he did not know the story himself until he began to tell it.

He was sitting on the log when he heard a sound coming from the water of the Lake of Li. The sound was off in the distance from the other side of the lake. He watched as a wave of water rushed towards him. Rather than being scared, he was mesmerized by the rising wave of water. Beneath the sound of the oncoming wave he heard another, deeper sound, it was almost guttural like the sound of an animal clearing its throat.

He watched in awe as the wave crashed over the top of him. Drenched, he did not try  to move or run as he could feel the energy in the wave. When the wave crashed back into the lake there left behind was a twenty foot dragon. Huo could not believe it. In all his wonderful life he had never seen a dragon. The dragon was red in colour, with shinny skin that glistened in the sun; skin that kept changing in colour from red to blue, brown and green. It had five claws on each foot.

The dragon seemed to be smiling at him.

He could sense its power. Rather than be scared of it the sage moved towards it. By the time he had reached the dragon it was sitting, relaxed as it did not fear him.

Anybody watching from a distance would have thought the sage and the dragon were sizing each other up, ready to strike. That could have not been further from the the truth, for within both of them was a deep respect for the other. Normally the dragon would put the person, who came before them, through a number of trials to see if they were worthy. The dragon knew this one was worthy; he could feel it with every ounce of his being.

He wondered why the sage had called him into being, for he could see that the sage was already well on the way towards his spiritual goal. The dragon opened up its feeling centers and allowed itself to enter into the old sage.

The sage could feel the energy as the dragon entered him. He opened himself up to allow the dragon to see all of him; even those aspects that he had hidden from the rest of the world.

In moments the dragon was reliving the sage's life. It was an ability that dragons had, so it was fruitless to try and hide anything from them. Everywhere the dragon looked there was a lightness to the Sage's being. The dragon could feel that Huo had wanted something but he could not feel what it was. In all the lightness there was one small shadow. This must be what the sage wanted help with.

He sent his energy into the shadow. It was as if a bright purple light was shone into the darkness revealing all there was to be seen.

The sage felt as if his heart was being ripped apart. The intensity of the pain forced him to look deep inside his heart. Without the purple light he would not have been able to do it; it was as if the purple light somehow made it more bearable. What the purple light was really doing was to increase his own vibration for a few short moments so he could become one with his shadow; for to go to the next stage he would have to be free of his shadow, his ego, otherwise the energy would destroy him.

Huo stepped into his shadow and there waiting for him were his parents and the love of his life Quing. All four of them embraced and Huo experienced a great release as he realized that he had was still feeling guilty for what had happened with his parents in the fire that many years ago. He could see that they were still very much alive and the guilt just fell away. It was in that moment that he understood the true power of forgiveness was to forgive yourself.

He turned to face Quing, although older she still looked beautiful. They stared into each others eyes for the longest time, seeing other lifetimes they had shared together and lifetimes in other dimensions yet to be shared. "Till we meet again," said Quing.

Huo watched as the loves of his life moved out of the shadows and back into the light where they belonged.

Huo awoke far calmer and more peaceful than he had ever felt in his life. Although it may have only been a dream, he realized that there had been a great release of energy while he slept and he was now different from the man who went to sleep.

He looked around himself and everything seemed different, lighter somehow. It was not just the landscape which looked lighter, he felt lighter himself, like he had been released by a burden which he had carried for years.

He put his hand inside his robes and removed the dragonfly pendant that had given him so many good memories. He looked at the pendant and a smile came to his face. In his mind's eye he could see his parents, Quing and Chung Fu they were all smiling and laughing and with a gentle wave they all turned and walked away from him.

The old sage was overcome with joy, rather than lose the greatest influences in his life he know understood they were always with him. All he had to do was look inside his heart; they were always there. There was no more guilt; he was what he was and in doing so he had taken the most courageous journey that anyone can take the journey within, the journey of the warrior sage. His life was sacred and he was dedicated to his own journey.

He stood, gathered his pack and continued on, free from the voices of the ego which had always tainted how he had seen the world.

As he walked away anyone watching would have seen him hang the dragonfly pendant on the branch of a tree.

Later that day spirit would ensure that a young girl on her own journey would walk past the tree that day and the pendant would come into her life.

********

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 30

Chapter 30 - Spiritual Discipline

After a year of listening to other philosophers and their philosophies the old sage found he was becoming even more silent; it was not that he did not disagree with what others said, he found it easier for him to be just what he was. He understood that he was not his mind or his body but an eternal, immortal and infinite being who had chosen this lifetime to evolve. From day to day he continued to wander the land every now and then he would sit for a while and teach or tell stories or just talk to people. Wherever he found himself was where he was meant to be.

He understood that he was an infinite being who had cloaked himself in a body to experience life in the earthplane. His daily discipline was focused on what he could do to transcend this experience and be able to understand his journey better. He would open himself up to where spirit wanted him to be on this day.

As he wandered he thought about writing down some of the stories he told to his students and others that sat and listened, but he soon realized that the story itself was the key and it was a story that should evolve over time. In this way it would keep the essence of the story alive but allow for the story teller to share it through their own instrument. This would allow the story to grow and evolve in ways that the original storyteller would not think possible. Huo thought to himself that it was very much like what happens to humans who incarnate to add to their own story to the library of the Godforce; a story that is written each time on an empty soul adding to the Godforce in ways that the Godforce may not even have thought possible. Here we all were insignificant in our own way and yet at the same time without us the universe would be different. As Huo pondered this he was both humble and overawed at the same time.

Who would have thought a poor disfigured boy would have grown into a humble sage who travelled the countryside telling stories, teaching and healing. He wondered where the Tao would lead him next, but he didn't need to wait long as his next journey was as close as his next decision.

As he contemplated where to go next he was overcome by a feeling of nausea. At first he thought it might be the rice he had eaten night the night before, for it had been in his pack a long while, as he had not met anyone or had any fresh food for many days. As the nausea waves enveloped his whole body, he felt a strange shift in his being and all of a sudden his consciousness was ripped from his physical body and transported through a long tunnel into a place of exquisite beauty. The bright light and the sheer beauty was almost too much for him that he had to close his eyes. As he became used to the energy that surrounded he opened his eyes again and surveyed the landscape.

The picture before him reminded him of one of the landscapes painted by prince Heng, for there was a flowingness in all objects that could not normally be seen with the naked eye. In the past the sage had only been able to perceive this aliveness or flowingness out the corner of his eyes. Now he could see it with all his being as his consciousness was no longer weighed down by his physical body.

He floated around the new world. He could have walked but with is new found lightness of being it seemed more appropriate to float and allow the energy of heaven to lead him through this new land. He wondered for a moment where he was, but it did not matter it was just one more experience given to him by the Godforce. Some would have called this place heaven, others might have seen it as a resting place between lifetimes.

Just when he stopped to contemplate where he was, he was picked up on a beam of light and transported out into the universe. He looked back to see the earth rushing away from. It was a humbling experience. The earth which had seemed so big was now less than the size of a pin head as his consciousness continued its journey across the galaxy. He soon could see galaxies by the millions rushing by. The universe was far bigger than he could ever comprehend. In his feeling centre he could feel voices talking to him, telling him that there was an infinite number of universes and he himself was existing in all of them at the same time.
The words, images and feelings continued to flow into him at such an extraordinary rate that he could not keep up with them. He tried to understand what he was seeing, hearing and feeling but it was all too much. The nausea increased and he was shot back into his body.
He opened his eyes.

He was back on earth, on the side of a mountain, sitting in a lotus position, trying to comprehend what just happened. He realized his ego was trying to hold on to the experience, so he turned his focus away from the experience and onto the feelings of nausea that he was still experiencing. The feelings were not unpleasant. It was like there had been a shift in who he thought he was and the nausea was either a reminder of the change or his resistance to it.

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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 29

Chapter 29 - Philosophical Discipline 

Finding philosophers was the next part of the Journey for Huo. He had been taught in the ways of the Tao. His connection with nature had seen it become a teaching in itself. Everywhere he went he would rise before dawn and wash himself in the water of a river or lake to refresh himself with the life giving waters of the Tao. Then he would meditate for about twenty four minutes; one for each hour of the day. It was important to stay in a balance and not spend all day meditating, like some monks, which was out of a balance. It may have made the practitioner more spirit than human but also it had a way of disconnecting him from other humans and Huo understood that his life's mission was to inspire others through his stories and he could not do that meditating in a cave.

The next year of his life he dedicated to studying other philosophers and philosophies. It was not that he wanted to move away from his Taoist practices; it was that he wanted to understand what it was to be human and in each of the philosophies he came into contact with, there was an element or kernel of truth that he may not have come across in Taoism.

It was a strange and wonderful time. Strange because, he once again became the student rather than the teacher, but in reality whenever he taught or told his stories he was ever the student, learning as much from his stories, as any of the participants in his ever growing audience. But for a year he chose not to teach at all but become the student. It was wonderful because he learnt so much in a number of ways. Of course he learnt from the great philosophers, but he also learnt from those who were listening to the teachings and the questions they asked. Because he could also see their auras he understood what they were saying at a deeper level than the mere words themselves. He also learnt a great deal from his reactions to the teachers, both from an intellectual and also a feeling level. Occasionally when he did not agree with what was being said, his ego would want to speak up and show how special he was.

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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 28

Chapter 28 Mental Discipline

Judgement was the one emotion that the sage had the most difficulty giving up. As he wandered from village to village he always wondered why some people seemed to have so much and why others had so little. It was in these situations that he sometimes allowed anger to cloud his thinking.

There were many things he had learnt on his journey and one was that if you judge something then you don't understand it. For him it had always been an intellectual concept rather than a true feeling; he understood that the reason he was still judging poverty and the difference between the rich and poor was because there was something about poverty that he did not like about himself.

As he sat in the middle of the village and was surrounded by children he started to realize what it was. The picture of the children took him back to the village of his childhood. He was just like these children, barefoot and poor, but it was his disability that made him feel less than the other children. It really had nothing to do with the poverty. What he really wanted were guarantees. Seeing himself as disabled and disfigured he thought he was less than the other children and he wanted a life of guarantees as all he could see in his future was a life of suffering and judgement; the same judgement that he now proffered on others.

Now he understood, the Tao did not give guarantees. With the benefit of hindsight he could see that it was these difficulties in his earlier life which had given him the experiences and set him up to be the person he would become. It was difficult to watch suffering but with his perception he could see that it was what people needed to grow.
It was difficult to explain to others because they always made the same comment, 'But I would never have chosen that or no one would choose that.' The longer he walked the silent path of the Initiate the less he would come from logic; for logic was often blinkered by the ego and the more he came out of feelings; for it was in feelings that the higher self dwelled.

A young boy in ragged clothes, covered in dirt and snot running from each nostril approached the sage. In the background some of the adults yelled for the boy to leave the sage alone. As the sage looked towards them he could feel that they were embarrassed by the child; for he was from the poorest family in the village, a family so poor that they had no food, or land or even a place to call their own.

The young boy whose name was Quang sat down before the sage. For the longest time the sage did not say anything, preferring to watch the boy and wait for him to speak. The young boy did not know he was poor, only that his parents did not have things to give him like the other children received. To him it did not matter; he was always happy and playful even though he was bullied by the other children and I am sad to say some of the adults. But it mattered not to the young boy. He sat fascinated by the old sage, fascinated by his energy, for the one thing the young boy could feel was energy.

Quang smiled as the energy of the old sage enveloped him. It gave him a warm inner glow. "Tell me a story," asked the young boy his green eyes opened to whatever the sage had to say. The sage looked deeply into the boys jade green eyes and the impression which he received in that moment would last with him forever. He could see a soul that was far older than his, a soul in need of redemption. In a previous lifetime Quang had been a great Emperor who misused his power and the money of his people. He had treated his people without any regard for their needs, taxing them more than any other Emperor in the history of China. In that lifetime he had everything and he was here to redress the imbalance by having nothing in this lifetime.

It is for this very reason that when the soul incarnates that it comes as an empty book, as the good or bad deeds of a previous life, if remembered, would influence what we would become in this lifetime. Anyone with this knowledge may have judged the young boy and wished he suffered like he had made the others suffer in that past lifetime, but not the sage for he could see beyond the one or two lifetimes and what he saw was an eternal, immortal and infinite being who had incarnated at this time to learn lessons that only he and his higher self understood.

The sage smiled to himself; there was no higher or lower only infinite expressions of the Tao.

The sage told him the story of a young by who had been disfigured in a fire and whose disabilities made him the embarrassment of his village. And how one day a great sage came into the village and began to tell him stories and then the young boy became the apprentice to the sage and they travelled all over the country sharing in many adventures.

"Will that ever happen to me," said Quang?
"Who knows said the old sage. If you believe in something enough then anything is possible.

From that day forward the young boy would come and listen to the words and stories of the sage. One morning he arrived wearing clean clothes, they were not new but in much better condition than the old tatty clothes he normally wore. The next day he arrived with a pair of old sandals, but even stranger he arrived with two other young boys who wanted to listen to the old sage. Evidently the young boy had been sharing what he remembered of the Sage's stories with some of the children and for his kindness they shared some of their old clothes with him.

A few more weeks and many of the children from the village were coming to hear the stories and words of the sage. Stories which were shared with the adults by the children around the dinner table. Little did the sage know that these stories were having an effect like the ripples on a pond, directly into the hearts of anyone who heard them.
It was about this time that Quang's father gained work in one of the shops in the village and another person gave him a small house on his farm while he earned enough to rent or buy a place of his own.

The children and now some adults came to hear the old sage's stories. Many stories which were modeled on the many experiences he had as he traversed the land. Over the months that followed the young Quang started to tell stories of his own; mystical stories of dragons and Emperors. The more Quang stepped forward, the more the old sage stepped back. It was as it should be. His original stories had awakened the hearts of the people in the village and Quang was learning about kindness and through his stories he would educate millions of children in the future. He would never become a rich man, but in the way of the Tao, all his needs were met as he wandered the countryside to become one of a handful of legendary storytellers who lived in Ancient China. Stories filled with such heart and tenderness that they have become well known as parables even in our current day.

Stories which take us on the greatest journey that we will ever take, the journey from the head to our heart.

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