Over the next month or so I would like to share with you some of the Legend of the 33rd Sage and the Initiate's Way or Way of the Initiate. As I share each of the stories I would love your feedback on what you liked; what you didn't and what you would like to hear more of. Much of the story will done in a parable format - please remember that this is only a first draft and so as it grows and develops the overall story will change and the quality of the writing should improve and tighten up. I would love to have my readers on this journey. In my second novel The 33rd sage and the Initiate (published this October 2012) I was luck enough to have a number of friends come along for the journey during the writing process and it was very rewarding and it gave me sense of belonging to something bigger. Anyway I hope you enjoy.
The Legend of the 33rd Sage and the Initiate's Way
They travelled the countryside, walking from village to village teaching and healing people, helping in whatever way they could. They had great wisdom. They had reached that elusive point in their knowledge that many on the inner journey strive for; an ego less state of spirituality and consciousness where one's sense of self and the eternal nature of things are one. The sages were greatly revered.
It was their tradition to go out and travel the land and teach; they all knew that it was important for them to live with the Elements. Some taught agriculture and animal husbandry, others taught writing, painting and literature; still others were knowledgable in matters of science and astronomy and there were those like the 33rd Sage who were healers and spiritual teachers. Each travelled and taught what they knew, but all taught their students about the inner journey.
It was their tradition for all 33 Sages to return to the monastery in time for the Winter Solstice, which was the most spiritual and sacred time of the year. It marked the lowest ebb of the old sun and it heralded in the birth of the new.
Legend has it that when it was time for the 33rd Sage to give up his position and move on to other dimensions, he chose to stay and walk the earth and teach students about the power of nature and the infinite self.
The old sage put on his plume red robe and cinched up his plum red belt. Walking through the forest, tears escaped from the old man's eyes as he knew this would be the last time how would ever see his beloved Forest of K'an. It was not like he was dying, for in many ways that would have been easier to deal with. It had been his own choice; a choice he had made after many years of contemplation. It had been time for a new sage to take his place. As the 33rd Sage he could have stayed in the Forest of K'an, by the lake of Li for the rest of his life. But the time had come when he realized that there was still more he had to do and it was to be done in the world of real people, not in the protected world of the brotherhood.
He had come from the people of the land and to the people of the land he would return. It had been over fifty five years since he had been taken in by the Brotherhood as a young student. It was now time for him to take this teaching out into the world. There were some amongst the Brotherhood who were against him going back into the world of people. There was much he could teach them that would change their evolution and some of the other sages believed man was not ready to hear these teachings. The sages of the plum robe, suggested that he should stay with them, even though he had relinquished his position as the 33rd sage and only go out amongst the people in short spells where his energy would lift them, but still allow their evolution to take place at a slower rate.
The old sage had seen the future and he understood the need for the quickening. Man was coming towards the end of a world cycle and without the quickening there would a great cataclysm. There was still time but man had to learn a new way, they had to learn to reconnect with nature and the higher spirit in themselves. The other members of the White Brotherhood, as they were also known, wanted man to take responsibility for what they had created. But the 33rd Sage was different, he was human, unlike many of the brotherhood who had incarnated in from other dimensions. He loved his fellow humans and saw beyond their fear, frustration, anger and judgement. He could their true potential in the heart of each one of them. It was a hard decision to leave the brotherhood, but his kind, his people, his beloved fellow men and women were at stake.
'It was three days before the solstice and the sage must prepare them.' It was a saying that was well known. It was a saying he used on many occasions although most times it was used in conjunction with preparing one student. Now time was short; he would have to find many students and then after teaching them they would go out into the world and teach others. He stopped by the lake of Li for one last look and could not help but sit, once again, upon the old rock he had used when he had taught his students, but there would be no teaching today, in the Forest of K'an by the Lake of Li, for this was the last time he would ever look on the lands that been his home for fifty five years.
Sitting by the lake of Li, in the Forest of K'an the old sage started to daydream back to a time when he first came here with the previous 33rd Sage to learn about the seasons within man and mankind. It seemed so long ago, but in his minds eye it was as fresh as yesterday. 'Where has the time gone,' he asked himself? But as the sun went down over the Lake of Li in the Forest of K'an the old man began to remember other lives and other dimensions. The Lake of Li had always been his touchstone, whenever he gazed into her lapping waters he could always look into a deeper part of himself. He used the lake like many of the magicians used crystal balls. He would just sit and stare and then his focus went within. All at once his awareness seemed to change and there would be pictures forming in his mind. He wondered whether he would be able to still have these moments when he left the Lake of Li, in the Forest of K'an. With that thought tears began to stream from his eyes. There would have a time, once, when he would have chastised himself for such emotion, but now it was what it was. There was no longer any need to deny who or what he was.
The rest of his life; and it would be an extremely long life would be spent walking the earth meeting students by accident and sharing his teachings and changing their lives forever.
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A special for all my followers, friends and blog readers. My publisher has offered a special either through my website or amazon of the ebook version of The 33rd Sage at $3.99. Take advantage of the offer. Apart from being a modern fable it is filled with teachings that you or your family can use for the rest of your life. Who knows if you are open to the possibilities an old Chinese Sage might just wander into your life?
Go to my website http://www.33rdsage.com/index.html and click on buy the book for this special offer to my friends or go to Amazon.
Take a look at my Book Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeNMGhfwtdg
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