To Be Connected, You Need To Detach
In part 6 of How to Connect with the Wisdom of your Higher Self I thought I would let the chapter from the upcoming Way of the Initiate tell the story and allow the reader to make their own connections to the teachings that lay underneath. As my old teacher said there is no spiritual journey without inner work, so I guess it is time for you to go to work. The title says it all 'To be Connected, You Need to Detach.
I will see you on the other side of today's story.
"You have had enough excitement for one day, so we will set up camp for the night. You collect some wood, and I will get some water from the stream so that I can prepare tonight's meal," said the old sage.
The young man only nodded. It had been a tough day. When he woke that morning and found himself on his own, he panicked. He thought he was alone again, but this time many miles away from the village where he lived. Of course, living in the village had been no life, for most of the time, because of his disfigurement, he felt like he was on his own, but he had gotten used to that way of living - although he now understood that he was not really living, merely waiting to get older and die the slow, horrible death of boredom that had become his life. There was a moment when he woke when he would have been happy to have gone back to that life. What had happened? It was hard to describe; in fact, he could not describe it. There was a moment when he went deep within himself and felt connected to all things. It was going with his feelings that led him to the old sage. It was a strange feeling. In the moment he knew where the old sage was, there was a feeling of joy such as he had never experienced before in his life. At first he thought the joy was caused by knowing that he would be safe, but on reflection he realized that it was deeper than that. The joy came from knowing that he was truly connected to all things. He had glimpses of it in the few days he had travelled with the old man. He thought the old sage was the reason he had received these glimpses, but now he knew that he was the source of this connection to all things.
"How is the wood coming along, Huo?"
The young man looked up into the face of the old sage, which was creased with a smile. "You deliberately left me this morning? You knew what would happen?"
The old sage sat down beside the young man, for it was no longer right to call him a boy; he had grown so much in the last few days, but not so much physically (although there had been some changes there), more spiritually and emotionally. The young man had seen beyond the veil, and the energy from beyond was now increasingly flowing through him, giving him insights that would have been impossible with his mindset only a couple days before.
"Let me tell you a story. 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 began.
“The 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.
"This analogy fits your conscious and subconscious minds. Your conscious mind is like 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, for it is the beliefs that we store in the subconscious mind that determine our future. The 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 its beliefs and knowledge. This can either be a positive or negative experience. If we place in our subconscious the thought that the world and its 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.
"When we incarnate into our bodies before birth, or shortly after, what is it that incarnates? Some have called it the Soul; others have called it the Subconscious. 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 off 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 when 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 that incarnates understand what are the probabilities for it in the first thirteen years of its life. It understands the parents’ weaknesses and strengths, it understands the culture it is being born into, and it understands what is happening in the world at the time. Yes, for it's own experience, it chooses to live in a village, in a palace, or in a slum. It is only because of 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 as to where and when they choose to incarnate, and it is only our lack of understanding that makes us judge others to be different or less than we are."
Huo had a million questions; it seemed like the old man was taking his mind and stretching it in a hundred different directions at once. Before he could even ask a question, the old sage was stretching his mind and beliefs in more directions.
"When we incarnate," said the old sage, "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 the Earth-plane 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 even chosen what health and disease patterns we will experience. Incarnation into the Earth-plane is all about experiences, whether we are human, animal, plant, or mineral. If you are attracted to these teachings, then you have lived at least six lifetimes as a human and many in all the other dimensions.
"Even before your were born, your subconscious mind was taking in impressions from your world. The Subconscious mind takes in everything; hundreds of thousands of inputs every minute. Before you start feeling guilty for the garbage that you have fed yourself or been fed by your parents or the world around you, 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 the Conscious Mind. You choose all the crap that the world has given you. You understood what you were coming here to experience. You chose it; there are no victims. This is one concept that I have had the most difficulty understanding as I watch people in pain and suffering."
Huo was trying take in everything the old sage was telling him, but surely it wasn't possible. Why would he have chosen a life where he would lose his parents in a fire? He looked down at his withered arm. Why would anyone choose that? he asked himself. He turned his attention to the old sage. "Why would anyone choose to go through the things that I have been through?"
"That is the reason that you are here with me: to find out who you really are, why you have chosen to incarnate into the world at this time, and then go beyond it." The old sage went quiet for a few minutes, allowing the young man time to digest everything he had said.
"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. If you want to change your life, the key 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 us what we don't like about ourselves or a weakness we have that we react.
"Over the next few days, observe your reaction to everything; take your awareness outside of yourself and watch yourself. If you are reacting negatively to something, don't stop yourself, but observe and try to understand why.
"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, then go beyond it to the Element of Ether.
"We live in amazing times, when all of us have the opportunity to be the creative essence we were meant to be. It is your duty to find out what it is that you are meant to do in this life. This is what your apprenticeship is all about. It is called the Way of the Initiate, but by now I hope you have realized that it is an inner journey, a journey few have the courage to make."
“Let's eat." And so, as the sun set, the sage and his apprentice enjoyed the bounty provided by the elements. Dinner was quiet as they journeyed within to reflect on the day.
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Hello again. I hoped you enjoyed today's chapter. It could take you years to unravel the teachings within this chapter. I wrote it and even I learn something each time I read it. One simple thing you could do to make great changes in your future is to begin to observe your reactions to life and to all the people you come into contact with. Be like the young boy Huo, "Over the next few days, observe your reaction to everything; take your awareness outside of yourself and watch yourself. If you are reacting negatively to something, don't stop yourself, but observe and try to understand why.
"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, then go beyond it to the Element of Ether.
Blessings and Peace and may your simple observations open you up to teachings from Iyour Higher Self.
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The 33rd Sage and the 33rd Sage and the Initiate are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Watersons, Xlibris and a number of online book stores.
The Way of the Initiate will be published mid 2013
Twitter @GeofSpalding
Official Author Blog - the33rdsage.authorsxpress.com/
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Book Websites 'The 33rd Sage,' at www.33rdsage.com
'The 33rd Sage and the Initiate,' at www.the33rdsage.com
