The Tao Owns Everything - Higher Self 16

We have almost reached the halfway point in the Way of the Initiate which is based on the 33 steps that my old Chinese teacher shared with me. I wonder if those of you who have been reading my blogs have been practicing some of the steps like Huo in the story. If you have I would love to hear feedback on what has been happening in your world.

As I write this I have finished the first draft of my screenplay The Merlin Key and as I look back I can see the amazing changes that I have experienced in my own life since taking the first steps on the path of the Initiate. A path that will continue till the day I either walk out of this dimension or become food for the maggots. One of the greatest changes that occurred on this journey has been the need to express my inner creativity. If this was the only reward for the years I have spent on the path then that would have been enough, for in tapping into my own inner creativity I have experienced a joy, a connection that is almost impossible to explain.

If you are reading these blogs and you have just read  the chapters of The Way of the Initiate as a story, then hopefully you have enjoyed it and on some level it has touched you deeply.

Today Huo begins to understand that everything is owned by the Tao and that we have it on loan, so rather than hold onto it, enjoy it and share it, for one day it will go back to the Tao.

The Tao Owns Everything

As he walked from the town, he understood he had lost nothing because everything belonged to the Tao. Everything he had experienced had been given to him by the Tao; it was as if it had been on loan. Also, because he was able to release everything he had, he knew more would be given to him, so there was no need to hold on to anything. He walked into the forest a rich man, rich in the knowledge that he was abundant in all areas of his life.

He soon came to a fork in the road. He looked off down the left fork and felt nothing; however, when he looked down the right fork, he noticed the road seemed lighter. He closed his eyes and sent his energy off in the distance to feel a royal carriage coming towards him. He turned and walked down the right road; the spirit wanted him to go in that direction, so who was he to disagree with the feelings coming from deep within his inner self?

About a half-mile down the road, he came across a carriage carrying members of the Emperor's family. As with everyone he met, he showed his respect, giving a short bow from the waist. Immediately, a woman called out for them to stop the carriage, then called the young man over. As Huo walked slowly towards the carriage, the woman dressed in beautiful silks with her jet black hair tied in a bun on her head, attached with a jade pin, addressed the young man.

"Sir, can you tell me if there is a healer in the town up ahead? My son is gravely ill and needs immediate attention."

"Great lady, my old Master Chung Fu is in the town ahead, and he is a great healer." Huo caught sight of the young man in the carriage and knew instantly the boy would never make the journey; he could see that his inner spirit was about to leave his body.
Huo was at a loss regarding what to do. He did not want to infringe on the young boy, as he did not know what lesson he had come here to learn. Maybe he had incarnated to die early and teach his mother the great lesson of loss, for he understood that some highly evolved spirits came in service to die in their first thirteen years. What he did know for sure was that the child would never make it to the town. For a brief moment, he went within his inner self for an answer, only to meet the spirit of the young boy. The young boy was confused and not sure what was happening, so Huo went inside his inner self and asked him if he wanted help. The boy said yes, and in that moment Huo could see the future of the young boy, particularly how he would grow up to be a mighty ruler who would be loved by his people.

Huo turned his focus back into the outer world and said to the Emperor's wife, "Your Highness, I fear that your son will never make it to the town. If you allow me, I will give him a healing right here that will enable him to travel to town, where my master can finish the healing process."

The Emperor's wife was beside herself with fear. She looked down at the young man who was dressed in little more than rags, but there was a plum red sash around his waist that brought back a childhood memory. When she used to go with her father into the Emperor's garden, he would often meet a monk who also wore a plum red ribbon around his waist. It was the monk that helped his father build a garden that pleased the Emperor so much, she was plucked from her life of servitude to now be one of the most powerful women in the court – and she eventually to became the number one wife of the Emperor.
She faltered for a moment, but it was just a moment. "Please, help my son."

She opened the carriage door, and Huo, dressed like a beggar, climbed in. He went straight to the boy, who had a very high temperature, then looked to his mother, who said, "He came down with the fever last night, and I was at a loss what to do. We have tried everything. He has a bite mark on his left arm."

Huo examined the wound with his eyes, but with his inner senses he saw that the young man had been bitten by a spider. He reached into his pack, took out some herbs, and made a poultice to put on the boy’s arm, then used some other herbs to make a drink for the young man to sip while they made the journey to his old master at the Pagoda. He held his hands over the young boy and allowed the energy from his own being to enter the young man and take on the poison. It was not something he had been taught; it was just something that happened naturally when he inhabited the body of the young boy.
In only a few minutes, the young boy opened his eyes; the fever had been broken. Huo felt the shock of the poison in his own body, but he soon released it through his breath to the air that surrounded them.

The Emperor's wife had never seen anything like it. She worried that Huo was not a healer, but a black magician. It is funny how even when people see something with their own eyes, they cannot believe it to be true.

Huo smiled at the Queen, and somehow his smile put her at ease.
"What is your charge for healing my son? I will pay anything."
"My Queen, it is an honour to do it for you. I do not require any payment, as I have everything I need."

The queen looked at the young man before her, dressed in little more than rags with no carriage, no money, and only a poor pack to carry his herbs. "You say you have everything you need, but surely some money would help you on your journey? Or I could give you a servant to look after your needs, or you could come back to the palace where you could be my personal physician?"

"Thanks for the offer, my Queen. It would be a great honour, but I am on a great journey, the journey of the inner self, and I have all I need. Look around: I have the sun, the forest, the animals, and the seasons to keep me company. If I want food, I will find it in the forest or in a stream. If I want companionship, I can walk into any village and find someone to talk to. If I need a bed, I can rest wherever I choose. As you can see, I have everything I need."

"I can see that you are a strange man, a man who I will always be grateful to. If ever you need my help, just come to the palace, and I will give you what you need."
Huo thanked the queen for her offer. Then, just as he was about to take his leave, a thought crossed his mind. "Your Highness, there is something you could do for me."
"Name it," she said, hoping it was not a ploy by the young man to get more than she was willing to offer; she need not have worried.

"My Queen, there is a young girl in the village by the name of Qing. If you could give her a small piece of jewelry and tell her I love her, that would be a most special gift."
The queen pulled the green jade pin from her hair, which allowed her blue black hair to cascade over her shoulders. "Will this be a suitable gift?" she asked.

"Thank you, my Queen. Now take your son to the next town and ask for my old Master Chung Fu at the Pagoda, and he will ensure that your son is fully healed."
Huo bowed to the queen and winked at the young boy, then took his leave of them both and continued on his journey.

The queen, her son, and the long retinue of servants watched as the strange young man walked back into the forest.

The queen took her son to see the old sage, who professed he could do no more for her young son and that if he continued to drink the herbs given by the young man, he would soon regain his full strength.

The queen fulfilled her part of the bargain, and much to Qing's delight, she gave her the green jade pin and words of love from Huo. What Huo did not know was that the queen took such a shine to Qing that she gave her a position as her own personal servant, a position that would see wondrous things happening for the young girl - but that is another story, one I am sure will be told one day.

Blessings and Peace
Geof

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

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

The Way of the Initiate will be published late 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

Take Responsibility for your Life - Higher Self 14

Today's chapter is about taking responsibility for your life. It is a simple chapter but hidden within it are a gold mine of gifts and teachings.

With this in mind I have to share with you a little bit of what is happening in my world. I first noticed that I was nearly hit by a number of cars as I walked across the road and then my wife got two fines in a short period of time, which is unusual because she had for many years an unblemished driving record. Many people would see this as bad luck but knowing that we create everything in our lives on some level. I became the observer and watched Anna and Myself and how we were connecting with the world. It soon became obvious that we were constantly judging the drivers in the area that we live.

This set off alarm bells because I know what you judge you bring into your life. It is as if by focusing your attention on something that you vibrate at the same level and allow or bring it in to your life.

What are you causing to happen in your life?

Take Responsibility For Your Life

Qing, the young girl from the kitchen of the Pagoda, had started to join Huo and the old sage for their early morning meditation and the talks the old man often gave. Some mornings, there were as many as ten students who came to be with the old man. This morning, there was only Huo and Qing, and neither of them seemed to mind as their friendship, if you could call it that, continued to blossom since the time the old sage brought Huo to the Pagoda. Huo missed living in the forest with the animals and nature, but if he were truly honest with himself, Qing had more than made up for what he missed.

Meditating while sitting in a triangle, the old sage began to speak. "People are not interested in generating energy for their own survival and security; they want someone else to guarantee their security, and in doing so they lose their power, shifting it away to someone else, family, friends, religion, or the king and his government. We are continually transferring the responsibility and the blame for our lives onto others rather than understanding that what life has given us is what we have created.

"To be a part of the graceful beauty of the Infinite self, you first have to take responsibility for where you find yourself in life. Once you do this, you will see that the pain you are suffering comes from your reaction to life's circumstances, not from the circumstances themselves."
Huo looked down on his left arm, which had been badly burnt during the fire that consumed his mother and father; it was once withered and paralyzed, but now - apart from one or two small scars - his left arm was almost normal. He ran his fingers over his face; although he had not looked in a mirror for years, he knew that the scarring on his face had almost disappeared. It was only when he started seeing the beauty that this life had to offer that he could see the beauty that existed in everything. A young child paralyzed and disfigured, with the support of the old sage he was able to see the beauty that existed in himself.

By accepting who he was and disengaging from his emotions, he was able to see that he was not his emotions, nor was he responsible for other people's emotions. He understood that the way it was was just the way it was; rather than fight the circumstances he found himself in, he could accept them and then move on. Most times when he gave up the resistance, two amazing things happened: either the problem just fell away, or in some cases it was the circumstance themselves that taught him a wonderful lesson about himself.

In his own little dream world, he had not noticed that the old sage had stopped talking and that Qing was staring at him while at the same time trying to stifle a laugh that was wanting to burst forth from her being.

"You will have to get used to that," said the old sage. "Sometimes Huo goes off to other worlds and dimensions that only he has the key to."
They all laughed, although Huo's laugh was accompanied by a rather red face as he blushed at Qing's beautiful smile.

"Now that we are all back in the present, let me finish this session by saying: remember the teaching of the Tao; nothing is long or short, hot or cold, good or bad. Once you disengage from the need to judge, then you are free to be satisfied with the world and see the beauty in all things.”


Blessings and Peace and take responsibility for what you have created in your life.

Blessings and Peace
Geof

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


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

The Way of the Initiate will be published late 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

Be Honourable - Higher Self 13

Today's chapter from the Way of the Initiate is about being honourable. I hope you enjoy. The book has been written as a parable to be read but also more importantly the parable can be read to children with the parent or reader creating their own magic when telling the story. I would love parents to engage their children in the story telling by either asking the kids what they see or experience when listening to the story. Or even better they could have their kids draw, paint or do anything that allows them to express their own creativity.

I thought long and hard about whether to give more descriptions but then I realized that what was important was not my journey but the journey of everyone who reads this parable and takes their on journey down the path of the Initiate.

Be Honourable


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

Huo splashed water on his face to wake himself up. He was tired; surely, it was not time to get out of bed. There were times when the disciplines of the old sage seemed downright ridiculous. He hoped that whatever the old man had planned, it would have some value. Huo's thoughts and motivations were not quite right this morning; he had travelled with the sage for nearly ten years, his life had been full of experiences, and along the way he had helped many people - but what of him? What was he getting out of it? Where would it lead him? Even Sages have their bad days, and for some reason that Huo was not able to understand, this was starting out as one of his. It was what it was. He had learnt by now neither to suppress any of the feelings that came up nor react to them, but instead to observe them, as they would be his teacher. That was all well and good, but this morning he could have just as easily walked away from his apprenticeship. What of having fun with friends his own age or finding a woman to fall in love with and marry? Since they had been staying in the Pagoda in the city, he had seen others his own age enjoying their lives and having fun. Sometimes a normal life had its advantages.

Out in front of the Pagoda, all was quiet. There was no noise in the city, as everyone except he and the old sage were asleep; even the shopkeepers, who woke early to prepare for the daily market, were still asleep. What madness did the old man have planned for this day?

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

Once they were finished, the old man suggested that they clean up and meet again in the garden after they had meditated and broken their fast. Without another word or explanation, the old sage walked back towards the entrance to the Pagoda, where he bowed three times, removed his shoes, then entered the sacred space.

All the way through the meditation and breakfast, Huo could not help thinking about why they had moved all the rocks during the middle of the night. Maybe it was to be a surprise for the monks in the Pagoda, or maybe the old sage wanted to do it because he had something special planned for the day. Millions of thoughts ran through the young man's mind, so many that he had not even noticed that the old man did not meditate with him or that his breakfast had been improved by extra helpings of many local delicacies, thanks to a young girl in the kitchen who had taken a shine to him. If he had been in the moment, rather than worrying about the future or the past, he would have noticed these things, especially the young girl who served him his breakfast - for if I do say so myself, she was very beautiful with her jade green eyes and blue black hair that she wore back in a long ponytail. But then I may be biased, as she was also to become the apprentice of an old sage, a fact that Huo was totally unaware of.

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

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


Blessings and Peace and may you open up to your own innate creativity and honour every person or animal you meet along the way.

Blessings and Peace
Geof

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

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

The Way of the Initiate will be published late 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

Connection with your Higher Self - Part 12

In each one of us lies a spark of what some would call, God, spirit, soul or one of many other names. It is that small part of us that connects us with the I Am What I Am or for that matter is our aspect of the I Am. As I travel along my own path I find that the more I work on myself and with the creative spark that I have inside me the more that I open myself up to the possibility of what it is like to be a human.

We are all humans and we have all been blessed with this wonderful creative spark, but how many of us can honestly say that we have the courage to follow where that inner guidance takes us. Like many I have been sidetracked along the way on a number of occasions but for some reason, god, great spirit, my higher self or just plain luck keeps dragging me back on the path.

Now this path has led me to screenwriting and the film process. It is not that I have lost the love of writing or sharing esoteric stories, it is just that my inner being is always wanting me to stretch myself. Something that is not so easy when I am fifty nine and society expects me to be preparing for retirement. The call of spirit has been incredibly strong in my fifties. It was there in the earlier decades but I perhaps was trying not to listen.

My brother's heart attack and finding out I had the same cardiovascular problem certainly made me stand up and take notice. In the nine years since I have written three books, completed a degree in Health Sciences, an MBA, traveled to the lands of the Maya to research my forth book and experience the end of the world on 21/12/2012 at Palenque.

So the end of the world did not happen I hear you say. Are you so sure. How has your life changed in the last seven months? Have you been noticing any changes. Are you still happy with the life you are leading or is there something nagging you to change.

When I arrived back from the lands of the Maya I finished my third book, the soon to be published 'Way of the Initiate,' a parable about reconnecting with your higher self. Since then spirit has taken me in a whole different direction. I have started to write screenplays, and to do so I have opened up to be involved in all aspects of filmmaking to better understand the process. I have even started taking acting classes. This change in the way I write and tell stories has opened me up to worlds that I would never have thought possible.

What is your inner spirit telling you? Listen and follow it an I will promise you a life that is never boring. At times it will challenge what you believe about yourself and others, but if you can keep pushing the boundaries you will live an extraordinary life.

Today's chapter of the Way of the Initiate deals with the inner self. I hope you enjoy.



I Am That I Am


Over the next couple years, the old sage and his apprentice travelled all over the countryside, stopping every now and then when the sage would heal people or teach children about nature and the Elements.

It was during one of these stays in the village of Te Dang that the old sage asked the young man to begin teaching children about the inner self. The old sage knew that to master a subject, one needed to teach it to others in order to allow the teaching to come from within and be expressed as an aspect of the young man in the outer world.

The young man had been nervous all day. In the years he had spent with the old sage, he had always been the student, never the teacher. Although from time to time he would aid the old sage in his healing of the sick, he never led anything, instead always serving in a support role. This would be the first time he would take the lead, and it was exciting and daunting at the same time. He had watched the old man engage his audience in a matter of seconds, and although he sometimes spoke to hundreds, it always looked like he was speaking to each one of them individually.
How could he ever be like that? The old man had a magic about him, the magic of the Initiate. He never put himself above anyone, and he never engaged anyone in an argument. He never foisted his opinion on anyone, preferring only to answer questions as they were asked. He always accepted without question what each day would bring, he never asked for anything and yet his needs were always provided for.
He remembered back to the day when his pack and the dragonfly pendant were stolen. It had been a horrible day; yet, as he looked back on it, it was one of the best teachings he had ever received. Since that day, he had become the observer, and like the old sage, he was now taking each day as it came.
As he relived that day, he tried to remember what the old sage had taught him. What had the old sage said? He was having difficulty remembering. Huo took a deep breath and held it for a moment, and in seconds he could feel the calmness and all-knowing of the Initiate come around him. In his mind's eye, he could now see the old sage sitting deep in meditation.
Although he still seemed to be in a deep trance, all at once he opened his eyes and words fell from his mouth. The words that fell from his lips were from a deep part of the old sage, in a voice that was very different from his normal voice.
"It is important that you believe that you are already the Initiate and that you have this power within you. You need to make it a part of your now and not off-in-some-distance future. You need to create the Initiate within before it can express itself in the outer world. It is in the mirror worlds of the inner self where all creation takes place. What happens in the outer world is but a mirror to what you have created within. If you want to understand what you are creating with your thoughts and feelings, all you have to do is look at what is happening in the outer world. If you do not like what is happening, then you need to change what you are feeling and thinking. To be the Initiate, you have to be able to believe in a life that you cannot hear, touch, or taste, but rather a life that you will eventually begin to feel. It is strange that by believing and opening yourself up to being the Initiate and walking the way of the Initiate, something inside you opens up to the possibility.
"As you walk the path, you will begin to understand that the love that comes from the Tao or God is impartial. Although this energy does not care what you do with your life, it is possible to direct the energy and create whatever you want in your life. I do not mean that if you have a wishy washy thought that you want something that it will come into your life, because it won't. You first have to create the feeling of already having it in the inner worlds, and then this energy will be expressed and delivered in the outer world and the godforce will manifest what you already believe is yours."
Huo felt re-energized. The words of the old sage coursed through his entire being, then out into the audience before him. Children who were loud and raucous only minutes before were sitting quietly, waiting for the young man to speak.
"Let me tell you a story," said the young man, and the children hung on his every word. "It is the story of a young boy  who was taken in and became an apprentice to an old sage. The old sage taught him about nature and the seasons. He taught him how to connect with the animals and become their friend. He taught him how to sit in the forest and connect with his inner self and to understand that everything in the universe was connected."
As he went deeper into the story and the teachings he received from the old sage, he could see the connection he was having with his young students. Their eyes started to bulge as they took in everything he said - and even more than that, they could take in everything he felt. In many cases, they could not understand what he was saying with their logical minds, especially the younger ones, but on some level they all understood.
As Huo was talking, a picture began to form in his mind. He continued to teach the children, but a deeper part of himself was focused on the picture that was building in his mind. It was a scene from what looked like the future. As he focused deeper, he could see himself as the old sage. Following behind him were a number of apprentices, but the landscape was different - and this certainly was not China because many of his apprentices were definitely not Chinese. As he went deeper into the picture with his feelings, he knew it to be true. Was he creating this future because of his belief in being the initiate, or was he growing into a life that was predestined?
Those thoughts and feelings disappeared as he put his attention back on the children before him. He may have had a glimpse of his future, but it was what he was doing in the present that would determine what he would become.

Blessings and Peace and may you open up to the wonders of the journey that is your journey.

Blessings and Peace
Geof

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


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

The Way of the Initiate will be published late 2013

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

Connect with the Wisdom of your Higher Self - Part 6

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.

*************
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.

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


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 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

Connect with the Wisdom of your Higher Self - Part 3

The Illusion Of Separation

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Connect with the Wisdom of your Higher Self - Part 2

As I said in my previous post the information or guidance from the Higher Self can take many different forms. In the early stage when we are not really open to the words, feelings and pictures from our Higher Self, much of this guidance can come from something in the world outside ourselves. Things such as a book that falls of a shelf; the sign on a bus driving past or the words of a stranger. There are an infinite number of ways that the information can come to us.

The key is to be open to the information when it presents itself. In the early stage of your journey you will miss much of the information from the Higher Self because of the influence of your ego/subconscious mind and you will misinterpret what you have seen heard or felt. Don't lose heart, it is like learning any new skill, it takes time. Even now after 30 years I still miss the messages.

At the moment I am going through a flat spot in many areas of my life, whereas in others, especially creatively, things are great. I was walking the dogs early in the morning when I asked the question of why things were not working as well as normal or in the flow as I call it. No sooner than two minutes had passed when along came a tram with a large sign on the side which said Convert Your Thinking. As I reflected on that sign I realized that in the areas of my life that were not working I had allowed negative thoughts to appear and my outer world was only reflecting what I was experiencing on the inside. It was time to convert my thoughts. Obviously the best way to do that is only have positive thoughts, but for most of us that is impossible; so if your are like me and the odd negative thought creeps in then immediately replace it with something positive. A simple example of this was this was when I was at the park with the dogs and a woman let her dog loose and it ran around annoying all the other dogs, while she proceeded to talk on the phone and ignore the dog. I found myself judging her and the lack of discipline for her dog. It was a small judgment but one of many that I had been letting creep into my life. Rather than deny what I had just done I converted my thinking by looking at the positive and saw that she was taking her dog out for exercise and socializing. Who knows what else was going in her life and who was I to judge. The moment I changed my energy the dog relaxed and seemed to be more social and less annoying and became one of the pack.

Interesting. How many times in a day do we have these negative thoughts? And so what I hear you say, they are not hurting anyone, but in fact they are hurting you the thinker of these thoughts because they begin to create a world where more and more seems to be negative. So rather than see the immense beauty this world has to offer we see only weeds. Convert your thinking by changing a negative into a positive. When you see something negative look for the positive within it. If your are open the positive is always there.

To me the first step on my journey was to realize that there is an energy within all things and this energy never dies. To look at this topic I have chosen a section of my upcoming book (The Way of the Initiate) when the young disfigured boys goes off on the apprenticeship with the old Chinese sage.

After a long walk, the Sage and his new apprentice stopped to make camp by a river. The sun was beginning to set and the air around them was beginning to cool rapidly, as it was the night before the Winter Solstice. They set about creating a fire to warm themselves. The crackling of the fire was a good sound that highlighted the beauty of the element of Fire. In a balance, it could keep you warm and provide life, but out of a balance it could destroy, as the young boy had already experienced many years ago. In their time together, the old sage would teach the boy many things, but the most important teaching would be to understand and work with the power of the Elements.

They had not talked at all during the day, both preferring to keep to their own counsel, which for a young boy would normally be very difficult; but this young boy was different. On their journey, he watched the forest coming to life and how the different animals and insects appeared at different times during the day. Each of the creatures of the forest seemed to have their own cycle of when to be active and when to rest. The dragonflies that had landed on his shoulders in the village had seemed to follow him throughout the day, and every now and again they would appear in tandem to keep up his spirits. The long walk had been tiring, but on an emotional level he felt a joy he had not felt in years. He did not want to dwell on it, though, as it would have made him remember his parents and the pain of losing them, which was still very much alive. Better he enjoyed what the day and the forest had to offer.

The old sage prepared for them a simple meal of rice and the few vegetables that they were given by the people of the village. It was enough food to last them a few days, but the old sage was not worried; nature always seemed to provide what was needed.
They were eating in silence when it was broken by the gentle tones of the young boy's voice. "What do I call you?"

The old man smiled; he was not used to having company and had never really thought about introducing himself. "My Name is Chung Fu. It was the name given by my old master when I was about your age. It is the 61st hexagram of the I Ching, and it means ‘Inner Truth’. I suppose we will have to give you a new name, a name that will represent this new journey that you are on. I have thought long and hard about what we should call you, and the same name or picture kept appearing to me all day. It was a picture of a fire, a fire that was here to warm the world. From this day forward, you will be known as Huo shi wennuan: 'The Fire that Warms’.”

The young boy nodded to the sage; he could not speak, as his eyes had filled up with tears. Although it was a great honor to be given a name by an old sage, the name itself brought back memories of that fateful day when his parents died in the fire. He sat with his head bowed, reliving the horrible event as more tears escaped from his eyes, coming in ever increasing volume. Then there were the sighs of grief upon the realization that he would never see his parents again.

The old sage, who had the gift of inner sight, understood what the boy was feeling; he could see it in the astral field that surrounded his body. "Nothing ever dies," he said with such gentleness and tenderness that the boy could not help but look up into the eyes of the old sage, who was also crying. He could feel the young boy's pain, and he wished he could just wish it away, but as in everything, there is and was a teaching.

"What do you mean, ‘nothing ever dies’?" said the young man as he wiped the tears and snot from his face.
"Tell me about you parents. Can you describe them?"
The tears flowed again as the young boy described his parents. He described them in such detail and with such emotion that the old sage could see that they were still alive in his heart. They were the sort of memories that would never die; memories filled with emotion, memories that lived forever.
"That is good. The memories you have will be with you always, but just like your memories, the energy that is your parents will never die. Their physical bodies may no longer exist, but their eternal, immortal, and infinite spirit will live on forever." The boy looked a little confused, so the sage changed tack. "Put your hand up in front of your face. Now move it away from your face, slowly, so that you are still looking at it as it moves away from your face. Now I want you to soften your sight; don't look at your hand directly, but almost look at it out of the corner of your eye. What do you see?"
The boy did as the sage told him. He held the hand in front of his face, then as he began to move it away from his face, he softened his look and turned his head slightly, as if trying to perceive it without his direct vision. At first he saw nothing, but then his focus changed to the point where he was not concentrating too hard or too little. Then it happened. At first it scared him, then it disappeared. He tried again, but in the trying, nothing appeared. Without really knowing what he was really doing or why he was doing it, he released the need to see - and of course, the moment he released it was the moment it reappeared. Watching his hand and moving it ever so slightly, he could see the aura as it wrapped itself around his hand. Even as he moved his hand, the aura changed shape but stayed with him.

"That is the energy that some called God; others call it the Tao. It is the energy that gives life to all things, and when our physical bodies die, this energy moves on." He picked up a rock and held it out to the boy. "Even this rock has the same energy running through it. Once you realize that this energy is in all things will be the moment you begin to realize that you are a part of all things. You will begin to see that you and the Great Tao are one. It will also be the moment when you realize that the word ‘Tao’ is only a pale rendition for the energy itself, for the Tao is unknowable and indescribable. It is everything, and again it is nothing; it is the highest, and also the lowest. It is the 'I am that I am.'
"Now, lift both your hands up and put them in front of your eyes. Put your pointer fingers a couple of inches apart, hold them there for a moment, then move them a little closer. Use the same soft vision that you used when you were looking at your hand. Relax, and allow the magic to happen."
The young boy did as he was told. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, then almost involuntarily he took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then breathed out. A smile lit up his face as first he saw the energy envelop each of his fingers, then shoot from the finger on his right hand and connect with the energy in his left hand. For the next two minutes, he played with the energy, watching it dance between his hands. The more he played with it, the stronger the energy became.
The dragonflies that had followed the young boy on his journey moved closer to the light and became part of the game. Seeming to sense the energy passing between Huo's fingers, the dragonflies played their own game, spiraling in and out of the energy that connected his hands. There was a moment when the aura of the dragonflies connected with Huo's aura. It lasted only a few seconds, but in those seconds Huo felt a strong connection with the dragonflies, so strong that it not only enveloped the boy and the dragonflies, but the fire, the old sage, and everything within a hundred metres as well.
The old sage smiled to himself; he had chosen well. Huo was the one who would eventually take over his role as the 33rd Sage; already he was connected at a deeper level with the Tao or Godforce than any other child he had ever seen. His biggest challenge was to go beyond the ego and see the death of his parents for what it really was, but there was plenty of time for that. It would not be easy, but there would come a point in the teaching where Huo would be able to pull back from the ego's view of the world and see his and his parents’ lives from an infinite view; by being able to detach, he could allow the healing process to occur.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the teachings imbedded in it. For next couple of days why not practicing seeing the energy that exists in all things and play around with the exercises in the story above. When I first tried I almost collapsed in shock when I could clearly see the energy around a tree and then around a person. It was the day I opened up to this wonderful quest I am on.

Blessings and peace and my you spiritual journey always be playful and filled with joy.
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