Healing Tones

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

“Who doeth all for Me, who findeth Me In all; adoreth always; loveth all Which I have made, and Me, for Love’s sole end, That man, Arjuna! unto Me doth wend.” —Krishna, The Bhagavad~gita

THERE ARE TIMES while reading Hugh Malafry’s compelling novel BLUE SHAMAN ~ Stone of Sovereignty that my outer shell of humanity nearly cracks open and explodes in release of the Light of the Wonderful One who dwells within these temple walls of flesh and bone. This is one of those times, a golden moment when Caron, the Grail King incognito, poses a soul searching question to Marut, an old friend and jewelry merchant caught up in a world of sensational wonders:

What do you know of the one who sees, who contemplates, who dwells serenely above his emanations, supreme in the midst of the flame of creation? You know the smoke and the burning and the combustion of the world. But what do you know of him, who dances within the ring of fire, poised, balanced in the making and unmaking of all things?

Marut wilted upon hearing Caron’s provocative rhetorical question. Do you wilt reading those words, sorely aware of your resistance to fully surrender to the One you are and therein lose your isolated independent existence; or do you long to fully surrender to and know that One intimately? Harkening back to lyrics penned by my friend Hugh I shared in my previous post: “To know Thee as Thou art Almighty God and Living Word made flesh.” Do you long to know your Divine Self, the Wonderful One within — even as Prince Arjuna in the Bhagavad~gita asked Lord Krishna to let him see him, the God of gods, as he is, uncloaked by outer forms?

It may serve in these end days of awakening to visit, or revisit, this ancient story about the art of war and battle, revised and reframed by Uranda, who also added a subtitle to the booklet, The Song Celestial.

The story as Uranda retells it shows the way by which the expression of Spirit, true Self-expression, may become dominant in the individual, so that he/she is no longer governed by that which is unworthy of the true nobility of the Creator Being we each are, incarnate in these human capacities with their ingrained habits of judgment, criticism and complaint that betray and slay the expression of ones beautiful spirit of love, of kindness and generosity.

I will take the next two post to visit the last chapter of the story, so sit back and contemplate your own life in the battlefield of this earthly journey. (Copies of the booklet can be obtained from: The Emissaries, 100 Sunrise Ranch Rd., Loveland, CO 80538).

CHAPTER XI

Arjuna: Thus for my soul’s peace have I heard from Thee, The unfolding of the Mystery Supreme; Comprehending which, By darkness is dispelled; for now I know—O Lotus -eyed!—whence is the birth of men, And whence their death, and what the majesties Of Thine immortal rule. Fain would I see, As thou Thyself declar’st it, Sovereign Lord! The likeness of that glory of Thy Form Wholly revealed. O Thou Divinest One! If this can be, If I may bear the sight, Make Thyself visible, Lord of all prayer! Show me Thy very Self, the Eternal God!

Krishna: Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha! I manifest for thee Those hundred thousand thousand shapes that clothe my Mystery. I show thee all my semblances, infinite, rich, divine, My changeful hues, my countless forms. See! in this face of mine, Wonders unnumbered, Indian Prince! revealed to none save thee. Behold, this is the Universe!—Look! what is live and dead I gather all in one—in Me! Gaze, as thy lips have said, ON GOD ETERNAL, VERY GOD! See Me! See what thou prayest! Thou canst not!—nor, with human eyes, Arjuna! ever mayest! Therefore I give thee sense divine. Have other eyes, new light! And, look! This is my glory, unveiled to mortal sight!

Servant: Then, O King! the God, so saying, Stood, to Pritha’s Son displaying All the splendour, wonder, dread Of His vast Almighty-head. Out of countless eyes beholding, Out of countless mouths commanding, Countless mystic forms enfolding In one Form: supremely standing Countless radiant glories wearing, Countless heavenly weapons bearing, Crowned with garlands of star-clusters, Robed in garb of woven lustres, Breathing from His perfect Presence Breaths of every subtle essence Of all heavenly odours; shedding Blinding brilliance; overspreading—Boundless, beautiful—all spaces With His all-regarding faces; So He showed! If there should rise Suddenly with the skies Sunburst of a thousand suns Flooding earth with beams undeemed of, Then might be that Holy One’s Majesty and radiance dreamed of!

So did Pandu’s Son behold All this universe unfold All its huge diversity Into one vast shape, and be Visible, and viewed, and blended In one Body—subtle, splendid, Nameless—the All-comprehending God of Gods, the Never-ending Deity!

But, sore amazed, Thrilled, o’erfilled, dazzled, and dazed, Arjuna knelt; and bowed his head, And clasped his palms; and cried and said:

Arjuna: Yea! I have seen! I see! Lord! All is wrapped in Thee! The gods are in Thy glorious frame! the creatures Of earth, and heaven, and hell In Thy Divine form dwell, And in Thy countenance shine all the features

Of Brahma, sitting lone upon His lotus-throne; Of saints and sages, and the serpent races Yea! mightiest Lord! I see Thy thousand thousand arms, and breasts, and faces, and eyes—on every side Perfect, diversified; And nowhere end of Thee, nowhere beginning, nowhere a centre! Shifts—Wherever soul’s graze lifts—Thy central Self, all wielding, and all-winning!

Infinite King! I see The anadem on Thee, The club, the shell, the discus; see Thee burning in beams insufferable, Lighting earth, heaven, and hell With brilliant blazing, glowing, flashing; turning

Dark to dazzling day, Look I whichever way; Ah, Lord! I worship Thee, the Undivided, the Uttermost thought, The Treasure Palace wrought To hold the wealth of the worlds; the Shield provided

To shield virtue’s law; The fount whence Life’s stream draws All waters of all rivers of all being: The One Unborn, Unending: Unchanging and Unblending! With might and majesty, past thought, past seeing!

Silver of moon and gold Of sun are glories rolled From Thy great eyes; Thy visage, beaming tender Throughout the stars and skies, Doth to warm life surprise Thy Universe. The worlds are filled with wonder

Of Thy perfections! Space Star-spangled, and void place From pole to pole of the Blue, from bound to bound, Hath Thee in every spot, Thee, Thee!—Where Thou art not, O Holy, Marvelous Form! is nowhere found!

O Mystic, Awful One! At sight of Thee, made known, The Three Worlds quake, the lower gods draw nigh Thee; They fold their palms and bow Body, and breast, and brow, And whispering worship, laud and magnify Thee!

The Prophets and Faithful cry “Hail! Highest Majesty!” From sage and singer breaks the hymn of glory In dulcet harmony, Sounding the praise of Thee; While countless companies take up the story.

These see Thee, and revere, In holy awe draw near; Yea! the Worlds—seeing Thee with form stupendous, With faces manifold, With eyes which all behold, Unnumbered eyes, vast arms, members tremendous,

Flanks, lit with sun and star, Feet planted near and far, Wonder-working Hands, mouths wrathful and tender—The Three wide Worlds before Thee Adore, as I adore Thee, Quake, as I quake, to witness so much splendour!

I mark Thee strike the skies With front, in wondrous wise Huge, rainbow-painted, glittering; and thy mouth Opened, and orbs which see All things, whatever be In all Thy worlds, east, west, north and south.

O Eyes of God! O Head! My strength of soul is fled, Gone is heart’s force, rebuke is mind’s desire! When I behold Thee so, With awful brows a-glow, With burning glance, and lips lighted by fire

Fierce as those flams which shall Consume, at close of all, Earth, Heaven! Ah me! I see no Earth and Heaven! Thee, LORD of Lords! I see, Thee only—only Thee! Now let Thy mercy unto me be given, Thou Refuge of the World!

Krishna: Thou seest Me as Time who kills, Time who brings all self-active ones to doom, The Slayer Time, ancient of Days, come hither to consume; Excepting thee of all these hosts of hostile chiefs arrayed, There stands not one shall leave alive the battlefield! Dismayed No longer be! Arise! obtain renown! destroy thy foes! Fight for the kingdom awaiting thee when thou hast vanquished those.

By me they fall—not thee! the stroke of death is dealt them now, Even as they show thus gallantly; My instrument art thou! ‘Tis I who bid them perish! Thou wilt but slay the slain; Fight! they must fall, and thou must live, victor upon this plain!

Servant: Hearing mighty Keshav’s word, Tremblingly that helmed Lord Clasped his lifted palms, and—praying Grace of Krishna—stood there, saying, With bowed brow and accents broken, These words, timorously spoken:

Arjuna: Worthily, Lord of Might! The whole world hath delight In Thy surpassing power, obeying Thee; The evil ones, in dread At sight of Thee, are sped To all four quarter; and the company Of Siddhas sound Thy name. How should they not proclaim Thy Majesties, Divinest, Mightiest? Thou Braham, than Brahma greater! Thou Infinite Creator! Thou God of gods, Life’s Dwelling-place and Rest.

Thou, of all souls the Soul! The Comprehending Whole! Of being formed, and formless being the Framer; O Ultimate One! O Lord! Older than eld, Who stored The worlds with wealth of Life! O Treasure-Claimer, Who wottest all, and art Wisdom Thyself! O Part In all, and All; for all from Thee have risen—Numberless now I see The aspects art of Thee! Spirit of All, Thou art, releasing man from prison.

The first of mortal men—Again, Thou God! again A thousand thousand times be magnified! Honour and worship be—Glory and praise—to Thee Cried on every side; Cried here, above, below, Uttered when Thou dost go, Uttered where Thou dost come! we call; God adored! Nameless Lord! Hail to Thee! Praise to Thee! Thou One in all; For Thou art All! Yea, Thou!

ALL IS IN THE ONE

Prince Arjuna is not without words in describing the ineffable Lord Krishna as He is.

What I take away from this story is that all things, both the good and the evil, are included in and embraced by the Almighty. The evil must be dealt with forthrightly and fall away. This line grabbed my attention: “By me they fall—not thee! the stroke of death is dealt them now, Even as they show thus gallantly; My instrument art thou! ‘Tis I who bid them perish!” The implication here is the “instrument” provides the means by which the evil meets its undoing and perishes.

There’s clearly work to do purifying the heart of the Body of Mankind — which is the Body of God on Earth. Think not that what you are feeling on any particular day and in any particular moment belongs solely to you, because it doesn’t. It belongs to the One who, when asked, will provide the wisdom and courage to deal with it forthrightly: “Get thee hence!” Cast it into the fire of love that burns in your heart — and keep that fire burning hot.

We angels incarnate are made of fire, and a good part of out work here is to allow the Spirit of God to “reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment” (John 16:8) — not out there, but in here when the spirit of this world rears its ugly head in our feeling realms and thoughts. That’s the convenient and only place one can let the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, deal with it — a reason to be thankful. The word “comfort” means “with power and strength.” Who is willing to do this work of purification in the Body of our Lord and King, in which we each one have a vital role? It’s through a pure heart that one sees and knows God as He is. What do you know?

I welcome your thoughts. Until my next post.

Be love. Be loved.

Anthony (tpal70@gmail.com)

SHAPERS OF LIGHT

“Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?” (Job 38:4)

SHAPERS OF LIGHT

WE ARE THE SHAPERS OF LIGHT by which the world of form is created and shaped by the spirit our words convey. To discern the spirit, one need only behold the shape of things in this mind-made world. All of it is shaped to render comfort and pleasure to the human creators. Only the natural world shaped by Mother Earth raises praise and pleasure to the Creator clothed by Father Sun. Lyrics of Hugh Malafry’s hymn and baritone solo, written for sacred music composed and sung by my friend PenDell Pittman, rise up to be shared once again:

“How shall we give Thee glory who art the Living God? Power, who art the very flame of love? Kingdom, when the universe of stars is but a cloak to Thee? Thou art all things. All things come from Thee; return again unto Thee; and abide always in Thee. We are Thy kingdom, power, Thy glory shining! We are Thy bone, Thy blood, Thy flesh singing praises unto Thee. To know Thee as Thou art, Almighty God and Living Word made flesh.”

THE PURPOSE FOR CROSSING OVER

In my previous post, “IT’S TIME TO CROSS OVER,” the purpose for crossing is not to escape this troubled world but to rise into position as divine Creator Beings to speak the creative Word that brings order and harmony out of chaos and confusion. In other words, we cross over to the place of creation above the crossover point that joins the heaven above with the earth below. Our crossing is not for self-enlightenment nor self-realization — that happens during the process of transformation below the crossover point — but for a specific and worthy purpose. There’s work to do here, individually and collectively: the work of setting the dominion of Heavenly Ordinances in the Body of Mankind and in the Earth by way of human consciousness seeded from above.

There’s a poignant line penned by mystic Jacob Boehme that’s relevant to this work: “For you must remember that earth unfolds its properties and powers in union with Heaven aloft above us, and there is one Being, one Will one God, all in all.”

GIVING VOICE TO HEAVEN’S ORDINANCES

 The Ordinances of Heaven are Divine decrees that, when given free reign and dominion in human affairs, bring about order and beauty out of chaos and ugliness. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” we pray.  Paraphrasing, “Let the dominion of Thy ordinances be set in the earth as they appear in the heaven.”  In order to know the ordinances of Heaven, I must be in Heaven above the crossover point offering attunement with Love’s ordinances — with the true patterns of life for forms in the earth below the crossover point. 

These ordinances are specific to people and to situations whose dominion is our role as stewards to set in the earth of our human capacities and in the world we create. They are the true design and control patterns and factors, specific to the situation at hand with whom or with which I offer attunement through my thoughts, words and living . . . attunement with Love’s ordinances in the Heaven.  Most are simple, as the Prayer of St. Francis expresses:

PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

In dying to the old self-centered self we are born to our true and eternal divine Self. What a simple and beautiful prayer. Sowing the seeds of Love’s ordinances is my purpose as a creator being incarnate in this human capacity. It is our shared purpose as collective Body of incarnate Creator Beings: “one Being, one Will one God, all in all.”

ONE CONSCIOUSNESS, ONE MIND

We are living in the Day when the “sea” of human consciousness is being resurrected back into Divine Consciousness and disappearing:  “…and there was no more sea.” (Rev. 21)  This is the restoration, the correction of what is called “the Fall.”  Soon human consciousness will be no more and only Divine Consciousness will remain. 

Now, just as the sea of human consciousness is being absorbed into Divine Consciousness, so is the collective human Mind being restored to heaven, to oneness with Divine Mind.  The fracture created during the Fall is in process of being healed.  Complete oneness with God and Man restored is in process in our day!  This is great cause for rejoicing.  “But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.” (Isaiah 65:18)

GIVING VOICE TO SHAPE THE LIGHT OF LOVE

We co-create our world together making all things new, letting the light of Love shine and radiate without concern for results – but not without intention.  Jesus commanded to the ears of the deaf man “Ephphatha! Be opened!” And to the lame “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk!” To the infirm “Be thou made whole!” To the storm “Be calm!” And to Lazarus “Come forth!” We participate in creation and renewal with no concern for result and with assurance that our words will go forth to accomplish that to which they are sent.  We give voice to Love’s command: Let wonders form! Let heaven’s beauty shine!  Behold we create!  We are the appointed and designated shapers of Love’s Light.

VOICING OUR THOUGHTS AS AN ACT OF CREATION

The following article appeared in my mailbox today from DailyOm Inspiration. It is so relevant to this post that I just have to share it here. I can only imagine the nature and content of the conversation these two birds in the picture below are having!

WHEN WE COMMUNICATE PRECISELY, WE ARE VOICING OUR THOUGHTS AS AN ACT OF CREATION

Using Our Outside Voice Each of us has developed an internal filtering process that helps us choose which parts of our constant inner monologues get voiced outside of our heads. Sometimes the choice is based on what we consider to be polite or appropriate, using subtlety instead of directness to try to get our point across. Other times, the choice is made based on our expectations of the other person and what we feel they should know about us, our feelings, and our needs. But our best chance of getting what we need is to communicate specifically by converting our inner voice to our outside voice. This may seem unnecessary sometimes, especially when we think the other person has the same information that we ourselves are working with, but we have to remember they also have their own inner voice, evaluating what they hear in light of their own issues and needs. With so much to consider and sift through, we are truly better off if we communicate precisely. Not only does doing this minimize the chance for misinterpretation, but voicing our thoughts is an act of creation. We convert thought and imagination to sound, releasing it from the chamber of our minds into the outside world. This carries energy and intention with it, allowing our thoughts, wishes, and even dreams to come true. When we have the courage to speak our minds and use our voice to send the desires of our hearts from our inner world to the world outside, we take a bold step in making them happen. By removing fear of what others may think and expectation of what others should understand, we free ourselves and let loose our desires onto the canvas of the world. Next time we become aware that we have a choice about how to communicate, we can choose to use our outside voice and watch its creative power at work.

DOMINION OF THE SEVEN ORDINANCES OF LOVE

There are seven ordinances of Love whose dominion are to be set in the earth of our body temples and in our world. They are the Seven Spirits before the throne of God spoken of by John the Divine in his Book of Revelation (4:5), where they are described as “lamps of fire.” Lloyd A. Meeker (Uranda), Beloved Founder of the Attunement healing service I offer along with many other practitioners worldwide, assigned these seven spirits and their vibrational qualities to the sacred energy centers focused by the seven endocrine glands in the body temple. These qualities or gifts, counting from the gonads below on up to the pineal gland in the cranium, are: Patience, Tranquility, Realization, Assurance, Radiance, Wisdom and Love. I composed a poem entitled “The Seven Spirits of God” many years ago, which I included in my book SACRED ANATOMY ~ Temple of the Living God.*

The Seven Spirits of God

I am the Spirit of Love
I draw my world together as a playing field for my creativity
I and my world are one
I seed and father the life of my world.
I am the Spirit of the Womb
I provide containment and wisdom for the Spirit of Love
I am open to the Father to receive,
conceive, nurture and give birth to the seeds of Love
I mother the life of my world.
I am the Spirit of Life
I bring radiance to my world
I am born anew in each moment
For I am birthless, deathless and eternally the same
I am the life of my world.
I am the Spirit of Purification
I protect the life and this temple from harm
I bring heaven and earth together as one
I give assurance to my world that all is well.
I am the Spirit of Blessing
I uplift the elements of my world through my Creative Process
so they might become part of my body
I provide realization for my world.
I am the Spirit of the Single Eye
I bring power to my body, focus to my mind,
precision to my movement, tranquility to my world.
I am the Spirit of the New Earth
I welcome the substance by which I create all things new
in patience and right expectancy
I am the spirit of love.

~~~

SHAPING THE LIGHT OF LOVE

Where there is impatience let me shape the light of love as patience. Where there is war let me shape love’s light as peace and tranquility. Where there is cursing and condemnation let me shape the light of love as blessing. Where there is defilement let me shape the light of love as a purifying fire that brings assurance of Love’s Presence. Where there are shadows and darkness let me shape my light as abundant radiant life. Where there is deceit and lying, let me shape my light as wisdom and truth. And where there is hate and war let me shape my light as love and peace. The word “let” is the shaping verb when offering Love’s command: “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” So let it be.

Until my next post . . .

Be love. Be loved

Anthony

tpal70@gmail.com

*SACRED ANATOMY can be purchased from Amazon Books. If you purchase it from Amazon, I ask you to please write a brief comment for Amazon expressing your appraisal of the book. This helps encourage Amazon to give my book greater exposure on its site.

IT’S TIME TO CROSS OVER

“It’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness”

IT’S TIME TO CROSS OVER. The veil of the impure heart, now being purified in the fire of love, has been rent in twain, allowing us to cross over to the other side and stand in our ordained place, the Holy Place of Heaven, as the Teacher instructed us to do when things begin to fall apart, as they are doing today: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place….” I recommend that one read and think deeply upon the words of Jesus as Matthew recorded and wrote them down in the twenty-fourth chapter of his gospel. It’s very current and quite sobering.

What I really want to share with you in this post is a story I just recently enjoyed — and which gave rise to the theme and message of this post. The story itself is skillfully if intentionally injected into its author’s most engaging novel, BLUE SHAMAN ~ The Stone of Sovereignty, written and published back in 2008 by friend and rogue scholar Hugh Malafry. It’s the first book of a trilogy and series on the theme of the search for the alchemist’s “Stone of Sovereignty,” a means by which base metal may be turned into gold — a metaphor the author masterfully employs to deliver his subtle if subliminal message: restoring fallen humanity to the golden state of divine identity and oneness with a God of Love — which he more than implies is none other than the very “Holy Grail” sought by the fabled Knights of the Round Table, as well as men and women to this day. This is my third reading.

I’ll just cut to the excerpt and the story — not the whole story of course, which you’ll thoroughly enjoy yourself when you read his first book of the series, a final volume of which I am assured is being written even as I blog. The story is set in the 13th century AD when the Cathars — men, women and children — were being rounded up and burned alive as heretics by the Catholic Church in what historically came to be known as “The Inquisition” in Southern France, along with the Waldensian persecution in Northern Italy.

The setting is a castle fortress under siege atop a steep hill in the “once bright land of Languidoc, a wasteland in the shadow of death” in Occitania where the priestess and “mountain mother . . . Esclarmonde, who was the light of the world,” and “Anwyn of the In-World” were taking final refuge awaiting their own execution in the fires of the bishop of Carcassonne, Dominican prelate “Albertus Magnus.” His armies “held those of the Comte de Toulouse at bay in a final siege of the mountain sanctuary of Montsegur.” The sovereign character and champion in the story is Hugues Comte de Caron, whose inner and real identity is revealed as you read the story. With that context setup, on to the story!

LOST HALLOWS

Caron crossed the siege lines unchallenged. Rings of fires flared, and soldiers huddled together in their encampments, from the raw March wind gusting across the wastelands. The castle was secured, and terms of capitulation were given. The mountain fell off into an abyss, and there was no escape. What remained were the cold, the shame, and mortal fear of God’s retribution for the slaughter of innocence.

Caron was expected. The great gate opened with a squeal of frozen iron, and he stood for a moment looking into the dark passage before him. It seemed a different castle, made for a different time, than the one he had come to before. Then it was full of life; this was desolate. A torch was lit in the courtyard, and illumined a gnarled oak door. He could go no further, so he knocked and stood patiently waiting for it to open. It did not, and he had not come to stand out in the cold: Someone must open the door, but no one came, and it troubled him.

“Be still.”

It was a woman’s voice. He looked about himself. Nothing. Then he looked back to the great gate, and again there was nothing but a ring of glowing campfires, their sparks whirling up in the heavy gusting wind.

“He shall not enter with you.” “Who shall not enter?” he asked. “The one who hides in your shadow.”

Caron looked back at his shadow in the torchlight. It seemed unlikely he would go anywhere without it, for it was firmly attached to his feet.

“Who are you?” he asked. “Anwyn of the In-World.”

Her voice was like bright water. He looked about the silent court, shadowed in the moonlight. It was difficult to believe he stood on the threshold of another world. The past was a mystery to him, and he had always wondered how he came to be who he was. Slowly the thoughts formed, gathering to an intuition, and she seemed to feel it in him. “Do you now remember us” she asked.

“Where are you?”

“Hidden within.”

Sounds of the battlefield receded. Voices of the soldiers in the distance faded, driven off by the gusting wind sweeping the high plateau. His cares went with them; he found himself drawn into a silence, filled with peace within the eye of the storm.

A little door, about half the height of a man, set seamlessly within the greater, opened for him. He stooped, eased through on his knees, and found himself knelt in a small, unlit courtyard, facing a stone wall. The court was empty, but for the youth who immediately secured and bolted the door behind him. The boy pointed silently. Caron looked to his right where a spiral of seven stairs rose from the courtyard and disappeared in a tower. The youth was gone before Caron could question or rise from his knees, and he was alone within the silence of the keep.

There was nowhere else to go, so Caron cautiously climbed the spiral stairs, counting twenty-four steps in all, before it ended at another closed door with no latch or bar upon it. Instead, carved in hard oak and inlaid with silver, there was the curious design of an endless knot, a weave of intersecting paths, having no beginning or ending, but a pattern that traced and repeated itself. He pressed on the door but it would not open, so he waited as he had done before, but this time no boy came to his aid.

“Anwyn, guide me to the In-world.” He waited for her reply, but none came. He began to feel foolish standing before another closed door. To go forward he must find the way in himself. His attention returned to the silver knot. He studied then touched and traced his finger along it. Dread fear like dark waters rose upon him. He struggled, as if he breathed water, and would drown. He drew back in panic, but settled his breathing, and gathered his senses.

When he came to himself he heard a murmur of voices beyond the door, like the sound of a distant fall of water, and it filled him with longing. He pressed the door with both hands, and still it would not yield. He stood at the top of the stair feeling frustrated, resisting the urge to bang upon it.

He had not come here by chance; he had right and a purpose: it was his time, his place, and his ignorance surely could be forgiven him. Mastering his fear, Caron again touched the endless knot. This time his fingers tingled, and as he did not resist there was no shock; rather his body filled with pleasant warmth at the contact. And Anwyn was back.

“You must let go your shadow.” Her words fell like rain on dry dust. “To cross over, you must see yourself on the other side.”

Again he traced the pattern with his finger tips, and felt the weave of the knot melt to his touch. He let go and found the door not so solid as he had supposed. A light shone from beyond it, filtering through the edges. The seams of the oak frame rent with fissures through which the light shone. Caron began to see something beyond. He tried to focus his eyes on it, but the harder he tried the more solid the door became, and the shining beyond faded. What was within would not be taken. It was not by will that he saw beyond the door, but by inner light that brightened the eye, and made transparent what appeared opaque.

Caron let go his grip on what seemed so real and impassable, the stone wall and the oaken door that stood in his way, and began at once to see differently. The heavy oak door was less substantial; first a thing of rough-hewn timbers and iron plates, then cracks and fissures through which the light streamed, then little more than tatters and a threadbare shroud through which the light shone. Beyond was a man who shone like the sun, enveloped in glory like clouds streaming with sunlight.

Caron could not face the one in the light. He looked away, as one catches a glimpse of but cannot look into the sun. He could not enter in; he could not turn back. Of himself he could do nothing: he was dust and ashes. The other dwelled in light; he dwelled in the shadow of death. The other stood in fiery beauty, he upon a cold wind-swept waste of mountains, looking from without in. He was hung between two worlds. All that he sought was in here in this moment, but for a divide he could not cross. “Who am I,” he asked. “The one who hides in the shadow or the one who dwells in the light?” His voice faltered as he asked it for his state was wretched.

A great wind swept the plateau. The bishop’s fire blew up in a shower of sparks setting the tents aflame, singing the shaman’s hands. He dropped his staff and recoiled from the conflagration, his connection with Caron broken. The shaman picked up his scorched staff, stood a careful distance off, and whispered into the fire. “He is the one,” the shaman said. “They are much mistaken in him. He is the one.”

Within Montsegur, Caron heard a keen of wind across the high plateau of dark mountains, and in it the voice of the emptiness of the world. “If world and will is all there is then I am dust and ashes,” he said.

He had come to the door at the end of time, and he had seen himself on the other side. He was not all dust and ashes. “I am that one,” he said. “I am the light of the world.” He let go into the light and the light took him. The illusion of separation passed. He crossed over, and there was one man. All the worlds were in him, and he in all the worlds.

I hope you enjoyed the story and could see your own transformation journey culminating at the threshold between the outer and inner worlds, which in reality are one: a true duality of Heaven and Earth — One Whole Holy World, which is in you and you in it. I am, you are, the light of the world. I do not hide my light under a cloud of safety and isolation. Rather I shine my light where all can see it and be enlightened. What about you? Are you afraid to shine your light? Afraid of judgment and criticism . . . from your own human ego? “Who do you think your are? You’re a nobody!” What a lie! On the other side of the veil You are the Light of the world. See your Self on the other side. Cross over the threshold and be Who you really are: the Light of the World — where there are no shadows but only light, the Light of your own Creator Being, who you ARE: the Light of Love.

HEALING YOUR HEARTBREAK

I’ll leave you with a brief inspiration from my friend and fellow blogger, Will Wilkinson.

“It’s a choice to be vulnerable, just as it’s a choice to . . . find our heartbreak…then figure out what to do about it.” (Click on Will’s name above to share his timely message.)

Until my next post,

Be Love. Be loved

Anthony ~ tpal70@gmail.com