Into the Mist

It is not the teacher before you that manifests what you perceive as an awakening, but the awakening within you that manifests what you perceive as a teacher. *
 
For most of my years, I sought my idea of a traditional spiritual teacher to provide me with truth, teach me knowledge. I sought that rarefied being, flawless and wise who could give to me the connection to the Absolute that I imagined I was living uncomfortably without. In the end, much to my dismay, I repeatedly found my appointees inadequate. Over and over I concluded that I had not found the right person, but I have come to realize that it was the “right perception” I was lacking.
 
Not that my efforts were in vain—I am thankful for them. Obsessively staring into a mirror, trying to focus on the horizon, can induce some pretty profound results. The horizon seen turns out not to be “out there.”
 
“The fool who persists in his folly will become wise.”  William Blake
 
I found that it was my criterion for a teacher that was flawed, not any of the individuals that I tried to project the title onto. My efforts eventually brought me to the realization that in subtle mysteries like wisdom and spirit—the student/teacher relationship is not linear or well-defined, but more amorphous in nature. One moment I was comfortable in the compliant role I imaged to be a student and then I was scared to death to realize that the roles had reversed…and then back to being ‘student’, and then reversed again.
 
In truth, we all teacher and student—involved in a multi-faceted process, perfectly balanced as every one of us being teacher to and student of every other, simultaneously. To consider oneself as more one aspect of the process than the other is an illusion, and limits our collective experience.
 
Many of my best teachers—those who have given me lessons that have remained as significant tenets of my belief system—are people I no longer allow to have an active part in my life. There are two distinct reasons for this:
1.     One does not have to be wise to instill wisdom, virtuous to promote virtue.
2.     Once you complete the 1st grade, you do not continue to go back to that teacher’s classroom. There is undoubtedly more the teacher could teach you, but it is a matter of diminishing return—the final lesson of the student is to move on. Not to do so is to fail the teaching.
 
I do not discount those remarkable individuals that have obtained conscious levels of awareness of their connection to the Absolute that I do not consistently maintain at this time. They do indeed exist, I can feel the uniqueness of them whenever I encounter such a person—even those who do not, themselves, know of the power of their connection.
 
Even with such a person universally acknowledged as a teacher, my perspective is that instruction is offered most often because it is what ’students’ expect/demand. It is like getting someone about to panic to focus on your moving finger—a hypnotic induction to calm, allowing the student to return to a natural state of their own knowledge/wisdom.
 
It is not the mystic’s perspective that changes our reality, but experiencing their reality that changes our perspective.*
 
The real change comes about within us from spending time in the higher vibrational field of a true teacher…either directly in their presence or indirectly in the rhythm of their teaching (as a mantra may introduce peacefulness in meditation). They have seen the ‘face’ of the Absolute, they remember it, and the memory of that experience radiates from them—within or without word. One way or another, a true teacher holds open a sacred, safe place for the student to explore and lay claim to their own truth. A teacher reawakens one to the resonance of the Absolute so that the student can–on their own–find their way home to the Absolute, to their true Self.     
 
A teacher, or at least a skilled teacher, is someone with perceptive enough to comprehend the information most needed by the student, intelligent enough to purposely construct the means of the instruction, adept enough to elicit the learning without being intrusive on the student’s experience, and wise enough to realize he or she was the led in the process by the spirit of student.*
 
A teacher should not give so much of self or knowledge, but give to the student themself.*
 
A true teacher does not impart wisdom or learning, but draws forth the student’s own wisdom. The act of who is drawing forth—and not any defined role—shows us who is teacher and who is student at that moment.*
 
The order of need is no respecter of hierarchy.One may follow a path without a teacher, but to be a teacher, One needs a student.*

 Spiritual teaching is not something that you can choose, but rather something that chooses you.
 
copyright 2008 CG Walters
 
* Strike a Chord of Silence—CGW (a 20+ year old, unfinished manuscript still teaching me) 

C.G. Walters primarily writes fiction that focuses on the mystical, metaphysical, and mythical insight that we all possess. His current novel, Sacred Vow is first and foremost a metaphysical love story, a tale of soul mates—twin flames—a journey toward our one true love…in its infinite expressions…bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness. 

Receive new editions of Into the Mist through a reader  http://feeds.feedburner.com/IntoTheMist  

Get the full length FREE PDF of Sacred Vow by going to www.cgwalters.com/spirit_story.htm and clicking on the link in the page to download the eBook. This will allow you to save the book to your disk. Purchase a signed paperback copy from http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com/ – or buy from your favorite brick and mortar, or online store (Amazon.com ).  

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and complete by line is included. 

A common “suggestion/implied obligation” encountered in one’s spiritual study is to “overcome the ego.” The idea seems to be that one should subdue, train, or even eliminate the ego. As a tool to avoid misidentifying myself as only ego, it has often been suggested to me to consider “the watcher” that remains outside the psychodrama of any moment of my mind or life—a marker to bring my awareness to the true, higher self.

I, however, would suggest that as long as there is a “watcher,” there is ego. Coming to awareness of the watcher merely brings my attention from one level of ego to another. Perhaps the nature of this next level of ego is something the (egoic) mind would consider less objectionable, but it is still ego. Does the Tao ‘watch’ the unfolding of its infinite manifestations? Does it care? Caring and watching (more “considering what we see”, in this context) is an anthropomorphic—human-like—characteristic. ‘Human’ is by definition ‘self-aware.’ Self-awareness is interdependent with—the soil of—ego.

I am by no means in disagreement with this long-established practice—focusing on “who is watching”—to pull oneself from the mire of immediate obsession. Nor do I question the benefit of this method. I have already suggested that we might better define where our attention has arrived when considering this watcher, and I would also suggest we reconsider our intention of subduing, training, or (especially) eliminating the ego.

First and foremost, I would disagree with eliminating ego. This is contrary to the entire nature of our experience here…much like coming into a physical reality for the purpose of experiencing that which requires physicality, yet disregarding or pursuing the elimination all things physical and sensual. Even the experience of “disregarding/pursuing the elimination” requires the antecedent physical environment and experience.

Another flaw in the idea of eliminating or confining the ego is that in this dualistic reality, whenever you try to eliminate or restrict something, you make it stronger. In the unmanifest Tao, neither black nor white exist. When you extract white—bring it into existence—you create black. The more you try—the more energy you apply—not only do you create your intention, but you also create what may seem to be the opposite of your intention.

I agree that our identity is not limited to the any level of the conscious definition of self, though the experience of that ultimate identity sometimes requires we become lost in our very limitation. Our true essence, the state that is without ego and identity, exists eternally—it is the prerequisite canvas for the painting of life and ego to exist. We always know that Ultimate Nature intuitively, and become acutely aware of it now and then. Even knowing that Nature requires ego in order to achieve this perspective. One cannot look into our own eyes without a tool or trick. The tool to perceive OurSelf in this space is ego—that thing that segments us (gives us a sense of experience separate) from the Absolute, from All That Is.

So, the ego has long been defined as a liability. Somewhere it was suggested to me that if you have a characteristic that has consistently been pointed out to you as a liability, find a place or a perspective where that ‘liability’ can prove to be an asset. The ego has invariable characteristics.

You can count on a core pattern of behavior from ego. We can trust it to express its ‘flaws’, and therefore we can benefit from its fixedness.

The ego is a master in working toward its own survival. It will morph into infinite expressions—fooling even the most adept onlooker into thinking it no longer exists or is not actively expressing itself—when it has merely changed form. Historically great benefits to humanity and spirit have been achieved under the mask of ego. Yes, quite a bit of damage has also been done in the expression of ego. But would you eliminate horses because they have a predisposition to kick in certain situations? As with the horse, the ego seems to do most harm when feeling threatened.

One does not need to try to master the ego or eliminate it, but rather co-opt the ego into using its tremendous talents of self-preservation and perpetuation to achieve what you (from your current view point) would consider a higher goal. Sell the ego on how it benefits from your humanitarian effort, your monastic seclusion—anything!—and that intention will immediately have access to a vast reservoir of focus and energy. The ego is a powerful vehicle that will be in motion and will always exist for as long one has even the desire of a spiritual path—that desire also springing from ego. Rather than fight something that is our nature as much as is seeking the divine, place the cargo of your “highest” aspirations onboard this natural powerhouse…and may we all benefit from the ego’s next (”higher”) manifestation!

By the way, I am not saying that one can never escape ego….just that one will not be in a position or inclination to contemplate the achievement when it happens…you will have moved outside duality.

Copyright 2008 CG Walters

C.G. Walters primarily writes fiction that focuses on the mystical, metaphysical, and mythical insight that we all possess. His current novel, Sacred Vow is first and foremost a metaphysical love story, a tale of soul mates—twin flames—a journey toward our one true love…in its infinite expressions…bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness.

Receive new editions of Into the Mist through a reader http://feeds.feedburner.com/IntoTheMist

Get the full length FREE PDF of Sacred Vow by going to www.cgwalters.com/spirit_story.htm and clicking on the link in the page to download the eBook. This will allow you to save the book to your disk.
Purchase a signed paperback copy from http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com/ – or buy from your favorite brick and mortar, or online store (Amazon.com ).

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and complete by line is included.

Passion is a thing of beauty…and often brings forth more magnificence from within itself. It is an enthusiasm for life and for divine expression through life. True, even at its best its intensity can wear negatively on its human expression—the artist, the lover, the saint. 

Always believe in what draws your heart, mind, and spirit! Be passionate, unreservedly! But a healthy passion is never intolerant. If you truly believe, then no one’s disbelief can threaten you or the object of your belief. If your passion is true, the fire will burn no matter how much water it is dowsed with. So unwavering will be the flame and the warmth of your passion that many will come to stand next to the fire, even without a word of invitation.

Fanaticism, on the other hand, is passion gone awry, become intolerant to any passion but its own, oblivious—if not contemptuous—to the heartfelt needs, beliefs, and aspirations of others. Fanaticism is a cancer of passion—healthy emotion become malignant—devouring even its human hosts in the obsessive drive for its own perpetuation. It is like any other addiction. When the source of the stimulation is first introduced into our body, our psyche, it generates an initial quickening that suggests a true divine meaning—but that is only a siren’s call. Very soon the sense of significance starts to slip. Rather that consider that this has been a false or unsustainable path, it convinces us that the meaning is still there, we just need to further devote ourselves to this jealous truth.

Fanatics flail around inside/against themselves…trying to generate enough true zeal to infuse some sense of consistent meaning in their lives. They ardently demand that we see in them and their actions the meaning that they themselves obviously cannot—or they would not have such a need to insure that others validate their meaning. What they don’t realize is that if there is meaning, it is inherent and originates from within oneself. Meaning is not universal and the recognition of it cannot be imposed onto another. External forces/activities are only a whitewash of meaning.

May I be blessed in avoiding fanatics whether for or against me/mine. In their flailing, the fanatic injures indiscriminately, both friend and foe. A fanatic against me, turned supporter is still just as dangerous, until the indiscriminate fire of their raging devotion has burned itself out. For their devotion is never truly for anything but obsession itself.

As hard as it is for my personal identity to adhere to this, I am not suggesting the total elimination of fanaticism. For I would then be advocating the annihilation of the very thing I had become; would I not? I would be the covert fanatic suggesting the intolerance to fanaticism.

Besides, that which you use force to resist, you give strength. All things—including intolerance—are an expression of—an element of—the divine in this dualist reality. I do, however, acknowledge that some manifestations of the divine are generally incompatible with the health and well-being of we humans—hurricanes, drought, wars, intolerance…

So what does one do to survive the threat of fanaticism if we are not going to forcefully eliminate it? First and foremost, once a landslide begins, one cannot benefit by trying to stop it. The most immediate and appropriate response is to avoid being its victim.

Once safely surviving that experience one should consider one’s own role it becoming a part of the experience. In truth, cause and effect are never linear. Was our location (involvement) ill-chosen? If our location was required, is there something we could have done to help avoid the experience? Note: This ‘something’ might merely be not to be in that location. No amount of shoring up an unstable mountain is going to protect the house built at the base of it. Nature always wins out.

As we are living fragile and finite existences, I fully understand there must be practical measures to restrain controllable threats to health and well-being. I have no intention of bringing that into question. However, I do suggest that the one most certain tool against the spread of fanaticism is not be become one. Let us consider the idea that we cannot expect to eradicate poison with more or stronger poison. How will we know then which has killed us, the disease or the cure?   C.G. Walters primarily writes fiction that focuses on the mystical, metaphysical, and mythical insight that we all possess.  The type of perspective seen in this article is also evident in his novels. He sees fiction not as something less than truth, but something akin to a mantra…a means to induce the reader into comfortably ‘allowing’ their personal truth—a living, ever progressing truth, fit to their need at any given time.

His current novel, Sacred Vow is first and foremost a metaphysical love story, a tale of soul mates—twin  flames—a journey toward our one true love…in its infinite expressions…bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness.

 Get the full length FREE PDF of Sacred Vow by going to www.cgwalters.com/spirit_story.htm   and clicking on the link in the page to download the eBook. This will allow you to save the book to your disk. Purchase a signed paperback copy from http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com – or buy from your favorite brick and mortar, or online store (Amazon.com ). 

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and complete by line is included.

In December 1993, by many standards my life was wonderful. I was in a loving relationship. I had a secure high-tech job of almost limitless advancement potential, with one of the largest international corporations in the world. My wife, of only a few years, and I had just built the house of our dreams, in pricey though desirable countryside surroundings—where we expected to retire in due time, enjoying the fulfillment of our dreams as best we understood them at that time.

Also in December 1993, my life was failing by some standards that I could not escape. All indications of my health were that I could not long survive the ‘costs’ of our achievements. I spent most hours of my day entering into/within/or recovering from a migraine. My blood pressure was sky high (very bad for someone with an aortic valve insufficiency). Virtually every aspect of my health seemed to offer a negative response to my attempts to push myself to achieve more, quicker, or to seek instant comfort from the effects of going ever faster, farther.

To make matters worse, I was in dire confusion about the growing conflict between how I believed I should assess my ‘achievements’ and what I actually felt inside. The more I achieved along that previously defined path of success, the emptier I felt—and the worse my health became. Fortunately, my relationship with my wife was strong. It was, however, being tested by my ravings about pursuing some unorthodox path to shake off the growing sense of meaninglessness. Kathy wanted to help, but had no better tools than I to understand what we would be trying to achieve if we did veer from the only path that we knew.

Soon, I announced to my wife, “I want to move to the mountains!” –a place that I had only visited very few times in my life, and found myself completely incompatible  with due to my severe intolerance of heights (and curvy roads!). Kathy had much more history with the mountains, and loved them dearly, but was most comfortable with them as a cherished vacation destination . . . perhaps even a second-home site.

“How do you know you can live there?” she demanded, truly concerned about my reasoning and logic.

“Some things you just know,” was my spontaneous response—surprising Kathy as well as myself. I did not have any real understanding of the need to move to the mountains, but I did know.

I abruptly quit my job—certain that I could not muster the energy to survive if I went back into the office even one more time. I returned to my writing, long neglected, as an avenue to realize what it was that my spirit could not otherwise convey to my consciousness. I picked up a translation of the Tao Te Ching.

Though it had become lost in the background of my everyday ‘achievements,’ I always had the good fortune of a strong connection to the spirit self. Writing, countryside and nature were forever the best gateway for me to come to my center. The Taoist philosophy of the Tao Te Ching was a perfect reminder. The land surrounding the dream home that I had come to disdain was now a willing aid in my journey back to myself.

Without my drive for an urgent solution, it took my wife another year to let go of the path that she had been well trained to believe in all her life. It was fortunate that a connection of the spirit—a joint interest in the metaphysical—had been one of the strongest common interests between us in the beginning, even at the subdued state of our spiritual focuses at that time. We followed our intuition, even without understanding it. Releasing that familiar life was a painful time in our relationship, but it proved we had a deeper bond that we had not fully realized.

In order to stay within our budget, we purchased a boarded up place in much need of repair, attic full of snakes, in the country. Writing again took a back seat to such things as patching the roof, chopping wood, getting running water into the house. One of many new blessings provided to us was to walk to the ridge of the mountain range near our home—though it is a hard three hour climb. When we arrived in the area, my knees were so bad that I could barely walk stairs. Before long, the mountain had called me to the top.

Once on the top, I visited the mountain frequently, meditated many hours, listened to nature around me, and tried to attune my hearing to my higher self. Kathy and I redefined our priorities, and developed new circles of friends with focuses more compatible with our new understanding. Employment still got in the way of writing, but work chosen was more likely to tax the body than the mind and spirit.

For many years the writing waited while I came back to my center and my health. I was fortunate that the muses were not offended by my long absence. When I was in a position to understand, they renewed our conversation. One of the first things they graced me with was the knowledge that I had come to just the right place at just the right time.

Whether it is the love of your life, the life changing move to a new career/new location or a major shift in your definition of yourself, the greatest knowledge that you will ever exercise is often unjustified by your cultural experiences, your family heritage, your education or even your own logic.  These are the “things that you just know,” from deep within yourself. It is a part of yourself that may seem mostly unfamiliar, but is always there…waiting until you can listen.

CG Walters has written for over twenty years, primarily as a spiritual journey. His works are primarily mystical novels focusing on the multidimensionality of our relationships or love. The first work he has chosen to publish, Sacred Vow,  is a journey toward our one true love . . . and its infinite expressions . . . bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but of one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness . . . a breach that threatens us all.

     Request a free PDF of the first three chapters by contacting kathmandau at cgwalters.com or read online at http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as it is reprinted in its entirety, along with the by-line.

Our world appears to be in crisis. Many of us seek saints and sages to make themselves known and to unveil to us more sustainable—survivable—paths. But the survival of our world depends, instead, on you obtaining your deepest desire!

What is the core essence of a saint or sage, but an advanced state of harmony with self and Self (the Collective Consciousness)? Consider for a moment the possibility that the thing most needed for the progression—even the survival—of our world is for you (and every one of us who dares) to stand up to accepting your deepest longing—not hedonistic attention to your more transient hungers but that thing which in embracing will put you more in harmony with ‘All That Is’.

Perhaps you have had long known an intense and persistent yearning in your life. Often this ‘need’ is beyond our full conscious understanding, and frequently exceeds our ability to succinctly and completely express—without some real time spent in communication with our deeper selves. This yearning may be for a partner with which we have an undeniable and boundless unity. It may be for a teacher that understands our questions and evokes from within us the answers fitted precisely to our purpose. It may be for the opportunity to spend our employment exclusively in an activity that we find meaningful and fulfilling. Whatever the longing, it is pervasive, insistent, and consistently our own. Even the illusive hint of it gives substance to our ephemeral selves, spirit to our form.

Once you have identified that deepest yearning, and you have taken the responsibility of putting it into words, thereby defining the need to yourself and to the creative energies of the Universe, what if . . . one day you find yourself transported to a foreign place and there stood your spirit mate, your teacher, or the opportunity for fulfillment of your dreams? The answer sounds easy and obvious, but take a moment to truly consider the intentionally chosen words ‘transported’ and ‘foreign’ before you answer.

You may be fortunate. It is quite possible for the transition from desire to fulfillment to be instantaneous. Perhaps your mind and the manifestation will progress evenly, so there is no doubt. For my own sake and for those I hold dear, I hope this for each and every one of us. Our response, however, is too important for me not to ask you to consider something. Can you release the person that you have always known as yourself without being consciously certain how your attainment will redefine you and your experience? How will those that have been drawn to what you have been respond to what you will become?

The individual you are now, in having the yearning—but not the manifestation of that desire—is not precisely the same individual who will be radiating the energy that brings forth the fulfillment of the dream. There may be that moment of consciousness where you stand at the fork of your transformation and you are both radiating the energy to produce your dream and that old identity that is still most comfortable with producing the desire—but not the fulfillment. As each of us comes to this crossroads, the future of our world hangs in the balance.

In order to make such a leap of faith, we must first accept our right to feel the union with the mind of creation that is ours upon embracing our deepest yearning—that yearning is actually our personal invitation from the Collective Consciousness. Mind you, even this monumental transition does not provide finality. You achieve your greatest potential in order to put you in position to perceive yet another possibility…the ever-progressing horizon. This, by no means, diminishes the great joy you feel in folding into your new self-definition the fulfillment of that yearning so long sought.

So, how is obtaining your deepest yearning a vital part of the survival of our world? Each time you accept the invitations to greater union with the Universe—those deep spiritual yearnings—you begin to radiate a more harmonious energy field around you as you pass through your day—spreading that harmony where you travel. The time has passed when the impact of a few harmonious saints and sages moving through the masses could resolve our situation. We can no longer indulge ourselves in remaining in the position of yearning only… and not stepping up to accepting the fulfillment. What we need now is an ever-increasing number of individuals radiating in harmony with the Universe…accepting those invitations for union with the Absolute. Only then will our world be sustainable.

Note: what is considered to be base desire for one may be spiritually essential—at this time—for another. To come to know our own true nature well enough that we may distinguish between want and need may seem like a daunting task, but isn’t really. This can be achieved by any activity—meditation, walking, gardening—so long as it takes your mind from the chatter of active thought to the nonjudgmental state of communion with yourself and all that surrounds you….to that place where the mind does not know that it cannot know.

Copyright 2007 CG Walters
 
**Disclaimer: For me, truth is personal and the consciousness that created the world before us is so complex that it can and does simultaneously manifest an infinite number of realities that sometimes appear to the human mind to be diametrically opposed to one another.

C.G. Walters primarily writes fiction that focuses on the mystical, metaphysical, and mythical insight that we all possess.  He sees fiction not as something less than truth, but something akin to a mantra…a means to induce the reader into comfortably ‘allowing’ their personal truth—a living, ever progressing truth, fit to their need at any given time.

His current novel, Sacred Vow is first and foremost a metaphysical love story, a tale of soul mates—twin  flames—a journey toward our one true love…in its infinite expressions…bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness.

Get the full length FREE PDF of Sacred Vow by going to www.cgwalters.com/spirit_story.htm   and clicking on the link in the page to download the eBook. This will allow you to save the book to your disk.
Purchase a signed paperback copy from http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com – or buy from your favorite brick and mortar, or online store.

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and complete by line is included.

It seems that a lot of angst would be spared if the spiritual path—and life, in general—had an undeniable standard pattern that could guarantee we were ‘on track’. There would be an invariable voice of the intuitive, heard by everyone—that you could compare with what your friends heard, just to make sure you were tuned into the right channel. Maps could be acquired in advance of any planned spiritual progression, to do away with all the years of meandering through endless forays.

 So much effort is required to first determine if the mounting need within should be responded to as a worthy motivation or merely (as we are often told) a chance to mature—in the real world a word frequently implying a directive to ‘neglect,’ ‘deny,’ or ‘rationalize’. Once certain we have a true calling to this path, we must next determine from just where the voice of one’s guiding intuitive will emanate. What language will we use to communicate with it—service, art, and dance, even words? What environment will most likely evoke its presence? 

For me, one of my most powerful connections to the Absolute—the Tao, or whatever you may call the unified intelligence—has turned out to be through just the right story: something that takes the form of an extended mantra, imbued with a rhythm and symbolism resonating so personally that it seems surely to be a direct manifestation of my intuitive self. Such a ‘chant’ lures me beyond my imagined limitations, to allow me to unreservedly embrace an otherwise untouchable identity.

That being the case, I guess I should not have been surprised when over time, I became aware that whenever my higher self, spirit guides, or other such familiars have been unable to otherwise get a piece of learning across to me, one of their choice tools is to bring it to me in the form of a story—even if I am the writer of that story. No matter what I have in mind, or am working on, I find my writing activities are suddenly hijacked along a previously unanticipated path. If I am in the midst of a neglectful sabbatical from writing, my mind becomes so inflicted with an unfolding tale that I must write it down to free myself from its clamor. 

These playful friends of mine (my muses) are quite talented. For, as soon as they force me back to the keyboard, or by the moment that I realize that we have taken a “wrong” turn (if I was currently in a writing cycle), my conscious mind has already been seduced into gladly following their whimsy. 

As a rule, once their intended lesson is conveyed via the resulting story, I am amazed that I was not already consciously aware of the information they have presented. Quite often I am such a complete convert that I cannot imagine how I could have been unaware of this particular information previously. Sometimes I suspect that I merely want to have as much as my instruction as possible delivered in this, my most favorite way.   I can’t offer any reasonable excuse for why I have periodically withdrawn from writing when I know that is the fount of so much valuable instruction for me. The most likely justification that I can offer is what flows before me is sometimes more than I was prepared to stand up before: sometimes “the truth may be recognized before the peace to live it is realized.” 

The last time I had the good fortune of a being redirected along a path of instruction, I was making my way to rework a long-neglected bit of writing: doing preparatory exercises of short stories. Without warning, one of the stories—that soon became my novel, Sacred Vow—lay hold to my attention, far exceeding my intentions. I pursued, curious about what passed before me. After hour upon hour of following this new lure, I came out of my little 3×5 writing closet in a deep meditative state. Clearly, this story would be no mere preparation for another.

Shortly afterwards, my job was downsized.

I now had no excuse not to follow with abandon. My writing closet—so small that I must turn the chair away from the desk to be able to stand and open the door to leave—may be an appropriate environment for inducing a meditative state—sitting in the dark for long hours, staring at a single light before me (the computer monitor). But I think there was something more going on. For ten to twelve hours a day, over the next several of weeks, I followed where the experience led. I was enjoying the story unfolding before me, but I was ecstatic from the sensation of extended periods of being connected to my higher self. My wife said that I possessed a radiance when I walked into the house during breaks in the writing. True, I typed in the text, but I did not initially imagine their meanings.  

Weeks later, hiking with a friend, I told him of some of the views of reality unfolding in this new book. After listening attentively, he said: “Do you really believe this is the way it works?”  

We continued deeper into the woods, as I gave his question thought. I was a little amused at the answer I finally had to admit. I said, “Until I saw this information in the story, I can’t say that I had any such ideas. But now, yes, I think this is a truth.”   

“You know how tarot cards unveils truth depending on the way the cards fall?” he asked. “Perhaps just such an auspicious falling of words on your screen is unfolding the same way.”  

For just such moments of clear connection with my higher self as the writing of Sacred Vow, I gladly pay the cost of the once seemingly endless attempts to connect with my unique path and intuitive voice.

 Copyright 2007 CG Walters  

C.G. Walters primarily writes fiction that focuses on the mystical, metaphysical, and mythical insight that we all possess.  He see fiction not as something less than truth, but something akin to a mantra…a means to induce the reader into comfortably ‘allowing’ their personal truth—a living, ever progressing truth, fit to their need at any given time. His current novel, Sacred Vow is first and foremost a metaphysical love story, a tale of soul mates—twin  flames—a journey toward our one true love…in its infinite expressions…bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness.    

Request a full length FREE PDF of Sacred Vow by going to www.cgwalters.com/spirit_story.htm   and clicking on the link in the page to send an email request. Purchase a signed paperback copy from http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com – or buy from your favorite brick and mortar, or online, store.    

For a recent interview with CG, listen to the KarmaCaffe Spiritual Hour archive at

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/karmacaffe/2007/10/18/Karma-Caffe-Spiritual-Hour   This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and complete by line is included.

In December 1993, by many standards my life was wonderful. I was in a loving relationship. I had a secure high-tech job of almost limitless advancement potential, with one of the largest international corporations in the world. My wife, of only a few years, and I had just built the house of our dreams, in pricey though desirable countryside surroundings—where we expected to retire in due time, enjoying the fulfillment of our dreams as best we understood them at that time.

Also in December 1993, my life was failing by some standards that I could not escape. All indications of my health were that I could not long survive the ‘costs’ of our achievements. I spent most hours of my day entering into/within/or recovering from a migraine. My blood pressure was sky high (very bad for someone with an aortic valve insufficiency). Virtually every aspect of my health seemed to offer a negative response to my attempts to push myself to achieve more, quicker, or to seek instant comfort from the effects of going ever faster, farther.

To make matters worse, I was in dire confusion about the growing conflict between how I believed I should assess my ‘achievements’ and what I actually felt inside. The more I achieved along that previously defined path of success, the emptier I felt—and the worse my health became. Fortunately, my relationship with my wife was strong. It was, however, being tested by my ravings about pursuing some unorthodox path to shake off the growing sense of meaninglessness. Kathy wanted to help, but had no better tools than I to understand what we would be trying to achieve if we did veer from the only path that we knew.

Soon, I announced to my wife, “I want to move to the mountains!” –a place that I had only visited very few times in my life, and found myself completely incompatible  with due to my severe intolerance of heights (and curvy roads!). Kathy had much more history with the mountains, and loved them dearly, but was most comfortable with them as a cherished vacation destination . . . perhaps even a second-home site.

“How do you know you can live there?” she demanded, truly concerned about my reasoning and logic.

“Some things you just know,” was my spontaneous response—surprising Kathy as well as myself. I did not have any real understanding of the need to move to the mountains, but I did know.

I abruptly quit my job—certain that I could not muster the energy to survive if I went back into the office even one more time. I returned to my writing, long neglected, as an avenue to realize what it was that my spirit could not otherwise convey to my consciousness. I picked up a translation of the Tao Te Ching.

Though it had become lost in the background of my everyday ‘achievements,’ I always had the good fortune of a strong connection to the spirit self. Writing, countryside and nature were forever the best gateway for me to come to my center. The Taoist philosophy of the Tao Te Ching was a perfect reminder. The land surrounding the dream home that I had come to disdain was now a willing aid in my journey back to myself.

Without my drive for an urgent solution, it took my wife another year to let go of the path that she had been well trained to believe in all her life. It was fortunate that a connection of the spirit—a joint interest in the metaphysical—had been one of the strongest common interests between us in the beginning, even at the subdued state of our spiritual focuses at that time. We followed our intuition, even without understanding it. Releasing that familiar life was a painful time in our relationship, but it proved we had a deeper bond that we had not fully realized.

In order to stay within our budget, we purchased a boarded up place in much need of repair, attic full of snakes, in the country. Writing again took a back seat to such things as patching the roof, chopping wood, getting running water into the house. One of many new blessings provided to us was to walk to the ridge of the mountain range near our home—though it is a hard three hour climb. When we arrived in the area, my knees were so bad that I could barely walk stairs. Before long, the mountain had called me to the top.

Once on the top, I visited the mountain frequently, meditated many hours, listened to nature around me, and tried to attune my hearing to my higher self. Kathy and I redefined our priorities, and developed new circles of friends with focuses more compatible with our new understanding. Employment still got in the way of writing, but work chosen was more likely to tax the body than the mind and spirit.

For many years the writing waited while I came back to my center and my health. I was fortunate that the muses were not offended by my long absence. When I was in a position to understand, they renewed our conversation. One of the first things they graced me with was the knowledge that I had come to just the right place at just the right time.

Whether it is the love of your life, the life changing move to a new career/new location or a major shift in your definition of yourself, the greatest knowledge that you will ever exercise is often unjustified by your cultural experiences, your family heritage, your education or even your own logic.  These are the “things that you just know,” from deep within yourself. It is a part of yourself that may seem mostly unfamiliar, but is always there…waiting until you can listen.

CG Walters has written for over twenty years, primarily as a spiritual journey. His works are primarily mystical novels focusing on the multidimensionality of our relationships or love. The first work he has chosen to publish, Sacred Vow,  is a journey toward our one true love . . . and its infinite expressions . . . bringing together two individuals from disparate realities—but of one spirit—to heal the rift in the Collective Consciousness . . . a breach that threatens us all.

     Request a free PDF of the first three chapters by contacting kathmandau at cgwalters.com or read online at http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as it is reprinted in its entirety, along with the by-line.

This excerpted article is from the novel, Sacred Vow (Dragon’s Beard Publishing, ISBN: 978-0-9774271-4-7, paperback, Fiction: Visionary/Metaphysical). There is a rift in the Collective Consciousness because people are not bonding one to another. The Sisterhood of Crones (a description of the order, not their name–as their name is without word) is about to perform a ritual to receive a message from the Collective Consciousness….

Prologue

Choice of the ritual location was dictated by nature just days before. Hundreds of people had roamed hill and field, dowsing for the place possessing the energy necessary for their purpose. The intended process could not take place on one of their customary ceremonial sites, but only the spot identified as radiating the strongest flow of earth energy at the anticipated time of the rite.        Three ley lines, channels of the land’s energy, crossed a wooded hillside in a small patch of flat ground. Two ancient hardwood trees, one standing on either side of the rear of the opening, leaned forward before the rocky slope that bordered the backside of the level area. Their leaves filtered what little light could make its way from above.        Between the trees, at the base of the slope, there was a large greenish-gray stone. Its jagged face rose some twenty feet in the air. Three small streams, swollen with recent rains, flowed down the slope, marking the perimeter of the flat plot of land in front of the stone, before converging and flowing downward over a small waterfall. The stream-encircled ground was carpeted with a thick, soft moss.        Once the location had been identified and verified, the holy women who would use that place and its energy consecrated it. On the appointed evening, shortly after midnight, a ceremonial procession of The Nine—which consisted of the Crone Mother, leader of their mystic order, and eight more of the wisest women of their society—Katerina, understudy to the Crone Mother, and their considerable entourage made their way to the location. For several hours, from their village to the south, those who remained behind could see the winding line of torches, and hear the repetitive chants as the group made their way to the anointed site.        Once the group arrived, still in the dark of the night, attendants placed torches around the perimeter of the chosen site. Then they spread seating mats in a large circle on the ground for those who would perform the ritual, with the Crone Mother’s back to the large boulder at the head of the flat ground. Katerina took her position, in the center of the circle, facing the Crone Mother. Once the members of the ceremony were seated, their retinue withdrew some distance from the site, in order not to disrupt the proceedings.

This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as it is reprinted in its entirety, along with the by-line.

Eternally nearer than lovers entwined

Our worlds, infinitely disparate,

In this one place.

Neither move

Without inciting the other,

Unperceived by senses

Save the intuitive.

Release your fear,

As the veil dissipates.

Nothing bizarre emerges,

For I have always been here.

 copyright 2007 CG Walters
  CG Walters has written for over twenty years, primarily as a spiritual journey. His works are primarily mystical novels focusing on the multidimensionality of our relationships or love.  Request a free PDF of the first three chapters of his latest novel, Sacred Vow, by contacting kathmandau at cgwalters.com or read online at http://sacredvow.dragonsbeard.com
This copyrighted article may be freely reprinted as long as the entire article and complete by line is included.