Prologue
Remember to welcome strangers into your homes. There were some who did that and welcomed angels without knowing it.
(Hebrews 13:2)
“Betty?” Phil called. The house echoed a reply.
Relieved to be alone, Phil made his way to the study. He rubbed his balding head, which was tightening into a headache and hastened forward to the stress relief of meditation.
Closing the door to his study, he heaved a sigh. Betty’s influence didn’t intrude here. For a moment, his eyes unfocused to enjoy the fading sunlight. It streamed through the window in amber streaks highlighting a thin layer of dust on his mahogany desk. He tossed his blazer onto a straight-backed chair and loosened his corporate tie. He sat on a large leather cushion facing the desk. Breathing deeply, he settled into meditation.
He dropped all thoughts into oblivion, and brought to mind the mantra he had used for decades. The he switched and breathed the one resonating sound of Ahh-uum. Soon, he was floating in the stillness -- ever-aware, ever-present, ever-at-peace.
Halfway through the meditation period, Phil heard a voice. It encroached into the stillness from its edges. At first, he pushed it back, but it not only persisted, it became stronger.
Now the voice was saying:
We warned God. Creating humankind was a bad idea. God didn’t listen, of course, so here we are.
Anyway, I now have to teach you what you need to know to navigate in this world.
“What? Who is this?”
For whatever reason, you have found a way to our world. Obviously, it’s through prayer -- or meditation in your case. Not like in the Sixties when you got here because of the indiscriminate use of psychedelics. You can’t imagine the energy-clutter you hippies caused us.
“Is this real?” Phil’s fear emerged as a question: Was this an acid flashback, or the long-awaited psychotic break?
Of course, it’s real. Now think: do you know where you are?
“In my study, meditating.”
Good! And meditation gives you access to the realms of Spirit.
“What realms?”
Jeez. How uninformed are you? There are only about thirty different levels on four distinct plateaus. You, my friend, are currently locked into the realm of Physically Manifesting Spirits -- specifically in my little corner of said realm.
“What’s going on?” Phil realized he couldn’t break out of this meditation. Like an acid trip, his mind had slipped its moorings.
“Whoever you are, let me out of here.”
Why do humans always whine? You get to talk to me -- which is probably the closest you’ll ever get to God -- and you whine.
“Am I stuck here?”
Sort of. Your meditations will bring you here, and only here, until you learn to navigate in this world on your own.
“What are you are talking about? What do I need to learn?”
Just about everything. The rules are: I’m not supposed to teach you, but your mind is so full of nonsense, I’ll have to educate you my way and risk the consequences.
Phil scrambled for an explanation. Maybe this aberration was caused by the stress headache or the odd time he chose to meditate. Or was he depressed? Was he psychotic?
The voice was still there.
You’re here because God wants you here. Why you? Why me? I don’t know. The real question is, are you ready to listen to me?
God? Meditation brought peace to his mind and relaxed the arteries. It was not a way to know God. He gave up the Sixties’ notion of knowing God a long time ago.
Yeah, more of your narcissism. You can’t know God, buck-o, because you -- that is, you-your-ego -- is a fiction.
“How do you know what I’m thinking?” Phil asked; then he demanded, “Just who are you?”
Do you think you can hold your focus enough to actually ‘be’ in my Universe? I’m tired of just sensing your contaminating presence.
“How do I do it?” Phil was ready to try anything to change what was going on. Maybe then he could escape this hallucination.
Intention, buck-o. It’s all about intention up here. In the world of Spirit, thoughts are things. They’re also how you travel around. Set the intention and away you go.
Your problem is you can’t set an intention to go anywhere, because you have no clue what’s here. If I told you to go bother someone else at the Clouds of Glory or the Clouds of Mystery, you wouldn’t know what I was talking about.
You need to make your intention concrete. Look at your feet. What kind of ground are you standing on? Let yourself know what it is; then let the landscape sort of paint itself away from you.... Ah, there you are. And here I am.
