The Great Journey of Ascension

 

And the days ahead . . .

The exhausted apex climber takes a breath and lets her body go momentarily silent. He is nearly there; he can smell the clean air amid the heights of personal effort. Then, with one last breath, she pulls herself away from the mountain face to begin the final ascent. He matches each footstep, one step after the other, with courage, resilience, fortitude, bravery, discipline, and focus.

She clears the top! Nothing is above her, and everything below is a testimony to the effort and single-mindedness that allowed him to overcome challenges along the way, like the stone in her shoe and the slip when he misjudged the stone’s integrity. Not everyone would experience a stone in her shoe or the dangers of a loose rock. Instead, others might experience a cutting wind or skin blistered by the blazing sun.

While some would cry and sit on the ground as their frustration got the the better of them, others would try to help by offering to share their load. Some would race ahead and, by beginning way too fast, lose the energy to continue and be too tired to lift any weighted icon of success. Seated, some beg for food and water, their hunger unsatiated from the beginning. Others walk with a measured and sure pace, eyes focused on the distant peak. There is no hesitation, but neither is there any compassion. It is very personal . . . these challenges.

Designed solely (soul-ly) to assimilate all the misaligned issues, beliefs and incongruent aspects within each climber, these challenges bring everyone to their knees at some point. Knees become scraped, bleeding brows reminiscent of the crown of thorns, and miasmic delusions from the high altitude a reminder of the monkey mind.

Now let us also remember that there are times to stride forward in strength, times to sit down and take a breather or smell the roses (roses are so important to a climber for they represent a higher order of the inner Self), and times to kneel. When we stride, we practice confidence, knowingness, courage, and focus. When we sit and rest, we practice patience, stillness, serenity and trust. When we kneel or are brought down to our knees, we have the opportunity to practice humility, honesty, responsibility and vulnerability.

Those who do not take these three opportunities to stride, rest, and practice reach the top mechanically; the endeavour is nothing more than any other adrenalin experience. But those who climb the mountain of self do so consciously. They recognize that it has little to do with triumph and everything to do with discarding many layers of self along the way. There are invisible aspects hidden deep within our unconscious layers that must be integrated and accepted. If we never stopped to smell the roses, these would be lost in our haste. There are also many intrusions and hitch hiker aspects that will not fall away and lie as litter upon the path if we do not go down on bended knee from time to time.

The apex is a small place indeed, and multitudes cannot reach it together. Each must reach it alone. Nobody holds hands with another while climbing with all their strength to face the final challenge. The final challenge means taking the first steps of the next mountain, for the self that reaches the apex is the same one that can begin the next journey of self. Everyone begins any spiritual pilgrimage with the potential of being able to breathe the thin air of the heavenly realms; once near the apex . . . they have become that person.

Each person must train, overcome loss, gain resilience, and remain focused on the end goal at any cost. The price is extremely high when the cost is the total abandonment of vices, negativity, altered ego, familiarity, sentimentality, attachments, judgment and the ever-nagging feeling of wanting to give up on an early impossible journey.

Why do so many give up?

-        Wrong equipment (teaching guides and aids)

-        Wrong ideas (there are no picnics along the way)

-        Wrong nutrients (deficient in self-discipline, self-love, self-respect, self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-acceptance)

-        Wrong focus or intent (and they go chasing butterflies off a precipice)

-        Wrong information (navigation is key, especially in stormy weather)

-        Wrong clothing (know when to leave garments behind and when to cloak yourself)

Ask, and you will receive. There are those along the way with abundance to share. Even some of the lost and carelessly discarded items will find their way to you. Nobody who takes the first step is designed to fail. On the contrary – that first step means success is possible.

So keep going . . . all of you . . . and roll with the punches, accept the scraped knees, the loss of vanity, the loss of emotional baggage, and always stand up. Continue. Each and every day, be grateful that you have a 3D form and can enjoy another day. Why?

On the day you stop breathing, you have to settle for what you have learnt and have become in that moment. Nobody practices a race without some goal in mind. Your illusionary death is a statement of attainment, a certificate guaranteeing your next journey.

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