the way of the initiate -...

The Way Of TheInitiate

Legend of the 33rd Sage

Geof Spalding

© 2013 Geof Spalding All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express written consent of the Publisherof this book.

First published by Dog Ear Publishing4010 W. 86th Street, Ste HIndianapolis, IN 46268www.dogearpublishing.net

ISBN: 978-1-4575-473-8

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

This book is a work of fiction. Places, events, and situations in this book are purely fictionaland any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

Acknowledgements

This book was a labour of love written to honour three won-

derful teachers and their teachings about the 33 Energies of Man.

How do you thank someone for the spark that lit up your life? How can

you thank someone for giving you a teaching that changed the way you saw

the world? How can you thank someone for sending you off on an immortal

quest that will continue for the rest of your life?

The only way I could thank them was by writing this little book, a book

dedicated to the teaching that was brought to me in three different forms from

three different energies, all of which were tapped into the 33 energies of man.

I was introduced to these teachings in a seminar called “The 33 Steps”, by

Stuart Wilde. I was so engrossed and fascinated that I knew my life would

never be the same again. It was a similar feeling when I was in the audience

when Glynn Braddy shared a teaching called the Elements of Man, based on

an earlier teaching given by Old Chinese.

The last thirty years of my life have been dedicated to understanding these

two teachings. Old Chinese delivered hundreds of teachings over a number of

years, and his many students such as Stuart Wilde, Glynn Braddy, Denise

Linn, and others have taken his teachings out into the world. In my own way,

I have tried to share what I have learnt through my 33rd Sage Series of books.

The 33 Energies of man, although it spoke about the energies that govern

the evolution of our planet, also appeared to be a blueprint for how we can live

a more spiritual life or follow the path of the Initiate. It was this aspect that

Stuart Wilde shared in his workshops.

I have come to understand that each of these 33 energies exists within each

one of us and that to follow the Way of the Initiate is to understand and bring

forth these 33 energies into your own life.

It is with a great deal of love and joy that I dedicate this book book to Old

Chinese (Chung Fu), Stuart Wilde, and Glynn Braddy.

iv The Way of the Initiate

The Way Of TheInitiate

The Way of the Initiate

Legend of the 33rd Sage

The 33 Sages of the Plum Red Robes were an order of Old

Chinese Taoist monks who lived over 2500 years ago. The Taoist sages revered

the Winter Solstice as their most sacred day of the year. The Winter Solstice

marked the longest night of the year, where the sun is then reborn, bringing

in a new energy.

The sages travelled the countryside, walking from village to village, teach-

ing and healing people and helping in whatever way they could. They had

great wisdom and had reached that elusive point in their knowledge that many

on the inner journey strive for: an ego-less state of spirituality and conscious-

ness where one’s sense of self and the eternal nature of things are one. The sages

were greatly revered.

It was their tradition to go out and travel the land and teach; they all knew

it was important for them to live with the Elements. Some taught agriculture

and animal husbandry, while others taught writing, painting, and literature;

still others were knowledgable in matters of science and astronomy, and there

were those like the 33rd Sage who were healers and spiritual teachers. Each

travelled and taught what they knew, but all taught their students about the

inner journey.

It was their tradition for all 33 Sages to return to the monastery in time for

the Winter Solstice, which was the most spiritual and sacred time of the year.

It marked the lowest ebb of the old sun and heralded in the birth of the new.

Legend has it that when it was time for the 33rd Sage to give up his posi-

tion and move on to other dimensions, he chose to stay and walk the Earth

and teach students about the power of nature and the infinite self. The old sage

put on his plum red robe and cinched up his plum red belt. As he walked

through the forest, tears escaped from the old man’s eyes, as he knew this

would be the last time he would ever see his beloved Forest of K’an. It was not

like he was dying, for in many ways that would have been easier to deal with.

It had been his own choice, a choice he had made after many years of con-

templation. It had been time for a new sage to take his place. As the 33rd Sage,

he could have stayed in the Forest of K’an by the lake of Li for the rest of his

life. But the time had come when he realized that there was still more he had

to do, and it was to be done in the world of real people, not in the protected

world of the brotherhood.

He had come from the people of the land, and to the people of the land he

would return. It had been over fifty five years since he had been taken in by the

Brotherhood as a young student, and it was now time for him to take his

teachings out into the world. There were some amongst the Brotherhood who

were against him going back into the world of people. There was much that

he could teach them that would change their evolution, and some of the other

sages believed that man was not ready to hear these teachings. Even though he

had relinquished his position as the 33rd sage, the sages of the Plum Red Robe

suggested that he should stay with them and only go out amongst the people

in short spells where his energy would lift them, still allowing their evolution

to take place at a slower rate.

The old sage had seen the future, and he understood the need for the

quickening. Man was coming towards the end of a world cycle, and without

the quickening there would be a great cataclysm. There was still time, but man

had to learn a new way; they had to learn to reconnect with nature and the

higher spirit in themselves. The other members of the White Brotherhood, as

they were also known, wanted man to take responsibility for what they had

created. But the 33rd Sage was different; he was human, unlike many of the

brotherhood who had incarnated into the Earth-plane from other dimensions.

He loved his fellow humans and saw beyond their fear, frustration, anger, and

viii The Way of the Initiate

judgement. He could see and feel the true potential in the hearts of each one

of them. It was a hard decision to leave the brotherhood, but his kind, his peo-

ple, his beloved fellow men and women were at stake.

‘It was three days before the solstice, and the sage must prepare them.’ It was a

well known saying, one that he used on many occasions - although most

times it was used in conjunction with preparing one student. Now time was

short; he would have to find many students, then after teaching them, they

would go out into the world and teach others. He stopped by the lake of Li

for one last look and could not help but sit, once again, upon the old rock

he had used when he had taught his students; there would be no teaching

today in the Forest of K’an by the Lake of Li, though, for this was the last time

he would ever look on the lands that been his home for fifty-five years.

Sitting by the lake of Li in the Forest of K’an, the old sage started to day-

dream back to a time when he first came there with the previous 33rd Sage to

learn about the seasons within man and mankind. It seemed so long ago, but

in his mind’s eye it was as fresh as yesterday. Where has the time gone? he asked

himself. As the sun went down over the Lake of Li in the Forest of K’an, the

old man began to remember other lives and other dimensions. The Lake of Li

had always been his touchstone; whenever he gazed into her lapping waters, he

could always look into a deeper part of himself. He used the lake like many of

the magicians used crystal balls; he would just sit and stare, then his focus went

within, and all at once his awareness seemed to change and there would be pic-

tures forming in his mind. He wondered whether he would be able to still

have these moments when he left the Lake of Li in the Forest of K’an. With

that thought, tears began to stream from his eyes. There would have been a

time when he would have chastised himself for such emotion, but now it was

what it was. There was no longer any need to deny who or what he was.

The rest of his life - and it would be an extremely long life - would be spent

walking the Earth, meeting students by accident and sharing his teachings and

changing their lives forever.

**********

Geof Spalding ix

The sage made the journey from the Forest of K’an to the village of his

birth. It had taken him twenty long days, yet he did not feel tired. There were

days when he was offered food by the farmers or those he met on the path, and

there were days when he either met no one or was offered nothing. It was nei-

ther good nor bad; it just was as it was. He slipped into the town in the dead

of night, rolled out his sleeping bag in the village square, and went to sleep.

During the night, without his knowledge he was surrounded by ruffians

who were about to attack him and steal what provisions he had. If it had hap-

pened, it would not have been good or bad; it just was. I say if it happened

because the most amazing thing occurred. As they came closer to him, animals

came from the forest and surrounded the old sage. The ruffians had never seen

the likes of it before. The leader ordered his men to attack, but no sooner had

they moved forward than the wolves growled and the water buffalo pounded

their hooves, ready for a charge. It was weird; mortal enemies, the wolf and the

water buffalo, were standing side by side, defending the old sage. The closer

the ruffians came, the more the animals growled and stamped their feet. In the

end, it was too much for the ruffians, and they ran away, leaving their leader

to either fight or run. Of course, he ran, as something you fear holds no power

when you can go beyond it.

The old sage smiled to himself and continued his deep sleep, in which he

was more aware than when he was fully awake. It was in those moments that

he was closer to his higher self, and his higher self knew everything and was

even connected with the animals in the forest who came to protect him.

The old sage knew there was a child who had been watching him from

behind the barn, a child he would meet in the morning.

As the sun came up over the village, the old sage woke to find himself sur-

rounded by many of the villagers. He smiled to himself; how people feared

what they did not understand. When he stood, all the villagers took a pace

back while at the same time holding out swords, axes, wooden staffs, and any-

thing else they could find for protection.

“Why is it that you fear me?” the old man asked.

At first, there was no reply as the villagers took another step back. Then the

crowd separated, and from the crowd ventured a young boy. When people

x The Way of the Initiate

looked at the young boy, the villagers could only see his disfigurement. When

the old sage looked at the boy, he did not see the scars on the boy’s face or the

slight crippling of his left arm; what he saw was the beauty of the spirit in the

young boy’s heart. As the villagers turned their eyes away from the boy, he

said, “Old man, they are scared of you because they think that you are a magi-

cian who will trick them out of all their money and possessions.”

“What about you, young man? What do you think?”

The boy looked at the old man for a few seconds, then rubbed his chin as

if pondering the question. “I would think that you would be a traveler who

slept here overnight and are just passing through. You have no carriage or ani-

mals, so even if you were after our possessions, you would have no way of car-

rying them. Your robes are not those of a great magician, but the robes of a

monk.” The boy smiled and moved closer to the old sage, then sat down next

to the old man. As he did, two dragonflies flew from the forest and landed on

the young boy’s shoulders.

The old sage looked down at the young boy and smiled; he was the one he

had come to find. “How is it that you know such things, my son?”

“My mother, before she died in the fire,” the boy said, a tear escaping from

his left eye, “would tell me great stories about travelers like you who wandered

from town to town and country to country, teaching people the most won-

drous things. When I saw you in the square last night, surrounded by all the

animals, I knew it to be true. I was going to come to you then, but you looked

so peaceful when you slept that I did not want to wake you.”

The old sage sat down next to the young boy with the dragonflies on his

shoulders, and for a few minutes they just stared into each other’s eyes. The vil-

lagers moved closer, still holding their weapons, still not sure whether the old

man would harm them or trick them.

It was while looking into the young man’s eyes that the old sage began to

recognize who the young man really was and who he had been in lives long

past. A tear escaped from the old man’s eye. The young boy had suffered

greatly in his life, but it was because of that suffering that the young boy could

show such tenderness to people and the animals around him. The old sage felt

like he had truly come home and was blessed by the Great Tao to find the stu-

Geof Spalding xi

dent he had been looking for all his life, a student who would eventually take

over his teachings and share them with the world. This was not the time to

share such a great burden with the young boy, for it it would be the young

boy’s decision to become his apprentice and follow the way of initiation. We

all have free will, and it has to be our choice to follow the inner journey of the

Initiate. The old sage remembered back to when he was a young boy and how

the old sage had come into his village and asked him if he wanted to be his

apprentice. For some reason, he did not even need to think about it; he knew

even before being asked that he would follow the old sage, for he had seen the

old sage in his dreams and knew when the sage arrived in the village that the

dreams were true. Plus, he had already packed up his small pack and told his

uncle that he would be going with the sage.

What of the young boy? What was he thinking? The old sage looked again

into the young boy’s eyes. “When do we leave?” asked the young boy.

“What about your parents, your family? Will they not miss you?”

“I have no family; they both died in the fire, which for many years I wish had

taken me as well.” More tears escaped from the young boy’s eyes, tears that were

half-sadness and half-joy. He was sad to be leaving the village, but not because of

the villagers, who for the most part would be happy to see the end of the little dis-

figured boy who reminded them of their own pain when the fire had killed many

in the village; for many of them, the sight of the young boy and his scars was too

hard to bear because it just kept bringing back the grief of that night years ago. He

was sad to be leaving the place of his birth because it had good memories as well,

memories of his childhood before his parents died, when everything had seemed

perfect. The tragic loss had taught the young boy many good lessons, the most

important of which was to live in the moment and that things that happened were

neither good nor bad; they just happened.

The villagers pretended to fight to keep the young boy in the village, but

in reality they were happy to see the back of him; so, after a few half-hearted

attempts to talk him out of it, the young boy and the old sage, with packs on

the end of long sticks, left the village, never to be seen again...well, that is not

quite true, as the young boy returned many years later - but that is a story for

another time.

xii The Way of the Initiate

Chapter One

I Am That I Am

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 impor-

tant teaching would be to understand and work with the power of the Ele-

ments.

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 dur-

ing 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 vegeta-

bles 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 hexa-

gram 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

2 The Way of the Initiate

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. With-

out 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 every-

thing, 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

Geof Spalding 3

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 hap-

pen, 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, spiral-

ing 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 drag-

onflies, 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 par-

ents’ lives from an infinite view; by being able to detach, he could allow the

healing process to occur.


Chapter 2

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 bod-

ies. 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 expe-

rience 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 some-

one 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 hold-

ing 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 feel-

ings 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 experienc-

ing, 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.

Geof Spalding 7

Chapter 3

Flow

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 scar-

ring, 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 par-

ents. 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 ele-

ments, but that soon passed and the element of fire, his element, returned. For

Geof Spalding 9

the first two years after the fire, he stopped using the techniques until he real-

ized 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 suf-

fer 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 real-

ized 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 every-

thing 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 some-

thing 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 con-

nected. 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 experi-

enced that morning. Each of them was in their own world, but they were both

connected in ways that they were yet to understand.

Geof Spalding 11

Chapter 4

Fear And Feeling Tones

The young man’s night was filled with dreams of old sages sit-

ting 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 teach-

ing came forward from the Tao or one of the 33 sages.

When he woke, he looked around but could not see the old sage. Some-

thing 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 cre-

ation 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 situ-

ations where the fear hairs stood up on the back of their neck, they had a rea-

son 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 for-

gotten 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 con-

ception, 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.

Geof Spalding 13

“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 allow-

ing 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 tech-

nique, as it will dissipate the energy.”

Geof Spalding 15

Chapter 5

To Be Connected, You Need To Detach

“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 feel-

ings 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 know-

ing 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, nat-

ural 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

Geof Spalding 17

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 probabili-

ties for it in the first thirteen years of its life. It understands the parents’ weak-

nesses 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 expe-

rience, 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 under-

standing 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 sub-

conscious 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 peo-

ple 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.

Geof Spalding 19

“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 Subcon-

scious 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.


Chapter 6

I Am What I Believe I Am

After a night filled with dreams of the 33 Sages who are in

charge of the 33 dimensions beyond the Earth-plane, Huo woke tired, as if he

had been traveling all night. In many ways, he had been traveling, as the old

sages of the Plum Red Robe were preparing him for his future - but that was

still a ways off, and he woke with little to no memory of their teachings.

Rising from his bed, he was welcomed by the old sage, who passed him a

cup of herbal tea. The smell and flavor of the tea struck at his every sense. He

could see in his mind’s eye a man on a small farm, picking the very herbs that

he was now experiencing. He looked to the old man for an explanation. “You

will understand that ability, to be anywhere in the world, as we continue your

teaching. Much of what you have to learn has to unfold naturally; you are your

own best teacher. It is my role to give you a gentle nudge when it is appropri-

ate. For the next few days, I would like to stay where we are as you begin to

search deeper inside yourself for the teachings to occur.”

Before he could finish, the young man interrupted. “I am sorry, Sage, but

I am not sure that I am ready to teach myself. I am still trying to understand

what you taught me last night at dinner. I am not sure I believe that I would

have chosen the life I have lived, and the concept of the subconscious mind

and creating my life is just too much to comprehend. I thought that in every

instant of my life, I could choose what I wanted to do?”

“That is true, my son, if you have a clear mind, but so many people are just

a product of other people’s beliefs.”

“What do you mean?” The young boy’s face was scrunched up, trying once

again to come to grips with the meaning in the Sage’s few words.

“What we believe to be true has been, in many cases, borrowed from someone

else. Look at your beliefs about the old people in the village or the people of the

cities, or about foreigners or even the foods you should and shouldn’t eat. Where

did they come from? Did you just wake up one day and say that the people of the

cities were rich or that they think they are better than the people of the land? Of

course not; these beliefs have been fed to you over time from your parents or peo-

ple of the village, either directly to you or even in whispers of conversation. Your

subconscious mind takes in everything, then creates the world as you expect it to

be. When you were born, your subconscious mind recorded all the impressions

from everything around it. It also recorded the emotions, feelings, attitudes, and

language that came from your family, friends, and all the other people in the vil-

lage. But more than that, you were born with the inherent vibrations of many pre-

vious generations. In fact, the only way to be yourself is to start to peel away the

thoughts, feelings, emotions, and behaviors that are not yours. These same belief

patterns are here to protect us, and for those who are not spiritually advanced, they

do a good job of that. As you start to grow spiritually, you reach a point where it

is necessary for you to release many of these beliefs so that you can become a spir-

itual being with your own spiritual destiny. That is the reason we have come

together, so we can work with each other to release your beliefs to follow your own

quest.”

The old sage stopped for a moment to allow these ideas to seep into and start

to work their magic in the young boy’s mind. The old sage knew that once

changed, a mind could never go back to its old form. It may for a moment try to

move back into its old comfort zone, but this would not last; once a mind can

understand that it is creating its own world, it can never again be truly happy with

being a victim. The sage knew the next few days would be a struggle for the young

man as he broke free from the beliefs of others that he had made his own. It was

now time to create his own life. The old sage knew that it would be difficult to

remove all the negative belief patterns, but it was necessary if the young man was

to become who he was meant to be. There was no point in pushing him, though,

for it would take as long as it would take, and not a moment sooner.


Chapter 7

Moving Beyond

Before sitting down to dinner, the old sage sat cross-legged on

the ground. He took a few deep breaths, holding each one for a moment, then

released his breath, and with it energies from the day that he did not want to

hold onto.

“What are you doing?” asked the young man.

The old sage smiled and opened his eyes, turning all his attention to his

young apprentice. “I am moving beyond the ego. At the end of each day, I play

the day back in my mind’s eye, and when I come to an event when the flow of

my energy is stopped by my ego, I take a deep breath, reflect on it for a

moment, and then release it into the ether.”

The young man returned the Sage’s smile, but he was still confused, a state

he was experiencing a lot since he began his journey with the old man. “What

do you mean by the ego, and how does it stop your energy flow?”

“There are those that say that the Ego is the mediator between the con-

scious and Subconscious minds. There are others who say it is our identity,

while some say it is what gives us our sense of self-worth or self-importance.

In a way, it is all those things, but for me, its greatest weakness is that it stops

the flow of information from our higher selves and disconnects us from every-

thing else in this beautiful universe. Think back to the other day when you

woke and found me gone. It was your ego that went into a panic. It was only

when you calmed yourself down and reconnected with the spirit that you

became part of all things, and at that moment you knew where I was.”

“Sage, why do we have an ego if it limits us?”

“The ego gives us a sense of ourselves. It is important in our first few incar-

nations, when we are here to learn lessons of a more Earthly nature. It is only

after our sixth lifetime, when we begin on our spiritual path, that we begin to

move beyond the ego. The ego is the source of most of our weaknesses. Most

of our weaknesses come from the various manifestations of the ego’s fear of

death. Fear is the ego’s weapon that stops us from moving forward in our lives.

The ego is lazy. It does not want to try new things. It would rather stay in the

negative state it has grown comfortable with than take a chance on a better life.

Change is the death of the ego. Once you start to realize that the ego is hold-

ing you back, then little by little you can move beyond it to a life where you

are in the flow, where it does not matter what is around the next corner.

Whereas the ego will stop you from living, being in the flow will allow you to

experience opportunities you would never think possible.”


Chapter 8

Nothing Is Ever Lost

“Nothing is ever lost. Everyone who has ever lived and every-

thing they have ever created,” said the old sage as he reached out his open right

hand, “is there for anyone. All you have to do is open yourself up to the vibra-

tion, and you become a channel into the past, present, or future. When you go

into your inner self, you connect with everything that has been or will be. All

the geniuses or masters are waiting for you to tap into their energy. If you want

to be a great artist, all you have to do is imagine in your inner being that you

are that great artist, then allow him or her to open up their genius to you.

“When I was studying to be part of the 33 Sages of the White Brother-

hood, I would sit for hours and open up myself to the sages who had come

before me. I would learn in days what would have normally taken lifetimes to

understand.”

“Teach me,” said the young man, whose mind was already opening itself

up to the Cosmic Mind, which held the memory of all things. The young man

soon found himself wandering through the hallway of a large castle. At the end

of the hallway was a doorway. From beyond the doorway, Huo could see a blind-

ing light forcing its way around the edge of the wooden door. His ego mind was

telling him not to go any further. He hesitated for a moment, then continued

walking. His ego spoke louder, almost screaming for him to stop. In that

moment, he understood what the old sage had taught him about the ego’s fear of

death. He took a deep breath and stepped through the door and was immediately

enveloped by the light and transported to another time and place.

Once Huo’s eyes became accustomed to the light, he was aware that he was

surrounded by thousands of people, many of whom who looked exactly like

him. One young man came towards him. At first he pulled back, for a

moment not realizing that it was another part of him from another dimension.

The shock sucked him out of his body and back into the present, where he was

sitting by the fire with the old sage.

At first he could say nothing, for he was truly in shock; a part of him now

existed in the other world, and he could feel it pulling on his being. He was no

longer sure what was real. Until a few minutes ago, he believed the world he

lived in was reality, but now he was no longer sure. He had been to a world

where there were thousands of beings just like him. In his feeling self, he knew

they had all come from different dimensions and worlds to meet together in

the world that existed beyond the doorway. Would he be able to go back there?

Did he want to go back? For that matter, did he have a choice? For he felt like

there was a part of him that now existed totally in that other world, and he was

not sure whether or not he needed to go back and retrieve it or if that was the

way it was meant to be. Was he, in fact, drawing from his other selves all the

time, or maybe it was a way for him to experience other worlds and other parts

of his eternal self?

He looked across at the old sage, who was quickly making a pot of herbal

tea. He had never seen the old sage rush with anything. Huo sat there, expe-

riencing his own infiniteness. He no longer felt shock; no, now what he was

feeling was a sense of calm, but beneath the calm was another feeling: it was

the sense of wonder. No longer could he look at anything the same way again.

He picked up a beetle that was scurrying beneath his feet. The beetle stopped

scurrying and looked into the young man’s eyes, and for a moment they shared

a piece of each other.

The old sage had never seen anything like it. He quickly poured the cup of

herbal tea in the hopes that the events of the past few minutes would not make

the young man mad; it was more than anyone could stand without years of med-

itation and discipline. He need not have worried, though; by the time he offered

the tea to the young man, he was calm and serene. In fact, he was more than that.

The old sage watched as the young man connected with the beetle in a way that


he would not have thought possible, standing in awe as the beetle and the

young man became one. It was not in a philosophical sense, though, for they

had truly become one; the aura of the young man and the beetle had

entwined, and now each one’s individual energy and memories were now

available to the other. The old sage was not sure, however, how the beetle

would cope with the memories and teachings the young man had given him,

for he was no longer sure who was actually the teacher. The old sage was try-

ing to teach the young man that he could draw from the teachings of the mas-

ters in previous times, but the young man had gone beyond that and was now

showing the old sage that he could learn from his infinite selves, and even from

the insects of the Earth. He knew the young man was special when he had seen

him in his dreams those many years ago, but now he was beginning to see how

truly special he was.

It was now important for him to speed up the teaching he was giving the

young man, as he was growing far quicker than he would have ever thought

possible - which in itself was a wonderful thing, but it also had its downside.

Did the young man have the mental capacity to cope with what was occur-

ring?

Geof Spalding 27

Chapter 9

Discipline Is The Doorway To The Infinite Self

It was just after 4.a.m when the old sage shook the young man

awake.

“Huo, after what happened yesterday, I want to change your training.

Rather than continue to work on connecting you with your inner self, which

seems to be taking on a life if its own, I believe it would be best to work with

your physical self. Today, we will begin your lessons in martial arts, as well as

in meditation. If your inner life continues to develop at the current rate, it is

important that you learn physical and mental discipline to be able cope with

the changes.”

“Master, how will martial arts help with my inner life?”

“Your inner world expresses itself in your outer world, and unless we dis-

cipline your mind, body, and emotional responses, then you will create your

outer world based on your childish reactions to what you perceive as external

influences. Everything in the outer world is only an expression of what is first

created in the inner worlds. As you open yourself up to the inner worlds, you

will get messages from your higher self, and if you are not a clear channel, then

these messages will be distorted by your ego and emotions. When the message

tells you to go forward, your ego may tell you the opposite. It is only through

discipline that we can quiet the ego and clear the subconscious mind of its pre-

vious programming.”

The old sage moved into the horse stance, took a deep breath, then closed

his eyes. “Now, Huo, I want you to attack.”

“But, Master, you have your eyes closed, and you are so old. I am afraid

that I will hurt you, as I will be too quick for you.”

The old sage smiled; the young man was much like he had been those

many years ago.

“Yes, you are probably right, but please do this as a favour to an old man.

Attack me.”

Huo faltered for a moment, then he moved forward, dancing around the

old man, flicking out an odd punch; it was more of a test to see if the old man

would respond, rather than trying to hit him.

The old sage never moved.

Huo’s confidence began to grow. He decided that he would not hit the old

man hard; just a light tap on his head to teach him a lesson and show him how

fast he was. Before the fist reached its target, however, Huo could feel himself

being thrown in the air. As he struck the ground, feeling every bruise, he

replayed in his mind what had happened. His fist was about a hand’s length

from the old man when the old sage moved inside the fist, grabbed his arm -

and in what seemed like an impossible move, went underneath him and

launched him into the air.

“Teach me,” was Huo’s only reply.

And that was when his Martial Arts training began. Each day, well before

sunrise, the nocturnal animals would gather around in a circle to watch the old

man and his young apprentice practice, using stances the animals themselves

used and working with the energy of the elements to understand how to read

your opponent. More importantly, though, Huo learned how to understand

and observe himself, ultimately moving to the stage where there was no reac-

tion; for it was in the reaction that the old sage knew that you moved out of

the flow.

Month after month, they practiced. First it was Martial Arts, then it was

daily meditation, one minute of meditation for each hour of the day. At first

the young man could not hold his emotions in check as he reacted to the

strikes of the old sage, which always ended up with him getting another bruise

or landing on his backside. He was progressing well with the physical aspects

of the training, but he could not move beyond his emotions, which was some-

Geof Spalding 29

thing he would need to do to move on to the deeper aspects of the old sage’s

teachings.

The old sage was not worried, for “it was what it was; it was neither good nor

bad.” He knew the young man would move beyond the ego in his own good

time. It just meant that he would have to slow down on the inner work.

It was after a particularly bad session when the young man had received far

more bruises than normal that the Sage’s inner voice suggested they do their

daily meditation by a stream that ran a few hundred meters from their camp.

As soon as he saw the stream, he understood what his inner voice was trying

to tell him. Even after all these years, it was the inner voice from his Higher

Self that was always there when needed. The key, as always, was to be open

enough to listen.

They sat beside the stream, only this time the old sage asked Huo not to

close his eyes, but rather stare into the water and allow it to take him into a

meditative state. The young man watched the stream, not quite sure how this

was going to help him go into a meditative state. All the same, after a few min-

utes he found himself very calm, and he released the frustration he had expe-

rienced from the early training session where once again the old man had

made him look stupid. It no longer mattered, for he began to understand that

he was not fighting against his Master, but himself. That one realization

released any anger he had stored up in his body, and all at once his body healed

itself, the bruises disappearing along with the aches and pains. He even noticed

that his paralyzed left arm was now completely free from any pain and that he

now had full use of it. He looked to the old sage for an answer, but the old sage

had disappeared. Unperturbed, he looked back into the water, for in that

moment he knew that it was his teacher that morning.

He watched as the water flowed on by kissing the bank and giving its life

force to the plants and animals that lived along the stream. He looked into the

middle to see a large rock rising out of the water. The water did not seem to

fight against it, but simply flowed around the rock. It did not need to react; it

just found another, simpler course. He understood that in time the water

would defeat the rock, but it would be done in a calm, balanced way. The


water had so much power, yet at the same time it gave life to everything

around it. He had never looked at the elements in this way before, but from

that moment on he would begin to observe more, for there was far more to

this world than he had previously thought possible.

Geof Spalding 31

Chapter 10

Become The Observer

The old sage told Huo that they were going for a walk in the

forest rather than doing their meditation and martial arts training. The boy

was a little confused and out of kilter, as he had become accustomed to the

training in the morning, which started his day. His first thought was to pick

up his pack and take it with them, but he faltered and put it next to the old

man’s pack instead.

“So it shall be,” said the old man.

Huo felt uncomfortable. He had a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach

that he ignored, simply putting it down to the change in routine.

The old sage led him in the dark on a walk through the woods. It was pitch

black, the new moon shining no light on their journey. Still feeling queasy,

Huo banged his head on a low lying branch, the same branch the old sage

ducked under. The old man knew that it was going to be a tough day for the

young man, but he had chosen it by not listening to his inner feelings. It

would be a great lesson in many ways.

“Huo, if you do not want to get another bang on your head or lose more

skin off your arms, I would suggest that you walk with your feelings; obvi-

ously, your eyes aren’t much help in the darkness.” With that, the old sage took

out a piece of cloth and tied it around Huo’s head. “Now you will have to go

with your feelings.”

The young man panicked. He tried to remove the blindfold, but the old

sage reached across and grabbed his arm. “Relax,” was all he said, and the

young man took a deep breath and began to imagine what it would be like to

walk in the forest blindfolded. At first he could not imagine it, but as he

became more relaxed, he could actually see the forest in his inner mind. He

took a few tentative steps, then a few more; soon he was walking at the same

speed as he would fully sighted on a bright sunny day. He continued to walk

easily through the forest, trusting nothing but his inner sight and his feelings.

It was then that the nausea returned. He continued to walk, trying not to

think about the nausea, but the nausea would not disappear, and it was not

long before he bumped his head again and started losing bits of skin as he

walked into more bushes and trees.

Huo stopped and removed the blindfold. It was still dark, although a hint

of sun was coming up over the hill. He sat down, closed his eyes, and centered

his feelings in the nausea. After a couple minutes, a picture began to appear in

his mind. It was a picture of their camp, and he could clearly see their two

packs leaning next to each other. He wondered why he was seeing that partic-

ular image when all of a sudden the picture changed and a band of men

walked into the camp and were soon rifling through the packs for anything of

value. Huo’s heart sank when he realized that the dragonfly pendant, the one

that was given to him by his parents before they died in the fire, was in the

pack and that his last physical memory of them was about to disappear.

He jumped to his feet; maybe he still had time to get there and fight the

men for the pendant. No sooner had he had those thoughts, though, did he

realize that in his vision of the men it was still dark; it must have happened

hours before, and he knew he would never get there in time.

He slumped to the ground in resignation. If he had only brought the pack

with him. If he had only tapped into the feeling of nausea earlier, it could have

been different. After a few minutes of self-pity, he sat upright and centered his

awareness. As he took a few deep breaths, a picture of the bandits appeared in

his mind. He sent them love and forgiveness, and all the anger that he was

holding towards them drifted away. They obviously needed what was in the

pack more than he did. It was unfortunate to lose the pendant, but his mother

and father were deep in his heart. He had learnt a great lesson from the loss of

the pendant, and that had made it even more special. The old man had taught

Geof Spalding 33

him to become the observer, but now he knew it was just as important to

observe what was going on on the inside. He thanked the Tao for his great les-

son and sent a feeling of love out into the world. It was such an expression of

love that anybody who had the awareness would have been bathed in its

beauty.

Huo opened his eyes, and there sitting beside him in deep meditation was

the old sage. He waited while the old man finished his meditation, then came

back into the present time and space. While he waited, he reflected on what

he had learnt that day. One surprising observation he made was of the incred-

ible control he had allowed others to have on his life; whether it was the ban-

dits who robbed him or the village people who had made him who he was

today, everywhere he looked, he could see others trying to control what he

thought and did. He realized that by not reacting to others and what they did

to him, being the silent observer of his own life, and forgiving himself and the

others who trespassed against him, he was free to be person he wanted to

become.

The old sage just smiled; his apprentice was now free from the emotions

and expectations of others. One day he might even give him back the pendant

he removed from the pack when they left the camp that morning.


Chapter 11

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 speak-

ing 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, pre-

ferring only to answer questions as they were asked. He always accepted with-

out 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 nor-

mal 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 believ-

ing 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 what-

ever 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 sea-

sons. 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 cer-

tainly was not China because many of his apprentices were definitely not Chi-

nese. 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.

Geof Spalding 37

Chapter 12

Be Honourable

“Honour is the nobility of the soul. It is about being consis-

tent 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 min-

utes, 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. With-

out 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

Geof Spalding 39

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.


Chapter 13

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 cir-

cumstances, 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 cir-

cumstance 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 try-

ing 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 say-

ing: 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.”


Chapter 14

The Sage Does Not Infringe

After the meditation one morning, when all the students had

gone back to their homes, only Huo had stayed behind with the old sage to

help him clear up the space they had used in the Pagoda and clear the energy

from the meditation; sometimes even after the meditation, the unclear

thoughts that had dropped away from the participants needed to be cleared

away from the sacred space to allow anybody who used it later to find a space

that was open and clear of any negativity. The old man always made sacred

anything he did. It did not matter whether it was getting dressed in the morn-

ing or teaching a student; everything the old man did, he would do it in a

sacred way - for to do any less would mean that something was less than the

other.

The young man had not understood it at first, but as he began to practice

the technique of making everything sacred, he soon realized that it was what

connected him with everything. It was in the act of judging something to be

less important or less sacred that disconnected him from the One or the Tao.

It was interesting to watch his own life, to observe the difference when he did

things in a sacred way.

He remembered the first time he had created a sacred space before he med-

itated. At first it felt silly and uncomfortable, but of course that was only because

he was coming out of judgement and the reason he was judging it was that he did

not yet understand that everything is sacred. It was that one realization that

changed him forever. Just like the old sage, he was now doing everything in a

sacred way, and the most surprising thing was that because he made everything

sacred - even things like washing, dressing, and eating, which had been mundane

- they had now taken on a new quality: a quality of freshness.

The world had come alive for him. When he put on his clothes in the

morning, he could sense, almost feel, the man or woman who had made the

garment and what they were feeling at the time. As he would give thanks to

the person who had created the garment for him, he started to realize how

abundant he was. Others would see him as a penniless young man because

they came from their own judgement, but if they could only look deeper, they

would see a young man who had all his needs met. Huo was so in touch with

the Tao that he wanted for nothing; it was in his gratitude that he understood

that he was receiving so much.

In clearing the space in the Pagoda, he could see what energy the students

had left behind, which would instruct him and the old sage on what to teach

the students the next day. He looked across at the old sage, who was sweeping

the space they had used, ensuring that on all levels it would cleaner and clearer

than when they first entered it. As the old man swept, a beetle crawled into the

space. To anyone else it would have been a nuisance, but not to the old sage,

who saw it as one of God’s creatures and an extension of himself. He picked

up the beetle and took it out to the garden, where he spoke gently to it before

putting it down on the ground.

When the young man, who had followed him out into the garden, ques-

tioned him on what he had said to the beetle, the old man replied, “I thanked

the beetle for allowing to me have a break from my cleaning and experience

the beauty that existed in the garden. It is easy for us get caught up in our own

world, and sometimes it takes the beauty of nature to show us that we are all

connected. And to do some kindness - to even something that appears as

insignificant as a beetle - can return to you a bounty far in advance of the act

you performed. Look at the garden: it is teeming with life, all the plants and

insects working together to create the moment we are now experiencing,

which is a moment only you and I can share. It is only by living in the now

and treating everything as sacred that we get to see the beauty in the world. It


is through non-judgment that we can truly see the beauty that is inside us all,

then experience it when it is reflected in the outer world.”

“Chung Fu, you are the wisest person I have ever met, and each day you

deepen my wisdom and knowledge of the Tao, but I never see you sharing this

wisdom without being asked. Many times, I am sure you could have helped

people when they needed your assistance. Why is that?”

That was the first time in many years he had called the old sage by his

name. It was good that Huo had gone beyond the master-apprentice relation-

ship because the old sage could see that the young man was already a very wise

sage himself.

“I was going to answer that question, but then the spirit prompted me to

ask what you think.”

Huo’s ego was immediately taken in by the compliment, but the real Huo

- the eternal, immortal and infinite Huo - understood that it was now time for

the teaching to come totally from within. By going beyond the need to judge,

he allowed a higher awareness to come through.

In that moment, he understood that he was no longer the apprentice. He

answered his own question by saying, “I know that one word from you could

change a person’s life, a person’s evolution. Who are we to decide what a per-

son has incarnated in this life to learn? To give them help without asking is

infringing on their journey. It is to treat them as a finite being, rather than the

eternal, immortal, and infinite being that they are.”

The young man stopped for a moment as he allowed another impression

to come forward; he knew it was time. Before he could even voice the words,

he had felt it when Chung Fu had suggested that he answer his own question.

“I have defined our relationship as you are the Master and I am the appren-

tice, but now it is important for me to experience life rather than be defined

by our old relationship. It is time for me to move on. I am sure I could learn

much more from you, but in my heart I know that I am to become my own

teacher. It is time for me to wander the lands and learn from my interactions

with all the aspects of the Tao. I thank you from my heart for all that you have

taught me, but it is now time for me to go.”

Geof Spalding 45

Tears escaped from both their eyes as they both knew it was time for Huo

to go. Chung Fu had chosen well; the student was now the teacher. The old

sage reached into his pocket, pulled out the dragonfly pendant, and gave it to

the young man.

Huo took the pendant, which was now more special than ever, for when he

held it or looked at the pendant it would now remind him of more than his

parents; it would remind him of his time with the old sage. In losing the pen-

dant, it had become an even more sacred object.

After saying his goodbyes to the old sage, he went to find Qing. She was in

the kitchen, preparing their breakfast. He took her in his arms and kissed her

full on the lips. At first she tried to pull away, not because she did not want to

kiss him (she had wanted it more than life itself ), but because it had shocked

her that he had been so bold. After pulling slightly away, she eased back

towards him and joined him in a passionate kiss. During the kiss, she could

feel that they had come closer together, but on some level further apart. She

looked at him for some kind of explanation; he could feel it, too, and he

explained to her that although he loved her with all his heart, he had to leave

her and the old sage so he could continue his inner journey. He promised he

would come back for her one day, but he was not yet ready; his journey was

leading him elsewhere.

She tried to talk him out of it with talk of their life together and what their

life would be like, but she soon realized that she may as well have been taking

to the wall of the Pagoda; his spirit was already on the journey, and it was his

body that needed to catch up.

That evening, they held a banquet in his honour, but before the speeches

were finished, he had quietly slipped out the side door, collected his small

pack, and walked away from the town.

He looked back a few times, but only to remember what the town looked

like; the people, Chung Fu, and Qing were forever in his heart, and he would

never forget them.


Chapter 15

The Tao Owns Everything

As he walked from the town, he understood he had lost noth-

ing 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 dis-

agree 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 car-

riage, 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 some-

thing 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.”

Geof Spalding 49

“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.


Chapter 16

Life Is Sacred

Huo wandered through the countryside for many months

with one goal in mind: to find the Forest of K’an and journey to the mystical

Lake of Li. The old sage had talked often about this magical lake and the for-

est. Over the last two days, he had found the Forest of K’an, and now he was

heading towards the lake. He knew intuitively where the lake was; he could

feel her presence with every part of his being.

On the journey to find the lake, he had many adventures and had met

many strange people, the strangest being the badger that could talk; well, talk

was not quite right, but he could communicate with Huo in the most unusual

way. It happened over a month ago, when Huo first thought of finding the

Lake of Li in the Forest of K’an. He had been sitting by a stream, meditating,

when a picture of the Lake of Li came into his mind. He knew it was the Lake

of Li because of the description that he had received from the old sage. He

could even see the large rock that Chung Fu used to sit on when he was teach-

ing his students. In the meditation, Huo could imagine himself sitting on the

rock and staring into the Lake of the Li. The more he stared, the more real the

picture became; it was so real, if Huo had wanted to, he could have trans-

ported himself there in an instant, but of course, he was not yet aware that he

had those abilities. He opened his eyes with the knowing that came from deep

within that the next part of his journey would take him to the lake the old sage

had talked so much about.

He returned to his camp to the find a badger, a big fat badger fossicking

through his pack for what little food he had left. Years ago, he would have

become angry to lose the little food he had, but he was different now. He

understood that the Tao gives and the Tao takes away; so, rather than express

his anger, he sat down on a log of wood and watched the badger, for the inner

part of him knew that the badger had a message for him.

Badgers are very independent by nature, and this one was no exception.

The badger turned to look at Huo, but the look was brief, and he went back

to eating the food and destroying Huo’s pack. He was certainly an individual.

Huo knew that badgers were very different from most animals in the forest,

and they did not seem to care what humans and other animals thought about

them.

Huo sent a molecule of himself into the badger, and what returned did not

surprise him. He could almost hear the badger talking to him.

“Walk your own path at your own pace. Don’t defend yourself. You are

what you are, so be proud of it. If someone attacks you, don’t defend; just walk

away. You are an infinite spirit walking your own journey; be proud of your-

self, but at the same time do not judge others because you do not know what

their journey is or where it will lead. You don’t have to explain to anyone what

you are doing. You are following your inner spirit, and to explain it would be

impossible; allow it to lead you in ways that you would not think possible.”

Huo was not sure if the words were coming from the animal or just the

workings of his own mind. It did not matter, though, for the teaching was the

same. It was time for him to go back into the world and take what he had

learnt to the people who were drawn to him.

He looked down at the badger and offered thanks for its teaching. For its

part, the badger gave him what appeared to be a grin, then scurried off into the

forest without any apology for destroying Huo’s worldly goods.

No longer encumbered by any Earthly goods, Huo continued on his jour-

ney to the Lake of Li in the Forest of K’an.


Chapter 17

Purification

It was nearing the end of Autumn when Huo entered the For-

est of K’an. The moment his feet touched the Earth inside the forest, he felt

energized, a pulse of energy shooting through his body. Even though he had

never been there in his life, he had the sense that he was home. He stood in an

opening and allowed his feeling self to connect with the Forest and the Lake;

the feeling that returned was one of serenity and tranquility. The whole area

felt wonderful, but there was a spot to the west of him that had a higher energy

than anywhere else. He walked off in that direction. After breaking through a

row of trees, he could see the Lake of Li before him. His final few steps to the

lake were done in such a sacred way that anybody watching him would have

thought he was in a monastery or Pagoda. Each time his foot struck the Earth,

there was a deep connection. He thought of his parents, and tears streamed

from his eyes; if they could only see him now. In his heart, though, he knew

they could - and like him, they were eternal, immortal, and infinite. This life-

time was just a brief flash of an infinite light that burned through him.

Once he reached the water’s edge, he stopped for a brief moment and sat

on a large rock. He instantly felt the old sage; this was obviously the rock the

old man used to teach his students from. Tears again escaped the safety of his

eyes. He had lived a wonderful life, and it had taught him many things, but

it was now time for him to give back some of the beauty that had been

shared with him. He was not sure how he would do it or where; the only

thing he did know was that he was there to be purified by the Lake of Li, to

allow its special waters to wash over and purify him, clear him of any emotion

he was still storing in his body - for the next part of his journey required him

to be cleansed.

Huo removed his tatty clothes and put them by the base of the rock. For

the longest time, he sat naked, staring into the Lake of the Li, but really he was

staring into himself and the journey through life that had brought him to this

moment. There were wonderful times spent with his parents, and of course

with the old sage, but between those times there was so much pain, first from

losing his parents, then in the bullying he received from the other children and

some of their parents after he was disfigured in the fire, the fire he had caused

because of his love of flames. As a child he was fascinated by fire, not so much

for its burning properties or destructive powers, but for its ability to throw

light, which had him enthralled. He would sit for hours when others were

asleep, playing with candles and trying to create different shapes and effects by

changing the direction of the light. Just like his name, which meant ‘Fire’, he

was fascinated by all aspects of the flames that licked the air and moved in the

breeze - until that one fateful evening when it all went wrong.

He was still not sure exactly what happened. He had been playing with the

candle when he grew overcome by sleep. The next thing he remembered was

being carried out of the house through smoke and flames. He had not even

realized that he had been burned because he had gone into shock and felt

numb, a numbness that became depression when he found out his parents had

died in the fire. It was then that he suppressed the very feelings that were now

coming back in gigantic waves. His grief was so strong that he threw himself

in the Lake of Li, not caring at that moment whether he lived or died.

As his body drifted down into the depths of the lake, the love he felt for his

parents mixed with the grief and pain he felt for causing their deaths. The

waters of the Lake were bringing up every emotion he had ever suppressed,

and he was forced to feel every one of them. It was painful, yet fascinating; he

watched as some emotions were attached to experiences that seemed so

insignificant, yet for some reason they had mattered greatly. A word here, a

thought there, an off-the-cuff remark by a passerby; it was amazing what he

had let affect him, and for the most part his conscious self had not been aware


of it. In the purification by the Lake of Li, Huo began to understand the

power of the subconscious mind to direct people’s lives and create lives that

they would not consciously choose - but choose they did as their subconscious

minds created the world from their limited perspective.

Time seemed to stand still as Huo floated on the bottom of the lake; it was

as if the bottom of the lake represented the bottom of his subconscious mind.

He cleared the last dregs of the thoughts, which had trapped him under the

control of the subconscious mind. At that moment, when he was given the

choice between passing over to his higher self or life, he chose life; he felt deep

in his being that there was much he still needed and wanted to do in this life-

time and in this plane of existence.

Huo floated to the top, and when he broke through the surface he felt

purified, cleansed of all the emotions that were holding him back from living

inside his infinite spirit. Once on the surface, he swam back to the shore,

where he lay in the afternoon sun, replaying his life in his mind’s eye. When

he observed the moments when he was out of control, he noticed a recurring

theme. Every time he went out of balance, it was caused by four emotions:

anger at himself, judgement of others, frustration at not getting his needs met,

or moments when he could not control his surroundings.

As each memory came up, he thanked it for its teaching and released it

from his being. It was late in the afternoon when he had finally released all the

unconscious hurt, pain, and emotions. The Lake of Purification had done its

job.

As a chill hit the air, he dressed in his ragged old clothes, but they did not

appear raggedy anymore; it was as if by releasing the negativity he had stored

in his body that his clothes had been renewed and even changed in colour. It

seemed impossible, but it did happen.

He sat on the rock in his new plum red robe, cinched by a plum red sash.

Geof Spalding 55

Chapter 18

Beauty Of The Elements

Over the next few days, Huo made a home for himself in an

abandoned shack within walking distance of the Lake of Li. In the house was

some writing equipment, and as the Winter Solstice approached, Huo began

to write about his experiences with the old sage. He hoped to pass it on some

day to someone who needed the teaching as much as he did, someone who

might not be lucky enough to have a real sage to teach them.

It was while writing about one of the old man’s teachings that there was a

noise outside of horses and a carriage. Huo put down his writing brush and

went outside, where he saw one of the Emperor’s carriages pulled up to the

front of the house.

As he waited by the carriage door to greet his new guest, Huo was surprised

to see the Emperor himself step down from the carriage. Huo bowed politely,

looking downward, not wanting to show disrespect by looking directly into

the eyes of the Emperor.

“Young monk,” said the Emperor, “I am looking for an old sage who used

to live in this house. Do you know his whereabouts?”

Huo smiled. “Your Highness, the old sage, Chung Fu, is many months’

walk from here in a Pagoda. Can I be of any assistance?”

The Emperor was angry for a moment, then he remembered the tech-

niques he was taught by the old sage and allowed the anger to drop away.

“That is unfortunate. I was wanting him to come to my palace and teach my

son in the way of the Tao, as he taught me many years ago.”

“Your Highness, I can go forth and find him, but it may take many months

before we return.”

The Emperor went deep inside his feelings, as he had been taught by the

old sage. The same energy was still there as when he left the palace. He knew

the energy of the old sage was still around, but why would his inner feelings

prompt him to make the journey if the old man was no longer there? In his

inner feelings, he saw a picture of his son being taught by the young monk.

“Young monk, what is your name?” asked the Emperor.

“I am called Huo, my Lord.”

“Huo, I would like you to come to the palace and teach my son about the

Tao, about nature, and an old teaching the Sage gave to me called the Ele-

ments of Man.”

The young man was taken aback. It would be an honour to teach the

young prince, but surely the old sage would be a better teacher.

And so it was decided that Huo would teach the son of the Emperor in the

way of the Tao. After some discussion, it was decided that the boy would come

to live in the forest with the young monk. For one week out of every month,

the Emperor’s son would stay with Huo, where he would be taught about

nature and the Tao. He would then go back to the palace to practice what he

had been taught.

**********

It was the day of the Winter Solstice when Huo and the Emperor’s son

stopped by a frozen lake, a lake called the ‘Lake of Li’, the lake of purification.

During the week of their training, the young boy had tried on many occasions

to use the power of his position over the young monk, but Huo would not

allow him. When they were in the forest, Huo was the teacher, and the son of

the Emperor was his student. The young boy soon realized that it was useless

to try and use his power over the sage. In fact, over the course of the week, he

had grown to love the monk almost as much as his father. There was a kind-

ness to him that the boy had never experienced before and an inner strength

that he wanted to learn more about.

Geof Spalding 57

Huo sat on a rock, and the Emperor’s son sat on a fallen log. He looked

into Huo’s eyes and saw the reflection of the lake, then turned towards the

lake and watched as its little waves lapped at the shore. Out in the centre,

there appeared to be no movement, but he knew what was true. Crystals of

snow began to fall, and he opened his mouth, allowing the snowflakes to

land gently on his tongue. The moment they touched the heat of his tongue,

they relinquished their life to nourish his thirst.

“There is life within everything,” said Huo. “It is just that some of us do

not have the eyes to see. The seasons are but a reflection of man himself. If you

watch them and listen for each Element’s story, then you will understand

everyone you come into contact with.

“The Element of Fire is the time of Winter; it is the time of greatest poten-

tial, the promise of things to come, the new growth, the new idea, the germi-

nation of the seed. Within this Element is a stark landscape. The trees are bare,

there is little life to be seen, there are few if any birds, and most animals are not

to be seen. But underneath the cold exterior is the inner warmth of germina-

tion. It is a time of great sensitivity to the moving sun, for in the sun is the fire

and the light that is the key to appreciating this Element. The Winter is a time

of imagining and anticipation.

“In relationships, it warms the other Elements; it is calmed or doused by

Water; fanned or starved by Air, allowed a solid footing or suffocated by Earth,

and consumed by itself. Mixing two Fire Elements together without a gener-

ous helping of the other Elements is like watching a brush fire in action. The

colour of Fire is red, and the shape is the triangle. Just imagine for a moment

the effect when a triangle pushes its way into your space, and you can get some

idea of what happens when first coming into contact with the Element of Fire.

Beyond the sharp point is a gentleness and passion that is hard to ignore.

“The Element of Water is the season of Spring. It is the time when the

snow melts and the water begins to flow, for spring is the custodian of new

growth. It is the nurturer of young animals and children. It is the archetypal

mother. The ice gives up itself to the softness. The triangle of Fire becomes

the circle of Spring. There are no sharp edges to endanger any young one.

The Spring is the time of water; initially flowing, babbling, cleansing,


always allowing growth, and then growing still, reflecting. Like the mother

hen, it allows the chicks to grow but remains ever-present in times of need.

Like the moon, it is a reflection, allowing the tides and the movement of water.

Spring is the protector; it allows vulnerable life forms to emerge into a world

of colour and beauty, nurtured by motherhood. It is a time when the

Water/emotions allow the young to learn in a caring, protected environment.

It is the time of outer beauty. The symbol of the Spring, Water, seeks the low-

est level and nourishes all.

“In relationships, Water is disturbed by Air; it makes earth soft, then

impassable. Its passions are warmed by Fire, but too much, and the kettle boils

and Water floods or drowns itself.” Huo picked up a piece of ice and blew his

hot breath across it. At first nothing happened, but then the ice melted and the

water began to move across the palm of his hand. He kept breathing heavily,

and the water cascaded from his hand, drops falling in different directions.

As the Emperor’s son watched, he began to understand the change from

Winter to Spring, and then on to Summer. Huo sat quietly, allowing him time

to reflect on what he had seen and heard.

They were surrounded by the Winter, but in a few months all that would

change and begin to move again for the outward beauty of the Spring to reap-

pear.

The winter sun stood high in the sky. The Emperor’s son took a long draw

on his herbal tea and took in the essence of the Winter. Only the warming sun

and their own bodies shivering as clouds passed in front of the sun broke the

stillness. The strong flavour of Huo’s herbal tea cleared his head and made the

boy more aware of the Elements around him. It was Winter, the time of Fire,

but the Elements were still there in abundance. This was not their time,

though; it was as if they had all bowed to the Fire, to the Winter. Even the cup

of tea he was drinking was made up of all the Elements. Mystics had talked

about everything being a combination of the four Elements. The son of the

Emperor had laughed at this simplistic explanation, but sitting here with the

Elements and watching them exist in all of Nature, he was not so sure that his

current understanding was any better.

Geof Spalding 59

Huo finished his tea, then placed the cup next to his feet on the ground

and sat upright. As he rolled his eyes, the words flowed again from an infinite

source.

The Emperor’s son wondered whether the waters of the lake of Li were

more than just a body of water. Could they be an inspiration for the Sage’s

teachings? When they arrived with the sun rising, it was as if the four Elements

came together as one at the shore of the lake. Was it the lake itself that gave the

teachings the beauty the young boy was experiencing?

“The Element of Air is the time of the Summer. When we look at the

Summer, we see the time of the summer holidays, the time when we are

rewarded for the previous six months. For Fire is the germination; the Water

is the moving and growing, and the Air is the time of the harvest. You reap

in the Summer what you have sown for the rest of the year. It is a time for

counting, for storing, for distribution of the harvest, of the wealth that has

been gained. It is the time for creating order and for storing to create abun-

dance in the future. It is the time of strength and maturity, when the young

leave their nest. Its symbol is the oval, for it is the extension of the circle; it is

the culmination and the distortion of what the time of Water has to offer. It is

not as sharp as the time of Fire or as gentle as the time of Water. It is the time

of order and logical thinking. It is not the time of creation, but one of exten-

sion, of the best use of what we have. Its colour is yellow, which is the colour

that stimulates the intellect. The earth is parched by Air, and the summer

storm is dramatic and merciless.

“The Air in relationships affects all the Elements. From stillness to a gen-

tle blow to a powerful wind, it touches all the other Elements. It dries and dis-

turbs the Earth, disturbs, feeds, or starves Fire. It also disturbs Water. Air is

unaffected by all but itself. Withhold Air from us for only a few minutes, and

we are all dead. On some level, the Air elements know this, and it leads those

with a strong ego to see themselves as quite superior.

“The Earth Element’s time is the Autumn. It is the time after the harvest,

when all the work has been done and energy begins to diminish. It is the time

of brilliant colours emerging, as if they are Nature’s last denial of the end about

to come. It is visual, exciting, and dramatic. It is the time when the old falls


away to allow space for the new. The autumn leaves fall to the earth to provide

fertiliser for the new growth that is to come. The bear eats ravenously and

stores fat for the Winter. It is a time of relaxation and review as the end draws

near. The colour of Earth is green, and the symbol is the square.

“In relationships, the Earth suffocates Fire, causes Water to lose clarity, is

disturbed by Air, and joins together with itself...”

The sage released his being from the inner worlds. “So much of what I

teach you is obvious if you can still your mind chatter and observe what goes

on around you. The Elements are present in everyday living; they are not some

mystical art that you spend twenty years unfolding and cannot use in your

daily life. The Elements are ever present, and their teachings come to you every

day in a million ways. There are no books to study other than the book of life.

As in any real teaching, you never stop learning; there is a gradual unfolding

from within.

“When you leave here and go back to the palace, you would do well to sit

and listen. Be in the world, but not of it. Be a detached observer; then you will

see how the Elements are in all things. You will see how the other Elemental

types need the solid base of Earth if they themselves are to function in a bal-

ance. In its most meagre existence, Earth can stabilise the activities of Air and

Fire and at the same time give Water a supportive resting place. Too much

Earth, and everything becomes bogged down; too little, and everything is

without real substance. The visions of Fire are only visions if the substance of

Earth does not impact them.

“When you encounter the Elements in the coming months, know that the

dominant element is not only their strength, but also their weakness. Fire is

passion and inspiration, but too big a flame or a flame not tempered by the

other Elements either dies quickly or destroys all in its path. From the single

flame to the inferno, Fire is both a boon and a horror.

“The greatest function of Water is to allow the movement of our emotions.

A light covering of Water on the other Elements provides a gentle shower of

caring and feelings. Deeper water allows us a deeper spiritual insight and a

greater understanding of our feelings, for Water cannot hide; its feelings are

always felt. When Water becomes the torrent, passing its point of balance, it

Geof Spalding 61

drowns everything in its emotions. Water cannot be ignored. It can be

dammed up or diverted for a short time, but it will always flow to the lowest

level. To ignore it is to walk around with your eyes closed. Just like all the Ele-

ments, there is a fine line between too much and too little. To each there is a

season when they are and need to be dominant.

“Air makes breathing possible. Without air, we could not communicate

and there could be no exchange of thought. We use Air to communicate our

inspirations, our Fire.

“I will finish this lesson by reiterating that we all choose what Element we

are so that we can best express who we are and learn what lessons we have cho-

sen to learn in this lifetime. What you are learning is a tool that you can use

throughout your life, whatever path you choose to take. As a communicator,

it will allow you to talk directly to that person’s Element so as to be under-

stood. And conversely, it allows you to understand not only what the person

is saying, but also the intent behind the words. There will come a day when,

within a few moments, you will truly know anyone you come into contact

with.”

In the months ahead, Huo would teach the young boy about nature, the

elements, and the Tao. For seven days each month, the young man would be

brought from the palace to live in the old house with Huo, the young Sage. As

the teaching continued, the young sage grew into the Master Sage that Chung

Fu always knew he would become.


Chapter 19

The Eternal Power

After twelve months, one full cycle of the seasons, the carriage

arrived as normal. The Emperor’s son rushed out of the carriage and over to

Huo, who was waiting outside his house. He went straight to Huo, wrapped

his arms around the Sage’s neck, and gave him a hug.

Looking from the carriage, the Emperor’s wife, Empress Li, was shocked at

the informality. Stepping down from the carriage, she was about to make a

comment when she recognized that Huo was the young man who had saved

the life of her son years before. Any thought of punishment or reprimand fell

away as she knew that her son was in the safest of hands.

The boy rushed into the old house to get his writing implements to start

his day’s study, not even caring to say goodbye to his mother.

Huo smiled and gave a short bow to the Empress.

“It should be me bowing to you,” she said, “for not only did you save the

life of my son Heng, but now you are teaching him things I could only dream

about. In the year he has been coming to you, he has come back a calmer and

kinder person.”

“The boy has done all the work himself, Empress; I have been there only

to guide him on his way. He has learnt very quickly to connect with his own

inner power, and when the day comes, he will make a great leader.”

The boy returned with his writing implements. “I am ready,” he said. His

excitement was palpable, which made both the Empress and Huo laugh.

“Heng,” said the Empress, “go and wait, my son. The sage will be with you

in a moment.”

The young boy walked the short distance to the Lake of Li and waited for

the sage to appear. While he waited, he practiced the martial art techniques

that the sage had given him, techniques that were never meant to be used in

anger, but rather would increase the connection to the boy’s inner self and

allow the power stored there to come up from within.

While he was waiting, Huo and the Empress talked like old friends, dis-

cussing the training of her son, matters of the court, and the beauty of nature.

It was Huo who brought up the beauty of nature because he could see in the

Empress a deep sadness, and he hoped that looking at and talking about the

beauty of the natural world would bring some beauty into her own life.

The young sage sent a molecule into the Empress, not as an infringement,

but to try and understand more about her sadness. He was not going to

infringe by asking her directly, but if the beauty of nature allowed a space

where she could open up to him, then he would help her in any way he could.

He was going to teach her son about using his internal power, so it seemed

only natural for the Tao to offer him an opportunity to practice connecting

with his own inner power so that he could speak from a sense of knowing.

When the molecule of feeling returned, he could sense that there was trou-

ble with the Emperor. What the trouble was, he did not pry further. It was

enough, though, that she had difficulty with it.

He turned slightly, using only his peripheral vision, and he could see that

her aura was all over the place and that some areas looked quite grimy and

dark. He immediately sent her energy from within himself, not to fix her prob-

lem, but to offer extra energy for a moment to help her deal with it. He under-

stood that the wonderful energy of the Tao was not about pushing yourself

onto others, but allowing them a space to pull themselves towards you. The

word ‘pull’, however, was not correct; it was more that as your energy grew,

others were drawn to it.

The Empress sighed very deeply, a sigh so deep that it could be heard and

felt by the animals and other beings in the forest. Huo looked around to see


energy coming from the trees, plants, animals, and unseen beings of the forest

into the heart of the Empress.

Huo led the Empress next to an old tree and asked her to sit with her back

against it. She gave him a confused look but trusted him enough to follow his

instructions.

The moment her back touched the tree, she sensed a rush of energy race

through her body; in a few seconds, she was calmer and could see more clearly

than she had in years.

The sage sat quietly with her as she allowed the tears to escape from her

eyes. Next came the sobs as her heart opened to the energy it had received

from the Forest of K’an. While her heart was open, she could see the problems

with the Emperor; they had nothing to do with his love for her, which was as

strong as ever. The problem lay in the Empire itself, for the Emperor had to

decide whether to fight with the people of the north or agree to a peace pact,

which would not only see his power diminished, but also cost his people finan-

cially.

The sage could see all this. He could also see both futures through his own

inner feelings, as each future had an individual energy to it. He sent the light

of the Tao from his own heart directly into the heart of the Empress. She expe-

rienced another great rush of energy, and in that moment she saw the answer

to the Emperor’s problems. She knew that she could not tell her husband what

to do, but a women has ways of influencing people that a man will never

know. Being naturally closer to the Tao, a woman finds it easier to connect

with her own inner power, the power to pull to you what you need.

Huo watched as her aura changed from dark and grimy to clear and tighter

around her body. She no longer needed the power from him and the forest,

which was withdrawn without a change in her energy. Her energy was no

longer blocked, and she was naturally drawing her energy from that place deep

within herself where it is available for anyone who is open to it.

After a little encouragement from his wife to meditate on his problems, the

Emperor went within and visualized the problem, only to discover that it was

not a problem, but a greater opportunity for his people and the generations to

come. By not going with the thoughts of the Ego, but rather going deep into

Geof Spalding 65

his inner-self, he allowed his higher self to show him the opportunity that lay

before him.

History may not be kind to him, but his dynasty lasted over a thousand

years, and his people were well fed and well educated. He made changes only

a wise man could have made, for he understood the power of non-action, a

power that most men never get to understand, but a power of infinite energy.


Chapter 20

Wu Wei

“Today, my prince, we are going to talk about Wu Wei, or as

some would call it, the action of non-action. Wu Wei is a simple state of being

in which your actions are quite effortless and are aligned to the flow of the ele-

mental cycles in nature. It is about going with the flow so that without even

trying, you are able to respond to whatever situations you find yourself in.

“Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching introduced us to the ideal of the enlightened

leader, who by embodying the principles of Wu Wei was able to rule in a way

that created happiness and prosperity for his people. That is one of the reasons

your father, the Emperor, sent you to me, so that one day when you are the

Emperor, you can be an enlightened leader.”

“But what of you, sage? You understand these teachings, and yet you are

not a leader and have chosen to live in the forest?”

“That is a good question, but there is more than one way to practice Wu

Wei. Because of who you chose to be born to, you chose life one way, and I

chose another. I have chosen to withdraw from society to live the life of a her-

mit, wandering through the meadows and forests, meditating and learning the

ways of nature so that I can have a deeper understanding of the Tao.

“Lao Tzu said the practice of Wu Wei was the highest form of Virtue. Wu

Wei is not premeditated, but arises spontaneously. In verse 38 of the Tao Te

Ching, he tells us:

‘The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self

The highest kindness is to give without a condition

The highest justice is to see without a preference’

‘When Tao is lost, one must learn the rules of Virtue

When virtue is lost, the rules of Kindness

When kindness is lost, the rules of Justice

When justice is lost, the rules of Conduct’

(Translated by Jonathan Star)

“As you begin to align with the Tao, with the rhythms and cycles of the ele-

ments inside and outside of yourself, your actions will quite naturally be of the

highest benefit to all concerned. You will have become the embodiment of Wu

Wei, the Action of non-action, as well as Wu Nien, the Thought of non-

thought, and Wu Hsin, the Mind of non-mind. You will understand your

place in the universe and your connection to all things. Understanding this

connection, you will become a person whose thoughts, words, and actions do

no harm.”

The young man now understood why the Emperor had made a peace pact

with the people of the north. His father was wiser than he had ever given him

credit for. He had listened to the dissenters within the court who had said he

was weak to give in to them, but of course none of them had the courage to

say these things within earshot of the Emperor.

The young man understood that the Emperor had used the concept of Wu

Wei in dealing with his problems. The young prince went deep within himself

to see what was the next step he should take. In his mind’s eye, he saw himself

hugging his father, something he had not done of late now that he was a young

man. It was something that he would remedy when he arrived back at the

palace.

The sage smiled to himself. His own practice of Wu Wei had not only led

to the teaching of the Emperor, the Empress, and their son, it had also led to

a better life for many thousands of people. He gave thanks to the Tao before

hugging the young man and sending him back to the palace.


Chapter 21

The Sacred Way

“Master,” said Heng, “what is it that makes the Lake of Li

and the Forest of K’an sacred? When we walk through the forest, you walk as

if you are in a Pagoda, and when you sit by the lake, you do it with such great

reverence for its water. It is like you are looking at a god.”

Huo crossed the fingers of both hands over each other and took what could

only be described as a reverential pose.

“My son, everything in life is sacred. But to answer your question: we make

something sacred by focusing our attention on it. The Lake of Li has been

revered for many years by the people and the animals of the forest because it

is what has given them life, one generation after another. The monks of my

order revere it because for them, water is the closest thing they have on Earth

that is representative of the Tao. Of course, the Tao is in everything; it is just

that water seems to represent the concepts in many of the Taoist teachings. To

make something sacred is to put your focused attention on it.”

“But why, Master? Why do we need to make things sacred?”

That was the second time the young man had called Huo ‘Master’. It was

a strange way to be addressed by the son of the Emperor, who at any moment

could have him thrown him in prison or had him beheaded. Although Huo

did not think of such things, he understood that life was what it was. There

was no bad or good; only actions of lesser and greater energy. He took the title

of ‘Master’ as a sign of respect from the young man, who had changed greatly

in their time together. Occasionally, when the higher self allowed it, he saw a

picture of the future when the young man would become a mighty leader who

was loved by all his people. It was still a ways off, and there was still much he

needed to learn in their time together.

He thought for a while about Heng’s question. He knew what he wanted

to say, but the words were not forthcoming. He stilled himself for a moment

and looked within, imagining that the old sage was still teaching him. What

would he have said? What words and thoughts would he have to offer?

“Out of sacredness and humility comes gratitude, and out of gratitude

come the keys to the kingdom. For he that is grateful, more will be given,”

were the words that fell from his lips.

The young man understood, and the words passed his intellectual mind and

touched him deeply in his heart. As the student, he had made these teachings

sacred. Before coming to the Forest of K’an each month to learn and listen to the

teachings by the magical Lake of Li, the young man gave blessings to the Tao for

what he was about to receive from the sage. When he first came, he was the son of

the Emperor, but now he saw himself as the student of a wise man. By treating

every action and word that the sage shared with him as sacred, he gave it power,

and it enlightened his own life when he came back into the palace. There was not

a day that went by when one of the teachings would not come to help him in his

daily life. He originally came to the forest to please his father, but now he was

beginning to understand why his father wanted him to spend a week a month out-

side the luxury of the palace; it was not to toughen him up for the future that was

to come, but rather for him to understand his people and be a leader who would

put his people before himself when he made decisions.

He had been privileged to be born the son of the Emperor, but from him

that was given much, much was expected. He was humbled before the teach-

ings he was receiving from the sage; humbled and grateful. What he did not

expect was the wave of emotions that was now overcoming him. He looked

towards his master, who just smiled, for he knew what was happening but

would say nothing, as this feeling could only be experienced; there were no

words for when one was truly connected to the Tao. In the first instance, he

knew the young man would be overcome with a wave of emotions, but that

would soon change and more would be given, for the young man understood

that sacredness was the way to the Tao.


Chapter 22

The Gift

“What are you going to create, my son?”

They were weird words to use to start one of their teaching sessions. Firstly,

because it was unusual for anyone other than the Emperor to call Heng ‘my

son’; and secondly, the young man would usually sit and listen to a teaching.

This was a change in the dynamic between them.

Heng did not know what to say. He took a deep breath, held it for a

moment, then expelled it slowly, allowing the many thoughts in his brain the

space to disappear. When they were all gone, there,would remain one thought

or feeling - he was not quite sure which - that would not fall away. He looked

deeper into the thought/feeling, only to discover that it was a vision of him

painting in the form of the Taoist Artist. He watched his inner self as it sat

before nature, staring at the mountains in the distance. He sat there, appear-

ing to be just looking, but Heng could feel that the inner painter was doing far

more than that. As he sat with the feelings, he could sense that the inner

painter was becoming one with the elements of nature that surrounded him.

He had not bothered to pick up his brush because he knew the brush would

only be used once he connected with the spirit of nature sitting beautifully

before him. Even when he connected with nature, he would still not paint

because to paint what he saw would only be copying nature, and she was much

deeper than that. It was only when his own inner truth came forward that he

would even bother to pick up his brush, then it could be an hour or more

before any paint would touch the canvas. When it did, there would be a flow

about it; there was no hurry, for the artist’s truth would show itself in the sim-

plicity and beauty of the painting that his real self had created.

He watched in his mind’s eye as the future Heng created beautiful land-

scapes, landscapes that were filled with the essence of the Tao. He went into

the mind of the future Heng and noticed that there was a great emptiness; not

an emptiness from a life not well lived, but an emptiness from someone who

had learned detachment. The future Heng was empty because he was open to

what life had to offer; he was open to the spontaneity of life.

Heng withdrew from his inner world and turned his attention towards the

sage. He was not capable of words and was overcome by the experience, and

he continued to stare vacantly at the sage in the hopes that he could help him.

Huo was surprised that the young prince had been able to go so deep when

he asked what he was going to create. The young prince was obviously very in

touch with his inner truth, and it would be easy to instruct him in the ways of

Taoist painting. Huo was not a painter, but he understood the Tao; he also

understood that the energy from past painters was still available and that by

learning to model the geniuses from the past, Heng could not only learn to

paint but also learn how to go deep within and see the essence of what he was

painting.

“Master, how do I go from where I am now to what I saw in my medita-

tion? I can barely hold a brush and at best only copy what I see.”

“Heng, just like you were able to go into a meditation and connect with

your future self, you are also able to go within and connect with all the great

artists of the past; all their genius is still available. When you go back to the

palace, find a painting that you like, then find out as much as you can about

the artist and his techniques. Take time to look into his heart and see what

feelings they bring up in you, then start to experience what the artist experi-

enced. After you have an understanding of the artist, go into a meditation and

ask the artist to share his or her knowledge with you, then go and find some-

thing to paint and allow the inner subtle feelings to be your guide.”

“But I can’t. I do not have the skills of a master painter.”

“Heng, that is just your ego speaking. All of us come here to learn how to

be creative. The greatest gift that we are given by the Tao, or the Godforce, is


the ability to create something unique. It is uncomfortable to go beyond the

ego’s laziness and fears, but to create you need to discipline yourself and move

beyond the ego. If you want to be like the painter you saw in your meditation,

you must discipline yourself. It will take time, and many of your early paint-

ings will just be copies of what you see, but with openness and discipline and

trust in the inner self, you will see a spark of your own creativity begin to come

alive in the paintings.

“Creativity is not about perfection; it is about finding the truth within you.

Don’t copy what you see; paint the essence. When you model a master, don’t

copy what they did; instead, find the essence that is in you, and paint that.”

And so the discipline began. Each morning in the palace, Heng would rise

early from his bed and go and sit in front of one of the many beautiful paint-

ings that adorned the palace walls. In the beginning, it felt foolish sitting in

front of these master paintings because many times nothing happened - but

then one morning in the third week of the discipline, he was sure he heard

something; it was as if a voice other than his was whispering into his ears. He

listened very deeply. At first it sounded like the words were being transported

through water, which was distorting what he was hearing. He immediately

understood that it was his own ego getting in the way, though, so he closed his

eyes and went deep within himself.

In his mind’s eye, a picture began to appear, but it was more than a picture;

it was like another world existed in his inner being, and in this other world was

Heng and the painter Master Chang.

Heng bowed to the Master and said, “Teach me.”

Master Chang sat in a lotus position in front of a canvas. Off in the dis-

tance were mountains surrounded by valleys filled with forests and a magical

lake. When Heng looked deeper, he understood that the master had taken him

to the Forest of K’an and the lake was the Magical Lake of Li.

For a long time, Master Chang sat there enjoying the view of the landscape

before him. Then he began to paint. Heng watched as the master’s brush

almost skipped over the canvas and each brush stroke left behind something

that seemed to have a life of its own, each stroke giving life to the landscape

Geof Spalding 73

that stood before them. Master Chang continued to paint, but then a separate

part of him began to communicate with Heng.

“The landscape painting is one that evokes a feeling of peace, harmony,

and a mystical union with nature. The artist is looking to connect with the

landscape and allow it to give up some of its secrets, expressing the movement

of animals, the majesty of the mountains, and the ethereal nature of the water.

Great art occurs when the artist is in some way a co-creator of life with the

Great Tao. When you are painting, become the mountain...send an aspect of

yourself in the mountain and become the mountain...feel its feelings and share

its story. Then and only then, begin to paint the story, the story that you and

the mountain have created together. The key is to allow the inner you the

space to create from your own truth. In this way, you create something unique,

something that adds to the greatness of the infinite Tao.”


Chapter 23

The Cycle of Life

Heng was excited when he arrived at the Sage’s house. He

wanted to tell him about meeting and studying in the inner worlds with Mas-

ter Chang, but of course the sage was not there. The young prince was com-

ing from ego and how special he was rather than from the spontaneous sense

of connection with the Tao.

Heng’s ego took it as a personal affront that the sage was not waiting for

him when he arrived. In a bluster, he walked from the house to the Lake of Li;

surely the sage would be waiting for the prince by the lake. He waved away his

royal carriage and took his paint, brushes, and canvas to the lake. When he

arrived, the sage was nowhere to be seen.

Angry, the prince sat on his log, waiting impatiently for his teacher to

appear. It had only been minutes, but in his mind it had seemed like hours.

Why was the sage treating a prince in such a way? Surely, he would have to be

punished for his disrespect.

The prince was working himself up into a greatly agitated state when all of

a sudden he saw the sage on a small boat in the middle of the lake. Heng

looked across the lake to the sage and noticed how small he looked in com-

parison to the Lake and the Forest that surrounded him. It reminded him of

what Master Chang had told him about landscape painting:

‘No lordly position should be given to humans in a landscape painting because

it is in nature that we find symbolic values and universal harmony. A human is no

more important than a blade of grass or a tree; they are only a part of what makes

up the Great Tao, so they should never overwhelm the image.’

With the sun shining down on the lake and the sage bobbling on its sur-

face, the young prince dropped his anger and looked deeper into the picture

before him. Nature had come alive for him. The forest around the lake moved

under the influence of the air as it was warmed and moved by the sun. The

lake itself never stopped moving, and it was teeming with life. At first he

watched the fish swimming around the edges, then he could see the wind stir-

ring up the water and creating small waves, which were driving the sage’s boat

forward. The boat was at the mercy of the seasons, but the sage did not seem

to mind and reveled in the freedom that nature provided.

Off in the distance, Heng looked towards the Great Mountains standing

above the Forest of K’an, like sentinels protecting its family underneath. Heng

sent his feelings into the mountains, and what returned was a profound, mys-

tical understanding of nature and the millions of years that the mountains had

been there. His only reaction was to cry, as he was so overwhelmed by the feel-

ings of love that was returned from the mountains. He felt like the mountains

were honored by him for painting them.

He reached for a brush and began to paint, his brush flowing in weird lines

across the surface of the canvas. Had he set out to copy the vista before him,

he would have painted a small section at a time, but here he was with longer,

more flowing brushstrokes, which seemed to encompass the whole canvas. His

ego wanted to pull back and paint in small sections, for it was afraid of the

unknown - but the real Heng, the eternal, immortal, and infinite being, was

reveling in the freedom his inner creative self was allowing him. It did not mat-

ter what the painting looked like, for it was an expression of his inner self ’s

connection with the Tao of nature. He was not even really looking at the

painting, but rather allowing the brush to follow the feelings that were com-

ing from deep within.

So engrossed was he in the painting, he had not even noticed that the sage

had pulled his boat up onto the bank and was walking towards him. The sage

stood behind Heng and watched as he painted. The young prince was almost


in a trance as his brush danced across the canvas in concert with his inner feel-

ings and pictures; it was a beauty to behold.

For a moment, the sage allowed jealousy to exist in his being, but it was

only for a moment, as the Sage’s ego did not understand that his own creativ-

ity had nothing to do with painting; the ego hates to lose in anything.

Huo waited while Heng completed his painting. He was immediately

struck by the sense of life in the painting. When compared to some of the great

works he had seen on his journey, it was a little naïve in technique, but Huo

could not help being drawn into its honesty. The painting was alive with the

Tao, the force and beauty of nature showing through in the colors and the

magic of the brush strokes.

The beauty of the Tao as reflected in the painting sent Huo deeper into

himself, so deep that his own creativity came through the words that followed

as once again he became the teacher.

“Watch nature. It is your greatest teacher; it moves and flows and moves

again. Watch as the seasons change; there is much movement and such a won-

derful array of changing colors. To learn about the Tao, you need to watch

nature. Just as you did with the painting, you need to look below the surface

to see what is happening. In winter, when everything appears to be stuck and

frozen, you only have to look beyond the surface to see the potential of things

to come, for it is in the winter that nature readies itself for the spring. Winter

may seem harsh, but underneath there is much beauty. In the spring when the

snow thaws, you will begin to see the livingness of things and the abundance

of growth. As the season changes to summer, we begin to see the harvest, and

with it the warmth and the summer storms. This in turn gives way to the

autumn, when what is no longer required falls away, ready to begin the cycle

again. Nature is your greatest teacher. Because it does not fear death, it can be

itself in all its glory without having to worry about the future.

“Within everything there is a cycle of life. If your life seems to be get-

ting a little stale or you are losing energy over something, then return to

nature, and you will see that nothing ever stays the same. After spending

time within nature, what was seeming like it was stuck or boring will often

Geof Spalding 77

seem re-energized. If not, then it may be time to walk away - but before doing

so, look underneath the surface to find that it is not your ego that is scared to

go deeper, or you may find yourself always at the beginning.”


Chapter 24

The Lightness Of Being

The young prince had been coming to the Forest of K’an for

almost two years, and his paintings were becoming renowned throughout the

kingdom. The sage had noticed in the last couple months that as his fame

grew, so also did the young man’s arrogance. It seemed that whenever they

spoke, the prince thought he knew more about everything than the sage. The

sage did not judge the arrogance, but he did wonder what was underneath it,

for he knew that arrogance often came out of fear.

It was no longer appropriate for him to tell the young man what to do, for

he had come to the point in his teachings where it was important for the

prince to take control of his own teaching and open up to his Higher Self. The

sage knew that could never happen while he was arrogant, though, for to be

able to connect with the Higher Self, you need a lightness of being with the

ego no longer blocking the way.

What was the sage to do?

In the end, he left it to the Tao to handle, for he knew that by opening up

to the wisdom of the Tao, an opportunity would arise from which they both

could grow.

It was late summer when the Tao finally sent them that opportunity, and

the sage welcomed it, understanding that his life was always about new begin-

nings. I cannot say the same for the Prince, however, who was now resisting

any new experiences or teachings. He thought that he had reached the ulti-

mate teaching because he could see the life in things through his paintings, but

that was merely his ego, which had become comfortable with the recognition

it was receiving.

One day, the prince wanted to go deeper in the forest to paint. The sage

could feel in an inner part of himself that it was not a good idea, for the

weather, the heat, and the wind were giving him signs that were not positive.

He tried to talk the young prince out of going on, knowing it would be fool-

hardy, but the prince would hear none of it and ordered the sage to come with

him.

In the end, the sage agreed. It would be as it would be, he thought to him-

self.

They were deep in the woods, and the prince was congratulating himself

on capturing the essence of the forest in his painting. He had even painted

himself into the picture, and against the Taoist tradition, his portrait took up

more than a third of the landscape. His arrogance was getting more and more

out of control.

The sage heard a crackling sound and immediately knew that his element,

the element of fire, was very active. For a moment, he drew deep within him-

self, fearing that his own lack of balance had drawn the fire to them, just like

it had done to his parents in the past. He need not have worried, though;

when he went deep within, all he saw was the smiling, proud faces of his par-

ents. He nodded to them, then came back into the outer world. By this time,

the crackling had become louder, and the smell of smoke surrounded them.

He looked to the prince, who seemed oblivious to what was happening. He

called out to him, but got no response. He called louder; still nothing. Finally,

he struck the young man across the back with his walking stick, and the young

prince turned with a look of anger on his face, the likes of which the sage had

never seen. Heng was about to strike the sage when he smelt the smoke and

heard the flames, which had almost reached them. His anger turned to fear,

and he started to tremble.

The sage surveyed the area and could see that they were surrounded by a

ring of fire. They only had seconds to make a decision as the fire rushed

towards them.


“Let’s make a run for it,” said the prince, his fears clouding his thinking.

The sage touched him gently on the arm, but so much energy had been

transferred to him, you would think he had been stuck by a spear. The prince

then took a deep breath and began to relax. He could still see no way out, but

at least he was back in control of his mind.

The sage went deep within and could see them walking through the fire,

not one lick of the flames touching their bodies. The sage knew with his log-

ical mind, though, that that was impossible, and his ego was already telling

him that he was mad and would die in the flames.

He turned to the prince. “We have to close our eyes and walk through the

flames. If we align ourselves to the element of fire, then we will not be killed

by it or because of it.”

“You’re mad,” said the prince. “If we close our eyes and walk through the

fire, we will surely die.”

“If you can let go of your fear of death and embrace life, respect the ele-

ments, and become the element of fire, then you will be safe. Trust me.”

The young prince did not know what to believe. Was this a trick by the

sage to punish him, or was it a plan that had been hatched by someone who

wanted his throne?

All manner of thoughts passed through his mind, and they were all fears:

fear of death, fear of loss, and the fear of being burnt. Just as his mind was

about to be completely overwhelmed, he took a deep breath and stilled him-

self for a moment. The sage had never harmed him; in fact, everything the sage

had done for him had only increased in him the person he was becoming. It

wasn’t the sage that was trying to trick him; it was his own ego.

Doing as the sage suggested, he closed his eyes and imagined becoming one

with the element of fire. At first nothing happened, but when he gave thanks

to the fire for its teaching, everything began to change. He could see himself

becoming the fire, but not as an intellectual exercise; he could actually feel the

element of fire rising up from within him. He knew in that moment that the

fire would not hurt him. With his eyes still closed, he reached out and took the

hand of the sage and walked into the flames.

Geof Spalding 81

He could feel the warmth of the fire brush his face as he moved through

the flames. Twenty meters further on, he experienced a whisp of cooler air

caress his cheeks. He opened his eyes to see that they had gone beyond the fire,

then looked down at his clothes; apart from one small burnt patch, neither his

clothes nor his body had been burnt in the fire.

He looked into the eyes of the sage. “I am sorry that I let my ego take con-

trol of me. I had forgotten for a moment that you were a gift from the Tao, a

gift that the Tao could have just as easily taken away from me,” Heng said,

then hugged the old sage. It was the hug of one friend for another; they had

become equals for the first time.

This was a defining moment in the young prince’s life: the moment when

his ego was no longer in charge. He was now free to become the person he was

destined to become.


Chapter 25

The Teacher Teaches by Example

It was during the final month of their third year together that

the prince no longer came to the Forest of K’an. The sage had waited, but deep

down he knew that the prince was no longer his student. There was a genuine

sadness, as the sage had enjoyed teaching the prince about the spiritual aspects

of man, but now it was up to the young prince to become his own teacher, and

it was time for the sage to move on, time for him to refresh himself and live in

the spontaneity of the Tao.

He woke before the sun, then gathered his small pack and walked out the

door of the house that had been his home for the last three years. He did not

look back, for the energy of the house was no longer there. He walked past the

Lake of Li, but even she had lost her glow. He walked out of the Forest of K’an

without another thought. The Tao had given, and now it had taken away.

He came to a fork in the road. Many years ago, he had chosen the road that

seemed the brightest, but now as he looked down both roads, it seemed as

though little distinguished them. With no clear feeling as to which way to go,

the sage sat under a plum tree and enjoyed the warmth provided by the early

morning sun. He sat and watched as travelers passed by, most increasing their

pace when they came near him, but the occasional one stopping and sitting for

a while. Some would talk to the sage, but most just rested a while under the

shade of the plum tree. Those who did stop and sit under the plum tree with

the sage noticed that they soon became energized and were ready to resume

their travels.

The sage went into a meditation to ask his higher self what his next step

was to be. After a long meditation, though, he was none the wiser; it seemed

like the Tao had forgotten him. Of course, he knew better than that, and if the

feelings did not change, he would just sit and enjoy his rest under the plum

tree.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed that travelers had left food and some

of their wares for him. It seemed like he had received his answer: for now, he

would just sit under the plum tree and be in the moment. He had never been

so abundant in all his life. In a matter of days, he had more of anything than

you could think of, more than he would ever use in a hundred lifetimes. The

sage was at a loss, however, as to understand why.

When another traveler left more goods and food for him, the sage said,

“Why do you leave these wondrous gifts?”

The woman who left them replied, “Sage, it is to thank you for healing our

son. The other day, we were on our way to a great healer, and my son, who was

very ill, needed a break from the travel. So, we sat with you under the plum

tree, and when we were ready to leave, he was completely healed. So this is our

gift of thanks.” With that said, the woman bowed to the sage and walked away

and back to her village.

Over the next few days, others recounted similar healing stories, but most

who came and sat with the sage just seemed to feel better, more refreshed from

just sitting under the plum tree and listening to the stories that he had begun

to tell the children.

The children themselves started coming in the hundreds as they heard of

the sage and his wonderful stories. Each day in the early afternoon, the chil-

dren would arrive and sit around the sage in a circle under the shade of the

plum tree. He would then tell them a story, after which they were free to take

one of any of the gifts that were left behind.

Over time, the stores of the goods left for the sage did not diminish, as you

would think they would; rather, they grew and grew. It seemed like everyone

in the village and surrounding villages were stopping to add to his ever grow-

ing supply of food and handmade goods.


And so began the legend: each night, while all the villagers were asleep, the

sage would walk into town carrying armfuls of food and other gifts that he had

received under the plum tree. He would stop at each house and send a mole-

cule of his being into the house to understand the needs of each person; when

they awoke, each person would find what it was they needed to aid them on

their own journey.

This continued on for many months, and when some of the villagers real-

ized what the old sage was doing, they would come to the plum tree late at

night and help him distribute the goods. This happened every night, and in

the morning the right gift was there for the right person, whether they were

just hungry or on a spiritual journey; it was as if the Tao knew what they

wanted and delivered it at the most appropriate time. Even the villagers who

helped Huo would wake to find food and gifts left at their houses. It was a

wonder that people never got used to.

The day came when it was time for the sage to leave, and that year’s har-

vest had been the best the countryside had ever seen. Never had he seen such

abundance; it was as if in the giving that people received more.

In the days that followed, children continued to come to the plum tree to

listen to the sage tell his stories. Even though he was no longer there, one of

the adults or the children themselves would tell stories that the sage had taught

them. Occasionally, they would make up new stories about where the old sage

had gone and who he was helping now, for the legend continued to grow.

People still left their excess goods, and come nightfall, some of the adults

from the village would come and distribute what had been received. It was in

the giving that everyone received. Without knowing it, everyone was giving

and receiving as they should, out of their abundance and in line with the

teachings of the Tao.

Of course, the best teachers never teach; they just do. The example of the

sage continues to this day in many villages around the land, even though peo-

ple cannot tell you why they are doing it.

Geof Spalding 85

Chapter 26

Physical Discipline

The sage continued on his journey. Each day, he would get up

well before the sun rose, practice his martial arts (which he had never used),

and meditate before allowing his inner spirit to guide him on precisely where

he would go for the day. Each day was filled with new adventures and new

people to meet.

After a couple months on the road, he felt fitter than he had in all his life.

All the walking up and down mountains, through forests, and around lakes

had been physically demanding, and his body was the better for it. He had

begun to feel muscles in places where he never thought he could get muscles,

his diet was very spartan, and apart from the odd egg, it was mainly vegetar-

ian, which helped inform the lightness of being that he now expressed.

As well as diet, exercise, and meditation, the sage had received a copy of

The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic from a Taoist healer that he had met and

treated along the way. Each day for about an hour before the sun would go

down, Huo would open the text and read along as the discourse occurred

between the Yellow Emperor and his trusted ministers. He would read for the

hour, then after dinner he would sit and contemplate what he had just read.

For the most part, the information aligned with the teachings he had received

from the old sage Chung Fu. He reveled in the beauty and simplicity within

the text, and he could see that it was littered with Taoist principles.

It was only when he read about the five elements that he realized the clas-

sic must have been copied from an earlier document and changed to suit the

writer, for in the beginning the Taoist monks of the Plum Red Robe spoke and

taught of the four elements, which aligned with the seasons. The five element

theory, although brilliant, was a misunderstanding of the mixtures of the four

elements. What the writer saw as metal, Huo knew to be a combination of Fire

over Earth, and what was called wood was a combination of Air over Earth.

The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic was a great starting point, but for any

healer it was more important to practice the art of going within and allowing

the higher self to come forward to allow the healing to occur.

He no longer read the Inner Classic, preferring to spend that time in med-

itation and connecting with nature and his own higher self.

Geof Spalding 87

Chapter 27

Emotional Discipline

It was during a late afternoon meditation that his thoughts

turned to love. It was not the kind of love that he felt for his parents, or even

the kind of love that he felt towards Qing; even though he had not seen her in

many years, his love for her was still strong. The love he was feeling was not

those kinds of love, but a love deeper than any emotional love. Emotional love

was attached to something, but the love he was experiencing in the meditation

had no attachments.

The thoughts soon disappeared and were replaced with feelings of love. He

then put his attention into his heart, and the feeling became stronger and

deeper. Something told him to open his eyes, and as the sun was setting he saw

it for the first time. He had always been able to see auras around people, ani-

mals, and even plants, but this energy was nothing like that. He continued to

watch as great swaths of energy, purple in colour, were emanating from his

heart and connecting with everything around him. He watched as the purple

energy first connected with the trees, then the animals, and then with the

mountains beyond; it was surreal. The purple energy that was emanating from

his heart was also returning from the beings who had felt it from his heart;

there was a real connection between all things.

In a matter of minutes, he was surrounded by the animals of the forest.

There were birds of every description, badgers, field mice, and a whole feast of

insects, but it was the color and magic of the butterflies and the dragonflies

surrounding him that took his breath away.

Nature had come alive for him, but it was nothing he could tell anyone; in

his silence, he could only experience the beauty of a love that connected all

things.

The more he went on his journey, the more silent he had become; it was a

strange and wonderful thing. The more he knew, the less he physically shared

it with people - and yet by internalizing it, more people received his teaching

than if he had shouted it from the mountaintops.

His life had become about detachment, which is a little weird when you

consider the fact that he was more connected with everything than he had ever

been in his life. This was not, however, about a detachment from life; it was

about being detached from the ego’s emotions so he could see the world as it

was, rather than from the ego’s limited perspective.

To others, he would have seemed like he was on drugs or having a mental

episode, but he had never been more present because he was seeing and expe-

riencing the energy behind the form. He held a butterfly in his hand, and just

by his inner perception he could see every lifetime this butterfly had experi-

enced; he was surprised to see that it had experienced over fifty lifetimes as

light. He opened up to the butterfly, and she allowed him to experience those

lifetimes of light. Huo felt humble in the presence of the butterfly, a being that

had experienced so many lifetimes on the Earth plane. It was then that he

understood that there was nothing higher or lower than him in the universe;

they were just different expressions of the same energy. Some would call that

energy Godforce, and others would call it the Tao. By naming it, people had

tried to capture its essence, but no words could describe the ‘all that there is.’

It was by going beyond his emotions that Huo was able to peek into the

Tao. He did not try to understand it logically, as he knew that that could not

be done. Even experiencing it for a moment could never be explained, for as

soon as he started to explain what he had experienced, he knew it would be his

ego explaining it and trying to hold on to the experience in the hopes that it

could make itself more important.

No, the beauty of the Tao was in the experience of it.

It would soon be time for the sage to come down off the mountain. There

was a point in the experience of the ‘all there is’ meditations when the ego

Geof Spalding 89

would start to see him as special, and that was when it was time to move and

change to another discipline.

The way of the initiate was all about silent power and discipline.


Chapter 28

Mental Discipline

Judgement was the one emotion that the sage had the most dif-

ficulty giving up. Wandering from village to village, he always wondered why

some people seemed to have so much and others had so little. It was in these

situations that he sometimes allowed anger to cloud his thinking.

There were many things he had learned on his journey, and one of them

was that if you judge something, then you don’t understand it. For him, it had

always been an intellectual concept rather than a true feeling; he understood

that the reason he was still judging poverty and the difference between the rich

and the poor was that there was something about poverty that he did not like

about himself.

One day when he was sitting in the middle of a village, surrounded by chil-

dren, he started to realize what it was. The picture of the children took him

back to the village of his childhood. He was just like these children, barefoot

and poor, but it was his disability that made him feel less than the other chil-

dren. It really had nothing to do with the poverty; what he really wanted were

guarantees. Seeing himself as disabled and disfigured, he thought he was less

than the other children, and he wanted a life of guarantees, as all he could see

in his future was a life of suffering and judgement - the same judgement that

he now proffered on others.

Now he understood: the Tao did not give guarantees. With the benefit of

hindsight, he could see that it was these difficulties in his earlier life that had

given him the experiences and set him up to be the person he would become.

It was difficult to watch suffering, but with his perception he could see that it

was what people needed to grow.

It was difficult to explain to others because they always made the same

comments: “But I would never have chosen that” or “No one would choose

that.” The longer he walked the silent path of the Initiate, the less he would

come from logic, for logic was often blinkered by the ego; rather, the more he

came out of feelings, it was in the feelings that the higher self dwelled.

A young boy in ragged clothes covered in dirt with snot running from each

nostril approached the sage. In the background, some of the adults yelled for

the boy to leave the sage alone. As the sage looked towards them, he could feel

that they were embarrassed by the child, for he was from the poorest family in

the village, a family so poor that they had no food, land, or even a place to call

their own.

The young boy, whose name was Quang, sat down before the sage. For the

longest time, the sage did not say anything, preferring to watch the boy and

wait for him to speak. The young boy did not know he was poor, only that his

parents did not have things to give him like those that were received by the

other children. To him it did not matter, though; he was always happy and

playful, even though he was bullied by the other children - and I am sad to say,

some of the adults. But it mattered not to the young boy. He sat fascinated by

the old sage, fascinated by his energy, for the one thing the young boy could

feel was energy.

Quang smiled as the energy of the old sage enveloped him, giving him a

warm inner glow.

“Tell me a story,” asked the young boy, his green eyes open to whatever the

sage had to say.

The sage looked deeply into the boy’s jade green eyes, and the impression

that he received in that moment would stay with him forever. He could see a

soul that was far older than his, a soul in need of redemption. In a previous

lifetime, Quang had been a great Emperor who misused his power and the

money of his people. He had treated his people without any regard for their

needs, taxing them more than any other Emperor in the history of China. In


that lifetime, he had everything, and he was here to redress the imbalance by

having nothing in this lifetime.

It is for this very reason that when the soul incarnates, it comes as an

empty book, as the good or bad deeds of a previous life - if remembered -

would influence what we become in this lifetime. Anyone with this knowl-

edge may have judged the young boy and wished he suffered like he had

made the others suffer in that past lifetime, but not the sage. He could see

beyond the one or two lifetimes, and what he saw was an eternal, immortal,

and infinite being who had incarnated at this time to learn lessons that only

he and his higher self understood.

The sage smiled to himself. There was no higher or lower; only infinite

expressions of the Tao.

The sage told him the story of a young boy who had been disfigured in a

fire and whose disabilities made him the embarrassment of his village. He told

him about how one day a great sage came into the village and began to tell him

stories, then the young boy became the apprentice to the sage and they trav-

elled all over the country, sharing in many adventures.

“Will that ever happen to me?” said Quang.

“Who knows?” said the old sage. “If you believe in something enough,

then anything is possible.”

From that day forward, the young boy would come and listen to the words

and stories of the sage. One morning, he arrived wearing clean clothes; they

were not new, but they were in much better condition than the old tattered

clothes he normally wore. The next day, he arrived with a pair of old sandals -

but even stranger, he arrived with two other young boys who wanted to listen

to the old sage. Evidently, the young boy had been sharing what he remem-

bered of the sage’s stories with some of the children, and for his kindness they

shared some of their old clothes with him.

A few more weeks, and many of the children from the village were coming

to hear the stories and words of the sage, stories that were shared with the

adults by the children around the dinner table. Little did the sage know, these

stories were having an effect like the ripples on a pond, directly into the hearts

of anyone who heard them.

Geof Spalding 93

It was about this time that Quang’s father gained work in one of the shops

in the village and another person gave him a small house on his farm while he

earned enough to rent or buy a place of his own.

The children, and now some adults, came to hear the old sage’s stories,

many of which were modeled on the many experiences he had as he traversed

the land. Over the months that followed, the young Quang started to tell sto-

ries of his own, mystical stories of dragons and Emperors. The more Quang

stepped forward, the more the old sage stepped back. It was as it should be.

His original stories had awakened the hearts of the people in the village, and

Quang was learning about kindness. Through his stories, he would educate

millions of children in the future. He would never become a rich man, but in

the way of the Tao, all his needs were met as he wandered the countryside to

become one of a handful of legendary storytellers who lived in Ancient China.

His stories were filled with such heart and tenderness, they have become well

known as parables even in our current day.

His stories still take us on the greatest journey that we will ever take: the

journey from the head to our heart.


Chapter 29

Philosophical Discipline

Finding philosophers was the next part of the Journey for

Huo. He had been taught in the ways of the Tao, and his connection with

nature had seen it become a teaching in itself. Everywhere he went, he would

rise before dawn and wash himself in the water of a river or lake to refresh him-

self with the life giving waters of the Tao. Then he would meditate for about

twenty-four minutes, one for each hour of the day. It was important to stay in

a balance and not spend all day meditating, like some monks, which was out

of a balance. It may have made the practitioner more spirit than human, but

it also had a way of disconnecting him from other humans, and Huo under-

stood that his life’s mission was to inspire others through his stories; he could

not do that meditating in a cave.

The next year of his life he dedicated to studying other philosophers and

philosophies. It was not that he wanted to move away from his Taoist prac-

tices; it was that he wanted to understand what it was to be human, and in

each of the philosophies he came into contact with, there was an element or

kernel of truth that he may not have come across in Taoism.

It was a strange and wonderful time, strange because he once again became

the student rather than the teacher; in reality, though, whenever he taught or

told his stories, he was ever the student, learning as much from his stories as

any of the participants in his ever growing audience. For a year, he chose not

to teach at all, but rather became the student. It was wonderful because he

learnt so much in a number of ways. Of course, he learnt from the great

philosophers, but he also learnt from those who were listening to the teachings

and the questions they asked. Because he could also see their auras, he under-

stood what they were saying at a deeper level than the mere words themselves.

He also learnt a great deal from his reactions to the teachers, both on an intel-

lectual and a feeling level. Occasionally, when he did not agree with what was

being said, his ego would want to speak up and show how special he was.


Chapter 30

Spiritual Discipline

After a year of listening to other philosophers and their

philosophies, the old sage found that he was becoming even more silent. It was

not that he did not disagree with what others said; he just found it easier to be

what he was. He understood that he was not his mind or his body, but rather

an eternal, immortal, infinite being who had chosen this lifetime to evolve.

From day to day, he continued to wander the land. Every now and then, he

would sit for a while and teach or tell stories or just talk to people; wherever

he found himself was where he was meant to be.

He understood that he was an infinite being who had cloaked himself in a

body to experience life in the Earth plane. His daily discipline was focused on

what he could do to transcend this experience and be able to understand his

journey better, and he would open himself up to where the spirit wanted him

to be on this day.

As he wandered, he thought about writing down some of the stories he told

to his students and others that sat and listened, but he soon realized that the

story itself was the key and that it was a story that should evolve over time.

This way, it would keep the essence of the story alive but allow for the story-

teller to share it through his/her own instrument; this would allow the story to

grow and evolve in ways that the original storyteller would not think possible.

Huo thought to himself that it was very much like what happens to humans

who incarnate to add their own story to the library of the Godforce, a story

that is written each time on an empty soul, adding to the Godforce in ways

that the Godforce may not even have thought possible. Here we all were,

insignificant in our own way, yet at the same time without us the universe

would be different; it would not grow and evolve. As Huo pondered this, he

was both humble and awed at the same time.

Who would have thought that a poor disfigured boy would have grown

into a humble sage who travelled the countryside telling stories, teaching, and

healing. He wondered where the Tao would lead him next, but he didn’t need

to wait long, as his next journey was as close as his next decision.

As he contemplated where to go next, he was overcome by a feeling of nau-

sea. At first he thought it might be the rice he had eaten the night before, for

it had been in his pack a long while, and he had not met anyone or had any

fresh food for many days. As the waves of nausea enveloped his whole body, he

felt a strange shift in his being; all of a sudden, his consciousness was ripped

from his physical body and transported through a long tunnel into a place of

exquisite beauty. The bright light and sheer beauty was almost too much for

him, and he had to close his eyes. As he became used to the energy that sur-

rounded him, he opened his eyes again and surveyed the landscape.

The picture before him reminded him of one of the landscapes painted by

Prince Heng, for there was a flowingness in all objects that could not normally

be seen with the naked eye. In the past, the sage had only been able to perceive

this aliveness or flowingness out the corner of his eyes; now he could see it

with all his being because his consciousness was no longer weighed down by

his physical body.

He floated around the new world. He could have walked, but with his new

found lightness of being, it seemed more appropriate to float and allow the

energy of Heaven to lead him through this new land. He wondered for a

moment where he was, but it did not matter; it was just one more experience

given to him by the Godforce. Some would have called this place Heaven; oth-

ers might have seen it as a resting place between lifetimes.

Just when he stopped to contemplate where he was, he was picked up on a

beam of light and transported out into the universe. He looked back to see the

Earth rushing away from him.

It was a humbling experience.


The Earth, which had seemed so big, was now less than the size of a pin-

head as his consciousness continued its journey across the galaxy. He soon

could see galaxies by the millions rushing by. The universe was far bigger than

he could ever comprehend. In his feeling centre, he could feel voices talking to

him, telling him that there was an infinite number of universes and that he

himself was existing in all of them at the same time.

The words, images, and feelings continued to flow into him at such an

extraordinary rate that he could not keep up with them. He tried to under-

stand what he was seeing, hearing, and feeling, but it was all too much. The

nausea increased, and he was shot back into his body.

He opened his eyes. He was back on Earth, on the side of a mountain, sit-

ting in a lotus position, trying to comprehend what had just happened. He

realized that his ego was trying to hold on to the experience, so he turned his

focus away from the experience and shifted it to the feelings of nausea that he

was still experiencing. The feelings were not unpleasant; it was like there had

been a shift in who he thought he was, and the nausea was either a reminder

of the change or his resistance to it.

Geof Spalding 99

Chapter 31

Riding The Dragon

Time seemed to be speeding up, yet he was not aging. The old

sage was now in his late sixties, but yet if you met him, he would have

appeared to be a man in his early to late thirties. It was not his diet that made

the difference, although these days he needed to eat little to maintain who he

was. As he made the journey from Ego to Spirit, he realized that he no longer

had any real needs. He accepted life for what it was; some days he would eat,

other days he would not. Some days he would stay in a Pagoda, other days he

would sleep under the stars. To him it mattered not; from the quieting of the

ego, he understood that he was all things and he would draw to him what he

needed on his journey. Of course, there would come a day when the journey

would end and he would shake off his mortal body and enjoy the freedom and

lightness of being that he experienced in the spirit world.

There was a part of him that would have been quite happy to go to sleep

one night and for his physical body not to wake up, for he knew that he was

Eternal, Immortal, and Infinite. It was with those thoughts that he went to

sleep next to an open fire with the full moon and all the nocturnal animals for

company.

He drifted down in his levels of consciousness to the point where he was

in a deep sleep. It was the level he experienced in his deepest meditations, the

level where all things were connected. It was the level where the heartbeat that

can be felt is the heartbeat of creation, which was accompanied by a song not

unlike that of a bird song. Some mystics had called it the sound of the Earth,

but it was far deeper than that, and Huo had remembered hearing the sound

when he went up the tunnel and into the spirit world.

In what appeared to be a dream, he was once again sucked up the tunnel

and spat out into the spirit world. For a few moments, he floated around the

spirit world and reconnected with some of the places and people he had seen

and met previously. It was such a freeing experience to throw off the physical

body; part of him wondered why we ever incarnated in human form. He knew

that the answer was to experience a life of emotion and the ego, to understand

its strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately to transcend the human condi-

tion.

In many ways, he was already more spirit than ego; he had seen the energy

beyond the form and had experienced the wonders of the Tao and been one

with nature. Deep in his heart centre, though, he knew that his journey was

not over. There was much more that he had to do in this world, and maybe

this journey to the spirit world would give him some more answers, or at least

send him on the next part of his journey. In his inner self, he asked to be

shown where to go next on his journey.

He stopped floating through the air when he came to a lake that reminded

him very much of the Lake of Li in the Forest of K’an. He floated down to the

shore of the lake, and there to greet him was the old log from the real Lake of

Li, the log where his students would sit when he would teach them.

He sat upon the log as if he were visiting an old friend. To him, the log was

very sacred; it reminded him of all the students he had ever taught and how

their faces would light up when he told them one of his stories, stories that

often came from so deep within him that he did not know the story himself

until he began to tell it.

He was sitting on the log when he heard a sound coming from the water

of the Lake of Li. The sound came from far off in the distance from the other

side of the lake. He watched as a wall of water rushed towards him; rather than

being scared, he was mesmerized by the rising wave of water. Beneath the

sound of the oncoming wave, he heard another, deeper sound; it was almost

guttural, like the sound of an animal clearing its throat.

Geof Spalding 101

He watched in awe as the wave crashed over the top of him. Drenched, he did

not try to move or run, as he could feel the energy in the wave. When the wave

crashed back into the lake, it left behind a twenty foot dragon. Huo could not

believe it. In all his wonderful life, he had never seen a dragon. The dragon was red

in colour with shiny skin that glistened in the sun, skin that kept changing in

colour from red to blue to brown and green. It had five claws on each foot.

The dragon seemed to be smiling at him. He could sense its power, but

rather than be scared of it, the sage moved towards it. By the time he had

reached the dragon, it was sitting, relaxed, as it did not fear him.

Anybody watching from a distance would have thought the sage and the

dragon were sizing each other up, ready to strike, but that could not have been

further from the truth, for within both of them was a deep respect for the

other. Normally, the dragon would put the person who came before it through

a number of trials to see if they were worthy. The dragon already knew this one

was worthy, though; he could feel it with every ounce of his being.

He wondered why the sage had called him into being, for he could see that

the sage was already well on the way towards his spiritual goal. The dragon

opened up its feeling centers and allowed itself to enter into the old sage.

The sage could feel the energy as the dragon entered him, and he opened

himself up to allow the dragon to see all of him, even those aspects that he had

hidden from the rest of the world.

In moments, the dragon was reliving the sage’s life. It was an ability that

dragons had, so it was fruitless to try and hide anything from them. Every-

where the dragon looked, there was a lightness to the Sage’s being. The dragon

could feel that Huo wanted something, but he could not feel what it was. In

all the lightness, there was one small shadow; this must be what the sage

wanted help with.

As he sent his energy into the shadow, it was as if a bright purple light was

shone into the darkness, revealing all there was to be seen.

The sage felt as if his heart were being ripped apart, and the intensity of the

pain forced him to look deep inside his heart. Without the purple light, he

would not have been able to do it; it was as if the purple light somehow made

it more bearable. What the purple light was really doing was increasing his


own vibration for a few short moments so he could become one with his

shadow, for to go to the next stage, he would have to be free of his shadow, his

ego; otherwise, the energy would destroy him.

Huo stepped into his shadow, and there waiting for him were his parents

and the love of his life, Quing. As all four of them embraced, Huo experienced

a great release as he realized that he was still feeling guilty for what had hap-

pened to his parents in the fire that many years ago. When he saw that they

were still very much alive, the guilt just fell away. It was in that moment that

he understood that the true power of forgiveness was to forgive yourself.

He turned to face Quing; although older, she still looked beautiful. They

stared into each other’s eyes for the longest time, seeing other lifetimes they

had shared together and lifetimes in other dimensions yet to be shared.

“’Til we meet again,” said Quing.

Huo watched as the loves of his life moved out of the shadows and back

into the light, where they belonged.

Huo awoke far calmer and more peaceful than he had ever felt in his life.

Although it may have only been a dream, he realized that there had been a

great release of energy while he slept, and he was now different from the man

who went to sleep.

He looked around himself, and everything seemed different, lighter some-

how. It was not just the landscape that looked lighter; he felt lighter himself,

like he had been released from a burden that he had carried for years.

He put his hand inside his robes and removed the dragonfly pendant that

had given him so many good memories. As he looked at the pendant, a smile

came to his face. In his mind’s eye, he could see his parents, Quing, and

Chung Fu; they were all smiling and laughing. With a gentle wave, they all

turned and walked away from him.

The old sage was overcome with joy; rather than lose the greatest influences

in his life, he now understood that they were always with him. All he had to

do was look inside his heart, for they were always there. There was no more

guilt; he was what he was, and in doing so he had taken the most courageous

journey that anyone can take: the journey within, the journey of the warrior

sage. His life was sacred, and he was dedicated to his own journey.

Geof Spalding 103

He stood, gathered his pack, and continued on, free from the voices of the

ego that had always tainted how he had seen the world.

As he walked away, anyone watching would have seen him hang the drag-

onfly pendant on the branch of a tree.

Later that day, the spirit would ensure that a young girl on her own jour-

ney would walk past the tree and the pendant would come into her life.


Chapter 32

Enter The Dragon

Huo felt free for the first time in his life. In the many years he

had followed the Tao, there had always been parts of him that held him back.

It was funny how for so many years he had made up excuses for how he felt

and acted in the world. This morning, all that changed as the dragon had

allowed him to see and experience all that he was; in doing so, it allowed him

to finally drop the shadows that had been lurking in his ego for so long.

He was not sure where life would now take him, but it no longer mattered.

Unlike many people whose etheric energy is spread all over the place, touch-

ing, influencing, and infringing anybody who walked past, Huo’s etheric was

tight around his own being, and it did not infringe on anyone; this provided

a gap between himself and the people he came into contact with.

Of course, although he did not know it, his etheric did touch people, just

not from the ego; rather, from the higher self. When his etheric touched oth-

ers, they were bathed in an energy of unconditional love. If he had been able

to stand back and perceive himself, he would have seen a purple light ema-

nating from himself when he came into contact with people, animals, or

plants. As he walked through the forest, this purple emanation would increase

the life force of those around him. In some cases, great healing would take

place, but only if the being was ready to receive it.

It no longer mattered where he went; where he found himself was where he

was meant to be.

As he walked past a cave, with his peripheral perception he saw the dragon

of his dreams. When he turned to look at it, it disappeared. He used his

peripheral vision, and it was still there. The dragon talked to Huo and told

him that his quest was to find himself.

He softened his forward vision and was able to see the dragon, its mouth

covering the whole cave. It invited him in, but he paused for a moment. At the

mouth of the cave, there was a shimmering light that looked like water and

light combining as it fell from the roof of the cave to the ground.

The old sage walked into the mouth of the cave and was morphed off to another

dimension or world. It looked like the world he had left, but it felt different.

He soon realized that he was in some sort of mirror world, a world where every-

thing that happened in his world happened here first. He was not sure how this

could be, but the feelings and information that he was receiving were so strong, he

knew them to be true. Wandering through this world, he could see that everything

was connected; not in a superficial, intellectual way, but in reality, everything was

connected. You could not see where the energy of the plant finished and the energy

of the humans walking by began, for they were all part of the same energy. Huo

looked down and saw that he, too, was also connected.

Before he could even begin to analyze what was happening, a being

appeared before him - but this was no ordinary being, and Huo’s mouth fell

open, for he had no words for what he was experiencing. Here standing before

him was his other self, the one that existed here in the mirror world. This was

not some alternate self or a self from another parallel dimension; this was his

real self, who existed in the mirror world.

They studied each other for a moment, neither of them capable of speech.

Each of them immediately understood the role of the other, but that did not

make their meeting any easier.

They stepped into each other and became one, and from that moment on,

whatever happened in the mirror world happened simultaneously with what

happened in the real world. For those who understand the mirror world, this

was unusual because what happened in the mirror world took months, some-

times years, before it happened in the real world. For those with the eyes to see

or the ears to hear, this was an unheard of happening in this universe...well, for


that matter, in any universe because it was the way for the spirit to allow for

the mistakes made by man to be corrected before they were brought into the

world. Even the dragons and other spirit beings had never seen such a thing;

it was as if a portal had been opened between the mirror world and the real

world. If Huo had been able to change the conditions in the mirror world,

then this ability would surely be there for others, and it would only be a mat-

ter of time before others would tap into it.

Geof Spalding 107

Chapter 33

The Initiate

The old sage was in his early seventies when he was again

called back to the Forest of K’an by the Lake of Li. It was three days before the

Solstice, and he felt drawn to the Lake in a way that he had never been before.

He walked down to the lake’s edge, but instead of stopping by the old rock,

he continued into the water; rather than get wet, though, he soon found him-

self walking on the water. Some would say it was impossible, but for the sage

it was as if the element of water was carrying him across its surface. He stopped

walking and allowed the water to carry him across the lake to a cave that

existed at the far side. He then stepped from the lake, only to be carried by a

current of air into the dark cave.

The mouth of the cave was shimmering. It was hard to describe; it was like

rainwater filled with light, but it did not get him wet as he moved through its

substance. For anyone who may have been watching, it would have appeared

like he had disappeared, but he was still in the cave, only he was now in a pos-

itive dimension that some have called the ether; it was a dimension that was

not touched by the negativity of this world.

As he walked deeper into the cave, he heard a sound - although ‘sound’ was

not the right word; it was more like a vibration, which appeared to him as a

light beam that came towards him. He stood still and watched the light beam

surround him, and as if it were possible, it shot right through him. In doing

so, it caused him to break open, and what came out were 33 strands of light.

He was not sure whether the strands of light were coming from his own being

or if they were created when the beam of light broke up into individual

strands. It mattered not, for the result was much the same: the 33 strands of

light changed shape and appeared as beings of light before their vibration

slowed further and they materialized as the 33 Sages of the Plum Red Robe.

The old sage was in awe of the energies that existed in the room, but he

need not have been; had he looked down, he would have seen that he, too, was

one of the 33 strands of light. But of course, he did not look down; his full

attention was on the energies that surrounded him.

The lights all stopped spinning and took their seats at the table, where they

all began to take on human form. The sage knew it was for his benefit, for he

couldn’t cope for very long with the energy that was in the room. In their

human forms, they didn’t actually sit on the seats, but rather continued to

hover just slightly above them. As the sage looked around at their faces, he rec-

ognized some of them from his travels; some had been his teachers, and oth-

ers he met by chance at a time when he needed advice or a push in a different

direction.

One of the energies stepped forward and spoke. “Huo, these are the 33

sages of the brotherhood. Their role is to support the evolution of everyone

and everything on this planet. They have other duties in other dimensions, but

for now let’s leave it at this planet. You seem to recognize some of their faces.

Right from your early childhood, they’ve been preparing you for this day.”

The energy continued to speak, but nothing came out of its mouth; the

words he heard from the energy came directly into his mind. The energy

explained that each of them had a role in ensuring that the 33 energies

beyond the Earth plane supported the evolution of the planet and all the

beings on it. The 33 energies underpinned everything on the Earth plane.

Behind all the DNA, behind all the atoms, quarks, bosons, and any other

aspects that man in the future would be able to discover, exist the 33 ener-

gies. Some would say that they vibrate like strings, but it’s even simpler than

that. Light, or energy, is behind everything, and as a group we hold that

energy or light together. She explained that she was the energy of light and

that her role was to ensure the quality of light in this dimension and teach

Geof Spalding 109

that we are all a part of the Godforce; each and every one of us was a part of

God, and our role was to experience this Earthly plane and become a creator.

The next energy to come forward was the keeper of awareness, whose role

was to ensure that each one of us learned to expand our awareness.

One after another, they came forward and presented themselves. After 30

energies had come forward, the final three appeared in front of them, each

appearing in a monk’s habit with hoods covering their faces. As one of them

began to speak, Huo recognised his voice.

“I am Quest,” said the monk. He then removed his hood, and Huo recog-

nized him as the invisible guide that had been with him since birth, the one

who came to him in his dreams. “It has always been my role to take you from

ego to spirit. I come from an ancient energy far beyond this planet, which

comes to seekers when they make the choice to go beyond their ego and recon-

nect with the spirit. In ancient times on this planet, everyone was fully con-

nected with the spirit. Then came what was known as ‘The Fall’. It had

nothing to do with an apple, which was only a metaphor for eating of the for-

bidden fruit, a concept that has been used by man to control others. The fall

was not really a fall, but an opportunity given to man to live and create like a

God. In the beginning, it worked well; the original inhabitants on Earth were

close to and understood this gift from God. Over time, however, it was for-

gotten, and men tried to put themselves up as the only way to God. It was

something that had to occur to allow mankind to develop and evolve, and now

it’s swinging back to the Feminine. At this time on the planet, mankind has

the opportunity to reconnect with the spirit and move forward in a balance.

It is mankind’s choice. My role is to support them on the journey, but in the

end it is mankind’s choice.”

Quest bowed, then covered his head with the hood and stepped back.

Another monk stepped forward and removed her hood. It was Quing. Huo

could not believe what he was seeing: the love of his life had been one of his

teachers. He was beginning to understand that the Initiates were not always as

they seemed.

Quing spoke. “I am Fusion, which is difficult for most people to under-

stand when they begin to work with my energy. It is the energy of feeling


that is expressed in your etheric body. In most people, the etheric body is all

over the place. As you work and include the first thirty energies into your

life, your etheric begins to come back and be contained as a strand alongside

others of the 33 energies. This etheric or subtle body, when contained and

controlled by the spiritual life of the individual, allows them a greater per-

ception of what is around them. It is the time when you become more spirit

than human, when you begin to trust the information that comes from the

spirit more than that from science or the logical mind. Fusion allowed you

to begin to use your own feeling tones to identify whether you should go

forward or retreat in any situation. Fusion is the little voice that tells you there

is danger or that you are on the right path. You have been practicing it and

using Fusion for a very long time. Fusion gives you the silent courage where

you trust completely in the spirit on this wondrous journey, which leads you

to the final, the 33rd energy.”

Fusion stepped back, and the final monk came forward. Huo knew who

the 33rd sage would be even before he revealed himself.; it couldn’t have been

anyone else. He had come to him at the time when he was ready to follow the

way of the Initiate. Huo knew his energy well, and when he revealed himself,

it was no surprise that it was his old teacher, Chung Fu. Before he spoke, his

look changed a number of times to characters Huo had met along his journey.

“My energy does not really have a name. It is what you become when you

combine all the other energies and live them every moment of your life. Some

have called it the ‘Initiate,’ but when you become it, you are not some higher

evolution, but rather an aspect that realizes it is truly a part of everything, and

in many cases you become lower than the low. There is no conflict, no judge-

ment, no fear, no frustration, or self-anger; you have gone beyond those emo-

tions. I have said you are lower than the low because you understand that

everything is as it should be. Everyone and everything is here to evolve, and

the Initiate understands this and allows things to be as they are. There are

thousands of Initiates walking the Earth plane, but you would not know it.

They do not advertise who they are. They are not the great gurus or mystics

who shout that they know the way from the hilltops. If you met one of the ini-

tiates, you may not even recognize them, for they are in jobs that can influence

Geof Spalding 111

people, only without judgement, without telling people how it should be. You

will find them in any role, some farmers, others nurses, doctors, painters, and

any other role that you could imagine. They are not like my energy, which has

become too involved with the evolution of others. I have become too obvious,

and my ego has become too involved in the evolution of the spirits who have

been drawn to me or put in my care. It is now time for me to step away and a

new spirit to take my place.”

It was the first time that Huo had ever seen Chung Fu cry. He was crying

because he cared too much. His love for humankind was such that he could

not look on their evolution as an unbiased observer.

Huo could understand what Chung Fu was feeling because he also had

similar difficulties. His emotions were too strong; no matter what he tried,

they’d always come bubbling up to the surface. To those who didn’t know him

well, Huo was always seen as a strong male who wasn’t affected by emotions,

but nothing could be further from the truth. He felt so deeply, and the only

way he could cope was to suppress his emotions. To see a child or an animal

suffering always cut him deeply, and it was only when no one was around that

he let those emotions out. If that was a weakness, he didn’t care; he’d rather feel

deeply than not at all.

“Where will you go?” asked Huo, not sure whether or not he was allowed

to speak - but it didn’t matter; Chung Fu was his friend and teacher, and he

cared deeply for him.

“I am to reincarnate in human form. The brotherhood believes that a few

more incarnations will allow me to step beyond my emotional attachment to

the human race. If I am really honest with myself, I could think of no other

place I would rather be. I am in no hurry to leave this plane of existence.

Humans are the best and worst creatures I have come across through so many

dimensions and so many worlds.”

Chung fu then stepped back in line with the other monks. For a moment,

there was silence; the only sound was Huo’s beating heart. He looked over at

Chung Fu, and their eyes met briefly before Chung Fu disappeared. Huo won-

dered where his old teacher would appear next. Would he appear as a newborn

child? Or maybe he would walk into a body whose spirit was ready to leave?


Or would he appear in the same form as he held now, made to wander the

Earth, teaching until it was his time to leave? It did not matter, for wherever

he went, Huo was sure that his old friend would continue to learn and teach

others; maybe just being around him would be enough to help people on their

own journeys.

The energies retook their places around the table, but there was one space

no longer filled. Before Huo could even wonder who would take Chung Fu’s

place, he was ushered into the empty seat. There was no fanfare - not even so

much as a welcome - as Huo became one of the 33. For a moment he did not

feel worthy, but it was only a moment as the other 32 members of the broth-

erhood allowed their energies to mix with that of Huo. For the first time in his

life, he felt like he was truly home. He felt whole, a feeling he had never truly

experienced before.

All the energies now took on their human forms at the oval table, and soon

afterward the tapping ceremony began. Each sage had a pitcher of plum wine

and a pitcher of water placed before them on the table. They would drink a

glass of plum wine, followed by glasses of water, while all the while some of the

monks would continue to tap bone knockers on the table. The sages quickly

went into a deep meditative state and opened up doorways into other worlds

and dimensions, from which they received teachings over the four-day period

from the 19th of December to the 22nd, the time of the Winter Solstice.

After the ceremony and the teachings that ensued, the sages of the Plum

Red Robes took on their forms of light and disappeared, leaving only Huo sit-

ting at the oval table. The last few days had been a blur, and even though he

had experienced it, Huo soon started to doubt that it really occurred. Of

course, that was only his ego, which had tried to hold on to an experience in

the hopes that it could make it feel special.

And so it began. Each year, Huo and the other members of the Sages of the

Plum Red Robes would meet for the Winter Solstice ceremony, followed by

the four days of teaching. Then they would go out into the world and travel

the lands, teaching and sharing knowledge of the Tao to whomever they came

into contact with. Like true Initiates, they became a part of society, and no one

could have told them apart from an ordinary teacher or traveller, for the true

Geof Spalding 113

Initiate walks in silence with a power that is almost impossible to describe. If

you ever met one, you would hardly recognize them, other than the fact that

after spending time with them, you are forever changed - and from that

moment on, you would walk differently upon the Earth.


Epilogue

Legend has it that these sages of old still walk the Earth, and if

you believe the stories told in whispers around campfires or under plum trees,

the Sages still take an apprentice every now and then. When the sage is ready

to move on, the apprentice will take their place as one of the thirty three.

What about Huo and Quing, I hear you ask?

From what my old Chinese teacher taught me, they are still part of the

thirty three, and they have travelled together as man and wife over the past

thousand plus years, creating healing and spiritual circles all over the world.

Of course, when one steps into the positive state of the etheric, one does

not get any older, as the physical body continues to renew itself. It is only

when the Initiate chooses to move on that the vehicle dies, for they have well

and truly learnt that they are Eternal, Immortal, and Infinite.

Blessings and Peace.

May this simple parable guide you on your journey.

About The Author

Geof Spalding is a Homoeopath, teacher, and writer who has

travelled the world in search of spiritual teachers and teachings. After a 30-year

search, he is sharing this knowledge in his own unique way through a parable,

The Way of the Initiate, and a trilogy of modern fables called the 33rd Sage tril-

ogy, both of which take readers on the ultimate journey - the journey for inner

truth.

Over the millennia, teachers have passed on their wisdom and insights to

their students, who have in turn upheld these traditions and then passed them

on in their own way to their students.

Geof Spalding has been fortunate enough to study with many such teach-

ers. The teachings have led him on many adventures through many lands,

where he has met and studied with many wise men and women. Through ded-

ication, persistence, and especially patience, he was able to gain a deeper

understanding of his place in the world.

These books are not written as a guide, but as one man’s journey, as well as

to honour the teachings and the teachers that came before him.

Spiritual growth is an individual accomplishment. Others may point the

way, but it is up to each person to take the path along their own individual

journey.

Thirty two years ago, Geof had chronic fatigue syndrome, and overnight

he was transformed from a high class athlete and company executive to some-

one who could barely stay awake more than an hour at a time. Through

strange circumstances, he met a teacher who taught him about the Taoist

teachings of an old Chinese man. He said that if he listened intently to the

teachings and lived with them, there would be a day when he would look at

someone and truly know them. He would understand instantly their emo-

tional pattern, their health patterns and even know what words to use to com-

municate to them in their own language.

After three years of studying these techniques, Geof met an old Chinese

sage on a beach in Bali who became his mentor and taught him a deeper

understanding of man and the seasons. He would make him sit for hours at a

time in the snow or on the beach on a hot summer’s day so that he could see

how the seasons changed from moment to moment and day to day. By watch-

ing the seasons, Geof gradually came to understand these same cycles within

man and mankind.

The old Chinese sage sent Geof on a quest to find out truly who he was.

This quest took him on many adventures across many lands, and although his

old Chinese friend is no longer there to guide him, the quest continues.

Geof Spalding 117

Author’s Note

Dear readers,

Thank you for taking the time to read The Way of the Initiate.

For me, it has been a labour of love inspired by the positive feedback I have

received from my first two spiritual novels, The 33rd Sage and The 33rd Sage

and the Initiate. From your feedback and questions regarding the Initiate’s

path, I was inspired to write this parable, which gives steps to further you on

the path.

Initially, I was going to include these steps in another spiritual novel, but

then fate took a hand. I was telling a friend about the 33 steps I believe we all

need to take if we want to follow the path of the Initiate, when all of a sudden

I could see the old sage in my mind’s eye. He was trying to tell me a story, and

I stopped work on my current writing projects and opened myself up to the

story that I was hearing with my inner voice.

It was the easiest writing I had ever done. I would go to bed at night, and

before I fell asleep I would have a feeling about the next step in the story,

breathe deeply, and let go of the feeling and allow it to disappear into the

Ether. In the morning, I would sit in the garden, surrounded by nature and the

constant stream of beautiful butterflies and dragonflies. Then I would write

for about two hours, and most mornings I would complete the first draft of

one of the thirty-three chapters. This started out as a nonfiction book, but

soon the old Chinese sage appeared, and with him a number of other charac-

ters who wanted to tell me the Legend of the 33rd Sage. I resisted at first, but

when I saw how each of the concepts was couched so simply and beautifully

in the story, I soon realized it had to be that way. For the magic of story is that

it can teach at such a deep level because it touches us at the root of our being.

Stories can transcend the ego and allow us an opportunity to see what is real.

Thanks for coming along on the journey with the young disfigured boy

who discovered the connection to all things that we all crave, the feeling that

we are truly home.

Blessings and Peace to you all. May your journey be full of joy and the

lightness of your being touch all who you come into contact with.

Geof

Twitter: @geofspalding

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-33rd-

Sage/124500701017695

Websites: www.33rdsage.com (The 33rd Sage)

www.the33rdsage.com (The 33rd Sage and the Initiate)

Translatable Blog: http://33rdsage.blogspot.com.au/?m=1

Geof Spalding 119

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