The Twelfth Insight: The Hour of Decision

by James Redfield

  “I think that many people know,” he said, “that somehow Synchronicity is calling us together to do something historical. The world is a mess, but we can fix it if we stay alert and keep our historical context in mind. We have to stay awake and help each other stay awake.”

  Wil was looking at me with determination, and in that moment, I felt a full elevation into the clarity of the Second Integration. How many people out there, I wondered, have noticed the same quickening? Were we already influencing one another to wake up to Conscious Conversation and to Kant’s mysterious influence? And if so, where would our consciousness go next?

  “What about the Third Integration?” I asked. “Had your Hopi friends heard anything about it?”

  He nodded, a big smile erupting on his face. “Yes, they knew it well, although they didn’t have any copies with them. It says that when people in any culture begin to wake up and hold Conscious Conversation, they quickly find the key spiritual ‘principles’ built into the fabric of the Universe.”

  “Really?” I commented. “Coleman guessed that. He said we would discover the laws of our spiritual nature. Did your friends tell you about it?”

  Wil began walking down the hill again. “Yeah. The Third says these laws have already been discovered. And in order to go forward, we only have to prove them out in our own lives and then come into ‘Alignment’ with them. It also says in this time period, we will have extra motivation to do just that.”

  “What kind of motivation?”

  “We have to come into Alignment,” he repeated, “because it’s the only way to avoid something else: a quickening Karma.”

  MOVING INTO ALIGNMENT

  I woke up to Wil tapping on my hotel room door. We had driven to the Bell Rock Inn and checked in, and I had turned in before eleven, expecting an early departure but not this early. I glanced at the clock by the bed: one A.M.

  “Wake up,” Wil was whispering though the door as I opened it. Hurrying in, he handed me a large pack and some new clothes and boots.

  “What’s all this for?” I asked, still groggy.

  Wil moved over to the window and looked down toward the parking lot where my Cruiser was parked.

  “Take a look,” he said, pointing.

  I strained to see in the faint light. “What?”

  “Our friends are back. There on the street behind your Cruiser.”

  It took a few seconds, but finally I spotted an SUV well hidden among some trees. Several men were gathered together beside it. One was on a radio, looking toward us.

  “Yeah. I see them.”

  Wil shook his head. “Looks to me like they’re about to do something. Put on the new stuff, and leave your other clothes and boots in the room. Someone may have placed a locator on us since we’ve been here.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said. “It’s the middle of the night. What are you thinking we should do?”

  “We have to lose them again, which means we must leave your vehicle here. Don’t worry. The Hopis will keep an eye on it. Rumor has it there’s a group of people camped way up Boynton Canyon who have more of the Document. We need to get our hands on the Third and Fourth Integrations as soon as possible, and we don’t want to chance being detained. We need to get deep into the wilderness.”

  Wil was helping me pack my new stuff and inspecting everything else I was placing in the pack. I knew the Boynton area, which was known as a sacred place and held many Native American ruins. I had tried to hike it several times but had always decided to return after only a short walk. Something about it seemed spooky.

  “That’s a tight canyon in places,” I said. “We get up in there and we’re trapped.”

  He gave me one of those determined looks. “There are ways out, if you know where they are.”

  I knew Wil well enough to know this wasn’t a humorous moment. From the look on his face, he was leaving my course of action completely to me. I could come or not. And he would be perfectly fine leaving me right here.

  “The Hopis consider this canyon a place of purification,” he finally said. “It may be just the location to understand Alignment and Karma.”

  I looked at him a moment more, noting that he had mentioned Karma a second time, then said, “Okay, let’s go.”

  We gathered the rest of our things and sneaked out the back door and across the edge of the dark parking lot into some trees. Then Wil led us through the shadows into another lot, where an old diesel Mercedes that smelled like peanut oil was waiting for us. The car was driven by a small, muscular man with long black hair. Climbing in as quietly as possible, I struggled to account for the smell. Finally, it came to me. The car was running on biofuel made from recycled commercial frying oil.

  “This is Wolf,” Wil said, introducing me to the driver. “He is my longtime Hopi friend.”

  Wolf appeared to be about fifty years of age, except for his eyes, which looked much younger and were light amber in color and very piercing, exactly like those of a real wolf. He gave me a smile and nodded.

  No one talked as Wolf drove us down a few streets and then doubled back several times to check if anyone was following. We even stopped for a while, turning the car lights off, just to be sure. When everything seemed safe, we took a road that wove through a section of houses, and then entered the main road heading west out of town.

  “Better get centered,” Wil said, and looked away.

  I knew exactly what he meant. I took a breath and reminded myself of where we were in the process. Expecting Synchronicity was now fully ingrained in me, so I focused on keeping the truth of our longer context fully in mind. Immediately, I felt more awake and alert, right on the edge of unfolding events.

  After a few more miles, Wolf slowly pulled up to the Boynton Canyon trailhead. To our surprise, dozens of cars were parked all along the road. Wil and Wolf glanced at each other. As we were collecting our gear, Wil handed me a flashlight and told me to watch for rattlesnakes.

  Wolf laughed and then walked closer.

  “Remember,” he whispered, “canyons are for purification, but mountains are for finding Vision.”

  I wanted to ask him what he meant, but Wil was motioning for me to follow him. As Wolf drove away, we headed into the canyon. After about a mile, I moved closer to Wil and asked, “Is there a larger mountain near here?”

  Wil stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. “Why do you ask?”

  “Something Wolf said.”

  “There’s a large wilderness called Secret Mountain a few miles north.”

  He walked ahead again, then turned and added: “One aspect of Wolf you should know about—he often knows what’s going to happen.”

  I had heard of Secret Mountain but knew only of its general location. One thing for sure, the wilderness it was part of was huge. I figured we would have to wait to know what Wolf had meant, and surprisingly, I was content to do so. I should have been apprehensive about our sudden flight into the wild, but the deeper we penetrated into the wilderness, the more energized I felt. And instead of the spooky feeling I had experienced the last time I was in Boynton, I was now feeling the opposite emotion—a sense of being at home somehow, and trusting that whatever might happen here was going to be beneficial.

  We were now walking through an area of juniper and mesquite interspersed with huge red boulders and outcroppings. A sky of brilliant stars made the flashlights almost unnecessary.

  “Why,” I asked Wil, “do the Hopis believe this place enhances purification?”

  “Because of its impact. It repels anyone who isn’t ready for a breakthrough of some kind. But when you are ready, the power of this place helps you.”

  “You mean energetically helps?”

  “Yes. According to legend, if you go far enough in here, say at least a couple of miles, it inevitably tests your assumptions about life and inspires a reanalysis of how you forge your way in this world. Again, it makes perfect sense that we are being led into this canyon to study the Laws of Spirituality.
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br />   “All this is up for people because of the economic downturn. During the material age, we tended to think we were creating our subsistence with our knowledge and reason, the common assumption being that if you used your head and worked hard, you could prosper in life.

  “But in reality, everyone knows there are intangibles at work in determining who has success. You can be equally as logical and hardworking as the next person and not do as well. There’s always been an unknown factor concerning who is fortunate and who isn’t in this life, and we’re about to figure it out.”

  He stopped suddenly and gazed out toward a flat area above the trail to the right.

  “Let’s go up there,” he said, “and set up camp and sleep for a little while before dawn.”

  We made our way up to the location, and in just a few minutes we had both tents up and the food bagged and roped in a tree to protect it. Afterward, another question came to mind.

  “So you think the missing factor is this Alignment thing?”

  He nodded. “According to my Hopi friends, the Third Integration says that during a time of transition such as we’re in, when economies are faltering and people are acting crazy, we’ll all be shown a new way of getting our worldly needs met.”

  Wil was already climbing into his tent.

  “Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

  The next morning, I was awakened by tree limbs breaking outside and Wil yelling. I pulled on my boots and looked through the tent flap. It was barely daylight, and Wil was running toward the tree where our food was tied. When I got there, I could see the limb was broken and the bag containing our provisions was missing.

  “Did you see her?” Wil asked, pointing up the slope. “She was big.”

  “I couldn’t see,” I responded.

  We looked around until we found some large tracks.

  “Strange,” I added. “I didn’t think there were many big bears around here anymore.”

  Close by were several freeze-dried meals that had fallen out of the sack as the bear had dragged it away.

  “We could track her,” I said, picking them up, “and try to recoup some of the food.”

  Wil just looked at me and I knew what he was thinking. Not a good idea. We weren’t armed, and that was a very large bear. Perhaps she even had a young cub.

  We made our way back to the tents and Wil got out his cooker and began preparing one of the meals. A chill was in the air now, and a light rain was falling.

  “The question,” Wil said, “is what to do? With no food, we have a decision to make. We might have to be in this wilderness for many days. We need provisions. On the other hand, if we go back to get them, we might run into those guys following us.”

  “What choice do we have?” I asked.

  “We could just keep going. Let this play out.”

  I was resisting. “We can’t stay up here without food.”

  Wil just looked at me. “Well, it’s a challenge, but isn’t the same thing happening out there in the world? Think about it. Millions of people are experiencing this same situation. They go in to work one day and hear they’re fired, and suddenly, no more money for food. They’re in this same situation we’re in now, only worse.”

  “But how will we eat? Are some of your Hopi friends up here somewhere?”

  “No,” he said. “They’re already looking for the Fourth Integration farther up north. We’ll have to rely on getting food from strangers.”

  I squinted. “That might not be easy.”

  “No, but again, in reality isn’t that what we all have to count on? We’re all in business somewhere, aren’t we? Even if we work for the government, if others don’t buy what we’re selling, or no longer need our service, we can’t survive. So to some extent we all have to be fortunate. If the Universe doesn’t smile on you, if you’re not lucky, then you’re in big trouble. In times like these, especially, we come to realize we are solely dependent on strangers showing up to, in effect, give us food.”

  I’d never had it put that starkly, but I knew Wil was right. Cut to the bone, we’re all always at the mercy of others.

  “So it figures,” Wil continued, “that there are some esoteric rules working behind the scenes determining whether people are going to show up or not—rules that we can figure out and get into alignment with. I’m telling you this because it is exactly what the Third Integration says.”

  “Okay,” I said, “then let’s see how it plays out.”

  Within minutes, we had consumed the stew, put the tents and water in our packs, and headed up the trail. After a while, Wil looked back at me.

  “There’s something else. Remember that other cultures have awakened in history in the same way we are now. These cultures have always been smaller and somewhat isolated, but they have always discovered the same basic spiritual principles that operate in this Universe.”

  I ran up beside him. “So you are sure the Third is going to tell us what the laws are?”

  “Yes, the basic laws are known. The Hopi told me some of these principles have aspects that aren’t fully complete yet, and of course, they have to absolutely be proven out in one’s own life before they can be believable. But yes, we know what the basic laws are, beginning with the one we’ve already been using.”

  “What is that?”

  “The Law of Truth. We used it to keep our Synchronicity going, and it governs the situation when we swap truths in Conscious Conversation. Just remember that it’s easy to stay in truth when the Synchronicity is flowing to help you. It’s much harder to maintain the habit when the economic stakes get high.”

  Suddenly, in the distance, I saw two people walking along the trail in front of us.

  “There are some people up there,” I said to Wil.

  We sped up until we could see them clearly. Two men were walking together, dressed in hiking gear and floppy hats and bearing large, expensive packs.

  I looked over at Wil. “What do you think?”

  He shrugged. “They look okay to me. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

  “Okay,” I said, feeling for some reason I should handle the matter. “I’ll go ahead and talk to them about buying some food.”

  Wil looked slightly surprised that I took the initiative, but smiled and nodded.

  Campers, I knew, were usually extremely friendly and helpful. I was sure that, as long as I didn’t appear threatening, they would share some of their food. When I reached them they both turned around. I gave them a big smile and introduced myself, and they told me their names were Paul and David from California. I knew immediately that they were tourists and probably knew nothing about the Document.

  At first they seemed very friendly, but just as I gathered my thoughts to bring up the issue of food, they looked at me suspiciously and began backing away.

  “Listen, something has happened,” I said. “We were supposed to bring some food to friends camping up here, and our food was stolen. It’s really important that we get there right away.” I was pulling my wallet from my back pocket. “I was hoping you might have extra food I could buy.”

  “We have to get moving,” Paul said, fidgeting. And his friend, David, added quickly, “There are park rangers on this trail all the time. I’m sure one will come along any minute.”

  Both of them were almost running up the trail now, looking back as if they thought I might give chase. They hurried ahead until they were completely out of sight.

  Wil came up behind me with a perplexed look on his face.

  “That didn’t look like it went well,” he said. “What happened?”

  I was just as confused and told him every word of the conversation. He was shaking his head, smiling. When I got to the part where I had told them our food had been stolen and we needed more to take to some friends, Wil grimaced noticeably. I felt embarrassed but rationalized the fib by saying I was afraid they would think we were crazy or unstable, since we hadn’t just hiked out to get more food.

  Wil
stared at me, remaining silent, still shaking his head in disbelief. At the same time, I realized how weak and nervous I had become. I had lost all my centered clarity.

  “We were just talking about telling the truth,” Wil said.

  “I guess I outsmarted myself,” I replied. “It really brought me down.”

  He looked at me sympathetically. “Once you elevate your clarity and energy in an authentic way, then it’s pretty dramatic what happens when you lie about something. It’s an immediate crash.”

  I moved over and sat down on a rock, and Wil sat beside me.

  “Look,” he added. “It’s the canyon. It accelerates everything. It doesn’t feel good, but what happened is a helpful Synchronicity just the same. You just have to see what it’s showing you. During the Modern age, we’ve been bending the truth for our obsessive personal gain, or to further some political end. That’s why, as we wake up, we see corruption and greed everywhere.

  “But as you can see, at higher levels of consciousness there’s no such thing as a lie or a distortion that is okay. The Law of Truth is absolute. If we don’t stay honest, to our best awareness, it hurts everyone: us individually, because it collapses our energy and clarity; and others because we fail to give them the benefit of our truth and positive influence.”

  He was up and heading down the trail again and I followed along.

  “This brings us,” he said, “to the next spiritual principle the Hopis told me about: the Law of Connection.”

  Just at that moment, we caught sight of a crowd of people in front of us. Walking closer, we realized everyone was looking in one direction, farther into the canyon. Then we heard the object of their attention: the sound of a helicopter in the distance.

  Wil gave me a look, and we eased up slowly to where the others were. From here we could see the chopper hovering only several hundred yards ahead. It stayed there a few moments more, then slowly descended to the ground and cut its engines.