The Twelfth Insight: The Hour of Decision

by James Redfield

  Moments of Synchronistic discovery, it went on, feel like we are in just the right place at just the right time to receive important information. Yet if we observe more closely, we can see that these Synchronistic moments are preceded by an intuitive urge that directs us to go somewhere, or say something, that results in the Synchronicity. Following such guidance has happened all through history at moments of great discovery and accomplishment. But it has happened more or less unconsciously.

  It is time, the Document continued, to wake up and bring the intuitive part of Synchronicity more fully into consciousness. The key to doing this is to broaden our habit of expecting Synchronicity to include expecting the intuitions that are part of this process. And in order to do that, we must adequately identify such guidance by learning to distinguish our “guiding” thoughts from ordinary “ego strategy” thoughts.

  I looked over at Wil. “This is similar to what was said in the Prophecy at the Seventh Insight.”

  “Read a little further,” Wil replied. “It explains how to actually do it.”

  Ego thoughts, the Document clarified, are words we say to ourselves about our situation in order to logically assess how to get things done in the world. These thoughts come up spontaneously from years of learning.

  However, the Document says that if we observe closely, we can begin to distinguish another kind of thought, one that appears to be more spontaneous. It feels as if it merely drops into our minds, usually without any direct connection to logical analysis. These thoughts often come with an image of us doing something, or a feeling that urges us to take some action that we feel in our stomachs. These are thoughts the document is calling guidance. Once followed, they usually lead to an important Synchronicity.

  I thought about this for a moment. That is exactly how it happens. How many times when we suddenly think to call an old friend, for instance, does the person say, “I was just thinking about you,” and then present a Synchronicity of some kind?

  I looked at Wil, who pretended not to notice but gave me the hint of a frown. I knew what he was saying to me: don’t talk, hurry up and read.

  The rest of the pages wrapped up the Integration by saying, again, that the key to becoming fully conscious of these thoughts is to stay as much as possible in this state of alertness for the next guiding intuition to arrive. The key was to not let a hunch or an image go by without at least seriously considering it. It did reiterate, as before, that since we were in a transition, adding spiritual ability to a rational, logic-oriented worldview, we should use logic first in finding a way to act on the intuition.

  One tip for being on the alert for a guidance was to constantly ask yourself, “Why did I think that now?”

  I put down the papers, realizing I already asked that question of myself from time to time. How did I get into that habit? Then I remembered: Wil had told me to do it while we were in Peru.

  As I read on, the Document mentioned another technique to use when one needs a guiding intuition, or higher perspective, on a given situation in a hurry. Instead of just waiting, one can actively seek guidance by “tuning in.”

  For instance, when facing a decision whether to go somewhere or not, we can just imagine ourselves already traveling to the place and arriving there. The point of this method is to see how easily the journey can be visualized. If you can see yourself going there easily, then that means it’s a good idea. If the desired images are difficult to see, or fail to appear altogether, we should take precautionary measures.

  The Document reiterated that when we see the right course of action, there is a corresponding elevation in energy, or an “urging” feeling, as though one is “inspired” to take the action.

  I stopped and thought about this process for a moment. Tuning in was already part of the worldwide vocabulary. What the Document seemed to be relaying is that there is a more precise way this art should be practiced.

  Returning to the Document, I saw that it made one last point. It said we could use this method to tune in to many different life situations, but we would not discover how deeply we could tune in, until enough people returned to the Mount.

  The statement threw me into deep thought. Was that meant to be taken literally or was it symbolic? And if it was literal, what Mount? There were dozens of mountains mentioned in the sacred writings of the world. Looking over at Wil, I saw he had placed his pages on his lap and was gazing into the distance. Hira and Adjar were doing the same thing nearby. When I caught sight of Coleman, he was slowly strolling down toward the big cottonwood, also appearing to be deep in thought. I immediately knew what they were doing: they were pondering our current situation and looking for guidance. They were already tuning in.

  Clearing my mind, I attempted to do the same thing, first seeing if anything just popped into my mind. For a long time I simply looked around the area, letting my mind drift. I mused about how nice this homestead felt, and how sad I would be to leave it. Then I thought about our group’s joint experiences on Secret Mountain, and whether the Mount the Document mentioned might be that mountain.

  Suddenly, I got the image of another place, a hazy, very rocky, mountainous region. And I was there with Rachel! Which gave me a blast of energy. Barely able to contain my excitement, I looked at Wil again, who seemed to be waiting for me to finish.

  He stood up and came over to me. I caught sight of Coleman walking my way as well. Hira and Adjar were right behind him. Soon we were all standing in a circle facing one another.

  “I know what I need to do,” Wil said. “We still have no idea where the Twelfth part of this Document has been released, if anywhere. Sooner or later we’re going to have to find it. I’m going to my friend’s place in Cairo to see if I can discover a clue.”

  Adjar stepped forward. “I’m going back home to Saudi Arabia. There’s another mountain there that has something to do with all this.”

  All eyes then fell on me.

  “I saw myself with Rachel,” I said. “Where was she going?”

  Wil gave me a big smile. “She went to the city of St. Katherine, Egypt, near Mount Sinai!”

  I just looked at him as the others laughed. The energy was soaring. The Document said we all had to return to the Mount. Maybe we were all going to different ones.

  “What about you?” I asked Coleman. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going with you,” he replied.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Look, all this is new to me. I’m the one who went the wrong way when the extremists were shooting at us from the ridge, remember? I tried to discern what to do, and all I saw was myself with you, on another really rocky mountain of some kind.” He smiled and winked.

  I looked over at Wil, amazed at how much our energy was elevating.

  “Do you feel this?” I asked. “We’re getting the Seventh Integration, aren’t we?”

  He shot me a look. “Yeah, and we’ve felt it before!”

  We looked at one another. Of course. We were recapturing this part of our Connection on Secret Mountain. We were stuck in this world all alone. We were guided. The full memory came back to me: the way I spontaneously knew what I was being led to do, the exact moves to make.

  Hira stepped forward.

  “Remember the template,” she said. “We also have to come to agreement about guidance. Obeying God is talked about a lot in our tradition.”

  “Also in the Christian tradition,” I said, feeling as though I was speaking for Rachel. “It’s called doing God’s will.”

  Wil was nodding. “In Eastern thought, it’s best expressed in Zen, as a flow in harmony with the Divine.”

  “Yes,” Adjar said. “But no tradition points to this ability more than my tradition. We call it surrendering to God. It is the foundation of our whole religion. The ego must be put in its proper place by the daily seeking of guidance in prayer, many times daily, so that we act only in spirit!”

  He was right, and we all knew it. Islam did have the strongest emphasis on thi
s part of our Connection.

  “By the way,” Hira said, “I’m going back to Jerusalem. I can’t explain it, but something is happening at the Temple Mount, the place where the ruins of David’s temple are located.”

  I felt a shiver. I knew somehow that her intuition was directly connected, in a way we didn’t yet understand, to the Apocalyptics, and to their clandestine plan to end the world.

  For an hour I helped everyone get ready to leave. Wil had managed to find a charter out of Sedona airport to Phoenix, then a flight to New York and Cairo. Adjar and Hira were driving to Phoenix and then flying to their respective destinations. Coleman and I had decided to stay the night and then leave early the next morning, primarily because we needed all day to take care of our cars and make arrangements.

  Wolf had somehow secured clean cell phones for all of us, and at one point Wil handed them out.

  “These will help us stay connected,” Wil had said. “But remember, text only, no voice. Here is a list of everyone’s numbers. Commit them to memory and then destroy the list. Everyone has a phone now except Rachel and Tommy. Just use the phone sparingly.”

  I followed Wil and helped take down his tent, uneasy that he was leaving again.

  “What do you think is going to happen?” I asked.

  He looked me up and down. “I think we’re beginning a downhill run now. We’re going to move through the rest of these Integrations and find the Twelfth. I just hope a lot of other people are doing the same thing out there. No matter what happens, just keep going. I’ll find you at Sinai.”

  Within a couple of minutes he was loaded up and driving off with Hira, Adjar, and Wolf, giving me one last resolute wave.

  “He has a great guide,” Grandmother suddenly said from behind me.

  I turned to find her standing several yards away, reaching out with a cup of tea smelling of sage and rosemary.

  “This will help you on your path,” she said.

  “Grandmother,” I replied, reaching for the tea, “you helped us get started with your dance.”

  She didn’t answer but nodded out toward the distant horizon. I followed her eyes to see a larger sliver of moon hovering in the late afternoon sky.

  Just then a crow cawed loudly down by the big tree, which made me flinch for some reason.

  “You have a good guide, too,” she said. “You will enjoy your visit to Sister Mountain.”

  She was still looking into the distance.

  “Are you talking about Mount Sinai?” I asked.

  She was walking away. “It is red, too, like the hills of Sedona.”

  “You live in an interesting world, Grandmother,” I called out.

  She stopped walking for an instant, not looking back, then smiled and continued on her way.

  I was leaning back against a small tree near my tent wondering why Grandmother called Mount Sinai “Sister Mountain,” when Coleman walked up.

  “I wondered where you got off to,” I said.

  “I just took a walk,” he replied, smiling. “I needed some time to reflect on everything you’ve gotten me into on this trip. I never dreamed I’d have these experiences, much less have to keep a scientific perspective on it all.”

  I nodded. “No kidding. A lot has happened. It’s forcing us to put our spirituality into practice, and it’s all been building on itself.”

  Coleman nodded as though he wanted me to elaborate, so I just let it come intuitively.

  “The First Integration,” I said, “sustaining Synchronistic flow, got us going. That’s what was so hard to do before. All we have to do is expect it, and it happens. After that it’s a matter of staying in that ‘star of your own movie’ centeredness by telling others the truth about your path and how it is unfolding. That’s when each Synchronicity begins to lead to another one.

  “Then we were shown how the Second Integration works. And how we should try to find a higher truth with others, even in uncomfortable encounters.”

  I nodded toward him, remembering our first conversation in which I’d written him off as a skeptic. He knew what I was thinking and laughed out loud.

  “We were being shown,” I went on, “that if we participate in Conscious Conversation, we can always receive a larger truth about how spirituality works. And thus we contribute to the building of an ever more complete, spiritual worldview.

  “The Third Integration gave us an even larger picture of what happens when we stay in this centered truth, showing us that if we operate in truth, we fall into Alignment with the Law of Truth and can see the other laws that support this flow: Connection, Karma, and Service.

  “If we hold to our truth as it evolves with others, and never lie or manipulate but strive to be of service, then we fall in harmony with the Law of Karma, avoiding its corrections, and naturally attract those who are there to be of service to us, so that we rapidly flow forward into a higher Connection with each other and the Divine.

  “The Fourth Integration showed us the stakes involved in our quest to reach this deeper spiritual Connection. Those stuck in secular obsession are building ever more polarized systems of untruth and becoming more extreme in their dehumanization of each other, endangering everything.

  “Thankfully, the Fifth and Sixth showed us a glimpse of how deep our Connection with the Divine could become, where we find love and, most important, Protection, and an awareness of mission. We realized we have a part in helping one another move through the rest of the Integrations. Now we have to figure out how to Rise to Influence and create this Template of Agreement that, supposedly, will reach those in fear.”

  I took a breath. “Which brings us to the present. The Seventh Integration showed us how to step up the Synchronicity even more by following the guidance that comes to us if we tune in.”

  I paused and looked at him, somewhat surprised that I had been able to voice the Integrations so quickly.

  “You were right,” Coleman said. “It’s all a consciousness that builds on itself.”

  I looked at him a moment, then said, “It reminds me of a verse I learned as a child. Something like, ‘If you are honorable over little you are given much.’ I guess it turned out to be true.”

  “So what do you think is going to happen now?” Coleman asked.

  “Hopefully,” I said, “Synchronicity will continue to lead us through the remaining steps, and we’ll continue to integrate more of the Connection we reached on the mountain… until we remember it all. That’s when, I guess, we’ll reach our strongest influence.”

  For a long moment we were both lost in thought.

  Finally, Coleman said, “I just wish I could understand one thing I glimpsed up there. It was like a Connection point with all that I was feeling.”

  “What? Are you kidding me?”

  “No, I really felt something. It was elusive and seemed to come and go.”

  I jumped to my feet. “I experienced the same thing!”

  He looked amazed.

  “Yeah,” I repeated, “almost exactly as you described it!”

  The next morning we were up early and, by first light, heading back toward Sedona. Wolf had returned late the night before, just in time to grab a few hours of sleep and to help us load our gear. Now, as we rode along in the early light of dawn, he looked tired but was still full of mischief.

  “I have a surprise,” he said.

  “What is it?” I asked. Coleman was smiling from the backseat.

  “Don’t ask,” he said. “You’ll get it later.”

  We tried to pry it out of him, but he wouldn’t budge and eventually all of us fell into a lengthy silence. Then, as we entered the city limits, we were treated to a beautiful Sedona sunrise, and as usual, people were pulled over on the side of the road and standing on some of the hills, ushering in the day. I wondered if the sunrise was Wolf’s surprise, but I could tell from his face that it wasn’t.

  The sunrise invigorated each of us. We were all completely centered and setting a tone of expectant waiting witho
ut even talking about it. And we were alert, not just for a Synchronicity, but for the guidance that preceded it.

  Suddenly, Wolf pulled into a side street and stopped, a worried look on his face.

  “There’s something wrong,” he said to me. “My friends who were keeping your car were supposed to meet us back at that gas station we passed. They weren’t there.”

  Coleman and I looked at each other.

  Wolf thought for a moment, then said, “I believe I should take you straight to the Phoenix airport, right now, as fast as we can get there.”

  “Wait a minute,” Coleman said. “My car is at my hotel. I can’t just leave it. And what about the rest of my clothes?”

  As he spoke, I tried to visualize us driving directly to the airport, easily seeing us arriving there and boarding the plane. Then I tried to picture us going to get the cars instead, and immediately had difficulty. In fact, I couldn’t picture us getting to Coleman’s hotel at all.

  “I agree with Wolf,” I said. “I think we should go now.”

  Coleman seemed unconvinced, but not overridingly so.

  “I guess it’s okay,” he said. “I can contact my friends later and make arrangements for the car at that time.”

  “I would be careful calling anyone for a while,” Wolf said.

  Coleman was staring at me. “You seemed very clear that going ahead was the right thing to do.”

  I told him exactly what I had seen.

  He thought for a moment, looking away, then said, “Yeah, I get the same thing now. You know, it’s a lot harder to follow your intuition when it means having to change plans.”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “You know,” Coleman added, “we’re tuning in, following the Seventh Integration exactly. Too bad we don’t have a copy of the next Integration.”

  I saw Wolf perk up.

  “Oh,” he said, tongue in cheek, “Wil and I stopped by a friend’s place to get some food for his trip.”

  He was reaching under the seat, pulling out a folder.

  “Surprise!” he quipped. “Our friend happened to have a copy of the Eighth Integration. Now, since you’re so good at tuning in to your guidance, you can learn something else.”