He shouted against the howling wind. “I’ve done what I was here to do. Now you must do the same. We still don’t know the rest of the Fourth Extension.”
I nodded and embraced him quickly, then grabbed the colonel’s heavy coat and ran through the hole in the tent into the storm.
10
ACKNOWLEDGING THE LIGHT
I ran to the north for about a hundred feet and stopped to look back toward the camp. I could still hear the sounds of debris blowing through the compound, and the din of shouting.
Out ahead of me was a solid sheet of white, and I was trudging back toward the mountains when I heard the colonel yelling.
“I’ll find you,” he shouted angrily above the wind. “You won’t make it.”
I walked on, hurrying as much as possible in the deep snow. It took me fifteen minutes to walk a hundred yards. Fortunately the wind was still fierce, and I knew it would be some time before the Chinese could get their helicopters into the air.
I heard a faint sound. At first I thought it was the wind, but it gradually became louder. I hunkered down. Someone was calling my name. Finally I could see someone moving in the blowing snow. It was Wil.
I embraced him. “God, am I glad to see you. How did you find me?”
“I watched the direction the chopper flew in,” he said, “and just kept walking until I saw the camp. I’ve been out here all night. If I hadn’t had my camp stove with me, I would have frozen to death. I was trying to figure out how to get you out of there. But the blizzard solved that problem. Come on, we have to try again to get to the temples.”
I hesitated.
“What’s wrong?” Wil asked.
“Yin’s in there,” I replied. “He’s hurt.”
Wil thought for a moment as we looked back toward the compound. “They will be organizing a search party,” he said. “We can’t go back. We’ll have to try to help him later. If we don’t get out of here and find the temples before the colonel does, everything could be lost.”
“What happened to Tashi?” I asked.
“We were separated when the avalanche started,” Wil replied, “but I saw him later going on up the mountain alone.”
We walked for more than two hours, and strangely, once we got out of the area around the Chinese encampment, the wind began to die down, although it was still snowing heavily. During our trek, I told Wil about everything that Yin had said in the tent, and what had happened with the colonel.
Finally we reached the area on the mountain where the avalanche had occurred. We hiked well past it and to the west, farther up the slope.
Without talking any more, Wil led the way upward for another two hours. Finally he stopped and sat down to rest behind a huge bank of snow.
We looked at each other for a long moment, both of us breathing hard. Wil smiled and asked, “Do you now understand what Yin was telling you?”
I was silent. Even though I had seen it all play out with the colonel, it still seemed hard to believe.
“I was engaging in negative prayer,” I said finally. “That’s how the colonel was able to follow me.”
“We can go no farther until we both can avoid this,” Wil said. “Our energy must stay consistently high before we can progress through the rest of the Fourth Extension. We must be very careful not to visualize the evilness of those who are in fear. We have to look at them realistically and take precautions, but if we dwell on their behavior or hold images that they are about to harm us, it sends energy to their paranoia and can actually give them the idea to do whatever it is that we expect. That’s why it is so important not to let our minds visualize the bad things that could possibly happen to us. It is a prayer that acts to create that very event.”
I shook my head, knowing I was still resisting this idea. If it was true, it seemed to put a high burden on each of us to watch every thought. I voiced my concern to Wil.
He almost laughed. “Of course we must monitor every thought. We have to do that in order not to miss an important intuition anyway. Besides, all that is necessary is to go back to a conscious alertness and always to visualize everyone’s awareness being increased. The legends are very clear. To keep our prayer-energy extended most powerfully, we must never allow ourselves to use it negatively. We can go no farther until we can avoid this problem completely.”
“How many of the legends were described to you?” I asked.
In answering my question, Wil began to talk about his experiences during this adventure in greater detail than he’d been able to before.
“When I came to your house,” he began, “I was bewildered as to why my energy had fallen from where it was when we were exploring the Tenth Insight. Then I began to have thoughts of Tibet and found myself at the monastery of Lama Rigden, where I met Yin and heard of the dreams. I didn’t understand it all, but I had similar dreams myself. I knew that you were involved somehow and had something to do here. That’s when I began to study the legends in detail and to learn the prayer extensions. I was all set to meet you in Kathmandu, but I caught the Chinese following me, so I asked Yin to go instead. I had to trust that we would eventually find each other.”
Wil paused a moment and dug out a white undershirt and began to put a new dressing on his knee. I looked out at the infinite expanse of white mountains behind us. The clouds parted for an instant and the morning sun created a rippling effect of light ridge tops and darker, shadowed valleys. The sight filled me with awe, and in a strange way I began to feel at home here, as though some part of me finally understood this land.
When I looked back at Wil, he was staring at me.
“Perhaps,” Wil said, “we should go over all that the legends say about the prayer-field. We must understand how all this connects together.”
I nodded.
“It all begins,” he went on, “with the realization that our prayer-energy is real, that it flows out from us and affects the world.
“Once we have that realization, we can grasp that this field, this effect we have on the world, can be expanded, but we have to begin with the First Extension. We have to first improve the quality of energy we take in physically. Heavy and processed foods build up acid solids in our molecular structures, lowering our vibration and eventually causing disease. Alive foods have an alkaline effect and enhance our vibration.
“The purer we vibrate, the easier it is to then connect with the more subtle energies available within us. The legends say we will learn to consistently breathe in this higher level of energy using our increased perception of beauty as a measure. The higher our level of energy, the more beauty we see. We can learn to visualize this higher level of energy flowing out from us into the world, likewise using the emotional state of love as a measure that this is occurring.
“Thus we are connected within like we learned in Peru. Only now we’ve learned that by visualizing that energy is a field that goes out ahead of us wherever we go, we can stay consistently stronger.
“The Second Extension begins when we set this extended prayer-field to enhance the synchronistic flow of our lives. We do this by staying in a state of conscious alertness and expectation for the next intuition or coincidence that moves our lives further along. This expectation sends our energy out even farther and makes it stronger, because we are now aligning our intentions with the intended process of growth and evolution structured into the universe itself.
“The Third Extension involves another expectation: that our prayer-field go out and boost the level of energy in others, lifting them into their own connection with the divine within and into their own higher-self intuition. This, of course, increases the likelihood of them giving us intuitive information that can further enhance our own level of synchronicity. It is the interpersonal ethic we learned in Peru, only now we know how to use the prayer-field to make it stronger.
“The Fourth Extension begins when we learn the importance of anchoring and maintaining the outflow of our energy, in spite of fearful or angry situations. We do th
is by always maintaining a particular posture of detachment toward events as they occur, even as we expect the process itself to carry on. We must always seek a positive meaning, and always, always expect the process to save us, no matter what is happening. Such a mental posture helps us to stay focused on the flow and keeps us from dwelling on negative images of what might occur if we fail.
“In general, if we find a negative image coming to mind, we must consider whether it is an intuitive warning, and, if so, we need to take appropriate actions, but we must always return to the expectation that a higher synchronicity will guide us past this problem. This anchors our field, our outflow of energy, with a powerful expectation that has always been called faith.
“In sum, the first part of the Fourth Extension is about keeping our energy strong at all times. Once we master that, we can move forward and extend our energy even farther.
“The next step in the Fourth Extension begins when we fully expect that the human world can move toward the ideal expressed in the Tenth Insight and modeled by Shambhala. Moving your energy out farther and stronger in this way takes true belief. That’s why understanding Shambhala is so important. Knowing that Shambhala has done it extends our expectation that the rest of human culture can do it too. We can readily see how humans everywhere can master our technology and use it in the service of our spiritual development, and then begin to focus on the life process itself, on the real reason we are here on this planet: to create a culture on Earth that is conscious of our role in spiritual evolution and to teach that understanding to our children.”
He stopped and looked at me for a moment.
“Now comes the most difficult part,” he said. “To expand even farther, we must do more than just remain positive in general, and avoid images of negative events occurring. We must also keep all negative thoughts out of our heads concerning other people. As you have just seen, if our fear ever turns to anger and we lapse into thinking the worst of others, a negative prayer goes out that tends to create in them exactly the behavior we expect. That’s why teachers who expect great things from their students usually get it, and when they expect the negative, they get that too.
“Most people believe it is a bad thing to say something negative about others, but that it’s okay to think it. We now know it’s not okay; thoughts matter.”
As Wil said this, I thought about the recent spate of school shootings by students in the United States, and mentioned what I was thinking to Wil.
“Kids everywhere,” he said, “are more powerful than ever, and the typical cliques and put-downs that have always occurred in schools can’t be ignored by teachers any longer. When certain kids are looked down on and made fun of and scapegoated, they are affected by this negative prayer more than ever before. They now sometimes strike back explosively.
“And this is not just happening with kids; it’s happening throughout human culture. Only by understanding the effect of prayer-fields can we grasp what is happening. We all are gradually growing more powerful, and if we don’t become completely mindful of our expectations, we can inadvertently cause great harm to others.”
Wil stopped talking and raised his eyebrow. “That brings us up to where we are now, I believe.”
I nodded, realizing how much I had missed him.
“Where do the legends say we go from here?” I asked.
“To the subject I have been most interested in,” he replied. “The legends say that we can’t expand our fields farther until we fully acknowledge the dakini.”
I quickly told him about my many experiences with the strange figures and lighted areas since coming to Tibet.
“You had those experiences before Tibet,” Wil said.
He was right. There were times when we were looking for the Tenth Insight that I seemed to be helped by strange wisps of light.
“That’s right,” I said, “when we were together in the Appalachians.”
“In Peru too,” he added.
I tried to remember but nothing came to mind.
“You told me about the time you faced a crossroads and didn’t know which way to go,” he said. “And one road appeared more lit up, more luminous, and you chose that direction.”
“Yes,” I said, remembering the occurrence clearly. “You think that was a dakini?”
Wil was standing on his feet, putting on his pack.
“Yes,” he said. “They are the luminosities we see that guide our way.”
I was dumbfounded. That meant that whenever we experience a luminous object or a pathway that seems brighter and more attractive or a book that jumps out at us and draws our attention to it—it is the work of these beings.
“What else do the legends say about the dakini?” I asked.
“That they are the same for every culture, every religion, no matter what we call them.”
I gave him a questioning look.
“We could call them angels,” Wil continued, “but no matter whether they are called dakini or angels, they are the same beings… and they do their work in the same way.”
I had another question to ask, but Wil was hurrying up the slope, avoiding the areas of heavy show. I followed, dozens of questions coming to my mind. I didn’t want to let the conversation go.
At one point Wil glanced back at me. “The legends say these beings have aided humans since the beginning of time, and they are spoken of in the mystical literature of every religion. According to the legends, each of us will begin to perceive them more readily. If we really acknowledge them, the dakini will make themselves more known.”
The way he was stressing the word “acknowledge” made me think it had a special meaning.
“But how do we do this?” I asked, climbing over a rock that was jutting out into the path.
Wil stopped above me and let me catch up, then said, “According to the legends, we have to really acknowledge that they are there. That is very difficult for our modern minds to do. It is one thing to think the dakini or angels are a fascinating subject matter. It is another thing altogether to expect them to be perceivable in our lives.”
“What are you saying we should do?”
“Watch alertly for every shade of luminosity.”
“So if we keep our energy high and acknowledge them,” I said, “then we can begin to see more of the luminosities?”
“That’s right,” he said. “The hard part is training ourselves to look for the subtle changes in the light around us. But if we do, we can detect it more.”
I thought about what he was saying and I understood, as far as it went, but I still had a question. “What about the cases,” I asked, “of dakini or angels intervening directly in our lives when we aren’t expecting them or acknowledging them? This has happened to me.”
I went on to tell Wil about the tall figure that had been there when Yin pushed me out of the Jeep north of Ali, and had showed up again when the campfire appeared at the ruined monastery, before I entered Shambhala.
Wil was nodding. “It appears your guardian angel has shown himself. The legends say each of us has one.”
I paused, looking at him.
“Then the myths are true,” I said finally. “We each have a guardian angel.”
My mind was going a hundred miles an hour. The reality of these beings had never been so clear.
“But what makes them help us at certain times,” I asked, “and not others?”
Will raised his eyebrow. “That,” he said, “is the secret we are here to discover.”
We were reaching the summit of the mountain. Behind us the sun was beginning to break through the thick overcast and it felt as if the temperature was warning.
“I was told,” Wil said, stopping just short of the mountain’s top, “that the temples are on the other side of this ridge.”
He stopped and looked at me. “This may be the hardest part.”
His words sounded ominous to me.
“Why?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“We h
ave to put all the extensions together and keep our energy as strong as possible. The legends say that only if we are able to keep our energy high enough will we be able to see the temples.”
At exactly this moment, we heard helicopters somewhere in the distance.
“And don’t forget what you just learned,” Wil said. “If you start to think about the evil in the Chinese military, if you feel anger or disgust, you must shift your attention immediately to the soul in each soldier that can emerge. Visualize your energy flowing out from you and entering their fields, lifting them into a connection with the light inside, so that they can discover their higher intuitions. To do otherwise is to send a prayer out that gives them more energy to be evil.”
I nodded and looked down. I was determined to maintain this positive field.
“Now, go beyond that to acknowledge the dakini and expect the luminosities.”
I looked out at the summit just ahead, and Wil nodded and led the way forward. When we reached the crest, we could see nothing on the other side except a series of snow-covered peaks and valleys. We surveyed the scene carefully.
“Over there,” Wil yelled, pointing to our left.
I strained to see. Something at the edge of the crest seemed to be shimmering slightly. When I tried to focus on it directly, all I saw was that the area seemed luminous. But when I looked at it through the corner of my eye, I could tell that the space itself was shimmering.
“Let’s go,” Wil said. He pulled my arm as we made our way across the deep snow and up to the spot we’d seen. As we walked closer, the area seemed to grow brighter still. Beyond it was a series of huge, rocky spires that looked from a distance to be lined up side by side. Upon closer inspection, however, we found that one was set back from the others, leaving a narrow passage that bent around farther to the left and down the slope of the mountain. When we reached the passage, we discovered that there were actually stone steps, hewn into the rocks, that led that way downward. The steps also appeared luminous and were clear of snow.
The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight Page 19
