Meditation of Focus

( For dealing with the issue at hand. )

[ Step 5: ]

Imagine standing before a great tree. It is night time and there is a very faint light from the moonless night sky glowing around you. This is a very large tree with a very wide trunk with a very rugged appearance. Its bark is very rough-looking and coarse. Its canopy ( top ) stretches across the sky high above you while obscuring your view of the stars and the sky. This tree looks like it is very ancient and has the air of a long-lasting permanence. As you turn your attention back to the tree trunk, you see a doorway, an opening, materialize right before your eyes. At first, you feel an uneasiness, a tense feeling of foreboding. The opening presents itself as a dark emptiness with no recognizable features present within. Yet you feel an urging to enter. Finally, curiosity gets the best of you and eggs you on to go inside Just as you enter, you notice a faint, pale glow of light that is just bright enough for you to see your way around. You notice there isn't much to look at inside. You survey your surroundings and marvel at how roomy this chamber appears, even though it looks wider than the trunk appeared from the outside. You wonder how this chamber could be so much larger than is possible. Then you notice what appears to be a stairwell at the opposite side of the chamber that leads downward. As you approach the stairwell, you see that it leads down to an endlesslooking darkness. As you begin to descend the stairs, some torches set on the wall begin to selfignite to a pleasant, soft, fiery glow revealing a spiraling set of stairs along a stone wall. You slowly descend the stairs, counting each step as go down. You soon have reached the bottom and twelfth step into yet another wide expanse. This time, you see there is a stone table in the center of the chamber with a silver chalice, a black candle that is lit, and a black-colored bowl with a dark, shiny liquid in it. You also notice that there are four statues against the walls around the chamber. They seem to be placed at even intervals surrounding the table. Each statue is holding a different-colored candle that is already burning brightly.

Page 1 of 5

You approach the table in the center of the room. It appears to be set up as some kind of altar or something similar. Beneath it you find a small urn made of clay. Strange is that this urn has your name on it! When you pick it up from the floor ( again, beneath the altar ), you find a piece of parchment in it, folded and a little dusty. You take the piece of parchment out of the urn and open it to see what is possibly written on it. To your surprise, at first you see nothing written on it. Then, mysteriously, you see something of a form of writing begin to appear on its own. As you read it to yourself, you begin to realize that it is what you were thinking about when you first entered the opening in the tree! This was apparently the reason you came here for in the first place! Then you notice a faint glow of Violet light emanating from the bowl of water on the altar. As you look into the water and see your own reflection, you see that an image appears in the water as if you were looking through a window. You then hear a deep, ever-present voice speak to you :
Be-eth Thou who seeketh an answer, of Thine burning desire. What shalt Thou do, when Ye learn of Thine destiny? Shalt Thou be as the heart of a Lion, courageous and stolid in Thine quest? Or wilt Thou wither and scurry away, at the first sign of trouble, along the way? What say Ye, along Thine Path, Thou has trod thus far? Ist Thou prepared to face, Thine self in truth and without fear? Ist Thou prepared to face, the travails and trials Thou mayest encounter? If Thou ist prepared, to step through the Gates of Death, In confidence that Ye be reborn anew, And free of Thine present concerns, Then let Thine journ begin here and now! Take Thee unto Thine hand, the Chalice of New Life, And drinkest Thou all, until none be there left!

And so you take the silver-colored chalice and ponder for a moment what may lie ahead. You anxiously take a deep breath and drink all there is in the chalice. There is a noticeable bitter taste to the dark fluid, but you finish off what is left. When you set the chalice back where you had taken it from, you begin to feel a slight dizziness and light-headed feeling as a paleblue mist begins to swirl around you. You begin to feel like you are almost floating, but are actually beginning to descend down a cavern that opens up beneath you. As you begin the descent,

Page 2 of 5

the deep voice speaks once again :

Be Thou committed, to Thine Path in new ways. For once be it, and Thou chooses Thine way, There be-eth NO return, to that of the old! Mark and remember well, these lessons of Ancient Wisdom! Thine way be paved, and awaits Thee, o' seeker!

Soon, your descent slows to a very soft landing on firm ground. Your mind begins to clear as you survey your new surroundings. The blue haze clears and reveals to you that you are standing on a rocky cliff at the edge of the ocean. You estimate that the water is only a few feet below you. The scenery is very gray and misty, almost a dreary quality to it. The seas look almost calm for the moment, as if there was no life stirring within it. Then, you see the waters stir violently as if to cough up something long submerged beneath its tranquil surfaces. A few feet into the water, before where you stand, you see bubbling and churning of the water as something appears ready to reveal itself. It is a serpentine creature of such magnitude as to dwarf any living creature you know of. It is covered in a multitude of small scales and possessing the head of a horned serpent. It is a dark, deep blue with blackened points and accents, with a pale grayish-blue underside. At first, you feel startled and fearful of this enormous creature as it slowly advances toward you. You here it say :
Stand Thou, brave and strong, o' seeker of knowledge and wisdom. For Thou wished to see of me, in the beginning of Thine journ. Thou hast sought for me, for a purpose as ingrained, in Thine desire and wish. Wilt Thou yet abandon Thy quest now, for how far Ye hath traveled thus? I stand before Thee as Thine Sage, and guide in this quest! I be known to some, of times ancient, as Leviathan, the Serpent of the Darkness Deep. Fear Thee me not, but of Thine own self, be fearful of failing Thine Path! I stand here as testament, to the Darkness! That which all fear, and all fears in abide! Thine fears, they befall Thee, from Thine OWN unknowing, and unfamiliarity of Thine shadow! Walk with Thine shadow, and take it to be Thine own, - for All Things cast-eth a shadow, in the wake of its own Light! Those that come to know, their shadow selves, and of their shadows in ALL worlds, Shall they fear them no more, but as a familiarity of themselves, never, to be cast off! Come Ye now, and face that which Ye fear, for the LAST time shall it hold, and bind Thee! Shall Ye no more fear, THINE unknown, for it becomes soon, a familiar to THEE! Come! Share with me, that which troubles and travails Thee. Thine willingness to acknowledge and express it, Shall it be dis-empowered over Thee, forever more! Come! Seek Ye Thine Courage and Strength, to challenge Thine fearful moment, For shall it NOT be Thine adversary any further!

Page 3 of 5

[ Step 6: ]

At this point, the attendees may approach the altar, one at a time, to sacrifice their burdens, issues to the burning fire. Then return to their places in the circle. Each should slip back into the meditative state as if standing before Leviathan again.
[ Concluding Step 6: ]

Now, you regain your composure, and offer up the parchment with the writing on it to Leviathan. The piece of parchment floats out of your hand and toward the being. It looks over the writing on the parchment floating before it, in a moment of silent interest. Then you see the parchment burst into a flash of flame as it burns quickly into nothingness. Leviathan then says :
Let this trouble, be a thing of forgotten memory, but NOT, its lesson taught Thee! As Thou maketh Thee free Thine Soul, from this that Thou had once feared and toiled, Fill it up with understanding and wisdom, in all things more! Thine journ continues, into other realms and other experiences! Thine experiences, prove to be Thine own Sages, and guides as Thine Divine within! Take Ye heart, with courage and fortitude, that Thine Path tarries onward! There be many more lessons, to learn, and greater things, still, to be gained! See Thou off, and remember this day and ev'n, that Thou mayest return, to unfold Thine self more! Thine Divine Light, shall grow brighter and wax greater, in the times ahead! Thou shalt become closer, to the One of all things, and become one WITH all things! Now! Return Ye to whence Ye came! For Thine Spiritual Path, beckons of Thee, other matters of import!

Page 4 of 5

In a flash, you are once again enveloped in a pale-blue mist and feel yourself floating, but this time, upward. After a few moments, you feel like you are standing on firm ground again as the blue mist clears. You are now back in front of the altar, only this time, where you saw the silver chalice before, there is a shimmering Gold-colored one with a pale-pinkish-colored liquid in it instead. You decide to take the Gold chalice into your hands and you feel its gentle warmth as it shimmers. You think for a moment and then drink the fluid down to the bottom of the chalice. You remember a light, sweet taste as it begins to flow a warm and lively energy throughout your being. When you feel refreshed and reinvigorated, you decide it's time to leave and make your way to the stairs. As you ascend the stairs, you remember that there were twelve steps to go down. Therefore, there should be twelve steps to go back up. Once you reach the upper floor, you notice that this time, the upper chamber has a soft, golden ambiance and a feel of peace about it. Soon, you find your way outside again, in front of the great tree that you just exited from. The hollow opening now fades from existence, right before your eyes, to leave behind only the appearance of a solid trunk. You reflect on the experiences you just had, as you begin to walk away from the tree. Soon, a thin, white mist surrounds your being and you are completely enveloped in it. As the mist begins to clear away, you slowly return to your present body at the present time you left. You slowly regain your physicality and sense of place in the here and now. You should now feel more energized and less of the tension you had when you started this voyage. You have returned to where you started from.

Page 5 of 5