Path to the Temple  by Al Geist

The path wound smoothly through the forest. Its surface striped by
the sunlight piercing between the trees. The path was worn smooth by the
countless travelers who passed this way in their search for truth
and spiritual understanding.

On this day two neighbors found themselves travelling this path together.
They were not close friends, but they had often discussed their particular
views on spiritual matters. The previous evening they had been talking
about the Temples of Golden Wisdom. These are schools set up for the 
expressed purpose of teaching seekers spiritual principles. They had both
stated their desire to visit such a temple, but they were still surprised
to see each other on this path this day.

The two seekers walked down the path to a Temple of Golden Wisdom.
Each carried a gift to give to the guardian of the temple for admission.
Dianne had spent a great deal of time creating her gift. It was 
beautiful, handcrafted from the finest material available to her. Mary
had a typical gift purchased at the local guardian gift shop.
Mary eyed Dianne's gift and began to worry that her own
gift would not be acceptable. When the two seekers neared the temple, 
Mary stopped and said, "I do not think my gift will
be acceptable for admission into the Wisdom Temple. Will you give me your
gift?" Dianne looked down at her work of art and then into the worried
eyes of a fellow soul. Slowly and without a word she carefully handed the 
gift to Mary who thanked her profusely and hurried down the trail.
Seeing no point in going on without a gift for the guardian, Dianne
sat down on a nearby log and cried.

Suddenly, Dianne was aware of someone approaching. From a little-used
side trail an elderly man appeared and said, "Do not be sad. Do you wish
to go to the Temple?"

"Oh yes, but I have no gift for the guardian," replied Dianne.

"I am the guardian of the temple, and you have already given me your gift."
The man said softly extending his hand to help the chela up. "It is this
side path that leads to the temple." The two departed up the path.

The seeker and the Guardian approached the heavy wooden door set in an alcove
and surrounded by lush ivy. The guardian pulled the large iron ring used as 
a door handle and the door swung out easily. A cool breeze blew past, and
Dianne could hear melodious music flowing out of the doorway. She timidly
stepped into the dimly lit hall following the quick but unhurrying
footsteps of the Guardian. She has surprised by how dark it seemed and the lack
of windows down the hall. Dianne joked about how they should pay their 
electric bill. The Guardian looked back and smiled but said nothing.

Soon they turned a corner into a brightly lit room. The light seemed to come
from the 15 beings seated around the room in contemplation. The Guardian 
finally spoke. "This is the inner sanctum of the Temple. These souls are
here to learn the use of the Light and Sound of God. Take a seat here." He
said pointing to a velvet cushion on the cool stone floor. As Dianne sat 
down she noticed that none of the other beings seemed to be aware of their 
presense so deep was their concentration.

"I will help you get started. The rest will be up to you." The Guardian said.
"Breath slowly... as you feel yourself relax sing the word HUUU quietly.
HU is a holy name for God, respect it and sing it with love, like a robin
sings to the dawn. As you get comfortable singing HU, begin to look for the
Light with your inner vision. At first you see a tiny pinpoint of light
like a single star in a black sky. If you hold your focus on this light
you will be drawn to it... Move to the Light, The star grows bigger as you 
approach. Move inside this globe of light. Feel its warmth wash through your
body, energizing you, filling you with happiness. This is God's gift to you.
Now draw the Light into your being. The center of the globe is your heart
center, and the Light emanates from you. Feel the Light, the love flowing out
of your body. As it flows out of you it makes the sound of wind chimes."

Dianne remained in contemplation for some time. Motionless she sat with a
smile across her face. An inner glow could be seen around her. When she
opened her eyes a question sprang to her lips. She did not understand the
purpose of the Temple. From all her reading this is not how she envisioned 
spiritual studies. Dianne asked the Guardian who still stood beside her,
"Shouldn't I be out helping people or saving the planet or something?"

"First you must learn to always carry the Light and Sound in your heart. 
Then when you go out into the world, you can be a channel for Divine Spirit.
What you do is not as important as the amount of love you bring into
every situation." 

"You may stay here and practice with the others for now. I shall return
when it is time for your next lesson." With that the Guardian glided down
another hall. Dianne noticed that the light coming from the Guardian 
illuminated the hall around him till it was as bright as a sunny day. She
wondered why she hadn't noticed this when she first entered the Temple.
She closed her eyes in contemplation and the wind chimes just sang...

Meanwhile, Mary hurried down the well-worn path clutching the gift she had 
exchanged with Dianne. There in the distance she
saw the front gate of the Golden Wisdom Temple. It was just like she imagined. 
It gleamed with a heart shaped ruby pattern on the front.
Full of excitement, Mary ran the last 100 yards. Stopping to catch her breath 
on the first step before the gate, she admired the fine art work of the outer 
walls and door to the Temple. Reaching up to the large ornate knocker, Mary 
announced her presence. She had expected the gate to swing back immediately 
like in so many movies she had seen, but only silence kept her company.

After a couple minutes she knocked louder and began to wonder about the poor
service at this place. Again only silence. Over the next few minutes she began 
to get more frustrated. She banged with the knocker and gave the gate a mighty
pull on the off-chance it was unlocked. Mary figured she would just show 
herself in if she had to. But the gate didn't budge.

She sat down on the step and began to wonder what was wrong here. She had never
heard of anyone getting stuck outside the Temple gate. Just then her eyes fell
on the gift she had brought to give the Guardian of the Temple for admission.
She began to worry that since the gift was from another seeker, maybe it was
unacceptable. Mary tried to argue with herself that Dianne had freely given the
gift to her, and it was now hers.

But as the silence continued, Mary worried more and more. In the physical world
Mary often used her wiles to take credit for other people's work. But here in
the inner worlds she worried, "Did the Guardian know?" Deep down inside her a
small voice, which she usually kept repressed, whispered, "What you have done
is not right. You should not have taken Dianne's gift." The small voice
deeped her worry, but increased her realization of the spiritual principle
at work.

After about 30 minutes of waiting, Mary had convinced herself that she wasn't
being admitted because of her actions. Sad but enlightened, she meekly used the
knocker one last time before leaving on her journey back home.

Mary heard a loud "clank" as a locking mechanism was disengaged, and the gate
swung open. There on the inside stood the Guardian smiling. His piercing eyes
filled with compassion. "Welcome to the Temple", he said cheerfully as he
beckoned Mary forward. Initially stunned, Mary gathered herself together and
stepped through the gate. When she reached the Guardian, she fumbled through
her things and pulled out the gift. As she held it out to the Guardian she said,
"This is not really my gift. It was made for you with great love and skill by
another seeker, who would want you to have it." 
She continued, "I have no gift of my own..." Her eyes locked with the Guardian's.
She wanted to hide, but couldn't look away.

The Guardian responded, "Your gift is your honesty. Follow me to a place where
you can learn more." With that he turned and lead Mary through the Temple 
courtyard - past neatly trimmed hedges and flower beds exploding with color.
Along the flagstone path they past several groups. Without stopping each
group member greeted the Guardian with a node and a smile. Mary thought how
beautiful and serene this place was.

They entered a stone building through double doors, and found themselves in the
back of an auditorium. The Guardian gestured to an empty seat, and Mary sat down
among the one hundred other people in the room. The Guardian quietly slipped
back out the door, and Mary turned towards the front to listen to the lecture 
in progress.

"The first step in opening the golden heart requires that you see others as
Soul. You must learn to see beyond yourself and your wants and desires.
The Holy Spirit makes sure that you have all that you need for your spiritual 
unfoldment. The only thing you can offer in return is to love all unconditionally.
As you faithfully do the spiritual exercises your heart will open and
allow more love to flow out." Said the thin man man dressed in blue slacks
and shirt sitting on the stage.
"Here is a spiritual exercise to practice each day for 20 minutes. Find a 
comfortable seat. Close your eyes and put your attention on the inner screen.
Chant the holy name of God, HU, pronounced like the man's name Hugh. Do this
in a long drawn out breath like this HUUUU..."
The audience all joined in. Mary noticed a blue glow seemed to fill the room.
As she closed her eyes her inner world was filled with Light and Sound.
It was a first step, she knew many lessons would follow.

The Guardian returned to the little room were Dianne
had been practicing the spiritual exercises with the other students.
She opened her eyes as the Guardian approached with a gentle smile.
Their eyes met and love filled Dianne's heart. A warm smile broke across
her face.
He took her hand and led her out to the courtyard of the temple.
The sun was bright but the air was pleasantly cool. The courtyard
was filled with the sound of chirping birds. They passed planters of
beautiful flowers which gave off enchanting smells.
They stopped by a large wooden door in the outer courtyard wall.
"Time for you to go" the Guardian said.
"Oh, but I want to stay," Dianne replied.
"You may return for more instructions in the future,
but now you must go and use what you have learned."
The Guardian swung open the front door
Dianne looked back, their eyes met one last time.
"Remember God's love is always with you"
he said as door slowly closed with a clank.
Dianne suddenly felt very alone. A chill ran up her back
and she pulled her cloths tightly around herself.

Dianne awoke back in her bed with her blanket wrapped tightly around her. 
The bedroom window open let in the early morning chill. 
The vision of her dream was still vivid.
She got up and began to write her experience down.
She described how she met her neighbor Mary on the path
to the temple. How the guardian of the temple found her
on the trail after Mary had left.
But mostly she remembered the Sound and the Light of God
that she found during her exercises at the temple.
The feeling was strong, but she couldn't find the 
right words to describe this experience.

After breakfast was done and the kids were off to school,
Dianne went out to water the flowers in her front yard.
Mary stepped out of her front door and walked straight over to
Dianne who wass so engrossed she did not notice.
"Hi Dianne!" Mary sang cheerfully.
"Oh hi Mary. You sure are in a good mood this morning."
"Yes, I woke up feeling great. I got the house cleaned up
and stuff..." Mary's voice trailed off like she really wanted to
talk about something else, but didn't know how to start.
"Do you think dreams are real?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well I had this dream last night"
Dianne wondered if Mary had the same dream and recalled 
their meeting. Or if she recalled Dianne giving her the 
gift Dianne had made for the Guardian. Dianne just listened
quietly and declared herself a channel for the Holy Spirit.

"In my dream I remember being in a large room with lots
of people. In the front of the room stood a man dressed
in blue. I remember there was this blue glow all around him.
I had this great feeling of happiness and love as he looked at me.
Have you ever had a dream like that? What does it mean?"
Dianne thought for a moment. What do I say? Mary is new to these
experiences.  God help me say the right thing.
"Yes, I have had dreams that have left me full of happiness
and love the next day", Dianne replied.
"What about the man?" Mary countered. "Do your dreams ever have 
this man in them?"
"I have a book you might like to read. It is called 
'The Dream Master'. It might answer some of your questions."
"Yes, I would like to borrow it," Mary replied.
They walked together into Dianne's home. Dianne went to a bookshelf
in the den and pulled out the book. She handed it to Mary as they
both sat down on the couch. Mary looked at the cover, then flipped
it over to read the back. Her eyes grew wide as she exclaimed
"This is the man in my dream," pointing to the picture of the 
author Harold Klemp on the back.
"Interesting," replied Dianne not wanting to say too much.
Mary's face was full of questions, but she was so eager to read
this book that she couldn't ask them. She just thumbed through 
the pages, read a couple sentences, then thumbed some more.
Dianne said, "I have to go finish my watering, why don't you 
take the book home and read it. We will talk again."
With book in hand, Mary left. As Dianne got up to get back to
her chores she heard a little inner voice say,
"just watering my flowers."