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Words of the Master
One morning, a young man came to the Master saying, "Master, I wish to understand my path on
earth better. I wish to know why it is that I seem to carry my past and re-live it again and again.
Why is it that I cannot get past my past?"
The Master smiled at the young man who seemed to be earnestness itself. "Go forward into the
Maze in the garden. But carry this backpack as you walk the maze. It will help you stay focused
and balanced. Be careful as it is quite heavy though," the Master said.
The young man took the backpack from the Master who handed it over quite easily. But when the
young man had it firmly in his grasp he was astonished at how heavy it really was! Placing the
shoulder straps over his arms and bent over from the sheer weight of the pack, he strode towards
the Maze. He was surprised to see it was not a garden maze, but was built of silk panels that
were nearly translucent.
The young man paused before entering the maze and then stood and walked into it. Immediately he
found himself facing a solid wall of silk. However, he could see just enough through the silk to other
areas of the maze to make out others there at the same time. He could "see" them and hear them
but they were not part of his path.
The weight upon his shoulders reminded him of why he was there, so he put the thoughts of the
others out of his head. Walking forward, he found himself hopelessly trapped. It seemed that no
matter which direction he walked, there was no way to proceed forward. Baffled the young man sat
down and pondered his situation.
'The Master told me to walk the maze but it seems unwalk-able. Yet, there are others here who are
obviously ahead of me. They must have figured out a way to get through this section. How did they
do that? Are they smarter than I am? Did they cheat? Did they crawl under the silk, as that would
be really a simple matter and who would ever know?'
The young man weighed his options and then rose, deciding to not sneak under the silk. As he stood
and turned, an opening appeared before him as though by magic and he moved forward.
Soon, he faced another series of solid silk panels and could see no opening or direction to walk
other than the one he had come from. Again he sat down and thought of his situation. He had gotten
through the first test he felt, by reflecting upon his options and then choosing to take the one that
was for his highest good. Stating again his affirmation that he would desire to walk the maze only
with positive intent he stood, ready to face his opening. But none was there. He still faced a blank
series of panels.
The young man was baffled. He had felt that surely he would be rewarded as before for his desire
to proceed only within his highest good.
The weight of his backpack cut into his shoulders, bringing him sharply back to reality. What was
it that weighed so much? What had the Master placed in it to weigh it down? Rocks? Bricks? It
did not feel hard and unforgiving like those items, it felt soft yet heavy. What could possibly be
soft and yielding yet heavy enough to weigh him down like this?
Pulling the backpack off of his shoulders, he opened it and peaked inside.'The Master did not tell
to not look,' he reasoned. It was EMPTY! Yet it had weight!
'How could this be', he wondered. Picking it back up, he again felt how heavy it was yet it was
empty! Again he glanced inside and this time felt with his hands. Empty!
But the weight!!!
Placing it upon his shoulders he stood. He asked himself what it was that he had just learned from
this experience. He heard a voice clearly say, 'Look inside of you, young man, for the weight lies
there,' he was told.
As he walked he looked at his life and his path. He thought of his childhood and the friends and
enemies who had caused him harm. He thought of how stuck he had been by their feelings of him,
their attitudes towards him. He remembered how angry he was with one particular boy who had
taunted him unmercifully. This boy was hated to this day by the young man. The pack became
even heavier as the student re-created and re-lived theexperience within his mind and heart.
'Ahhhh. I understand now. I carry the weight of that which burdens me. I am the weight! I
therefore have it within me to unburden myself as well.' The student was joyous with this insight
and then saw and walked his way through a series of panels of silk.
He thought of how he could unburden the weight of those he still despised and resented for their
treatment of him. He knew that they were not there with him in the maze so he could not expect
them to say, 'I am sorry" and thus lessen the weight and allow him to go forward easily.
"I forgive you, wherever you are,' he found himself saying to his own amazement. The weight of the
pack lessened immediately and he was able to walk without bending forward at the waist.
'Ah ha!' the young one exclaimed. 'Through my intent to forgive, I unburden myself of this weight
which hinders my journey. But how can this be? For they were the ones who wronged me. Yet my
forgiving of them unweights me?' The young one's head swum with the implications. And another
series of openings appeared before him in the panels of silk. His pack was considerably lighter, but
still weighed enough for his mind to stay focused upon it.
'Oh, Great Spirit, I ask you to help me see what it is that you are showing me here. How do I make
my way through this maze? How do I release myself of the full weight that I carry with me?' It
was at that moment that a beam of sunlight hit him squarely in the face, warming him.
He suddenly realized that his pack had lightened again with the warmth of the sun! What does this
mean, God? Why do you lighten my pack with sunlight? What are you showing me?'
It was then that he found himself re-membering a "woman" that he had kissed when he was thirteen.
It was his first kiss of adulthood and he remembered her clearly. His heart raced with the
remembrance of her taste upon his lips and his love for her. His pack lightened considerably this
time.
'Thank you God for your considerable wisdom in this. I see now how I am to unburden myself
completely. It is through my loving AND forgiving those who have been in my way and have wronged
me previously. It is not their wronging of me that has hindered me. It is my holding on to that
wronging that has stopped me. By seeing myself as one who has been wronged, I could
not go forward in the maze. And by seeing myself as one who was without love, I could not lessen
the weight of the pack. As I forgive and bring love within me, I make my journey easier.'
The young man felt his heart swell in size as he felt these insights. He felt his heart race with joy,
as it knew its lesson to him was being heard.
The pack weighed nothing now and the young man took it off and held it lightly in his hands. He
stood before a solid silk wall now and could see neither an opening nor his way to where he had just
come from. He was surrounded by solid silk!
However, instead of panicking, he sat and breathed in this mantra:
"I Am the light and the Way. I carry within me all manner of healing and knowing. It is
through this healing and knowing that I make my way through this earthly maze. I am able
to carry forth of the journey through this maze and I am able to release my entrapment.
I alone have the ability to solve this riddle and I ask now to have it done. I breathe in full acceptance
of my path and its possibilities, God. I recognize that I was the impediment,
not anyone or anything else. I am LIGHT and I am LOVE. Thus being so FREES me and
allows me to soar above the physical realm. In this I re-discover myself which is my True
Self, God. Thank you for helping me to see this. I so love you."
At this, the young man felt his feet rise slightly above the earth! He floated above the silk panels
and could clearly see the others stuck within the maze. Their darknesses were carried around in
their own packs and held them stuck. His head swum with the implications of what was happening to
him at that moment. But he focused not on that, but on the fact that he was flying! He was
soaring! He was above the earth in his lightness! He was outside of the Maze!
Spying the ground around the maze, he thought of being there and staying outside of the maze. And
at once, he was. By thinking it and seeing it, it became.
The Master was at his side as he touched down. "Master, thank you for placing my weight so
severely upon my shoulders as you did. Were it not so heavy, I would have gladly carried it longer
and longer for it would have not hindered me all that much. But as it weighed me down so
greatly, I had to get rid of the weight first before I could doanything else."
"How did you free yourself of your weight, my son?" the Master asked. His face was alight with
joy and love as he did so. " I found myself forgiving those who had wronged me, Master. It was my
pain in response to their actions that made me hold on to the pain inside of myself. When I let it go,
Master, I watched it soar away from me and felt myself growing lighter." The student's face shone
with love as he spoke.
"Ah," said the Master. "And what of the maze itself? That is impossible to walk through. There is
no way out." "Oh, Master. The most beautiful thing happened. I began to flyafter losing the
weight. I saw myself as light and love itself as I found it within me to forgive and forget those that
had harmed me, had wronged me. It was mydarkness that had caused my weight and it was my
lightness that freed me to fly. By BEING light and love, I floated, Master and found myself
outside of the maze. I was freed from its confines; above its entrapments. Master, I see now that
I cause my own weight, that hold me down. That I keep me trapped inmy past. That I, alone, am
responsible for the manner in which I walk this maze. By releasing those entrapping thoughts, those
weighting down feelings and allowing me to feel love and light, I soared above it all. Did I do wrong
by getting out of the maze in this way, Master?" The young man was earnestnessitself as he
awaited the Master's answer.
"What do YOU feel, young one?" the Master answered with a smile.
"Do YOU feel freed from the Maze?"
With that, the Master strode away before hearing the young one's reply. He knew that whatever
the young one answered would give him further insight as to his own journey. And this is as it should
be.
~Author Unknown~
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