Last spring I had the good fortune to travel to the east coast for 10 days. It was a wonderful journey with many new encounters, meetings and places.
On the day of my return to Winnipeg, my traveling companion drove me to the Halifax airport. It was overcast and damp, very cloudy, very grey. I love that sort of weather. It feels so insulated; one is safely snuggled in protective layers of light water vapour. As we drove past the turnoff to the airport (we had other activities to tend to first) I noticed a dense cloud of fog extending over the highway for a few miles before & after the turnoff. That observation was quickly forgotten in the busy-ness of doing other things first.
When it was time to be taken to the airport, I again saw the fog zone, but since it wasn’t overly thick at that point, I took little notice. I checked in and went to wait at the gate for a boarding call. Shortly thereafter, I noticed a rapid increase in the denseness of the fog; it was getting increasingly difficult to see through it. I experienced some concern as my mind flashed on the possibility of getting delayed by poor visibility.
A few minutes later, announcements began to stream in about flight delays. One flight was able to leave (hope!), another was delayed (oh oh), then the word came in about my flight. It was delayed for 50 minutes because the crew was being flown in from Newfoundland and they were circling above the airport, unable to access the visibility needed to land. This delay meant I would miss my connector flight in Ottawa. Ok, now I was concerned. I went to the gate desk where they directed me to the Customer Service counter (far far away at the end of a long corridor or course). At the counter, somebody had a new set of tickets ready for me. This was a different flight, connecting in Toronto. The crew was here for this flight, so that was a good thing.
I returned to a new gate and was told that they were waiting for boarding instructions. At that point, things were iffy at best. I would like to be able to say that I immediately knew how to handle the situation in the most conscious manner possible, but my human went for worry instead. Now that was interesting. All around me the energy got very restless and disjointed. People were walking back and forth, the announcements got very erratic………flights cancelled, the airport was closed. It felt like being drawn down a magnetic down spiralling vortex. Not pleasant.
I decided that that was enough and used my cell phone to call E and ask for guidance. He immediately knew that the airport space was connected to the hungry ghost realm (foggy enough for sure) and instructed me to read the Seventh Chamber in the Revised American Book of the Dead.
This was a profound and fascinating experience. It was as if an energy wedge was inserted in my reactive state of spin which then started to funnel the force in a whole new way. Like being released from sticky paper, my attention re-directed and shifted its focus. I was liberated from concern about self and found my attention moving into a larger perception of all the beings around me, their concerns and fears and noticing that the reading is producing a safe space for everyone to be present in. All this in only the first three paragraphs of the chamber. By the fourth paragraph, they started to allow people to board the plane (time seemed to have almost stopped). I got on the plane and continued to read.
The pilot started to give us messages every few minutes. He told us to ‘keep our fingers crossed’ as there was enough visibility to take off, but not enough to leave the gate and cruise to the take off location. Waiting is. I kept reading, willing my attention deeper and deeper into the reading space. By this time I had completed one reading of Chamber Seven. It felt right to read it again so I did. During the second reading, I felt the plane start to move. It traveled a short distance, then stopped and waited again. This start/stop dance continued throughout the duration of the second round of reading the Seventh Chamber. I worked to maintain a condition of high indifference, refraining from leaping into either hope or disappointment in response to the gradual progress of our plane. At the same time, I was aware of deepening presence within my being. It was totally impartial to outcome and loving the entire process.
After the second reading ended, I started reading Confronting the Clear Light. Well, things really started to upscale. The plane was on the move and I could feel a new energy taking hold of the space and dissolving the cloying nature of the fog realm that had held us in its grip. The inner Light burned brighter and brighter as the reading progressed until it culminated in “I, the voyager am inseparable from the Clear Light”. Those were the words read at the exact moment of the plane accelerating and taking off. The inner state can best be described as joyous and ecstatic.
What a profoundly moving and transformational experience. We must make the effort to do the conscious being work. {{{If I had stayed with my habitual personal momentum, I might still be in that airport!!!}}} All that was really needed was to shift my focus from personal habits onto something of a transformational nature and let that take its course.
The teaching of that event remains fresh and clear in my mind five months later as I type out this report. I am so grateful for the opportunity to share this and hope it may serve to benefit other beings.
by DJ
