A Journey into the Soul of the Forest and Back Again........

The wind pushes me along the path of this part of the journey and as I walk through this forest of giant companions, smiling at me as the breeze catches their leaves and branches and in the silence, I hear their laughter, as the rays of the distant sun flash on the path ahead, guiding me inexorably to a destination of unknown knowingness, while I start to breathe faster, taking in the embryonic darkness of a process that is cyclic.

Progressing deeper into the growth, the path narrows and the giant fern fronds brush against my cheek, showing companionship and compassion on a journey filled with the surrennder of the reality I had just left behind and the pre programmed normality of the reality, of an illusion, which has subverted and cloistered the truth and authenticity and propelled me on a journey of discovery, travelling the external, to reach the internal and vice versa.

Assimilating all that is on my path, there is the calmness which washes over me in waves ,and around me the flora starts to glow in hues of gold, as the sounds of the distant waterfall ring out with a rythmic beat, to which the birds answer in a natural rhythm of a chant, which seems to spur me on in my pace, while my footprint of self seems to grow and the golden light of the flora merges with the light that emanates from deep within and as the two begin to merge, the forest takes on an altered perspective.

I begin to see the connection between all living matter and how it relates to self.

My orbs of vision scan around and it seems that at times I do not even have to move my head.
Maybe ,it is that, i am totally still with my eyes closed and what is around me 360 degrees is available to be seen, until there appears to be a set of pin prick blackness garnering my attention and as I focus, I see that these spots of blackness are of different colours and then there appears the golden pools, which draw me into their glidepath and as I near, a puma locks onto my eyes and the longer I look into these pools of liquid gold, the more i begin to merge with this wonderful animal and in the process, I am racing towards, I do not know what, feeling the agility and the power as I travel as one, leaving the path and manouvering through the obstacles at speed, until, the forest thins out and in the clearing stands the largest and most beautiful waterfall that I have seen, and the spray lands on the whiskers and the fur of the puma and I feel it's moistness, and know that both are experiencing the same,as one.

Looking down I see my own body and standing across from me stands the puma and as I cast my gaze sideways, i see this large edifice with stairs leading up to an entrance.
Switching my gaze back to the puma, it is already on his way towards the building and there are forty nine stairs and fourteen pedstals, seven on each side.

The puma pauses at the first pedestal at the bottom then in one fluid movement leaps onto it. Instantaneously it is bathed in a flash of light and when I am able to it again, there is a statue of the puma, on the pedestal, blessed with the most intricate detail in the darkest stone that I have borne witness to.The eyes are of golden anber and as i watch, the puma moves onto the next pedestal and the process repeats itself until all of the seven pedestals have statues and then it disappears into the darkness of the doorway and as I marvel at what has just transpired, there appears an eagle above ,which startles me as the sound of it's wings flapping cause me to freeze.

Closing my eyes I only see the blackness at first and then I feel the rush of the air around my body, which is feathed ,and on either side are the wings flapping in a rythmical beat, which causes me to feel an elation of spirit.
My vision becomes clearer and I take in the true breadth of the forest, which stretches as far as the eye can see, and as the details start to reveal themselves, I see a forest filled with every single creature from the termites, the butterfly, the birdlife, flying in full colour, the different species of cats, the small buck, the dragon fly close to the water and then the many monkeys and apes, which swing from tree to tree an forest becomes quiet, as there appears to be an intrusion of a different species, and with that comes the noises and diferent sounds and smells, which up to now have remained foreign to this bastion of nature, and then comes the chain saws, the loggers and the bulldozers,who start to decimate, that which survived for eons, and from the point of view up above, I see the edges of the forest and it resembles a piece of bread, which has had a bite taken from it.

I feel the confusion of all who inhabit the forest and I hear a voice which keeps on repeating itself, and as I close my eyes to concentrate, I am back on the ground, and the eagle has alighted onto the first pedestal on the right and proceeds to emulate the same process as the puma.

I walk up the steps, reaching the first landing and the voice becomes louder and louder and the statues, who were gazing outwards, start to look inwards at me on the landing and through my body, I feel this jolt of energy, which spurs me on to each successive landing, and as I stand at the portal of darkness, I look up to see the intricate carvings of intertwined snakes around the lintel and on either side of the doorway and next to the each snake is another animal, which is slightly recessed, and as my eyes take in the detail, I see a tortoise, a bear, an elk, an antlope, a monkey, a butterfly, a parrot, a dolphin ,a whale, a tiger, a camel, a lion, a buffalo, and I start to wonder why all these animals are represented when some of them do not even exist in this forest and then I hear the voice--" IT IS IN THE WHOLENESS THAT WE ARE ONE", and as I pass the doorway. the floor luminesces with a pulsing energy.

As solid as the floor looks, it feels, that with each footfall that is taken ,that it is moving all around me.
Covering the floor on the left are the shed skins of snakes and on the right is an array of feathers, from all types of birds.
These seem to be moving into some kind of pattern and as I watch they start to levitate, turning around and around, in a whirlpool effect and they begin to pulse and emit a hum, which grounds me on this part of the journey and I wonder what next and why.

The feathers become one giant feather and moves through to the next portal, and I follow.
As I leave the last room disappears and I am left in a room which has water seemingly bubbbling up from the stonework, and now as I approach there seems to be some kind of invisible force holding this pool in place and as I step up to the rim of this pool, all goes quiet and the bubbling ceases.
Looking at this pool it turns to obsidian blackness and a shaft of sunbeam lights it up from above, which perplexes me, for as I look up the light is far too bright to see anything and I am transfixed.
As I look into the blackness, my whole journey reppeats itself in slow motion and the voice grows louder and then I hear what it is saying--" IT BEGINS WITH YOU AND ENDS WITH YOU".

In that moment all disappears and I feel the wind on my cheeks and I am still strolling through the forest.
I stop.
I remember all of what had happened and know that this was not just an imaginative expeditionary experience.
The thought reverberates through my mind continuously, until I place my hand in my pocket and withdraw the shed skin of a snake and one feather.