The Journey of Consciousness - Ram Dass

We are departing for the skies. Who has a mind for sightseeing?

–Rumi

Picture a beautiful warm summer day. A group of people has decided to climb a nearby mountain. The going is easy, the day gentle. After several hours they reach a plateau with a rest station. Here they find a restaurant, comfortable chairs, rest rooms, telescopes – all the conveniences. The view is inspiring. The air is cooler and clearer than down below. A sense of well-being, of health and energy, animates the climbers body and soul. For many in the group this is enough. They return home refreshed and satisfied. They are Sunday climbers.

A few remain, having discovered another path. Or perhaps it is the same path that began far down in the valley. Impelled by the need to explore, they thrust forward onto it. After a while, the air grows cooler still. The trees thin out. Clouds obscure the sun from time to time. The path keeps rising, getting steeper and steeper. It is not yet beyond the skill of those who are determined to go on.

They reach a second rest area, with no conveniences other than an outhouse and an outdoor fire-place. The comraderie is now deeper. Their eyes feast on a grander view. The villages in which they grew up nestle tiny and remote from this new distance. It is their past they see in a new perspective. They see the limits of their lives in the valley far below. Few people leave this station to travel higher. Most stay for awhile, then go back down.

Some remain – a handful. They seek and find a hidden path disappearing above. Are they ready to ascend the flat faces of rocks, to creep along narrow ledges, to explore caves high above, to crawl up to the snow line and beyond?

© "Journey of Awakening" by Ram Dass published by Bantam Books, (a division of Random House, Inc.) 1540 Broadway, New York, 10036, USA. Reprinted with permission.

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