Image by Albrecht Fietz from Pixabay

It is no secret in the world of metaphysics that those who frequently travel out-of-body visit the Astral Plane.  This realm is truly the place where anything goes and often what one imagines can appear although that is not always the case.

Personally, I have frequented the Astral many times and have even reached its boundaries and have had adventures accordingly, some pleasant, some not so pleasant but all fascinating. One of my stand-out experiences was being confronted by a guru type entity complete with a long gray beard and a red robe who was sitting on a rock ledge overlooking a breathtaking view of an orange\red sky. The ‘man’ for all intent and purpose invited me to sit on the ledge with him which I did. It was silent for several minutes and he took a deep breath, exhaled and asked me:

“What do you seek?”

“I am an explorer, a realm walker,” I answered, “I am here to find whatever I can find.”

“Ah, but this can be dangerous,” said the man.

“Perhaps,” I answered, “It is worth the risk.”

The man looked away from me and gazed into the distance. After several minutes he looked back at me and said:

“What have you learned from your visits here?”

“Anything goes,” I answered.

“If that is true,” replied the man, “then this place is only a carnival ride in human imagination. It is not.”

“What is it then?” I asked.

“It is a place of storage. A place of good and bad, demons and angels. The first step in a long journey most never achieve although they long to achieve it. It is necessary in the larger scheme of balance and integration.”

“Who are you?”  I asked.

“Who do you think I am?” he replied.

“Maybe you are an extension of me. Maybe I put you here.” I answered

“If that is true, then consider why you have done that,” he said. “The answer will be easy because you can walk away and write it all off as if it were merely a strange dream. But, if that is not true you are left with your query and it will only be left to your speculation and drive you to dig deeper and deeper with little or no resolution. The truth is you know little of this place as does the rest of humankind who write tomes and tales about what they think it is all about. Yet it is widely accepted as fact.”

I suddenly began to feel very emotional and noticed the landscape was changing and the man himself now wore a glistening white robe. I could hear the sound of the ocean in the near distance.

“Where am I now?” I asked excitedly.

“You are near the boundary to the upper,” he answered.

“Have I died?” I asked.

The man laughed.

“That is yet another misnomer of humankind that you must be dead to enjoy the view.”

With that the man disappeared along with the new opening view of which I never caught a glimpse and I returned to my body.

I had many questions remaining in the weeks following until I finally decided to just accept the journey as it was and is and wait to achieve once again. I could not put my finger on what I had learned but I had clearly learned something. I understood it as a first step of many. I found myself changing in my mundane existence. I became more accepting of what life threw at me as well as my role in any unpleasantness. I stopped blaming. Blame was merely a salve that didn’t heal irresponsibility. I became lighter, freer and more willing to cooperate with others and knew instinctively which life situations and people to avoid or confront when necessary.

This experience happened in my twenties at the beginning of my travels. I am now approaching the sixties. If you are wondering if I met the man again – I did. That remains a story for another day. In the meantime, in your own life, try working on your levels of tolerance and acceptance that you may not always get the answers you are looking for without the process of “you” carrying forward. Work on your “inner” and the “outer” will take care of itself.

Stop resisting – find the lesson.