It was a glorious day in early May. Vancouver was at its finest. Rhodos and azaleas were almost in bloom, having given others the spotlight before moving into their glory.

Georgia felt a spiritual bonding to azaleas and rhododendrons, and som other shad-loving plants. Shte, too, preferred to avoid direct sunlight. It seemed to be a too in-you-face brilliance. But, she felt great pleasure as a witness to the life the sun seemed to send to all that its rays could reach.

She adored her secluded balcony that provided her the pleasure of seeing the world move by, just a few feet away, while remaining hidden from view,behind her vines and flowers.

Spirit deserves praise, respect, and perhaps much more for the pleasure this almost sacred place, she thought, almost scolding herself for not expressing enough gratitude for her blessings.

But, then, she considered, what if Spirit had nothing to…

Biting Through follows Observing (Hexagram 20).

Spirit explains: To observe suggests an attitude
of detachment and duality when, in essence
oneness is all that exists.

Biting through expresses awareness and intention;
a determination to experience oneness, and to
release or bite through whatever seems to prevent
us from experiencing that reality.

Such as?

Entrenched belief systems.

But, we must believe something.

Why?

We need guidelines; rules of order that make
sense; that we understand.

Yes.

What is spiritual philosophy?
You’re asking me?
Yes.
But, you’re the teacher
And you’re the student.
Is this a test?
Of what?
Of what I’ve learned.
How?
From your teaching.
It doesn’t work like that.
What doesn’t?
Life.
How does it work?
It doesn’t. You do.
How?
Experience and awareness.
It sounds intellectual.
What else is there?
Emotion.
As separate from intellect?
We think with intellect and feel with emotion.
Can you think without emotion or feel without thought?
Not completely.
What does that mean?
You’re trying to trap me.
I don’t try.
Have I trapped myself?
Yes.

Spirit shares His understanding of I Ching 52 –
Mountain.

Mountain above and mountain below. Now, that’s
a mountain.

Mountain follows Thunder (51) and is followed by
Gradual Progress (53).

Spirit explains: Thunder is caused by the force
of air, as is wind. Air is not without life. Air
is the breath of life, at least human, plant and
animal life, here on Earth. Without clean air we
cannot live as we would with it.

Where does Mountain fit into the picture?

What picture?

Of clean air.

Air is the background.

What about Gradual Progress? How does it follow
Mountain?

Mountains are not easily moved and so can reflect
rigid attitudes toward protecting our environment,
clean air and water for future generations of air
breathing and water drinking life forms.

A lecture in conservation?

Yes.

Note: After the lesson was over, for it seemed to be as
a lesson, Spirit…

Our simple seeker was feeling pleased with herself,
maybe even a bit smug about the expansion of her
understanding, with Spirit’s help, of course.

A new development was taking shape, even if still
in a fuzzy condition, in her study of the Kabbalah
and the relationship between The Tree of Life and
The Ladder of Light.

Georgia had struggled with how to visualize the ten
unique energy systems of The Tree evolving,
transforming, or transcending into The Four Worlds
and thirty two stages of The Ladder of Light. But,
the conceptualization was coming together, if only
she could hold onto it.

Wow! she thought, as she envisioned her years of
seemingly endless wavering of attention between Tarot,
I Ching, and Kabbalah; not to mention several other
wisdom and/or mystery traditions. But, now it was all
coming together.

The four suits of the Tarot represent four elements
of nature; earth, air…

Spirit shares I Ching wisdom with me and with
whomever else cares to join our otherwise
one-to-one sessions.

Hexagram 26 – Great Accumulation.
Mountain is above Heaven.
Each are yang and yet, in this instance,
the youngest yang is above the parent yang.

Is that very likely?

Spirit explains: Nothing rises up
without having been assisted, or gently
lifted into that higher position.

Why would anyone help someone else rise higher
than herself, or himself?

Parents have done that since time began,
bearing in mind that there was no beginning
to time, if it actually exists,
which it doesn’t.

That’s true – the parental impulse to …

That so-called impulse to assist others to go
beyond where we can go ourselves is part of
our nature – who and what we are.

Then there must be a personal benefit
to our action; our seemingly self-sacrificing
behaviour.

There’s nothing self-sacrificing about…

A simple seeker decided it was time to teach
her spirit guru about life in the world of
physical reality.

There is no physical reality.

It looks pretty real to me.

It’s an illusion.

As in a dream;?

Yes and no.

Surely it is or it isn’t.

What?

A dream.

It is and it isn’t.

How can that be.

It is as a dream in that you are not
directing it. But, the illusion of
so-called reality allows you to pretend
that you are directing it all.

But, I do make choices.

Yes, from available options that you are
aware of.

How could I possibly choose from options
that I wasn’t aware of?

It’s too late.

For what?

It’s too late for you to choose from options
that you might have, if you had been aware
of them when and while they were options.

Then, how can there be any…

Spirit tells me that our personal stories must necessarily be incomplete and less than real.

How can my life story be less than real?

Who experienced it?

I did.

And who recorded it?

I did.

How?

Through memories. How else?

Someone might have told you your story when you were too young to be aware of how true it was.

If so, that was then.

Your story can never be then. Life stories are never then and now, unless there are two or more versions of the same story, and there always are.

Then how can we know our own story?

It is not possible. We are living interconnected life stories.

Then your story and mine may be the same story?

Yes, from different perspectives.

Spirit tells me that there are some people in my life
whom I would best serve by stepping away from.

Life, He tells me is about relationships: to oneself,
to loved ones, to community, to neighbours, to
fellow workers, to our environment, and to Life itself.

We are each as living pieces of a cosmic puzzle and
we each need to discover where and near whom we fit
most comfortably and appropriately.

Stepping away from a close association with those
with whom you do not share values with allows them
to also possibly discover where they belong.

At this time, neither of you are where you belong.
You both are holding each other back from
meaningful spiritual development.

Spirit was moving too fast (again) in His explanation
of the meaning behind the symbolic language of the
Kabbalah Tree of Life and the Ladder of Light, which
contains several trees within or on the Ladder.
The books generally refer to four trees but Spirit
claims there are many more than four times four.

Understanding symbolism was not one of our simple
seeker’s strongest attributes.She was totally over
her head, and yet she could not let go of the need
to understand. She seemed to sense a deeper than
life, if that is possible, meaning behind the images
that floated through her mind as her spirit teacher
described the interrelationships of the very human
and simple surface qualities and potentialities that
we each contain, or are.

Our awareness expands and rises up the Pillar of
Consciousness much as mercury rises in a thermometer
as temperatures rise. It is a Law…