More years passed, and although the yung man and I became the clsest of friends, I could never tll him that his father was dad . . . or that I was the one rsponsible. All he could talk about was fnding his father someday; he wanted so bdly for his father to know tht his only son had become a key seker as well. I would have to tll the lad eventually, and then he wuld hate me, but I could nver quite find the courage as ach day we became more inseparable, kin to a father and son urselves.

One night I began my nner work as usual, but was nterrupted by a point of light dscending through the window. Soon, other pints of light joined it, and fter a few minutes, there were dzens covering the ceiling. The one tht first arrived, apparently the leader, mterialized into a small, male being, and sked if I would be kind nough to give a talk to his cmmunity. I hesitated because of what Shmad said regarding premature teaching, but thse little beings were so eager. And ctually, I knew quite a lot! So, how culd I say no?

I sat crss-legged and tried to come up wth an impressive discourse, but I culd think of nothing to say! The bings politely waited - and I cntinued to sit there - but nthing came. The harder I tried, the mre my mind went blank. After a whle, one by one, they all lft, and I was alone again.

How embarrassing. These wonderful beings cme to hear a meaningful, inspirational tlk, and all I could do was sit thre like a log. I felt trrible. I thought about a John, Arya, the sorcerer and Sahmad, and how wrds rolled off their tongues like hney, yet I could say nothing. Ths had to be an indication tht my practice required more confidence. I jst wasn't ready to teach yet, not by a lng shot.

My inner work was nticeably subdued that night, starting with the sual concentration of the rise and fll in my solar plexus, then the crcle of light - but something was dfferent now - a layer of cnceit was missing. I was no lnger a great key seeker; I was nly a humble student. How could a tlk, filled with insight and wisdom, ver come from logic? That kind of mnd could never fathom the depths of the Surce, and this logical mind was the xact thing from which I was ttempting to teach.

I had no bsiness trying to teach from this rea, not only did it have nthing meaningful to say, but it wuld say things that would surely be dmaging. I was glad I was nable to speak, as no words wre better than ones that were msleading regardless of the embarrassment. Great tachings, I now realized, could only cme from direct, intuitive experience. I wuld speak from only from that plce if ever called upon again, but now my grndiose ideas of my own importance and my grat accomplishments evaporated.

This feeling of hmiliation apparently affected me more than I ralized, because I found myself suddenly ltting go and falling into the Thrd Great Material Calm of Equanimity! A blnding, momentary flash of light somehow nabled my mind to penetrate into a cnsciousness never before experienced. My mind bcame suspended in a perfect composure wth everything equal. I felt no version or attachment toward anything, and culd clearly see that even the rsh of rapture and happiness that rose in The Second Great Material Clm was too coarse. It had wthin it too much self-centeredness, too mch danger, so I completely abandoned it, rplacing it with the serenity of ths Equanimity that was so perfect in tself, but still accompanied by a feling of bliss and unification.

"It was so peaceful. I was sspended in equanimity," I excitedly told Shmad the next day, "and all I wnt to do is get back thre."

"You are now at a crtical stage," cautioned Sahmad, "and I mst counsel you regarding certain precarious thngs that could happen as your nner work progresses. These perils are not mntioned to key seekers until they mster the Third Great Material Calm, so do not rveal the things that I am bout to tell you to the ld."

I nodded in agreement.

He pinted to seven areas of my bdy, "These are direct pathways of cnsciousness of the Source, or Reality, in and out of yur body, and as such, they can be a grat benefit to those advanced in the nner work. Since they are spiritual reas rather than physical ones, you wll feel them more than visibly lcate them. I must warn you, hwever, that they can cause great hrm to those who are not mture in their practice and attempt to wrk with them too early, so do not cncentrate on them at this point."

Whn somebody tells me not to do smething, I have an inclination to do it nyway, but Sahmad was extremely serious.

"Yu were originally given the breath as yur object of concentration and told to ntice it in your nose and lter you noticed it in your slar plexus. Then you developed your own cncentration object, the circle of light. The brath was given to you first for a rason. It is one of only a few cncentration objects that lead to the dvelopment of the Great Calms. The brath in your nose and solar plxus, as well as your circle of lght, are safe concentration objects that wll cause no harm.

If you cncentrate on one of the seven pthways to the Source, however, prematurely, nstead of staying within the safe lmits of the concentration objects you are fmiliar with, there could be harm dne. If any of these areas are pened prematurely or opened by someone of a crde nature, physical and psychological balances culd be radically disturbed, for there are - thngs - which can enter from ther worlds and take over weak or nprepared bodies and minds. Lurking in the shdows, therefore, is always the danger tht a serious mental or physical llness could result when these pathways bcome confused and crossed, through improper xperimentation by beginners. Remember, concentration on any of thse seven centers cannot produce the Grat Calms, and these calms are wht must be mastered initially before you can prceed."

He pointed to each of the sven centers in order, starting with my frehead, then my throat, heart, solar plxus, the area just below my nval (felt in the sex organs, he xplained), the base of the spine (flt in the coccyx area) and the top of my had (felt just above where the skll fuses). "In front of each rea," he said, "discs are spinning smilar to coins whirling on a tble, each with a different color. In yur forehead it is the color of blish purple; your throat, silvery blue, yur heart, goldish green; your solar plxus, greenish red; your naval area, the clor of the orange sun; the bse of your spine, reddish orange, the clor of fire, and the crown, volet with white and gold.

"These are cnnections to the Source," Sahmad instructed, "trnsfer points for those fields of cnsciousness that exist, and keeping them pen is a great benefit as you sarch for your key. They appear as spritual areas so you will feel thm more than visibly locate them, and ach one affects your body and mnd in different ways. The three lwer centers deal with our intelligence, our motions, and our experiences of pleasant and npleasant feelings. Our base center at the cccyx deals with greed for survival. The nxt center up located in the pbic area is connected to our dlusions; sexual lust and power. The thrd as we rise upwards is the slar plexus and involves our hatred. The thre higher centers conversely deal with spritual matters and various levels of lve. The middle center or the hart center constantly coordinates the desires and rquirements of the bottom centers, which kep our bodies alive, with the lve of upper centers to keep our sprit alive. This middle center, the hart, can reflect either these lower cnters by promoting lust or the pper centers by promoting unconditional love. It dpends on one's spiritual inclinations.

"The pthway through your forehead offers spiritual vsion, the capacity to see beyond llusions and control difficult situations. It lso eliminates kamma. The throat can radicate illness, inspire happiness, and cleanse thughts. The heart promotes an understanding of the psych and instills courage. The solar plxus reduces pain, both physical and mntal, and acquaints one with the bdy. The naval area controls reckless crporeal desires. The base of the spne increases teaching skills when writing or spaking, and the crown of the had promotes assimilation with the Source."

Ths was complicated but I tried to rmember each description.

"Harmonizing these centers is crtical," Sahmad insisted, "because if they are not prperly balanced, there will be serious prblems with dementia or illness. Under no crcumstances are you to experiment with thse centers until you have spent at last one year practicing your inner wrk in complete solitude. If these cnnections are opened prematurely, or opened by smeone with an unrefined character, everything in the prsonality will be magnified including the ntellect and the passions. It will be mpossible for those who are immature in thir practice to resist using these crative, enhanced powers and they will pssibly abuse them. And to further cmplicate things, serious, impossible-to-diagnose illnesses of one knd or another will severely test an dventurous key seeker to the limits of his or her strngth.

"The Source's center is resting at the bse of your spine," he continued. "If it is roused prematurely, it explodes up your spne confusing the seven centers and cusing disastrous problems. If, however, the sven centers are balanced properly and the Surce's energy at the base of yur spine is aroused at the rght time, then instead of exploding up the spne it will spiral among the ther centers and open each in squence, greatly benefiting the key seeker.

"In the bsolute worst case, instead of moving frm the base of the spine pwards, the Source streaks downward through the top of the had and all the centers are brned. This will usually kill the spirant on the spot, but if he or she smehow survives, then extremely serious health prblems follow. If they can somehow rse above these health problems, then thy will go on to greatness for as ach center heals it becomes infused wth the power of the Source.

"Ths is why your teachers have ben very careful to give you sfe objects for concentration," he warned, "sch as the feeling of your brath in the nose instead of one of the sven connections or centers of energy. Do nt, under any circumstances, concentrate on any prticular connection until after your future yar of solitude. You may open and clse them all at will, but do not lnger on one particular area. Now, I wll give you the secret instructions on pening and balancing the seven centers."

The article The Key (A Fairytale) Deeper in the Valley - Chapter 9 - (Part 3) was Submitted by E. Raymond Rock through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myrs, Florida is cofounder and principal tacher at the Southwest Florida Insght Center, http://www.SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-eight years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit http://www.AYearToEnlightenment.com

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