So how we're going to begin is you're going to sit comfortably,
However that means to you.
It could be legs crossed,
Could be sitting in a chair,
Whatever it is,
Sit somewhere comfortably that you feel relaxed and comfortable and you're going to close your eyes and you're going to take three deep breaths.
Deep breath in,
Count to four,
Deep breath out,
Count to four.
And each time you exhale you're going to try and relax your body a little bit further.
So you're going to inhale,
Pause,
Exhale,
Pause.
So as you're doing this and you're relaxing it's in those pauses between breaths where we're going to go.
That is where your creativity meets your imagination meets your subconscious.
So let's see what awaits you in the spaces between breaths.
Your choice is made as your eyes contemplate the door leading down into the mountain.
One by one you descend the cold hard steps into the dark.
The door itself is old and made of wood.
You can smell dampness and you make out moss growing over part of the door giving it an earthy sense of aliveness.
Between the wooden planks yellow light spills forth.
There is no latch or knob,
Simply a handle.
With one last breath in you grasp the handle and enter.
Above you in the dark there is a flash of yellow light and then silence.
The waiting begins.
Within the light there is a sense of warmth that brings with it a sense of hope and peace.
It's like a warm blanket that settles over you.
For the first time in a long time you feel safe.
Gradually your eyes begin to adjust to the light.
You find yourself standing in a great forest with trees far grander than you've ever seen.
The trunk of the nearest tree is so large that if you spread your hands out and stretched as far as you could you couldn't even embrace half of it.
In turn the trunk extends far into the sky and the canopy is thick with leaves.
It is hard to get a sense of perspective leaving you with a sense that it is higher than it looks.
But the way the light trickles through the tiny spaces between leaves is truly breathtaking.
Thin beams of sunlight bathe the meadow you were standing in with tiny streams of brilliance and for a moment strange journeys and strange doors are forgotten.
It is time to explore.
Your feet bounce ever so slightly on the mossy floor and the tiny snapping of twigs and leaves are the only sounds that pierce the silence.
There are no sounds of birds chirping or the buzzing of insects and yet you can't help but feel that you are not alone.
Briefly it occurs to you to try to climb a tree to get a better viewpoint but the lower branches are far beyond your reach.
Whatever you are here to find it is near the ground.
Endless trees in all directions make it impossible to tell which way you are going.
Without the sun in sight you can't judge time of day nor direction.
Yet forward you must go.
Yet you can't help but feel disconnected from all this beauty.
You feel the sunlight and you smell the rich dampness of the forest but you feel blocked in some way.
Then it hits you and you smile as you look down at your feet.
Your shoes.
You are not truly grounded.
One at a time you remove your shoes and socks and let your bare feet sink into the mossy ground.
You take a moment to truly revel in the feeling of the dirt between your toes.
Truthfully it is a bit strange standing barefoot but somehow it feels right.
So you begin to walk hesitantly at first but then with more confidence as you learn to trust your feet and the ground beneath them.
You are amazed at how much quieter your footfalls are now and how much more nimble you feel.
Eventually you come to a tree that is large even by the standards of this place.
Its trunk is gnarled and thick and it has the look and feel of something that is old and maybe even wise.
It calls to you and you find yourself stepping forward and placing your hands on the trunk which gives you an instant sense of peace.
Without even realizing it you close your eyes and only then do you truly begin to see.
With each breath your awareness of yourself and the world around you becomes more aligned.
You can feel the tree bark beneath your hands but then your awareness extends onto the tree itself.
You can feel the branches extending above you and even a sense of the true height of its magnificence.
At the same time down into the ground you sense the roots spreading like a spiderweb into the forest floor.
The feel of the ground beneath your feet now calls to you and you feel as though your own feet cast their own roots deep into the earth.
You aren't just feeling the tree,
You are the tree.
Down,
Down your senses take you as you follow the complex patterns of roots beneath the forest floor.
This place,
This world hums with a rich vitality.
There is so much life here.
Your mind splits between the world below and the world above.
Mirroring the roots below,
Above you the highway of branches stretch out in all directions reaching for sunlight.
From here you can gain a new perspective for this world as you witness the beauty from above.
A small part of you recognizes that you were being shown something important although you can't tell if this thought came from you or this place as your thoughts begin to intermingle.
Your mind suddenly recognizes strange memories of this place.
You see an explosion of light and energy in the dark of space and then the creation of worlds formed from cosmic dust.
You see this world newly formed and then bombarded with meteor rock that delivers water and organic material.
You see an atmosphere forming as the first green signs of life emerges from the cracks of a barren world.
From here an explosion of life as the forest is born and there in the center of it all a tiny tree begins to grow.
Its roots reach down to the ground and are soon joined by others until the system of roots stretches down so deep into the heart of this world itself.
But not the heart of a strange world.
You realize that you're looking at the veins and arteries of your own body stretching into your own heart.
You are this place and this place is you.
Your breath is the breath of millions of leaves all humming with the vitality of life itself.
Millennia have come and go as this place has waited for the singular moment in time when a door to nothing opened out of the air and out stepped you.
Now finally the message has been delivered.
You and the life of an entire world are one in the same which means that the power of creation hums through your veins as surely as the roots in the forest floor.
All this from the nothingness of cold barren rock.
A series of images flash in your mind of stars exploding of other worlds and finally of 13 pillars arranged in a circle.
It is difficult to make sense of but as you come back to yourself and the trunk of the tree opens and you fall forward inside of it you realize a single truth.
This truth stays with you as you reopen your eyes and find yourself back inside the mountain staring at four doors once again.
Your hands glow with a faint golden light for a moment and you understand that the power of creation resides within you.
A time will come when you will need it and it will be there when you need it most.
You choose your next door.
