wow what an experience. the INNER corridor ended in a blazing light which he passed through and to his suprise found himself lying on the sandy floor of a deep forest .which he recognized from the sign which read " HERE THERE BE GIANTS".. why, gnat had returned to zero island.
he realized that he was actually home again
welcome back to zero island
he made his way down the Ego Forest path to the beach. .the waves were pretty big and making a roaring sound..he played in the warm surf and the sand. .but soon hunger got the better of him , he was starving , so he caught an abalone and took it back to the tipi where he cooked it on the fire and served up a homecoming meal ...featuring seaweed...and of course the grin seeds were once again in ample supply. . . he chewed one. . got out his guitar and played some music for fun:
time passed, but it always remained the present dont you know.....the sky was often a spectacular show.. all was grand.. but gnat (Bob's name was gnat here) was concerned about all he'd left behind...a world in trouble ..could he be of help at all .. he started exploring zero island ..and found it to be quite large. He walked through beautiful forests, fields and lakes. With deer and ground hogs, and beavers..and ducks and fish, and.. Then he noticed a beautiful hawk and the hawk saw him.. gnat watched as the hawk manuvered into position on his left, then flew directly at him...low and touched the top of his head with its tail and screeched and then flew at an angle away from him. The angle the bird flew away was to his right, going uphill.. The hawk was sending him a message, he thought it over for awhile and came up with the notion that the bird wanted him to follow. So gnat did. up and up and up he climbed.. after awhile he came to the treeline. up up and up on bare rock and some grassy knolls.the slope was 30%...quite steep .. and then he came upon a small glacier..he tried forging a trail up the glacier ..but having to break through the ice with each footstep was exhausting...the only way up was to utilise the footholes already there on the right side .. .even this was tiring . .. . gnat got so tired, he was only able to take 40 steps at a time...and then after resting, he took another 40 steps .. .in this way he arrived at the very top of the mountain, whereupon he came to a tall grey tower.
It was made of stone and had a small arched entryway ... he went inside . . gnat found it was abig room.. there was a book on a small table with a chair ...he sat in the chair and picked up the book .. The book was titled "A Path and a Practice" by William Martin... It was a guide to Taoism Tao in three parts.. the first part was the eleven characteristics of Taoism Tao as taught by the ancient Chinese book "the Tao te Ching" the second part was Martin's own translation of the 81 chapters of "Tao Te Ching" book .. .the third part were Martin's meditations and thoughts about each one of the 81 chapters of the "Tao Te Ching" ..gnat had read it before so he just skimmed through it a little..
On opposite sides of the room there were two arched entrances... he walked over to the far wall entrance.. it opened on to an enclosed stone spiral staircase...he noticed that each step had a message on it...The first step said "Direct Experience" which corresponded with the first part of W.Martin's book...so these steps must correspond to the eleven characteristics of the Tao, , , as put forth by the first part of Martin's book , ,
the steps were marked:
he decided to go up the stairs
the first step said ........direct experience
the second step ...........in the now
3rd,............................yin yang
4th..............................acceptance
5th..............................universal
6th..............................natural
7th..............................letting go
8th..............................flexability
9th..............................effortless
10th...........................meditation
11th............................first step
1 direct experience
after he climbed the last step.. he emerged out onto the tower roof and in to
the NOOSPHERE