The Straight and Narrow (Part Two)

[Please note, to enjoy Part Two, you should read Part One first].

To be able to get anywhere with our search for the ‘narrow gate’, we must define the cycle, or at least the direction, in which we are travelling. We start in ‘heaven’ and go in the direction of earth’. Both conditions, i.e. “heaven and earth”, describe states of consciousness. From the state of pure consciousness we ‘descend’ into corporal forms necessary for our becoming, i.e. into a condition in which we witness the broad consequences of our thoughts.

Regrettably, on the way ‘down’ along the narrow road, we don’t seem to become aware of the narrow gate. And once in the physical body, with many other brainwaves at our disposal and the attractions all the sensory inputs so strong, finding the narrow gate through which we have come is difficult.

As for alpha rhythms, they occur in our brain when we are in “no-man’s land”, between sleep and waken state. It is indeed a very narrow range of brainwaves. We can unwittingly slip in and out of it into either sleep or waken state in an instant. It takes practice to retain awareness of it. And even after we find it, it takes more practice to retain access to it, and then to learn how to control it.

To achieve this elusive state of mind, of consciousness, we need a special type of relaxation. We must lose awareness of physical reality, even of physical body. It has been said that excessive preoccupation with material goods makes it extremely difficult to achieve the state of consciousness necessary to find the ‘gate’.

On the other hand, the gate is unguarded, there is no one to bribe, and in fact we don’t need a single penny to go through it. It is free access for all—for all who seek. It also bears mentioning that each one of us creates our own heaven. We have to be careful that we create a heaven we wish to abide in. Some might find it distinctly unpleasant if, for instance, the majority of their memories are attached not to love but to hatred. Heaven is a direct consequence of our physical life. Ultimately, we are the creators of all our realities. Hence, reincarnation—to learn and repair our shortcomings.

Yet, the rewards are great.