Veritas | Meditative Adventure | Elemental: Prelude
Welcome to Veritas…a meditative adventure like no other! First and foremost, what does it even mean? Veritas is Latin for “truth”. The question is, of course, which truth? Well, hopefully your truth. In this episode, a day like any other takes a strange turn. Are you ready to believe?
Transcript
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 journey starts on a day like any other.
The transition from sleep to wake to mindfulness unremembered.
Suddenly you are here.
The smells and sounds of your house are familiar.
Your routines are comforting.
Perhaps the smell of freshly brewed coffee stirs your memories of the eternal optimism of a perfect morning.
Not every morning is perfect.
Some are stressful.
Some come too soon or too late.
But every once in a while,
Despite all the complexities of your life,
The feeling of the sun on your face is enough to make you pause and breathe in.
Just like you are going to do right now.
It is there at the top of the breath just before you exhale and there at the bottom of your breath just before you inhale that you glimpse it.
Just for a moment.
It is so fleeting.
Yet there in the in-between you are faced with the limitless possibility of endless potential.
The raw energy of creation.
And just like that reality returns and your next breath is already building,
Still a part of you anticipates a return to that space.
A part of you wants to go back.
A part of you needs to go back.
In that place you are free.
The voices in your mind that breed fear or doubt can't find you there.
The sense of hurt or unworthiness that haunts you.
That fear of failure or fear of success even.
In that place they cannot exist and therefore you are free to be the truest version of yourself.
Still the weight of the day presses down and this place is forgotten even after serene perfect morning.
Your thoughts are guided by obligations and duty both real and imagined.
All the while ravaged by relentless churning of emotion.
The minutes slide into hours which slide into days and each morning before the day fully takes over you glimpse that perfect space in the in-between before it is gone.
Until one day,
This day,
In that space you see something.
Just a glimpse.
Like color or movement in the corner of your peripheral.
A flash of gold in a shape.
Right angles.
This time when you exhaled you stayed for just a split second longer.
Like the in-between was trying to keep you.
Has it ever occurred to you that when you glimpse the space of creation it glimpses you right back?
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
Hold.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
What do you see?
It's there like a forgotten dream just beyond your reach.
Shaking your head you go about your day.
Outside it is overcast yet still.
A cool comforting morning greets you and many others.
Small crowds of people walk across the park or wait at the traffic light.
The honk of a car horn blends into the background.
It is the sound of busyness.
There.
Just as you're about to cross the street you glance over.
At the corner of the next street there is a flash of gold.
A door.
In the middle of the sidewalk.
But when you look again it is gone.
The light changes and you cross but there is nothing there.
You pass a shop window and there it is again.
Reflected in the clear glass framing your own reflection.
But you turn and it is gone again.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
You are becoming more agitated.
You can feel your heart racing.
The hairs on the back of your neck are on edge.
Am I dreaming?
Am I crazy?
Your frantic search for answers is interrupted by a sound.
Click.
Clack.
Click.
Clack.
Click.
Clack.
A blind man walks towards you on the sidewalk.
You pay him no heed but then he turns and looks right at you.
Though dark sunglasses mask his eyes.
No.
You're not crazy.
But are you dreaming?
He shrugs.
He simply extends his arm and grabs your shoulder.
It is comforting.
His hands feel warm and wrinkly.
On his hand is a tattoo of a ship and you swear it moves drifting along his skin.
A voice whispers in your mind.
Veritas.
Truth.
You reply without thinking.
The blind man smiles.
Yes.
Truth.
But whose truth?
Your mouth works silently as you push his hand off your shoulder.
More to yourself than anyone you whisper quietly.
A golden door.
Your reflection in the dark glasses of the blind stranger suddenly consumes your world and shockingly your reflection moves of its own accord.
It steps aside to reveal a door.
It is framed in solid gold with rune shapes carved perfectly into its surface.
A sculpted gold dragon curls around the frame.
The world freezes.
There is absolute silence.
No birds.
No people.
No cars.
The world is frozen and time is unmoving.
It is so quiet you can hear your own heartbeat.
The thud.
The thud.
The golden door fills your mind.
You can see every intricate carving.
It calls to you.
You must find it.
Where is the door?
If you ever glimpse the door,
Fewer still can reach it.
Suddenly the blind man grabs you by the collar with one hand and with the other removes his glasses.
His eyes are empty sockets and he stares right into your soul.
You feel yourself pulled into the blackness so vast you're like a drop in an ocean.
A voice cries out.
You must believe.
And then you are falling.
So deep.
So dark.
This place is beneath the tide of conscious thought.
It is an elevator traveling down through your chakras one by one.
With each inhale and exhale you descend one level deeper until at last you reach the root.
You are laying on solid ground.
The world you are used to is no more.
Rolling over you stand up.
There is light but from what source it is impossible to say.
It is more like you were aware of this place and you were there for imagining what must exist to see it.
You step forward as a figure approaches.
Their face is shrouded in darkness.
You hold out your hand and the figure does the same until your fingers touch only to feel something unexpected.
A smooth surface.
Startled you feel with both hands and the figure does the same and it is only then that you realize that it is a mirror.
With the start you back up and see the face in the mirror for the first time.
It is your own but different.
This version of you looks sickly with dark circles.
You cannot do it,
Your reflection says.
You're not worth it,
Another voice says and you spin around only to encounter another mirror and then another and another.
A thousand mirrors each with a different version of yourself cry out to you.
It's too much.
You don't deserve it.
Why you?
You are to blame.
The voices fill your mind.
They are cruel and deafening with a cry you hold your hands to your ears.
Tears stream down your face.
In this place you are so open,
So vulnerable and these voices are deafening.
You will fail.
This last one echoes in your mind with the force of a thousand suns.
Unbeknownst to you,
You sink to your knees losing yourself to the inner turmoil.
A lifetime of demons second-guessing your truth and then a whisper in your mind.
Believe.
And a brief image of a great ship fills your existence.
It is so real you can smell the sea air and for the briefest of moments you are free.
You remember.
Veritas,
You whisper.
This time when you open your eyes you see the mirrors around you.
They are everywhere,
Even above and below you.
All distorted reflections.
The immensity of their lies squeezes your mind but you hold on to the feel of an afternoon breeze on your face.
It is the feel of the perfect morning.
It is the space in between where creation and potential meet and like a seed growing you begin to believe.
To truly believe.
Your breath gets more powerful now.
Your inhale is forceful and energetic.
You breathe in power.
You exhale energy and gradually in the dark you begin to glow.
With each breath your light gets brighter until the voices can't take it any longer and the mirrors explode.
Shards of glass shatter and fall like a summer storm.
You feel the power of each one as you breathe in and as you breathe out you change it into something new.
Something extraordinary.
A million tiny shards flow together like liquid forming a larger and larger picture until finally standing in front of you is the golden door in all its glory.
Runes glow in its intricately carved surface and here in this place although you cannot read them you understand their meaning.
With a breath you step forward and reach for the handle.
The golden dragon encircling the door suddenly opens its eyes and for a brief second you lock eyes.
An infinity beyond knowledge fills your mind in that instant you know that whatever lies beyond this door will change everything.
Your hand grasps the latch and the door swings open.
Tell me will you step through?
Somewhere a blind man looks on thoughtfully and smiles.
A second figure shrouded in shadows steps up beside him.
The darkness seems to ripple and move with them never revealing their face.
Do you think they are the one?
I suppose that is up to them.
