Otherside

As part of my spiritual path I meditate. When I meditate I "go" to a place called the Inner Temple where I meet with various gods and spirits, or sometimes just visit landscapes that fit in with the purpose of a particular meditation. Whether this Inner Temple is "real" in an objective sense, or just a part of my consciousness isn't important to me; whether the spirits are actually sentient entities or are a part of my mind and personality is also not important to me. This area of otherness is accessed through the roots of what some cultures call The World Tree. In a meditative or dreamlike state I descend through openings in the roots of this massive tree, down a flight of stone steps that open into a roughly circular room, also hewn from stone. A circular stone altar stands in the middle, with various tools that represent the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Around the circumference of the room are doorways that lead to other areas of the underworld that I utilize in these meditations and shamanic journeyings.

A few months ago I descended in meditation into my Inner Temple. As I reached the bottom step I heard a voice from one of the doorways on my right: "What are you doing here?". I was confused; entities that I had encountered, helpful or hindering, friendly or unfriendly, had always known who I was and what I was doing there. The voice repeated itself and in the shadows of the doorway I thought I could make out the figure of an old man. He stepped through the doorway and I saw my father as he appears in the picture above, how he looked in the last year of his life. I stammered a little and answered "What do you mean? This is my space, I'm always coming here! - What are you doing here?" He started to laugh, and as he did, he changed before my eyes into a younger version of himself - late teens or early twenties and said to me "I don't have time right now, I have things to do." He then (very athletically) sprang through the doorway, which before it closed I could see opened upon a scene of sunny summertime.

I know that most of my family pictures Dad "in Heaven", and surely that's where I'm sure he imagined he would be at life's end, with God and Jesus and Angels and what have you, looking down on us. Maybe. But what I have seen in a few visions since then is that when he went out through that door, he was having fun. That sunny summer scene that I glimpsed through the closing door held a baseball diamond, and a basketball court, and a hockey rink, all the sports that he loved to play and excelled at in his youth, and that he encouraged us kids to play (with varying degrees of success). For most of his life he took care of others and never turned down one of his family if we were in need. He had detailed plans to take care of Mom after he left this world, and even if we didn't need financial help, or specific advice, he was always there to support us. He wouldn't have had it any other way.

The visions that I have seen in meditation show me that he has been shown that he, to paraphrase the bible, has fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith and that he has attained the "crown of righteousness" and can now relax and let the seeds that he has planted and watered, come to fruition. His reward is that he gets to play, knowing that we will all be just fine.