The Curious Man

   Once upon a time, there lived a curious boy who grew into a curious man.  He was a clever, fairly talented man, with a good, but somewhat careless heart.  This man thirsted for all of the knowledge in the world.  He read, he travelled, he studied, and he experienced all that he could.  He became somewhat of a renaissance man.  But somewhere along the way, he lost his sense of balance, and his thirst turned into an obsession.  This began to lead him down a dark path.
       Eventually he found those who claimed to hold the keys to the great secrets of this reality and others.  The man was seduced by the allure of these people.  These were people with great levels of moral corruption, as well as money and were of a supremely elitist mindset.  However, the man's thirst would not be denied, so he used his cleverness and talents to enter their fold.  It was only a matter of time before the man himself, was also corrupted.  He began to learn the deepest, darkest secrets of the world, those that were kept from the 'lesser people', as he began to refer to the majority of his fellow man.  He learned from the 'Lords of Earth', and their minions.  He learned how they were able to exert control over others through various methods of trickery, manipulation, fear and magick.  'It is for their own good', they would say.  'The world belongs to us, as we are of a superior stock to the chattle', they would brag.
        The man could not control his temptation to use these 'secrets' he had learned on others.  He found himself able to have anything he desired; wealth, power, women, and of course, more 'knowledge'.  He began to see the world as his alone.  Eventually, though, the man grew careless and allowed his desires to consume him.  It was only a matter of time until all of the worldly things he had acquired were lost.  His contemperaries among the elites turned on him, as did his own body.  Soon the man had nothing but all of the 'knowledge' he had amassed over the years and a deep-seated resentment and disgust for the world and the people who had turned on him.  Having no friends among the 'lesser people', the man spent the remainder of his days in resentful drunken solitude.
         One day, the curious and resentful man found death at his bedside.  As the man lay dying, his life began to replay before his eyes.  He saw the errors in his life.  His obsessions had devoured his heart and left no room for the most important things in this world: love and compassion.  The man died sad, regretful, alone and afraid.
        While his occult knowledge allowed him to navigate his soul through the dream-like landscape of the hereafter, the arm of divine Law is long indeed, and the judgement from the Highest Self came just the same.  He felt all the pain he had caused others throughout his life.  He felt remorse for having lived so selfishly.  He had mistaken lies for knowledge; sacrificed reality for illusion.  He had forgotten the Light and the Truth of his Being.  He had not been true to Himself.  He realized this and asked for forgiveness.    
        It was at this point, in the personal torments of his personal chamber of 'hell', that the Great Light came to him, and took his hand.  It picked him up and embraced him.  It said, "I have always been with you, and have always loved you." 
        Instantly, the man knew this to be truth.  It had always been there.  It had been in the love and beauty that he had seen and felt throughout his life, but taken for granted.  The places, the experiences, the people that had brought him his moments of true happiness and joy. It was there.  In the silence of meditation, It had been there.  The man knew when he was allowing he Light to be truly present in his life.  He also instinctively knew that all the times he was in a way of being that was not of the Light, but rather of illusion, delusion and fear, these were the times that led to pain and misfortune.  It was like a joyous homecoming of the greatest variety.
        It took him to a place of light and love that words can never describe.  The man finally found peace there.  He was free of all pain and desire.  It was like a divine womb.  Safe and happy.  He stayed in that place of Oneness for what seemed to be an eternity. It was in that place, where the man finally found true knowledge.  The knowledge of the Light of the Christos and the love of the Mother of Wisdom.  The knowledge of the Great Spirit that connects all, and that of the Eternal One from which all things came and all things will return.  The knowledge of the Self that was all of these things. The Self that was him in his truest, most enternal form.
         It was also here, that he found he had a mission on Earth, one that was not fulfilled in his previous life.  This was a mission that had to be completed so that the way back to the Source of Light can be permanantly created and all could return home.  This was a mission everyone had in their 'hard drive', so to speak, whether they realized it or not.   This mission was to walk with love and compassion and service to his fellow sentient beings and to his True Being.  To see the Great Light and feel the Oneness in all as part of the Great One.  To act as an emissary of the Light and the Truth.  To be a lamp-post to show others the way back to their true home as their True Selves.  Their home away from illusion, delusion, fear and death.  The home we ran away from all those aeons ago.
        These were the things he had forgotten about.  These were the things that actually mattered.  This was how he was going to be able to return home for good.  Back to the place of eternal light and love.  So he went, although somewhat reluctantly, back to try again.  Back to imperfect.  Back to suffering.  Back to Earth.  Back to mankind.  To take what he had acquired and learned, remember it, do the right thing and apply it. With the hopes of completing his mission this time around. Hoping he doesn't have to try again after this go 'round, but accepting the possibility that he might.  As they say, 'if at first you don't succeed...'.