what happens when we die?

"What happens when we die, Story Teller?"

The question was asked by a precocious young girl who evidently thought about such things. The other members of the community either dismissed the thought of death and an afterlife from their minds or had already decided either that the question was unanswerable or had provided an answer for themselves that was at least partially satisfactory.

They had gathered at the community fire that evening with no thought of death at all. The moon was full, their bellies were full, and life seemed eternal.

"At first, we may not know that we are dead," said Story Teller. "Many, perhaps most, do not."

"Do you mean we are the same as we are now?" she asked.

"Yes. We have the same consciousness after death as we do when we die," he said.

"What happens then?"

"We stay within the light of our awareness until we are told that greater light is available. Some of us do not want greater light. We are comfortable with the relative darkness we have already chosen."

"If we want more light, we continue opening to it along with others in the community of beings to which we are naturally drawn."

"I do not understand," she said. "What is the light and darkness?"

The other members of the community that Story Teller was visiting that evening were silently listening. Story Teller had not experienced such deep silence among story listeners before. Folk were usually moving, adjusting their clothing, coughing, sighing, looking off into the distance from time to time, their attention elsewhere. They sat enrapt.

"Darkness comes from love of self and of the human-created world. Light comes with love of others and of our Source."

"But aren't we supposed to love our selves and the world?" she asked.

"Yes." said Story Teller. "But if our love is fixed there and no where else, we live in darkness. We are like a lamp seeing nothing but its own light and not what the light reveals. Nor are we open to the Greater Light from which our light comes."

"After our bodies die, is hell then our staying in our own light, our own love of self?" she asked.

"Young woman, you are very bright," said Story Teller. "I see you already live in heavenly places. The light of your awareness is open to others and to the One who co-creates you."

She sat quietly.

"When you drop your body, you will continue growing in light, in intelligence and in wisdom."

"What happens to those who choose to stay within their own light of self-focus?" she asked.

"They will continue to be invited to expand their capacity for Love," he said. "Eternity is a long time. As long as they refuse, they will remain caught in their own misery, which self-love always turns out to be."

"But let's go to now," said Story Teller, awakening people out of their afterlife trance. "Might as well live as if we had already died. And that means to live, to truly live!. Stand up, everyone!"

"Now hold your arms out to each other, to the moon, to the earth, to all who have gone before, to all who are yet to come! Expand your capacity to love!"

A drum began beating. A guitar began playing. Gentle laughter arose. Some began singing. All began visiting with each other, appreciating each other, their vulnerability, their interflow of love and of community.

The young girl smiled.

seeds

It was spring. Every household in the small town had a garden. Each planted their favorites: corn, squash, beans, tomatoes, okra, melon.

The day had been a hot one. Now it was cooling into evening, that special time of twilight when the birds began returning to their perches and nests and the bats began swooping after insects.

Folk had eaten their evening meal and were gathering in the plaza to hear Story Teller. He sat on a bench at the plaza's edge, facing the gurgling fountain at its center. Families brought chairs and mats and arranged themselves in comfortable positions to hear the night's story.

Story Teller stood.

"I want to talk tonight about seeds," he said.

"You may remember that the primary mission of  John the Baptist was to announce the arrival of Yeshua. John was an excellent story teller. People entranced themselves with his words. One of the things he said was, referring to Yeshua, 'He must increase while I must decrease.'

"These are the exact words of a seed. For a seed to bear fruit, it must follow the two 'musts.' The must of decrease and the must of increase.

"If the seed does not decrease, it will not increase.

"Yeshua spoke to the same point later. He said the seed, a kernel of wheat, had to fall into the ground and die. Otherwise it was worthless. No crop. No yield."

The people listening to Story Teller understood this well. Where was he going with this?

Story Teller said, "You are, we are, the seeds. We are planted here, in the Ground of Existence. Each of us is a singularity folded in on itself. As long as we stay self-absorbed, we will die, producing no fruit, just a rotted seed, worthless.

"Within us as seeds, however is a strong urge, an urge to open, to grow, to become firmly grounded while opening to all around us. We are nurtured by both the heavenly light of knowledge and understanding and by the manure and compost of earthly life.

"No two seeds are alike. Each produces a uniqueness when it blossoms and unfolds.

"Each os us seeds must listen to and honor our specific genetics. A wisdom exists within the seed that tells it how to grow, what it needs to grow. Some seeds need to send down deeper roots for nourishment and water. Others seem to do well on morning dew and sunlight.

"Every seed has its way of growing. What is important is that it not cling to itself but allow increase.

Story Teller stood silently for a few moments.

Then he said, "Everyone please stand up."

They moaned. They groaned. They stood.

"Open both of your hands. Now bring them down in front of you as if you are pressing something to the earth. Good! Now bring them up in front of you and stand with arms open to the sky. Excellent!

"You got it! Now repeat after me an old saying: 'Rooting and grounding in love.' Here we go!"

They began chanting in unison: Rooting and grounding in love.

"Okay!" exclaimed Story Teller. Giggling and laughter calmed into an expectant silence.

"Now," said Story Teller. "Put the two together. As you say 'rooting and grounding,' bring your arms down to earth. As you say 'in love,' open your arms to the sky."

"ROOTING AND GROUNDING! IN LOVE!' they chanted and moved. Over and over again.

People began dancing with the arm movements while laughing and chanting.

"You have all gone to seed!" shouted Story Teller.

They laughed and danced and moved and hugged and let go into the night.

the dark pearl

A village elder, known for his calculated shrewdness, made sure he found Story Teller alone one day.

Story Teller was perched on a large rock overlooking the running water of a nearby stream.

The elder said hello and sat beside him. They sat in silence for a while, no sounds except the gurgling of the flowing water and the light breeze in their ears.

The elder said, "I need you to come clean."

Story Teller smiled. "Okay."

"You don't know what about, what I want you to come clean about. How can you say okay?"

"I don't need to question you. I figure you will tell me." said Story Teller.

"Hmmph!" said the elder.

More silence.

"Let's get to the bottom of this." said the elder. "You tell us these amusing stories which I do not always completely understand."

Story Teller knew that was quite an admission for this man who regarded himself as highly knowledgeable and insisted that others see him that way too.

He sat quietly, allowing room for the elder's story to unfold.

"What is the meaning of it all? On what can we rely?" asked the elder. "What is the bottom line?"

The man's questions hung in the air for a while.

Story Teller said, "I will tell you a story."

The man groaned. "No straight answer? I want it in black and white."

Story Teller said, "I will give you the answer. You will have to be the one to make it black and white."

He continued. "Long ago there was an Emperor, loved by the people for his wisdom, his justice, and his kindness. He decided to take a trek. He went far out, climbed the highest mountain overlooking the ocean, sat quietly for a while, then returned home."

"When he got home, he found that he had lost the secret to all treasure. His Dark Pearl. He felt lost without it. He sent Knowledge out to look for it. Knowledge looked everywhere, retracing the Emperor's steps in fine detail. He kept good records. You can still read the efforts of his search in the Knowledge journals. He could not find the Pearl."

Story Teller paused. "And?" said the elder, impatient for knowledge.

"The Emperor tried a different approach. He sent Sharp Eyes out to look for the Pearl. Sharp Eyes could see everything visible. Sharp Eyes looked everywhere but Sharp Eyes could not find it.

"The Emperor was desperate. He did not expect much to come of it, but he sent Wrangling Debate out to look for the Dark Pearl. Wrangling Debate questioned everything and everyone that had anything to do with the Dark Pearl. He received wild acclaim for his ability to talk anyone into a corner. But he could not find the Pearl."

"Aha!" said the Emperor. "I know who I will send to find the Dark Pearl. So he did. And the Dark Pearl was found. He sent Formlessness, the Unbound."

Silence.

The elder was caught in thought. He started to argue with Story Teller then remembered that Wrangling Debate was useless. He sat confused.

Story Teller picked up a pebble and tossed it, bonking the elder in the head.

The elder burst out laughing.

He and Story Teller whooped until tears ran down their cheeks.

Yeshua and the adversary

"Do you know what an adversary is?" asked Story Teller.

The small community grew quiet.

"An adversary is one who wants your downfall," he said.

"An adversary will do whatever is possible to see if you can be crippled or destroyed.

"Tonight I wish to tell you the story of Yeshua and the adversary.

"As you recall, Yahweh decided to become human and go through all the stuff we go through. All of it. He went through the birth canal, became a baby, a child, a teenager, and was now a young man ready to achieve his mission.

"After being baptized by John, Yeshua decided to go on a retreat. Retreat is a funny name for it, because a true retreat is also an advance. You retreat from the hardened form you have become and advance into new and deeper realms.

"Yeshua needed to get away from everybody and all their expectations. His Mama wanted this; his brothers and sisters wanted that. His neighbors were already staring at him funny.

"All of you know how it goes. It begins to seem like everyone wants a piece of your action. That is why we have vacations. To vacate means to empty, to let it all go for a while. We also call it a holiday, a day or days when we can become whole, holy.

"I can see by the look on some of your faces that you most definitely need a holiday now."

Several folk began laughing.

"That's it," said Story Teller. "Laughter is a small vacation. So is listening to a story. We leave behind what has become so ordinary, so constricting.

"As anyone who has gone on vacation or on a retreat knows, it takes a while to let go. One still has some things to work through, to let go of, before being truly vacated or wholly into this moment, this momentum, now.

"Well, Yeshua has a little help with that. No sooner is he out away from it all than his adversary wants to knock him off his path.

"Hi Yeshua," he says. "You've been out here for quite some time now. I know you must be hungry. Think of hot steaming bread dripping with butter and honey. Since you are really Yahweh, you could turn these stones into that. No one would ever know. Nobody here but you and me."

Story Teller said, "We all recognize that one. Put your physical body first.Then you can do all that other stuff. But Yeshua has a lot at stake here. His mission is to lead a fully human life. If he transforms stones into bread to satisfy his human needs, he has abandoned his mission.

"So he says, 'Nope.'

"The adversary switches gears. He decides to try to throw Yeshua off course by appealing to his personal power. 'Throw yourself off this high place here. It would kill anyone else, but you know you would be alright. Come on. Prove yourself.'

"Yeshua laughs. 'I don't have to prove myself. I am my proof.'

"The adversary says 'hmmmm, this dude is tough.' But he has one more thing to try. It has worked with most everyone else. Empire! Build your personal empire!

"He says to Yeshua, 'Abandon your vision of the cosmos and accept my vision which is realistic and true and based upon hard core experimental data. If you do so, I will make you Emperor of the World.'

"Yeshua laughs out loud at that one. 'You have to be kidding,' he says. 'I'm not going to worship you. How about if you worship me?'

"The adversary didn't particularly care for Yeshua's attitude. So he turned his back on him and left.

"It was then that the angels came and the retreat shifted into an advance."

They all sat quietly for a while absorbing the story.