| From: | Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | the White Tiger |
| Date: | Wed, 11 Dec 1996 14:14:24 -0800 |
>>>>>[Lady Rodriguez, I have such glad news to share, yet so few to share
it with. After the training exercise with the paratroop company, I was
given the opportunity to further train my spirit as well as my body. My
development proved sufficient to my sifu that I have been recognized for
initiation into my next level of enlightenment. However, that is not the
greatest of recent events. I have met White Tiger. Honestly, I have
doubt that I am worthy enough to have met THE White Tiger of the company
of the great guardian spirits: Crimson Phoenix of the South, Black Turtle
of the North, Green Dragon of the East, and White Tiger of the West, but
make of my story what you will.
The final step on my journey to reach my next level involved a highly
personal quest to understand the source of my Chi. I believe it is
similar to what those of the American Indian Shamanic traditions call a
"vision quest." Days of meditation and intense training helped me to find
my center. Only then could my sifu lead me further. It felt to me, as
though I was falling within myself. Not so that I was plummeting to my
death, but more that my spirit was gliding along an unseen path to where I
must go. Arriving at some place deep within, I found a firm footing in
the void. I could feel my limbs, but other senses were useless.
Then in the void, two eyes opened, emerald green as my own, slit like mine
become when I must see in darkness. I knew they belonged to an immense
face, even though size and distance are meaningless in such a void.
Strangely, I knew that what I saw did not come through my eyes. It was
some new sense that had just been awakened, like a blind kitten opening
its long-shut eyes for the first time.
"Who are you?" it asked me, the shockwave of its voice shook my bones.
That was the very question I had come seeking the answer. I answered with
the only knowledge I had: "I am Kyle."
When it did not question me any further, I gathered the courage to ask in
kind, "Who are you?" Like out of a rippling pool, its face covered in the
white and black striped fur--that I somehow knew it would have--surfaced.
"I am White Tiger. I am your source." We stared at each other for an
instant or an eternity, I do not know which, and I understood. Reaching
out my hand, I could see myself, as if I was infused with some inner
light. I reached to touch White Tiger, only to feel the soft fur on top
of his nose, and he let me. No dream, no hallucination could have felt as
solid or as real. It was a time of deep personal revelation, which
regrettably would be meaningless to anyone but myself.
I can see now. After sifu brought me out of the trance in which he and I
had placed me, I could see him as he really is. One can read the accounts
of others perceptions of what has been called "the astral." But seeing by
ones own for the first time is truly a profound experience. My elders and
I have attempted to allow me to project into the astral, but from what I
understand, I am not a "usual" shaman. What energies I have focused into
myself must have anchored my astral form into my physical one. It is a
small loss for one who has never projected, but I suppose I would have
said the same of my new sight before being able to see as I do now.
Perhaps some day we may share some of your tales of the spirit world.
The remaining time I have spent with my sifu has been in learning to seek
and commune with spirits. They are not like I had expected, but so little
of life is, is it not? I have returned to the Seattle area, and continue
in my now expanded scope of training. I hope that we may meet
again.]<<<<<
-- WhiteTyger <14:10:34/12-11-57>
