The passageway can lead to spectacular vistas. The journey is yours to take…

 

“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.

Don’t go back to sleep.

 

You must ask for what you really want.

Don’t go back to sleep.

 

People are going back and forth across the doorsill

where the two worlds touch.

 

The door is round and open.

Don’t go back to sleep.” – Rumi

 

 

“The Passageway” was inspired by the concept of Elysium in Greek and Roman Mythology. The Elysian Fields were the final resting grounds for heroic and virtuous souls, a place that was synonymous with paradise. Those who lived a good life would be rewarded in the after life by being able to spend it with the gods.

 

As I thought about this idea, I thought about how once you began your journey into the other realm; it was that moment of knowing, knowing that that was what your destination was, was the most significant. Once you were there, you were there, and you were in paradise. But the journey, The Passageway, would be the most significant part of your transition.

 

I have been told by people that they see battles between good and evil, light and dark, heaven and hell, within this painting. I have been told it seems tumultuous, almost scary. Yet, some see it as a clearing, a space of letting go and moving beyond the earthly.

 

In reality, The Passageway will be different for everyone, for in order to arrive at that final destination, ‘the land of the gods,’ one must first go through some battles with ego along the way. One has to shed the ego fully in order to achieve that ‘destination’ of oneness. And ego is not comfortable with being cast aside. Ego is a clever fighter and will trick you in a thousand different ways in order to survive. And if you still choose to let go, ego will try a thousand more different ways….

 

If one cannot do that, if one cannot see through the veil of illusion, if one cannot die those thousand deaths in order to fully live, then one will always be stuck in that passageway…

 

“You’ve endured many terrible griefs`

But you are still under a veil-

Because dying to yourself is the fundamental principle

And you haven’t adhered to it.

Your suffering cannot end

Before this death is complete.”- Rumi

 

Now what if we take this a step further, what if we look a bit deeper into the well, and see that although it is dark, we are still reflected within…. What if we pause and consider this passageway as not something that we journey after our bodies leave this physical plane, but rather, it is a reflection of our journey while we are here…..

 

“The more I suffer, the more my heart opens. The more I suffer, the more I have clarity. The spirit is energy. I have died. I have died so many times, I cannot keep track. There are different heavens, different levels of heaven and there are many realms of being. There are different levels of birth and death. I am constantly ascending, moving through after I have learned what is needed there and moving on….Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! We are more, so much more than what we perceive ourselves to be. We are more than a body, more than a mind, more than our experiences, and much more than our drama. We are more than a body, but, still blessed to be in body. We are god in body….How can we be disconnected from source, when we are this source?…” –John M. Healey, from “The Awakening of a Foot Soldier:”

 

This is a journey. This is the journey. It is a journey each must do alone, yet, ones passage directly affects all others…. Care to venture on the ultimate road trip?