The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight (21 page)

“We sensed that technology has a spiritual purpose,” he said.

“Now,” the older Tibetan continued, looking at all of us, “do you see how the three generations flow together? The World War
II generation fought against tyranny and proved that democracy could not only flourish in the modern world but expand tremendously
and connect the world’s economies. Then, in the middle of the abundance, the boomers arrived to say that there were problems
with this expansion, that we were polluting the natural world and losing touch with nature and a spiritual reality that exists
beneath the whims of history.

“And now the next generation has come along to focus again on the economy, to refashion technology so that it can consciously
support our mental and spiritual ability, the way it has occurred here in Shambhala—instead of allowing technology to fall
solely into the hands of those who would use it to restrict freedom and control others.”

“But this new generation isn’t fully conscious of what they are doing,” I said.

“No, not completely,” he replied. “But this self-awareness and insight is expanding every day. We must set a prayer-field
that lifts them in this direction. It must be a large and strong field. The new generation must help us unify the religions.

“This is very important, because there will always be controllers ready to manipulate this generation into creating negative
uses for technology or taking advantage of their alienation.”

As we sat there, we all heard the low drone of helicopters again, still far in the distance.

“The transition is beginning,” Tashi’s father said, looking at him. “There are many preparations to make. I wanted only to
convey that the generation you represent must now help push all of us forward. You personally have some role in expanding
into the outer cultures what Shambhala has been doing. But only you can decide what you must do.”

The young man looked away.

His father went over and put his arm around him for a moment. Then he embraced Ani and left the house.

Tashi followed him with his eyes as he walked through the door and returned alone to his room.

I
followed Ani out into a sitting area in the garden, full of questions.

“Where did Tashi’s father go?” I asked.

“He’s getting ready for the transition,” she replied, glancing back at me. “This may not be easy. We may all be displaced
for a while. There are many who are coming back from the temples and helping.”

I shook my head. “What do you think will happen?”

“No one knows,” she replied. “The legends are not specific. All we know is that there will be a transition.”

The uncertainty began to diminish my energy level again, and I sat down on one of the benches nearby.

Ani followed and sat beside me. “I do know what you must do,” she said. “You must continue to pursue the rest of the Fourth
Extension. Everything else will take care of itself.”

I nodded halfheartedly.

“Focus on what you have learned here. You have seen how technology must evolve, and you have now begun to see how our culture
focuses itself on the life process, the miracle of birth and conscious evolution. You know that this is the focus that creates
the most inspiration and the most fun.

“The materialistic life in the outer cultures pales when compared to it. We are spiritual beings, and our lives must revolve
around the mysteries of family and talent and the search for individual mission. Again, you now know what such a culture looks
and feels like.

“The legends say that knowing with certainty how cultures can evolve extends everyone’s prayer-field and gives it more power.
Now when you connect within and see your field flowing out in front of you, acting to bring synchronicity and uplifting others
into the synchronistic process, you can do so with greater expectation, because you know with certainty where this process
is taking us all, if we stay true to it and avoid fear and hate.”

She was right. The extensions were all falling into place.

“But I haven’t seen it all,” I said.

“She looked deeply into my eyes. “No, you must continue to understand the rest of the Fourth Extension. There is more. Your
prayer-field can become more powerful yet.”

At that moment we could hear the helicopters again, and the sound of them filled me with anger. They seemed to be getting
closer. How was this possible? How could they know where Shambhala was?

“Damn them,” I said, which produced a horrified look on Ani’s face.

“You have much anger,” she said.

“Well, it’s hard not to be angry when you realize what the Chinese military is doing.”

“This anger is a pattern in you. I’m sure you have been warned of its effect.”

I thought back to all Yin had tried to explain. “Yes, I have. I just keep messing up.”

I could tell she was concerned.

“You’ll have to master this problem,” she said. “But don’t get down on yourself too much. That sends out a negative prayer
that keeps you where you are. On the other hand, you can’t just ignore your anger. You must keep the problem in mind, remind
yourself, stay conscious, and at the same time set your prayer-field that you will break through and discard the old pattern.”

I knew that was a very fine line to walk and would take conscious work on my part.

“What should I do now?” I asked.

“What do you think?”

“I’ve got to go to the temples?”

“Is that your intuition?”

I thought again about my dream and finally told her about it. Her eyes grew wide.

“You dreamed of going to the temples with Tashi?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Well,” she said sternly, “don’t you think you should tell him about it?”

I
walked up to Tashi’s room and touched the wall.

“Come in,” he said, and an opening appeared.

Tashi was stretched out on his bed. He immediately sat up and gestured to a chair across from him. I sat down.

For a moment he was silent, the weight of the world on his shoulders. Finally he said, “I still don’t know what to do.”

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I’m confused. All I can think of is getting to the outer cultures. My mother says I must find my own way. I
wish my grandmother was here.”

“Where is your grandmother?”

“She’s at the temples somewhere.”

We stared at each other for a long time and then he added, “If only I could understand this dream I had.”

I sat up straight. “What dream?”

“I’m with another group of people. I can’t see their faces, but I know that one of them is my sister.” He paused for a moment.
“I could also see a place with water. Somehow I’d gotten to the outer cultures.”

“I’ve had a dream too,” I said. “You were with me. We were at one of the temples… it was blue… and we found someone else there.”

A trace of a smile crossed Tashi’s face.

“What are you saying?” he asked. “That I’m supposed to go to the temples instead of to the outer cultures?”

“No,” I said. “That’s not what I mean. You told me that everyone thinks it’s impossible to get to the outer cultures through
the temples. But what if it’s not?”

His face lit up. “You mean, go to the temples and try to get to the outer cultures from there?”

I just looked at him.

“That must be it,” he said, standing up. “Perhaps I have been called, after all.”

N
o sooner had we walked out of the bedroom than the sounds of the helicopters in the distance increased.

Ani came into the house and pulled out three heavy backpacks from a storage bin. She handed them to us along with two parkas.
I noticed that they seemed to have been conventionally made with cloth and stitching. I was about to ask about them, but she
quickly ushered us out of the dwelling and led us down the path to our left.

As we walked, Ani moved up beside Tashi and I could hear him telling her about his decision to go to the temples. The rumblings
from the helicopters were coming ever closer, and the blue sky had now turned into a thick overcast.

At one point I asked her where we were heading.

“To the caves,” she said. “You’ll need some time to prepare.”

We walked down a rocky path which traversed the side of a sheer cliff and onto a plateau on the other side. Here Ani waved
us into a small gully, where we huddled, listening. The helicopters moved in a small circle over the cliffs for a moment and
followed our path exactly until they were directly over us.

Ani looked horrified.

“What’s happening?” I yelled.

Without answering she climbed out of the gully and motioned for us to follow. We ran perhaps half a mile across the plateau
and into another hilly area, then stopped and waited. As before, the helicopters circled behind us until they arrived directly
overhead.

A gust of frigid air hit us, almost knocking me over. At the same time, all of the clothes disappeared from our bodies except
for the heavy coats.

“I thought this might happen,” Ani said, pulling more clothes from the packs. I still had my boots on, but Tashi’s and Ani’s
had disappeared. She gave him a pair made of leather and put on another herself. When we finished, we made our way up the
slope, climbing between the rocks until we arrived at a flatter area. A heavy snow shower was beginning and the temperature
was falling. The helicopters seemed to have lost their way for the moment.

I looked out on the once green valley. Snow had covered almost everything and the plants already seemed to be withering from
the cold.

“It’s the effect of the soldiers’ energy,” Ani said. “It is destroying our environmental field.”

Glancing toward the sound of the helicopters, I felt a new surge of anger. They banked immediately and headed straight toward
us.

“Let’s go,” Ani shouted.

I
moved up closer to the small fire, feeling the morning chill. We had walked for another hour and spent the night in a small
cave. In spite of several layers of insulated undergarments, I was still freezing. Tashi was now huddled up beside me, and
Ani was looking out through the opening at the frozen world outside. The snow had been falling for hours.

“It’s all gone now,” Ani said. “There’s nothing out there now but ice.”

I moved over to the opening and looked out. What was once a wooded valley with hundreds of dwellings was now nothing but snow
and jagged mountains. Here and there were the bentover remains of trees, but not a spot of color could be seen. All the houses
had simply vanished, and the river that ran through the center of the valley was frozen over.

“The temperature must have fallen sixty degrees,” Ani added.

“What happened?” I asked.

“When the Chinese found us, the power of their thoughts and their expectations of frigid weather counteracted the field that
we had set to keep the temperature moderate. Ordinarily the strength of the fields provided by those at the temples would
have been strong enough to have kept the Chinese away altogether, but they knew it was time for the transition.”

“What? They let them in on purpose?”

“It was the only way. If you and the others who have found us were allowed in, there was no way to keep out the soldiers.
You are not strong enough to keep all negative thoughts out of your mind. And the Chinese have followed you here.”

“You mean this is my fault?” I said.

“It’s okay. It is part of the dispersal.”

I wasn’t consoled. I moved back to the fire and Ani followed. Tashi had prepared a stew of dried vegetables.

“You must realize,” she said, “that everything is all right with the people of Shambhala. All this was expected. Everyone
who was here is fine. Enough people came back from the temples to take them through the spatial windows to a new place of
safety. Our legends have prepared us well.”

She pointed out toward the valley. “You must focus on what you’re doing. You and Tashi have to make it to the temples without
being captured by the military. The rest of what Shambhala has been doing for humanity must be known.”

She stopped as we both heard the faint rumblings of a distant helicopter. The sound grew fainter and finally disappeared.

“And you must be much more careful,” she said. “I thought you knew not to allow negative images into your mind, especially
hateful or disparaging thoughts.”

I knew she was right, but I still felt confused about how all that worked.

She looked hard at me. “Sooner or later, you’re going to have to deal with your pattern of anger.”

I was about to ask a question when out through the cave opening we saw several dozen people walking down an icy slope to our
right.

Ani stood up and looked at Tashi.

“There is no more time,” she said. “I have to go. I have to help these people find a way out. Your father will be waiting
on me.”

“Can’t you come with us?” Tashi asked, moving closer to her.

I could see that he had tears in his eyes.

Ani stared at him and looked out the icy crevice at the other people.

“I can’t,” she said, hugging him tightly. “My place is here, helping with the transition. But don’t worry. I’ll find you wherever
you are.”

She walked toward the mouth of the cave and turned around to face both of us.

“You will be fine,” she said. “But be careful. You cannot keep your energy up if you are overwhelmed with anger. You must
have no enemies.”

She stopped and looked at me, and then said something I had heard many times on this journey.

“And remember,” she instructed, smiling, “you are being helped.”

T
ashi looked over his shoulder and smiled at me as we trudged through the deep snow. It was getting colder, and I struggled
to maintain my energy. To reach the mountain range holding the temples, we had to climb down the ridge we were on, cross the
frozen valley, and climb almost straight up and over another mountain. We had made our way down almost a quarter of a mile
without difficulty but now seemed to be reaching the edge of a rock precipice. Below was a sheer drop-off of almost fifty
feet.