Kyla Just Another Fairy tale?

By Rev.
Patrick J. Harbula

Once upon a time there was a far off enchanted land called Anavrin. It was known as a place of peace. There was no war and no disease. Everyone worked and learned together supportive of one another. It is said that the air was filled with color and all of nature was arrayed in waves of soft pastel. It was like living in a holographic rainbow. In the center of this vast land was a small village named Pardisa.

In this small community lived a young girl named Kyla. She was a very beautiful little girl with round facial features and a cute little button nose. She was a happy, seemingly carefree young girl yet she possessed a certain depth characteristic of few her age. She was just nine and at the stage of development when she had many questions about life. Her queries at times even challenged the guardians, or lighted ones, as they were called in the small village.

Kyla had a sense she was different from others. She appreciated her own ability to query into subjects beyond the interests of her peers but at the same time she felt insecure about feeling different. She sometimes even wondered if there was something wrong with her. She felt a certain loneliness at times. But all in all she enjoyed life and took pride in her studies and duties in the little village. Everyone loved Kyla.

Frequently Kyla could be found conversing with the teachers and elders of the community. She asked Sista, her favorite teacher, why she felt different from her friends. Sista, whose face was always bright and shining with gentle warmth, replied “You have a talent of great insights, Kyla, but you are afraid that others will not accept you if you are open with your talent. You believe they will feel you are superior to them. When you are willing to understand and receive the talents of others as well as sharing your own you will lose your feeling of alienation.”

Kyla learned her lessons quickly. She spent more time with her friends sharing with them. One day she and her young friends were playing change and seek. The fairies and elves of the village would change themselves into various flowers and plants and the children would try to guess which flower was which fairy. Kyla ran and touched a large yellow and orange lily-shaped flower and shouted, “Pricila!” Her guess was confirmed as the fairy reappeared in her usual white ethereal shape fluttering her wings and flying about. Kyla played with Pricila a while allowing the other children to guess some of the other plants and flowers. Kyla enjoyed letting her friends get ahead of her and sometimes win because the game was easier for her due to her intuitional abilities. She knew that when others won they gained more confidence which made for interesting future games.

As they played, Kyla asked her flittering friend what it was like to be a deva. “What do you mean what is it like,” she responded in a carefree tone. “I mean how does it feel being able to fly around and change into other forms.” She didn’t seem to give the question much importance. “I have always been a fairy. I don’t know any other way of being to compare it to. I just am what I am.” It was a perplexing viewpoint for Kyla and distinctive from her own self-inquisitive nature. She felt a certain freedom in Pricila’s attitude and she walked away pondering the meaning in this lesson.

Around the time Kyla turned eleven she began to feel somewhat lonely again. She longed for answers to questions about life, what it meant. Where did she come from? Where would she go after life? Her teachers tried to be helpful but their answers sometimes created more questions.

Then one day while she was sitting by the pond starting at her image in the crystal blue water which was reflecting the beautiful colors of the sky into her eyes, she sensed one of the elders watching her. It was Hasham, considered the wisest of the village guardians. Kyla felt his wisdom bathing her. She felt nurtured and warm inside. It was as though he were answering her questions or, actually, helping her to feel complete without answers. From that day on she felt the presence of Hasham teaching her, healing her feelings of loneliness and inspiring her to follow her dreams.

Sometime later she had the courage to approach Hasham. “Hasham, wise one,” she said, “I feel your presence helping me when I sleep and when I am quiet. How is it you have the power to help people in this way?” A pleasant smile formed in the midst of his long white beard. He softly asked, “How is it you have the power to know what I am up to, Kyla?” “It is not a power,” she replied. “I just feel and know it.” “This is true of all our talents,” Hasham explained. “Each one of us here in Pardisa has individual talents, some more developed than others. But as you know, no one is considered superior to anyone else. Each person is appreciated for the gifts they have to offer whatever they may be.” “Then why is it you are considered the wisest being in Pardisa?” she challenged the guardian. “I am appreciated for my wisdom as you are appreciated for your sensitivity as your friend Sista is honored for her compassion. These are acknowledgements, not comparisons.”

Kyla’s eyes lit up as she realized she was addressing someone who could answer her questions. “My teachers have told me that there are other forms of living and growing that are different from those we have here. I desperately want to know what these other forms are.” Hasham smiled again, sensing he had a long conversation ahead of him. “There are many other ways of life in this universe,” he said mysteriously. “There are even places where people fight against one another. They do not recognize that they are part of each other. Most of them cannot see fairies and other beautiful aspects of life. Their children have two designated parents who teach them when they are young, instead of being raised by their community.”

Kyla’s eyes opened wide as she listened to such unbelievable stories. Her whole being quivered with anticipation as she asked the question most important to her. “What happens to us after life? We live our whole lives learning and studying so we can reach another level that my teachers call ecstasy, but no one seems to know what it is like.” Hasham’s smile faded slightly as he recognized Kyla’s attachment to the answer. His eyes became deep pools of water filled with wisdom. He said gently, “There is an old saying in Pardisa, ‘the sky is always brighter on the other side of the rainbow.’ It is valuable to question and seek knowledge about other realities but it becomes an obstacle when it distracts us from living in the present. Life is a continuum. We are conscientious about learning our lessons not so we can get to some place else, not for the promise of ecstasy but to find use for our knowledge in the present and enjoy the process of development. We want to be more yet we can feel complete in every moment.”

The next day while Kyla visited Hasham, he told her that he would be leaving the village soon, as it was time for him to move on to other levels. Everyone in Anavrin knew when it was time for them to transit to their next level. His last words to her were “Ecstasy can be found in your heart, Kyla.” Kyla would miss her friend’s presence but she rejoiced in the celebration of his graduation to ecstasy.

Throughout the rest of her life, whenever she began to feel empty inside as she strived to know ecstasy, she would remember his words and the feeling of acceptance he projected through the wisdom of living in the present. She often felt his presence and knew that wherever he was, he still watched over her. As the end of her life came near, her hair became white and her eyes filled with the wisdom of Hasham. Throughout her last days in Pardisa she had an uncanny sense of peace as she no longer strived for something outside herself. She came to the realization that however fantastic ecstasy might be, its value was equalled by the experiences of her life in Pardisa.

Finally the day of her departure arrived and the celebration began. As was customary, all the villagers joined in the parade around Pardisa leading to the central altar upon which Kyla would lie. The fairies were dressed in vibrant colors as they flew above the village. As she reached the center, her closest friends circled the altar with the others behind them. She looked around at their smiles and the love projecting from their eyes one final time before her eyelids closed.

Beams of golden light began streaming from everyone around the altar surrounding and penetrating Kyla as the whole village began chanting in rhythmic soothing tones. She felt more peaceful than she ever had before. As the chanting increased in volume and intensity she felt herself growing lighter. Her body began slowly rising above the altar. The color of her body became brighter and her density lighter. Finally she disappeared from the view of her friends. She found herself floating through a tunnel of light. She could but faintly hear the continuing sound of the chanting and then it faded completely. She continued moving through the tunnel yet there was no sense of time or space. As her consciousness began to merge with the light she began to lose sense of her identity. Finally she felt herself become the light, and it was gone. Left was only darkness, no time, no space, no sensation…..

Again there was a tunnel, this time of dull light. She moved through the tunnel with great effort and the light became brighter as she approached the end. Suddenly there was a sense of fear–emotion she had never experienced—of the unknown. She could hear muffled screams all around her. Her heart raced with horrified yet excited anticipation. Suddenly there was a burst of blinding light all around, clamoring noises, giant awesome images. She felt overwhelmed, afraid yet vibrantly alive. She was immersed in the experience of intertwined pain, uncertainty and the ecstasy of being birthed into sensory experience life in a far off enchanted land called Earth.

For more articles from the Meditation Magazine Archives, please visit this link:
http://livingpurposeinstitute.com/articles-2/meditation-articles/

For information on Living Purpose Institute: life coaching, life coach training and certification, workshops, classes, meditation ceremonies, ceremonial sweat lodge ceremonies, retreats, videos, and much more, please visit:
http://livingpurposeinstitute.com/