BASIC TEACHING 7 THE GOLDEN CITY
If you are approaching this basic teaching for the first time, then please go to and begin at ‘basic teaching 1’ as these studies and exercises are in sequence, each one building upon the previous studies and exercises to form an introductory program.
If you have carried out the relaxation exercises properly and followed on using the guided imagery template scripts in the earlier basic teaching lessons, keeping a spiritual journal of what you have seen, then you should already have received some teaching about Ignorance and Illusions and in particular, Illusions that are relative to you. You should also have learned something about the Path and the Narrow Gate, as well as your faithful Companion’s name and True Nature. If these are questions that have not been answered, then you can ask them in your next guided imagery session. Since this is a spiritual quest, you should also have asked your faithful Companion about God and about any concerns that you have concerning the Divine, allowing your Companion to answer in their own way…they may speak, or show you a picture, or give you a gift or something like this, but what they do will be relevant to your question.
THE PATH
Now, though Pilgrims follow their own path, they are all converging on the Golden City, and so despite their varied paths, there is nevertheless some similarity of direction and destination that is common to all Pilgrims.
THE LOCATION OF THE GOLDEN CITY
Now what is it that is meant by this term ‘Golden City? It is ‘the Domain of the Absolute, a place where aspects of the Absolute can be understood or experienced whilst we remain in contracted or material form. It is a place not considered by many people until they are close to death. Unlike Christianity, the Golden City is not a place inhabited by the souls of Pilgrims who have died, rather, death prevents entry through the Gate and into the City.
If we consider the Absolute for a moment, where will we place God-as-Spirit? Does God dwell here and not there? Or in this place but not that? One of the first lessons that the Pilgrim has to learn is that all things are a manifestation of God. Does God dwell in a soul or spirit but not in a body? No. All that exists is Absolute God contracted to form, undiluted and without measure. The Absolute is not confined to a locality or a time. The Formless Absolute transcends time and space, transcends language and concept, but is contracted in space and time and expressed in language and concept that we may gain some understanding and communicate what we know and experience.
Where then is the Golden City? It is in all places and in all things and also transcends all places and all things. It is within and also without, it is both object and subject. For if we consider the experience of God-Immediacy, of mystical union with God, what do we find? Sometimes we find God within, deep within ourselves, in our heart, or deepest mind or what we commonly call our soul or spirit: that is, in the essence and core of what we are. It seems to have a deep, internal quality. Yet we may also find that in the experience of God-Immediacy we are, as it were, taken out of ourselves, lifted up to spiritual heights, freed from the shackles of material concerns and the physical body and elevated to the ecstatic heights of Oneness and Unity with the Absolute, somehow outside of ourselves.
Thus it is that though the True Self is God, in that our true nature is that we are an expression of contracted-God, God is not limited to being expressed in each individual self, for all that is manifest is God contracted to a span. Thus God is not a tree or a sun or a moon. God is in all these things but is not any of them. Those that worship the tree and bow down to the moon are stuck in the Field of Illusions. They limit the Absolute to a particular manifest form. Rather, the domain of the Absolute is in all things but is not any of them. We cannot say, ‘Here is the City of God, but it is not there in that other place.’. Instead, the domain of the Absolute is in all things, and for each of us, the place where aspects of the Absolute are understood and experienced by us is different, with each path to that City Gate being unique. The Golden City is that mode of awareness near the end of the Luminous Path where an individual is close to directly gazing upon or becoming one with the Absolute.
PRACTICAL EXERCISE – RELAXATION AND IMAGERY
In practical terms, you can continue the visualization/guided imagery exercises following the relaxation of the body and the stilling of the mind which should now be accomplished in about ten minutes. You should have completed your visit to the Field of Illusions and spent time considering the Darkness of Ignorance and your reaction to it and begun your journey along the Luminous Path. You should have walked through the Vale of Ignorance to the narrow gate and met your Faithful Companion and spent some time talking with your Companion and learning their name and received teaching. This imagery should not have been forced: rather you should allow the images to come to your stilled mind.
Carry out your relaxation exercise and when you are relaxed, use the following as a loosely guiding template, but where possible, allow the imagery to take its own direction.
As before, it is best to find a place where you will not be disturbed for at least half an hour or so, somewhere that is warm and comfortable. If the text below is recorded, it is good if you can listen to the text using headphones or earphones, so that other distracting noises are minimized. You also need to wear loose clothes, which means at least undoing the top button of a shirt or blouse and loosening a tie if you wear one, and also undoing or loosening any belt that you wear. Wearing a loose fitting tracksuit would be ideal. Use a soft cushion or pillow to support your head. It is O.K. to play New Age type music or something similar to help relax you, providing it does not distract you. When you are ready, lie down comfortably, close your eyes and place your arms at your sides with your fingers open. If stray thoughts come to your mind, say to yourself, ‘STOP’. Push them away and concentrate on what we are doing.
Text:
Just ask yourself: Is there any tension in my legs, in my thighs in my buttocks? If there is, let it go. Let all the tension out – more and more and more relaxed – (Ten second pause) Then ask yourself: Is there any tension in my stomach, back or chest? If there is, let it go – breathe easily and comfortably like you do in a deep sleep – all the tension out – Ask yourself: is there any tension in my fingers, my arms, or my shoulders? If there is, let it go – Let your arms get limp and heavy. (ten second pause) Ask yourself: Is there any tension between my shoulder blades or in my neck? If there is, let it go – Your head is falling limply back –(pause) And now ask yourself, Is there any tension in my face, my jaws or throat? If there is, just let it go – All the tension out – Just keep letting go (pause).
And now, picture in your mind a pleasant scene – get a good clear picture, not just the sight, but the sounds and smells and the feel – if your mind wanders, always bring it back to the pleasant scene. And while you hold that picture in your mind, concentrate on relaxing the muscles in your toes – let them go – Relax the muscles of your thighs – let them go – relax the muscles of your buttocks – let them go – Keep picturing your pleasant scene. If stray thoughts come to your mind, just tell yourself STOP. Put them away – Just concentrate on the muscles of your stomach – let the tension go – relax – Relax the muscles of your back – relax the muscles of your chest – Breathe easily and comfortably – Keep picturing your pleasant scene – Relax the muscles of your fingers – relax your arms – Relax your shoulders – Let the tension out – Relax your neck – Relax your tongue and jaw and mouth – Relax your throat – All the tension out – let yourself feel limp and heavy all over – Now keep picturing the pleasant scene – Calm and relaxed – Calm and relaxed – (ten second pause) – If you feel any tension anywhere, just let it go – (thirty second pause) – You return again to greet your friendly Companion who is waiting for you….spend a few moments to greet and talk with them….listen to anything they have to say or to show you or give to you…..your faithful Companion now wants to continue the journey……you begin to walk and talk together…..now you look ahead….and you see before you a Golden City…take a few moments to look at it….at its buildings…their colour….their shapes…and you see many more Pilgrims, each with their faithful Companion….each on their own path….converging to the City Gate….as you approach the City, the noise of people talking gets louder ….you see that they are all crowding into one gateway…..jostling and pressing to get through the gate….on the left and right side of the gate you see two skeletons….as Pilgrims press one at a time through the gate…..some of them are shrouded with black cloaks by the skeletons….some Pilgrims get through the gate….others are shrouded and disappear with their faithful Companion…the throng of Pilgrims is pressing you to the gate…..you must decide whether to go in through the gate to the Golden City…..or move to the left where the luminous Path leads away into the countryside….notice how you are feeling….notice your preferred decision…..then, when you are ready, say goodbye to your Companion telling them that you will be back soon….return to the room where you are relaxing.
KEEPING A SPIRITUAL JOURNAL
Note down your experiences in your spiritual journal as before.
THE SPIRITUAL WALK
Continue your walk on the Unified Path walking in the light virtues of Love, Balance, Peace, Unity, and Oneness. You are seeking to break down division, separateness and boundaries – this is the Virtuous Way: the way of emulating the Divine.
WHAT NEXT?
By now you should be getting used to this method. So far, I have given you a guiding template for your imagery that is being used to explore a spiritual path. But in giving you such a template, however much I try not to, I am giving you suggestions and leading you. The next stage is Free Imagery. If you have managed to carry out these practical relaxation and imagery sessions from the beginning to now, and have found the practice useful, then you carry on in the same way, but let the imagery that arises form the guiding direction. For example, as you were travelling on the Luminous Path to the City, you may have seen a cave that you wanted to explore, or a character may have appeared on the way and invited you into their camp. The guiding template that I have provided did not allow for such diversions and prevented you from following these up. In free imagery, you can take these diversions. Indeed, they are not diversions at all: they are not unnecessary distractions, but rather, they are vital aspects of your journey, with relevant teaching to present to you. Also, you are now on the threshold of the Golden City. This approach may have been frightening and unsettling to you, and you may prefer to take the Luminous Path to the left, or you may have the courage to walk through the gate into the City itself. What you find next, whichever course you take, is between the Divine and yourself. Who knows what lies down the left hand path? In the City, there are places to explore: as a hint I suggest to you the Treasure House of God, the Moral Temple, one of the Schools with their many classrooms, the Well of the Water of Life and so on.
In terms of theology, of understanding issues and aspects of the Divine and religion, some further articles can be found at:…………http://spiritualbasics.blogspot.com/
THE IMAGINAL PATH
Why have we followed the imaginal path? Why have we used imagery in our spiritual quest? For a discussion on this theme I recommend the book ‘Imaginal Worlds’ by William Chittick SUNI Press. Although written from a Sufi Islamic viewpoint, it is not necessary for you to subscribe to Islam or Sufism to appreciate its content. Alternatively, for a more inter-faith approach, you can try ‘Paths to Transcendence’ by Reza Shah-Kazemi World Wisdom. If you want to orientate yourself spiritually, to work out where spirituality fits into the scheme of things, or what level you are at, then try ‘The eye of spirit’ by Ken Wilber, Shambhala.
Tags: Golden City, Imagery, journal, keeping a spiritual journal, relaxation, relaxation exercise, relaxation script, Spiritual journey, spiritual path, spiritual training
