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"Since we seem to be engaged, to some extent, in a session of venting our worries about the way some people are using or abusing spirituality and mysticism," remarked Andrea Myers, "I might as well mention one of my concerns. Just as lots of people have a tendency to reduce the mystical path to being a function of either unconscious, or mind/brain, activity, or some combination of the two or three, there also are any number of individuals who try to limit the mystical realm to an array of processes that involve the generation, transmission, accumulation, focusing and control of energy of one kind or another.

"Although we may have difficulty understanding how there could be realms of Being that are entirely independent of considerations of energy of whatever kind, nonetheless, I believe if one listens carefully to what the mystics are saying about the nature of the Self or different modalities of knowing, experiencing and engaging the Self, one begins to appreciate the fact that one cannot suppose all references to subtle realities or essences are necessarily alternative ways of speaking about different forms of energies.

"In any number of ways, I believe the realized masters have indicated there are tremendous, qualitative differences between the levels in which energies, of one kind or another, are operative, and the levels of spirituality that are closest to our true Selves and essential capacities. This is not intended to deny the reality of various species of subtle forms of energy beyond the physical realm, but is intended, instead, to give emphasis to a major principle of the mystical path which stipulates that even in conjunction with the most subtle forms of energy, there are distinct metaphysical boundaries within which such energies are operative, and beyond which other modalities of Being come into play that are not a function of energies of whatever description.

"Whether one is talking about the carriers of force, or bosons, of quantum physics; dissipative structures in the context of the brain's electrical fields; the boiling energy or Num of the !Kung in the Kalahari; ch'i; prana; psi; the property of nefish described in the tradition of the Kabbalah; the serpent fire of kundalini yoga; or auras of whatever variety, these manifestations of energy - however related to, or separate from, one another, they may be, and however powerful they may be in their own spheres of relevance - they are functions of realms of Being that cannot be reduced to, or be made functions of, this spectrum of energies. The masters of the mystical path have been very clear, I feel, in warning us not to use the lesser to explain the greater, and, in point of fact, all manner of energies are very much limited manifestations that are made possible by a Reality which is both imminent within, as well as that which totally transcends, and, therefore, is completely unlike, such phenomena.

"Thus, when the realized masters of the mystical path speak of the 'glance' of spiritual Grace that transforms the spiritual condition of the disciple, they are not referring to a form of energy, whether of a gross or subtle nature. Moreover, the Self or one's essential identity is not the most subtle energy field in a series of ethereal fields, with the physical, biological body being the most dense, visible modality in such a series.

"Similarly, spiritual light is not a manifestation of certain kinds of subtle energy. Although spiritual light, like the physical light that is generated through electromagnetic phenomena, has the capacity to illuminate, and, in the process, make certain facets of reality visible to the appropriate modality or instrument of spirituality that is sensitive or receptive to the nature of its illuminating qualities, nevertheless, the capacity of spiritual light to illuminate is not based upon the field properties of some kind of mystical counterpart to the exchange of photons which is said to take place in processes of quantum electrodynamics.

"As Colby intimated earlier, people who pursue the mystical path with the idea of learning techniques that permit them to exercise control over, or exploit the potential of, various kinds of energy, are really engaged in something other than mysticism or spirituality, even though they may use these terms to describe or refer to what they are doing. The goal and purpose of the mystical path lie far beyond these sorts of superficial and limited consideration."

After a certain amount of silence following Andrea's remarks and observations, the conversation became somewhat scattered, dealing with various experiences, some humorous and some which were thought-provoking, that different members of the group had undergone during the symposium. Gradually, we all came to the conclusion the time had come to bring the gathering to an end.

Since pretty much everyone in the group, with the exception of myself, seemed to have a busy Saturday in store, there probably would not be any opportunity to get together again before the symposium ended on Sunday morning. As a result, we all exchanged phone numbers and addresses for possible contact on some occasion in the future - despite the fact few, if any, of us were likely to act on, or follow up on, this information, since once we returned to our homes, most of us would become caught up, yet again, in the inertial properties of our normal life routines, and, consequently, we would have difficulty extricating ourselves long enough, from the hold which those patterns of behavior had upon our actions, to pursue or establish some sort of relationship-at-a-distance even with people we had come to like.

Before breaking up, we briefly discussed whether any of us should probe further into Art Carmichael's failure to show up for the evening session of our group in case, for example, he was sick. Although we all hoped he was alright, we felt there was a potential for his being embarrassed by such efforts, and, therefore, we decided to let the matter drop.

I returned to my room and prepared for sleep. Before drifting off, I took a look at the symposium's program for Saturday and selected a couple of possibilities that I would ponder on further over breakfast.

Just before sleep overcame me, I remember thinking that Rip's promise, with respect to my being overtaken by events, was running out of time. Oh, well! Even if nothing much transpired between now and Sunday noon, the trip had not been wasted since I had been given quite a few things to think about - both through the mock trial, as well as a result of the several discussions in which I had participated with the impromptu group I had been invited to join.

I thought about Jennifer and realized how much I loved her, and I looked forward to seeing her on Tuesday when I returned to Boston. I thought about Ken and Pam and realized that never again, at least in this life time, would I be able to see these two people whom I loved.

Sleep enveloped me in the midst of these ruminations. My dreams consisted of a weird juxtapositioning of elements related to the last three or four weeks of my life.

There was only one consistent theme throughout the several dreams, or across the various stages of one, long dream. Some dumb, persistent raven kept tap, tap tapping at my door.

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