ever really think about God? It was a simple but profound realisation Ethan was experiencing at that moment.
He made an instant decision to get out of this city and, looking around the bus station, determined to travel towards a place called Hua Hin. Almost as soon as the bus began its journey southwards, he felt as if life was starting to slow down. When he reached the town, there was lots of hustle and bustle but it was located between the sea and the mountains and the nearby rolling hills were dotted with temples. Ethan knew it was easier to find yourself in nature, beside the sea, near trees, with birds and natural beauty. In this majestic place, it was as if Ethan had one foot in the hustle and the other foot in a world of bliss. He walked on the beach, taking in the local sights and just experiencing the area’s beauty. Hua Hin seemed an easier place to live. You could lie on the beach and slow down your lifestyle. It definitely seemed to Ethan to be a place where he could get in touch with himself and begin to calm his thinking. If he wanted to participate in the hustle of the city, its commercial side, then he could do that but it was a wonderful feeling to know that he could switch between the two lifestyles at will.
But something within him was compelling him to travel further. Four days later he found himself on the move again, travelling ever southwards for endless hours through deserted towns, over rolling hills until it felt as though he had reached the edge of the world. And yet, he kept moving, understanding that, as the bus trundled southwards, he had embarked on a journey within himself and that, deep within his soul, he was developing a very personal relationship with himself.
Onwards he travelled by bus, taxi and foot. He trekked through the mountains, slept on benches and finally found himself boarding a boat, which ferried passengers to the island of Koh Samui.
By the time he reached the boat to Koh Samui, he had really begun to explore his mind and find out about himself. He was wondering about this journey, what it was all about, where it was taking him. The further he physically travelled, the deeper he descended into almost an eternal bliss. Yet, he couldn’t quite put a name to what he was feeling. All he knew was that he was excited, that he felt as though something special was about to happen. As the boat cut through the waves and got closer to the island, he could feel his excitement mounting. Endorphins began to flow through his body and the only way he could describe this feeling of excitement was to think of it as a moment of pure love. It was like a drug but, really it was just purity, just who we are.
On the island, the road seemed calmer. There were lots of motorbikes but even the traffic felt different here, as though the island was much more relaxed. It was easy to get lost in Bangkok, but here you couldn’t get confused or lost. The roads were lined with palm trees and inner peace. His hotel was beautiful and its infinity pool led down to an exotic, white, sandy beach, bordered by an incredible turquoise sea.
“I’m here,” Ethan thought, remembering the scene in the movie, ‘The Beach’, when Richard, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, first arrived at the island. Ethan felt this experience was similar to this and he uttered a cry of delight and excitement. But even as he bounded across the white sand, he was conscious that this journey had a purpose. He knew that his trip contained a hidden message. The more he travelled within himself, the closer he got to the inner voice and the more it spoke to him.
“Sometimes life can be so busy, that you are unaware. Always busy doing things, busy hiding things. You constantly look for more, more, more. The consciousness of environment can touch on your consciousness and if you are unaware, your mind can be confused. In busy environments, if you are unaware, it can be easier for your mind to be taken over. Environment plays a huge part in the achievement of self-discovery and getting in touch with the deeper part of yourself. When you are around nature, near the sea, around birds, close to trees, you can find yourself easier. In life you can have one foot in the world of commercialisation and one foot in the world of beauty.
“Or can you choose beauty in both situations and choose to experience life in both situations. Many people are living a life trapped in a prison of thought and possessed by the mind invaders of environment.”
Ethan thought about how much more aware he was becoming and how he was experiencing different levels of consciousness. Again the voice spoke to him.
“The first level of consciousness is where you are trapped. In this level of existence you are unaware of how your life is going. At this level, let’s say you’re feeling unhappy; but you’re unaware of what is making you unhappy. You could also be happy, but unaware of why you are feeling happy. You are trapped in thought. You live life through all your past experiences, learnings, knowledge, and programmes. All of the learning, which has been programmed into your mind, dictates how you live. Perhaps you see glimpses of reality at different times, but you give your mind the interpretation of what those glimpses are. You just live life trapped in thought, in a prison where the door of the cell is closed.”
The comment reminded Ethan of how he’d felt so lost in Bangkok and realised that, when he reached Hin Hua, he had reached a new level of consciousness.
“At this next level of consciousness you could describe it as being in jail, but the cell door is open. You can decide to step out of the jail and experience reality or you can go back into your cell, which is the cell of thought. The door is not locked. At this level of existence you are comfortable with yourself, so you don’t want to leave that too far behind. You can go out and explore reality but, ultimately, you go back into your jail and live at that level of existence because you don’t know any better. In yoga they call this, ‘the awakened’.
“At the next level of existence you are released from your jail, which is your thought process and you are allowed to go out and begin to explore the different layers of reality. As you go out and explore it, you create different images, experiences and programmes in your mind. But some of the past programmes, which put you in the jail in the first place, surface now and again and take you over and put you back in jail again, albeit for a shorter time. Once again, you get released from jail and go off and do some good things but then the old habits, the old thought patterns, arise and put you back in the jail again. It seems like a never-ending cycle.
“But then you begin to move up a level and you become aware that there is something else controlling your life. You reach a level of spiritual awareness of that inner part of you, that light within you. You begin to become aware that this light creates life and, as you start to recognise this, it feels as though you have one foot in the spiritual world and one foot in the thought world.
“Now, at that level of existence you go in and out of the spiritual world, knowing and understanding. As you enter this level of existence the mind becomes calmer and stills itself. A different part of the mind is now in control and the more the spirit begins to take the more frightened the ego becomes of losing its identification with who it is. A battle can take place; a battle of levels. This is a clash of your inner titans, in which Spirit is attempting to overcome ego and take control of you. Many people fear losing the man-made identification of the ego. Due to fear of losing connection with ego, they give up on the spiritual quest and allow the ego to take control of them.
“If you make it past this battle, the next level of existence is spiritual existence. At the spiritual level, the spirit comes through you and guides you. So, it’s like the Spirit invades your thoughts and your body and mind and takes full control. Then the Spirit declares, ‘I am in control of this ship.’
“Whereas before, the Spirit could have been described as being the captain of your ship which was the subject of a mutiny incited by the ego. The mutiny succeeded in locking up the captain but, over time, he was allowed out of his prison and, slowly, he regained control of the ship. At that point
