Brent Mountain Protective Area

As soon as I saw Brent Mountain Protective Area in my line of travel I had to go and check it out.  Brent, is the name of my teacher and friend and who also provides a protective space for those seeking spiritual guidance.  And, who provided me with the map and key to my spiritual process.  As I trekked up Brent Mountain, I became aware of my inner path manifesting in the outer world.  Below, is a physical representation of my journey with Brent so far....

It was a long and windy road to find Brent Mountain, the path sometimes marked but not always.
I had to trust and follow the road.

I should have turned back at the first sign.  The number is approximately the same in terms of how often I had to repeat old behaviours before letting them go and doing things differently.  My ego about be to logged and cleared

Along the path sometimes there was a dump and run.  Leaving Brent with my shit.  (Funny...the book there is Palomino by Danielle Steel.  For those who know my journey will find it's  plot funny)

Sometimes my path was like a game of chess.  Often ending in check mate.  Not for me though. The ego often winning and/or  Brent putting me in my place forcing me to surrender deeper and deeper.

Sometimes there were big piles of shit dumped.

Sometimes weird, strange things appeared. (This wasn't on Brent Mountain, and much like my process the weird stuff often happened away from Brent)

I was always pointed back to the path.  Getting closer and closer  the truth.

Which often though would mean dumping even more shit.  Lots of it. Sometimes shit that wasn't even mine.

Sometimes his signs would be confusing and I would take an alternative path.

It didn't matter though.  The more I moved on the more hings started to get clearer and I was able to see and feel further and deeper than ever before.


I didn't make it to the look out.  When I first started my journey up the mountain I started on foot because I didn't think my car would be able to hand the extremely rough road.  So because I like to make things harder than they need to be, I walked.  I walked straight up 9 vertical kms only to find I couldn't do the last 2 kms.  I was way too tired, my legs aching and I still had to walk back down.   So, instead of pushing myself I honoured my body and went back down.

However,  me being me, meaning quite tenacious at times,  went back down and then drove back up, my poor little Hyundai did well.  However it was a very slow process as I had to navigate deep culverts, huge rocks, fallen trees and washouts.  Much like the rest of my life.  And... I STILL didn't make it to the tower.  I got twisted around and ended up on another path.  How is this like my life...?  I am to follow Brent but not be him.  I'm to be me.

I was going to camp on the mountain but I wimped out.  I had my camping gear with me, but the thought of a comfy bed and a good night's sleep (which I haven't had in weeks) was enough temptation to bring me down off the mountain.  As I was driving further and further away from Brent Mountain I felt sad that I didn't stay and happy that I drove off the beaten path to see it.  I feel this way about Brent.  I am sad I left him (and my community)  in Toronto and eternally grateful for him in my life.  I also know that I am exactly where I'm meant to be.  Plus, I don't think your meant to stay... Just take it all in and then take it all with you in your heart. Having done this, I am reminded to be like both Brent and his mountain.  Strong, still and always present never going beyond what is called for.

I am also reminded of Hexigram 52 of the I Ching...a perfect reminder  for the sometimes weary traveler that it's not always getting to where you think your going...it's the process of getting there.  I was nice to walk the physical manifestation of this today...

52. Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain
above KêN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN
below KêN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

The image of this hexagram is the mountain, the youngest son of heaven and earth. The male principle is at the top because it strives upward by nature; the female principle is below, since the direction of its movement has come to its normal end. In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon the problem of achieving a quiet heart. It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart. While Buddhism strives for rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana, the Book of Changes holds that rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits movement as its complement. Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga.

THE JUDGMENT

KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still
So that he no longer feels his body.
He goes into his courtyard
And does not see his people.
No blame.

True quiet means keeping still when the time has come to keep still, and going forward when the time has come to go forward. In this way rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time, and thus there is light in life. The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement. The back is named because in the back are located all the nerve fibers that mediate movement. If the movement of these spinal nerves is brought to a standstill, the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were. When a man has thus become calm, he may turn to the outside world. He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony with them. Whoever acts from these deep levels makes no mistakes.

THE IMAGE
Mountains standing close together:
The image of KEEPING STILL.
Thus the superior man
Does not permit his thoughts
To go beyond his situation.
The heart thinks constantly. This cannot be changed, but the movements of the heart-that is, a man's thoughts-should restrict themselves to the immediate situation. All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.