Preface
I
remember well the first time I was introduced to the concept of
the seven keys as a method to support ascension in consciousness.
It was during a chilly winter morning, early in February of 2000.
A group of five of us were sitting together in the silence of deep
meditation. We were taking a break from our busy lives to spend the
first part of the new millennium in stillness, sharing a silent meditation
and contemplation retreat, nestled away in picturesque Santa Fe, New
Mexico. During most of the month our friend and mentor, Leslie Temple-Thurston,
watched over our progress as she periodically checked in from her
own home a few blocks away. Now she had come to join us for the final
few days of our retreat, to enjoy some rest herself and to mentor
us in processing and integrating our experiences of the previous four
weeks.
We were just settling into an early morning two-hour group
meditation, when suddenly Leslie surprised us all by calling out,
"Stop." This was unexpected. "Don't you feel the way
you are all blocking the flow-right here?" She pointed to the
area between and a little bit above her eyebrows. "Right here
at the third eye, there's an energetic ceiling that you're hitting
up against, and it's keeping you from opening to your full connection
to source." It was true. There it was, so subtle as to be almost
imperceptible, but oppressing us nonetheless. It was a sense of being
held in check, of being blocked from the full, all-encompassing, exquisite
experience of Oneness that we had all come to know in deep meditation.
Using our will during meditation to get past the block did not seem
to work. So, we decided to stop and investigate just what it was that
was creating this stuck-ness in our consciousness.
What followed was an incredible four days as Leslie revealed
five of the seven keys. We worked together to comprehend how to use
them to open our awareness and to come into complete alignment with
the Divine. Invariably, as we finished a group meditation, Leslie
would be writing, trying to get the latest download of information
concretized onto paper. Then we would process and investigate how
the lock had been instituted, how we held it in the body and how we
could use the knowledge and understanding of the keys to unlock and
unblock our awareness. We reviewed our stories and patterns about
loss and gain, betrayal, faith, divine will and our identification
with the ego. We felt the power of these dramas and our attachment
to them and were inspired by Leslie's own stories of how she had confronted
and dealt with similar egoic patterning.
Over the subsequent weeks and months Leslie brought forward
the two final keys. All of the information became more clarified and
complete as she shared the knowledge with her students and with those
who attended her public events. As a teacher of transformation, Leslie
has a rare and wonderful gift, or "specialty" you could
call it. In addition to giving public talks and darshans, she is an
amazing mentor to those who are truly committed to their spiritual
awakening, as she painstakingly guides them into deeper and more profound
levels of self-inquiry and awareness of their own unique God-direct
path. These keys are for everyone who has a passion for ascending
and awakening into the fullness of who they are. They are a gift from
Spirit, made available by a rare and wonderful being.
Victoria More
Santa Fe, New Mexico
April 29, 2002
This
is an excerpt from Returning to Oneness The Seven Keys of Ascension
