An open Door

During the next week I continued on with the usual routines that I had interrupted during the past month. But one afternoon, I went to the little witch house. Again, it was a misty day, and from the outside I could see a light shining through the front window. Mike was at home.

    Two minutes later, I was inside his home and was quite surprised at how poorly it was furnished. We stood in the middle of a large room with an intregated small kitchen.. There was a table, chair, and an armchair. And at one side of the room stood a large cupboard and on the other side an old coal stove, which wasn`t on.

    I tried to hide my surprise and I only asked him: "You are not freezing?" "Well," he said with an apologetic smile, "most of the time the stove is out. I have to conserve. And if I feel chilly, I put on another pullover." And after a short pause of thinking, " Don`t worry, I’ll light it at once!" He placed the armchair beside the stove, invited me to sit down, and went to fetch wood and briquettes.
    Ten minutes later, I was holding a hot cup of tea in my hands. The oven beside me had started heating up. Mike had taken a chair and sat down on the other side of the stove. "Well, Heinrich. So, tell me, what has happened since our last time together?"

So evening came and I had told him some episodes and facts of my "unhappy" life. Michael was a very good listener.  He rarely interrupted, but only from time to time he asked a short question or gave a comment on my story.

    When I had come to the end of my story, the room became silent. I now felt a little depressed after talking about my dissatisfaction with life. I wanted to get rid of the unpleasant feelings. So, I looked at him and asked, "And you, what has been happening to you during that time?"

   Starting  with his story, he soon had caught my full attention. There seemed to be something very special about his story. Mike had broken with most of society norms. He led a very restricted and lonely life with no interests in money, material luxury or what we might consider a normal social life. In one word, he had become a great adherent of a simple, almost ascetic life.

   But he was searching for more than this.  "The things of real interest are those that lie behind their outer existence. You must look behind the curtain, Heinrich!" he said emphatically. I looked at him with surprise, "You must look behind the curtain? What do you mean by this?"

    "Well," he said, "I think that you are only looking at three dimensions. So do most people. They are only thinking and acting in a tangible, earthly manner, and thereby, missing something very special!” I gazed questioningly at him. "They are missing the fourth dimension! ... spirituality!" he said with a firm voice. Then he got up. "Another cup of tea?"

                                           

So for the rest of the evening that became our main theme. This was the first time in my life that I saw a normal man living an ascetic life that was based on a spiritual concept. He called it more than once "esoterics" or "new age"!

    Fundamentally he believed in reincarnation and karma. This is the idea that you are born again and again, and the manner in which you live one life decides what and who you will be in next life. I never had heard of it before. Also, he believed in astrology and therefore that the stars and your time living on earth determine your dispositions and gifts in life.

    And last not least, he was experiencing with Tarot Cards. He believed that they could help to make the small and big decisioms of life. And so , time by time, he “asked” them.

I was really impressed. He had a gift of explaining these fantastic things in such a clear and reasonable way. So much so that at one point you stop arguing and start believing. Especially, if you do not have your own clear concept of life.

    Finally I said to him: "Mike, I never saw it this way! Yes, things you have told me make sense. They may be true. It is late now, but I want to hear more about this “fourth dimension”. We have to talk again!"  He smiled approvingly and got a book from one of his corner shelves, "Here, you can read this till next time. There are many things we have talked about in that book! And please, do come again!"

    After a few more minutes,  I left him and went home through the clear, cold night. I lifted my eyes to the stars above, "Yes, there are perhaps many things in life that are concealing a useful and valuable secret. It may be worth while to learn more about it."  I looked thankfully at the book Michael had given me. Suddenly, I began to feel that a big door called "esoterics" had unexpectedly opened in front of me. And I was determined to go through it!