The Gate Keeper of Babylon

Long ago there was a man, a simple man. He had lived his life well. His goal had always been to treat others right and view things from the perspectives of those that he encountered. He sought to understand the illusion that he lived in. The man heard of an ancient wise man that lived in a far away land. To get the the ancient one, the man had to cross a vast desert of brush and sand.

One day the man set out across the desert in search of the ancient one. A fierce wind storm came upon the man when he was in the middle of the desert. The man wrapped a black cloth over his face to protect his eyes from the biting sand particles that pelted his face. The fabric was just thin enough that the man could almost see through the veil.

Day after day the man trudged through the desert in the fierce wind and relentless pelting sand. One day the wind stopped, but the man had been so accustomed to the black cloth on his face that he did not even think to remove it so that he could see better, until the man saw a dark figure moving towards him. The man could not tell how or what the figure moving towards him was? So the man reached up and pulled the black cloth down across his nose to rest around his neck.

The figure approaching him appeared very old and was hunched over, wearing a hooded, black cloak. The old man spoke. "Ah, it is you. I knew that you were coming. Come and sit with me. I have something to reveal to you."

"Are you the ancient wise one that I seek?" The man asked the man that spoke.

"Indeed I am. Now come and sit on this flat rock so that I may show you who you really are." The old man replied.

The younger man sat on the flat boulder that the old man had motioned for him to sit upon. Then the old man pointed to a larger boulder to the man's right. "Turn to read the writing on the rock on your right side." The ancient one instructed.

The man scooted around on the flat rock to face a boulder twice his height. The side facing him was flat and had ancient petroglyphs carved into its' surface that were of a foreign tongue.

"What is that writing?" The younger man asked.

"It is who you are." The old man replied. "You are the Gate Keeper of the Seven Gates of Babylon. You are the king of Babylon, one who is called Hammurabi."

"Not so. Hammurabi lived ages ago." The young man replied. "I am a nobody. I have tried to live my life as best as I can and treat others right, but I am no king."

"Once a king, always a king, even though you played different roles in many different life times. It is time for you to arise and be king again. Go within yourself and seek the truth. You will find it there. The kingdom that you will be king of is within you. Now, take your throne and rule. Above all, use what you have learned and be a wise king."

The old man smiled, straightened his hunched back, and then vanished leaving the man sitting on the flat rock to ponder his words. Could it be that the illusion that the man lived in was his own illusion and that he was really the king who could control it? Maybe it was time to find out?