As one progresses through the spiritual path, teachers appear at certain stages of one's life to assist in one's development. I encountered a number of guides from other dimensions. The more memorable ones were oriental, and they belonged to the Daoist tradition. This is the story of my initiator to the higher mysteries.By 1993, I was practicing an advanced form of meditation. It involved the development of the diamond body. The process is an alchemy of different energies resulting into the golden body as an intermediate stage. A key element of the alchemy is the sexual energy. The practice over time is expected to result in longevity if not immortality - physical immortality. Physical immortality is an accepted concept in the Daoist mysteries. I did not know whether to believe that such a thing is possible. The only way to find out was to do the meditation regularly and examine the results. It appeared to be working. I could see my body becoming gold etherically with chunks of diamond-like objects developing. Whether it will eventually result in immortality is another matter altogether.
While meditating one day, a Being appeared to me. He was an oriental male dressed in ancient traditional Chinese attire. He was short, no more than four feet tall. If not for His proportional stocky built, He could easily pass for a hobbit. His most distinguishing feature was His huge bald head, but my attention was diverted by his sweet smile and kind eyes. A long wisped flowing beard adorned His face like a typical Mandarin official. He just stood there standing still in front of me. I paid my respects and asked for His name, but I was not honored with a reply. In as much as I was a student of the Ageless Wisdom, I asked him if He was Lord Kuthumi, the Master of my soul ray. He definitely did not look like Lord Kuthumi, but my mind might be playing games with me or so I thought. Still no reply. The Being would continue to appear regularly in my meditations, but the same pattern of uneventful silence would likewise ensue.
In August 1995, I went on a pilgrimage to the holy mountains of China with a group of friends. Behold! Everywhere we went I saw an image, a painting or some kind of artistic representation of the Being that regularly appeared in my meditations. I asked our tourist guide who this person was. "Shou Xing. Shou Xing.," he declared matter of factly. Shou Xing meant Star of Long Life in Mandarin. It was explained to me that Shou Xing is the Lord of the Immortals. Apparently, one can also find him in the Indian pantheon and is known as Boyang. I gathered during the trip that Shou Xing was a Daoist deity that the Chinese pray to for long life and good health. I finally had a name and some sketchy information to research on when I returned home.
There was very little information about Shou Xing I could access and find in 1995. My research revealed that Shou Xing was also known by a number of names and titles. Among them are Shou Lao (Old Man of Longevity), and Nan Ji Xian Weng (the Old Man of the South Pole). It would appear that during the Han dynasty stellar worship was practiced in China. The Star of the Celestial North Pole was the God who determined people's date of birth while the Star of the Celestial South Pole was the God who determined people's date of death. Shou Xing is said to be the God of the South Pole. The power to delay one's death made him a popular deity among the San Xing (Three Star Gods of Good Fortune): Fu (Happiness), Lu (Wealth) and Shou (Longevity). In the Daoist mysteries, the San Xing are universal energies associated with certain chakras. Fu or happiness is associated with the crown chakra energy of heaven. Lu or wealth emanates from the heart chakra energy of generosity. The source of Shou or longevity is the creative energy of the sex chakra.There are a few myths about Shou Xing. One relates to the time he disappeared from the sky and incarnated after a gestation period of nine years in his mother's womb. His premature birth by a year resulted into his baldness and physical countenance. Consequently, he became a recluse. He withdrew deep into the hills to practice meditation and Dao (The Way). He returned 1000 years later. His long beard reached his waist. On one hand, he had a walking staff with a pumpkin gourd holding the water of life tied to it and, on the other, the peach of immortality. During the remaining years of his earthly sojourn, Shou Xing revealed a list of ways to achieve immortality. It is said that Chiang Tzu-ya, a deified general, was a beneficiary of his teachings. So Xing is said to have ascended into heaven.
Having learned His name, I addressed him accordingly the next time He appeared in my meditation. He responded for the first time and instructed me to learn as much as I can from my physical teachers even if I may consider them to be wrong at times. It was a strange instruction as I did not have any problems with my teachers. The wisdom of his advise became apparent when conflicts began to emerge among my physical teachers and their teachings. There were many issues but I will focus on one to illustrate my point.
Immortality is a complex issue because it involves prior understanding of many concepts but I will try to make it as simple as possible. One school of thought believes that physical immortality is possible if one is able to transform the physical body into a higher refined form through certain yogic practices. Another school of thought believes that there is no such thing as physical immortality because it is the nature of matter to constantly change. True immortality is continuity of consciousness. Therefore the spiritual practices should be geared towards the retention of memory and awareness throughout the death and rebirth cycles. A third school of thought states that immortality can be achieved by activating an interdimensional light vehicle through unconditional love.
It came to a point that I was forced to choose one master to follow and serve. During this crisis, So Xing would appear and encourage me. His simple admonition was to trust my Higher Self to show the way. I did and I found the answers. Since then, my Higher Self became my primary teacher.
