UNDERSTANDING PAGE OF WATER: MASTERY OF EMOTIONS   REVERSE
BEYOND ILLUSION MAJOR ARCANA XX	LETTING GO 8 OF WATER	EXISTENCE MAJOR ARCANA I
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MATURITY ACE OF RAINBOWS   REVERSE

UNDERSTANDING

The bird pictured on this card is looking out from what seems to be a cage. There is no door, and actually the bars are disappearing. The bars were an illusion, and this small bird is being summoned by the grace and freedom and encouragement of the others. It is spreading its wings, ready to take flight for the very first time.
The dawn of a new understanding - that the cage has always been open, and the sky has always been there for us to explore - can make us feel a little shaky at first. It's fine, and natural to be shaky, but don't let it overshadow the opportunity to experience the lightheartedness and adventure on offer, right there alongside the shakiness. move with the sweetness and gentleness of this time. Feel the fluttering within. Spread your wings and be free.


You are out of jail, out of the cage; you can open your wings and the whole sky is yours. All the stars and the moon and the sun belong to you. You can disappear into the blueness of the beyond ... Just drop clinging to this cage, move out of the cage and the whole sky is yours. Open your wings and fly across the sun like an eagle. In the inner sky, in the inner world, freedom is the highest value - everything else is secondary, even blissfulness, ecstasy. There are thousands of flowers, uncountable, but

BEYOND ILLUSION

The butterfly in this card represents the outer, that which is constantly moving and that whish is not real but an illusion. Behind the butterfly is the face of consciousness, looking inward to that which is eternal. the space between the two eyes has opened, revealing the lotus of spiritual unfoldment and the rising sun of awareness. Through the rising of the inner sun, meditation is born.
The card reminds us not to look outside for what is real, but to look within. When we focus on externals, we too often get caught up in judgments - this is good, this is bad, I want this, I don't want that. These judgements keep us trapped in our illusions, our sleepiness, our old habits and patterns. Drop your opinionated mind, and move inside. there, you can relax into your own deepest truth, where the difference between dreams and reality is already known.


This is the only distinction between the dream and the real: reality allows you to doubt, and the dream does not allow you doubt ...
To me, the capacity to doubt is one of the greatest blessings to humanity. The religions have been enemies because they have been cutting the very roots of doubt, and there is a reason why they have been doing that: because they want people to believe in certain illusions that they have been preaching ... Why have the people like Gautam Buddha been so insistent that the whole existence - except your witnessing self, except you awareness - is just ephemeral, made of the same stuff as dreams are made of? They are not saying that these trees are not there. they are not saying that these pillars are not there. Don't misunderstand because of the word 'illusion' ... It has been translated as illusion, but illusion is not the right word. Illusion does not exist. Reality exists. Maya is just in between - it almost exists. as far as day-to-day activities are concerned, it can be taken as reality. Only in the ultimate sense, from the peak of you illumination, it becomes unreal, illusory.

LETTING GO

In this image of lotus leaves in the early morning, we can see in the rippling of the water that one drop has just fallen. It is precious moment, and one that is full of poignancy. In surrendering to gravity and slipping off the leaf, the drop loses its previous identity and joins the vastness of the water below. We can imagine that it must have trembled before it fell, just on the edge between the known and the unknowable.
To choose this card is a recognition that something is finished, something is completing. Whatever it is - a job, a relationship, a home you have loved, anything that might have helped you to define who you are - it is time to let go of it, allowing any sadness but not trying to hold on. Something greater is awaiting you, new dimensions are there to be discovered. You are past the point of no return now, and gravity is doing its work. Go with it - it represents liberation.


In existence there is nobody who is superior and nobody who is inferior. The blade of grass and the great star are absolutely equal ... But man wants to be higher that others, he wants to conquer nature, hence he has to fight continuously. All complexity arises out of this fight. The innocent person is one who has renounced fighting; who is no longer interest in being higher, who is no longer interested in performing, in proving that he is someone special; who has become like a roseflower or like a dewdrop on the lotus leaf; who has become part of this infinity; who has melted, merged and become one with the ocean and is just a wave; who has no idea of the 'I'. The

EXISTENCE

This naked figure sits on the lotus of perfection, gazing at the beauty of the night sky. She knows that 'home' is not a physical place in the outside world, but an inner quality of relaxation and acceptance. The stars, the rocks, the trees the flower, fish and birds - all are our brothers and sisters in this dance of life. We human beings tend to forget this, as we pursue our own private agendas and believe we must fight to get what we need. But ultimately, our sense of separateness is just an illusion, manufactured by the narrow preoccupations of the mind. Now is the time to look at whether you are allowing yourself to receive the extraordinary gift of feeling 'at home' wherever you are. If you are, be sure to take time to savor it so it can deepen and remain with you. If on the other hand you've been feeling like the world is out to get you, it's time to take a break. Go outside tonight and look at the stars.

You are not accidental. Existence needs you. Without you something will be missing in existence and nobody can replace it. That's what gives you dignity, that the whole existence will miss you. The stars and sun and moon, the trees and birds and earth - everything in the universe will feel a small place is vacant which cannot be filled by anybody except you. This gives you a tremendous joy, a fulfillment that you are related to existence, and existence cares for you. Once you are clean and clear, you can see tremendous love falling on you from all dimensions.

MATURITY

This figure stands alone, silent and yet alert. the inner being is filled with flowers - that carry the quality of springtime and regenerate wherever he goes. this inner flowering and the wholeness that he feels affords the possibility of unlimited movement. He can move in any direction - within and without it makes no difference as his joy and maturity cannot be diminished by externals. He has come to a time of centeredness and expansiveness - the white glow around the figure is his protection and his light. All of life's experiences have brought him to this time of perfection.
When you draw this card, know well this moment carries a gift - for hard work well done. You base is solid now and success and good fortune are yours for they are the outcome of what has already been experienced within.


The distinction between the grasses and blossoms is the same as between you not knowing that you are a buddha, and the moment you know that you are a buddha. In fact, there is no way to be otherwise.
Buddha is completely blossomed, fully opened. His lotuses, his petals, have come to a completion ... Certainly, to be full of spring yourself is far more beautifully then the autumn dews falling on the lotus leaves. That is one of the most beautiful things to watch: when autumn dews fall on the lotus leaves and shine in the morning sun like real pearls. But of course it is a momentary experience. As the sun rises, the autumn dews start evaporating ... This temporary beauty cannot be compared, certainly, with an eternal spring in your being. You look back as far as you can, and you will be surprised: it is your very being. Wherever you are it will be there, and the flowers