and slowly I got up, stretching I decide to have morning bath. So, I quickly go to the improvised bathroom. After a few steps, I begin getting ready to bath. I undress quickly, put on soap and splash cold water over my body. The cold feeling reminds me of last night. Carefully analysing the last challenge, I end up concluding that the discovery of the origin of the dark night of the soul and the exact meaning of pride made me understand a great deal, because people sink and remain in this dark cloud. In my humble opinion, the majority of people are greatly linked to themselves and the material world. As a result of that, they don’t see the mistakes they make daily in search of power, wealth, social ostentation and vanity. As time goes by, the spiritual situation of this kind of person gets even more complicated because they continue to err and are not capable of repenting and forgiving. And the consequences don’t stop there. Gradually, the cloud of the dark night gets thicker and its influence ultimately affects the person’s other feelings. One more step and people get to the edge of the abysm of no return: Marginality, shameful acts, cruelty and lack of ethics among others. At this precise moment, if there is no Divine or angelic (Beings committed to good) intervention, the dark night may even condemn. However, there is still a ray of hope while there is life, for there have already been instances of harden hearts that are saved at the last moment. One of those is the one crucified next to Christ, who before martyrdom asked for forgiveness and that Jesus remember him when arriving at his kingdom. At that time, to everyone surprise, Jesus promised: I guarantee you, you will be with me in Paradise today. That attitude of the master shows God’s grandiosity and the force of forgiveness face the influence of the dark night.
I forget about all the anxieties and preoccupations, concentrate only on the bath. I remove completely my impurities put on soap again and throw more cold water over my body. When I am ready, grab the towel, dry myself, put on clean clothes and finally leave the bathroom. Leaving I come face to face with no more no less than the guardian lady. She starts the conversation.
—Good morning, son of God. Are you inviting me for breakfast? I was passing by and decided to pay you a visit to find out how did last night go.
—Certainly. Help yourself. Will you accompany me?
The guardian lady nods in agreement and quickly we head towards the improvised kitchen. In a few steps we are there and I offer her the stool. I begin serving her, she sits down and we continue our conversation.
—Guardian lady, is the second challenge near?
— It is. It will be this afternoon. Before that, however, tell me about your experience at the last challenge. I want be sure that you understood enough to progress to the next phase.
—At first, I left heading west thinking that perhaps the challenge had something to do with the miraculous cave where I became the seer. However, when I arrived there I realised that I was wrong and so I went in another direction. This time, I headed toward the northern side of the mountain top, and a while later, leaving the path, there were four paths as your ladyship have warned me. The paths represented the pure light, the repentance, the passivity and the dark night of the soul. With another test in life, I gathered my energies and wisdom to unravel the secrets of each one. In the end, I achieved it and arrived at some conclusions. I can say that the path of pure light belongs to all those that submit themselves to the father’s will and try faithfully fulfil the mission for which they were designated. However, this path is the most difficult of them all, for the world offers evermore easy and pleasurable alternatives for the body and soul, causing many to give up. In short, it is a path of denunciations and choices. As for the path of repentance is for all those with enough humility for recognising their mistakes, even when the situation is near the point of no return. It is there where the miracle of rebirth occurs and after that people can have a full and happy life. In relation to the path of passivity, this one represents the indifference of all those who have committed crimes, but don’t feel totally guilty. The dark night of this kind of person is in general fatal. From my own experience, I can say that it is more difficult to convince a passive person than create new worlds. Finally, the path of the dark night of the soul represents the moment when we detach ourselves from God only thinking about our interests and vanities. Depending on each case, the darkness can condemn the individual. It is the path of knowledge and revelation. I opted for this one, for it was the right choice at that moment. After I made my choice, I found a woman on the banks of a lake. She waved to me, I went near and getting closer she pushed me into the waters. The meeting gave rise to a journey at bygone times, when the human being was not aware of its existence, revealing the mystery that few know about. With the revelation, my senses were aroused to understand the primitive cause of the darkness: Pride and the seat of power. Specifically, pride makes man auto-sufficient, a kind of perdition. Being auto-sufficient man thinks that he no longer needs God to accomplish his plans and objectives and consider himself to he own master, master of his own destiny. Apart from those characteristics, pride initiates a series of sins which end up contaminating entirely man’s soul. With that the dark night gets even stronger.
—Splendid. I knew that you were really capable of understanding the depth of the question. However, be aware that it is only the beginning, for the dark night of the soul encompasses many more aspects which you still do not master. Be wise in all the situations and remember that up to now nobody as really understood it besides the master. After all I have heard, I believe that you are fit to go to the second phase of those that you will have to walk.
—And what about the next challenge? How shall act to succeed again?
—You must look for a place at the top called “Abysm of repentance”. If you act with caution and wisdom you can win again and find the knowledge of the second cardinal sin. But be alert: Only the totally pure hearts will not be reached by the abysm fire. If you fail, know that your soul will be irremediably captured and nobody will be able to save you.
—Thank you for your advice, but I believe in myself. I am totally confident that I will succeed, and therefore I am going to run all the necessary risks.
— Excellent. I can see you are ready. I admire your determination in search of knowledge. However, I must let you know that there is a price to pay and that nothing happens by chance. If you succeed in all the stages, the mystery of the dark night will help you a lot in your career. Now, I just want to wish you good luck and until we meet again.
Saying that, the guardian lady said the last goodbye and in a flash, she disappeared from my sight as smoke. From then on, silence reigned in my humble cabin putting me in a pensive mood. How to overcome this new challenge? Could it be by any chance more dangerous than the first one? What was exactly this place called abysm of repentance? There are so many questions without answers that they left me a little dizzy. I finish my breakfast and would spend most of the morning analysing which one would be the best strategy to be adopted in this case. After deciding, I would rest for a while before starting that new stage.
Greed
Finally, the afternoon starts and the sweltering heat wakes me up from refreshing sleep. At this moment, I look at my pocket watch and realise that the challenge time is very near and I got up intent on accomplishing it. With this in mind, I leave the cabin with long steps and try to find out the best route to reach the dark abysm of repentance. The last time, I had already passed through west and north. These options can be discarded. Thinking a bit more, I decide, to go in the southern direction this time. The direction defined, I carry on walking and begin to prepare myself mentally for perhaps an unavoidable impact, for I had to keep the heart and soul clean in view of overcoming such challenge. What exactly would I be finding in such dangerous place? Well, I did not have the faintest idea. The only thing I was sure about was that I would make every effort to absorb the necessary knowledge to try to understand better the enormous complexity of the dark night of the soul. And this wasn’t an easy task.
I carry on walking for some time in the chosen direction, but I still find nothing. Could it be that I was on the right path? Well, after all, I had to nurture my patience. I preserver in the path, but I stop for a while to have a rest. I take the chance to sit down on that hard and dry ground, and immediately I remember the advice from my mistress, the guardian lady: those of the past and actual ones. Analysing each