Hail to You, O Sah, O Orion, glowing as a belt along the firmament's belly! O Glorious Sah, Vanquisher of Darkness, Swallower of Demons, clothe me in Your strength and valor as I go forth upon my path to meet the Mysteries of the God. O Shetau, O Mysteries, O Path of Difficulty traversed only by the courageous! You are the guide of the heart throughout the trials of this worldly life, and though I tremble in the presence of suffering and death, You are the Eternal in the temporal, the Divine in the mortal, the unending in the transient. You do not begin, nor do You end. You are the actions of the God throughout all that He has spoken into being. Like breath, You are felt but not seen, and Your hand grasps my Ka in the hour of its need, propelling me forward onto the Way of the Divine One.
The Heavens are a gate above my head, shedding light through the portals of the stars, the mouths of illumination opening up to lead men into the Sanctuaries of the Gods. You Sanctuaries, clad in Sah's yellow radiance, are the Seats of the Netjeru, drawing the light of the celestial domains down to Earth to be enshrined in the vessel of the heart. O Doors, O Pylons, O Gates of the Divine Heaven, open before my two feet, ushering my Ka into the sweet presence of the Great God! May I know the Mysteries, may I see the Knowledge of Heaven, may I recognize the Path through the Divine Portal when it opens! May I become aware of the body of the God through which my body shall become an Eternal Spirit! Though I walk upon the Earth as a mortal man, may You open for me the Gates of Heaven, permitting my passage into the Indestructible Spirit.
I am a Son, a Man, the Son of the Earth, the Son of the Soil, a Man of the Earth's dust, and I call upon the Earth to lead me down the Path of Knowledge, which comes in the Divine Intelligence of the Heart, transforming ignorance into Wisdom, inertness into fruition, death into new life. I am not owned by the Earth, nor am I ensnared by it. Though my flesh shall be reunited with the Earth on that day of making union with the Earth, my Ka is everlasting, and my Spirit-Body cannot be hindered. It passes through the Portals of the Stars in the form of light, which cannot dissipate, but transforms itself from body to body. My true body is light, the Window of Heaven, the Celestial Gate, the Pylon of the God.
Homage to You, O Sa-Tat, You Who lead the beings of the Earth, You Who carry the Children of Geb and Nuwit upon Your back. You are the witness to my deeds, the Shadow of my feet, the impulses of my heart, and You carry these things to the ears of the God, the Netjer in His Shrine. May my deeds upon the Earth reflect the Knowledge of the Gods, the Truth through which the Universe came into being. May I be one of those Sons of the God Who pass into the House of their Father, Who embrace the Divine One in the sweetness of His limbs, Who kisses the Ka of the God and is filled with the satisfaction of His power.
I pray all of these things in the shadow of the God's Portal, shining in the distance as twilight fades and night captures Earth in its dark embrace. Yonder is the House of the God, the reflection of the Sky's greatness upon the Earth, the expanse of a road fronted by a great gate. I roll up my shelter, carrying it around my neck lest I lose it along the way. Should I be without? Should I go forth without protection from the elements for this body of mine, so fragile, so susceptible to change? What will happen to this house of my Ka if the house that keeps it is somehow misplaced? I leave the fire of my camp behind, turning from it to face the highway of the Divine Home. This is the Opening of Heaven that has been established upon the Earth. From here the God goes forth in His Earthly shelter, that His power, hosted and channeled by His Company of Priests, would be married to the masses and release them from their earthbound existence.
Come forth O God! Come forth in Your beautiful procession, emerging from Your sphere of light like the Stars in their progression through the firmament. Like a ship passing on water Your Holy Ark sails out from between pylons the size of mountains. Like the glittering face of Ra when He rises, Your countenance is manifested from the Divine Horizon of the Sacred House, projecting Your power to the eyes of Your grateful subjects. Their hearts are in peace at the sight of You, for You guide them in their journeys, meeting their every need by way of Your goodness. Hail O God of the twilight, O Lord of the dawn! My face is alight with Your fine gold, my heart in my breast soaring because of Your presence in the awesome vault of Heaven!
I now go forth to meet with the God as one drawn from the Earth to the Heavens, from the flesh to the Spirit, from the darkness to the light. I open up my eyes, I perceive, I have recognition of the things that are! I approach the Portal of the God in silence, for the God loves a silent heart, a humble heart, a heart that has been emptied like a vessel waiting to be filled. Yes, I call upon You, O Netjer, to fill my heart with Your sweet Essence, the Fluid of Your Ka, the Water of Your Eternal Spirit. I proffer unto You the vessel of my heart, poured out before this House of Yours, emptied of all ill and strife, all hindrances of this world.
It is in silence that one hears the voice of one's Ka, which tells only the Truth, which mirrors the voice of Heaven, which bestows true knowledge of the gift of life bestowed by the Netjer. O Netjer, O Lord of my body, Master of my Ka! I beseech You to lead my heart to its Ka, to reveal the right path, the Great Way to the Gates of Eternity! You are the embodiment of the Eternal, the Presence of the Infinite, the Light from which all other lights emerge. I am a light, given birth to by Your illumination. I empty my heart of darkness by letting in the nectar of Your light, the radiance of Your Ka. I am replenished. I am satisfied. I am overflowing.
A crown of Stars shines with silver light as I draw near the bronzed doors of the Divine Portal, my feet met by cool paving stones, the flutter of pennants stirring the evening air high above. Homage to You, O noble Portal of the God, granting awe, bestowing beauty, carrying the savor of the God from His Sanctuary! My heart stirs in my breast as I gaze upwards to hail the majesty of the God's House. What beauty! More immense than mountains, more skillfully carved than a royal jewel. Here stand the true testaments of the heart and mind joined together in a harmony beyond compare. Only Heaven could be brighter, only the sea deeper and more mysterious in its vast presence. I am filled with gratitude to the Masters who designed such perfection in the seats of their hearts. It is from this place that the procession of the God captures the eyes of His adorers on such days as He is disposed to travel. Even the Stars must exit the veil of Heaven with their luminescence.
There is a Keeper of the Divine Portal who answers my presence with his challenge, a musical voice that drifts down into my ears as my legs bend to make an obeisance to the hallowed ground.
"To enter into this pure place, what must you leave behind?"
I am humbled by the silver-washed giants of the Divine Gates, and my tongue finds speech difficult, but slowly I answer into the peaceful night. "I leave behind my mortality, and receive the body of the Eternal. I renounce my weaknesses, handing these back to the Earth from whence they came. I am not this corruptible body. I am truly in my incorruptible Ka, which moves always towards the Eternal and farther still from the corruptible. I am housed in my Ka, which leaves behind all perishable things, which travels as Spirit in the realm of the Spirit, which moves as Essence, empowered by the ceaseless Sa of Creation".
Again the voice from the invisible Keeper drifts down to my ears, now aware of the magnitude of the massive doors closed tight before my eyes. "What of Earth corrupts, and why?"
"O Keeper of the Divine Doorway, it is hunger that corrupts, that drives men to ambition after what may be obtained upon the Earth while dwelling in a mortal body. Such hunger drives men to abandon the glory of the Ka, which feeds on Spirit, upon the Sa of the Netjer, and not upon things of this world. But Noble Keeper, is it not so that men may find the peace of the Ka in love, which, when true, wants nothing for itself but gives only for the sake of giving? Surely it is love when alive upon the Earth that releases a man to his noble Ka at the moment of death. Surely there is liberation upon the Earth, even as there is imprisonment".
Above me there is a stir from some unseen place, and the Keeper gestures towards the heavy doors set deep between the pylons. "Ah my son, you have unbolted the doorway that leads to an even higher wisdom, for it is truly within the deeds of the selfless heart that a man finds the path to his Higher Ka, his highest intelligence. But this is indeed a precarious road, for the heart is subject to the passions of the sense-body, which lead it to hunger for immediate gratification only, instead of harboring patience for an even greater reward. But you have also given the solution, for it is the heart that hungers to give- without want of a reward- that becomes conscious of its true spirit and finds liberation from the fetters of mortality.
The heart too is a doorway, opening inward and outward, receiving and giving. It is the center through which one becomes conscious of the Eternal captured by the vessel of the corruptible flesh. A love that gives without expectation of payment is the root of true devotion, compassion and patience, which takes a man to his Spirit home, the nature of the Self not governed strictly by the passions of the flesh. However, a man who feels passion and grants love for the sake of loving, giving his Spirit and receiving the Spirit of another, is capable of receiving the Divine Ka in his Earthly body, and will know the meaning of becoming his Sahu."
In the encroaching darkness I nod to myself, hoping that my meager effort to understand the Path would gain me admittance into the God's courtyard. The Stars were now distant gems of golden light suspended above the black Earth in a dark lapis sky. The moon beckons my heart to empty itself of its final vestiges of doubt. I bow my head out of reverence for the Keeper's great wisdom.
"O Keeper, the path of a Sahu should be the ambition of all men, if men were to understand the difference between selfish ambition and altruistic ambition. A Sahu is one who has mastered his Self, which is the composite of flesh and Spirit, overseen by the Ka, his hidden intelligence. A Sahu has been united with his Ka while alive upon the Earth, and knows that to govern himself he must discipline his passions to engage in the rite of Creation, to share in the act of Creation purely for the sake of giving form to what is good and beautiful. Passion in itself is not ill, nor is desire when it leads a man to give his finest qualities to another.
It is to celebrate such perfection that I have come forth to the House of the Master, the Netjer to Whom all passion and love are ascribed, to Whom Creation bows. It is to ascend to my Higher Ka that I make pilgrimage to the God's House, in love and gratitude for all that will be given".
Somehow I know in my heart that I have grasped the thread of the rope by which the Temple's doors will be opened to me, and I raise my hands in homage to the Keeper of the Great Door, waiting eagerly for the doors to swing open, for the moment when I would be permitted to move my feet into the courtyard of the Divine Mansion. How did I know that the Keeper smiled indulgently in the quiet darkness stretching far above my head?
"You have a courageous heart", he said, "but do not forget to temper it with humility, for arrogance is the downfall of all men. No matter how great we become, there is always someone, something greater than ourselves. The ego, left to roam wildly without scruples, will dictate a man's downfall by inspiring jealousy and dislike in those who see him in competition with their own ambitions. However, a man who uses his gifts wisely while also humbling himself in the presence of greater things will never cease to be respected and admired.
First comes generosity, the fruit of an abundant heart. From this altruism develops, which gives to others out of love and not out of ambition. A man who knows altruism will achieve fulfillment no matter what his station or means in the world, and he will be able to love freely, without the need for possessing. This is the highest form of love, which is also the most difficult to practice. But this is the God's love, and those who desire to serve the God will master this and serve it as their highest goal. The Temple awaits, but it is not the only one".
All text copyright © 2006, 2015 Rev. Ptahmassu K.M. Nofra-Uaa