The Magic Doorway

The Magic Doorway

by Linda Heron Wind, Ph.D.

The children were bored, tired of waiting the long summer day for the bonfire and feast that Lammas night. They had played games, poked around the yard, and watched clouds come and go.

"I know," said Frank. "Let's go down to the Old Man's place and spy on him!"

"Sure," said Sally, "he's always got something interesting going on."

The Old Man was just that, an old man that lived on the outskirts of the village. He grew wonderful vegetables and fruits that he brought to town on Saturdays to sell along with the various crafts he made. He always seemed friendly but didn't say too much about himself.

Frank and Sally arrived at the picket fence that marked the edge of the garden and peeked between the boards. It appeared that the Old Man was simply sitting in the middle of his garden talking.

"Who's he talking to?" Sally quietly asked Frank.

"I don't know. I don't see anyone there," whispered Frank. "Can you hear what he is saying?"

Just then the Old Man got up and walked straight toward them. He peered over the fence and smiled. "Those tomatoes are never wrong!" he exclaimed. "They can sense visitors a 100 yards away. Come on in and sit a spell." He opened the nearby gate motioning them in.

Frank and Sally were stunned, mouths still open as they moved through the gate. "How did you know we were here?" said Sally.

"Like I said, the tomatoes told me," the Old Man responded. "They're a talkative bunch this year."

"The tomatoes told you?" said Frank, sill having a hard time closing his gaping mouth.

"Sure," responded the Old Man, "what is so surprising about that?"

"I guess we didn't know that tomatoes could talk," answered Sally regaining her composure.

"Oh," said the Old Man thoughtfully, "I then suppose no one has told you yet about the Magic Doorway."

"The Magic Doorway?" both Sally and Frank exclaimed in unison.

"Well, I guess there is no time like the present, and a fitting time it is on this beautiful Lammas day. Sit down here on this bench and let me tell you about it."

The children sat down on the bench expectantly and the Old Man made himself comfortable on a chair fashioned out of old tree branches facing them. "Yes now, the Doorway. Well let me begin by telling you the purpose of the doorway. In one sense it is like a doorway on a house. If you always stayed in the house you would never experience all the wonderful things out in your yard. You might glimpse them occasionally but you would never really experience them.

"Where you are right now is like being in the house - what you can experience is limited. In front of you always is a doorway and when you step through that doorway, it is like walking out of the house - another whole world unfolds. When I was sitting here before conversing with the tomatoes, I was on the other side of the doorway."
"But we hear you talking, and we are already outside," said Sally, confused.

"Yes but you did not hear the tomatoes talking. You have to be on the other side of the doorway to hear them," said the Old Man with a laugh.

"Did you really hear the tomatoes talking?" said Frank, beginning to think this was some kind of joke the Old Man was playing on them.

"In tomato language I did! But that is difficult to explain to someone who has not been on the other side of the doorway."

"Ok, then, where is this doorway and how do we go through it?" Frank was becoming a bit impatient.

"Good question! As I said before, the doorway is always in front of you, and to see it you must look very carefully. Sometimes it is easier to feel than see and your mind's eye sees it more clearly than your physical eyes."

"Mind's eye?" questioned Sally.

"You know the picture in your mind - your imagination - or the image within." The Old Man was now getting up to show them how far in front of them the Doorway was. "Focus right here and imagine that there is a doorway. Most people see it as filled with sort of a misty or foggy substance."

Sally and Frank looked at each other, deciding whether to go along with the Old Man's game. Frank shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "What have we got to lose?" and looked in front of him where the Old Man was pointing, as did Sally.

"It helps to first get yourself in the right mood," the Old Man explained. "The doorway is easier to imagine and go through when you are feeling light and happy. Take a minute to breathe deeply and look around at all the beautiful colors in this garden."

The children did as they were told and began to notice all the beautiful plants - sunflowers, calendula, herbs, greens, beans, and bright red tomatoes. Just looking made them smile.

"Ok, I think you are ready now. You can never get through the doorway with a frown on your face you know. Now imagine the doorway right here with a mist in it and slowly get up and walk toward it. As soon as you step through stand still and close your eyes until I tell you to open them."

The children followed the Old Man's directions, imagining the doorway and conjuring up some mist. Then simultaneously they began slowly moving toward the imaginary doorway. As they got closer they could feel the mist touching their legs with its cool damp fingers and closer yet, they felt like they were disappearing into its arms. Through the door they closed their eyes and waited.

"Now slowly open your eyes," whispered the Old Man.

As they opened their eyes the light seemed a bit brighter and the colors around them even more vivid than before. But other than that, nothing seemed to have changed, except… there was something -very subtle.

"Now don't move and listen very closely," the Old Man advised them.

At first it seemed like the bees buzzing but then it was whispers and their eyes were drawn to the tomatoes that were swaying ever so slightly and … whispering! The two looked at each other, then back at the tomatoes, and then to the Old Man.

"Ah, you heard them! Good for you - sometimes it takes several tries to get through the doorway. You two are quick learners. To stay on this side of the doorway you must keep your mind still and focus on the beauty and colors all around you. Here everything can speak if you are willing to listen because everything is alive," he said with his eyes sparkling.

"What is this place called?" asked Sally, forcing her mind to be still a little longer.

"Many different things by many different traditions, but I call it the Real World," said the Old Man.

"Well if this is the real world, where were we before?" said Frank, feeling the mist reaching for him and pulling him back through the doorway as he spoke.

"You were in the illusion created by your mind," responded the Old Man, "and I can see that you are slipping back there again as your mind has begun to question things."

Both children felt as if they were being sucked back through the doorway by the mist as the questions poured into their previously empty minds.

"Remember," said the Old Man, "the Magic Doorway to the Real World is always before you, waiting for you to still your mind and enter."

The Magic Doorway
Passage to the Real World
Calls us each moment

If you have comments on these articles or ideas for future topics, call Linda Heron Wind at (585) 924-5620 or send e-mail to LHWind@aol.com.

Page last modified July 27, 2004 by RMC