Psychologists use a scale to measure stress. High on this scale come the death of a parent, redundancy, marriage breakdown, and a house move. Between 1990 and 1994 I experienced them all in rapid succession. The events of 1990, when I had my spiritual "wake up call", whilst not totally preparing me for what was to come, certainly helped to make things at least bearable.

All four events have one thing in common - loss of security. They prove to us that what we THOUGHT was security, was but an illusion. Having once more begun to walk my path, after many years sheltering in this apparently secure haven, I quickly realized that, in reality, I knew very little. I gazed in awe at those who had been on the spiritual path for many years, and had accumulated a vast array of knowledge. "You must do this", they said, "You should be doing that", they added, "You really must join us - our is the ONLY way - we understand you - you belong with us !" Security again - but at what price ? Merely that I set aside my own thoughts and feelings, and agree with theirs. And if I didn't ? Then I was possessed by Satan, and would be condemned to spend eternity in hell.

It soon became clear that what I had considered a disadvantage, was, in reality, a powerful advantage. For my mind was not clogged up with the trappings of many years of study. Once we create a fixed idea in our minds, then we tend to collect only that information which supports our theory, and reject that which doesn't. Anyone who has moved home after a long period in one place realizes just how much we can accumulate along the way, particularly in the loft or garage ! Moving to a smaller home, we face the agonizing decision as to what to keep, and what to throw away. Luckily, I faced no such decision, for I had no such knowledge to throw away, so I began to travel light, towards the Light !

Each and every one of us walks a different path, and all these paths have but one thing in common - the ultimate destination, to be re-united with the One. Back in the last century, many pioneers left the Eastern regions of America, with only the possessions they could carry, to begin a new life in the West . Not everyone made it. Many died. Some, faced with terrible hardship, turned back. Others, finding green fields along the way, settled alongside the trail. But there were those who, despite losing all their possessions and loved ones along the way, made it to the other side, climbing high mountains and fording deep rivers along the way.

As we progress along our path, we face many such obstacles. There are some who, faced with a mountain, will attempt to take the long path around it, only to find that it leads them nowhere. Some are content to pitch their tents at the foot of the mountain, and await the invention of the "spiritual helicopter" ! Some will climb the steep, narrow and winding paths, which will eventually lead to their destination. But someone has to carve out these paths, and this will inevitably mean climbing up the sheer face of the mountain. A deadly game of snakes and ladders, as we move from one frequency to the next.

For those who choose to climb the mountain, there is the ever-present danger of becoming obsessed with owning the latest mountaineering equipment, losing sight of the ultimate goal. Mountain climbing means travelling light - really light. It does not mean giving away all of our personal possessions, rather, developing a new attitude towards them. We need to recognize that, in reality, we own nothing - that everything we have is only on temporary loan to us during our stay on this planet. As the old saying goes, "There are no pockets in shrouds". In other words, you can't take it with you ! So when you no longer have a need for something, pass it on.

Consider the Native Americans. When a brave had enjoyed a particularly good season, he set aside what he NEEDED, and arranged a party to give away his surplus, with particular attention to the widows and orphans The term "Indian giver" is applied to those who take back a gift they have given. In reality, a Native American would take back his gift if the recipient no longer used it, or appreciated it. It was considered totally socially unacceptable to own more than you needed, whilst those around you went without. This is the key to our problems today. In the Western world, it is totally socially acceptable to not only have more than we need, but in some cases, far more than we could ever use in our lifetime. "Store not treasures for yourselves on earth….."

When I was made redundant in 1991, I was forced to re-evaluate my life, applying the lessons I had learnt in 1990. I set out my basic requirement - Needs, Wants, Would Likes. To these I added a fourth category - false demands. It is this fourth category which is creating the majority of the problems on the planet today. We are in the destructive cycle described by David Icke, as "take, make and throw away". At one time, things were made to fulfill a need. Today, things are made, followed by a massive advertising campaign to convince people that they NEED them ! Why ? So that the people who make them can earn the money to buy things that THEY don't need ! And so the crazy, destructive cycle continues. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the good old USA - the descendants of those who destroyed a gentle and wise people, who they condemned as savages.

Travelling light means not carrying along excessive baggage, either physically, mentally or spiritually. Every species has two basic needs, food and shelter. Mankind has a third need, which has seen him apparently succeed, and yet has sown the seeds of his own destruction - intellectual stimulation. Today I have very few possessions. And yet, I OWN the same as the day I was born, and every day in between. NOTHING ! For I can take none of it with me when I leave this planet. All I will take is the love that I have generated along the way. But nobody can stop me gazing at the sky, listening to the sound of a waterfall, or feeling the spray of the ocean on my face. The trees that were on this planet the day I was born will live on after my physical death, and after those who own the land upon which they grow, have passed on. Whose trees are they ?

Watching a poacher on TV the other night, he argued that nobody could actually own a river, or the fish in it. For as a fish swims downstream, it passes from one section to another. So too, the water in which it swims. A river will remain throughout many generations, but the water on a man's land will change every second !

The twentieth century saw an obsession with speed. Those who built racing cars knew that the lighter the car, the faster it would go with a smaller engine. The fewer physical possessions we rely on for our security, the lighter we travel. The fewer fixed or preconceived ideas we carry, the more open we are to new ideas. Our hearts can be burdened with fear, hate, cynicism and despair, or lifted by love, faith and hope. The choice is ours. Although by most people's standards I am poor, in reality I can be the richest man alive if I have the love, trust and respect of the Earth, and my fellow man. For my treasures are not stored here on Earth, but are in my heart, When mankind learns to share this planet, all of us will once more return to travelling light.