The Sleeping Messiah

By Martin Herbertson

“While staring into my own reflection in the pool of life, I have discovered a great secret. It is a secret that can bestow immense power upon any one that knows it......."
From the Mountain of Wisdom to the Pool of Life, The Sleeping Messiah takes us on a wonderful journey of discovery into the very nature of our reality. This timeless collection of short stories encourages deep reflection, inspiring us to find our own truth without letting the world tell us what it is, revealing our innate wisdom with stunning clarity. Stop pretending you're only what the world says you are - it's time to waken the sleeping messiah.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Martin Herbertson
• Release date: May 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476464275

Book preview

IMMORTAL KINGDOM

Before the beginning of our universe, in a dimension that cannot even be imagined, there was once a kingdom of truth. The kingdom was perfect and every one that lived there lived in harmony – until the arrival of an immortal that was not satisfied with perfection and had no intention of living in harmony.

The immortal wanted to rule the kingdom for his self, and in the dark of the night he stole the truth and tried to destroy it. He chopped it with swords and trampled it with horses and burned it at the stake. But no matter how hard he tried, the truth could not be destroyed.

Undeterred, the immortal decided to hide the truth from every one, and he set off towards the mountains in the east. For an age and a day he headed towards the rising sun and when he reached the tallest mountain in the east, he climbed to the top of it and hid the truth in a cave just below the peak. And there it remained for a thousand years, while the immortal ruled the kingdom unchallenged.

One day a hermit set out into the wilderness to find the answer to life’s deepest question. For many years he travelled alone seeking solace from the world, until he ended up in the mountains and climbed to the peak of the tallest one. Then just as he approached the peak of the mountain, he saw an opening in the rocks and went inside. And there he found the truth.

The hermit recognised the truth at once and he climbed back down the mountain and showed it to all he met – and the truth spread like a ripple upon a pond. By the time the sun had set, everyone in the kingdom had seen the truth, and the reign of the immortal was over.

But the immortal was not about to give up. That night he stole the truth for a second time and set off in a boat across the oceans to the west. For many moons he sailed towards the setting sun and when he was sure he was sailing upon the deepest water, he threw the truth over the side. The truth sank to the bottom of the ocean and there it remained, while the immortal ruled the kingdom unchallenged.

Once more, however, the immortal’s reign was not set to last. After the passing of a thousand years, a fisherman cast his net into the middle of the deepest ocean and brought the truth to the surface. The fisherman recognised the truth at once and he displayed it on the bow of his boat for all to see. And when the wind blew him back to shore, every one saw the truth and it spread like wildfire. Before the day was out, the reign of the immortal was over.

In a fury of frustration, the immortal took flight to the desert of the south and hid in the dunes. He plotted and schemed beneath the darkening sky and, as the sun set above the windblown sands, he finally realised how he could rule over the kingdom of truth for an eternity.

The next morning the immortal returned to the kingdom, but this time he did not try to steal the truth or hide it. He left the truth right out in the open. And then he began to teach every one how not to see it.

He still rules the kingdom. The people who live in it have lost touch with reality. They go around seeing all manner of things they are taught to see and it all makes sense. But none of it is the truth.

THE ETERNAL QUEST

A young emperor was sitting in his garden reading a book called Reality, when he noticed he was becoming confused. What was it all about?

The emperor called for his sage.

Tell me sage, what is reality? he enquired.

Only one that is truly wise can look through the distractions of this world and see reality, replied the sage.

So who is wise enough to do this? asked the emperor.

The emperor expected the sage to say that he, the emperor, was sufficiently wise. But the sage said no such thing – after all, the emperor plainly had no idea what reality was, because he required someone else to tell him. And although the sage was a respected man, he had already found that he could not even begin to put reality into words without becoming confused.

After reflecting for a while, the sage said, "Any one that can see what is without naming it, or can hear a word without making sense of it, is truly wise."

The emperor asked the sage, Can you do this?

But the sage replied that he could not. Nor could the emperor; nor could the court physician or the court lawyer or the court banker or the cook. In fact, not one person they asked was able to do it.

The emperor was appalled by the lack of wisdom in his empire, and he declared that no stone should remain unturned until reality was found and brought before him. So the eternal quest began.

A law was passed, forcing every one to be educated so they may learn how to recognise reality if they saw it. Great universities were built where scholars studied the meaning of reality, and the empire’s libraries grew and grew until there were more books on the subject than any one could read in a life time. The empire became filled with highly qualified experts. Now every one thought they knew what reality was; but no one could actually see it.

In the conspicuous absence of reality, the search gathered pace. Vast businesses were created and huge cities were built with massive infrastructure to support them, as every one was employed in the search for the obvious. The land – which had once been a bountiful paradise – became covered with concrete and tar. The air and the water and the soil became polluted. And still the search