The Metaphysical Philosophy of The One Stick

The Metaphysical Philosophy of the One Stick - By Rob Swales

In the Beginning... there was the one stick. 

The one stick spent most of it’s time standing upright in the red land, watching the light in the sky rise on one side and the set on the other. Every day it would watch the light to see what it might do different. But it did nothing different and this set the one stick to thinking. And when the one stick looked down to think he discovered something really amazing. His own shadow. Now the one stick had something new and different to do and each day he would watch his shadow where it hid behind him from the light. When the light rose up the shadow was long behind him. As the light went down it was long behind him. And at sometime during the day the shadow disappeared completely. The one stick was so happy to have a shadow that he even gave the shadow a name. He called his shadow Ego. In the one stick’s study of Metaphysics, ‘Ego’ meant ‘a conscious thinking subject’, and as  he had created the shadow with his own thought, than Ego was the perfect name.

Then there was ... the one stick and the Ego.

Now the one stick felt fulfilled. Everyday he would wait for the light to rise, but he would no longer be looking at the light, but the Ego. And as the light went down, there he was still looking at the Ego and admiring his great work. One day he realised that although he now had the Ego that was amazing and did do something different every day he was missing out on something else. So he turned away from the Ego and got to thinking again. And there and then the one stick discovered the power of Metaphysics. Without the distraction of the Ego he rediscovered the radiance and beauty and warmth of the light disappearing over the edge of the world. This is what had been missing. The substance of light that was there in the Beginning. To celebrate this new discovery the one stick named the light Soul, because he felt it gave his being integrity and the one stick identified Soul as an integral part of the harmony between the one stick and the Ego.

So now that made... the one stick, the Ego and the Soul.

Life for the one stick was even more complete. To fill the day he had the Ego to watch mark the travel of the light and also the warmth, splendour and magnificence of the Soul. So with that comfort and satisfaction he took some time to develop his study of stick Metaphysics. And this prolonged study brought with it a new illusion. In the darkness he noticed for the first time that the Ego and the Soul were no longer with him and he felt afraid. To rationalise and overcome this new feeling the stick named the darkness the Fear, to signify the nothingness that was there all around him.

And the world was growing... for the one stick, the Ego, the Soul and the Fear.

But still that yearning feeling of lack and being alone returned. In the light there was the wonder and antics of the Ego and the Soul and with the darkness the haunting accusations of the Fear but there was no-one to share it with. So through his developing study of Metaphysics the one stick looked to his origins to see how he could resolve his feelings of loneliness and regain his sense of fulfillment and completion. And very soon the solution came from out of the air that surrounded him.

The one stick was waiting patiently knowing that he had looked deep into stick Metaphysics and consulted the Ego, the Soul and the Fear. The answers had always come from deep inside of the one stick and he knew this time it would be no different. 

It was in that time of the Soul, when there was no Ego to be seen, that the quiet air around him began to move. Slowly at first and then faster, rushing by the one stick in straight lines and  then swirls. At first the rushing air around him was funny and entertaining, making patterns and changing the light but as it rushed faster the Fear that only came with darkness was now with the one stick in the light. He tried to think the rushing air away but it became faster and more furious and deeply impressed the one stick with its power. To help overcome the feeling of the Fear in the light and to better understand the rushing air, the one stick thought deeper than ever before for a name for the power of the moving air around him and he called it the Spirit.

The next morning there was... the one stick, the Ego, the Soul, the Fear and the Spirit.

With the rising of the Soul the one stick looked behind him to confirm that the Ego had not been blown away by the fury of the spirit. He was pleased to see him stretching out across the land as far as the one stick could see. And although the Soul and the Ego were present and the Fear and the Spirit were now quiet something felt very different for the one stick. This feeling was very personal and profound like nothing he had experienced before It was when he was turning back from the Ego to the Soul that he found what this new sense was. Standing beside him was another something new. At first the one stick let the Fear return in the light. Then he remembered what he had been thinking about before the Spirit came and he smiled loudly. There was no need to be afraid. This was another stick. A stick very much like him but a very beautiful and enchanting stick with it’s own Ego. The new stick smiled back at the one stick and he felt warm on the inside as well as the outside and the feeling of loneliness disappeared. He called the new stick the Desire.

By the next setting of the Soul the world comprised... the one stick, the Ego, the Soul, the Fear, the Spirit and the Desire.

And happiness and contentment finally settled over the land of the one stick. The one stick now had another stick to share the wonders and joys of the land with. This gave him a completely new understanding of stick Metaphysics and creation and pretty soon the land around the one stick was covered with many new and amazing sticks . This land of abundant sticks should have been the solution to any problem that could have existed for the one stick but it wasn’t. The land of many sticks brought with it a whole new set of problems. It started out as simply as one Ego of the sticks crossing over the path of the Ego of another stick. From simple grumblings about the inconvenience of The Ego not having access to it’s own Soul, then there were issues of shared Spirit. The next thing the one stick was aware of was that the Fear in the land of many sticks became so powerful that it took away the beauty, happiness and contentment that had been there in the Beginning.

As the one stick had always done he opened up his thoughts on stick Metaphysics even wider, and higher and deeper to see how he could solve the problem of the Fear that looked like it was destroying the harmony in the land of sticks.

And then on one new time of the Soul after a busy darkness of the Spirit and the Fear ...

a new stick appeared.

The one stick found the new stick standing beside him after the Fear had abated. It wasn’t a very impressive stick but was very different to all the other sticks that now crowded in on the land around him. This stick seemed to have the ability to reflect the light of the Soul and it glowed with a wisdom of a brand of stick Metaphysics that the one stick had not before seen. The word Urim appeared to the one stick and he knew instantly that this was to be the name of the new stick. This stick would illuminate the land and the sticks would return to harmony. 

But the harmony didn’t return. The sticks continued to argue all around the land about who owned what was on the land around them and what was even in the land. And some sticks demanded more land than all the other sticks and the Fear became everything in the land. The one stick looked sadly around at what he had thought would be the perfect life and all he could see and hear and smell and taste and feel were the lie of the Ego rights. 

And the Fear soon became the Rage and then the War overtook the Rage and the one stick, the Ego, the Soul, the Spirit and the Desire were in danger of disappearing forever from the land.

But in the middle of the blackness that the War had now become the light of Urim began to shine even brighter. And when the one stick saw the presence and the power and inspiration of Urim breaking through the clouds of greed of the Ego that now covered the land, the one stick heard the still, quiet voice of Urim for the first time. 

The one stick was so overjoyed that he sent out message sticks wide and far across the whole land with the simple words of wisdom from Urim. This is what the still, quiet voice of Urim had to say.

To all those that live within the land, the Soul, the Spirit and reflect the Ego of the one stick, please listen.

If you would like to have all that you have now and also that of what was there in the Beginning, please listen.

Tomorrow, at the setting of the Soul I request that we all gather side by side, in one line facing the direction of the Soul. There we will find the answer to all that troubles the once great land of the one stick. Please listen then for my still, quiet voice.

And that was all that the still, quiet voice of Urim had to say.

At first there was a mumbling of the many sticks. A disquiet as to how one stick so insignificant and new to the land thought he had such a grasp of stick Metaphysics that he could provide the solution. But the mumblings were soon overcome by the darkness of the Fear and for the first time in many days the land of the one stick was quiet.

In the early light of the next Soul... the Spirit stirred through the land of the one stick.

And with the awakening and movement of the Spirit, the land came alive and the sticks moved silently and grudgingly, placing themselves shoulder to shoulder to the stick beside them, always looking towards the direction that  Soul would set. The one stick remained at peace, standing beside Urim, whose illumination continued to grow brighter as he reflected the qualities of the Soul overhead. 

Before the time of the setting of the Soul all the sticks were standing as Urim had requested, side by side facing the sun, waiting for the voice of Urim once again.

For the one stick this now felt like the Beginning again. There was light and beauty and wonder and peace all around. And then came the still, quiet voice of Urim. His request was simple and could not be denied by those who sought his understanding.

Now listen, all those in the land of the one stick. When you cease to hear my voice, please turn in unison and look behind you.

And it was there that those who lived in the land of the one stick found the unity that was there in the Beginning. The Ego had become as one.

And the one stick ... was so overjoyed with what Urim had awakened in the land of the one stick that he placed it above the Beginning in the Metaphysical Philosophy of The One Stick. And he called this awakening of Urim... the Love.

(c) Rob Swales 2011