Climbing Heaven Bound

The ascent is steep and lonely.
Winds whip around the edges of my mind and through my heart.
Each step has a moment of intention, a moment of movement, and a moment of satisfaction. But it is only after a myriad of moments that I can actually look back and notice a change in the altitude.

My breathing becomes more labored and I have to remember that altitude affects my judgement and I need to be cautious.
I’m not afraid but I can’t remember why I’m here. It somehow seems familiar.
Oh yes! I do remember this path vaguely, but last time it was underwater. Strange…
The view from here is exhilarating, so promising, so heady that now I remember where to I go and there is only a short distance ahead. Can I make it? Will it change me? I see the entry now but I’m so bereft of air that I’m starting to drift away.
[Wait! Stay here. Don’t go. You’re so close, Beloved! Know that I am with you for every step and every breath. Hold my hand and look into my eyes, Precious.]
“Oh, there it is! The gate of wonder, the door of ecstasy, the entry to heaven.”
I knock but no one answers. “Beloved, let me in! Don’t leave me. Show me the way. It’s so hard to breathe out here.”
[But Dear One, I am with you out here! It is just you on the other side of that door. Open it to yourself for there is no lock, no key, no door except the door to your own heart!]
“But why then does it say “No Entry” written with the ink of rage?? Pachamama, show me the way with the breath of Tantra. It is time….. Last trip it was Diving Deeper and Surfacing.; this trip it is Climbing Heaven Bound.