The Logos: The Meletic Testament (Chapter 41 The Ascent)
đź“ś Chapter 41: The Ascent
1. I awoke not with the clamour of revelation, but with the quiet certainty that something within me had shifted. It was not Athens that changed me; it was the realisation of my soul.
2. The air was still, yet it carried the familiar scent of clarity, as though the city itself had exhaled its confusion.
3. I did not seek the ancient gods of the Pagans or the new one of the Christians, nor did I expect their counsel. My ascent would be mine alone to experience.
4. The path of the ascent or the Anodos (Ἄνοδος), which is the ascent was not paved with divine miracles, but with actual moments—each one a stone laid by choice. It was not an ascent into a divine heaven.
5. I walked gradually through the agora, not as a man amongst men, but as a mind amongst minds that gravitated to the centre of my thoughts.
6. The voices around me spoke of commerce and conquest, yet I listened attentively for the silence between their words expressed.
7. In that unique silence encountered, I found the first step, which was the shedding of the noise that stirred around me.
8. I had long mistaken turmoil for evoked passion, and ignorance for unnoticeable innocence in people.
9. But as I pondered my life, I saw that elevation began with discernment and the recognition of the soul.
10. To rise, one must first see the weight one carries within the soul. It is from the soul that the ascent begins its path towards To Ena.
11. My soul had once been tethered to the expectations of others, and I had called it duty or obligation.
12. I had worn the particular robes of tradition, thinking them to be the garments of my established wisdom.
13. But wisdom I knew then was not inherited in life—it was cultivated with knowledge that developed into seed of wisdom.
14. I stood before the olive tree in my courtyard observing, its branches reaching skywards without any ceremony or ritual.
15. It did not seek to be worshipped. It did not plead to be blest. It simply grew as a part of nature that unfolded into existence.
16. And in its unique growth, I saw the essence that was of the ascent. The ascent that would bring my soul closure. It was a path of elevation, which was an elevation of the mind beyond ignorance, an elevation of the soul beyond turmoil, and an elevation of the body through purification.
17. To ascend was not to escape from the world of reality, but to engage with it, with a greater clarity.
18. The body which is physical, too, must be refined—not through denial, but through understanding.
19. Thus, I began to think not for mere pleasure, but for the balance of my body, mind and soul.
20. I bathed not to cleanse the skin from original sin, but to honour the vessel that bore my soul.
21. I no longer sought the purity in rituals performed, but in the philosophy of Meleticism. It was a journey of catharsis, where I purged myself of the disorder within, allowing healing and harmony to take root in me.
22. The nature of breath, of thought and of motion—each a living thread in the tapestry of my ascent.
23. I watched a lone craftsman in the market work like a demiurge, his hands steady, his minds focused. He did not speak to me of transcendence in life, yet he embodied it with his craft.
24. For what is elevation in life, if not the mastery of one’s own craft? It is the ascent that one realises exists in the ordinariness of the soul.
25. To envision this, imagine walking up an endless stairway in the clouds at night. The path is long and narrow, and at its end, there is a radiant light.
26. As you walk forth, step by step, the light does not waver nor diminish. Instead, it remains steadfast, guiding you onwards. With every step, its brilliance intensifies, enveloping you in its natural warmth.
27. When you finally reach it, you do not merely stand before it; you become one with it. You are no longer separate from the light, for you are the light. This is the essence of the ascent to To Ena. It is the moment when our consciousness dissolves into the oneness of existence, and we are no longer confined to the illusions of separateness.
28. I began to write each morning, not to be merely read, but to be revealed to myself through my reflections. The ink flowed like embedded memory afterwards, and the words shaped my becoming.
29. I wrote of my previous fears, not to banish them forever, but to understand their causes and roots. Fear, I learnt in life, was not the sole enemy—it was the mere shadow of the soul that lingered.
30. And the shadows vanished not by brute force, but by the light that shone over them so brightly.
31. I lit no candles, offered no incense. My illumination came from enquiry and from the realisation of the soul.
32. I asked numerous questions that had no definite answers still, but found inner peace in my asking.
33. The ascent was not a climb towards the peak of a mountain—it was a spiral that leads to To Ena, which was the deeper awakening of our consciousness that allowed us to truly ascend.
34. One returns again and again to the same truths that are revealed, each time with deeper insight.
35. I revisited my childhood memories through my introspection, not to dwell, but to reframe them.
36. The boy I was had sought approval from others in life, but the man I became had wisdom.
37. I walked to the edge of the city with a glance at life, where the hills began their slow rise after the fresh dawn.
38. There, I sat amongst the marble stones and listened to the wind blow with such a soothing effect.
39. It spoke not in the actual words of an utterance, but in the movement that defined nature.
40. And I understood afterwards that nature did not teach solely—it reminded us more of its presence.
41. The ascent was not a conquest of the body, but a reconciliation with the body, mind and soul. To ascend was to become aware of its enlightening presence, to align our being with its reality.
42. I had once firmly believed that the attainment of knowledge was power over others. We often seek external validation of the truth, looking for signs, visions or divine revelations.
43. I then saw that knowledge was perspective and the fountain of wisdom that continued to flow in me.
44. Power was the sheer illusion that one had to dominate to rise over the challenges one confronted.
45. But elevation of the body, mind and soul came through integration and my awareness. It was not about reaching a higher plane in a supernatural sense.
46. I integrated my past, my flaws and my contradictions. I decided to live in the present, and my flaws and contradictions were then, my self-acceptance and wisdom.
47. I did not erase these things—I embraced them as part of the whole that defined my human nature.
48. To Ena was not distant beyond my understanding—it was present in every fragment revealed to me through the Logos. To Ena was not a deity to worship like a creator god, but a foundation to establish meaning.
49. It was the unity that underlay the seed of diversity, and from that diversity came unity.
50. The body was not a mere vessel to be abandoned in pursuit of higher consciousness. It was an integral part of our being, operating in harmony with the mind and soul.
51. I began to see myself not as separate from nature, but as one of its common expressions.
52. The ascent was not upwards in space, but inwards in our awareness. Ultimately, it culminated in the reintegration with the Logos.
53. I no longer sought to be better than others in life, only clearer within myself and mind.
54. To Ena was not a perfection that one should emulate—it was more that which was true presence.
55. I walked past the temples that stood erect, their sturdy columns proud and unmoving.
56. The grass between their stones whispered of change. A change that awakened with the active stir of the Logos.
57. The old gods had their place in time, but I did not belong to them, nor to the new god that the Christians professed in their sacred monasteries.
58. I belonged to the earth that witnessed my birth, to the breath and to the moment of which I pertained to.
59. My thoughts became less like arguments and more like observations that cleared my uncertainties.
60. Therefore, I observed my anger, and it softened with the realisation of my ascent. To ascend was to awaken. It was to perceive life not merely as a sequence of events, but as a continuous unfolding of meaning.
61. I observed my envy, and it dissolved into the thoughts that would surface from my ascent.
62. I observed my joy, and it expanded onto the recognition of my soul that was once dormant.
63. The ascent was not a mere rejection of human nature expressed, but a refinement of it. Each experience, each challenge, and each moment of stillness contributed to my journey.
64. I decided to refine my speech, not to impress others, but to express myself amidst others.
65. My words became tools to utilise in philosophy, not mere weapons to utilise against my foes.
66. I spoke less, and listened more with my awareness, as I concluded that wisdom without awareness was hollow.
67. Thus, in listening, I discovered the knowledge of others’ minds and the wisdom they displayed.
68. Even those people who disagreed with me respected my message. They began to understand the meaning of the ascent.
69. They understood that the ascent was not a solitary act performed—it was a shared unfolding of one's soul.
70. When I proceeded to share my thoughts with others, they would challenge them then.
71. Their challenge did not wound me in the body—it widened me to search for the purpose of the body.
72. I began to welcome certain discomfort that was unannounced, for it signalled my growth.
73. A growth that was not linear—it was instead layered with the deep understanding of life.
74. I peeled back the layers of habit, and found intention beneath the layers of doubt.
75. I peeled back the layers of belief, and found truth beneath the layers of falsehood or illusions.
76. I peeled back the layers of identity, and found silence beneath the layers of the truth.
77. In my silence, I met myself without ornament or vanity. I discovered that the ascent was my path towards To Ena.
78. The ascent was not a physical climb one takes—it was a shedding of the body, mind and soul. It was a realisation that every morning is no longer just another start to another day, but another opportunity to breathe, to think, to explore our consciousness
79. I shed the need to be understood by others, so that I could embrace the mind, body and soul.
80. I shed the need to be admired by others, so that I could understand the presence of the self.
81. I shed the need to be right amidst others, so that I could begin to appreciate my flaws in character.
82. What remained was a quiet strength that grew within me like never before experienced in life.
83. I stood in the sun, not to be seen, but to be warmed by the rays that illuminated my body.
84. I stood in the rain, not to be cleansed, but to be reminded that its drops were the expression of nature.
85. Nature did not attempt to judge me for who I was—it simply revealed its essence to me.
86. I began to emulate that simplicity of life, knowing that in that simplicity, I would find myself.
87. I no longer sought merely the answers that would bring me certainty—I sought alignment in philosophy.
88. Alignment with my breath, with my thought, with the actions that would dictate my path.
89. I walked slowly, deliberately, until I reached the end of my journey, sensing that I was on the right path.
90. Each step became a symbolic verse in the unfolding of the self. A moment to reflect.
91. I no longer rushed with unnecessary provocation towards others—I moved with purpose in life.
92. Purpose is not mere ambition—it was the coherence that structured the will of the self.
93. I aligned my life with my Meletic values, so that I could find inner peace and guidance.
94. I aligned my rest with my physical needs, so that I could be one with the body, mind and soul.
95. I aligned my reality with my humble honesty, so that I could be understood for who I was as a man.
96. The ascent was not a destination to any divine reward—it was a way of being that led to the culmination of the soul and self.
97. I began to see To Ena not as a mystery afterwards, but as an actual mirror of my present life.
98. Therefore, in every person that I noticed, I glimpsed a reflection of myself within them.
99. In every moment that passed, I glimpsed a fragment of eternity that was the Logos and the Nous.
100. And in that unique eternity, I found indeed, the stillness from which all ascent begins.
101. I did not ascend by escaping the material world—I ascended by entering it more fully.
102. The heavy stones beneath my feet held certain stories older than empires established.
103. I listened to them closely, and they spoke to me of a patience that manifold me forsake or ignore.
104. Patience was the rhythm of nature—it did not hurry in life, yet all unfolded through it.
105. I began to trust that rhythm pulsating in me, even when I did not fully understand it.
106. Trust was not blind in its purpose—it was open-eyed and steady to be embraced by the body.
107. I trusted my body, not as a lingering burden, but as a loyal companion of mine on this journey I took to ascend.
108. It carried me through the ascent, not with divine force from a god, but with awareness.
109. Awareness was the quiet dignity of the alignment of the self and soul. For it was through awareness that we reached the ascent.
110. I no longer fought my limitations that I imposed me—I befriended them with wisdom. In this journey, we have a choice, whether to follow the path of our vices, desires and ego, or to walk the path of virtue, wisdom and truth. The path we choose determines the course of our ascent.
111. Each limitation revealed a certain boundary I had not yet explored in life that was not discovered.
112. Boundaries are not meant to be our physical prisons—they are more the recognition of the depth of the soul.
113. I explored my solitude with every thought expressed, and found richness there amidst the shadow of doubt.
114. Solitude was not the loneliness of despair—it was more the intimacy with the self and soul.
115. I sat beneath the fig tree and watched its leaves tremble in the breeze, as I felt its presence.
116. That unique trembling was not my weakness—it was responsiveness to the unfolding of nature.
117. I too, began to tremble in my reaction—not because of fear, but with awareness. I could sense then that awareness was the light that revealed the contours of the soul.
118. The ascent to To Ena is not a journey that begins after death; it is one that unfolds in every conscious moment of our existence. It is in our thoughts, our reflections, our understanding of the self and cosmos.
119. I saw my pride, and it softened into the humility that would epitomise my character.
120. I saw my shame, and it softened into the compassion that would result in my virtues.
121. I saw my longing, and it softened into the presence that would endure the passing of time.
122. Presence is the firm soil in which ascent takes root in one. Without presence there is no ascent.
123. I no longer needed to be elsewhere in the world—I was enough, here within the temple of my body.
124. The city no longer felt like a great cage—it became a canvas to which I could impress my soul.
125. I painted my days with intention, not obligation that would confine my soul and self.
126. Intention was the brushstroke of the awakened life that I had found true meaning.
127. I awoke each morning then with a question, not a demand. In that question, I sought to discover myself.
128. The question was simple in its nature: 'What is true today?' I wondered in my mind, if today was the only thing one has that is guaranteed, then what of tomorrow.
129. The truth is not something that is fixed—it is revealed in the deep layers of living.
130. Thus, I peeled back those layers with gentleness, knowing that I had begun in mind the process of the ascent.
131. Gentleness I discovered, was the strength that did not need to prove itself with mere evidence.
132. I no longer needed to be certain about many things that I doubted—I needed thereafter to be sincere.
133. Sincerity was the language of the soul. It spoke to the body and mind, as the currents did to the river.
134. I spoke it in my silence, in movement, in gaze, hoping to be able to unveil the yearning of my soul.
135. My eyes met those of a stranger, and I saw no stranger there. It was the self that I had glimpsed.
136. To Ena lives within the space between us that is revealed by the Logos and the Nous.
137. To Ena is not above us in some celestial paradise—its influence is within us, alive in us.
138. I do not worship it as a creator god—I recognised it as the genuine essence of all being.
139. Recognition is the beginning of our acknowledgement. When we acknowledge the presence of To Ena, then we can begin the process of the ascent.
140. Reverence is not total submission to a divine being—it is alignment with the Logos.
141. I aligned myself with the wind, the stone and the breath that witness my existence in the world.
142. I aligned myself with the mind, body and soul that accompany the self in its hour of need.
143. I aligned myself with the path to To Ena, even when it disappeared beneath me, at times.
144. The ascent was not marked by the certainty of knowledge—it was marked more by the realisation of my wisdom.
145. I trusted the unfolding of the ascent, even when the shadow of fear or doubt crept into me before.
146. This shadow of which I mention is not the opposite of light—it is an image of fear, when we are in doubt.
147. Thus, I walked through the shadow alone, and found the innermost depth of my soul awakened then.
148. Depth is the dimension of the soul that cannot be measured by mere physicality.
149. I did not measure my progress due to my body alone—I felt the depth as it began to evolve.
150. And in that unique feeling, I knew I was ascending to To Ena. Not as a man oppressed, but as a man liberated.
151. I did not reach a summit of mountain—I began dissolving into the path itself, with every step taken.
152. The ascent had no peak to climb afterwards, only a lasting presence to remember.
153. I no longer sought to rise above others in life—I sought to rise instead, within my soul.
154. Within me there, I found the familiar echoes of every step I had taken on my path.
155. Each echo was a true reminder, not of distance, but of the depth that I had reached.
156. Depth does not isolate the soul or self—it connects them with the Logos and the Nous.
157. I connected with the rhythm of the city that was bustling, the silence of the hills beyond.
158. I connected with the laughter of the children who had gathered, the weariness of elders.
159. In each of them, I saw a genuine reflection of my own becoming, as a man who was a witness of To Ena.
160. Becoming is not a final destination that is a place—it is more of an awareness in us.
161. I became aware of myself to clarity, not perfection. I understood that clarity was the way to knowing better, my body, mind and soul.
162. Perfection was nothing more than static in its actual form—clarity evolved with wisdom.
163. I evolved not by changing who I was as a person, but by revealing the transformation of the self and soul.
164. Revelation was not meant to be divine in its original nature—it was deliberate in its essential truth.
165. I revealed my intentions, my contradictions and my truths before I began the ascent to To Ena.
166. Truths should not compete with each other—they coexist with each other. Real truths are not falsehoods.
167. I coexisted with my past, no longer resisting it. At times, it was stranger to me, but then it became my companion in life.
168. Resistance had been the armour that once protected me—now I wore only openness.
169. Openness is the garment of the ascending soul. It is also the recognition of the self.
170. I wore this garment not to be seen or praised, but to be felt and understood for who I became as a man.
171. I felt the wind that blew upon my face as a witness, and the stone as a witness too of my actions.
172. What I witnessed was my own unfolding with a quiet reverence that exuded my character.
173. Reverence for the ordinary is the mark of elevation. It is as well the mark of virtues.
174. I elevated my gaze afterwards, not to escape from life, but to embrace the essence of life.
175. Embrace is the gesture of unity and self-acceptance. One must embrace this gesture than forsake it.
176. Therefore, I embraced To Ena, not as a concept, but as a condition to my existence.
177. It was the condition of being whole as a man, as the self and soul, even in fragments of the mind that were thoughts.
178. I am a mere fragment of To Ena in my composition, and To Ena is the whole of me. The atoms in me derive from the emanations of To Ena. I am part of its natural flows and the Logos.
179. This is not mere belief or misunderstanding—it is a lasting recognition that I have discovered.
180. Recognition is the final shedding of illusion. Once we recognise the ascent, then we shed the illusion.
181. I shed the illusion of separation. Once we realise that we are more united than divided in essence, then we shed the illusion.
182. I shed the illusion of arrival. Once we arrive at the ascent, then we shed the illusion of arrival.
183. I shed the illusion of self as permanence. Once we accept that we are immortals, then we shed the illusion of permanence.
184. What remained afterwards was movement, breath, and the awareness of the presence of To Ena.
185. Awareness is the light of the ascent, and the ascent shines with the influence of To Ena.
186. I walk now not to reach the end to my struggles, but to reflect upon the path that I have reached with the mind, body and soul.
187. Reflection is the unique mirror of the soul’s journey. It allows the soul to understand the journey.
188. Verily, my journey was not mine alone—it was the echo of all who sought this journey as well.
189. To seek is to honour the impulse to rise above the challenge of uncertainty and fear.
190. To rise is to remember the ground beneath that witnesses our ascent and illumination.
191. I remember, and in remembering, I return to the self and the soul, through the ascent.
192. I return not to begin again, but to continue the way of the truth, knowing that I am free.
193. Continuation is the existence of the ascent. It provides for us the understanding of life.
194. I ascend not in triumph over the soul or the self, but in the way of the truth that leads to To Ena.
195. Asterion said about the ascent—It is greater than the pleasures of the body, and it is as real as the breath of the soul. It is to ascend to a truth that is both revealing and existential.
196. The path is not marked by divine signs from a creator god—it is marked instead, by our admission of the truth. The way of the truth is the quiet companion of the awakened path that is sought in life.
197. I walk it now with no guidance except that of To Ena. I breath the Logos and the Nous. Meaning is the breath of To Ena and the presence of the Nous before the Logos.
198. The ascent is ours to undertake, and the fate that awaits us is the fulfilment of our own conscious evolution.
199. And I Heromenes of Athens, breathe it with every step taken daily, understanding that I am the living face of the ascent.
200. To the world I say, this was my ascent—not a climb to a kingdom in heaven or a towering Olympus, but a becoming of the whole within the soul and self that guide me.
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