I just came home from a wondrous journey into mysteries of the Ancient Egypt. I traveled together with a truly uplifting group of people. The general tone of being was that of Love and Oneness.

One day after we had traveled the whole day back and forth through the desert our coach had just arrived at Aswan airport where we would take a night flight back to Cairo. Our driver was a pure epitome of Egyptian friendliness, love just emanated from his being. He had driven us for several days and our ways would now part. I wanted to thank him for his part of making our journey such a success.

In Egypt the custom is to show your appreciation by giving notes big and small to those who had served you well. This evening I had no suitable notes on me, but I still went to thank him, held his hand and said how I appreciated his presence with us. He smiled back and we were both happy, well almost…

You see, in my tired mind a little devil of guilt rose its ugly head as I could not give any money to the driver. Just a slight quiver of a thought that would soon show its might…

The next moment we were lining to enter the airport with our luggage, when I heard the horn of the bus. The driver was driving past us and was waving his hand in greeting. In the split second I made a decision based on the guilt I felt – and I only realized it later by the consequences. To appease my guilt and to show how much I appreciated him,  I lifted my lonely hand in greeting. I could have shouted to my friends and they would have gladly joined to greet the lovely man. But I didn’t…

While waiting for our plane to leave we all sat around a waiting hall. The usual laughter and friendly conversations were in the air in spite of the long and tiring day of travel. But I had chosen to sit alone by myself. I felt oddly alienated, at odds with these wonderful people. I sat in my isolation, and felt suddenly utterly alone.

The whole flight and the consequent coach ride through Cairo went in the same mood. I had lost the carrier wave of love, which had been so clearly present during this journey. I was ready to isolate myself some more… What had happened?

Somehow sometime during the night or early morning I saw how the little devil of guilt, which I had allowed into my mind subtly lead to this sense of isolation. I chose not to tell my friends that our coach was passing by just to show how much I appreciated the driver, even though I didn’t pay him anything. I chose to isolate myself from my friends, and got to experience the consequences. I got what I wanted.

When I saw the devil, and its devious means, I was immediately free from it. I was free to create on in the wondrous presence of loving Oneness, which had been the theme of our journey into the mysteries of Egypt and of human mind.