I will tell a short story. (Tobias chuckling) Cauldre (Geoffrey Hoppe) is laughing. He thinks my story is funny. But, indeed I literally met Gautama the Buddha in my lifetime as Tobias. As Tobias the merchant, I traveled to lands far and wide to buy for the king. Some of my journeys were perhaps a bit longer than what the king was pleased with.

I was drawn to this area where Gautama taught. I heard that he was in a village not so far from where I was buying, so I went to listen to him. I was a relatively young man at the time. He was in his senior years. I sat and listened to him.

I was a Jew, strong in my own beliefs, but yet always searching, always investigating. While being very strict with my own beliefs, I always liked to hear what others had to say. When I heard Gautama that day, and saw the peace upon his face, and the divine presence all around, this changed much of my thinking.

I listened to him for hours then had the pleasure of speaking with him briefly afterwards. There were not many words from his mouth, yet there was much energy that came pouring from his heart. I asked him, "Dear Enlightened One, Prince Buddha, tell me of the truth you have found. What do you know that I should know also."

Buddha burst out laughing. He said, "Why is it that you think that I have found the truth?" I replied, "Dear Buddha, because they say you are the Enlightened One. You are called the Wise One."

Again he laughed and said, "Truth is always evolving. You never find it. You just realise certain energies having to deal with it. When you think you have found truth, it is time to move on. It is time to look for the next level of truth." "Why," he said, "do you think I continue to walk these many roads from village to village, not teaching everything I know, not satisfied with staying in one place?"

"But," he said, "I do teach each person that the divine is within, that the Enlightenment is within. They will never find it in another person, or another place." And, a sadness came over Gautama. He said, "Do you know, dear Tobias, that this is my message, and yet so few want to hear it? They want to see miracles." He continued, saying, "I can perform a few miracles. They are tricks, in a way, perhaps miracles. But, I choose not to, because I do not want the energy focused on that. They want miracles, and they do not want to hear that it is within. They want a savior. I cannot be that for them, so I continue to search for my expanded truth. I can only hope that the message of the divine within reaches some ears."

That lifetime when I met Gautama had a tremendous impact. Can you imagine what a delight it is for me to have Gautama in our presence on this day, to be with you energetically, and also to reveal something about who you are?

Gautama was born into royalty, a prince. This should tell you something right there… the fact that he was a prince, born in the kingdom to the king and the queen, to royalty. And, one day he would inherit the throne. There is no coincidence in this story!

His parents and family knew there was something different about him. Does this sound familiar, dear friends? They tried to keep him from the path of enlightenment, from pursuing the difficult journey. They pampered him in many ways. They shielded him in many ways, not allowing him to see the difficulty and challenges of the human journey. But, there was something nagging within him that wanted to explore the outside, to help him understand who he was on the inside. Does this sound familiar, Shaumbra?

So it was that Gautama tried to satisfy those around him. He married at a very young age, when he was but sixteen years old. He married because this was expected of him. This was an energy that others placed on him. Within a few years of time he and his wife brought a child into the world.

And, what did he do? What did he do? He left. He was disillusioned with life. He renounced the world of royalty he was living in. Oh, could you imagine the headlines if he was living today? "Father Abandons Family!" or "Prince Leaves Family for Selfish Journey."

But, Gautama had to search for his own truth and his own divinity. He left the royal family and took the vows of poverty. Does this sound familiar, dear friends? He took the vows of chastity. He changed his disguise and changed his identity, dear Shaumbra.

Gautama felt that his body and his humaness were not appropriate. They were holding him back, keeping him from knowing who he truly was. So, he abused his body by not feeding or nourishing it. He tried to deny himself, rather than following the song of his heart. He did this in his search for the truth. Does this sound familiar, dear Shaumbra?

He left his relationships, with all who he had known. He endured many physical and emotional hardships on the path. And, he went to study with a teacher, a grand and a wise teacher. He studied, dear ones, the art of "no-thing," thinking that if he emptied out his entire being, he would come to know who he was. He studied hard and long with this master of releasing.

Gautama is here now to tell you that what he was doing was one more level of denying. He was denying his mind the ability to operate, and to have vibrations and energies pass in and out of it. He was taught in his studies how to block the mind, how to stop the flow of energy. He also did this with his body. He denied his body of the love.

Indeed, he learned much in doing this. He learned that pain is not so much fun! He learned that there are many altered-state trips that you can take when your body and your mind are at those deep levels of denial. But, he learned that the altered-state trips were not based in living or reality. They were also illusions. They did not bring the essence of love, the essence of Spirit, and the essence of truth.

Gautama had "fun" playing with this deep level of denying… when his hair fell out, because there were no nutrients feeding it… and when his toenails literally fell out. He was not loving his body. He was denying it. And, when his bones became brittle, he learned more about this denial, this "no-thing."

One day the inner voice within Gautama realised that this was not the truth he sought. It was but an aspect. So, he left, and he continued down the road. He continued his deep levels of meditation. He continued his ceremonies. He continued all those sacred practices. In a sense, these were helping to drive him. These were creating low points. Oh, indeed, Gautama had depression, and fear, and anxiety. But, what he was really doing was creating a low to help him eventually get to a new level of enlightenment.

Along the road he heard of another teacher. The teachings of this new wise one sounded true and deep. So, he went to be schooled by a second master. The second master taught him the art of non-perception. He taught him the art that all things are merely illusions.

Gautama loved this study, this game of the mind, of having no perception, no illusions of anything, of releasing all things. In a sense, it was the antithesis of the denial that he had previously studied. But he soon learned that "no-perception" is simply another form of denial. When everything is called an illusion and nothing is brought back, when there is denial of the "now" you are experiencing… this is just another form of denial. Does that sound familiar, Shaumbra?

Gautama left the second school with deep despair, not finding the answer and the truth that he was truly searching for. At some point he realised that this life of denial, blockages and not living in the "now" … was not truth. He resumed eating, feeding his body with the energy it needed. He went back to a life of some abundance. He realised that having no abundance was only causing pain.

With this new wisdom he had a balance of understanding… of energies… of abundance… of feeding the body… of allowing flow through the mind. He came back into the "now" world, resuming relationships with the ones who were families and who had been friends.

Do you understand what Gautama is telling you on this day, dear friends? After he endured pain and suffering through denial, he received his major enlightenment in that lifetime. While he was sitting under the tree, Gautama realised that indeed he was Spirit, expressing as a human… but indeed he was Spirit.

When he understood this at the deepest levels within him, others saw it upon his face and in his countenance. They began to follow him. They wanted what he had. He told the followers over and over, "It is within you. Indeed, I can offer you the wisdom of my experience, but the journey is your own." He did not so much like this following, but they did, they did.

Now, many books have been written about the Enlightened One. Many temples have been built in his honor. People around the world talk about his journeys and what he learned. He is here today to tell you one thing: this so-called enlightenment, this so-called divine understanding… he could not fully grasp it in his lifetime. But, it is available to you, Shaumbra in your lifetime.