He woke me up and said, “It is time.”

To my utter amazement, I discovered that it was actually a doorway to another wonderful world! This world looked completely different from the one that existed on the other side of the door. Everything shone with inner light and looked as though it had been sprinkled with eternal youth. There were flowers everywhere and their subtlety sweet scents filled the air.

There was a path from the hidden door to a big pond of rather inviting clear water. Then, a golden path led from the pond to a city, which shone, with all the colors of the rainbow. Exquisite music could be heard from the city. He explained, “One has to cleanse oneself in order to get to that city. The city is called the Realm of Truth.”

I understood little but I was so enchanted with that place that no questions arose in my mind. It looked so peaceful here! I wished I could live here forever. But soon it was time to leave. We slipped out through the door again. Overcoming the spell, I asked, “Who owns this castle?”

Without a word, my guide led me outside and away from the castle. Far from the castle, there was a small hut. Its roof and walls were crumbling. Inside sat a man who personified misery. Hunger and thirst dominated his face. He wore dirty rags. He sat at the window looking mournfully toward the castle.

“The castle belongs to this man,” my guide said.

I could not believe what I heard and repeated, “The castle belongs to this man?"

He explained, “His is a rather sad story. He lived in the castle a long time ago. He led a gay and a wasteful life. He would never come home for days and even when he did, he would stay only for a short while before going out again.” My guide continued, “The dark creatures you saw were his servants. He trusted them completely and thought they were his friends. In fact, he trusted them so much that he gave them complete power in managing his castle. Slowly, the guards became the masters of the castle and he the servant. Then a day came when they banded together and banished him from the castle.”

My guide must have known that I was thinking about the city behind the hidden door because he said, “He could have escaped to the Realm of Truth, but the poor man was so engrossed with life outside the castle that he never even discovered the hidden door.”