"The naïve man will lose what is most precious to him because of a lack of boundaries. This is particularly true of the New Age man, or the man seeking 'higher consciousness.' Thieves walk in and out of his house, carrying large bags, and he doesn't seem to notice them. He tells his 'white light' experiences at parties; he confides the contents of last night's dream to a total stranger. Mythologically, when he meets the giant he tells him all his plans." - Robert Bly, Iron John

Years before, Aulden had read about boundaries, such as Robert Bly wrote of in Iron John. He understood what he'd read, although he felt that he lacked the understanding to put these boundaries in place. He wanted to be open to others and to not be overly guarded. However, he wanted to have proper boundaries for his own sake and for the comfort of people in relationships with him.

Aulden announced to his companions, "I want to begin charting the boundaries of the King's territory: my psychic boundaries." Janice, Poseidon and The Wind agreed to accompany him, along with Red, the lamp bearer, and Sandra, the snake charmer.

Aulden asked, "Where do we begin? Follow Red?" He picked up Sandra, and confessed to her, "I still don't get the meaning of why I have to carry you. I get the flute playing. You need to charm the light-bearer, but I don't understand why you have trouble with your legs."

They boarded the bus and as they traveled the Bus Driver opened a conversation, pointing out, "You know, don't you, that there is no end to 'you' - so where are you going?"

Aulden explained, "I'm charting my psychic boundaries. Robert Bly said a man should have boundaries."

The Bus Driver parked the bus near an ivy-covered fence, and said, "Here - begin here. But don't stop here. People enter your personal territory here."

Aulden asked, "What's on the other side of the fence?" The Bus Driver answered, "Public territory."

Aulden noted, "So these are the boundaries I'm seeking: public me and private me. I need to learn the difference."

As Aulden picked up Sandra to carry her from the bus, she said, "You know, I could use my crutches." He agreed, although he felt concerned that Red would try to lead him astray unless Sandra played her flute. She couldn't play the flute and use her crutches at the same time.

They approached a wrought-iron gate. Aulden recalled that Red liked to be dangerous. Aulden brought this point to Red, explaining, "If I walk the path of 'doing nothing,' I will be dangerous in a positive sense - in a Taoist sense - because I won't just do what society expects. Red, will you work with me, without trying to trick me, if I follow the dangerous path?" Red agreed to this, and in fact seemed to like the idea.

After Aulden and Red made this agreement, Sandra's ability to walk improved. She could slowly manage without crutches. Aulden still didn't understand the relationship between her ability to walk and Red's willingness to illuminate the proper path. The valuable new understanding was this: Red the light-bearer liked to be dangerous; being on the proper path made Aulden dangerous because the unconventional path doesn't fit the cultural norm. Being in a relationship of non-intention and purposelessness with the Universe is dangerous in a rational world.

The iron gate held a sign with a symbol: a crown over a shield and star on that shield. Aulden opened the gate and found that on the other side was another sign which read, "Open / Enter."

"Okay," Aulden said, "I get it. But what belongs on public land and what belongs on private land? Wind, do you want to tell me?"

The Wind said, "Yes, you get to decide what belongs where."

Aulden ended his meditation session at that point and returned to the material world. After a long day at work, he stopped at a retail store and, in an exuberant mood, he made joking remarks and was overly-friendly with the clerks. The clerks didn't respond to his behavior in a friendly manner, and after he left the store, Aulden felt embarrassed about the way he acted.

Before going home, he stopped at a Starbucks and drank a latte while reading a book. He was silent at this place, but felt extremely aware of his surroundings, as if even in his silence he was filling the shop with his presence.

The retail store and the Starbucks gave him an opportunity to think about boundaries. In the retail store, he had a large area of "intrusion" or "announcement" of his presence, but his area of "awareness" was small. In the Starbucks he had a large area of awareness, and his announcement or intrusion was small.

In meditation that night he said to The Wind, "I need to know more about boundaries." The Wind responded, "You know all you need now. Keep your level of awareness higher than your level of intrusion."

Aulden felt as if there was more. He wondered how an extravert related to boundaries differently than an introvert. So they talked for quite some time about boundaries. Whatever they said, however, Aulden preferred to keep to himself and not share it in this story.

For several nights Aulden simply sat in silence at the gate. The Wind assured him that he'd learned what he could learn here. If that was the case, Aulden said, it was time to return to the throneroom.

He liked hanging around with various figures appearing in the throneroom, and he still occasionally enjoyed watching the images at the Center of Consciousness. He was at home in these places - at home with himself. They boarded the bus.