I shook hands with him and introduced myself. At first, I felt a slight downturn in my energy, but the more he talked enthusiastically about how beautiful everything was in the canyon, the more I began to think he was okay.

At one point, I even asked him if he knew anything about the Doc.u.ment, but he said he wasn't aware of it. After we talked a bit more about Sedona, he said, "I see you have a knife. I wonder if I could borrow it for a few minutes." He was pointing toward my belt at my prized eight-inch hunting knife that I always carried in the woods.

"We're setting up camp over there," he continued, "and I just need it for a few minutes to cut some rope."

I looked through some mesquite and saw two men and a woman in that direction putting up a tent. Figuring he would be close where I could observe him, I took off the knife and gave it to him in the scabbard-then watched as he walked back and began working with the two people.

A fresh breeze was blowing up, and I took a breath. The morning rain had cleared and the sun was beaming down. Slowly, I felt myself recovering my lost energy and noticed how beautiful this particular area was. Small pine trees and junipers dotted the entire canyon floor.

Just then Wil came back and sat down beside me.

"No one seems to know what the chopper is doing," he said. "I kept my distance from it, but I could see it was empty. And it's definitely military."

He was sitting on his pack. "Let's just wait here for a while."

I smiled. "You could tell me about the next spiritual law."

As Wil formulated a sentence, I again looked over toward the campsite where the man had been working, only to find that he was nowhere to be seen. I jumped up and ran to the campsite and asked the couple where he was. They told me they didn't know, that he wasn't really part of their party.

"He just came up to talk," the woman said. "He offered to go borrow a knife for us, to help us cut some rope. He seemed to be a little down on his luck."

I was about to go look for him when Wil came up, and I quickly filled him in.

"He stole your knife?" Wil remarked, a look of wonder and amazement on his face, as if something important had happened. I brushed it off and proceeded to look all around the area. There was no sign of him anywhere. After about twenty minutes, I returned to where the packs were, finding Wil sitting patiently, waiting for me.

"I've had that knife a long time," I said, sitting down next to him.

"Well," Wil offered, trying not to grin, "you wanted to see how all this would play out."

I was in no mood for a.n.a.lysis. I just wanted my knife back, but Wil was persistent. "Right before you saw the guy was gone, didn't you ask me what the next law was?"

I remained silent, still sulking.

"Well," he continued, "it's the Law of Karma."

It was past noon, and Wil had left again, telling me he was going to look for food. For a long time I just sat around, wondering what kind of purification was going on here in this canyon. Then, about the time I was ready to go look for him, I saw Wil coming back. He sat down and looked over at me.

"Find some food?" I asked.

"Yeah, a little bit. I had lunch with some people I met. I wanted to bring you some but there wasn't enough."

I just looked at him.

"Why shouldn't I find food?" he responded. "I have good Karma!" He was using an overly dramatic tone to his voice, then burst into laughter, barely able to control himself.

As usual with Wil, his humor was so contagious I couldn't help but laugh, too.

"Okay," I said. "What did the Hopi tell you about Karma?"

Instantly, he was serious. "The Doc.u.ment says that it's real, and in our time, it responds to our actions more quickly than ever before."

"So I'm the poster child for it."

"Well, take a look at what has happened. You tried to steal food from someone, and that created a karmic response from the Universe that resulted in some guy stealing your knife."

I began resisting again. "What about him? Maybe he's just a serial thief."

"Maybe, or maybe he's a nice guy and he decided to move up the trail somewhere or go back to town, and he just forgot to give back your knife. Either way, you have to ask why this happened to you right now, just when we're talking about all this and right after you tried to steal from someone."

"Wait a minute. Stop saying that. I wasn't trying to steal from anyone."

"No? Didn't you tell a lie in order to try to manipulate someone out of his food? Trying to do it and doing it is the same thing karmically."

"The Doc.u.ment says that?"

He nodded and then stared at me for a long time.

"Look," he finally added. "These laws seem hard to believe because we've all been trained to think the Universe only has physical laws. And the reason people are slow to put this together is that we all shade the truth at times, especially in business, or to save face, and we all have things happen to us that are bad. So there seems to be no relationship between the two. We think it doesn't matter if we lie a little bit, because bad things happen to everyone anyway."

He looked at me hard. "But according to the Doc.u.ment, that isn't true, and anyone can prove it to himself by just being observant. Because Karma is speeding up, the consequences from an untruthful manipulation come back very quickly."

"But why is it speeding up?"

He stopped. "I don't know. I asked the Hopis the same question, but they said the Doc.u.ment didn't say. They only hinted it may be part of the energy that the Calendar is pointing to."

"You mean the Mayan Calendar? What do the Hopi know of that?"

"The cla.s.sical Maya were Native Americans, too, you know."

"Anyway," Wil continued, "prove it to yourself. The Doc.u.ment says that when enough of us realize this is the way Karma works, it's going to lead to a new era of Integrity to replace the corruption we have now.

"And there's more. It's important to see that the Law of Karma is designed not for punishment, but to affect a positive correction. It apparently works this way: the Universe is set up spiritually to support and encourage our spiritual growth. If you center yourself in truth, then your Synchronicity will soar. If you partic.i.p.ate in untruth, then you draw into your life a person who does the same thing to you, again not as punishment but to show you how it feels, so you can move back toward truth.

"What happens," I asked, "if we don't get the message?"

"The Doc.u.ment says the response of Karma gets more extreme in an effort to get our attention, something, again, that we can also prove to ourselves at this moment in history. All we have to do is pay attention to what happens in relation to our own behavior."

"Okay, what if one is randomly selected and murdered by a serial killer? Is that payback for something we did earlier?"

"No. Remember, Karma has nothing to do with payback. It reflects back to you what you're doing. If you are an armed robber, for instance, you are standing for the untruth that says that behavior is okay. It's the same as a lie or deception to get the money, only worse. And you will have money taken from you to show you how it feels, so you can change. The problem is that some people just use the Karma as an excuse to keep the same behavior going, thinking everyone is doing it to me, why shouldn't I do it to them as well? They're missing the fact that they are being shown something so they can change.

"When someone becomes the victim of a serial killer, unless the person is a serial killer himself, it's a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's the result of chance, not Karma, and happens because of the current state of the world's imperfection. We know psychologically and genetically what's going on with serial killers, from studies of childhood trauma and genetics. In the ideal, someone would have noticed these factors and intervened with the person early, so he wouldn't have been able to hurt anyone. Unfortunately, we just aren't enlightened enough to inst.i.tute those kinds of interventions yet. Hopefully, one day we will be."

"I guess, until then, we have to hope we're lucky."

"Yeah, at least until we can move through the Integrations enough to realize we can be 'protected.'"

"What do you mean, protected?"

Wil leaned toward me. "My Hopi friends told me that these kinds of random accidents and mishaps aren't supposed to happen. The Doc.u.ment says that, as spiritual consciousness rises, we will learn how to detect the hunches and premonitions that allow us to avoid impending accidents and attacks. They said we'll get to that level at the Fourth and Fifth Integrations."

Abruptly, we heard the raspy engines of several ATVs coming up the trail behind us. In the time it took to grab our packs and duck into the thicker brush, they were driving up.

"Those are Park Service four-wheelers," Wil shouted, leading us farther up the slope away from the noise. As we hurried away, we could see people scurrying for cover everywhere. Once near the canyon wall, we saw two men up ahead attempting to climb the steep face of a wall of rock.

"They're sport climbers," Wil said, urging me along. "They probably have permits."

Suddenly, as we watched, one of their rope anchors ripped out of the rock, flipping one of the climbers upside down and threatening to drop him fifty feet to the jagged rocks below. Then another anchor broke free and dropped him another ten feet. He screamed in terror.

Without thinking, I dashed toward the cliff. The second climber was pointing frantically toward something on the ground near their tent. I immediately saw a full length of extra rope. I picked it up, then quickly made my way up the rock and out on a ledge to within ten feet of the helpless climber.

I threw his buddy the end of the rope and he knew exactly what to do. He put the end through a solidly hammered anchor near him, pulled it through, and lowered the end to his friend-who, despite his panic, was able to tie it around himself. After that, all I had to do was hold my end of the rope tightly to secure him from falling any farther. After a minute, he was able to cut himself loose from the other ropes. With the help of Wil, I lowered the man safely to the ground.

As we gathered up our stuff, the traumatized climber was so upset he was unable even to talk. His friend gave him some water and spoke with him privately for a minute, then pulled us to the side. We could hear the four-wheelers all over the canyon floor below us, but the climber seemed not to notice.

"If you hadn't come by," he said, "I don't know what might have happened. I've got to get him back to Sedona. I wish there was some way to repay you."

Wil and I glanced at each other.

Then I told them the truth of our situation, that we needed food.

"Well," the climber said, "we can sure help with that. We were going to stay here for four days, but my friend is too shaken. He wants to leave tomorrow. We have lots of food you can have."

After packing the food, we left hurriedly toward the northeast and found another place where we could hide in the rocks. From there we had an even better view of the canyon floor, where people were being detained or turned around by the rangers. I looked hard for the group Rachel was with but couldn't see any of them.

"We should stay here for a while," Wil said, "until all this dies down." He was still giving me that look of astonishment over what had occurred.

"I know. I know. All this means something," I replied.

"Means something? It's the most pointed run of Synchronicity I've ever seen. Remember when we were driving away from the Pub and I made all those moves to lose the car behind me, and you thought the speed of the Synchronicity was amazing? Well, you're now operating at just that level of speed.

"Think about it. You were shown the Law of Truth when you tried to manipulate for food. You were rejected by the tourists in a perfect ill.u.s.tration of the Law of Connection. Then, right after, you had something stolen from you, through similar false pretenses, ill.u.s.trating the Law of Karma. And now you've just secured our food, which is what you were trying to do all along."

I looked at him, not quite getting the last one.

"Don't you see?" he pressed. "You aided those people by intuiting immediately how you could best help. It came to you how to help, and you did it, fast."

I knew he was right. I didn't really even think much about the actions. Somehow, I just knew.

"It's called the Law of Service. And again, it's built into the way the Universe operates and how our minds are designed. We somehow know what others around us need, and when we act in response, we fall into alignment with this law. All you have to do is think, 'How can I be of service?' And something will always come to you. All the resources you need will be provided in order to help, and you'll feel like you're always in the right place at the right time to make a difference."

He paused for a moment and then asked, "Do you see now what the Third Integration is, in total? It's all about getting into Alignment. And again, you proved it to yourself. You played it out right here in this canyon. And anyone else who observes sincerely can see it just as clearly in his or her own life.

"It's the next step in our awakening. Like I said, during this material age, we have grown to think a little lying, a little shading of the truth, is okay, even expected. It's a dog-eat-dog world, right? Salespeople are trained to practice shading the truth. Politicians get elected doing it. Contracts with fine print are a way of life.

"Yet think about the world right now. Corruptions are immediately found out. Scandals erupt daily. The swindlers get swindled. This is what happens when most of the culture is bombarded with a Karma that is coming faster and faster. It's there to show us the imperfection so we can do something about it.

"But once you begin living the best truth you know and see that being of service to others and setting a good example are the best things you can do for yourself, well, everything changes. You move into Alignment with the way the Universe is designed to operate. You stop manipulating, and so you no longer draw manipulators into your life.

"In fact, the opposite occurs. When you seek Alignment and think how to be of service, you begin to draw people into your life who are there to help you. And then your Synchronicity and your dreams really take off.

"When everyone gets this, the human world will immediately change. Businesses will change how they operate. Doing business in Alignment means always telling the truth about your products and always being service-minded. And if you do, others who need what you offer will show up mysteriously."

I had never seen Wil this excited before. I thought about the idea of t.i.thing and asked him about it.

"That's just part of being of service," he said. "Money is only a form of stored energy, and it follows the currents of Karma in one's life. If you manipulate for money, you get manipulated out of money-or suddenly have a wave of breakdowns and unexpected expenses. t.i.thing is a way to right the ship quickly. Instead of spending every dime, deny yourself a little and save ten percent of your income one month.

"Then just wait for an intuition of whom to give it to. You'll get one. Someone who needs an angel will cross your path, and you'll get the thrill of having the means to be of service. And again, it will just accelerate the flow of help coming back to you. You'll get more opportunities to be successful."

He stopped and looked at me. "I've never known anyone who t.i.thed in this spirit who didn't prove to themselves that it works."

For a long moment, Wil and I just looked at each other. I knew he was feeling the same sensation I was: another rise in consciousness and energy. We had fully integrated the Third step, and added one more piece to the puzzle of spiritual reality- Alignment.

"Did the Hopis," I asked finally, "say anything about the next Integration, the Fourth?"

Wil nodded, his face turning serious. "They said the Fourth Integration is perhaps the most important part of 'the foundation,' because it will show us what is fully at stake. Once we're able to stay in Alignment, in truth, we will see how pervasive some systems of untruth are in the world.

"We can't go forward until we understand these growing ideologies and see how dangerously they are polarizing. Only then will we know how to separate ourselves from this untruth ... and break through to a place where we can stand up to it."

RECOGNIZING IDEOLOGY.

We stayed in the rocks, watching everything that was happening down at the trail. Our plan was to hide there until dark and then figure out where to go next. From Wil's description, it sounded as though the Fourth Integration might be challenging and more dangerous. Maybe it was the effect of the canyon, but the prospect of danger didn't disturb me as before. I was fully into the journey now. I put out the expectation for more Synchronicity and held the context that we were discovering the reality of human spirituality, vowing to stay in Alignment.

Suddenly, Wil sat up, straining to look up the slope toward the canyon wall. A group of people were walking about a hundred yards away, heading farther northeast. As they moved through a grove of small pines, we saw it was the group that included Rachel. She was next to last in line.

As I watched her, she immediately stopped and looked down the hill in our direction. Although unable to see us, she seemed to be sensing we were observing her. A tall man with a beard, walking behind her, said something and pushed her forward pointedly.

I looked over at Wil. "Did you see that? She's being held against her will."

"Looks that way," Wil responded.

I could tell he knew there was some link between Rachel and myself.

"Listen," he said, "I think I should go up there alone and see if I can get close enough to hear their conversations. They'll see us if we both go."

I knew Wil had been trained in surveillance, so I nodded in agreement.

Wil was lightening his pack, handing me some of the food.

"If I don't come back by nightfall," he said, "I'll find you later. Okay?"