Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus being asleep in a boat when a great storm arose. The disciples were terrified and went to look for him. According to the story, which appears in Mark, Matthew and Luke, Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and the waves, and then asked the disciples where their faith was.

As with so many Gospel stories, it's hard to make sense of this. Why was Jesus asleep? Why shouldn't the disciples be afraid, when the boat was filling with water? Were they lacking in faith because they'd forgotten that they had someone with them who would rescue them when they got in a tight corner? If so, is Jesus simply some kind of spiritual magician who gets his friends out of disastrous situations?

One of the aims of Steps 10 and 11 is the peace that comes from being aware of the world as simply the manifestation of the here and now, rather than as a threatening place that is somehow out to get the great Me. Perhaps Jesus in the story is simply the ultimate expression of that peace. There may have been a storm, but he was feeling tired, so he went to sleep. The disciples were afraid because of the possibility of self-extinction if the boat sank. But there can't be any self-extinction if there's no self to get extinguished in the first place.

Once more, it's all about the here-and-now. Three students were arguing about which of their teachers was the most enlightened. The first said, "My master is so enlightened that when he comes to a river he simply walks across." The second said, "That's nothing. My master is so enlightened, when he comes to a range of mountains he simply flies over them." The third smiled and said, "I think my master is truly enlightened. When he eats, he just eats. And when he sleeps, he just sleeps."