The nonhierarchical view shows us that if we stay with where we are and understand it, everything can be revealed. Our direct and immediate experience is the philosophers’ stone that holds the key to all secrets and all possibilities because true nature is all possibilities and it is what we are. The alchemists sometimes called this magical agent and transformative catalyst “the elixir” or “the water of life” to refer to its vibrancy, aliveness, power, and newness. And when the emphasis is more on unlocking the secrets of existence, they refer to it as the philosophers’ stone. – The Alchemy of Freedom: The Philosophers’ Stone and the Secrets of Existence, Ch. 3