Enter
life. Go to school. Join a church. Be told what to think and how to
behave. Get married. Have children. Build a white picket fence.
Retire. Move to Florida. Die. Lather, rinse, repeat.
This
boy was different and he didn't believe in this lifestyle. The belief
in himself was all that would matter in the end. He thought there to
be more to life than this, so he embarked on a journey alone as far
as he could in search of answers, meaning, and truth. Years spent
traveling and finding inspiration in everything and everyone around
him.
His
nonconformist, imaginative lifestyle often took him off the beaten
path, many of which have led him to some of the most beautiful places
on earth. It was a journey of ups, downs, and failures. But with each
struggle and failure came an opportunity for self growth. His journey
led him deep into the Himalayan mountains. Along the banks of the
Ganges river, he watched bodies being cremated as the smell of burnt
flesh lingered in the air.
Weeks
and weeks spent climbing up and down those towering mountains. The
deeper he trekked in those mountains, the deeper he went inside
himself, to his real Self. Step by step he shed pieces of his
egoistic, false self and stepped more into the depths of his
beautiful spirit. He spent most of his days in silence. No phone. No
computer. No TV. No distractions.
At
the peak, he felt an instant kinship with those snow capped jagged
peaks which surrounded him. An unfamiliar place so full of
familiarity, making him feel alive. He sat back and reflected on life
while losing himself in the beauty of those abstract, majestic
mountains. Through his deep meditative state he detached himself from
his thoughts and looked at them as a separate identity to his true
self. He absorbed into inner bliss and was returned to his true
nature - that of divine ecstasy.The boy sat down and began to cry,
not tears of happiness, nor those of sorrow, but those of self
realization.
It
was an intense moment of perfection in this enchanted universe. The
clouds forming overhead, creating formations of familiar faces. The
warmth of the sun's rays connecting with the warmth emitted from his
heart, melting him into the earth below. The veins of his body
entangling with the tree roots below the earth. The leaves of the
whispering trees moving in sync with his breath. He felt unity with
all around; the trees, the animals, the water, the land, and the air.
He felt like he had died and had gone to heaven. The boy begun to
think about this all and became fearful; fearful only of his Self.
This fear resisted the moment of surrender; the moment of the truth
he holds within. Soon, he felt a presence and turned around to see an
old man with a walking stick. The boy quickly tried to hide his
tears.
They
engaged in small talk for awhile, then the old man asked him, “What
is your purpose of being here? Are you on a spiritual retreat like
most others that come here from the West?”
"Well,
yes, sort of I guess." the boy replied. "I'm a constant
seeker of knowledge. This world absolutely fascinates me, and I
especially enjoy coming to far away lands because I love learning
from ancient culture and mystical traditions. I didn't come here to
see. I came to feel – to feel the healing power of those Himalayan
Mountains that many talk of. I came to learn about the Self- to learn
ancient wisdom to help me live a more rewarding, fulfilling, and
enlightened life."
The
man smiled and responded, “Well, you won't find anything here. You
already are what you want to become. You are the universe. You are a
manifestation of it all. Divinity. Nirvana. Happiness. Enlightenment.
It's all you, and it's in everyone around you too. You can't search
for something that is already there. All you have to do is awaken
yourself to the power of your own mind. You can't change what happens
to you but you can change the way you experience it. You are not your
mind nor the attachments and emotions, but rather the awareness
behind it all. Our thoughts are empty of form and they are only waves
of energy, so we should treat them as such. When a thought arises,
recognize it and let it go. If you try and stop it's flow, by
avoiding it or changing it, then this energy has the ability to stop
flowing and build up in negative form. The more mindfulness you apply
to your thoughts and emotions the quicker they vanish from your mind
and it's returned to it's natural clarity. It's this state of pure
consciousness that holds the freedom that allow us to soar to the
depths of our limitless being in this infinite universe. I know you
already realize all of this as I saw you crying on top of the
mountain. I knew what it was. You let go of everything and received
it all; a moment of surrender and a glimpse into the truth.
The
boy responded a little shocked that the man knew all this. “Yeah I
did, but I completely lost that euphoric moment, once I started to
think about it; where I am, how I got here, and questioning whether
or not I was in heaven. I returned back to normal and then you came
along.”
The
man laughed. “Yes, of course. Well, my friend, that was your ego
talking, your comfort zone. It's our mind and senses that we let
define our world, when really they are only putting limits on the
true potential of our being. You were resistant and fearful of
discovering just how powerful your true being really is.”
The
boy understood everything the man said. "I feel the more I
detach myself from this false illusion of self, the more in tune I am
with myself and the world around me too. I see myself as part of a
collective whole and see how everything in life is interconnected."
The
man agreed, "When people feel a strong sense of balance, peace,
and calm on the inside they want the world around them to live like
that too. They comprehend the world on a deeper level and see
everything as one; no names, no religions, no nationalities, etc.
Think of the potential if we all lived with a stronger sense of unity
with all of life."
The
boy nodded, "I agree. However, a calm state of mind and a sense
of peace for all around is harder to achieve in the West. I'm from a
place where success is measured in terms of financial gain and
status, not on life values or compassion for others. Many of us are
attached to our material possessions, distracted by technological
advancements, and are brainwashed by the media. I live in a place
focused around power, politics, and consumption. The more one
consumes, the more one wants. It's like the more a society has, the
more the people turn outward for their happiness and not inward. The
busy society only piles layers upon layers onto one's soul, which is
our source of love, peace, and compassion. It's like the more one has
on the outside, the less they have on the inside. I used to live in a
poor village in Central America, and have found all of this to be
true. The people in my village have very little in terms of
possessions, so therefore there is very little for their minds to
hold on to. I feel that the people there are more kind, caring, and
content than most people that I have met in the West that have
everything they have ever wanted and more.
The
man smiled. "Exactly. Living simply allows you to live more
mindfully and enjoy more the simple pleasures of life. You appreciate
what you do have instead of focusing so much on what you don't have.
You are still very young, but it seems you have learned a lot through
the years. Now it's your turn to take your experiences, insight and
lessons to enpower others. Go back down this mountain and fulfill
your life's purpose. Do what you can to make the world around you a
better place. It doesn't matter what you do but how you do it. This
can manifest by living a particular lifestyle or by exhibiting
certain characteristics. It's in your choices, in your actions, and
in how you make people feel.
There
may be some people that judge your non-conventional lifestyle along
the way but it is those people who will be your greatest inspiration.
They will teach you that the only person you need to answer
to is yourself. Embrace your individuality, instead of feeling
guilty about it. You may see things differently than others, but
treat that as the gift that it is. Just in case you start to
lose sight of yourself, take this to help you remember. Namaste.”
The man handed the boy a crystal extracted deep within the Himalayan
Mountains, and as quickly as he appeared he disappeared down the
mountain.
The
man's words vibrated throughout the boys entire body. He looked at
his life as a series of paths that have led him here to this peak on
the mountain, and this peak with himself. The moment on the mountain
was powerful and it certainly helped the boy come to some heavy
realizations. It was a beautiful place he had found; in the depths of
himself and in the Himalayan Mountains. It is a very magical place on
top of the world, but he knew that he couldn't stay any longer. This
wasn't about him anymore, it was about his ability to help others
achieve self-realization. In order to make any type of difference in
the world it first has to start in the minds of people.
The
following day, while waiting in line at the train station he felt a
tug at his shirt. There he was again, the old man from the top of the
mountain. Except this time he appeared in the body of an 8 year old
girl. She didn't say anything, but enough was said in her dirty face,
ripped clothes, and outstretched hands begging for change. Everywhere
the boy looked, there the man was. His face in the crowd of
strangers. His presence in those cows weaving in and out of traffic
searching for food and eating trash instead. He's buried somewhere
underneath that pile of trash, probably shaking his head and asking
himself where he went wrong. He's stitched into the colorful saris
wrapped around the bodies of the beautiful women. He's the laughter
from those children flying a kite through their village. He's every
single drop of that Ganges River. A river full of innocence, purity,
and life that helps you understand why it has been worshiped for
thousands of years. He is in everyone and everything.
Upon
arrival home, the boy fell quickly right back into the world of
illusions and distractions. Little by little, his visions became more
distorted and he wonders if that time on the mountain was all just a
dream. However, his uncertainties disappear whenever he looks deep
into the eyes of his newborn nephew. Those eyes of innocence lead right through to the newborns soul; a soul free from attachment to worldly desires. The only thing seen through those pure eyes is a being in
it's original form of peace, love and ecstasy. The energies of
these two souls melt together into one, returning the boy back to his original state too. He had returned home again, to that of innocence.
