The Return to Innocence

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.