Five Steps to Enlightenment (solo)

[Guido Faragas]

Timestamp: Fall 510AV 12th Day

“There are five steps to your initial awakening,” explained the old man, pacing out five steps in a deliberate fashion.

“So, that’s it - just walking five steps,” replied Guido with a hopeful edge to his voice.

“Metaphorically speaking, my young friend.” The old man shook his head and stroked his long, ragged beard.

“Oh...yes..., of course. So you don’t want me to just walk five steps then?”

“You must walk the steps in your mind, not in the physical world. Sit down and cross your legs”

I can do that. It’s the first thing I’ve understood since I arrived. Guido did as he was bidden and glanced around the small room. It was bare save an old blanket, a bowl of fruit and a couple of sacks that lay in one corner. The old man sat in front of the younger man, placing both hands on his lap. The hermit wore nothing save a white cloth draped around his waist and groin area. He had thin, bony legs and equally thin arms, with several bracelets of twisted twigs around his wrists.

“The first step is true knowledge of the purpose of the awakening,” began the hermit. “There is a stream that rises in the mountains. Calm at first, but then the water tumbles over a cliff and rushes down, splattering the rocks below in a torrent of noise and echo. Then, the stream divides into a complex array of channels, meandering here and there: there are flurries and eddies – stagnant pools and dead ends. The water dissipates and its original source is lost to those who drink, bathe or wash in the village below. To make progress you must still the stream. Do you understand?” He paused, clearing expecting his pupil to answer.

What is he talking about? Why did I come here? Is this some sort of riddle or test I must pass?

“We can go no further until you show understanding,” said the old man patiently.

[Guido Faragas]

Why can’t he say what he means? I guess it makes him appear mysterious, or, perhaps he a little crazy. Sitting here alone meditating must do funny things to your mind. In any event, he just talks in riddles and metaphors, so I simply have to interpret what he is saying. Let’s think. The stream and its water must be symbolic of something....something that I must calm and still. Hmm, well when I first learnt reimancy and the bow, relaxation was the key to getting started. Maybe the same philosophy applies here – the first step is emptying the mind – so the stream is my mind and the water my thoughts. Aaah... I see...

“The true purpose of the awakening is the stilling of the mind,” replied Guido in response to the hermit’s query. “To do away with the rushing about of my thoughts and reduce the complexities of my mind. I must control my thoughts so they become peaceful and focused. I must block off the irrelevant channels and pools through which the stream meanders and focus on the main flow.” Sounds good to me.

The old man nodded, appearing happy with the answer. He leant to one side and took hold of a small, lit candle which he set on the floor before Guido.

“The second step is that of concentration. A simple object such as this candle will suffice. You must focus on the candle, pushing all else aside. Become one with the candle and reduce it to its simplest form.”

So the second step to the great awakening involves staring at a candle. I could do that in my own room.

[Guido Faragas]

Guido focused his mind on the candle. It was, after all, he mused, simply a variation of the technique he used for relaxation prior to reimancy. He regularly utilised blocks of colour as a focus and allowed the colour to form a curtain over his thoughts. The old man was simply getting him to use a candle for the same purpose – to calm the mind and clarify thought patterns. In some ways the candle was a simple object – just a stem and a flame. However, the flame flickered a little from some hidden draught and, as it flickered, the colours of the flame changed –yellow, blue and gold intermingled. He imagined his senses bathing in the colours of the flame, allowing it to flicker over his skin, lightly stimulate his senses. A warm glow suffused through his body – he thought of himself as the flame – burning and flickering, lighting the dark. He began to suppress other sensations until the room and the old hermit were gone – it was simply Guido and the candle – Guido the candle, the flame, the light. For an instant he felt a sense of clarity – a warm sense of being - of calmness – and, of serenity.

He had no idea how long passed whilst he was in this reverie.

“Pretty good for a first attempt.” The words broke the youth’s concentration. The old man was smiling. “You have a propensity for concentrative meditation – or, perhaps you have experienced it in the past. You are clearly ready for the third step.”

“The third step is reflection. You must explore one stream until you know all that you can know about its flow, its route and its purpose. For this first reflection, you must examine the stream identified by the first master. Reflect on this: The greed for fruit misses the flower.”

Another riddle?

[Guido Faragas]

The greed for fruit misses the flower. Guido mused the phrase over in his mind, trying to search out possible meanings. The most obvious answer appeared to lie in the symbolism of the imagery. The flower represented beauty and the greed for fruit the desire for material goods. That must be it – just another simple riddle.

“If you purely concentrate upon acquiring possessions, your hunger for more will make you ignore the real beauty in life that comes from nature.” He voiced the answer firmly, convinced that he had hit upon the correct answer.

The hermit appeared unimpressed. “The fruit is a giver of life. It restores the soul and assuages the hunger. The beauty of the flower is ephemeral and says nothing of the soul. Reflect some more.”

Guido frowned. Well this is the third step – things are bound to get harder. The hermit’s response appeared to imply that surface beauty was only superficial = so the flower represented the surface appearance. But what of the fruit ? It was necessary for life, helping to sustain and feed a person. But not all fruit is as beautiful as a flower.” Hmm He chanced a second reply, more in hope than expectation. “True beauty lies beneath the surface: that which is superficially attractive may be rotten inside?”

The hermit scratched his nose and then pulled at one ear. “That which is hidden may corrupt the soul. The flower reveals its truth for all to see. Reflect once more.”

Shyke. This is hard. Hmm. Perhaps I need to relax to clarify my mind. The flame of the candle still burned. Guido allowed the flame to wash over his senses, repeating the exercise from the second step to achieve a sense of calmness and clarity. Perhaps I’m thinking about this from the wrong perspective – my own. Maybe I need to widen my viewpoint. Others might view the phrase in a different manner to that which I do. And, of course, if I was a bee I might regard the pollen from the flower as my food; so, the greed for the flower might result in missing the beauty of the fruit. It’s all a matter of perspective...perhaps that is the truth of the matter. Greed and beauty are not fixed aspects but malleable.

Finally, he thought he understood. “It means whatever I want it to mean.”

The hermit smiled. “Of course, the stream flows wherever your thoughts flow. It is no more and no less than your own reflection.”

[Guido Faragas]

“The fourth step is more complex,” explained the boney-limbed hermit. He shuffled a little on the floor, as if to stretch his limbs. Perhaps they were stiffening from the long time that master and pupil had spent examining the process of awakening? Guido was certainly feeling a little stiff in the body. However, his mind felt relaxed and he perceived that the techniques he was being taught were having some effect on his mental processes.

“You must develop a loving kindness: first, for yourself.”

“So, I must love myself? Isn’t that a trifle egotistical?”

The old man laughed loudly. “In a sense. But if you do not love yourself, how can you expect others to love you?”

“Hmm. A fair point I suppose. And how do I love myself?”

“You must meditate. Use an image or a phrase to focus on your inner self. For example, “I will be happy” or “I will progress”. Once you feel a love for yourself, you must extend the process to the love of a friend and then the love of an enemy or some you dislike.”

“I must love someone I dislike? How will that help me?”

“To develop the awakening of kindness, you must extend it to where the waters are choppy. Confront the conflict inside you and it will smooth the turbulent stream. That is the path to the awakening.”

“You like water-based metaphors don’t you?”

The hermit shrugged. “We all recognise the stream: we all bathe in the water. We all love the rain on our cheeks and drink the water of life.”

[Guido Faragas]

Guido stared at his reflection in the mental mirror that he had conjoured in his mind. “You’re a rather splendid looking fellow,” he asserted to his reflection. He repeated the mantra in his mind for the twentieth time but he still resisted believing it. Perhaps he wasn’t taking this self-love notion seriously enough. Staring at his own face in a mirror felt self-indulgent and, in any event, he kept focusing on the rather large spot he knew he had on his chin. It was rather difficult to love that particular facial blemish. He needed an alternative phrase and image – something more abstract and appealing. A phrase rather than an image...perhaps the simple suggestion of the hermit...May I be happy.

He focused on the phrase and then sought to delve into its meaning, exploring beneath the surface, to try to feel happiness... warmth, friendliness, love, peace, well-being...he allowed the words and the glow associated with them to flow over his senses. May I be happy. It was a hard process: it was almost as though there was a barrier in place, preventing him from fully attaining any real degree of self-love.

“I find it difficult to fully achieve this step,” he admitted to the hermit.

“Do not worry: this step does not come easily to any of us. The beach consists of many grains of sand and you have taken but a handful. The fourth step must be continually practiced before you are ready to fully accept yourself. Continue with it in your own time and you may walk with bare feet on the warm sand."

“What of the final step?”

“It is not necessary to complete the fourth step before gaining knowledge of the fifth. Listen with care.”

[Guido Faragas]

The hermit clapped his hands close to Guido’s ears. “Did you hear the sound of my hands clapping?”

“Oh, yes, very much so, of course.” This was all that Guido managed to blurt out given the ringing in his ears.

“Good. Now, let us recount our journey down the stream – knowledge, concentration, reflection and loving kindness. These are the first steps to the stilling of the mind – knowledge of purpose; concentration to acquire stillness; reflection on the nature of one’s own thoughts and the capacity to love, particularly oneself. The fifth step is to truly awake.”

The hermit stuck his little finger in one nostril, delved around for a chime or two, extracted a bogey and then flicked it at the face of his companion. “My gift to you.”

“Thanks,” replied Guido slowly. “It is much appreciated.”

The hermit yawned and then spat at Guido. A slimy globule of flem dripped down the youth’s face. He wiped it off with the back of one hand. Two presents in one day. It must be my birthday. There was more to come – the hermit grabbed hold of Guido’s nose and gave it a hard, twisting yank. He’s trying to provoke me. Must be another test.

“Aren’t you going to slap me,” inquired the hermit.

“No,” said Guido.

“Suit yourself,” shrugged the hermit. “You really are a complete idiot. Your mother was probably a donkey and your father a one-legged goat. You have the brains of the former and the face of the latter.”

Right. This is serious provocation. “Your words don’t hurt me," explained the apprentice.

“Really? Are you deaf as well as stupid.”

“I am whatever I want to be. I love myself and you for your gifts.”

“Truly? So you really like old men who spit at you, insult your mother and tweak your nose. Young people today are very strange!”

“You’re a complete charlatan! This is all nonsense!” Guido shouted out at the top of his voice, gesticulating with his hands and knocking over the candle.

The hermit smiled. “Aaah, you are truly awake.”

“Pardon?”

“It is, as you say, all nonsense. Still, I have to earn a living. Return another time if you want to spend more time doing nothing of any value. For, that is the great awakening. The realisation that those who profess to offer the fountain of knowledge, the stream of truth and even the grains of kindness are corrupt or deluded. Rely on yourself. It all you have and all you should have.” The old man shut his eyes and lapsed into silence.

Guido slowly got to his feet and left the room. Was it all nonsense. Or, have I discovered something profound? I’m damned if I know.

[Leviathan]

Thread Award!   Skills Skill Gain Info. Meditation 4 Considerable Use of Meditation Philosophy 2 Basic Use of Philosophy Observation 2 Observations of the Abstract   Lore Methods of Meditation: Still the Mind Methods of Meditation: Concentration Methods of Meditation: Reflection Methods of Meditation: Loving Kindness