“Who sees all beings in his own Self, and his own Self in all beings, loses all fear.” – The Upanishads
The morning sun pierced the canopy created by the treetops, illuminating the boy’s path as he ambled through the dense foliage. A songbird fell at the boy’s feet then fluttered its wings and landed several paces ahead of him. Once the boy had reached the new position of the bird then the bird repeated its action. Like this they traveled through the forest together. The boy was smiling elatedly and lost in a dreamlike state when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and gazed at the sight that his eyes beheld. He was staring at a man seated cross-legged underneath a large banyan tree directly in front of him. The man was no more than several paces from the boy. How had he not noticed the man earlier? The boy relaxed his gaze and observed the aura of the yogi. The holy man emitted a radiant golden light that was soothing to the eyes and to the spirit. This light enveloped the boy’s entire being. The man had long gray hair and a thick flowing gray beard. His brown skin was extremely rich and lustrous for someone so advanced in years. He sat perfectly motionless with his legs crossed, his eyes ever so slightly closed, his back straight as a rod, and his hands in his lap right over left with the palms facing upward. There was a certain sense of awareness about him. The boy cautiously approached the tree, sat at the feet of the master, closed his eyes, and imitated the yogi’s posture as best he could.
The yogi had been expecting this boy. Although the boy didn’t know it, it was the yogi who had summoned him to this secluded spot in the forest. Before even opening his eyes the yogi knew exactly what the boy looked like and who the boy was. In his mind’s eye he had seen the boy hundreds if not thousands of times before. At long last the yogi gently opened his eyes and gazed at the boy. The boy, sensing the yogi’s eyes on him, opened his own eyes and glanced into those of the yogi. The yogi had eyes that were at once penetrating and faraway. In the eyes of the holy man the boy saw his own reflection, not the reflection of a ten-year old boy but the reflection of his true self, the reflection of the One. The boy saw entire lifetimes flash before him. In a single moment he was thrust into the depths of maya, he experienced pleasure and pain, joy and suffering, countless human lives, and emerged on the other side unfazed. The boy recognized his blessing. He was in the presence of a true sage. He was in the presence of a man who was full of limitless compassion yet who could bring a mountain to its knees with a flicker of his mind. The boy was in the presence of a man whose very thoughts and desires could be manifested instantaneously, he was in the presence of a man who could give and take life in a single breath.
The thoughts of the yogi shifted. The boy was ready for the path. Needless to say the boy had been awakened before, in fact he had likely been awakened several times previously. The yogi sensed that the boy was near the end of the journey. It could take years before the boy properly mastered circular breathing yet in the world of the yogi years can last mere moments. And moments can last years. In the world of the yogi the hands of time have stopped yielding way to moments of fathomless depth. All forms have blended into one.
A slight smile curled upon the yogi’s lips; he was truly pleased to see the boy. It would only be a moment before the boy entered into the realm where the veil of maya has been removed and the oneness of all things presents itself. Only a moment before the boy saw the Self in all things and all things in the Self. Only a moment before all suffering and pain have ceased. Only a moment before all delusion and grief have passed. Yet that moment existed right now, that moment existed intrinsically in this moment.
A moment passed. The holy man was immersed in deep meditation. He had long since been a master of circular breathing. He had long since been a master of the Self. He had long since pierced the veil of maya, understanding the world outside to be nothing more than a mirror of the world inside of him. He had long since been perpetually conscious of oneness.
A young boy was ambling happily and dreamily through the forest with a songbird at his feet. The boy approached the banyan tree and when he looked up he suddenly stopped in his tracks. His awestruck gaze observed the man seated perfectly motionless with his legs crossed, his eyes ever so slightly closed, his back straight as a rod, and his hands in his lap right over left with the palms facing upward. The boy slowly approached the master and sat at his feet imitating the yogi’s posture as best he could. A slight smile curled upon the lips of the yogi. He had been expecting the boy. He had summoned the boy. Although he had never seen the boy with his own eyes he knew exactly what the boy looked like, he knew exactly who the boy was. It was time. The boy was ready for the path. It was certain that he had been awakened previously and now was near the end of the journey.
The yogi’s thoughts shifted. It was only a moment ago that he was a young boy sitting at the feet of his master. Yet it was not a moment ago. That moment existed simultaneously with this moment. Those moments existed simultaneously with all other moments. All moments existed simultaneously, similar to the ocean that exists simultaneously on the shore and in its center, at the surface and at its deepest depth, as does time exist. Time passes yet it does not pass. The cycle continues yet the cycle has ceased. The master who was once the young boy and the young boy who would one day become the master were one and the same. The fundamental unity of all things is present in this moment. In this moment all things are one and this one being is renewing itself. In each and every moment the ocean of life is continually flowing back into itself and undertaking a process of eternal becoming. The yogi smiled for this was the secret that had set him free and this secret would also set the young boy free just as this secret had set free the seekers of old. A moment passed. Yet it did not pass.
