I

Passing by the graveyard almost at midnight, Tom was frightened. His feet moving with frantic pace ahead and eyes treading backwards, as if somebody was following him. Suddenly, he fell in one of the holes left open and what in front of his eyes was a new universe where everything was messed up……

……he could not understand what he saw. There were coloured shapes all around. Thinking it to be an impact of the fall, he closed his eyes for a moment. But, again he could not see anything distinctly. He tried to refocus his eyes. All he saw were strange coloured patterns. Everything was messed up. In a hole like this, he expected complete darkness. Contrary to that, he saw weird ‘boundary-less’ objects.

He vigorously rubbed his eyes. With this intent he brought his hands forward. But what was this? He could not see his hands. They seemed not to have a boundary. They were merged with the surroundings. Though he could feel the sensation of moving them, he could not see them. And, it was then that he realized that not just his hands, but his complete body had merged with the surroundings. He did not exist as a human being, but as a part, fragment, and filament of energy that pervaded the cosmos of this strange new universe.

Shocked, he lay motionless for some seconds. Where was he? What was the meaning of all this? Was he dead? He did not know. He started thinking – “Is this the real world? Had I always perceived an unreal world? Or it’s just an illusion, a hallucination or maybe a dream? Or, maybe I am possessed by a spirit which did not like my invasion in its territory and undergoing exorcism.” Thinking this, he started feeling scared, and sat at the same spot for a few minutes. 


With each passing moment curiosity soared up in him. Soon he let go of his fear and stood up.

He started walking briskly to explore the strange land. He had heard about near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences and other experiences of higher spiritual realms. However, this did not resemble any of those descriptions.

After he had just gone a few paces ahead, he felt as if someone called him. He stopped and turned around, but found no one. So, he resumed his walk. He was feeling lighter and his steps were progressing swiftly. Once again a strange voice called him. He turned around and saw a coloured vacuous object floating in the air in front of him. For a moment, he was frightened. But, the persona said – “I am glad you came here. I had been calling you for so long. You have accomplished a tough journey to reach here.”

The words emitting from this unknown persona were filling the atmosphere with certain positive vibrations that made Tom feel happier. All his pains seemed to go away. The words had warmth, which he had experienced a long time back. When? He did not quite remember. But, this was not important at the present moment. What was important was that he was not alone. He had someone he could talk to; someone who could help him understand his present situation. Therefore, Tom questioned the figure – “Who are you? What is this place? How did I come here? Am I dead?”

The figure replied- “No, my dear Tom. You are not dead. You are as much alive as I am today.”

Tom could not understand. “What do you mean?”

Sensing Tom’s puzzled look, the figure said - “Calm down Tom. Observe this place quite carefully. What do you see around?”

“Just lights and coloured patterns.”

“Exactly. But Tom, these are not just lights and colours. They represent what all the wise people in the world are seeking. Numerous sages and meditators seek this place.”

“So you are a sage? But, I am not a sage or meditator. How did I end up here?”

“No Tom. I am YOU. And, I agree you are not a sage.”

 “I don’t understand. Why do you mean by – ‘I am YOU’? You and I are two different individuals.”

At this moment, Tom noticed something in the energy that floated in front of him changed its expression which he thought resembled a smile.

“Or are we?”

Tom looked at himself and then looked at the persona and then looked at the surroundings. He could not distinguish himself from anything in the ‘boundary-less’ world.

The figure continued – “Tell me Tom. Do you really see any differences?” Tom shrugged.

“Let me tell you a short story of a man seeking a magnificent treasure. There was a young man, who journeyed across the dangerous forests and the hot deserts to reach a distant and isolated graveyard in search of a mystic, because someone had told him that the mystic knows the way to the treasure. He was also told that the mystic would help him in the pursuit, only if he had a pure heart. But, he did not find the mystic. So, he started believing that he did not have a pure heart.”

Tom was surprised.

“What happened Tom? Does this story sound familiar to you?”

Tom confused, said - “Why? How? I mean Yes, this is my story.”

He thought – “This person knows so much about me. So, I have finally found the mystic. And, this place is an illusion of his creation.”

“No Tom. I am not the mystic. Neither is this place an illusion. This is the real world. This is the real YOU. The light here represents the goodness, and the darkness represents all that is evil. You have yourself felt much happier being here. Tom, This place is your heart; and I am YOU – your inner voice, your conscience. Deep down here, you have noticed only lights and colours. It is because all of us have a pure heart. We do not need anyone else to tell us that we have it. It is always there. Your conscience that is me, and that is YOU, knows how to differ right from wrong. If you follow me and listen to me, you will do the right things and stay happy throughout your life. You have to practice listening to me daily. You have to train your mind to do that. Once you have done that, you have got the real treasure.”

Tom fully understood what his inner voice meant. Now, he could recall why he felt that the warmth he received today was similar to the warmth he had received a long time back. It was during his childhood, when his heart was not carrying any prejudices, evils or ills. He felt tears brimming in his eyes. He understood that everyone is pure hearted since birth. It is when an individual stops listening to his inner “I” that he gets lost.

Understanding this, the next thing was to go out of the heart to carry forward his treasure and distribute it to the world. So, he asked - “But, how do I get out of here?”

The inner voice answered- “I am YOU, and YOU are I. Thus we already know the answer.”

The next instant his eyes popped open. They were wet with tears. With some effort, he climbed out of the ditch, and breathed the fresh morning air. The sun was about to rise. The doubts in his mind had cleared away. He knew what he had to do next....

He smiled and went his way.

(Published in the Nth Degree 2011)

I by Parth Kanungo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.