Welcome to my seemingly endless journey.
A trip that will take you to places I might have visited many moons ago.
It´s a tale that came back to me when I meditated on one of my past lives. A life I told you about in my unbelievable true story.
As promised in that story I will now share this story with you.
Chapter 28
Master Oniko had told me more than once to: “Never rely on your eyes alone son. They only show you what you want to see. Don't just rely on your heart either. She shows you what you want to believe.
Give them both the credit they deserve, but never forget to consult your intuition as well. She is your animal knowledge, hidden far away in our civilized soul. The knowledge that knows what is coming. She will send you messages that try to point out dangers and events. Always keep your mind open to them, they can make the difference between life and death. I have never really understood what the voice of my intuition is,” I conclude.
“That is where I also struggle Martio, like you I am familiar with the messages, but the messenger is still a stranger even to me. Is it my figments of the imagination, which I interpret myself? I don't think so, because they are a bit too precise and too often connected to issues that are at play at that moment. Yet it could also just be my runaway fantasy. My wish to believe.”
We talk some more before Numico goes to sleep, and I keep first watch. Sitting with my back against a tree, I can keep an eye on both the edge of the forest and the meadow over which we have come. We dug a pit to keep the fire as low as possible to minimize the risk of being discovered. It is just enough to keep any animals at bay and to drive off the cold.
Within a few minutes, I hear Numico's calm breathing. The idea that we will continue the journey together makes me happy; two know and can do more than one. Especially when it comes to getting each other out of trouble, as I noticed this afternoon. A companion on this long journey wouldn't hurt. Even though I am not afraid of loneliness, I like this situation better.
My thoughts go out to his parents and the rest of the village. What do they think?
Do they have any idea?
No, that is impossible; neither of us said a word about our journey. It must be very strange to those left behind that we disappear in the middle of the night, without returning. Out here in the wilderness, there is a part of me that longs to return to the safety of our village.
I drift further and further in my mind to the time when I was the age that Numico is now, and I have my first conversations with Oniko. He is not yet my master then; he is the village sage, and I am a curious little man desperately looking for answers. Oniko had the answers, even if they are often circumstantial.
"Do you predict the future?" I ask him.
"Yes, that's easy," he replies. "Why don't we know our future, Oniko? That would be much easier, wouldn't it?"
"Boy," he says, "I will predict tomorrow's future for you, then you can tell me tomorrow what you think."
"Tomorrow the sun will rise early in the east, not much later you will wake up. You will have breakfast, your mother will kiss you before you go to class. There you will ask smart questions until you ask a stupid question. In the afternoon you will take care of the animals; they will be moody. A little later you will be dirty at my door with the answer."
The day went exactly as Oniko described it, and when I arrive at the animals they are really moody, I start to feel a bit disappointed. It's no fun to know what's to come; it takes the fun out of the day. Realizing this, I run to Oniko's cabin as fast as I can. I stumble several times along the way because I am in such a hurry to confront him with my answer. Once I arrive at his hut, the disappointment is great. Oniko is not there to receive my reply.
Disappointed, I turn and saunter back until a hand grabs my upper arm. Startled, I look at the owner of the hand. It is Oniko. I have to laugh. Glad I can tell my story, I blurt out: "There is no point if you already know everything; that makes a day really boring."
"What was boring?" he asks.
"Everything!" I say indignantly.
Oniko looks me in the eye and says, "Think carefully, was everything boring today?"
After thinking about it for a while, I have to agree with him. "No, the fact that you weren't there, was a huge unexpected disappointment. Oh and seeing you not much later was a great happiness."
"Right, boy," Oniko says then, "the unpredictability brings different emotions. These emotions and unprecedented possibilities make life fascinating. Who would want to take that road to a life where everything is known in advance?"
I nod vigorously to indicate that I agree with him. "But you, then," I ask, "you already knew everything; isn't that boring?"
"Boy, I don't know what's about to happen any more than you do, but I know you, your mother, and your daily routine. Your mom will never forget to kiss you before you go to class. You're a bright kid, so you ask the right questions, but you won't understand everything either. Then you will occasionally ask a stupid question. The reactions this evokes in others will make you insecure, which will keep you silent for the rest of the lesson.
"You take care of the animals every day, and the fact that I generally know what the weather will be like the next day is no secret either. I knew it would be a hot day; well, the animals, who are exposed to that all day, are not happy about that. By then you would realize that there is no point in knowing everything. Then you come running to me with your newly discovered answers. There is a great risk that in the rush from the valley to my hut at the top of the village you will step or fall into something at least once, which would make you dirty."
"To keep the day a little surprising, I made sure I wasn't there. I also made sure to run into you a little later. At least something had happened this day that you hadn't counted on. That would be proof that living in ignorance is much more interesting."
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