Voyage Throughout Samsara
There were once two. Man and Beast venturing throughout samsara.
One starts out desperately wishing to be acknowledged—to be seen not as a useless thing, but as someone who can eventually have a stake in the world, and more importantly, in their own life. Only to eventually…
Sever it all.
The other wants merely to live a quiet, peaceful life, surrounded by those he deems family and friends—to live without disturbance and with few attachments, out of a deep fear of suffering. And yet, he does something ever contradictory: he chooses to…
Embrace it all.
Until eventually—
The ground trembles with their every step. The stars dim their lights to avoid being seen. The forces beyond the ever-crumbling World Boundary watch in caution.
Azure Pearl:Eastern Sky
“I have traveled through this world, bound by the manacles of karma.
I have lit the Nine Lanterns; incorporated the Five Aggregates; accepted the karmic causes impressed upon myself.
And at last…
I have formed the ever-desired ‘Me’…
Yet, to step beyond the cosmos—
Sever your karma.
Douse the Nine Lanterns.
Dissolve the Five Aggregates.
Relinquish even the truth you have discovered.
Extinguish your concept of Me.
Do not desperately grasp at the ever-changing self.
Only then will you truly become whole.”
Scarlet Agate:Western Earth
“I have traveled through this world, bound by the chains of karma. I have set ablaze the Nine Lanterns. I have experienced hunger, deprivation, satiety, hope, grief, and acceptance, all led by the Six Sense Bases. And now, through a myriad of causes and conditions, I am my desired ‘I’…
Yet all things born from cause must change.
All things arisen from conditions must twist into something new.
The body rots. The world drifts through the eternal encompass of space. Mountains crumble, only to reform anew. The very stars' opaline lights dim. Even memories will not be left untouched.
So I shall not sever what ties me.
Let the Nine Flames burn until their very last flicker of life. Let every bond, every loss, every feeling leave a scar.
I will neither preserve yesterday nor fear the future.
If all things born from cause must change, then in my inexorable pursuit of power—
I shall change to no end, too.”