Darkness

Under the wavy canopy of the sea of green was darkness. The tiger and Akapat sat at the edge of the sea of green and watched the river , which has carried them so far, disappear in its gloominess.

It looks scary, it was Akapat who spoke first. If this thing can swallow the river, what are we.

Yes, it does look scary from the outside, but once you enter its belly, it becomes enlightening. The tiger sounded assuring.

Enlightening, Akapat was amazed.

Yes, the tiger continued. Darkness makes you see the things the light hides from you. In facts the light hides everything by distracting you. It is only in dark that we can focus inwards and see what we truly need to see.

And what is that we truly need to see, Akapat asked the tiger.

The whole world in its nakedness. Replied the tiger. We need to see the instinct for survival and the lust of power, he continued. We need to see that it is a man eats man world and man also eats everything else. Only when we are truly aware of this selfishness and ruthlessness, we can understand light in its earnest.

And how is that understanding useful ! Akapat was perplexed.

We gain only by understanding what are we liable to loose. It is that feel of loosing something we hold close to our heart that makes us apprehensive. It is this trepidation that makes us desperate. And it is in this desperation that one tends to become vicious. It is easy to be judgemental and frame opinion about someone while standing in light. Only if we could have steeped in his darkness we would have really understood the person. The tiger sounded emotional in his discourse.

Is it really possible to understand darkness. Akapat was intrigued.

Yes, as long as we see this darkness as light it is easy to understand. The tiger responded. We must go beyond the what and try to understand the why. Empathy gives us that vision.

And what breeds empathy in us? Akapat asked.

The understanding and acceptance of our own darkness. The tiger spoke. And it is the most difficult thing to do.

I guess you are right, Akapat said, trying to comprehend what the tiger has been speaking for so long. Is there a way to stay away from this darkness ?

There is, the tiger smiled. Once upon a time, a very wise man called Siddhartha Gautam, found that answer. To avoid darkness we must turn it into light. We must accept the transient nature of things and evolve our emotions so as not to get wet while we walk in the rain.

I think i life was much more easier at home, Akapat said scratching his head. Everyone was transparent and there was light. But ever since i have steeped out of my home, i have encountered darkness at every step.

Yet you remain transparent. The tiger quipped. The real challenge begins after you step under the canopy of the green sea. It is so dense and dark that light never finds the way. All of us have to glow from within to navigate that.

What else are we going to encounter there. Akapat pointed into the darkness.

What not . The tiger was curt. There is dampness, there is loneliness, there is fatigue. There are mosquitoes that suck the life out of you and there are spiders who can eat you alive. There are millipedes who will walk all over you and there are snakes who will hypnotize. Everything there will try to kill you and when it is not able to, it will forge you into steel.

Akapat’s pupil dilated as he heard the tiger intently.

There are thousand of death awaiting you in the wilderness of the dark, the tiger smiled. And you will be born again many times. It is going to be a slow and painful journey like the way the snakes shed their skin. But at the end there will always be a new version of you. The key, my dear man cub, the tiger said dispassionately, the key is to retain the stubbornness to be born again and again. Because if you die in the process and refuse to be born again, you will become a zombie and get trapped in the wilderness forever.

And what will empower me with such stubbornness? Akapat was curious.

Belief, man cub, the tiger was assertive. It is your belief in yourself that will make you formidable. You have to trust the journey, irrespective of the way it lead you to. It is only your fortitude that will take you across the sea. Your doubts will consume you and you shall be lost forever.

How does one finds his belief, Akapat asked.

We don’t find belief boy, we loose it. The tiger was blunt. All of us are born with it, like you are with the transparent skin. Then as we gradually get polluted by the perspective of perpetuity, we loose our belief. So much is our obsession to fit in the world that we amputate our originality and become a cog in the wheel that goes nowhere. None of us are born alike, but we long to live in the likeliness and grow in a direction which we were never born for. Imagine this, he said with satire, we prune all the trees from the top and grant them with but one plant. Indeed the growth will be uniform and appealing to the eye, but the diversity of creation will become extinct. I guess that is what we intend to do with ourselves.

And what happens when you don’t want to fit in ?Akapat asked inquisitively.

You loose your stripes and claws and fangs, the tiger laughed. Then you are outcasted to the wild, to regret and repent your courage, and beg for mercy.

But you chose not to do that. Akapat exclaimed.

Yes i refuse to die. I will keep taking births again and again and again, until i can see light in the darkness. The tiger roared.

and so do i, Akapat said, keeping his hand on the shoulder of the tiger.