Iraelia
TNPer
"Forget it, Jagtar, it's not going to happen. It's just a myth."
Jagtar gave an exasperated sigh and glanced at his compatriot. He had met Aakar at the communal hymn singing which occurred nightly at the Temple of Acharya Nagar. He had felt an unspoken kinship with him from the moment they harmonized, but ever since coming to bunk in the temple's initiate wing, he had grown to view Aakar as a foil. He was always one to scold Jagtar for his intensive reading of the ancient literature, for his obsession with Do Atama dogma, and to the intricacies of Piathan Mythology. Really Jagtar? he'd say. You really think reading the great deeds of the heroic Marmas will make you brave? You really think you'll find enlightenment by remembering every prayer, every mantra, of Diala?
He had a point, and Jagtar knew it. Acharya Nagar made no mystery of that, either. That was the whole point of the Do Atama, after all. Of course the Piathan Pantheon is important, of course mythology matters... But do you really think knowing the holy scriptures by heart will make you happy? Will the rituals of the Church alone bring you to enlightenment? Of course not! The spiritual truth is two, Oridran and Sathor, positive and negative, matter and antimatter. This is the essence of reality. This is the truth which will bring you to salvation.
Acharya Nagar was a wise teacher, this, too, Jagtar knew.
"I know, Aakar, I know... But I have to try."
He laughed, "No one, not even Acharya Nagar, has achieved Akhirali Sacai. It's just a fairytale, invented by some revisionist Acharya, stoned out of his mind, with no basis in the Do Atama Tradition... Let alone the standard Piathan religion. It's nearing heresy!"
"Oh and since when has that mattered?' Jagtar rebuked, "The entire Do Atama Tradition is revision on Piathan tehology, the only reason it's accepted because it adheres to Piathan mythology and acknowledges the supremacy of the church."
"Whatever," he replied, cynically, "it's been two years... Maybe today is the day!"
And with that Jagtar set down the long road from the temple to the Sea of Laghima. The sun was peaking over the eastern horizon and the temple cast a long dark shadow over the ocean to the west. To the east, the town of Jalan, itself a suburb of Ayubar Prime, glowed with a lazy light, a few parishioners drudging their tired bodies to the temple for early worship and meditation. Jagtar felt a sense of nostalgia, not too long ago he was among them, wandering his way to the Temple, working odd jobs and spending his time listening to wandering preachers. It was his spiritual birth.
As he approached the bottom of the cliff, he felt the cold sand on his bare feet and the chilly water lap at his toes. He always hated this part the most. Jagtar drudged his way through the water until he was treading to stay above water. It was a calm day, the waves were still. This is good, he thought. He dunked his head twice in the water, as the Ancient Acharya instructed, and let the water carry him. Then he began reciting his mantras.
The hours melted away, the sun rose and fell, and yet nothing. Day came and went and nothing happened. As the twin moons rose in the sky of Ayubar, Jagtar began to feel the sting of defeat. Perhaps Aakar is right, he thought, maybe it is all a farce. But as he forlornly studied the twin moons, a strange feeling tugged at him. Then, in an instant, he had a remembrance. Not a standard mantra, but a poem, one written by Acharya Nagar himself:
"Oridran and Sathor Raj
King and Queen of all
But in the dance before ithe
There is naught but aik"
He repeated this mantra, his vision narrowing on the evening moons. Then, in an instant, he was gone.
Visions of light swirled in the sky, and Jagtar felt his lungs fill and fall heavy. Yet he felt no need to struggle. Rather, he relaxed, and allowed himself to sink deeper and deeper into the trance. The light slowly faded until there was nothing, just darkness.
Then, there was light once more.
But not a dispersion of light, no. One light, One reality, One presence. It may have parted, coalesced, and transfigured, but it was still One. He saw the birth of time and space itself.
Then he saw Ethnor and Ithdod, and their brilliant love. And he saw Oridran and Sathor, born from the hearts of the two predecessor galaxies. They met, with passion in the void beyond the lights, as scriptures relay. But then something wonderful happened. They joined hands and began to dance. An elegant, ancient, dance. And yet a primal dance at the same time, a burning love and yearning for the other. But out of this dance, there was no multiplication, no birth of a new pantheon of Gods, no. There was a fusion. one couldn't tell where Oridran began or ended, where Sathor made herself distinct. Their primal dance causing the galaxy to swirl in rhythm. Yet, as their dance spurred on life and motion, propelling the very wheels of history themselves, all that was began to gather. The light which was One was gathered once more, and a total presence overcame him.
And then He was there.
"Behold, Jagtar. It is I."
"...God?"
"That I am. I am all, I am the light, and I am presence itself. You have done well, my son, but your work is not done."
"What?"
"You have found my holy light, but you alone cannot know me. I am all, and with your help, all shall come to know me."
"But Lord, what am I to do? The truth is like a blow to the face... How am I to help in a world so blind to the truth?"
"Oh, my son, why must you doubt me? I am all, I am One, and I am the Lord. With my blessing, you shall do my work. The world may be filled with sin, and hatred, and lust, but these are naught but waystations on the path to Me. I am all loving, and I cannot bare to see my creation suffer. Fear not Jagtar, I will be with you."
The Temple of Acharya Nagar, 3 days later
Aakar sat over the bed of his friend, nervous and afraid. He had not moved or blinked since his lifeless body was recovered from the stormy waters outside the temple. The medical wing said he was alive, but that he was in a coma. If he wasn't to awake, the temple would declare him deceased. Aakar thought back to their time singing hymns in the Temple, the first time they saw each other. Do Atama teachings talk of two souls in two bodies, united in a level beyond the physical. He felt this way about Jagtar. He loved him like a brother. As tears began to well up in his eyes, his friend jolted awake.
"Jagtar!"
Jagtar looked at him in shock, eyes vacant. His body and hands were shaking uncontrollably.
"Hey, hey, Jagtar it's okay. It's okay! Speak to me."
Jagtar looked at him, stunned. He tried to speak, but he let loose a feeble wheeze instead. Aakar brought him a glass of water, which Jagtar quickly downed.
Then he spoke.
"There is no Piathan. There is no Oridran, no Shathor. There is only one."
Jagtar gave an exasperated sigh and glanced at his compatriot. He had met Aakar at the communal hymn singing which occurred nightly at the Temple of Acharya Nagar. He had felt an unspoken kinship with him from the moment they harmonized, but ever since coming to bunk in the temple's initiate wing, he had grown to view Aakar as a foil. He was always one to scold Jagtar for his intensive reading of the ancient literature, for his obsession with Do Atama dogma, and to the intricacies of Piathan Mythology. Really Jagtar? he'd say. You really think reading the great deeds of the heroic Marmas will make you brave? You really think you'll find enlightenment by remembering every prayer, every mantra, of Diala?
He had a point, and Jagtar knew it. Acharya Nagar made no mystery of that, either. That was the whole point of the Do Atama, after all. Of course the Piathan Pantheon is important, of course mythology matters... But do you really think knowing the holy scriptures by heart will make you happy? Will the rituals of the Church alone bring you to enlightenment? Of course not! The spiritual truth is two, Oridran and Sathor, positive and negative, matter and antimatter. This is the essence of reality. This is the truth which will bring you to salvation.
Acharya Nagar was a wise teacher, this, too, Jagtar knew.
"I know, Aakar, I know... But I have to try."
He laughed, "No one, not even Acharya Nagar, has achieved Akhirali Sacai. It's just a fairytale, invented by some revisionist Acharya, stoned out of his mind, with no basis in the Do Atama Tradition... Let alone the standard Piathan religion. It's nearing heresy!"
"Oh and since when has that mattered?' Jagtar rebuked, "The entire Do Atama Tradition is revision on Piathan tehology, the only reason it's accepted because it adheres to Piathan mythology and acknowledges the supremacy of the church."
"Whatever," he replied, cynically, "it's been two years... Maybe today is the day!"
And with that Jagtar set down the long road from the temple to the Sea of Laghima. The sun was peaking over the eastern horizon and the temple cast a long dark shadow over the ocean to the west. To the east, the town of Jalan, itself a suburb of Ayubar Prime, glowed with a lazy light, a few parishioners drudging their tired bodies to the temple for early worship and meditation. Jagtar felt a sense of nostalgia, not too long ago he was among them, wandering his way to the Temple, working odd jobs and spending his time listening to wandering preachers. It was his spiritual birth.
As he approached the bottom of the cliff, he felt the cold sand on his bare feet and the chilly water lap at his toes. He always hated this part the most. Jagtar drudged his way through the water until he was treading to stay above water. It was a calm day, the waves were still. This is good, he thought. He dunked his head twice in the water, as the Ancient Acharya instructed, and let the water carry him. Then he began reciting his mantras.
The hours melted away, the sun rose and fell, and yet nothing. Day came and went and nothing happened. As the twin moons rose in the sky of Ayubar, Jagtar began to feel the sting of defeat. Perhaps Aakar is right, he thought, maybe it is all a farce. But as he forlornly studied the twin moons, a strange feeling tugged at him. Then, in an instant, he had a remembrance. Not a standard mantra, but a poem, one written by Acharya Nagar himself:
"Oridran and Sathor Raj
King and Queen of all
But in the dance before ithe
There is naught but aik"
He repeated this mantra, his vision narrowing on the evening moons. Then, in an instant, he was gone.
Visions of light swirled in the sky, and Jagtar felt his lungs fill and fall heavy. Yet he felt no need to struggle. Rather, he relaxed, and allowed himself to sink deeper and deeper into the trance. The light slowly faded until there was nothing, just darkness.
Then, there was light once more.
But not a dispersion of light, no. One light, One reality, One presence. It may have parted, coalesced, and transfigured, but it was still One. He saw the birth of time and space itself.
Then he saw Ethnor and Ithdod, and their brilliant love. And he saw Oridran and Sathor, born from the hearts of the two predecessor galaxies. They met, with passion in the void beyond the lights, as scriptures relay. But then something wonderful happened. They joined hands and began to dance. An elegant, ancient, dance. And yet a primal dance at the same time, a burning love and yearning for the other. But out of this dance, there was no multiplication, no birth of a new pantheon of Gods, no. There was a fusion. one couldn't tell where Oridran began or ended, where Sathor made herself distinct. Their primal dance causing the galaxy to swirl in rhythm. Yet, as their dance spurred on life and motion, propelling the very wheels of history themselves, all that was began to gather. The light which was One was gathered once more, and a total presence overcame him.
And then He was there.
"Behold, Jagtar. It is I."
"...God?"
"That I am. I am all, I am the light, and I am presence itself. You have done well, my son, but your work is not done."
"What?"
"You have found my holy light, but you alone cannot know me. I am all, and with your help, all shall come to know me."
"But Lord, what am I to do? The truth is like a blow to the face... How am I to help in a world so blind to the truth?"
"Oh, my son, why must you doubt me? I am all, I am One, and I am the Lord. With my blessing, you shall do my work. The world may be filled with sin, and hatred, and lust, but these are naught but waystations on the path to Me. I am all loving, and I cannot bare to see my creation suffer. Fear not Jagtar, I will be with you."
The Temple of Acharya Nagar, 3 days later
Aakar sat over the bed of his friend, nervous and afraid. He had not moved or blinked since his lifeless body was recovered from the stormy waters outside the temple. The medical wing said he was alive, but that he was in a coma. If he wasn't to awake, the temple would declare him deceased. Aakar thought back to their time singing hymns in the Temple, the first time they saw each other. Do Atama teachings talk of two souls in two bodies, united in a level beyond the physical. He felt this way about Jagtar. He loved him like a brother. As tears began to well up in his eyes, his friend jolted awake.
"Jagtar!"
Jagtar looked at him in shock, eyes vacant. His body and hands were shaking uncontrollably.
"Hey, hey, Jagtar it's okay. It's okay! Speak to me."
Jagtar looked at him, stunned. He tried to speak, but he let loose a feeble wheeze instead. Aakar brought him a glass of water, which Jagtar quickly downed.
Then he spoke.
"There is no Piathan. There is no Oridran, no Shathor. There is only one."
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