Kunlun Mountain Part 4 - The Return

Chapter 11 - Wisdom in Sleep

Three days later

"When we can love all that enslaves us
We surpass even that which dwarfs us
And We become the Master"

Mo Yuan had no idea why these words came back to him now, words his father had taught him during a lesson in overcoming physical pain.  And though he could find some connection to his plight in his words now, he could not begin to understand how they were relevant or even how on earth he was to Master what he fast losing control of.  

But silently he lay as still as possible allowing only his mind to wander while he still had control of it.  As long as he didn't move,  Qing Cang would not be disturbed, and nor could he hear his thoughts while he was in control.  And his father came back very strong then, a man who seemed to have an endless supply of wisdom which he had shared daily whether he wanted to hear it or not.  Wisdom that never really seemed all that important at the time, but he would give both arms to have his father with him now, just to hear him speak one more time as his wise words continued to pass through his mind.  

Back then, Mo Yuan never really saw the wisdom in his fathers words, it always came much later when he needed them and it was then that many of his wise words began to come back, and because he had spent so much time sleeping, that too had brought back a lesson from when he was younger, just a boy, but with his sharp mind and quick wit, Mo Yuan was able to keep up with him on most things.

"Define Sleep Mo Yuan." he had asked one day.  Being rather cocky in his youthfulness, and being surrounded by his friends, he thought he would give a bit of cheek to lighten the mood, because his fathers lessons tended to bore them senseless.

"Sleep is where the sub-conscious gossips to the conscious leaving nothing but your own nakedness." he replied feeling very proud of himself for coming up with what he considered to be wise words his father would have been proud of.  The grins from his friends and his fathers raised brows only intensified his pride which increased the width of his own grin.

Standing, his father, made his way down from his teaching platform to lean in over him, and though he was smiling, Mo Yuan began to feel as if the smile was not the kind that had gained him favour.  In fact, the moment his father arrived at his his desk, the sudden short sharp thwack of his fathers knuckles against his forehead, had him losing the grin very quickly.

"Are you naked now?" he asked which brought on a round of laughter and his cheeks to brighten the deepest shade of red.

Literally sliding down his chair in order to hide his shame, he shook his head.  "No Father." he answered meekly while his friends continued to laugh at him.

"THEN WAKE UP!" his father snapped at him before retaking his place on the teaching platform.  Then addressing Mo Yuan directly while his eyes narrowed in the ones who were once again drifting off to sleep, he defined sleep.

"Sleep is but a short moment in time when the soul finds rest.  And it is time that defines sleep.  It is that space between the moment your mind ceases speaking and dreams take over.  It is fleeting, yet in that very short space in time, nothing exists, no past nor future, you are both formless and solid, just you and the present moment, while time itself continues on without you, even though you are present for it."

At the time, Mo Yuan merely groaned silently to himself, it was a typical lesson from his father that made no sense at all, but as the words came back to him, they could not have been more relevant than now.  His long 45,000 years of slumber was in every sense of the word, timeless yet fleeting.  There was no past nor future, only his formless yet solid state that he had worked tirelessly to awaken.  At that moment he felt as if he were still in dream state, because he had yet to awaken even though he was present.