‘What’s life like in the Equilibrium Realm?’ you ask, keen to find out, keen to find out all about the secrets of Samsara. ‘What’s the big deal with samsaric existence? Why do folks like it so much?’ I admire your perspicacity, of course; I am always a great admirer of perspicacity. Most folks – as you know yourself – only want to enjoy the illusions that samsaric existence is so very full of – we don’t want to go into it you see, we don’t want to know anything about it because that would entirely defeat the purpose of the exercise. There’d be no point in that, as everyone knows. There’s no payoff in learning about the trick that’s being played on us. That would just make us miserable and jaded. There is on the other hand a reward for successfully falling for the trick, being taken in by it. There’s always a reward for being a dummy in this life of ours, as I’m sure you’re aware.
‘But what are the secrets of Samsara?’ you still want to know. You’re all ears, you’re practically falling off the edge of your chair. You’re agog with anticipation (as they always say). That would be telling however, and we can’t have that. You’ll just have to get in the queue with everyone else; you’ll just have to wait your turn. But what are the secrets you want to know. What are they. Those deeply evocative and mysterious secrets. The whole thing such a tease, isn’t it? You would love to know but no one will tell you – they all want to keep this secret to themselves of course. The last thing they’re going to do is blab about it to some stranger. No one owes a stranger anything after all…
I was brought up to never trust a stranger. I was reared that way you see, I was reared to be distrustful to strangers and to treat them bad on this account. To rip them off when you get a chance, to always put them wrong if there’s a way to do this. We call it ‘the Code’ back where I come from. One always has to adhere to the code, does one not? There is honour in always adhering to the code. That’s how you earn respect for yourself. That’s how you learn to respect and honour yourself. By upholding the Code…
When I was born people thought that I would grow up to be a genius, and that I would achieve many things, many great things. You may laugh, but that’s what people thought. There had been various omens and stuff like that. Portents, and the like. Strange signs had been seen. That turned out not to be true of course but I can’t take the blame for that. The portents were wrong, the signs were misleading, and that’s just about all I have to say on the matter. If you’re expecting me to be this to be feeling bad about myself on this account then I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.
I have adjusted to life in the Equilibrium Realm – I’ve made my peace with it. I’ve made my peace with the fact that this is where I’m going to end my days. And – do you know what? – it’s not so bad. It’s not so bad at all. I’ve actually grown to rather like it, can you believe that? It’s a funny thing – the person I once was would have been utterly disgusted, appalled in fact, that I could have come to this. That I could have ended up like this. And yet the person I am now – the person I have become – doesn’t care at all!
