CHAPTER 1. Rebel
The disciple asked the master, “When will I become a master myself?”
“When you stop having a master and start having disciples,” the master replied.
“When will this happen?”
“When you stop asking questions and start giving answers.”
“How can I achieve that?”
“When you believe in yourself and your own truth, you will become a master to yourself, and when others believe in you and your truth, you will also become a master to them.”
“How can I convince others to believe in me?”
“Answer their questions and you will become their teacher. Give them what they want, and they will make you their master.”
“How do I do this? By telling the truth?”
“The truth is the best answer, but it doesn’t always bring the best results. Sometimes a lie is more beneficial than the truth.”
“Am I supposed to lie?”
“Do what is beneficial, because an act without a profit is a worthless act.”
“I want to be a master already.”
“Your pride surpasses your wisdom. You did not understand what I said, and yet you want to become a master?”
“Do I have to understand everything to become one?”
“The more you understand, the greater master you will be”.
“It is enough that I understand what I need to.”
“When you understand more than what you need to, then you will understand how little you need.”
“Even if you’re right, master, isn’t it better to be a stupid master than a wise disciple? My time of being a disciple has come to an end, and the time has come for me to become a master.”
“Each of us decides their own fate and bears the consequences of those decisions. If you want to leave, I will not stop you, but it is the master who should decide when the disciple becomes a master.”
“Then decide whether I’m ready to become a master. How do you want to go about it?”
“Prove that you are ready to be a master.”
“How do I prove it?”
“The disciple can replace the master only when he is better than that master. Prove that I am worse than you.”
“Everyone has flaws, only the perfect being is free of them. There are no people without flaws. There are only those who are better at hiding them. You also have flaws, master, because you are not the perfect being, so why do you consider yourself better than me? You’re not better than anyone, you’re just different. Each of us is different, but that does not mean that anyone is worse.”
“But what if I tell you, my disciple, that I am the perfect being?”
“Only God is perfect. Are you God? If you are God, prove it. Only then I will be unable to prove that I am better than you, because is it possible to be better than the perfection itself?”
“How do I prove it?”
“You are God so you should know everything, this as well.”
“Maybe I know, but I don’t know if you know what you want.”
“Again, there is something you don’t know. God knows everything, so he should not ask questions, only provide answers.”
“Are you God to know what God should do? Only God knows what God is supposed to do, because only God knows what his tasks are as he gave them to himself. Does God have no right to ask questions, even if he knows the answers?”
“Show me a miracle and I will believe that you are God.”
“Only fools need miracles to believe, because only a fool must see something inexplainable so that it could be explained to him. I do not want you to believe in me, but to understand me.”
“Why?”
“Only when you understand me, you’ll be able to become like me, that is to become a master.”
“Why do you want me to be like you?”
“You said that only God is a perfect being, and so only when we all become God, the world can be perfect.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be like you, maybe I want to be myself?”
“You don’t want to be perfect?”
“If you’re perfect, why haven’t you created a perfect world?”
“Maybe I did not create the world, maybe I am only repairing it, maybe the world is perfect, but you just can’t comprehend that. Only a God can understand God’s Plan. When you become him, you will understand that the world is how it should be.”
“Maybe you’re just lying to make me believe in you so that I remain your disciple? You are not without flaws, and I am not worse than you, so you are not God.”
“Prove that I am not him, and you will prove that I am wrong, and you will become worthy of taking my place.”
But then the disciple heard an inner voice which said, “kill him, he is not God. He thinks himself better than you and wants you to believe in him so that he can control you. He is not better than you, he is not God, kill him. If he is God, you will not be able to kill him, God cannot be killed.”
The disciple then said to the master, “master, you cannot prove that you are God, so I will prove that you are not him.”
“How will you prove it?”
“God cannot be killed, and so if you are God, I will not be able to kill you.”
“God cannot be killed, but I am only his form, and every form can be destroyed. Therefore, you do not kill God, only his form. God cannot be killed because he has no form, but every form of God can be killed, and we are all his forms. You are a form of God as well, but you are not aware of it. You said yourself that God is perfect, and the ‘Perfect Creator’ creates a perfect world and everything in this world is perfect, and all that is perfect is God, so also each of us is a form of God, because he is perfect. By killing me, you do not hurt God, just yourself, because you are also killing yourself. Only evil can come from evil. When you sow the bad seed, you will reap bad crops, even if you sow them on the best ground. We want to destroy what we do not understand, because we cannot reign over it, because without understanding it, we do not know how to control it, and we are afraid of what we are not able to control, because when we do not reign over something, it can turn against us. When you understand everything, you will not want to destroy anything because you understand that everything is needed, and what is unnecessary does not exist, because it is unnecessary.”
“Why do I not believe you?”
“I do not want you to believe my words, but to understand them. If you understood them, you would agree with them. If I lie, why can’t you prove it? Every lie is countered by a truth, and truth can be proved, because truth is real, and reality is a proof of truth. Truth cannot be challenged, only a lie can, because the truth cannot denounce the truth, it can only denounce a lie.”
“I do not know a truth that could denounce your truth, master, but perhaps not because such a truth does not exist, just because I have not learnt it yet.”
And again, the disciple heard the inner voice, “kill him, he is lying. He is messing with your head to enslave you with his own truth. Kill him, you will win and prove that you are in the right. What he says are just words, and words do not prove who is right, only deeds do that. He said it himself that you will become a master, when you cease to have a master. You want to become a master, but you are listening to him like a disciple. Kill him and prove your superiority, because even if he is right, when you kill him, he will cease to be.”
And thus, the disciple attacked the master and killed him, just as his desires told him to do. Lust pushes us to do things that hurt others because we want what we do not have, and we receive it, when we take it from someone who has it.
CHAPTER 2. The Way
Then the disciple went his own way, because when he killed his master, he ceased to follow the path on which the master led him.
“Which way should I choose?” he asked himself, standing at the crossroads.
The signpost then showed him the way to the top, to the left, to the right, forwards, and backwards.
“Go up, at the top you will be above anyone else,” pride told him.
“The way to the top will take the most strength out of you, and then you will only be left with a choice to go down,” replied the Signpost.
He ignored it, however, because he had no intentions to descend from the top when he was already at it. He chose the way to the top from which he will be able to look down at everyone and feed his pride so that it grows even greater, because only a person whose pride is greater than the pride of others, wants to govern others. So, the disciple walked there where he would become a master, and only saw his destination, he did not pay attention to the way, because he had already seen himself at the top, above everything else and he saw nothing else but that. He did not notice a blind man on his way either, but the blind man noticed him.
“Where are you going?” asked the blind man.
“To the top,” responded the disciple with pride.
“What for?”
“For power.”
“What do you need it for?”
“For everyone to know that I am right, and I am better than anyone else.”
“Do you need power to prove it? The fact that you are above everyone does not mean that you are better than all of them.”
“Is power not the strength by which you convince people to believe in your truth?”
“You will only have the power to convince the weak who are afraid of strength, and therefore will believe in your truth, but will not understand it. Truth does not need strength to be proven and the strength will not change the truth. It can only change people, but not the truth.”
“Who are you to tell me what I can and what I cannot do, blind man?”
“I’m not telling you what you can and what you cannot do, only what can and cannot be done.”
“So, which way do I choose, blind man, and how can I be sure that on it, I will find what I want?”
“Is this your question?”
“Yes, and do you have an answer?”
“Answers are like mazes. You never know if the road in the maze will lead you wherever you want until you reach its end. You can’t be sure where life will lead you, and life is your most important companion. Do not lose it on the way, because you will get nowhere.”
“A blind man will lead me through life when he has never seen life! You are not only blind; you are also crazy.”
“Are the crazy people not the ones who rule the world, and the fools are listening to them, because only a madman is mad enough to believe that he has learnt the truth, and only a fool is stupid enough to believe in the truth spoken by the madman, because he did not learn his own truth.”
“Find yourself another fool, blind man, maybe he will listen to you.”
“My life is darkness, so I can’t find anything, it can only find me. I have not seen anything and will probably never see anything, but I know that only a person that is walking, will get somewhere. I did not choose a way, because each way was darkness to me. I walked to walk and wherever I arrived, that was my destination. You do not see your way, because you only see the destination you want to reach, and it is the way that teaches us how to walk on it. If you do not see your way and you don’t know how to walk on it, you will get nowhere. You see more than I do, but you know just as much about your way as I do, you just don’t know it yet. Follow the path that you can walk on, because you are only ready for that way and you will only be able to walk on that way. Accept that, because you will achieve only what you are able to achieve, and not what you want to achieve, because life will not allow you to do more than is possible for you to do. People want more than they can have and sometimes, before they understand that, it is too late.”
“Go your own way, blind man, though you will not get anywhere no matter which one you’ll take. You are telling me what I will see, although you have not seen anything.”
“It does not matter which way you go. You will find what you want anyway, because you do not understand what you really want. It does not matter which way I go. I will not feel disappointed with what I find, because I’m not looking for anything beyond life. You are looking for something and you don’t even know if you’ll find it. The more you want, the more you need, and when you need something, you suffer more, when you do not get it. If a man wants too much, he can come to an understanding too late that he wants more than he can have. I live in peace. You might find it.”
“I do not believe in your words, blind man.”
“I do not want you to believe in my words, only to understand them. If you understood them, you would agree with them.”
“I’ve heard that already.”
“From whom?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
“Will you kill me like you killed him?”
“I did not kill anyone, blind man.”
“Only evil hides behind a lie, because the good does not have to fear the truth. We hide what we do not want to reveal in fear of consequences, and if something is good, does it have to fear the consequences of that good? No, because they will be good.”
“Blind man, you consider yourself a prophet, but you are only a madman.”
“What is the difference between a prophet and a madman? Only that no one believes a madman.”
“So, you are a madman, blind man, because I do not see anyone around you who believes you.”
“People believe in what they want to believe. Get to know the human desires, and you will know what to say to be believed.”
“Blind man, you are mad and stupid, because you believe that you saw the truth, although you do not see anything. It’s not worth talking to you, I only wasted my time.”
“Be careful not to lose more.”
Hence, the disciple walked away from the blind man, not understanding what the blind man told him.
“My master, why did he not understand the blind man? Was the blind man a madman or a fool?”
“A wise will understand stupidity, but a fool will not understand wisdom, and those who cannot understand the truth, must experience it to understand it. Life is there to expose us to the truth because without experiencing the truth, we cannot always understand it, and we definitely cannot believe it, because we can only experience what exists and what exists is true, so experience is a proof of truth.”
“If I know something, master, I do not have to believe in it. I believe in something when I’m not certain. Why should I believe in truth? If it is true, I know about it, and I don’t believe in it.”
“To know the truth, you must prove it, and the proof of truth also has to be true; hence, you have to prove the proof as well. Going along this path, you come to the ‘Primordial Cause of All’, which is an evidence for itself and the truth from which every truth arises. And when you learn the ‘Primordial Cause of All’, you will not have to believe in truth, because you will be certain of it.”
“Do we need to know the “Primordial Truth?”
“Life consists in needs, and the greatest of the needs is life, because without life we cannot be, and when we cease to exist, will any truth be meaningful to us? But to survive, we do not need to know the whole truth, but only that which we need to live, because without knowing the ‘Truths of Life’, we will not know how to live.”
“Master, is the loss of life the end?”
“The end is once there is nothing down the road, and there is always something down the road.”
“What was next?”
“Next was a way that led the disciple to the top and with every step that he took, the he looked down at others more, and those who looked up at him, saw in him a superiority over themselves and wanted to be like him; so, they started asking him to make them his disciples. Hence, he became their master, because they themselves wanted to look down at others and they did not know how to do it; therefore, they went his way, because they wanted the same thing as him. They believed that he would show them how to accomplish this.”
“My master, why do people want to look down at others?”
“Because they want to feel superior to them, but such a need is had by those who cannot prove their value and feel worse because of that, and not wanting to feel this way, are looking for flaws in others, to feel good, so they do not see their own flaws, because they consider themselves to be better. Whoever does not see evil in himself, will not become good, because he does not struggle with his own evil, because he does not see it. Whoever sees evil only in others, will fight with others to feel better than then, but reality he is not. Whoever is looking for a fight cannot be good, because war is pain, and causing pain does not deserve to be called good. Anyone who wants to be better than others will become worse, because in order to become superior, you must make someone inferior, and it is evil to make other people inferior. You will become better only when you make people better. Anyone who sees evil in others, and not in themselves, is a hypocrite, and each hypocrite is a liar, and can the liars be believed? Those are the people the master found on his way because he was the same as them, and those who head towards same goal will sooner or later meet, as the same goal connects them.”
CHAPTER 3. Empathy
The master walked along his way, but no longer alone. He led the disciples who believed his words, but the words themselves do not prove anything yet, and great people are supported by great deeds. The master knew about it and he also knew that he must prove his greatness, because without evidence, the truth is not true, and with proof even a lie can become the truth. Then the master heard the cry of a prisoner locked in a cell as his punishment.
“Fear gives rise to aggression with which we want to defend ourselves against what we fear. Aggression hurts people, and harm creates hatred from which the desire for revenge arises and it turns into aggression, dealing the pain that we are afraid of. The ‘Wheel of aggression’ closes and spins all the time until one of its links falls off. Discard one of the parts of the wheel and the entire wheel will fall apart.”
However, the prisoner was guarded by people who threw him in the cell for what he did. Hence, they started screaming loudly, so that no one would hear the prisoner’s voice.
“You will listen to the prisoner and you will end up just like him. You want the prisoner to teach you, you follow in his footsteps.”
Then the prisoner answered them, “I do not teach, but I advise others what mistakes not to make. Man can learn from their mistakes, and I understand my mistakes and I want to warn others not to make the same mistakes I have made.”
“Why did you not think about the consequences of your decisions before you made them?”
“Each decision in our lives turns out to be right only once we made it and see its effects.”
“You have understood your mistake only as you yourself have felt the pain you have inflicted. Now, you should feel this pain all of the time so that you do not forget your mistakes.”
“I understood what pain was only when I felt it, because how was I to understand it, if I did not know what it is?”
“You did not know what the pain was, but you knew how to inflict it on others?”
“I inflicted pain on other people because I did not understand how much harm I was causing, and thus, how I was hurting myself.”
“So, what is pain if you understand it so well?”
“It is that what we are afraid of and in fear of it, we inflict it upon others, thinking that this way others will be afraid to inflict the pain on us. But people are afraid as long as they feel weak, and when they find strength greater than yours, they will come to do to you what you did to them.”
“It is too late now. You will remain where you are, because you can no longer hurt anyone here.”
Then the master interrupted them, saying, “Let him out! If he has really understood his mistake, he will not repeat it. You don’t have to be afraid.”
“Don’t tell us what we have to do. We know better what we should do. Who are you to command us?” said the guards, but the master refused to let it go.
“By doing the same thing he does, do you not deserve to be treated the same as him?”
“Be careful, or you will deserve it yourself in a minute. Go away from here or you will end up where he is, and you’ll defend him from there.”
“I’ll go away, but I’ll come back here, and then you’ll listen to me, because as I return, I will be stronger than you are, and I can only convince you using force, because you understand force, not words.”
However, the prisoner called out to him, “They will surrender to your strength, because they’ll be afraid of it, not because they will agree with you. Don’t make my mistake. By using force, you will encounter force.”
“Do you prefer to stay where you are, prisoner? I said that I would release you, and I will do that, and how I do it, depends on me,” the master said proudly, because he came to prove his superiority over others, and by changing your own decisions, you undermine the credibility of those decision and of yourself too. The master understood that, and he knew that even when you made a mistake, do it so that others do not notice, because then, they cannot use your mistake against you. But the threats of the master only amused the guards who responded, “Are you threatening us, though you do not have anything to do that with. Come to us and show us what you can do, because otherwise we will come for you and show you what will happen, or run away, before we do it, and you’ll regret it.”
So, the master did. He escaped, because not only the pride he listened to, but the fear as well, but you cannot be proud of fear, that is why he hid it behind his pride and a lie.
CHAPTER 4. Pride
The master fled, because he saw that the majority was against him, and he realized that being in the majority gives the strength that can affect the minority, and when the fear began to leave him because he stopped seeing the threat, he met an old woman on his way, who said, “Who are you running from?”
“I am not running,” he replied.
“I see that you are running away.”
“I’m not running away; I am just running.”
“Pride does not allow you to admit to the truth, because you are afraid that you will lose it. Why do you listen to your pride?”
“Nobody can take your pride away, but you can lose it yourself. That is why pride is completely your own, something that will not abandon you, only you can abandon it, so is it not the same as a best friend who will never leave you, and only you can leave him. Who would I be if I left my best friend?”
“Nobody will take your pride away, but that doesn’t mean you have to listen to it all the time.”
“Pride is my sense of value that gives me faith in myself and in what I want to do.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to go to the top that will elevate me above anyone else.”
“A sense of value does not necessarily mean feeling superior to everyone. We are only people, we all make mistakes, because nobody is perfect. Why you want to feel superior to others? Did you make so many mistakes that you feel inferior?”
“We all make mistakes, but not everyone needs to know about that. When people know your mistakes, they can use them against you. There are no perfect people, there are only those who hide their flaws better. When I am at the top and everyone will look up to me, even my flaws will become virtues, because are the flaws of superior people not better than virtues of inferior people?”
“Who are the people who are inferior and who are superior?”
“Those who are wrong are inferior, and those who are right are superior. Does not one result from the other?”
“How do you judge whether some are right, and others are not?”
“Those who prove their point are right, and only by defeating those who deny your truth, you prove your point. Do you not prove by your victory that you are right?”
“The winners are always right?”
“The winners are right even when they are wrong, because the winners decide what the truth is and can even make the truth out of lies. The winner is not the one who is right, but it is the winner who is right.”
“So, do you want to be right or know the truth?”
“By defeating my opponents, I will prove my point, and by knowing the truth I will learn how to do it.”
“Once you reach the top, you’ll be happy?”
“I don’t know that, but I know that then others will look up to me and I will look down on them and I want that. Is happiness not fulfilling your desires?”
“You want others to see you as someone superior. You want to feel superior at the cost of making others feel inferior. You want something by taking it away from others. Be careful, because if you take something from others, they can later take it away from you.”
“Pride cannot be taken from anyone, you can only lose it and those who have no pride will not lose it, and with me they will learn what pride is.”
“You want to fight for your own pride. You said yourself that pride cannot be taken from anyone, only you can lose it yourself. Those who fight for it are the ones who don’t have it, so who do you want to fight for it? If you lost it yourself, you will probably have to fight yourself for it.”
“I can’t fight myself.”
“If you do not achieve what you wanted to, then you lose not against an opponent, but against yourself, as your own mistakes have caused your loss. Those who don’t make mistakes don’t lose. We make mistakes because of our own weaknesses and misunderstandings. Win with your own weaknesses and you will be invincible, understand everything and you will understand what to do to win. However, remember that once you get to the top, you can trust only those who are with you regardless of your achievements.”
“I don’t trust anyone.”
“And nobody who meets you will trust you either.”
But the master didn’t hear that anymore because he was thinking about something other than listening to an old woman. There was a long way ahead of him, because the higher the peak you choose, the longer the path that awaits you, and the master’s ambitions reached the highest peaks – at least those that he wanted to see.
CHAPTER 5. Conviction
Going to the city, the master met a man who was doing nothing, so he asked him, “Why are you doing nothing?”
Then the master heard from him.
“What for? No matter what I do, it will be wrong, so wouldn’t it be better for me to do nothing?”
“Why do you think that everything you did was wrong?”
“Because everyone tells me that.”
“Do you do what you do for others or for yourself? Do you live for others or for yourself?”
“Does it matter? If everyone says so, it must be true.”
“Don’t measure the truth with the number of people who believe in it. People say what others say because they are afraid to say what they think if they think differently than everybody else, because then they can be rejected by everyone and rejection is scary because it is easier to live together than alone. The human is a social being and his place is in the society. If you give nothing to the society, don’t expect too much from it either. However, this does not mean that you cannot be yourself. If you think like others, you will not know what you are thinking, and you will not learn to think without thinking on your own. Do what others want, and you will live the way others want you to, and then even your life will not be yours.”
“I don’t want to be alone, but nobody wants me as I am. What should I do? Change and stop being myself and start being like others to be able to live among them?”
“You can be yourself provided that who you are is good for others. When others see that who you are is beneficial to them, they won’t change you. Man does not accept what is unfavourable to him, so convince others that who you are will be beneficial to them.”
“Why can’t I be myself even if I don’t contribute anything to other people? Can’t they accept me as I am?”
“Each community is heading towards a goal, and if you don’t go with other people and help them, don’t expect help from them.”
“How do I convince them that who I am is good for them?”
“Find out what others want and convince them that they will get it from you.”
“How do I join people to know their desires?”
“You can join a community, but there is a hierarchy in each community, and you will have to adapt to it, so you will have to change to live as the group wants. You can also create your own community from those who do not belong to any group and are rejected by people, because such people need a sense of security and acceptance the most, and they will find it in a community that welcomes them. People will believe in you when they see that others also believe in you. People will listen to you when they see that others are listening to you. Man does what other people do because he lives among them and learns how to live from them, but there are those who learn and those who teach. There are those who listen and those who speak. Speak, so that they will listen to you, that is say what they want to hear, because then they will listen. Promise them what they want, and they will believe in you and stand by your side. Listen to people, but don’t obey them, because if you think like others, you won’t think by yourself. Go your own way, and when people see that your path is beneficial, they will follow you.”
“And where are you going?”
“To the city, talk to those who want to listen.”
“Do you want to talk to them all, to everyone? What if they don’t want to listen to you? You will disappear in the crowd with your words.”
“I’m not alone. With me are those who have already believed in me and they are already in the city, they are announcing my arrival. Make everyone ready for when I arrive, for whoever is ready for my arrival will be ready for my words. Join me and go to the city before me. Tell everyone that the great master is coming, and he wants to say great words to everyone. Tell them that I heal the sick and change people’s lives for the better. Let them be prepared for the arrival of the great master, and those who believe in it will wait for me. And if they believe your words, their belief will be even stronger when they hear mine. I come to give people hope for a better future, and I will give it to those who need it, because those who don’t need it, will not want it, so why give it to them?”
“Is hope not too little?”