The vast expanse was not ending.
It softened.
As the darkness receded, I felt myself being carried drawn forward through a tunnel woven of mist and soft light. The movement was gentle, like floating on a current that knew exactly where I needed to go. Deep within me, some ancient power stirred.
The Mother Tree.
I felt its roots loosen, yet they did not withdraw from me, rather, they entered me. Its presence spread throughout my soul, warm and reassuring, becoming an inseparable part of my being. Then I understood that I was no longer sitting beneath it.
It now lived within me.
As my meditation deepened, the dark mist responded. It no longer threatened me. Instead, it unfolded in layers revealing fragments of the universe's secrets. In a moment of profound stillness, as I rested in perfect peace, the mist coalesced before me.
It took a form.
A woman appeared.
Her form was indistinct, her features veiled in the flowing darkness and soft light. Yet her presence was overwhelming vast, ancient, undeniable. She did not stand before me.
She was everywhere.
"Follow me," she whispered.
Her voice was soft, like the wind rustling through leaves, yet it drew my soul with an irresistible force. I did not hesitate. I followed her not with my feet, but with my intention into the very fabric of the vast expanse. We journeyed through invisible empires.
Stars bloomed and faded like sparks. Galaxies glittered like scattered diamonds on a boundless canvas. Time did not pass it flowed, circling back on itself, unconcerned with beginnings or endings. I could not tell if moments or eternities were passing.
Then she spoke again.
"Look," she whispered.
"Here comes birth."
A vast pool appeared before me dark, deep, and boundless.
I looked into it, and the universe unfolded.
I saw matter and energy intertwining. I saw stars igniting, suns awakening, worlds forming and disintegrating. Life emerged not forward, but backward unraveling itself toward its source. Everything flowed into that pool, merging with the stillness.
Then
I became the same.
I dissolved into the pool, becoming one with it. There was no boundary between my soul and the universe. In that eternal moment, I understood. Life was not a separate entity.
Energy belonged to no one.
Existence was shared.
I felt the pulse behind everything.
When awareness returned, the knowledge remained.
An ancient practice revealed itself within me.
The Lotus Path.
A way of growth not through force, but through harmony. Through the Lotus Path, I could absorb the energies of the mist the dark and gentle energies which refined my strength, deepened my wisdom, and expanded my awareness. My soul vibrated in harmony with the woman who possessed a luminous darkness.
She guided me silently, leaving no trace.
Time shifted again.
My senses sharpened as I practiced the Lotus Path. I followed the pulse of the Mother Tree within me the rhythm of life itself while simultaneously absorbing the dark, nourishing fluid that flowed like essence through the void.
Finally, I asked the question that had been burning within me.
"Who are you?"
"What is all this?"
She turned towards me.
"I am…"
She paused.
"Call me Mother."
The word settled naturally within me.
Under her guidance, knowledge accumulated effortlessly. Wisdom layered itself within my soul. The essence of the Mother Tree flowed outward from within me, nourishing me endlessly. I felt as if I were floating in a realm beyond life and death, where souls drifted like dandelion seeds on a warm breeze.
I was empty.
Not empty in a void-like way but ready.
A blank page.
Waiting.
Then warmth enveloped me.
A cocoon formed soft, invisible, safe. There was no hunger. No discomfort. Only security. I wondered if this was some forgotten corner of existence, untouched by suffering.
In the spaces between, a sound filled the void.
A melody.
A lullaby.
It hummed softly within me, my very being swaying to its rhythm. It sings of forgotten lands, of lost and rediscovered love, and of dreams yet to be dreamt.
It was. That sound didn't reach my ears it reached my soul.
Weeks turned into months.
Centuries passed in silence.
The warmth grew deeper, more intimate. I felt the melody close to my heart. As I followed it, I found myself beneath a banyan tree, the gentle breeze whispering the secrets of the night. The lullaby sang:
"May the blessings of the moon be upon you.
The moonlight dances on the shore.
The stars twinkle, offering peaceful rest.
The mango trees are home to sweet nectar…"
My soul trembled softly.
"Sleep, my child, with a gentle smile.
In that land where stories wander freely"
The song continued, weaving dreams of palaces and grand destinies, until the moonlight bathed everything in silver.
"So close your eyes, my star.
In this land where dreams have no end.."
With each passing night, I felt something changing.
I was no longer floating.
I was forming.
I felt it slowly gently.
I wasn't merely being protected.
I was being born.
The lullaby echoed through a warm fluid, through a living rhythm. I heard a heartbeat steady, strong that resonated with my own essence. I wondered dimly if she could feel me too.
A tremor.
A connection.
Courage enveloped me.
Stories were whispered around me tales of ancient heroes, stories of valor and sacrifice. She spoke of the sea clan, of the language of the stars, and of forgotten truths. She believed that a soul could learn even before birth.
I absorbed it all.
On some nights, she whispered dreams meant just for me.
She dreamt of me standing tall.
Of mastering the bow.
Of forging alliances.
Of courage.
Her beliefs settled into my being like blessings.
Then one day, I felt her fear.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Then silence.
Time passed.
Then
A pull.
Downward.
I knew this feeling.
Fate.
I surrendered myself.
Suddenly, the world spun faster.
Then it happened.
The warmth that surrounded me suddenly tightened.
The gentle rhythm broke.
As I was thrust out of the protective sheath that enveloped me, pressure crushed my tiny body. Fluid filled my mouth and nose, rushing violently past me. My lungs burned instinctively, gasping for air I didn't yet understand.
I was born.
The next moment
I was thrown.
My small body struck the salty water, hard and cold. Waves crashed over me as I was tossed into the open sea. This was no river, no shallow shore. I could taste the bitterness of salt on my tongue, sharp and unmistakable. The boundless ocean surrounded me on all sides.
I was a newborn.
Cast into the sea. The waves swallowed me again and again, dragging my weak body beneath the surface of the water. My hands flailed mindlessly, helpless and weak. Fear surged through me, a pure and primal fear. The sea was vast. Merciless. Alive.
My lungs burned.
My vision blurred.
Is this how it begins... I thought dimly.
Then
A light ignited within me.
The essence of the Mother Tree stirred in my soul. The wisdom of the void answered my fear. A gentle force enveloped my body, not fighting the sea, but moving with it.
I felt the rhythm of the sea.
Its pulse.
Its breath.
The waves no longer seemed like enemies. Instead of crushing me, they carried me. My struggle subsided as instinct replaced fear. The sea accepted me, cradling me on its surface like a lullaby.
I did not drown.
I floated. A newborn cast into the sea by fate itself.
As the moonlight reflected on the waves above me, I understood a truth with absolute clarity:
This world had not welcomed me gently.
But it had chosen me.