The dolphin, Dah, carried me deep into the sea, beyond the edges of the horizon where the sun greets the waters. The shoreline had long passed, and I was now immersed in the sea. I could feel all that had come before and all that was to come. I could not understand that which I felt, but I knew the feeling was truth. I had to embrace the unknowable, for that was the path.
After what felt like many hours, we arrived at a small island with a lone palm tree jutting out of the center. Surrounding the tree was a patch of grass and a sandy beach. The island was no more than an acre in size. Dah pulled me to shallow waters, and I felt I must go ashore.
I made my way through the foamy surf and sat in the sand. I could see Dah looking at me, her head poking out from the water. She was to leave me here. I did not know for how long, but here I must remain. I watched as her fin disappeared over the horizon, leaving me alone on this tiny beach.
The force that permeates all living things did not exist here. It was a barren and desolate place, one of solitude and reflection. I sat on the beach for some time, watching the waves come and go. The sun was slowly setting and I rested in its rays, meditating on all that I saw in my journey thus far. How much further was there to go? Was this the end? Was I to be in seclusion for the remainder of my days?
Night came, and with it, the waves calmed and the sea returned to glass. The night sky melted into the water, and I did not know where the horizon laid any longer. Stars glistened in the sky and sea. It was as if they were one. It must’ve been merely an illusion. I could not be resting amongst the stars. I reached down, trying to touch the glassy surface, but my hand went through empty space, and I realized that the sea was no longer there. I was standing on a lone island in the cosmos.
The island itself was a sphere, and I could walk upon all sides. What was an island in the day was a moon in the night. At the north pole was the palm tree that I was already familiar with, so I decided to make my way south. After a minute or two of walking, I arrived at the south pole and saw an entrance to a cave. I decided to make my way into it and rest for the night.
When morning came, I saw the light of the sun creep through the entrance of the cave. I stepped out, and instead of my feet touching the ground, I fell into the sky. As I dropped upwards, I passed white clouds and blue skies. Below me, I could see the teal waters and a shrinking speck of land. I was oddly calm in this moment as I fell, yet ascended. I decided to not attempt to understand, I was simply letting what was to come, come.
Was it even possible for a man like me to understand the mysteries of the unknown? I had tried my entire life to know more, but now, in this moment, I realized that in knowing nothing, you know all. For knowledge itself is the opposite of the unknown, and the unknown is where all knowledge is hidden. How then can I try to understand? Instead, I do and am. I feel and do not know, and in doing so, the revelations that cannot be explained are revealed, yet not revealed.
The world of logic cannot contend with these thoughts, for they have not yet understood they must not understand. They try to explain and master the unknown by making it known, but instead, they build delusions around themselves, constructing false realities and meaningless existences. They feast on the souls of men as fuel to convert the unknown and harness it to their ends. Yet, this is impossible and a self-mutilation of grand proportions.
Only the birthed soul can exist in the unknown and thrive in such a place. Temporary understanding is all that harvested souls can give the world of men. Yet it always will change as the unknown is not static, but is infinitely transforming. Our minds exist materially with a capacity to change, mirroring the unknown on a much smaller scale. Yet, because we live, we become known and therefore are cut off from the unknown.
Our souls, which we must protect from the harvest, must be born and allowed to transcend into such a place. Only then, with a tether between soul and body, can we navigate the great expanse. Our soul becomes a sail that catches wind that we cannot fathom. It guides our boat through the endless sea, transcending time itself. While others are tossed to and fro in the harsh waves of existence, grasping onto any debris for survival, the soul-birthed ones sail forth through the unknown with ease.
An intuition guides them that all of the logic that can ever be accumulated will never decipher. The soul-eaters see such traversal and demand the secrets from those who sail successfully, but to their surprise, they never seem to be able to attain such heights. Instead, they wail about in the rough waves, harvesting the souls of others and using them as fuel for their material ships, fighting through a sea they can never understand.
All of the great evils of this world have been done in service of uncovering this secret. Yet, for all of time, it has stood before us if we but reach out and give up our pride and selfish desire to know all. Only then can one truly begin to sail across the sea of souls and see that which cannot be seen, to know that which cannot be known, to feel that which cannot be felt.
I fell all the way into the heavens and now rested in the lonely expanse, floating far away from the company of men. I was alone, yet had the fellowship of others who rested in this place. Each star was another soul that had transcended the known. Together we communed not in words or thought, but in feeling and emotion. For you see, words cannot fathom any of this. Even now, as I relay this odyssey in my journal, many will never understand what is meant by it. That is because it is not intended to be understood, but to be felt.
The odyssey itself has only just begun, but for now, this is where I must leave it. I have sailed forth and made my way to my island. Traversing its inversion, I did that which I did not understand or know, and therefore I found my place as an island among a sea of stars.
