The Great Lord Kia
You were a graduating student in a small, impoverished country. Ever since you were very young you had heard amazing stories about the Great Lord Kia, a legendary sage who had taught magical wisdom, performed healing miracles, and shown the way to perfect self-mastery to crowds of sick and starving people. Lately you had heard rumors in the village that Lord Kia had recently been teaching and healing in the forest. All your life you had dreamt about being with Lord Kia and learning the greatest secrets of wisdom and healing and mastery, and now was your chance to find out who this great legend really was, and if, as you so often wondered, it was all just that―a legend.
So you asked the local villagers about finding Lord Kia, and some older and wiser ones said to go out into the countryside and that you would find someone there who would help you. And so after graduating from school you wasted little time and said good-bye to your poor and unhappy family members and friends, and then went out into the countryside.
And after only a few days of begging and wandering, you met a couple of old and gray travelers. When you told them that you were seeking the Great Lord Kia, they told you to go to a far-off and secluded settlement on the North Mountain―and so you did. And after several weeks of arduous travel, surviving on the grubs and berries of the forest, you arrived at a sizable colony of people about halfway to the top of the mountain.
The people there were a pleasant community: they wore flowers around their necks, and their faces radiated with joy as if they had seen the Great Lord Kia themselves. They welcomed you warmly, and their eyes lit up with cheer as they greeted you. You were overwhelmed with the happiness that abounded among these new and friendly people, and you were impressed with what little poverty and suffering they portrayed. And though you really would have liked to get to know them better that evening, you were very tired and you wanted to be alone to rest and reflect upon your journey. So they left you in peace, sitting quietly by a tree.
But after the next few days of relaxing and socializing, you were feeling much more lively and strong, and you asked some of the people about finding the legendary Lord Kia, rumored to be somewhere among the colony. But they told you that the only way to meet Lord Kia was to go to the top of the mountain for eleven moons, to live completely on nature, and to rely completely on yourself and the gods.
They told you to make your home in the caves behind the waterfalls, and to sleep on a bed of palms. And they told you to sing to the birds in the morning, and to sit in quiet reflection in the evening. And they told you to wash in the streams and bathe in the pools, and to make friends with all the great creatures and little critters of the earth. And they told you to find perfect peace within yourself and to find harmony with all the heavens and all of creation.
And they said that at the end of the eleven moons, after you had done all that they had told you to do, you could then come down from the mountaintop and back into the colony. They said that it would be then that you would find and know the Great Lord Kia, and that only then would Lord Kia accept you and teach you the greatest secrets of wisdom and healing and mastery, just as you had always dreamed of.
And so you went up to the mountaintop for eleven moons. And you made your home in the caves behind the waterfalls, and you made your bed out of palms. And you washed in the streams and bathed in the pools, and you learned to live completely on nature. And you sang to the birds in the morning, and you sat in quiet reflection in the evening. And you made friends with all the great creatures and little critters of the earth, and you relied completely on yourself and the gods. And you found perfect peace within yourself and harmony with all the heavens and all of creation.
And at the end of the eleven moons on the mountaintop, after you had done all that the people of the colony had told you to, you knew that you were ready to come back down into the colony and be accepted by Lord Kia, and to learn the greatest secrets of wisdom, and healing, and mastery, just as you had always dreamed of.
And as you were walking down the mountain the sun was brilliant upon the land, and the sky was crystal blue with majestic clouds. And the air was cool and fresh, and the birds were singing glorious songs. You felt rich and alive with all of the sparkling memories from your quest to find Lord Kia, and you knew that this was the moment you had been dreaming of for so very long. And your eyes were glowing with anticipation, and your face was radiant with joy.
But on your way down to the colony, you saw a mass of people marching and dancing up the mountain toward you, and you heard them chanting and singing. As you got closer to them you realized that they were the people of the colony and that they were celebrating something. Instantly you gasped―Lord Kia was coming to meet you!
You briskly ran down to the people to greet Lord Kia, but when you arrived at the crowd a woman walked up to you, put a ring of flowers around your neck, and kissed you on the cheek. She then said with a smile, "Welcome the Great Lord Kia. We've been expecting you."
[end]