The Dharma Bum

This is a short story that im very fond of written by a good friend who goes by the name of 'Just Another Guy'. You can find more of his writing and poetry here.

I thought I would share this piece with you all.

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There was once a young man who dreamt of freedom. Yearning to embrace such an idea he began a quest, wondering through concrete metropolises where capitalism and money governed. He ran the rat race with all the others only to tire out half way through.

He packed his belongings and headed to foreign lands in search of alien traditions and undiscovered wisdom. He sat with simple men and shared their sweet smoke; he drank from their humble goblet and dressed himself in plain robes. Each night he would listen to their words of truth and peace in a desperate attempt to unravel anything that would be of use.

Thinking he was now getting closer to discovering his freedom he ventured onwards through snow and sleet. He climbed Glacier Mountains and hunted wild boar. He cooked on dry wood beneath a naked sky where around him stars seemed to be scattered like roaming ascetics. The sound of the gentle lake lulled him into another dream of everlasting freedom till the morning sun broke, and shone high above his young face.

30 years had past and the man was no longer as quick and as eager as he used to be. His mind was calm and his thoughts more clear. He had encountered rain and snow, mountains and canyons, fought loneliness and despair, hunger and fatigue. He had met the pompous rich and felt compassion for the poor. He had listened to tales of joy and misery, struggle and redemption and had lived amongst hostility and prejudice. He had seen the world in its most brutal and honest form. He had sat with the night and ran with the day. Drank from clear springs and climbed mountaintops till the earth could be seen forever.

As he sat contemplating the idea of freedom he heard a rustle coming from the trees. His immediate thought was it could only be a wild animal of some sort. He shot up and reached for his knife. As he looked on he saw the figure of a boy immerge from the shrubs. He seemed to be well groomed and moved with conviction and purpose. The straps of his backpack tightly wedged into his armpits showing the pockets of perspiration that gathered around his shirt. Waving a small machete he cut his way through the trees till he noticed the old man.

“Hello friend, I don’t mean any harm, I’m just passing through”
“That’s fine you carry on young adventurer, the wilderness is yours to explore”

The young man paused and took a water flask from his backpack

“Im on a quest to find freedom, iv been out here for about a year now, soon I will be as free as the hawks that swore above us”

The old man stopped and looked at his fresh face, he seemed so eager and full of energy and determination. It brought back memories.

“What’s your business old man, how come you’re sitting in the middle of this wilderness? Where is your home?”

The old man paused. Nobody had ever posed such a question, the old man knew there was no answer so he replied in a soft voice

“I am of the earth young adventurer. How confident are you that you will find your freedom?”

“I have to find it, its here somewhere, all I need to do is dig it up and its mine”

“You make it sound like some kind of buried treasure”

The young man laughs

“Its every mans treasure, its every mans goal and ambition, its our sole purpose”

“Your right my young friend but your quest has just began, brace yourself”

“You talk from experience old man, is there anything you wish to share with me before I move on, the sun will be setting soon and I must find food”

The old man paused and looked over into the distance. He thought of his own quest and his own journey, where it had brought him and what he had learnt about freedom.

“I will tell you this young friend, life is a journey for this is not unknown. However we as individuals learn to fool ourselves into believing that what is in front of us is not necessarily the truth. We conjure up ideas of what we believe to be things such as happiness, freedom and success and devote an entire lifetime trying to make them real. These notions are not something we find, they find us at their own pace and when they see fit”

The young boy stops to think

“My ambition is no illusion old man, I know exactly what freedom is and I will not stop till I’m sitting face to face with it”

There is a silence. The old man responds

“Your are at the peak of your greatest endeavour young friend. All you need to do now is open your eyes. I travelled the globe searching for something I found whilst sitting at this very spot. The whole time I thought the answer was out there, but the answer was always in me”

“What was your quest?”

“The sun is setting, your truth is out there. When you find it send it my regards, ill shall be here waiting with the stillness of this wilderness and all the freedom life could ever offer”

The young man picked up his backpack and bid the old man farewell then off he went, back into the shrubs and trees searching for his freedom.

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