Born in the Dust of Path (Ukázka, strana 99)

`Just like Oghlar, just like him,` thought Abarhil. However, Súrwan did not say anything and he stood up. When the brin left the room, Abarhil looked at Oghlar. He just nodded and said: "Get used to it. Brins do not speak much but when they do it is worth careful listening."

The brin came back in a little while and brought a large copper pot and a bag with water. He took the pot and turned it towards Abarhil. "What do you see?"

Abarhil looked at the bottom in surprise, and then at Súrwan. "What should I see? Nothing! The empty bottom of a pot."

Súrwan did not respond; he poured water into the pot and then waited until the water settled. He motioned to Abarhil to look in the pot once more. "What do you see?"

Abarhil looked at the water and in the dim light of the lamps he saw his own ratty face. "Well, what can I see; water. And also the face of one man who has no idea what's going on."

Oghlar laughed heartily. Annoyed, Abarhil looked at him and said: "Well, I hope you're having a good time. It is certainly good for your healing; otherwise I'd throw something at you. I was hoping for an explanation, but now I see the performance where I'm the fool had yet another act."

Súrwan forced Abarhil to look in the pot once again. "What do you see?" he asked again as he hit the pot with a stick several times. The water rippled and the image disappeared.

Abarhil raised his head and replied: "Well, what would I see? Nothing!"

"That's it!" said Súrwan and nodded his head. He laid the stick on the ground and motioned to Abarhil to sit across from him. "The pot is your body, solid and tangible, but empty until you fill it with something. As the pot is filled with water, your body is filled with your mind, only then can your body serve its purpose. The water is your mind, soft and

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Ukázka elektronické knihy, UID: KOS275667

inaccessible, it fills your body and only then has it achieved its purpose."

He interrupted his speech and questioningly looked at the young boy.

He wanted to be sure Abarhil had understood. Abarhil nodded silently, so he continued.

"When the mind has settled, it reflects what is in front of it. When it is restless, it reflects nothing. And this stick," Súrwan raised the stick with which he had hit the pot, "is your rage, your anger or fear, for which you cannot see the reality. You are like a blind man who suspects what is about to come but cannot see it. Nerúwan can stop his mind and it then reflects the target he needs to hit. This is the moment when the mind and the target are one. The target becomes part of your mind as your image becomes part of the water surface in the pot. Nerúwan's arm is not guided by his will, but by his empty mind which reflects the image of the target. Do you understand now?"

Súrwan finished his unusually long speech and bid Abarhil to respond.

Abarhil sat in the same position and his gaze turned away from the brin's staring eyes. His eyes wandered around the room as if trying to find help for his struggling soul.

"Does Roghídan understand it now?" asked Súrwan again.

Abarhil hesitatingly nodded.

"Well, it's clear to me what Nerúwan meant. But tell me, Súrwan, how do you stop your mind? And one more thing. What is the mind for when it's empty? We have our minds to think," objected Abarhil.

"The stopped mind is an empty mind where no thoughts flow," was the brief reply.

"But what's a mind with no thoughts good for? After all, it's the essence of the mind to create thoughts. It's its purpose," said Abarhil again. It had never occurred to him, and he had never heard, that the mind should be empty; and that the thoughts should be driven out so the mind could - 99 -

Ukázka elektronické knihy, UID: KOS275667

work correctly. It was something very new for Abarhil's understanding and his knowledge refused it.

"Junk," said Súrwan, confidently and adamantly. He nodded his head to show that his statement was irrefutable. Abarhil again raised in anger.

He admired his teachers, their knowledge and the abilities of their reason. It did not matter whether he had been taught rhetoric, mathematics, or cartography; he had always been reminded that reason must be nurtured, trained with frequent repetition and practice.

Thoughts must be created and sorted. They must be understood. And now he stood face to face with a man who had no idea of the greatness of all the disciplines that his educators had taught him. Abarhil was being told that all that was just rubbish occupying his mind unnecessarily. He refused to accept it and his disapproval was more than visible. Oghlar, who knew Abarhil's passion for knowledge, as well as his temper, suspected what was going on in Abarhil's mind.

Therefore, he joined the conversation for the first time to avoid an outburst that would break the rules of gratitude toward their host.

"Abarhil, calm down!" he said with empathy in a common language that Súrwan did not understand. "I think there is a misunderstanding between you. You have to understand that Súrwan knows nothing about your education. He means it in a way that for archery, thinking is unnecessary. He surely did not mean that what you know is rubbish!"

Abarhil turned to the half-sitting Oghlar and opened his mouth to object. Discomfort and anger shook his soul and he needed to blow off some steam. Fortunately, he realized that both men were truthful. If he needed to hit the target, his knowledge of cartography and rhetoric was useless. He closed his mouth and took a deep breath. Then he turned to Súrwan and nodded slightly to indicate his consent. Súrwan had watched his inner struggle with considerable enthusiasm. He did not understand what Oghlar had said, but he could read in the boy's face what had happened in him. He waited for a little bit and then he continued.

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