He met me at the edge of the forest, this holy man, and he asked me why I had not entered it yet.

"I am afraid," I said, "of leaving the town. I am afraid because I know the town and I don’t know the forest. I am afraid of the dark in the forest. I will neither be able to see the paths nor know where they lead to. I am afraid of the noises. I am afraid of the silence. I have heard stories about the wild animals in the forest and I am afraid."

"Firstly, do you really wish to leave the town?" he asked.

"I am tired of the town," I said. "I have lived with its people and its sounds. I have seen the colours and the lights. I have filled myself with its emptiness. Yet, everything I have is there. I wish to leave, but I do not have the courage."

"Come with me," he said.

Together we walked back to the town, the holy man and I. A great sadness enveloped me for I knew what was to happen. But the holy man smiled gently at me and the sadness lifted.

 

We entered the town. Every few steps I was greeted by someone I knew. Friends, companions, colleagues, people I loved. I introduced them to the holy man and I talked about them to him.

"Could I take them with me to the forest?" I asked.

"If you do, you will destroy the forest," he replied. "You will have to leave them here."

The sadness came on again very strongly, but the holy man smiled and the sadness lifted once again.

Then I took the holy man to my room to show him all that was important to me. He entered and sat down on my bed.

"Show me", he said.

I took out my writings and my posters and my cards. I took out all the creative and the artistic things I was proud of having done.

"Can I take these with me to the forest?" I asked.

"Destroy them," he said.

"But they matter so much to me," I cried out. "There’s nothing like them in the whole world. How can I destroy them?"

"You don’t need them," he explained. "They are within you. They are a part of you. They can never be lost. Destroy them."

I closed my eyes and did as he bade me to.

So also with the letters I had treasured for so long…

And the photographs too...

And the poems that were a record of the voices in my soul…

Then I sat on the floor amidst the shredded ruins and I wept.

The holy man said not a word. He waited. When I had finished with weeping I looked up into his face. His eyes were kind with understanding. Inside himself, he had also wept with me.

"Come, let us go," he said.

We left the room and walked out of the town. I felt stronger now. I was less afraid. The town no longer had any hold on me. We walked right up to the edge of the forest and stopped there.

"Do you wish to enter the forest?" he asked.

"I have told you earlier that I do not know the forest and I am afraid." I replied, "But yes, I do wish to enter."

"You must first make friends with the trees," he told me.

He took me to the first tree of the forest and he asked me to embrace it.

"Stay," he said,"and listen. I shall return tomorrow."

It was evening already. The holy man walked slowly into the forest leaving me alone holding on to the first tree. The night was dark and still. I could smell the forest and hear its quiet strength. I pressed my cheek to the rough bark of its trunk. I could feel the seasons come and go. The tree flushed me with its sap and washed away my fears. All night long it spoke to me of seed and shoot and roots and growth; of birds and animals; of travellers who had dared to walk into the forest.

As the night passed, I became stronger.

With the first rays of dawn, the holy man walked out of the forest and came to my side.

"Come," he said, "We have a long way to go."

"I am less afraid now," I told him, " but I still cannot see the paths in the forest. Nor do I know where they lead to."

The holy man smiled once again at me.

"Close your eyes and follow me," he said. "The paths will form wherever you place your feet."

"I believe you," I said, as I prepared to follow him.

"It is more important to believe in yourself," he told me. "Now close your eyes and follow me."

I did as the holy man bid me to and stepped into the forest. At first I moved cautiously. I had not yet fully overcome my fear. The earth felt soft and safe beneath my feet. And I grew more confident. Wherever I stepped, whichever way I moved, the path was always there. And my eyes were closed. I did not call out to the holy man because I believed. He was there and I followed him.

I spent a week in the forest, walking and running and leaping and dancing. I learnt the language of the trees and the undergrowth; of the wild animals and the birds. I learnt specially, the language of the dark and of silence. I had become one with the forest.

At the end of the week I felt the touch of the holy man on my arm.

"You may open your eyes now," he said.

I did so. It was early dawn. I found myself once again outside the forest.

"Go back into the town," he said.

"But I have nothing there," I reminded him. "I have destroyed everything. Don’t you remember?"

"Everything will be the same as it was before you met me," he replied. "Only you will have changed. You have been to the forest. You can never be the same again."

I smiled at him and stepped lightly towards the town.

A new day was just beginning......