Makadi and light

Long ago, there was a boy. His name was Makadi, and he lived in a humble family, in a small village, far from the sea. In that village lived a wise woman known, far and wide, for being very intelligent and powerful because she could heal human bodies and souls. 

When Makadi was little, he liked sitting in front of the wise woman’s hut. He enjoyed observing the variety of people who came to see her from far away. However, what fascinated him the most was the fact that they entered the hut looking miserable and came out very different. As Makadi used to say, they shone differently. 

Once, when the wise woman went herb picking in the forest on an early morning, Makadi stirred up his courage to address her. Before, he had only observed her; from a child’s viewpoint, she seemed to be exceedingly powerful, and a little scary. The woman did not attend to her appearance much; her grey hair, lining her wrinkled face, was always dishevelled, and her dress dirty from ever cooking potions and wandering in forests. No, she did not look like other women in the village, so Makadi was a little afraid of her. But he also saw that this woman was the most radiant out of all people. Not that there would be light emanating from her that could be seen by eyes; he just somehow “felt” it. 

He felt her glow and felt she was good.

So, for the first time, Makadi took his courage and, when the wise woman stepped onto the forest path, he ran after her and asked whether he could join her. He told the woman that he wanted to pick some raspberries for his mother to put in a cake. The wise woman stopped, turned slowly toward him and looked at the boy for a long time. Makadi was frightened by the gaze because he sensed that the woman could see inside him, perhaps, even into his thoughts; but he persisted, although, he would have much rather turned back and run to the village.

The wise woman turned toward the forest again, and murmured over her shoulder: „Come!“

Makadi followed her. First, he loitered a bit behind her, and when the woman stopped to pick what he needed, he waited a little further away. But the deeper they were in the forest, the closer he kept himself to the woman. As if, without any words, the trust between the two of them grew in the unknown environment. At noon, the wise woman stopped in a clearing, sat on a fallen tree trunk, and offered some food to the boy. As they were eating, Makadi overcame his shyness and began speaking. About things he experienced in his world of a child. The wise woman listened, occasionally asked a question, and Makadi chattered and chattered. Finally, when the woman began packing up her things, he asked:

“How do you put light into people?” The woman again looked long at him, then slowly continued packing her things.

“I don’t.” “What do you mean you don’t? When they are entering your house, they do not shine. And when they are leaving, they do. And you shine the strongest. So, you must be putting this light into people.”

The wise woman said again: “I do not put any light into them. I only cure them, so that the wounds on their bodies and souls heal quicker.”

„Teach me this; I also want to make people glow,” Makadi insisted.

The woman gave the boy a stern look, and was quiet all the way home. Makadi was sure he made her angry, so he made himself walk a few steps behind her. When they came out of the forest and started walking across a long meadow toward the village, the wise woman uttered her last sentence:

„Who are you, Makadi? Find the answer to my question, and I will reveal the secret of light to you. “

Makadi was very happy to hear this. The wise woman is not upset and if he finds the answer to her riddle, he will also be able to put light into people! He ran home and, as he was falling asleep, he began searching for the answer to who he was.

The question seemed easy; right away, he had several answers handy: he is a boy, a human being, Makadi, son of a carpenter, King Dohart’s serf. Only, he did not know which of these answers was correct.

In the morning, he ran to see the woman and, one by one, he told her all the answers he had prepared. But hearing each one of them, she shook her head: “No, you are not this.”

After that, Makadi went to the woman every morning for the next seven years. He always had a new answer, but it was always incorrect. Due to this effort to find the right answer, he began studying; he looked for wise books and engaged in discussions with scholars who passed through the village, thus exploring more and more deeply who he was. 

One day, he was quite sure that he would finally please the wise woman with the right answer to the riddle, because he had learnt in one scholarly book that a human being is composed of small particles which are impossible to see with bare eyes. However, there exists a magnifier which enables us to see these particles. Their founder named them “cells”. He ran cheerfully to see the woman and as soon as he stood at her door, he called:

“Wise woman! Dear wise woman, I finally know the right answer. I am a cluster of a great number of small particles, cells. Let me now hear your secret.”

However, this answer was not the right one either, and Makadi left the woman’s house sad. He was so tired from the endless search that he gave up his desire to reveal how the wise woman putslight into people. The riddle simply had no solution; he would never resolve it. He was very disappointed, but also exhausted; he truly felt that, in this effort, he had reached the end of his own capacities 

That night, he slept very deeply. Late into the night, he had a dream. He saw the wise woman shining in darkness and the light radiated from her to all directions. Around her, there were ill, wretched, and mad people, who were attracted to her light just like Makadi. The wise woman was only standing and shining. Suddenly everything began spinning, as if in a mad carousel of light and human figures. Then the figures disappeared, and what was left was only light. 

Makadi woke up, and although he was unsettled from the dream, he attributed it to the disappointment he had experienced the day before. He stopped thinking about the dream, and lived his day. Suddenly, when he did not have to search for the answer to the wise woman’s riddle, he had much more time. So, he helped his father in his work and then looked after his siblings. He had a very nice day.

That night, he again had a dream. This time it was not the wise woman shining, but he. Light was coming from inside of him, and shone ever stronger, blinding everyone around.

When Makadi woke up, he felt very peaceful. It was surely due to that pleasant dream, he thought. He stayed a bit longer in bed, enjoying the stillness of the waking morning, when he suddenly understood. He understood the dream, he understood the wise woman’s question, he understood the world… He suddenly knew who he was. In a blink of an eye he knew that the light was not coming from the wise woman, that she did not in fact place it into other people, that the light did not enter him. He knew he wasthe light. He suddenly comprehended that big is small, cold is hot and all is one. That light is God.

This knowledge was so enormous that it became minuscule. Makadi had another quiet day. He did not go to the wise woman to tell her the big news, nor did he jump from joy because of the revelation of this deep truth. He did not talk with any scholars about their truth, and neither did he try to present his secret to them. 

From that day on, Makadi lived a simple life. He helped his father, took care of his siblings, and went to wander long in the forests. And always, when a pilgrim in need stood at his door, Makadi accepted him. He did not declare himself a healer, but still, people facing all sorts of troubles sought him out in search of relief. He did not declare himselfa holy man, and no crowds gathered at his door. But those who came were never the same as before. They found light within themselves.

And the wise woman? Once Makadi had experienced the revelation, he did not go to see her. But they met accidentally after some time; he was taking water from a well when she saw him and he noticed her. She did not say anything; she only looked at him long, and then she barely visibly smiled.

Makadi did not become a healer; he remained working as a carpenter. And still, he was the most powerful doctor far and wide. He revealed light in others, erased the layers that people had gathered in the form of titles, relationships, possessions, and so many other things that cause unnecessary sadness and misery. He was finding himself in people, and people were becoming him. Makadi was thus sharing the experience of oneness with others without ever making anyone believe that he was the source of it.

………………….

Dear Soul,

Who you are cannot be guessed. It cannot be heard when someone is trying to explain it to you.

You cannot research it.

You can split the atom and study how it functions; you can go on searching for the tiniest particles and inquire into what the world is composed of and why it was created; you can go on measuring the size of the universe and drawing its borders, even counting the number of universes, but you will never find God there. And still, God is everywhere.

Small is big and big is small. Only when you find the answer within you, only then is it uncovered. Then you will not hate your weaknesses anymore, you will not punish yourself for your stumbles; instead, you will accept yourself with love only God is capable of. For light is love and love is God and all is one.

Similarities are attracted to each other; therefore, stay in the presence of people who know their light, and you will eventually find it within yourself.

Who are you, dear Soul?