Richard Arthur - I of the Sun: A Journey into Southeast Asia and the Heart of Consciousness

I OF THE SUN

Copyright 2013 Richard Arthur

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

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ONE

We drift into life slowly as if waking from a long dream. Memories appear like broken fragments of an unwritten book, gradually taking form as we emerge from the darkness. Bleary eyes open ever wider with each rise of the morning Sun. Eyes of brilliance, a mind of meaning, gazing forth upon a world too great to comprehend.

Life flows by in a heady haze of youthful colour, people and places, joys and pains, the future twinkling on the eternal horizon beyond. Growing within the borders of our circumstance, our lives intertwined with those around us. Stories are told, pictures of the world passed on and transformed. A human world of happiness and sadness, good and bad, right and wrong, truth and falsehood. A world of endless variety and diversity, yet one where ideas cluster to create cultures, philosophies and religions; some of which we may agree with, yet other parts leave us cold. Facts and opinions accumulate and blend, as we cling to that we find desirable.

* * *

I grew up in a regular place, a life as normal as the next. Little to do but gaze at the world beyond and wonder what it really looks like, the light on the horizon growing ever brighter. A blooming fascination with the phenomena of life its sheer size, complexity and beauty. Ideas reverberated about the mind, people and the world. Analysing, questioning, always wondering why, why, why?

I yearned for simple truth. An understanding of that which clearly exists, is obvious and undeniable, about which we can all agree. An acknowledgement of that which is true, that which remains unknown, and that which will never be known. The triumph of rationality and common sense over irrationality and nonsense.

As I grew into adulthood, the curiosity turned to intent. Id lived in the same country all my life. I was bored. I wanted to break free, cross the line and step out into the world alone. Go somewhere new, somewhere I didnt know. Start afresh without purpose or prejudice and simply be in the world. Reborn into complete independence and ignorance to live unimpeded and free. Free from responsibility, free from others, free from myself. Free to do whatever I wanted, anytime, anywhere. That way Id really learn what made me tick.

As far as I could see I only had one life and I wanted to live it. Really live it. Experience the world. Push myself and find out what I was capable of. I was searching for something, but I didnt know what it was. But I wanted love, happiness, joy and revelation. To swim the oceans, explore mountain tops and jungles, and conquer the cities. Dreams of parties under the stars, falling in love on the beach, epiphanies at dawn, beautiful people and friends for life. Bright lights, hard liquor and neon jungles. Crazy days and endless nights, journeys to new frontiers and the beauty of nature, forever seduced by the lure of the unknown. Chance meetings, road warriors, mad men and mystics. Expectations satisfied and the thrill of the unexpected. The crazy, impossible dream to go everywhere, meet everyone and do everything. That was what I wanted I wanted it all everything and nothing.

* * *

I woke up at 6am in my old bedroom in my old family home. Id moved out a few years before but the bedroom remained. Id grown up in this room. My old familiar bed, furniture and wallpaper. The same as it had always been.

Cold outside, early spring, the Sun barely above the horizon. I lay there for a few moments in the dead calm of dawn, dark shadows unfurling in the silence. After a lifetime of waiting, the day had finally come. This was it. I was leaving today. Alone into the world. I lay still for a moment, surprised at how calm I felt, not nervous or excited as I thought Id be. I felt nothing. Just a quiet acceptance, a readiness for action. Just for a moment. Then I got up. The time is now.

Goodbye to my family and home and everything Id grown up with. Daylight wound slowly over the dark morning plains, the rooftops of the city gradually emerging through the fields. Round the shadowy metropolis to the airport, gateway to beyond. A silent breakfast in the faceless crowd looking out over the drizzle-grey tarmac. Time to leave. My final footsteps down the tunnel and onto the plane. No turning back now. And with that kick of acceleration, soon all that I knew disappeared behind me in the thick clouds.

The trip Id been dreaming about for so many years was finally upon me. I could have gone anywhere, but Id chosen Southeast Asia. It looked like the place for me. The other side of the world. Lots of strange, new countries on a map: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam. I barely knew one from the other, but they all sounded tropical and exotic, full of promise and adventure. Tropical beaches, lush jungles, rolling mountains and steaming cities. On a whim Id chosen to fly to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The long peninsula north through Malaysia and up into Southern Thailand looked like the perfect runway into the mysteries of Asia.

It was my first time there and I had a one-way ticket. There was no going back. All or nothing. No time limit, no plan, no clue what Id do when I got there. Id saved enough cash to keep me going a while but it wasnt much. I guessed Id travel a bit, find somewhere I liked and get some work. Until then I was just going to hit the road. Only I who made the decisions about what to do next. That was the plan.

Cruising high towards the tropics. Meals, toilets and movies. The long wait as the flight dragged on into the night. A line on the map, speeding through time and space, night quickly turning to day again.

The ocean below soon burned a brighter blue than Id ever seen before. Land approaching. Bright green trees and fields. That swooping descent, ground rising, the angel of dreams coming into land. Then that thud of undoubtable certainty. The plane swung round, Kuala Lumpur International Airport looming like a vision of the future all stainless steel and glass domes.

I stepped into a new continent, the biggest of them all. Elevated train ride to the main building and through Immigration. I grabbed my backpack from the belt and gazed around the huge glass arrivals hall. Outside a wall of eager taxi drivers waited to pounce. The plane ticket in my pocket was now a useless scrap of paper. This was it now on my own in Asia. No idea where I was going, let alone when I was coming back. This was exactly what Id wanted. And now Id got it.

* * *

Where do we begin this search for simple truth? Perhaps by acknowledging that which clearly exists. What simple things in life can we all agree on?

Two aspects of life are instantly apparent to us all the world and I. One is unique to me, about which only I know. The other is there in everyone. Yet they exist as one two sides of an equation. The world exists and you exist in it.