We
Are All One
A
Yahgahn Fable
Not very long ago really, there was a human female named Marion who scoffed at the Yahgahn fables and creation stories. She felt that our religion is too simplistic, that we are being hypocrites, teaching these to our children but changing the interpretation as they grow older.
Many grew tired of her scoffing, but no one
said anything to her about it. Yet finally, a very old and very wise old
Yahgahn priestess named Ahnabahn came to her to answer her questions and give
deeper insight.
“Marion, I understand that you do not
understand the wisdom of our fables and creation stories.”
“No, I just do not understand how you could
tell them to your children and tell them later in their life that you do not
believe them to be true.”
“You misunderstand us. We do believe
them. Do you wish to hear the purpose of the fables?”
“I suppose.”
“Our fables serve many purposes. One is
that they teach moral lessons to the children, so that they know how to behave,
with the fables and our own good behavior paired. Second, the fables only
appear to be simple at first. Yet they all have a deeper meaning. All our
stories do.”
“All right, what about one of the simplest
stories, like ‘Vungtraf makes a mistake’? Where’s the deeper meaning in that?”
“That story is about wisdom, and learning
from mistakes. It ties in with the belief that our souls put us through
different lives so that they may experience their knowledge by traveling first
through ignorance. By making mistakes and learning from them, we get closer to
our Soul Goal, which is to re-member the connections amongst mind, body, and
soul.”
“Well…” said Marion, a little unsurely now,
“What about ‘The Big, Bad Lie’?”
“Without honesty, both honesty to others
and honesty to self, we could not grow. Dishonesty stifles spiritual growth. We
must be honest if we are to go further along on the path to our goal.”
“Well, what about ‘Sahn-Kia’? That is about
manners.”
“Without manners, we would all hate each
other and all would be chaos. This would cause us all to go further back along
our path.”
One by one, Marion went through the fable
list, and always Ahnabahn knew a deeper lesson to each fable. When Marion
finally seemed to have given up, she surprised Ahnabahn a little by speaking
again.
“What about the Creation stories? With the
Deities? You say that your Deities are symbols standing for real energy, with
minds but not bodies, and yet your stories portray them as having bodies and
the universe as being created chronologically. You say you do not believe that the
universe has a beginning or an end.”
“These stories are filters through which we
teach the beginnings of something to children that they would not be able to
understand at first. The stories serve the purpose of showing many symbols when
they are young, so that we may add to that after they grow older and wiser.
When they hear the reinterpretations of old, familiar figures from these
stories, it adds to their wonder, and makes the lessons stick better. Our
stories are a frame work for a symbolic house called our children. You cannot
build a house without a frame, and nor can you build children without a frame,
either.”
Marion and Ahnabahn talked more about this,
and Marion soon went from sarcasm to awe at all the rich, powerful symbols
hidden in the seemingly simple stories.
Before she left, she asked one more
question.
“And what of Kohraindehr, Deity of the
All?”
“Kohraindehr is like the other Deities,
only instead of being a mind-energy that is a piece of the All, Kohraindehr is
the collective consciousness of the All. For the All is an energy, as well.
Everything from the largest animal, plant, or other person to the smallest atom
is a part of Kohraindehr. For everything that exists, all energies and matters,
is a part of Kohraindehr, is a part of the All. ‘Koh soh la Kohrain.’ ‘You are
the All.’ You are the All, I am the All, the rocks on the ground are the All,
EVERYTHING is the All. Kohraindehr is all of us, for Kohraindehr is the
All, just as we are. Our stories and Deities are to bring these truths into a
format that people can relate to. And what they relate to they are more likely
to believe. If we tried to teach our children our truths without Deities or
stories, we would fail. There is a reason for all things, Marion.”
Ever since then, Marion has been a different person. Where she used to scoff, now she sings. She has gone about Traipah collecting fables and stories and translating works of the Trelli and Duenicallo into all the languages of Earth, for she is now Yahgahn. She follows the nine core beliefs of the Yahgahn, she lets the wisdom of the fables and stories guide her life. She thinks of the Divine in terms of our words, such as Kohrain, Kohraindehr, Taekah, and others. And she feels a deep connection to Traipah. Are you feeling that you should know her? You may recognize her. She is Marion Dears.
The moral of this story is that we are all One, yet we are all Many at the same time. We all are headed toward the same goal, and no path is better than any other, for all paths lead to the same goal.