Which Futures Shall I Destroy?

The old man smiled at the bunch of bananas in his hand. They were starting to form brown spots but the meat was firm and whole. He would present the bananas to the Goddess of Creation first, but assuming she smiled upon him, soon he would be able to use his other, untested, talent.

He finally understood why he saw bananas when he visualized future possibilities, because Rishi would present him with bananas. Many devotees had visited the cave and none had ever brought bananas. At an altitude above twelve thousand feet and leagues away from the tropics, how could anyone ever bring bananas? So many times he had wished the fruits of his mind's eye were apples or pears. These fruits could be found anywhere in the valley below the old man's cave. The answer to why he saw bananas became self evident.

The old man closed his eyes, mostly for effect, clutched the bananas, and asked, "Mother show me the possibilities." Nearly an infinite number of banana fruits showed themselves to him. "Mother, please accept this gift from Rishi and I. We are fools to question your wisdom. We apologize for our ignorance and wish to receive your blessing of this fruit."

The infinite bananas before his mind's eye narrowed to a manageable number on the order of a billion.

"Oh thank you Goddess," exclaimed the old man, "Thank you for this opportunity to make a difference in this man's life!"

Rishi laid quietly while the water washing his back picked up pace. He waited for the old man's to say what should be done next, but his patience was growing thin.

The old man finally understood his teacher's words, "when you offer the fruits of destiny without devotion, you will not be able to make use of them."

It was a confusing phrase his teacher had said a hundred times and one the old man had never forgotten.

"Please show me the best way to help Rishi find himself." The old man asked. Then the bananas before his mind's eye changed from yellow to many colors of the rainbow.

The old man was shocked. They had always been yellow. Always a perfect representation of a banana. Now they looked like plastic alien fruit from another world.

The water flowing at the old man's feet was an inch deep now, it flowed from the ceiling, down the wall behind him and reminded him that time grew short.

"OH CRAP!" came a shout from Rishi.

"He has realized his predicament," thought the old man.

"Did the first spring melt happen today?" Rishi asked the old man. A large, well focused, intonation of fear sounded in his voice.

The old man opened his mouth and the bananas disappeared from his mind's eye. "No Rishi, it was yesterday and the water is just starting to get here. It is cold again so I don't expect a torrent but you should probably move to the side of the cave just to be sure."

"How does he know I'm laying in the flow?" thought Rishi.

The old man returned to his rainbow of bananas and recognized that the color coding represented the possible spiritual lessons that he and Rishi might experience should different routes be taken.

"By giving me these bananas," thought the old man, "he has given me the ability to prevent entire swaths of future. I can eliminate any karma, just by eating a banana. The question is: which futures shall I destroy?"

"I could eliminate his death, but that makes it much too likely that he'll just walk out and never return. I could remove the possibility that he not face his fear, but that restriction could make it so he never chooses again, always opting for where the wind blows him. I should not be the wind that tells him what to do because he may come to rely on me too much."

Flipping the bananas this way and that, the old man looked from every perspective he could imagine. He saw things from Rishi's point of view. Saw his life and his life's mistakes. The old man even noted how Rishi had more often failed himself and those who loved him and still managed to end up in this cave. Clearly the banana of this cave was strong in his life.

"Oh Mother," sang the old man out loud, "what do I do with the wisdom you give? Which direction do I go from here now that I notice I live?"

Rishi heard the old man's singing and said, "hello. I'm still down here."

"You haven't moved like I asked you to Rishi. Move so I might get another perspective!"

Rishi failed to understand the old man but rolled toward the dryer portion of the chamber as instructed.

"Ah," said the old man, "that's much better." After a long pause the old man said, "Rishi, if you climb up a bit of the wall there you will find a loose stone."

Rishi used the wall to hold himself and even though the algae was slippery he managed to stand up. Then groping around for a few minutes he said, "I don't feel it."

"You must climb higher."

Rishi climbed the wall the best he could. He got up about five feet and said, "Is this far enough?"

"You must climb about five more feet upward and five feet to your right."

Rishi did as the old man instructed.

Up and to his right Rishi found a loose stone.

"I got it!" he shouted up.

"Good," said the old man. "Pull it out and allow it to fall to the floor."

Rishi jiggled the rock and after a minute it fell to the floor with a thud and bounced all the way into the pond where it came to rest in about three inches of water.

"Okay. Done!" shouted Rishi.

"Inside that opening is a crystal with chain, grab it and put it around your neck."

"How did you know this was here?" asked Rishi.

"My teacher heard the story from his teacher who heard it from his teacher. It goes back thousands of years."

"Why didn't your teacher get it when he was in this chamber?"

"You ask good questions, Rishi," said the old man. "He did not know about it when he fell into the cavern, his teacher was in the valley getting supplies, and my teacher swam out before his teacher returned."

Rishi reached into the opening, felt around and finally had his hands on the necklace. He pulled it out and felt for the stone. It was large, hexagonal, and seemed to refract the light of the algae quite well.

"Is this quartz?" asked Rishi.

"So legend states," said the old man.

"So have you figured out how to get me out of here yet?"

Rishi carefully climbed down the wall and put the quartz crystal and its chain around his neck.

Then, slowly, his perception cleared and he yelled, "OH MY GOD! MY DREAM JUST CAME TRUE!" Pausing for a deep breath Rishi said, "I can't believe it. I forgot all about my dream. Beside the pond, within the wall, I was to find a crystal with a violet fire within it. And now I have!"

The old man thought, "Had he kept a calm mind he would have found the crystal on his own, still its nice to know the bananas are his backup."