I, a Multitude

As I descended from Yubeng, I slowed my steps. The forest was empty; I was alone. I had never felt such peace. I heard life calling me. I heard my own voice. I had never been so close to myself. All that grew along the way, all that had died, all that was nearing death, and all that was newly born — all of it was me. I too had been born. I had grown, and I too would die. In that moment, I became myself. It was me, and it was not me. Or perhaps it was no one at all: half alive, half already dead. Life or death, existence or nonexistence: none of it mattered. In that moment, I had stood there with myself.