Chapter 28 The Barrier Between Worlds

Chapter 28 The Barrier Between Worlds

After Suye's initial meditation training, he discovered the significance of meditation for himself—it was about closely connecting body and mind, blending them together to better perceive his body and, in turn, better understand himself.

Suye realized that living in an information-saturated society, almost everything he had experienced in the past—whether it be schooling, work, promotions, earning money, success, or anything else—was largely defined by external factors. Almost everything was sought externally.

Despite being the foundation of everything, he had never truly perceived and examined himself.

After meditating, Suye reestablished the connection between his body and mind.

From there, Suye completely abandoned the mindset of seeking externally and turned inward, beginning to pursue his true desires and his original intentions.

Subsequently, Suye's meditation skills advanced rapidly, eventually reaching a very high level after rigorous training at the Insight Center.

Suye did not oppose Niedern's method itself; he understood clearly that visualizing external objects as a meditation technique is very easy to start with and poses no problem for those who can focus well.

However, the issue lies in the fact that if the meditator's thoughts are overly active and scattered, the visualization process could easily lead to accidents.

Suye once had a minor mishap but corrected it immediately upon discovery, thus avoiding going astray.

On Blue Star, many guided meditations no longer use such overly abstract methods. Instead, they typically involve listening to soothing music and starting from feeling the body, focusing on the present moment, which is also the foundation of mindfulness.

Suye divided meditation into three realms.

The first realm is feeling the body and integrating body and mind.

The second realm has three sub-stages: recognizing oneself, affirming oneself, and examining oneself. This is Suye's current realm.

The third realm is transcending oneself. However, Suye had never encountered anyone like this because those who truly transcend themselves tend to be extremely humble, often believing they have not yet transcended themselves. Nonetheless, one thing is certain: those who truly transcend themselves achieve great accomplishments.

Clearing his mind of distractions, Suye first took a long breath through his nose, then exhaled through his mouth, ensuring both inhalation and exhalation lasted the same amount of time. After doing this three times, Suye closed his mouth.

Some meditation systems advocate continuous inhalation through the nose and exhalation through the mouth, but Suye believed this approach goes against the natural rhythm of the body and might weaken the nose's exhalation function. Therefore, he did not choose this breathing method.

Next, Suye completely ignored Niedern's guidance and began using his most common scanning meditation technique.

First, Suye focused his attention on his eyes, feeling their sensations and consciously relaxing them.

Then, he concentrated on his brain, sensing it and calming it down, allowing it to relax.

Afterward, Suye started from his hair, moving his attention slowly downward across his body, feeling and relaxing each part: scalp, ears, forehead, nose... finally reaching his shins, soles, and toes.

During this process, occasional stray thoughts would emerge in his mind, such as the teacher's voice, worries about the future, or Hutton's revenge. But Suye neither judged nor panicked; he simply categorized these thoughts, identified what they were, and dismissed them.

At this point, Suye knew he was meditating.

After completing this round of scanning meditation, Suye's body and mind became even more closely connected.

Then, Suye stopped perceiving his body and began emptying his mind, letting everything become void.

Everything became void, and Suye seemed to forget he was meditating.

After a while, Suye kept his eyes closed, but they moved slightly.

In some indistinct place, where only the spirit could reach, a thought emerged, as if another Suye appeared.

This new Suye seemed to be a transcendent entity standing at the pinnacle of the world and the stars.

He existed, yet didn't exist.

He was independent, yet one with body and mind.

This was the spirit, or the soul, or a peculiar state of the higher self.

This was his own deity.

This newly born peculiar spirit was examining the meditating Suye, examining himself.

At this moment, Suye again knew he was meditating, but it was entirely different from the beginning.

Observing oneself.

Boom...

Suye suddenly felt the earth shake and the world collapse.

If he were still a beginner, Suye would have been immediately jolted awake, but now, with his advanced meditation skills, he merely felt a disturbance in body, mind, and spirit, quickly returning to normal.

Soon, the shaking ceased.

Suye suddenly "saw" the dark sky above changing color, gradually turning blue-black.

Countless cracks appeared in the blue-black sky, as if a cloud-filled sky had been pierced by countless arrows, with dense sunlight streaming through.

Even though his spirit was incredibly powerful during meditation, Suye still felt confused.

Didn't Teacher Niedern say that at most, one could see a dozen cracks? Why were there seemingly hundreds of millions or even more?

Suye recalled Niedern's words: if one lacks talent, choose the closer ones; if one has strong talent, choose the farther ones.

Suye thought that if he were rational, he should choose the middle ones, but if he were even more rational, considering the altar, he could choose the farthest ones.

Suye decided to take the most rational path.

Suye suddenly realized that his meditation in the world of gods was somewhat different from that on Blue Star.

On Blue Star, his mental state during meditation, although transcendent and capable of self-examination, was essentially integrated with his body and mind, formless and intangible.

It was like elusive thoughts.

But now, the spirit actually had a tangible form.

Beneath the blue-black barrier between the two worlds, a small, translucent figure floated, identical in appearance to Suye.

The little Suye looked at himself, marveling, then thought for a moment before clenching his fists, extending his right forearm straight, and slightly bending his left arm, both fists thrusting forward.

"Fly!"

With a single thought, the spiritual body immediately took flight beneath the deep blue sky, heading toward the farthest rift.

Suye felt the light swirling and divine radiance flickering; in the blink of an eye, he had completely flown out of the dense region of divine light, entering the pitch-black environment.

Suye was somewhat unaccustomed to it. Looking back, that area resembling a galaxy had shrunk into an almost imperceptible point.

"Already this fast?"

Suye pondered for a while, continuing to fly forward beneath the blue-black sky.

He felt as if he were about to transform into light.

At first, he could still see some small rifts, but eventually, there was only the solid barrier between the two worlds above and the endless darkness below, with no sign of any divine light from the realm.

"Did I fly too far?"

Just then, a gentle voice sounded, as if imbued with a mysterious magic, echoing in the spiritual body of Suye.

"Classmates, today's meditation session is coming to an end. I have already lifted the spell. Now, do not suddenly open your eyes. Begin imagining yourselves slowly returning to Plato's Academy, back to this meadow, and then slowly open your eyes, slowly open them..."

Suye immediately imagined himself leaving the area of the barrier between the two worlds, gradually returning to the meadow.

Suye opened his eyes and found the sky dimming, with the sun about to set.

"Hoo... Hoo..." loud snores echoed.