Once there was a bacterium.
He lived apart from the rest of his kind by his own choice. This was strange, for bacteria are social creatures who live in constantly spreading (or diminishing) colonies, living and growing and reproducing together.
This particular bacterium very much wanted to know the purpose of life, and questioned the answer he was given every time he asked any of the other bacteria. He suspected that he might be given a different answer if he ever asked anyone other than his own kind, but he had never really come across anything but other bacterium just like him. He was also too scared to venture out of his usual rounds in the small, soupy world he lived in.
He didn’t know what else was or could be beyond the confines of his bacterial community. Even though this was what made him so scared and paralyzed, he was also desperately curious about that unknown world.
One day, (if you could call it a day, maybe it was more a fraction of the many cycles that dictated every bacterium's life,) as he was wrestling back and forth between his fear and curiosity for the unknown world that lurked the edges of his lonely routine, something much larger than him appeared on the edges of his consciousness. He thoughtlessly fled, uncaring as to whether the thing might be possibly friendly or definitely predatory.
He was heading straight for the edge of all he knew, and would have stopped, fleeing for his life or not, if only he had noticed, but he was too busy fleeing the unknown behind him to have any thought for the unknown ahead.
Still unaware, the bacterium quickly overtook that carefully plotted boundary and left it far behind.
Numbed by terror, and oblivious by nature, he raced onwards still, everything a blur to his frantic consciousness.
Completely spent, he finally directed his attention behind, he was no longer being chased, and he had no idea where he was.
If bacterium could hyperventilate, this one would have at that very moment of realization. Instead, he swam in rapid circles, faster and faster until instead of being small and rod-shaped, he was rather large and oblong and hollow in his middle, like a dog chasing its tail. Eventually, he came to a stop, and returned to his normal size and shape.
Finally calming down, he noticed a steady, thrumming vibration, as if another bacterium was trying to get his attention, but the thing emanating this pulse seemed nothing like any bacterium he’d ever encountered. To be fair, he hadn’t been encountered very many.
“Who are you?” The bacterium cautiously communicated with a dim pulse from his own body. He would have fled, as before with the other unknown entity, but he was too exhausted, and intriguingly, this new thing made him feel calm and peaceful. He had no idea why.
“I am” The thing simply emanated, and drew closer, greatly alarming the bacterium. Before he had time to flee, he had been absorbed into the unknown being.
And yet the bacterium still was. Still aware, still alive, even though now he knew what it was he had confronted; An Eater; something that consumed bacteria, something he had known from other bacterium’s experiences, but never actually met before.
But why hadn’t his consciousness snuffed out after the Eater had consumed him? The bacterium was still conscious, still himself, but now, somehow, he knew that he was part of something much bigger and grander than just a single bacterium separate from everything else.
He became aware of new things tickling the edge of his consciousness, concepts and memories he had never thought of or experienced himself; communication from the I am. (As he decided he would call it, it wasn’t like any Eater he’d ever heard of, though it bore a striking resemblance to the stories he did know.)
Even though he had been “eaten”, the bacterium was still very calm. This was a strange feeling to him, after having been terrified of everything new and unknown for most of his life.
I am came again into his consciousness, “ I am and you are,” it communicated, “But we no longer have the illusion of separateness; we are one. You are correct in naming us “Eater”, but also correct in setting us apart from that predatory creature.”
The bacterium became aware of a warm glow, not really around him or within him, for though he was still himself, he was no longer anywhere. The glow just was. He had no sight, and had never experienced life through sight before. But suddenly he could see.
The bacterium was still calm, albeit a little bewildered by everything that demanded his attention, and I am’s talk of “us” and “we”.
Through the glow, images began to appear, much to the bacterium’s further disconcertion.
“We would like to show you our world,” I am softly conveyed, “There are many senses available to forms of life in the entirety of creation, you have not experienced many of them, but to truly understand the answer to the question you seek, you must experience all viewpoints.”
And with the images came sound, and smell, along with the bacterium’s familiar taste and feeling; even that sixth sense of inner knowing sometimes called “intuition”.
Even more senses ricocheted around the bacterium’s awareness.
He began to understand the things shown to him by I am, even without a sense of self.
Worlds and creatures previously unknown to him crowded into his mind, their names and words somehow accompanying their images.
I am was also pulling up every memory, hope, and dream the bacterium had ever had from his mind, and presently said;
“You wish to know the meaning of life, but first I will tell you this: every creature’s purpose is different, though they all follow the same pathway; striving towards higher consciousness. This is something that goes on and on, forever and ever, and is once again different from one being to the next.”
Throughout I am’s short speech, different images, sounds, and feelings flashed through the bacterium’s mind; first the touch of fur, feathers, skin, and scales accompanied by thousands of three-dimensional pictures of all creatures known and unknown throughout creation; then a bright point of light, and a feeling of great warmth and yearning; and finally, an image of a great, winding staircase, a snow-capped green mountain, and the darkness of space, stars twinkling and streaking by as if the bacterium were traveling at a great speed. He had never seen or felt any of these things, but he knew what they were.
“But what is my purpose, I am?” The bacterium asked, his mind straining to take everything in.
“Your purpose, dear one, is whatever you choose. The general purpose of your kind is to grow and reproduce and digest, as it is the general purpose of my kind to consume your kind. This is the purpose that creatures are often lost in, passing over the universal purpose of walking the path of higher consciousness, but that does not mean that both purposes can’t coexist peacefully in every creature’s life.”
“Does that mean I can deviate from the general purpose to pursue the higher purpose?”
“Of course,” I am answered, “Your life is what you choose.”
“How can I do that? I have no idea where to begin, though I’ve been feeling around for the path all of my life.”
“You are already on that path.” I am kindly said, and the bacterium experienced the sensation of a hand on his shoulder (he hadn’t any), lips on his forehead (he didn’t have one), and compassionate eyes peering into his (he had none).
“You always have been, that is what led you here, to us. You must remember that you’ve always known all of this; that was why you had that wish in your core, to know the meaning of life.”
“Will I ever achieve this 'higher consciousness', I am?”
“Of course you will; you are and you already have many times already. Higher consciousness isn’t something to achieve and forget. It is the journey of ages, progressed over many lifetimes.
“Now is the time for parting; albeit not the kind you are thinking of. It is the time for you to become Yourself, though not separate, bacterium.”
The bacterium found his shape again, he was once more himself, and he saw I am before him, his shape rippling, and faintly glowing.
He found that he also glowed also, and his heart (though he didn’t really have one) leaped with a new feeling; joy. So many emotions all at once; he had discovered love as well after his strange and enlightening encounter with the being I am.
The bacterium set forth once again, with new eyes, new tranquility, new love; and a great eagerness for life, the unknown, and the journey that lay behind him and stretched on ahead of him forever.
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