epilogue

I'm back at the Horizon guesthouse now, in the tiny little room which I call my monk's room: two metres by two metres. You can probably hear the echo of the walls. But it's a beautiful room with beautiful views down the valley.

Coming down the waterfall today – all the way from level ten back to level one, and then back along the path to the guesthouse – it felt like I was coming down the mountain. Of course, down climbing some of the rocky sections is more difficult than going up. And of course, the body is getting more tired with the exertion. So the descent is very challenging. And whenever I come down, I feel an immense gratitude for having survived.

But today, I just wanted to also say something about coming down the mountain. For me, this is part of our spiritual journey. It's as if we make a special part of our life set aside for our spiritual inquiry and growth. And if we're lucky enough to realise our true nature, then we could in a sense stay up the mountain – like a monk, sitting in a Himalayan cave, never engaging with society again. That's perfectly valid.

But there is another way and that is, to come back down the mountain. And this is the way I feel my life going now. As the days and months and years go by, I feel myself becoming more and more simple, more and more ordinary. And yet, the great mystery of life is still felt, right here in the ordinary. And this for me is like coming back down the mountain.

Namaste.