As Bodhi begins his journey to see Zar at the Lake of Solitude, he thinks to himself:

is this all a larger dream

or do i shape what i see

how does the world

shape what’s inside of me

how could his dream

my vision it did find

how can this lord

see into my mind

what is real

i no longer can tell

the more i think i know

the less i am well

i must continue my journey

to where it all began

near the altar of obedience  

to find the lion as man 

ascent of silence

bodhi walks the ridge
of revelation still
unlit before first breath
the summit keeps its will

the stone paths lie in waiting
their edges worn and blessed
no voice disturbs the morning
and power has not yet pressed

the walls dissolve to fragments
of jagged rock and snow
the air turns sharp and distant
where cooler winds now blow

tibetan yaks stand silent
against the mountains vast
the ridge falls back to shadow

should something ancient last

altar of obedience 

a piece of the stone waiting
worn smooth by time and hand
it faces toward the heavens
yet anchors all the land

here it is named obedience
where thou shalt’s will was done
where blade and faith were tested
beneath a silent sun

yet bodhi knows it otherwise
not as this world has said
but the place where freedom loosened
the tightening of dread

no voice declared the moment
no witness marked the air
yet something broke its boundary
and mercy entered there

cave of stillness 

beyond the altar’s stillness
where the lake and stone meet

a villager points the way 

to the prophet in retreat

water reflects the mountain
consciousness in view
its surface holds a mirror
and shows what may look true

and near its quiet edge
beneath a sheltering stone
a cabin rests in shadow
as if the cave was home

he writes what comes and passes
no longer bound to prove
the world may turn around him
but he no longer needs to move

Bodhi follows the directions provided by the visitor and arrives at a broken gate. A decayed sign lies on the ground with two lines readable:

abandon all hope

ye who enter here  

Bodhi proceeds down the narrower path toward smoke curling into the air. The Lake of Solitude emerges as Bodhi turns a corner and arrives at a small cabin resting near on the shore. A serpent suns itself on the deck while an eagle soars overhead. Noticing the yak’s arrival, Zar stands from his desk in front of the window and makes his way down the deck stairs. 

As Zar recognizes Bodhi from his dream, he falls to his knees and mutters:

from eternal recurrence

how could this be

how are you in my mind

from the raft on the sea

Zar’s rests within this eternal fracture, where reality meets dream. He steadiness himself and says:

you started as a yak 

a mule that does carry 

the burdens of morality

with no place to bury 

yet in the end

a calf you became

while i became burdened

by the camel’s name

this dream world
returns each night
a wish that i had spoken
as the dragon left without a fight

but you are now real before me
not something i dreamt through
so tell me what brought you here
what can i do for you

Bodhi also feels the recognition of seeing Zar in his dream as Zarathustra. Bodhi responds:

i too had the baobab dream
but it happened in a flash
i wrote what i could gather
before it slipped to ash

Bodhi hands Zar a copy of his book from his box. Bodhi continues:

i have so much to ask
of what these visions mean
but i must return quickly
as things are not what they seem

so please turn to the woods
and jail behind the stone
where the grand inquisitor
stands before the lamb alone

Zar opens Bodhi’s book, reads the passage, and says:

yes this i saw as well
within my dreaming sight
the sheep released the lamb
not wrong but choosing right

Bodhi responds:

i’m told ts has seen this dream
though only part, not whole
what he believes it means
may shape what he does control

but since the dragon did not see us
despite what he does claim
then ts must be the sheep

who turned against the flame

Zar responds:

what the ridge calls truth

is merely a frame

and those who believe it

are bound to its claim

but night will soon surround us
so stay and take your rest
the room beyond is quiet
and opens to the crest 

Bodhi looks out the small window at the mystical peak uniting the divided Mountain. As the stars emerge, wolf howls echo across the ridge. In the morning, Bodhi finds Zar at his desk writing. Zar looks up and says: 

i thought i had defeated him
and stood above it all
i praised my own becoming
before the sea’s wide call

i declared god dead
and broke the ancient frame
then came here to the quiet
while others fed the flame 

but as the ridge has risen

power replaced the call

the sacred wound of meaning 

i loosened it into all

i asked for my life to return
each moment just the same

and i lived the last many years

reliving each night my shame

but then this morning

when my mind took hold

i realized the dream has ended

with no truth foretold

Bodhi responds: 

perhaps there is no ending
no victory to claim
no final truth to anchor
no one left to blame

what rises from the breaking
is not for one to own
it lives within seeing
each heart must face alone

so i will walk this turning
not certain what i’ll find
but knowing what we look for
is shaped within the mind

Bodhi bows slightly to Zar and departs the Lake of Solitude.