Travels with Duncan

Book 1 – Duncan in the Forest

Chapter 5. On the realms of being

Our duo witnesses a distant volcano and animals fleeing. They meet an emu or such, who
believes in long-lasting progress. They go up a gorge to reach the plateau yonder. On the
wall, they see a painted mandala and wonder about its significance.

Mid-morning the next day, Duncan and Pico emerged from the forest onto a plateau of sorts that
seemed rather sparse in vegetation although it was still full of bushes of various kinds. They came
to an expansive outcrop of boulders and decided to find a way up to the top. That would give
them a good view of the surrounding area and maybe even let them see the mountains they were
traveling towards.

With delicate footsteps through the rubble and the big stones, Duncan managed to reach the top
of the hill of boulders, a rocky outcrop as it were that jutted up in the surrounding landscape. Afar
to the west lay the mountains towering over the land and reaching to the sky.

What immediately grabbed their attention though, was a volcano some ways off to the north, not
all that far away in fact. At the times the wind quieted down, they could hear the distant rumbling
and certainly, they could see the smoke billowing out of the top of the small mountain and being
taken away on the winds flowing high up to the east.

They were in awe. This was nature at its most fearful - full of natural fury and terror. Now and
again, they could spot some animal making a dash for it across an open space, fleeing the erupting
mountain with its death scent.

Fortunately, their own path to the mountains out west would distance them even further from this
volcano, so that was a relief. After quite some time contemplating the furious volcano from this
safe distance and, with the lure of the high mountains ahead of them, they set out over the plateau
towards the first foothills.

It wasn’t long before they came upon a very large bird that trotted along on its legs - an emu in
fact. It couldn’t fly, but it sure did trot along at a good pace. Now, this emu, much larger than
themselves but still seeming inoffensive enough, came up and asked them where they were
headed.

It seemed to know the land well in this area and Duncan was grateful to get directions on how to
best reach the mountains. As they chatted, they got to talk about the bird itself. The emu told
them how it wished that it could fly, but then, if it could, it would be so much lighter, which it
wasn’t sure was a good thing in itself. Its massive bulk was protection. It had evolved that way,
for good or for worse, and it was just happy to be an animal and not a silly plant. Imagine, being
stuck in one spot all your life!
At least, it was at the top of the chain of nature. As an animal, it was adaptable and could survive
changes in circumstances. It could flee a volcano and didn’t just have to stay put like the trees.
Animals, because of their adaptability, could survive anything, at least that seemed sure.

Well, Duncan was dubious but still, he did not contradict this strange bird who was so amiable to
them. After a while, the emu bade them farewell and trotted off down the slope.

As they sat down in the rough grass for an extended rest, Duncan was reminded of the unity of
the universe.

- You know, Pico, everything is interdependent, everything emerges out of other things and
eventually merges into yet further things. There is a constant process of transformation going on -
yet, we tend to slice up the world and simply see it from within that slice.
- What do you mean, Duncan?
- Well, that emu for instance. It believes in a fixed world, one that will last and last. Oh, it
probably believes the world will get better as it ages, but also that it will basically remain the
same. It just has no historical context.
- It’s true we don’t often consider how the world all started and how it developed from that start.
- Right. And yet our current interactions with the world are historically grounded - they evolved -
and will likely continue to evolve.
- How so?
- We can consider that we interact with the world through 3 realms: physically, biologically, and
mentally. And further, that each realm evolved from the previous one.
- Except the first, right?
- Of course, Pico. What preceded the creation of the universe is a big mystery. But there was a big
bang that got it going and from there it simply evolved, it unfolded, as I like to say.
- How is it, Duncan, that you know all these things? I’ve been wondering about it. You certainly
have some strong opinions and they make sense - I am not saying they don’t!, it’s just that you
know an awful lot! How come?
- Ah, well, Pico, I am rather older than you, now aren’t I? I have spent a lot of time thinking
about these matters and that is why I am still searching for ultimate answers. That is why I am
going to the mountains!
- But where did you get it all? How do you know it to be true?
- Most of what I know, Pico, comes from the elders, and from their elders, and the elders before
them. It is wisdom passed on down from one generation to the next. But one has to be open to
this wisdom. We accept it if it makes sense, if it seems coherent, if it seems to fit in with
everything else.
- Uh huh.
- No world knowledge is certain, Pico. But if it’s plausible, that will do - otherwise, we just get
bogged down in uncertainty.
- Yes, and that is no fun, for sure.
- Right. Now about the realms... The world was not created ready-made as we see it today, it
evolved. At the beginning, there was a great big explosion from a single point. That was the
universe back then, many billions of years ago - just a single point in space.
-And it blew up?
- It exploded, in a manner of speaking - that is what we call the Big Bang. It suddenly expanded,
with energy flowing out from that single point. And there was nothing but energy - there were no
things around back then, just pure very hot energy.
- Really? So where did the things come from?
- Well, as the energy expanded, it cooled, and as that happened, minute elementary particles of
matter formed. Soon, these combined into atomic particles, and when these interacted among
themselves, elements formed...
- You mean, like gold, iron and such?
- Eventually, yes. But at first, there was just one kind of element. Then, as expansion continued on
and the universe got still cooler - mind you, it was still extremely hot, particles interacted with this
first element and a second kind of element formed. And this went on and on over millions of
years. In the end, well, we have all the elements that we have now and that make up our world.
- So it all came about gradually? Over many, many years?
- That’s right. Now, what is fascinating about this process is that it was an automatic process. All
this happened on its own, just following the laws of physics.
- It all just evolved.
- Yes, I call it the unfolding of the universe. Actually, the laws of physics came about as the
universe unfolded. How that came about - how the various laws of physics fit together - is still
rather mysterious. But you can see how it must all fit together. Nothing is truly arbitrary.
- I guess not.
- So that is the physical realm. The other two realms came much later.
- They evolved out of the physical realm, is that so?
- Yes indeed. At some point, various elements combined in some primeval stew and out of that
emerged a very primitive form of life.
- It all came about naturally, then?
- Yes, for sure. Just as water had emerged from a combination of more primitive elements, so too
life emerged from some combination. Through some chemical reaction. Primitive life used energy
from daylight in a particular way and gradually, it evolved into a form that produced offspring. It
reproduced, and gradually got more complex all the time. Over millions of years, of course.
- Yes, such evolution doesn’t happen overnight, I can guess.
- And from there, plants came about and later on animals, evolving one species out of the other,
on and on, in its own time.
- And that is the biological realm!
-Yes, indeed, Pico.
- And the mental?
- That came about in a similar manner, out of the biological. Animals with certain perceptual
organs began to form crude internal representations to help them adapt and survive in the world.
Gradually, these became more complex and soon, many eons later, here we are with abstract
thought. That is the full blown mental realm.
- And so, we interact with the world around us via these three realms. I can see how that fits
nicely together.
- Yes, now consider this. First, all this complexity evolved out of a very simple initial set-up and
simply followed emerging laws of nature as it evolved. Everything is thus inter-related in the
world, absolutely everything.
- Yes, we are all part of one big cosmos, eh, Duncan?
- And second - ah, this is the tricky one - the process is still underway. There is no reason why it
should have stopped. The cosmos is still evolving...
- Into what?
- Ha, that is the big question. I don’t know, Pico. Not yet, at least.
- Not yet?
- Well, there will likely be yet further realms in the making. And the process is accelerating too.
Where the mental will take us is an open question.
- Maybe to a spiritual realm?
- We’ll see.

Well, it was time to move on. They decided to make some headway before sunset and settling
down for the night. They had spotted a large canyon over yonder and the emu had told them it
would take them up to the next plateau - they just had to follow it and it would gradually rise and
lead them out at the end.

Halfway through the canyon, though, they made their way around a slight bend and lo and behold,
there in front of them, up on the canyon wall, was a large design they immediately recognized as
the one Duncan had been told of by the elders. Or at least, something much like it.

There is was painted on the face of the cliff, a dark ochre on a tan background, with parts of it in
a dark gray. It must have been very vivid at the time it was drawn, but that was evidently some
time ago - this design seemed faded and was missing a few defining lines in some spots, although
the general outline was certainly very clear.

You can just imagine the surprise Duncan had upon seeing it. He stopped in his tracks and both he
and Pico looked up in awe at the wall painting. It must have been a few lengths up and was
contained in a large circle. How it got there was a mystery - no animal could have painted it. It
must have been the bipeds - they were pretty agile on the whole.

The design had the same pattern as the one he had seen one of the elders of his clan draw in the
mud back in the savanna. A large circle with internal lines formally dividing the spaces in a
rounded and pleasing manner.

They sat there in awe and studied the design, registering all its subtleties firmly in their minds.
Pico wanted to ask questions, but Duncan wouldn’t and couldn’t answer. He just told his friend to
look at it and remember the design. They decided to camp there that night and found a place
nearby to settle in comfortably for the evening, for by now, the canyon cast long shadows over the
valley floor and soon dusk would be upon them.