Revising the Revision: A conclusion to The Many Caves of the Mind:

 

When the parable of the many caves of the mind ends the freedman has entered a new cave, the cave of his enlightenment, but he is still under the delusion that freedom always leads to truthbut there needs to be a correction in this parable by adding a new twist. Lets imagine that when the freed-Prisoner enters the new cave that he not only believed fully that he had found reality but that he and found reality in its complete entirety. Of course when he enters the cave tot ell of his newfound enlightenment, he finds that his new-enlightened friends are eager to hear of his story.

 

But soon the young man is awakened. He had first believed that his new friends were enlightened as well and it was the members of the old cave that were deluded. But soon he is awakened by a new realization, he comes to see that his new friends also believe that they are in the only cave of enlightenment and that they too have never ventured outside their foundational cave. He begins to see that these individuals are just as deluded as his past comrades and so he then runs outside of the cave and into the light.

 

The Freed-Prisoner then decides to spend his time traveling from cave to cave to gain as much enlightenment as possible. Instead of a prisoner he begins to call himself a traveler because the road he travels are the roads, which have led him to enlightenment. In his folly, whenever he comes across a new traveler he insistently asks them have you traveled to these caves and then proceeds to name off each of the caves he has visited. When the other traveler begins to explain that he has not been to those caves yet but that he has ventured elsewhere the Freed-Prisoner dismisses the individual as a delusional traveler instead of an enlightened man like himself.

 

Now in the last parable we imagined that the second cave the traveler visited was not the only other cave but that there are countless caves of the mind and that one may enter them all. The past parable called these caves of delusion, but to the new traveler they a re caves of enlightenment and delusion, and the road to all wisdom. In every cave of delusion there is found a speck of truth so now our fellow traveler has begun a process and has already built a foundation. At first, he only had a foundation, a belief that the destination was as valid as the process, but he soon discovered in the second cave that one can arrive at a destination but still be trapped in a delusion if he has not yet gone through a process of seeking and reaching out for the truth. So when the traveler meets another individual he again asks them, Have you been to these caves? and if they answer, No, I have not yet ventured there. He dismisses them.

 

Now at first it appears as if the traveler has finally got it. He has learned to process truth and has decided to not be deluded by the ways of the world. He sees himself as an enlightened one and the rest of the world as lost souls searching for comfort in their own wish fulfillments. He has learned to process truth and not just rely on an original foundation. Moreover, he is in search for truth and enlightenment on a continual basis. But the traveler has fallen into the ultimate pit of delusion, a common mistake. He perceives himself as more enlightened than another and has begun to see the order of the caves of the mind as the process itself.

 

But let now imagine that there are millions of travelers just like the Freed-Prisoner, all seeking enlightenment for themselves. Each traveling to cave after cave in order to find the truth no one individual enters the caves in the same order as another, so much that each time a traveler asks another, To which caves have you visited? both travelers perceive the other as delusional and each then believe that he is the only one who has discovered the truth thus far.

 

But imagine that the caves were numbered. Is it possible that a traveler could venture to caves 1,2,3,4,and 5 and that another traveler could venture to caves 10,9,8,7 and 6? Is one any more enlightened that another or for that matter any less delusional? For neither one has seen all the caves and because the caves of the mind are countless they will never be able to visit them all on their own. Both individuals are in search of truth and are striving to reach for enlightenment but their paths have not yet crossed. Now both believe that they are fundamentally different and that they could never become a team, but this is only the beginning of their delusionfor they are not fundamentally different but only foundationally different. The process they both pursue is very much the same, but their paths have taken them on different routes.

 

But what would happen if their paths were to cross and they decided to become a team? They could share their enlightenment of the caves they had been to, and teach each other of their newfound knowledge. Thereby they would double the chance and opportunity for growth and encourage each other in the search for truth. But such fools, they see themselves as perfect, when in reality there is no such thing as human perfection, because all are indeed perfectly imperfect. Such fools they are!!!! Instead they dismiss the process of another because their paths have not followed the same direction leading only to a loss of enlightenment and missed opportunities to venture to many of the countless caves of the mind.

 

Why wouldnt the traveler want to see all the caves? For he can never see them all by himselfis it because he knows that some of the caves are filled with delusion? But he has forgotten the unwritten law, in every cave there is said to be delusion and truth. It takes a wise man to discern between the twobut it takes an idiot to dismiss them both.

 

Written By Patricia Lynn Murray June 2000