Tenet 10 - Infinity.

“You are me, I am you - life is death, death is life”

There once was a village cradled by a vast desert on one side and an endless sea on the other. This village was timeless, a place where the sun rose and set without haste, and the stars stretched endlessly across the heavens. In this village lived a boy named Kael, a seeker of answers. From the time he could speak, he asked questions that no one could answer.

Kael: "What happens after we die?"
Kael: "Where do we come from before we are born?"
Kael: "Why does the sun always return after the night?"

The elders of the village would smile gently and say:

Elder: "These are questions for the Eternal Sage, who lives where the desert meets the sea. But beware, young one—the answers you seek may not bring you peace."

Kael was undeterred. He believed that knowing the truth of life and death would unlock the universe's greatest secrets. On the day he came of age, he set out on a journey to find the Eternal Sage.

For many days, Kael wandered the desert. The heat was unrelenting, and the sands stretched farther than his eyes could see. He began to despair, until one evening, he stumbled upon a small, withered tree. Beneath it sat a man draped in white robes, his face weathered but serene.

Kael: "Are you the Eternal Sage?"

The man opened his eyes and nodded.

Sage: "I am he. What is it you seek, child of the sands?"

Kael: "I seek the truth. What lies beyond life? What is the meaning of death?"

The Sage motioned for Kael to sit and spoke in a voice as deep as the shifting dunes.

Sage: "Come with me to the shore, for the answer lies not in my words but in the meeting of the sea and the desert."

The Sage led Kael to the edge of the sea. There, the waves kissed the sands, only to be pulled back into the vastness of the ocean. The moon hung high, casting a silver path over the water.

Sage: "Watch the waves, Kael. What do you see?"

Kael watched as the waves surged forward, touching the shore, only to retreat into the horizon.

Kael: "They come and go, endlessly. They are never still."

The Sage smiled.

Sage: "The sea is life, and the desert is death. The waves are the bridge between the two. Life flows into death, and death flows into life, as surely as the waves return to the shore."

Kael frowned, unsatisfied.

Kael: "But where do the waves begin? What is their source?"

The Sage gestured to the moonlit sky.

Sage: "The waves are born of the wind and the pull of the moon, forces beyond their control. They begin and end, yet they are eternal, for the sea never ceases to move. So it is with you. You are born from forces you cannot see, you return to the sands, but you do not end. You are both the wave and the water itself."

Kael shook his head, his heart heavy.

Kael: "Then is life meaningless? If we are only waves returning to the sea, what is the point of rising at all?"

The Sage knelt and scooped a handful of water from the ocean. He held it up to the moonlight, where it shimmered like liquid silver.

Sage: "This water is no different from the sea, yet in my hand, it has form. It reflects the light, it ripples with movement. For a moment, it is something unique. Your life is like this—brief, beautiful, and filled with purpose. But when it falls, it does not vanish. It rejoins the whole, becoming infinite once more."

The Sage let the water fall, and Kael watched as it disappeared into the ocean.

That night, Kael dreamed he was a grain of sand swept into the sea. He sank to the depths, only to be lifted by unseen currents, carried across the world, and deposited once more on the shore. He awoke with tears in his eyes, for he understood at last.

The next morning, Kael asked the Sage one final question.

Kael: "What am I, truly?"

The Sage placed his hand on Kael’s chest.

Sage: "You are the wave, the sea, the sand, and the wind. You are life and death, creation and destruction. You are me, and I am you. There is no beginning, no end—only the eternal circle."

Kael returned to his village a changed man. He no longer feared death, nor did he cling to life. He lived each moment as fully as he could, knowing that he was both fleeting and eternal. To those who asked what he had learned, he would simply say:

Kael: "Life is death, and death is life. You are me, and I am you. We are all the waves of the same sea."

And so, the wisdom of the Eternal Sage spread, carried like the wind over the sands, teaching all who would listen that infinity is not a place or a time—it is the very essence of being.