Navigator Kaza sat before Lirran. It is time we start to meditate together. Through this, our minds will attune, you will learn to find your centre and can stop relying on sleep itself to bring you here. Then, you will start to find a strength that none of the creatures beyond the threshold can take from you. You will be like a stone in the ocean. 

Lirran nodded. Are you sure you can keep the rudder steady and the sail in check while meditating? 

Lirran, my follower, be not afraid. While I glided through the endless waters, I could not simply fall asleep, currents and creatures of the sea would have done with me what they wanted. My kin has developed a method of sleeping with half a mind for this purpose, I have found an even deeper way to make use of it. 

I understand, I do not wish to question you. 

Tell me about your practiced religion. 

Lirran remembered back to his first home and the shrine there. I was never devout. My mother prayed to Acha, mother of fields, but I was never bound into it. She said I should pray to Iokall, lord of men, so that I may learn the morals my father was never there to teach me. When I entered my old Master’s service, he took me to worship Clossa, maiden of night and bane of nightmare. She passed down the secrets of dreamhealing to the first humans to wander in the bay on their own. 

Kaza took all this in and nodded to herself. You will have to let go of your devotion to a select few gods, your old worship ends with you entering my tutelage. 

I understand. 

From now on, you must understand that my teachings seek to find a level of existence that is both deeper and higher than worship of gods. In this, I cannot simply tell you what to believe. I must take you into the darkness and shed light on the foundation of the world, so that you can start to build your own understanding. Repeat it. 

You merely shed light on the foundation of the world so that I can start to build my own understanding. 

Yes. Now, tell me. Do you know why we can talk to another here? 

Lirran’s mind raised an eyebrow, expecting it to be a trick question. 

No, truly, tell me honestly. 

It is because we both think here and the expression of sound does not hinder us. 

Yes, correct. Now what conclusion can you draw from that? 

A moment went by and Lirran could not find any deeper meaning to it. I don’t know? That thoughts and words are two different things. 

But Kaza seemed disappointed. No, quite the opposite. Words are thoughts, but it is the material world that hinders us. Here we can be one. Here we can talk. The mental realm is an echo of the divine world, the material realm is its shards. 

So does that mean that mind and body are also the same thing? 

At the foundation, yes. Now, try again to draw a conclusion from it. 

If mind and body are at the foundation the same thing, then... Lirran pondered those words for a while. ...then the mind can influence the body but also the other way around. And that’s why I need an idol of my ego, so that what I experience when I go through the threshold cannot irreversibly change me. 

Kaza nodded. Yes, you already knew that, but then again, making these connections is important. The sail is held by two ropes and equally, knowledge that connects is more stable and useful. 

I see. Shall I try again? 

Meditate on the union of mind and body upon the foundation of this world some more. We will approach this slowly. 

Lirran bowed his head. Yes, my Navigator. 

The figure of sea foam dissipated in the breeze of the bay. Lirran was alone. 

He got to meditating on the mantra. The union of body and mind upon the foundation of the world...  

He said it a few more times without trying to draw any conclusion from it, just trying to make sure he understood this basis. 

If body and mind can be one, we can create thought through action and action through thought. 

He felt as if he was going in circles. He tried to clear his head and tried again.  

If body and mind can be one... Then we cannot change our body without changing our mind. But can we change our mind without changing our body? Is that true? I changed my mind pretty many times, but I am still the same body... except I am getting older. Do people get older faster if they frequently change their mind? If people never think, do they live longer? Or grow up faster? Old Master always made me think on things and I was still the last of the village to get tall. 

He sat there, in the sand and thought about growing up and growing old.  

Some people say they worry so much their hair turns grey. Is that it? No, Kaza’s kin doesn’t have any hair, that can’t be what she meant. 

And again, he began anew.  

If body and mind are one, then... We can make thoughts manifest. Is that it? A craftsman must imagine the work piece before he can make it. If body and mind can be one, then... there must be a way to bring them in perfect harmony. Is that the solid power she talked about? 

Lirran seemed happy with his conclusions. Things seemed clearer, at least a bit.  

But what about the foundations? She said at the foundations, mind and body are the same thing. Are they attached at the base? Is there a primordial state where they have a unity already? 

Once again, Lirran said the mantra. 

At the foundations. The same thing. 

The learning apprentice of Navigator Kaza sat in meditation, repeating his basis and drawing new conclusions. His mind wandered the same circle many times over and over again.  

Meanwhile, the Navigator sat next to the rudder, observing the sleeping boy in the tent in the light of a waxing moon. Her heart beat like never before. She was finally realizing a dream she thought she would have to put off for much longer.