The Story of the Echo

There is an uncharted valley in a wilderness which has never been built on. It is alleged to have a very unique echo. This echo is supposed to be able to tell secrets about oneself; the truth about oneself. 

A  young man spoke of challenging this echo. Upon hearing this, his teacher told him to go to this valley, not to challenge but listen. ‘It’s an echo’ he thought to himself. ‘How can I listen to an echo?’  Regardless, he made plans to go. 

When he arrived at the cliff, he yelled out: “I am right!” The voice came back. “I am … right.” To which the young man said “I thought so. It’s just an echo”. But, he knew in the back of his head, the echo was a little bit different. To prove his point, he yelled out again: “you are wrong!” The voice came back. “You are … wrong?” He was a little bit angry at how it came back. He didn’t like the tone that came back and so he went back-and-forth with the echo for a little bit and finally he’s yelled out. “You are a coward!”  The word ‘coward’ came back, alone. The tone was haunting. It startled him and scared him. He could not help but yell out: “I have hurt people.” The echo responded: “forgive.” He had shivers up and down his body. He sat quietly, humbled. He began to listen to his inner voice. He became deeply quiet. 

After some time, he became calm. He became peaceful. In that experience, he learned why the teacher said to listen. He was able to make a distinction between his ‘fill in the gap’ voice and his inner voice. Most importantly, he was listening. 

There are many ways we learn. One of the most important is our inner voice. Not the one active in our brains all the time, that is our overactive brain trying to fill in the gaps. Moreso, when we are at peace and calm. In the emptiness. We can find these moments the most insightful and balancing. Here we are our true selves. As we allow ourselves to sit with the quiet, with the emptiness and listen to our undistracted inner voice, we gain insight. We gain balance. We gain peace.