The thirtyfifth morning.
The sky was so clear the clouds looked as if drawn with a fine brush.

The young man sat in front of the hermitage, holding a warm cup of tea.
Steam rose and dissolved into the cool morning air.

But today, he wasn’t drinking tea as usual.

He watched the rising steam—
and in that moment, he felt as if he were looking directly into his own mind.

The teacher stepped out, stood beside him for a while, then asked:

“What are you seeing this morning?”

The young man set the cup down and answered slowly:

“I… feel my mind is light.

As if after seeing the self as only a movement,
I am no longer bound by it.

I feel… free.”

The teacher smiled—
the smile of someone who knows the student has entered a new land.

“Good.

Today you’ve touched the meeting point of Jiddu Krishnamurtiand the Avatamsaka teaching:

inner freedom.”

He sat beside him, watching the dissolving steam.

“Jiddu Krishnamurti says:

‘Freedom is not becoming, but seeing clearly.’

The Avatamsaka teaching says:

‘When you see dependent origination clearly, the mind is no longer bound.’

One speaks the language of the mind.
One speaks the language of the universe.
But both point to the same truth:

Freedom comes from seeing, not from becoming.”

The young man remained silent.

He watched the steam dissolve into the air—
and he saw clearly: freedom is like steam.
It cannot be held.
It appears only when there is no grasping.

The teacher continued:

“Humans suffer because they want to become:

to become better,
to become stronger,
to become wiser,
to become enlightened.

But ‘becoming’ is the movement of the self.
The more you try to become, the farther you are from freedom.”

He placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder:

“Freedom is not something to achieve.

Freedom is seeing clearly the chains—
and when seen clearly, the chains dissolve.”

The young man bowed his head:

“I understand…

Freedom is not breaking the chains.

Freedom is seeing that the chains were never real.”

The teacher nodded.

“When you see the self as only a movement,
you are no longer bound by it.

When you see boundaries as only ideas,
you are no longer divided.

When you see dependent origination,
you are no longer entangled.

And when all of that dissolves,
only freedom remains.”

The young man closed his eyes.

Inside him, a sentence from Jiddu Krishnamurti rang like a clear bell:

“Freedom is now.”

Not tomorrow.
Not after practice.
Not after becoming someone.
Right now.

The teacher stood up.

“Come.

Today, as you walk, feel this:

each step is a step in freedom—
not pulled by the past,
not pushed by the future,
not bound by the self.”

The young man followed him.

His first step touched the earth—
and he felt as if he were walking in a vast open space
with no walls, no ceiling, no chains.

This morning, freedom was no longer a concept.
It became a breath—
light, clear, and full of life.