Old Rings, New Rings, Five Things!

I have a dream often, do you often have a dream? This dream is quite colourful so it really stays with me in my waking hours!

It takes place on the Earth by a house and a beautiful green mountain, which is near a large lake of crystal blue Water, it's raining at first, then the sun comes out and a gorgeous half rainbow appears, then there is a fire in the outhouse of the house and an old man rushes out asking for my help! Somehow we put the Fire out together and he and his wife and grandchildren are so happy they invite me to eat with them in their humble house! They seem Japanese, but the characters on various books in the house seem alien to me, more like those in a science fiction movie. The food is indescribably good, whilst healthy and simple. The hospitality equally so. This must be Japan! Even that mountain is unmistakable I tell myself. The Wind blew gently on the porch the wind chimes tinkled the house was at Peace.

I am in this dream of mixed nationality which happens to be true in real life and they are curious as to where I am from. The children though are quickly tired after they wolf down their food and they retire upstairs with their Grandmother!

Then he asks surprisingly directly, Who I am? I tell him in my dream that I am a time traveler from the future! He stops dead and pulls the small sword in his belt out of the hilt just a little! Which year he says, to my further surprise, as if it matters! I say 2020 rounding up from 2016! He says you have been here before haven't you? I have no knowledge of my previous dreams and ask him why he thinks that? We know you, sometimes you are a woman and sometimes you are a man. You have three sons Alex, Julian and Andrew. I nod and choke on my food at the same time and drink from a glass of water on the high table we are sat at, how does he know this I ask myself? You are confused aren't you he says. I tell him I am very confused and most of the people I know in 2020 are also confused. He says you are not a very good time traveler are you? I am flustered at this point. So I ask what makes a good time traveler then in your opinion? You should at least know, where you are, what you are, who you are, why you are, and when you are! Then you will know how to be, anywhere! This seemed perfectly reasonable advice, if a little deep. I smiled drank some of the red wine he had poured in my glass and asked him to please tell me more.

He said every time you come to my house there is a small fire! Why do you keep coming here he asks? I am now really confused as I have no prior knowledge of my dream each time, I apologize, I say I do not know for certain, however with a welcome like this one, I do want to come back again and smile as best I can whilst looking at his sword hand. I also tell him that in the year that I come from the earth is celebrating sport in a beautiful country that also has a mountain much like the one behind his house! He relaxes his grip on his short sword hilt smiles and says if you promise to go back to the past and retell a story to your friends then perhaps the fires will stop! In the past I said, this is the past, isn't it? He says nothing. The silence hangs in the air so you could cut it with a knife, so I promise him and he then walks to a bell in the house near the shrine taps it once and it rings out a sweet tone that stops after quite sometime, after which he says there are five things to tell your friends!

1.  Celebrating in your house is a good thing you should all come together often and teach your children and your grandchildren good ways! Your house is the Earth. You only have one house, there only is one house. If you want Peace on Earth and Harmony you need Determination together to succeed or you will all go in circles.

2. He rings the bell once again, as it rings out sweetly he quickens his pace turns and points at the lake out of the window, the lake and the glass of water on the table are the same he says, we are the lake, we are the glass of water, we are all mixed up. For this house, this Earth only has water creatures here! The balance must be strong between the female and the male water creatures or there will be.....he stops, pauses, then continues strongly. There will be fires! To keep the balance you must cherish the Inspiration of the female and the male inside of you all. We are all two people, yet we can create one style!

I nod! I heard what he had said very clearly! I look up at him once again.

He is an imposing figure despite his age, he is dressed as a Samurai in full battle gear now. I did not notice him changing his clothes at all, yet as he turned from the window he was resplendent in the fine cut of a Japanese warriors garb, but this was incredible it was futuristic it looked like red carbon, graphene even, it hugged his shape perfectly, like the interlocking petals of a flower embraces a bee, in harmony with him, in all his inner strength and wisdom even in his old age. He continued silhouetted against the glare of the sun in the far distance that was now burning a gorgeous hue of red. Like a lonely orb of fire hanging over the mountain and over him.

3. He struck the bell again, it was a different tone more ominous than sweet this time, he drew circles in the air over the bell five times, its ringing over, he turned with fire in his eyes and said, The fire in your heart is the fire you should cherish, if you love your own heart, you can love the hearts of all your fellow water creatures. For the best place for a flame is inside your heart. If the true flame in any heart escapes then even all the water creatures together, even a Tsunami of intent, will not be able to douse that fire. If you want to stop your house from burning you must communicate that wish to everyone, even to novice time travelers from the past. He winked!

I blush I am going red, He said it again, So I am from the past, I am dead already, so is this heaven? I blurt out in my head! I was mindful he was now holding the hilt of a much larger sword. So I said, I am causing you a problem coming here again and again I am sorry. He said listen well then. To break any circle you need not be vicious. Inside every circle is a starlit road to the void, a straight road, a road that you must unravel from the circle yourself. To do that you must have Courage you must cherish Friendship as if it is oxygen, you must be aware of good timing in your dealings with your friends, you must have the Courage to make new friends and be generous with your time. If all the oxygen is shared in true Friendship, then there will be no fires.

It made perfect sense to me!

He moved to the centre of the room carrying the bell on its small cushion and placed it on a low table in a freshly created Tatami mat area in the house. The smell of the fresh Tatami infused the whole house with a calm, even with the heat, that was palpable. Like the smell of freshly mown grass in England on a lazy late English summer Sunday. I mused to myself that this was recalled from a time long, long ago and even longer ago now in this dream, if this was indeed the future.

He asked me to join him at the low table. I was lucky it had a hole for your legs under it, we sat face to face he pointed to a beautiful drawing hanging on the wall, it was on a vertical scroll in the corner of the room over a tiny bonsai tree that looked as purposeful and strong as his master. The bell rings again! Yet he did not touch it this time, he was just staring at it. I recoiled backwards.

4. He said do not be afraid, everyone is different, everyone has a style, some of us can do things that no one else can, some of us can draw, some of us can dance, some of us can sing, some of us can play sports, yet all of us can harness thought, we therefore can all contribute if we put our minds to any task, even the ringing of a bell can be mastered if you focus hard enough, for intent is everything, intent is everywhere. Intent is the electricity of life it flows in us and between us all, unseen yet very real. If you harness the power of your own intent you can then join the flow of the entire universe and that flow can be channeled like the wind into your own style. You need to Respect the style of others and remember that we are all able to tap into intent and change our style, intent is the Equality that the universe bestows on us all. Purpose and intent blow like the wind over water in our lives, we can take what we have been given, and overcome many things in this way. Our intent and our style equally affects all around us.

I could hear his words however I could not understand! A river of intent? I asked. He laughed, No like time, he said, intent is all around us all, all the time. It is an ocean and you are a very small water creature remember, yet you can tap into that and be truly YOU, it is why you are!

This time he gave me the hammer for the bell, I took it, looked at the bell between us on its small exquisite purple and gold cushion and willed it to ring! No sound came. The silence was like the void itself an eternal quiet echoing in my ears. I tried again and again and again, nothing! The laughter of one of the youngest children broke the spell, into the room she came bouncing down the stairs, skipping along happily, tall, healthy, beaming smile, long black hair and strangely beautiful, but with ragged edo style clothes, she reminded me of pictures of my wife when she was young, she was clutching a small book and what looked like a large gold clasped locket box and smiling. Daddy, she said, Mummy gave me these to show him, it is charged up now. I had certainly heard that before but not in the edo era, my back shivered!

5. I then tapped the bell with the hammer, it rang out clear and true a beautiful note that hung in the air for what seemed an eternity. She pressed a button on the delicate engraved gold locket box it opened slowly clam shell style as if damped by a inner mechanism. inside their was an etched Apple logo, but different, nothing quite like I had ever seen before with the number 10 set in diamonds in the middle, on the other side a beautiful screen that flickered once and then came to life. We kept this in the family for many, many years he said for it is truly a treasured family heirloom. He opened the home screen, again the characters were Japanese in style but slightly alien to me. I shrugged and said to myself most Japanese characters are Michael, lets face it even now.

Then he said quietly but firmly.

The future is the void, the huge question mark, for we can not see it at all, it is as black or as white as any void you can imagine unless you dream. For we are all water creatures in our single house and we are all alone together in the void. That is our fate in the realm that we know. We should all strive for Excellence in this realm for anything less would not be in harmony with the beauty of what is all around us.

His words were crystal clear needing no translation at all.

Then he relaxed a little, taking his hands off his sword hilts and smiled a deep satisfying smile. The kind of smile your child gives you when they come off the stage at kindergarten having been in a play!

We like to go back in the past often, he said, but you should see the future. We should all try and see the future.

I agreed with him that that was indeed a noble task and smiled at them both! They both smiled back. I felt strangely happy, happier perhaps than I had ever been in my life before.

He took a small object from his belt and pressed a icon on its screen. Instantly the young girls clothes changed as did his like a 3D morph in a Hollywood movie, the only thing in the room that did not change was the table and the Tatami. Gone the Bonsai tree, gone the scrolled picture, all the objects in the house were now new, white futuristically designed. their clothes were functional, clean, sharp with some embroidered designs in red on white.

The young girl brought up a digital image on the ancient golden Apple device. There was an old man his wife and three sons standing on a balcony of a hotel in Tokyo, Odaiba at night, in the background fireworks exploded in a glorious profusion of colours, they painted circles in the sky above Rainbow Bridge with Tokyo Tower in the far distant background.

That was three hundred years ago this is 2320 you are not a time traveler, you are a ghost! he said.

He smiled and said welcome to the future great great great great great Grandfather!

Then I awoke bolt upright in a cold sweat, in the dead of night in 2016, sad that dream was over.

I tried to go back to sleep I could not. Then I finally did.

Then it all started again! Like a circle!

When I finally awoke that morning on my bed there was a very yellowed copy of a small book! How did that get there I asked myself.

I picked it up it was my own copy of

The Book of Five Rings (五輪書 Go Rin no Sho) by
Miyamoto Musashi

What is your dream like?

Please tell me I would love to know!