Ia and the Maiden

Ia and his disciples heard sobbing coming from near the bank of a small river. They investigated its source and found a young woman kneeling in the mud, her face buried in her hands as she wept. 'What is wrong, my child?' Ia asked her, walking down towards the riverbank to kneel upon the mud, next to her.

The maiden would not look up at Ia, but her strained voice croaked, 'I was hoping to be chosen as the avatar of my village's goddess at a festival we hold this evening. Another was selected instead of me.'

'Is this all?' Ia asked her. The maiden looked up at him then and wiped her tears away with the back of his hand. She did not speak, and so Ia spoke instead: 'You have brought pain upon yourself for something which is no fault of your own. You allow sensations of loss and betrayal to overcome those of joy and of freedom.'

'What freedom do I have?' asked the maiden. 'What meaning does my life have, if I may not be the chosen form of my goddess made flesh?'

'Listen carefully to me, my child,' said Ia with patience. 'You must learn to accept suffering, if you choose remain devoted to your uncaring matron. To live beneath her yoke is to suffer. You seek escape from this suffering, but will you do what is needed to free yourself from the venom-laced chains that bind your soul? You yearn for escape, but will you do this knowing your current lot is less frightening, falsely comforting, instead of facing down the lies you have been taught and embracing the truth of things?

'Your acceptance is surrender. To surrender to suffering is a sin, and the guilt you feel is brought by subtle awareness of this sin. This sin delivers nothing to you but loss, setbacks, and failures, both those you experience and those of the ones close to you. You must accept them, and then you must learn to embrace them, or you must cast them away. When you hold certain pains close to your heart and cloak yourself in them, they will shield you from other, direr pains which may yet come. But those pains will never become your pains. They will remain always at a distance, used as weapons to restrict you. I ask, my child, will you do what you must to claim your pain as your own, to own it and become well through its agonizing revelation?'

The maiden heard Ia's words, but she did not cease her sobbing. She plunged deeper into the river, begging forgiveness from a deity that would not heed her words, as Ia rejoined his disciples. They continued on their way and left the maiden to reach what redemption she would.