187 Many Lives (2/2)
...
Next came the life of a farmer. He grew wheat and raised livestock, living a peaceful and ordinary life. He often dreamed of the sea that his father had taken him to as a child. Would he be happier exploring the world rather than being stuck on a farm? He didn't know, but he lived a good life nonetheless.
...
Ed's lives continued to flash by, each just as ordinary as the last. The life of a soldier. Several lives of different types of farmers and fishermen. The life of a stonemason. What was interesting was that each life seemed to be a happy one. He rarely struggled, and everything always seemed to go unusually well. Throughout over a dozen lives, he never once was a slave despite how common the practice was in ancient times. He never suffered from hard times, and even when he was a soldier, he had never been injured in battle. It was as if an invisible hand was guiding and blessing his past lives.
...
'I don't get it!' Ed's eyes turned red as he stared in frustration at the Samsara Wheel of Life. 'Each life is completely ordinary! I've never even broken a limb in one of these lives. It's like I won the eternal lottery of no suffering up until my most recent lives. Why?!' He felt like he was understanding the Samsara Wheel of Life well at first. Karma connected each of his past and present lives, and this held true no matter how far he went back. However, the recent dramatic upturns in the types of lives he lived made no sense. However, the suffering he experienced in recent lives made perfect sense. 'Why is it that my most ordinary and boring lives go so perfectly and peacefully? It isn't realistic.' He frowned while rubbing his chin. 'At the very least, I should struggle from some common problems in my previous ordinary lives, but I've never even gotten sick once during them. Yet somehow, I died of illness both as Napoleon and as Muhammad II. This isn't normal!'
Suddenly, a golden flash of light shone from the wheel. Ed stared at it in confusion, but he wasn't being drawn into his next past life. 'I've already gone back to just before the birth of Jesus. Is that when my soul was born? Have I gone through all of it already?' He wondered.
Ed waited patiently for several minutes, but nothing happened. Eventually, the golden Buddha reappeared.
”Hmm....” The Buddha rubbed his chin in confusion while staring at the Samsara Wheel of Life. ”That can't be right...”
”Is something wrong?” Ed impatiently asked.
”Yes...” Buddha hesitantly replied. He turned to look at Ed, a golden flash appearing in his eyes. ”Strange. Very strange. Who could prevent me from seeing past lives?” He muttered under his breath. He looked Ed directly in the eyes. ”Tell me about your previous lives.”
Confused, Ed examined the Buddha carefully. 'He can't see them? Well, not like it'll hurt to tell him I guess.' He began explaining a summary of each life, from the crazy doctor all the way down to becoming an ordinary farmer.
”Interesting.” Buddha clasped his hands together and closed his eyes to think. ”It's unusual that your lives would experience such drastic changes over time. Did you notice anything else unusual during your experiences?”
”Mm.” Ed nodded while beginning to count down with his fingers. ”I never once got sick in any of my more ordinary lives despite having died of illness in my most recent lives. Same goes for injuries. All of my ordinary lives were perfectly peaceful and struggle-free, as if I was destined to live a good life.”
”I see.” Buddha nodded while opening his eyes. ”This is indeed unusual. Life is suffering and escaping from Samsara means to escape from suffering. How can one escape Samsara if there is no suffering to escape from? It's as if someone purposefully wanted to keep you locked in Samsara for all eternity. How very strange...”
Buddha moved closer and placed a hand on Ed's head. ”This may hurt a bit. Please bear with me.” A golden flash covered Ed's entire soul-form body. The golden light slowly sank into him, examining him from head-to-toe.
Instinctively, Ed began to push out the invading golden light with his own golden faith energy. However, he quickly stopped himself from doing so. There seemed to be something wrong with him, and perhaps only the remnants of the original Buddha could help. Of course, Ed normally wouldn't put his life in the hands of a stranger like this, but he felt oddly trusting of the Buddha. It wasn't surprising when considering he had also felt trusting of the newer living Buddha he had met when first arriving at the temple. Clearly the Buddhas practiced some type of law or technique that resulted in such things.
”A seal?” The Buddha suddenly muttered in surprise. ”Why would someone place such a vile seal on a human soul? It's at least a couple thousand years old...”
”A seal?” Ed questioned. ”What would sealing someone's soul do?”
”It depends.” Buddha answered honestly. ”A soul seal is an extremely difficult technique, and only a few of the most powerful beings throughout time have mastered such things. A soul seal could be used for multiple reasons. I use them to prevent those that I've taught golden faith energy cultivation from passing the techniques down to others. Soul seals can also be used for healing a soul, damaging a soul, and in your case, trapping a soul. Someone purposefully wanted to prevent you from escaping Samsara, and so they blessed you with living care-free good lives. However, the seal has begun to degrade over time, which in turn has caused you to begin experiencing normal sufferings. Additionally, your soul is a fierce one. With you having gathered so much karma over your many good lives, it isn't surprising that you were repeatedly reborn into high-status. However, it is unusual for such an ambitious soul to acquire good karma in the first place. The creator of the seal should've known this might be the eventual result...” He shook his head. ”Well, we'll find out why soon enough. I'm removing the seal.”
”Please do so.” Ed nodded and closed his eyes.
A brilliant flash of golden light briefly lit up the entire void.
”AGHHH!!!” Ed suddenly shrieked in pain as he grabbed his throbbing head. His soul, no his entire being, felt as if it was set aflame. It was like someone had inserted a hot coil into his body and turned the temperature up to extremes. He opened his eyes and blurrily stared at the golden Samsara Wheel of Life. Then, he sank deeper into unconsciousness once again.