My Friend Manipura

Manipura, the holy man, smiled down at the little girl. "Usually people wait until they're older to consult my wisdom," he said. "Why are you here?"

"I refuse to believe that all I am and can be is in relation to all that my mom and dad want to be."

"You would be right," Manipura said with a laugh. "There are many things you are that cannot be seen by the likes of your people."

"But they're my mom and dad, so I have to at least figure out a way to keep them off my case until I can start making decisions on my own."

"You've been making decisions on your own ever since you emerged and became someone other than a piece of your mother and your father," said the wise man, his visage shifting slightly towards the sun.

"Did you have parents?"

Manipura laughed. "Yes, little one. No one comes to this world but through them.  Svadisthana was my mother and of a singular mind. Her drive was to make many children, not all of them babies, of which I am only one. My father, Muladhara, was a business man. Always down to business."

The little girl smiled. "They sound like my mom and dad."

"You must beware, little one," said Manipura with a radiant smile. What comes before comes again. This time it's your mother and father. Then it will be who you love. Then it will be society, great and large, that wants to shape you. If you fight it, you will also fight yourself, but this is to be expected. It is the mark of a creator to fight."

"What happens when I have a little baby of my own?" asked the little girl, a bit wide-eyed.

"Then it will be your turn to be the invisible helping hand and the invisible barrier for your own child."

leslie powell

7 october 2005

minnetonka, mn