Inner Peace

Chapter 1

All my life I've dealt with inner conflict. My mind fighting itself, like there are multiple people trying to fight for control. It has been an inner struggle trying to fight just to stay in control of my own mind, like a constant tug-of-war with whatever is trying to take hold of me.

However, I have new hope! I've heard rumors of a mountain temple on Everest; an old legend states that monks used this temple to become one with their inner self. I will be taking a few weeks off work to find this lost temple and finally rid myself of this eternal fight for supremacy. But I can't start this journey being unprepared! I need to read up on mountain climbing, and try to find more information about this temple. Whether it's imaginary or not, I'll soon learn.

Once I'm off work today, it will be the start of a new adventure! A grand one, that spans the whole time I am taking off work. It may seem like a fools errand to others, but it's the only thing I can use for hope right now. I've got a few things left, so I'll stop writing and get ready to do this!

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One Work Shift Later...
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"Hello! I need books on the ancient Everest Temple, if you could help me?" I said to the librarian. She looked up from her phone, rolled her eyes and whispered under her breath, "Whatever gets you out of my space." She began clicking away at her computer trying to find books on the temple. After a few minutes, she turned with a look of pure boredom and annoyance, throwing on her best customer service voice. "I'm sorry but we don't appear to have anything on our records of such a topic, but you are welcome to look around! Mount Everest books are at the back right, good luck on your search!"

I start to the back looking for informative books on the Highest Peak on Earth, but come to find nothing on a temple in the peaks. "I hear you are looking for The Temple Peak." comes wheezing from behind me. I whipped around only to find an older man in the library, just standing behind me. "Yes, do you know of such a book?" I inquired, talking maybe a bit too excitedly. He chuckled breathily, seemingly choking out "I know why you search for it. You have a war going on within, a struggle for control. This battle you've grown used to, you want to end this. Don't you my friend?" I was far past confused, as he had just summed up my ailment no one else ever seemed to understand. "How do you know?" He just gave a small cackle and replied, "I can sense it my friend. There is just something interesting about you, something I've never seen in all my life.! Now, I can give you a map to the temple. However, the journey isn't easy." His constant wheezing and cackling gave me a strange feeling, but I was already too far into this to give up. With a slight tremble in my voice, I replied "I understand. Now, where is the map?' " This map isn't something you hold, but something you have to remember!" Moments after the power flickered and the old man was gone. I went home thinking about what he said, but I was stumped. "The map isn't something you hold, but something you remember? This makes no sense!!"

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Three Weeks Later...
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Damn! I still have nothing on the map to the temple, and at this point I cease to believe it exists. Either way, I must keep trying to figure out the riddle the old man told me. If it has a chance to lead me to the temple, I have to do it. I must find the temple, if it will end my seemingly eternal conflict within. So, here I sit, in my study staring at a map of the peak and it's trail down.

No amount of pondering, researching, or using occult strategies like a scrying or asking ghost, demons, or gods seems to give me where the temple is. Even if I find something, how will I know if it is the temple! My wife, who I've been with for years, is starting to wonder if I've finally gone crazy! If I go on like this, she believes my drive to find this temple will be the end of our marriage. But I do my absolute best reassure her that once I find this temple, I will finally be free of this 28 year long inner conflict! We can be sure that it's me and not whatever or whoever else wants to take over!

After a long night of research, I get up to leave my study and go to bed around 2 am. As I go up the stairs, I hear a sound behind me around the final steps up. It reminded me of that old man's cackle, so I begin to turn and feel my feet slip. I begin to fall and strike my head on the railings, falling into a coma. My loud thud startled my wife awake, and she runs down the stairs to the study to find me on the floor. She rushes me to hospital, all the while crying and telling me I'll be fine. I'm not so sure....

When we get to the hospital, they check me out and they say I'm fine. The only issue is they can't wake me up. Essentially, I'm in a coma with no sign of waking up. After I hear that I feel groggy, like I haven't slept in weeks. I try to fight it, to give them a sign I'm awake, but the battle is futile and I succumb to the darkness with the sound of a hospital lulling me to sleep.

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Later...
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I wake up minutes later, but someplace far from a hospital. The sky is a bright purple with hints of different shades of blue, and I'm in a snowstorm. As I look around to gather myself and my bearings, the storm starts to slow figure out where I am then it hits me. My god, I'm at Mount Everest. All I can see around me is clouds so I'm very high on the mountain. I start walking to see if I can find civilizations or animals really to make sure I'm not alone on this rock. I walk for hours with nothing but snow, clouds, and cliffs that if I fall I'd surely die, nothing in sight then in my final moments of defeat I finally find it. The Ancient Everest Temple once I found it I ran inside to find nothing but ruins. It appears that nobody has been there in thousands of years, I searched every inch of that temple to find nothing no sign of human life just some text carved into the wall of a language I didn't understand which was worrying because I know every language (I liked to learn new languages for fun) but this one confused me because some of the marking must of been taken of languages but they made no sense just by themselves. While looking at the markings I heard a voice from the entrance of the temple and when I looked I was startled that the person there looked like me but with older clothing. "David" the mysterious stranger said, "Who are you and what do you want?'". "I am you in a past life." Past me said "But how is any of that possible" I said. "Your time still has yet to understand the power of the soul and mind. As humans our souls never die; they are moved to the next life.", "So what you are saying is that a human's soul never dies, it just moves to a new host. What about the memories of the past life?" "They leave with the physical body except ours, for whatever reason our past lives stay with our soul until the soul can not handle all the memories of our past lives." "So the inner conflict within me isn't personality disorder but my, our soul cannot hold anymore past lives memories". "So how do I get rid of the past life's memories?". "You are on that journey to be free of your past lives, just follow your senses and your past lives there with help and guide you, now farewell for now".
"Wait, I still have so many questions." Before I could get that last sentence out he disappeared into dust. Now I must find my other past lives so they can help me in this ever long journey