MiDraSk Conversations – 4

The Blacksmith  – Where are we going ?

The Knight          – To war. To knowledge. It’s the same.

In our conversations, The Knight consistently used the words “man of power” and “man of knowledge”, but never explained to me what he meant by that. I asked him in that morning.

The Knight          – A man of power, a man of knowledge is the one who, most of his life (if not all of it), has followed truthfully the craft, the secrets and the hardships of learning. A man who has gone as far as he can in unraveling the secrets of power and knowledge. Without rushing, without faltering, without fearing.

The Blacksmith  – Can anyone be a man of knowledge ?

The Knight          – No, not  anyone. And I’m very glad you started with knowledge. Let’s leave the power alone, for now.

The Blacksmith  – Then what must a man do to become a man of knowledge ?

The Knight          – He must challenge and defeat all his five natural enemies.

The Blacksmith  – Will he be a man of knowledge after defeating these five enemies ?

The Knight          – Yes. A man can call himself a man of knowledge only if he’s capable of defeating all five of them.

The Blacksmith  – Hmmm … Just to be sure, can anybody who defeats these enemies be a man of knowledge ?

The Knight          – Anybody who defeats them becomes a man of knowledge.

The Blacksmith  – Are there any special requirements a man must fulfill before fighting these enemies ?

The Knight          – No. Anyone can try to become a man of knowledge, but extremely few actually succeed. And this is the way it should be. It’s one of the many immutable laws of universe. Because the enemies a man encounters on the path of learning to become a man of knowledge are truly formidable. And as a fair result, most men succumb to them.

The Blacksmith  – What kind of enemies are they ?

He refuses to talk about enemies. He said it would be a long, long time before this subject and this approach  would make any sense to me.

But I tried to keep this topic alive. I insisted … because I knew I was ready.