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It's hard to explain
Mar. 17th, 2025 01:59 pmValin is an assistant vice president at an insurance firm. He's well off enough, has a wife and grown kids who attend private high school as boarding students, but has never been satisfied with his career. Hobbies he takes up also fail to fill the void or ease his listlessness.
One Friday night, while his wife is away on a vacation cruise with her friends, he sets up to catch up on the latest episodes of a sci-fi drama. He makes some popcorn, but a few minutes into the show, he ends up dozing off on on the couch.
He has a series of vivid dreams that mirror his waking daily life. He goes through the workweek, Monday all the way to Friday.
Finally, he reluctantly sits down in the dream to catch up on the latest episodes. he tries to press the button for the streaming service on his remote, but something is not working. He looks up and finds the television has dissolved and in its place, is a nine-dimensional being with fifty arms and six faces and luminescent blue skin. Valin is overwhelmed.
The being stretches out one of its fifty hands. Valin hesitates, but then understands, wordlessly, that it is beckoning for the popcorn he just made. The being takes the popcorn bowl from Valin, and unfolds the whole thing, bowl, popcorn and all, into a nine-dimensional manifold.
On it is written a map of Valin's entirely earthly existence. His birth, his death, and all this interactions are depicted in glowing eight dimensional letters and figures on the popcorn-bowl-manifold. A mountain peak of emotion fills Valin's entire being.
Suddenly, the phone rings. Valin sits up with a start. It is 10AM on Saturday, and he was scheduled to have a catch up call with his brother Sugriva about half an hour ago. The popcorn bowl is overturned on Valin's lap, with the popcorn scattered in a mere three dimensions on him, the couch, and the floor nearby.
Valin rushes to the phone. Sugriva asks what the matter was. Tears in his eyes, Valin tries to recount the dream he was just having. But he finds can only explain the popcorn bowl. He struggles to express that there was something profound and important about it as the foundations of the vision making the dream comprehensible at all slip away into dark crevasses of mind. Sugriva laugh awkwardly and changes the subject to mundane things. Valin forgets all about the dream.
Later that week, Valin's wife comes back from the cruise and tells him she is filing for divorce. To her surprise, he takes the news with acceptance. Three months later, he resigns from his job, to the shock of his company. Six months later, he entrusts the rest of his belongings to his kids and family members. He moves to Varanasi to become a wandering saddhu. He gains a reputation for being wise, and about half a dozen followers. But he never remembers the popcorn bowl dream. Fifteen years later, he contracts Hepatitis, and his hospitalized, but does not make it. Valin is mourned by his followers, who vow to carry out the teachings in his stead. After two short countless eons, Valin's spirit obtains full realization and transcends cyclic existence.
People from his old life, for the rest of their lives, try but never come to understand. Some invent narratives of repressed trauma at work. His kids blame the divorce, but also worry about hereditary mental health issues. Sugriva remembers that he was crying shortly before the divorce but doesn't remember anything about the dream.
When the next of kin receive notice of his death, there is a gathering to remember him. Everyone comes together around the hagiography of Valin, a kind and generous corporate leader. His children, one a high paid management consultant, the other an ad executive, speak movingly about he was an inspiration to all of them in their early years in their education and work life. They also each post these and similar thoughts on LinkedIn.
The elder one receives one hundred twenty six thumbs up, fifteen hearts, nineteen supportive palms, and six lightbulbs. The younger one receives ninety three thumbs up, sixty hearts, three supportive palms, and no lightbulbs. It is thought that no less than one hundred and eight countless eons, the mindsteams of both of Valin's children achieve realization and transcend cyclic existence.
The fate of Sugriva's mindstream is unknown to the sages. But some say he works from home in his future life, having been laid off from his old company where he had a corner office and comped lunches. They go on to claim continues to consult even to this day, still ignorant of the popcorn bowl he once ridiculed.
One Friday night, while his wife is away on a vacation cruise with her friends, he sets up to catch up on the latest episodes of a sci-fi drama. He makes some popcorn, but a few minutes into the show, he ends up dozing off on on the couch.
He has a series of vivid dreams that mirror his waking daily life. He goes through the workweek, Monday all the way to Friday.
Finally, he reluctantly sits down in the dream to catch up on the latest episodes. he tries to press the button for the streaming service on his remote, but something is not working. He looks up and finds the television has dissolved and in its place, is a nine-dimensional being with fifty arms and six faces and luminescent blue skin. Valin is overwhelmed.
The being stretches out one of its fifty hands. Valin hesitates, but then understands, wordlessly, that it is beckoning for the popcorn he just made. The being takes the popcorn bowl from Valin, and unfolds the whole thing, bowl, popcorn and all, into a nine-dimensional manifold.
On it is written a map of Valin's entirely earthly existence. His birth, his death, and all this interactions are depicted in glowing eight dimensional letters and figures on the popcorn-bowl-manifold. A mountain peak of emotion fills Valin's entire being.
Suddenly, the phone rings. Valin sits up with a start. It is 10AM on Saturday, and he was scheduled to have a catch up call with his brother Sugriva about half an hour ago. The popcorn bowl is overturned on Valin's lap, with the popcorn scattered in a mere three dimensions on him, the couch, and the floor nearby.
Valin rushes to the phone. Sugriva asks what the matter was. Tears in his eyes, Valin tries to recount the dream he was just having. But he finds can only explain the popcorn bowl. He struggles to express that there was something profound and important about it as the foundations of the vision making the dream comprehensible at all slip away into dark crevasses of mind. Sugriva laugh awkwardly and changes the subject to mundane things. Valin forgets all about the dream.
Later that week, Valin's wife comes back from the cruise and tells him she is filing for divorce. To her surprise, he takes the news with acceptance. Three months later, he resigns from his job, to the shock of his company. Six months later, he entrusts the rest of his belongings to his kids and family members. He moves to Varanasi to become a wandering saddhu. He gains a reputation for being wise, and about half a dozen followers. But he never remembers the popcorn bowl dream. Fifteen years later, he contracts Hepatitis, and his hospitalized, but does not make it. Valin is mourned by his followers, who vow to carry out the teachings in his stead. After two short countless eons, Valin's spirit obtains full realization and transcends cyclic existence.
People from his old life, for the rest of their lives, try but never come to understand. Some invent narratives of repressed trauma at work. His kids blame the divorce, but also worry about hereditary mental health issues. Sugriva remembers that he was crying shortly before the divorce but doesn't remember anything about the dream.
When the next of kin receive notice of his death, there is a gathering to remember him. Everyone comes together around the hagiography of Valin, a kind and generous corporate leader. His children, one a high paid management consultant, the other an ad executive, speak movingly about he was an inspiration to all of them in their early years in their education and work life. They also each post these and similar thoughts on LinkedIn.
The elder one receives one hundred twenty six thumbs up, fifteen hearts, nineteen supportive palms, and six lightbulbs. The younger one receives ninety three thumbs up, sixty hearts, three supportive palms, and no lightbulbs. It is thought that no less than one hundred and eight countless eons, the mindsteams of both of Valin's children achieve realization and transcend cyclic existence.
The fate of Sugriva's mindstream is unknown to the sages. But some say he works from home in his future life, having been laid off from his old company where he had a corner office and comped lunches. They go on to claim continues to consult even to this day, still ignorant of the popcorn bowl he once ridiculed.
