Fetter

Of course Kullermes knows who he once was. He knows the mountain he climbed, the town he is indebted to. The shaman knows many things; he just doesn't say them.

The way he sees it, he was born an unspeaking sentinel, and after a momentary lapse in that role, he has reconnected with his calling.

But still he misses that lapse. He misses feeling the passion last as long as his many words. He misses explaining himself, searching for ways to articulate reactions. He misses being in that way.

According to the new teachings he has undergone, however, this type of being is a fetter. It's a textbook case, in fact. Discarding it was for the better.

Still, though. Once discarded, the fetter could be observed via the sense media. Once observed, the fetter could be felt... and then left to hang in the mind. Because-- what's different now-- the shaman can also observe and feel the consequences of the fetter, consider them in turn with and without the fetter, and seek to understand the full system. (For while there is no fetter without its consequences, a fetter must still be considered without its consequences.)

Done in this way, there is a chance that feeling the fetter may not lead to craving, that craving the fetter in turn may not lead to attachment, that attachment to the fetter in turn may not lead to becoming, that becoming an entity based around the fetter in turn may not lead to rebirth, that rebirth as an entity based around the fetter may not in turn lead to suffering.

Doing in this way will take conscious effort. The shaman chooses to be ready for that, and in so doing, the shaman is one step closer to the DJay he was meant to be.