The Moon Zone Excerpt on The 17th Genius: Emzhom​

He looked homeless and was fishing. I asked him, “Hello, are you Emzhom?” He looked at me and asked, “Do you like fishing?” I sat next to him on a rock and replied, “No, nor have I ever gone fishing”. He asked, “What is it that you dislike about fishing?” I replied, “I think it’s cruel. Even if people let the fish go. To a fish it is traumatizing, to the person it is exciting. I think it is cruel, especially when you are doing it as a sport”. He quietly said, “Ah, a kind heart I see.” I asked him if he liked fishing and he said, “Oh, I don’t fish for fish. I like to see what comes out of that waterfall. Many interesting things come out from there sometimes.” He got up and put away his fishing line which was, to my surprise, nothing more than a stick without the line or the hook. He started to walk into the dense jungle and I followed. I asked him again, “So, are you Emzhom?” He smiled and said that he was.

We came to a grassland. Far away there was a giant rock blocking an entrance to a cave. He said, “Do you recognize this place?” I replied “Yes”. We went up to the rock and then he asked, “Tell me, do you have enemies?” I said “No.” He said, “You must have because in your world everyone seems to have enemies.” Then he turned around and I saw two people setting a nice table with two seats. There were lots of food displayed on the table. He gestured for me to sit, so I did, and he started to eat some pancakes. I noticed he no longer looked rugged but was dressed properly. I said, “Well, if you put it that way, then I do. I have only one enemy, and that is me,” He asked, “Do you like pancakes? They are delicious, by the way, you should try some.” I nicely declined and told him that I gotta avoid wheat, for now, so he told me to have some fruit then. “The berries are divine”. Then there was a cup full of colourful but weirdly shaped berries in front of me. I got some on my spoon and put it in my mouth (let’s just say that inside my mouth there was a party). He swallowed his last bite of the pancake and wiped his mouth clean. He asked if I would like to try some divinely delicious tea and I agreed.

He continued, “So your enemy is yourself? Then, would you like to know how to defeat that enemy?” I replied, “Well, I don’t want to defeat my enemy because that itself carries a negative connotation. I want to be able to face my enemy and see it as who it truly is.” He gestured, “Continue…” I said, “I want to be brave and not run away. I am tired of running away. I am tired of not being able to see the truth. Each chance I get I run away from myself and I’m growing very tired of that. I’ve faced many things in my life. Whatever that was thrown at me I faced it one way or another, but when it comes to myself, I’m completely helpless.” He nodded and said, “Good, when you see this, what do you feel?” And all of a sudden, I saw myself facing a huge tall wave which was about to hit hard. I couldn’t talk. I was stuck at that moment, but when I realized that, I stood up and faced the wave. Still, I felt scared. I turned around. There were lots of people and their homes behind me. I felt worried for them. Then Emzhom walked up to me and quietly said, “You have a lot of water, and it has a very destructive side to it. I can see the horror in your eyes. I can feel your pain and your fear. First tell me, what causes big waves?” I replied with a shaky voice, “There is wind, gravity…I don’t know”. He said, “So there is the element of wind. What is wind associated with?” I replied quickly, “The mental, thoughts…” And he said, “Yes, the mental. When you face a situation with all kinds of thoughts, what happens after that?” I replied, “You react. Your first response is a reaction.” I was still facing this tall disastrous wave. He asked, “But if you go deep and push away the thoughts and the reactions, what do you feel?” I said, “Sadness.” I do not know why, but at that point, I felt relief. He continued, “Yes, sadness, behind all reactions there are emotions.”