On Goodness and Purity

Eugene the Wise Monk sat at the entrance of his cave among the whispers of old winds in the arms of the ancient mountain amidst the eternal wisdom of the thick forest. The first light of the sun painted the horizon and everything else with an awakened promise.

Down there, in the village shadow of the mountain, young Noah was beginning to feel a stirring of doubt about the good his community celebrated. A village of good laws and good deeds—but the cool morning air seemed to whisper of crimes against purity, something that made him question both the purity and the deeds. 

With these questions strapped over his shoulder like a weighty sack, he began his daily climb to gain Eugene's wisdom.

Having reached the top breathlessly and full of anxiety, Noah found the old monk there, sitting serenely, as if he were the incarnation of peace. "Master Eugene," Noah said, "the village takes pride in the amount of goodness they possess, that even these laws and traditions have their powerful hold on us. But I often wonder, are we the good ones, or are we just conforming? Is our goodness actually pure, or is it a charade?"

Noah peered deep into the eyes of Eugene, seeing a sense of common ground between them. He motioned to the other to sit by him on those old stones that have witnessed many a sun rising. "Consider the mountain, Noah," he started, his voice just as calm as the dawning of the day.

"It stands not from obedience to the laws of the land below, but from out of its nature. It does not conform to the forest, nor to the sky; it simply is."

Though Noah had heard, the weight of his doubts to him gave pain.

Eugene continued, "Goodness, like the mountain, has to come from within, from purity of intention, not just from conformity to what is outwardly dictated. What the village considers good is relative, shaped by tradition and collective, but purity is out of context, it doesn't put on different masks."

"Villagers are not evil, for they act within the goodness they know." Eugene shared, "But true purity dares to rise above what is known, and to see beyond the immediate, and perhaps even to question and redefine."

"But, Master, how could I stand against the rest and the good of our village?" Noah asked, his eyes shining with the spark of defiance.

Eugene smiled, the wisdom of ages wrinkling all over his face. "By staying true, I guess, to your own sense of purity, even if it lands you on the outside. And eventually, the good will see past the limits of their goodness."

The weight of the moment carried lessened the doubts Noah was wrong. He looked to the horizon into the source of the sky meeting the earth, realizing inspiration from that very place within himself. In his heart, he knew that he would have to make the journey on his own if he was ever going to understand where it would take him.

"Go now," said Eugene as they both stood. "Return to your village not with answers, but with questions. Questions that stir the hearts and minds of its people." With his heart a bit lighter than the time he had climbed up, Noah came back down the mountain, the sun higher in the sky behind him, casting long shadows that seemed to guide the village into something more—something else, towards purity in the search of goodness. And so Noah asked, insisting and practicing for perfection, in the idea of goodness in his village, bringing with him not only the wisdom of his master but the courage to shake the easy visions of purity and goodness.