Classroom of the Heart, Part 4: A Mystery Extracurricular Activity at Age 8

The first day of the 'Classroom of the Heart' ended.

On the way home, my mother excitedly asked, 'Did you see it? Did you get on the elevator?' But when I replied, 'I got on. I marked with ticks and crosses on the paper with a brush. But I didn't like how the ink dripped when I held the brush from the bucket,' she just said, 'Oh, I see...' and didn't ask much else.

From the second time onward, I was always left in the room with a low table during the ‘lecture time’ where I would read Doraemon. Then, during the ‘training time’ I was called into the room.

I actually don't remember much of the training we did! Riding the elevator with the teacher's guidance was consistent, but... I vaguely recall going to various places like the sea or mountains through the teacher's guidance... Maybe trying to enter the sea or searching for food in the mountains... I feel like we have done various other things too, but I was too young to retain those memories.

One thing I remember…there was something about going down in the elevator, making your hand a magic hand, and healing others... But I remember, during that healing practice, the teacher just said to me 'If you do this, your hand becomes a magic hand, and you can relieve others' pain.' But I just didn’t believe that can be true, so I didn't take the practice seriously.

We attended 7-8 classes altogether.

At the end of each class, everyone does their own breathing exercises, gets on the elevator by themselves, goes to a place they like, does something they like, and comes back by themselves. But eight-year-old me wasn't good at 'deciding a theme' before going. Even when I was told to think of a part of myself, I want to fix (character, body) or to think of an acquaintance with poor health, I couldn’t really come up with anything or anyone. I just used

the same theme every time which was 'callus on my finger'. But I knew that it wouldn’t heal unless I completely stopped writing, so it wasn’t a very suitable theme for this specific training.

Right before the final class, my uncle, fell ill. This was the first time I decided to try something other than the callus theme!

During the final class, the teacher just sat in front of us and didn’t give us any instructions. Each of us started the breathing exercises at our own pace, and I quickly dived into it myself. As a child, I could dive just for the sake of 'fun,' not knowing where I was diving. I am now amazed by how I was able to do it at the time. If I were to do this now without much explanation, I'd probably be full of doubts and fear and wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

By this time, I felt that using the elevator is tiresome, so I closed my eyes, made a hole in the darkness on my own, and jumped in. Slowly floating down, I thought, 'Counting from now, where my feet touch at zero will be the place I must go today. Today, I'll dive for my uncle's recovery.' Counting down from 10... 9... 8... as I fell. Landing at zero.

When I landed at zero, I saw that my feet were in shoes I didn't recognize. Eight-year-old me thought, ‘This is what diving is supposed to be.’ I didn’t have any doubts or ask any questions.

There were grass and plants around my feet. I looked around and saw an open space with occasional trees. It looked something like a savanna. To the right, I could see the beginning of a forest.

I noticed something around my feet. I picked it up, and realized it was a puzzle piece. I found another a little further, then walked and picked it up. I kept finding and picking up puzzle pieces.

As I picked up more puzzle pieces, I entered the forest. They were scattered around in the forest as well. I picked them up as I climbed over fallen trees. I kept walking, picking up, walking, picking up...

Finally, I reached a spring in the forest. There was a large tree stump by the left side of the spring. The last piece of the puzzle was lying in front of the stump, and somehow, I knew it was the final piece.

I walked up to the stump, picked up the last piece, and put the puzzle pieces together on the stump. The completed puzzle showed my uncle smiling happily.

Satisfied that the puzzles were complete, I decided to leave the forest. I thought it'd be a hassle to go back the way I came then suddenly, realized, 'There's a shortcut from the spring to the savanna.' I thought ‘if I passed by the left side of this tree and through here... then passed under this tree’... there! I'm out in the savanna! I have no idea how I knew that, but I just went back to the savanna that way.

There was an elevator door in the middle of the savanna. I got on and ascended back.

This was my first experience using the 'Classroom of the Heart' without the teacher's guidance. It would take about 30 years for me to begin to understand what the savanna, forest, and spring were or where they were.

Next, I'll write about the 'Signs of the Beginning' I encountered at the age of 38, 30 years

after 'Classroom of the Heart'.

(11.02.2016)