Path of Enlightenment

> *"Jimmy notices that all the clouds are perfect geometric shapes."*
>
>

The **Path of Enlightenment** is the second level in Secret Meridian; littered with geometric shapes and angular barriers which make it tricky to traverse. The path leads from Sacred Lantern down the mountain towards Calm Valley. Lost travelers often travel the Path of Enlightenment to find themselves, a prime example being Punch Tanaka's journey to figure out who he is after suffering from amnesia due to attempting suicide in Blood Marsh.

Multiple haiku written by Punch can be found strewn about the path, leading from Sacred Lantern to Symmetrical Cavern, and then down to the exit.

Symmetrical Cavern is accessible through the Path of Enlightenment, located inside a cave off the beaten path to the east.

## Locations

* Symmetrical Cavern

Entrance to Symmetrical Cavern.
## Enemies

### East

* Chatterbox
* Luna
* Sol
* Landfish
* Onefish
* Burton
* Triangle

### West

* Onefish
* Twofish
* Burton
* Triangle
* Square

## Treasure

* ♪Parabolic Smile♪
	+ The music that plays in the Path of Enlightenment.
* Angular Suit (Clothing)
	+ +24 DEF/MDF.

Left of the entrance.Left of the Light-Bulb.

## The Journey of a Nameless Monk

### *Chapter 1*

*"Today I leave Sacred Lantern. It is a strange town with people who have numbers for heads. It's not my home, but I called it that for a while. A very short while. Like, a few hours maybe. In time, this town will probably fade from my memory, much like how all of the rest of my memories have faded. I tried to give myself a good, long look in the mirror today, but I couldn't see my eyes behind my shades. For whatever reason, I just couldn't bring myself to take them off. Strange. Maybe in a past life, I had some kind of debilitating mental disorder. Well, anyway. I feel like my journey starts today. I said goodbye to the friends I made here. I don't know if I'd really call them friends. I didn't know them that long. Their names were easy to remember, though, because I could just read their heads. I wish life were always that simple. On the plus side, I think I've finally ditched those three weirdos that keep following me around. The bald one in particular really creeps me out. Whatever. I'm leaving now. Here's something I wrote to commemorate my journey:*

*Falling down the hill:*

*the fragile leaves of autumn.*

*My life continues.*

*~Haiku"*

### *Chapter 2*

*"Ah, to be out in nature. It's where men find themselves. The sounds of peaceful streams and birdsong provide the perfect background for self-reflection. That's what they tell me, anyway. Honestly, there's a lot of pollen in the air, and my nose doesn't know how to deal with it. I've been sneezing since I came to this stupid continent. At least there were dragons and stuff in the last one. I've got to get over myself. Got to try new things. Then, maybe I'll find something that clicks, something that reminds me of who I really am. All this nature is really making my creative juices flow. Here's one for you:*

*Blue jay in the sky,*

*chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp.*

*Shut the hell up, dude.*

*~Haiku"*

*Chapter 3*

*"As I rest under the shadow of what I presume to be some kind of god, I think to myself: what will I find on my journey? The answer seems obvious. I'll find myself. Maybe I'll discover who I was. But, even if I don't, I'll find out who I am. That was a pretty deep thought, I'm glad I wrote it down. I wonder who this god is. Maybe I used to know. Maybe I used to praise it. Man, that would be awkward because, 'cause I really had to pee and the best place was behind the statue. I bet if I used to believe in a god, it was a really cool one. Like, maybe it could control fire and run at the speed of light. That would be awesome. Here's something to demonstrate my feelings:*

*Beautiful meadow,*

*trees sprouting like green oceans,*

*all burns before Thull.*

*~Haiku"*

### *Chapter 4*

*"I must have taken a wrong turn. That cave is weird and freaked me out. I couldn't figure out what to do. I'm going to double back to that statue and figure out what went wrong. Whoever's reading this: I wouldn't go in there if I were you. There are lots of pointy things. Maybe this will better illustrate what I mean:*

*Shapes live in the cave.*

*A triangle bit me, man.*

*This place really sucks.*

*~Haiku"*

### *Chapter 5*

*"Okay, this looks like the right way. My legs are pretty tired. I guess I wasn't a mountain climber in my past life. I'll cross that off the list. I have an actual list, you know. It's really long. Here are some other things I wasn't: Professional chef, acrobat, long-distance swimmer, short-distance swimmer, math teacher, cat owner. I have to say, I don't feel very enlightened after making it down the Path of Enlightenment. I mainly just feel tired and hungry. Whatever. My journey still has a long way to go. I'm going to be honest here. I've been kind of putting off moving on because I can't think of a good haiku. I've got a total work in progress thing here, but it's not really cutting the mustard. Well, I feel like I've established a pattern here and now I've backed myself into a corner, so I'm going to just put down what I've got so far. I just really need to move on. Just keep in mind that it's a work in progress and don't judge me too hard. Whew. Okay, here I go:*

*Gentle mountain stream,*

*a garage is a doghouse*

*for your car... something.*

*~Haiku"*

### *Chapter 6*

*"After traveling down the Path of Enlightenment, I found this small village. It's a good place to rest my tired body. That said, there are some things here that kind of piss me off. I don't like how it's so calm and peaceful here. I kind of wish people got into more fights, and the clean air is giving me a headache. If it were smoggier, maybe I could feel the air in my lungs. When I try to relax, it helps if I imagine cars honking and people yelling at each other. I guess I wasn't raised in a crappy country town like this. Fine by me. That ram was giving me the evil eye, so I grabbed its horns and shook its head around. It bit me pretty hard. So, I climbed up here and made fun of it until it started headbutting the wall. Man, animals sure are stupid. Here's a poem.*

*Calm lake, reflecting*

*wandering eye of a child.*

*Do fish think we stink?*

*~Haiku"*

### *Chapter 7*

*"I guess I'm climbing more today. Great. Well, you've got to do what you've got to do. I'm going to find out who I am, and if I have to climb up a pair of giant legs, then that's what I'm going to do. Related: I tried to look up and see what the giant's crotch looked like, but it's so tall I can't. Pretty wild. If I were a giant, I would go around kicking buildings and stuff. I'd also just be able to jump up to The World's Library. Or, maybe somebody would just BUILD the library on top of me. That would really make my journey easier. I wonder if I'll find what I'm looking for up there. What if there are no answers for me? What if I do find out who I am, and I don't like it? What if I was a real loser? Man, this kind of thing is tough. Maybe I should just make a new life for myself. I could be, I don't know, a janitor. Cleaning up other people's messes. There's a quiet dignity in that. Ah, I'm just wasting time. I really don't want to climb all the way up there just to be disappointed. Here's a stupid haiku. I'm getting tired of writing these.*

*I don't want to climb*

*these stupid tall garbage legs,*

*But I guess I will.*

*~Haiku"*

### *Chapter 8*

*"Well, I made it. It's a library. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. 'The World's Library' made it seem like it would be bigger. Grander. I guess, in the end, a library is a library. And, everyone knows a library is just a boring vacation home for nerds. If someone goes in a library and gets excited, then you know they're a nerd. Me? No way. Guess I can cross being a nerd off my list. Looks like I figured out something about myself here, so it's not a total waste. I tried to ask the librarian if there was a secret room with all the good stuff, but it turns out she's dead. All in all, this trip was kind of a bummer. I'm going to poke around a little longer anyway, just in case. I've got a lot of thoughts running through my head right now, so I guess poetry is the best way to sort those out. This is for me, not for you. Anyway, here you go:*

*The sun melts and slips*

*Through the finger-like mountains.*

*My journey ends soon.*

*~Haiku"*

## Light-Bulb

A crack east of the end of the level can be entered in either Blob or Flower form.Talking to Pointman will open the path to the light-bulb in this level.The light-bulb will be located west of the Pointman hole, now accessible via one of Pointman's arms.