by Young
“You may also have noticed that the front of the building tilts forward; this is constructed intentionally for packages to be lifted to the upper floors without damaging the front of the house.
“Last but not least, the upstairs floors slope to the left - this is due to age rather than design,” he bloviated smugly.
My Next Assignment
Just then, who should enter but the notable fashion photographer Count Mario Conti and his equally noteworthy collaborator, Aziz. We greeted the new arrivals. When it came my turn, the count kissed my cheeks and ruffled my hair adoringly, saying, “My, oh my, you’ve blossomed since we last met.”
Entranced by the suave philanderer’s manly countenance, my eyes were glued to his every move. He resumed teasingly, “You’re a naughty boy. You didn’t inform ‘Master’ Fahrib that I’d be here to whisk you away, did you?”
Andy, guessing my thoughts, answered teasingly, “This fella remembers nothing but you.”
The group laughed. “I promise I’ll make it up to you,” I apologized sheepishly.
The Italian kissed me full on my lips. With this unexpected flamboyance, I was at once flummoxed and exalted by the rogue. He never failed to frighten and fascinate me.
“I’m sure Young will make it up to you, alright,” Andy said with a mischievous wink.
“Well, in that case, I’ll take him up on his offer,” the photographer razzed.
Dubois jumped in to my rescue. “Where are you planning to shoot the next segment of Sacred Sex in Sacred Places?”
Aziz replied, “We are going to India.”
“India!” Jabril exclaimed. “What fun! Do you need an assistant?”
Before the photographers could reply, the sheik announced, “I’ve already made arrangements with our guests. I’ll continue my regular training for the upcoming Summer Olympic yachting race here, while you boys travel with Mario and Aziz to India. I’ll join you there when I can get away. After the shoot, we’ll return to Sharjah to my family.”
I exclaimed, “Sir, I had no idea you are to be a competitive sailor in the upcoming Summer Olympics?”
The doctor gave a hearty laugh. “Young man, there are many things you don’t know about me.”
He added, “When you are in Sharjah, you can discuss fashion with my wives. They’ll be delighted to talk shop with you.”
I nodded. “I’ll be happy to assist in any way possible. They must be very well dressed and beautiful,” I twittered excitedly.
The sheik did not answer, instead, he directed his enquiries to the photographers. “Where in India are you filming?”
“We’ll start in Madhya Pradesh, at The Khajuraho Monuments,” the count announced. “This region is known for its Hindu and Jain temples.”
Jabril chirped excitedly, “What an excellent destination. These temples are famous for their Nagara-style architectural symbolism, and the erotic sculptures are the best in the world.”
Fahrib stated, “You fellas can leave immediately after the Sotheby’s estate auction, in time for the colourful Khajuraho Dance spectacles.”
“How do you know so much about that region of India?” Aziz enquired.
The Levantine quipped, “During the course of my art career, India has been one of the finest places to study artistic antiquities. I’m an aficionado of Indian art.”
Alain commented, “So am I. Much of my Zentology research has its origins in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism.”
“Oh, so the two of you experts have things in common,” Zac discerned jestingly. “I, for one, am piqued. I can’t wait for the upcoming debate.”
As soon as my Valet uttered the sentence, he wished he hadn’t.
“What debate?” questioned the sheik.
“Young and I are curious about Gnosticism,” he said carefully. “Since Meneer Jabril and Monsieur Dubois are well versed in sacred texts, we’re hoping to be enlightened by their wisdom.”
“Well, in that case, we can have the debate during our country outing tomorrow. Would you like to join us?” the doctor asked the two photographers.
Mario expressed, “That’ll be wonderful! I can do with some fresh country air.”
“I’ll tag along, since I’ve nothing planned,” Aziz seconded.
Before long, our Netherlandic savoir-vivre had arrived. The top chef at De Silveren Spiegel had prepared a variety of scrumptious seafood specialties for our entourage to savour.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sahasrāra & Samadhi
“When couples get into Karezza, their subconscious opens up like a lotus bloom. Their Buddha and Kun Ying selves begin to explode.”
Alain Dubois
2012
Continuation of My Message to Andy
…I do recall that Albert was also taken ill, but why weren’t you, Zac or Monsieur Dubois? Maybe the waiter only added LSD to the soft drinks and not to the beers you guys had.
I did enjoy our outing to the Dutch countryside with Dr. Fahrib and the gang. The tulips were in full bloom, and so were the poppies and wild flowers. It was a beautiful spring day, wasn’t it? These blossoms were indeed a sight to behold, not to mention the heated debate that went on between Dubois, Jabril and the gang. Those two were at each other’s throats, even though most of their pronouncements held similar universal truths. Their debate was amusing, yet they got themselves into a twist. You would have thought a fisticuff would occur if the sheik or Mario weren’t there to keep peace. I’m sure you, the gallant arbiter, would have stepped in to stop the contretemps, if we were there to witness it all. ☺
Our entourage gained much insight into various religious beliefs. I’m sure we would have found it highly educational if …
1968
The Tulips of Amsterdam
Our entourage departed early in the morning in time for ‘elevenses’ at a charming eatery in the floral seaside resort of Noordwijk aan Zee. This charming seaside town started life as a fishing village in the thirteenth century. By 1866, it had morphed into a beach resort for the wealthy elite, where sea water was believed to have a medicinal effect. With the arrival of steam transportation, many holiday makers made this a holiday destination. With the unique combination of a long sandy beach and an array of colourful floral fields, Noordwijk blossomed to become the floral seaside resort of Europe.
In the early months of spring 1968, the fields outside of Amsterdam turned from sandy patches to carpets of lime green sprouts. We had arrived in time to witness the vicinity swathed in red, pink, purple, orange and yellow blooms, a sight that resembled the film set of The Wizard of Oz.
The Keukenhof Gardens
After a couple of hours of enjoying the refreshing ocean air of Noordwijk aan Zee, we journeyed to the town of Lisse, where Europe’s most spectacular tulip gardens – The Keukenhof Gardens – are located. Approximately thirty miles southwest of Amsterdam, this park showcased millions of blossoming bulbs. It also boasted countless varieties of indoor and outdoor floral blooms. The fairy-tale beauty of the Keukenhof Gardens was a sight to behold.
It was one of those perfect spring days. I could look across the clear blue sky to see nothing but an abundance of colourful flowers stretched across this expansive landscape. It reminded me of the garden-scape I had visited in my comatose dream. Our entourage found a secluded spot to lay out our picnic blankets, enjoying a relaxing afternoon.
I was deep in thought when a voice muttered beside me, “Come on, Young. The debate is about to start. Are you with us or have you gone to another realm?”
Andy knelt beside me as he continued, “Are you okay? You haven’t been yourself since your return from the hospital.”
“I’m fine. I’m enjoying the beautiful landscape. Is it alright if I go for a walk? I’d like to see more of the gardens,” I replied.
“In that case, I’ll stroll with you. I’m sure we’ll never hear the end of Alain and Jabril’s colloquy, and your teacher will continue his ecclesiastical discussions in one of his Zentology
sessions even if you miss this debate. As for Jabril, he’s not one to forgo a spirited contention. Rest assured, they’ll still be arguing upon our return,” My BB commented wittily.
I remarked, “Don’t you want to stay with Albert?”
“He’ll be safe with the group. Besides, he’s not as much of an explorer as you are,” he uttered smilingly.
Since Andy had become Albert’s chaperone, we’d hardly spent any alone time. We were always in the company of others. I welcomed the idea of some alone time with my ex-Valet and was glad he offered to accompany me around the park.
An Enlightening Illumination
We walked in silence until we came upon a rolling poppy pasture. The luscious pinks, reds, oranges and yellows drew my breath away as we wandered aimlessly down a country path. I was in awe. Suddenly, Andy pulled me to him and kissed me, prying my mouth open to receive his succulent tongue. Although momentarily astonished, I surrendered to his advances.
Though Albert’s arrival had caused a shift in our intimacy, Andy had never left me out of his periphery, even when Zac had entered the picture. My ex-Valet still considered himself responsible for my wellbeing.
Though there were occasions when pangs of jealousy rose in me upon witnessing Andy and Albert, I managed to keep the green eyed monster at bay, acting nonchalantly when I felt cheated by this game of love. I behaved as if immune to this unsavoury emotion, maintaining decorum even when my heart was breaking. I never spoke of this emotional turmoil to Zac and definitely not to Andy, whom I continued to adore from a distance.
Now, his amorous kiss had stirred in me the unspoken wistfulness I had kept so well hidden within. I willingly opened myself to his affection. As we held each other tightly, I felt his throbbing manhood as if it was our first sensual encounter. His masculinity intoxicated me. When he stared into my eyes, I was at a loss. Just like the time he made love to me with his piercing eyes during my E.R.O.S. initiation ceremony, my knees grew weak. I was frozen in time. I did not know how to respond to this sudden surge of emotional upheaval. I thought I had mastered the art of love, yet I was floored by this man I thought I knew so well.
He led me to a secluded part of the floral pasture, shadowed by several large trees. With utmost urgency, his nimble fingers pulled off my sweatshirt and he lifted up my arms, inhaling the boyish scent from my hairless armpits. He sniffed and lapped at my tenderness. My excitement heaved to his every touch. He tore off his shirt to reveal the muscly splendour of his teenage chest. I wrapped my hands around his brawny neck as he hooked his bulging arms round my slender waist. He unzipped our pants to let them fall around our ankles before yanking them away, leaving our exposed briefs draping haphazardly across our nether regions.
As we continued our French kisses, I reached in to caress his hardness. I released his throbbing protrusion from its confines. He too wasted no time wrenching off my remaining cover, baring me to nature’s elements. Like an unhampered bird, I felt the freedom of the gentle breezes that brushed against my nakedness. Andy lifted me up to straddle him. Leaning me against a massive tree truck, he balanced me on his sturdy arms, easing his tantalizing organ into my willing orifice.
Saddling him, I jounced on his pulsating organ as if taming a wild bull. He bounced my buttocks to the fiery strokes of our love dance. Our synchronized tango palpitated with each rhythmic perforation, as I squeezed and released my inner sanctum to my lover’s pressing necessities. As much as we craved for release, our tantric preoccupations deterred us from surrendering ourselves to love’s triviality. We wanted to bathe in the heavenly glow of our sexual continence, to merge as a single entity where our peripheries dissolved into nothingness.
We continued our coitus reservatus as I mounted my lover in the lotus position. We closed our eyes to relish our unhurried gyrations, stirring an ardent tranquillity within ourselves that defied space and time. We lost track of time in this meditative equilibrium. All we experienced was the intimate connection our souls shared in our consummate union. Our spirits intertwined into a blissful state which the Hindus call Nirvana, the union with Brahman, the divine ground of existence, and the experience of seraphic egolessness.
We were at once the Alpha and the Omega, the Yin and the Yang, the Front and the Back, the Positive and the Negative.
“When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner as the outer, and the upper as the lower, and when you make male (masculine) and female (feminine) into a single entity, so that the male shall not be male, and the female shall not be female… then you will enter [the kingdom],” I remembered Jabril quoting from the gnostic Apostle Thomas.
My lover and I had unconsciously entered the kingdom. Neither of us realized we had attained ‘moksha’ (emancipation, liberation or release) from Saṃsāra - the repeating cycle of birth, life and death. We dwelt in this sensually spirited realm, unaware of time, allowing our unhindered consciousness to guide us towards euphoric provenance, where all things are possible.
A distant voice called us to reality. Neither my lover nor I desired to return. With our sacred gyrations suspended, we had not the need for release, but we wanted to sustain the momentum our divinity beckoned us uninterrupted. This was my first and certainly not the last of such subliminal providence.
When we finally egressed from our cogitation, we found the Zentologist dumbfounded and in awe, overwhelmed by what he later described as witnessing the Sahasrāra (“thousand-petaled” – White Lotus) above our heads. The glowing rainbow halo of Kundalini Shanti illuminated my lover and me, encircling our sacred union with asama-prajnata-samadhi – a state in which there is no activity of the mind, no knower, no knowledge, nothing to be known: knowledge, knower and known become unified and liberated.
His virility was deeply buried within my core. My lover and I remained in our Garden of Love. Our guiltlessness deterred us from separation. We abided in this state until our rapturous Samadhi subsided. Only then did we dress and follow my teacher back towards the madding crowd.
That day at the poppy field, Andy and I regained our spiritual eroticism, which the Zentologist canalized as “Divine Providence.”
2012
Continuation of My Message to Andy
Our simultaneous out-of-body experience was a once-in-a-lifetime one. To be honest with you, Andy, since that “perfect” day at the Keukenhof Gardens, I have not achieved that heavenly occurrence again.
Do you recall our subsequent Zentology sessions with Monsieur Dubois? He went to great lengths to describe what he saw when he found us at the poppy field?
His words rang clearly in my mind. This was how he explained our “astral projection.”
He said, “One of the reasons I’m interested in spiritual travel is that it provides a unique means of approaching distant and extraordinary states of transcendent awareness; especially that of sexual mysticism. This sui generis experience exposes the seeker to a series of spiritual lessons to his or her identity, therefore providing the soul the freedom to journey to various non-physical dimensions. These lessons introduce the traveler to a variety of psychic and metaphysical states, where individual freedom and spiritual awareness are heightened to insurmountable ecstasies. In addition, astral projection provides an inner laboratory where the seeker can experiment with techniques and methods of moving through our limited psychic consciousness, delving into distant realities, what we spiritualists call ‘exploring the heavenly states.’ We loosely term the experience ‘Nirvana,’ turning faith and hope into confidence and spiritual enlightenment.
He continued, “That brings me to Sahasrāra chakra. This is the seat of the parabindu (the supreme bindu), the merging of Kundalini Shakti and Shiva, which emanate from this location. The liberation you and Andy attained is what Hindus believe to be the highest unification of the individual with the universe.
“Above Brahma-randhra (‘the cave of Brahma’) is a hole in the crown of the head. It is through this opening that the soul escapes after death. This is the Sahasrāra c
hakra. When the soul separates from the physical body, the Brahma-randhra bursts open, freeing the soul from its confines through the ‘Door to Pure Consciousness’ or the ‘Door of Liberation.’ The Hindus call this perforation – Kapala Moksha.”
The Zentologist went on to say that the Kundalini Shakti or “Serpent Power” also ascends through Sushumna to Sahasrāra when the Brahma-randhra unfurls. He added that immortality is achieved within the Sahasrāra Chakra when it reverses its liberation back into the body to rest at the central base of the physical form.
Dubois also explained, “When the Kundalini energy rises to the Sahasrāra Chakra, the illusion of self dissolves, merging with the cosmic principles that govern the universe. The individual is no longer subjected to birth or death, but to immortality.
“The prana (breath of life) moves up to the highest point in the Sahasrāra Chakra. The mind then establishes itself in the void of Shunya Mandala - this is the space between the hemispheres. During this manifestation, all feelings and desires (activities of the mind) are dissolved. In this flawless bliss of inactivity, the seeker becomes his or her authentic self, retaining a nondual consciousness. He/she is untroubled by pleasure, pain, honours or humiliations. Samadhi is achieved.”
My dearest Andy, I’m keen to know your thoughts. I look forward to your reply.
Yours truly,
Young (my love for you never waned)
XOXOXO
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Auction
“The beauty of an auction is that surreptitious things happen when the right players are involved and money is of no object. It’s all about competitiveness and one-upmanship.“
Bernard Tristan Foong
1968
A Certain Art Specialist