by Smith, Skye
"You could do that. A slide show on a screen has the same effect as TV." He saw the look she gave him. "Well, in temples and churches they have big crosses and statues high in the front, usually well lit. High things tire the eyes more quickly. Until they feel sleepy you must tell them things that they already know, so that their mind also gets sleepy with boredom."
"And if you can't make them sleepy?" she asked, just wondering.
"Anxiety works almost as well as sleep. When their minds are anxious they wander away from what you are saying. I would encourage them to drink tea and coffee before I started, and then I would not allow pee breaks. The more they need to pee, the more anxious they became and the more unprotected was their subconcious."
Maya's conditioning from high school made her want to go to sleep, but she shook herself awake. This was all good stuff. It explained a lot.
"Once the subconscious is unprotected, then you feed it your message. A short simple message, as if it were a simple truth, and repeat it over and over, or better yet, have them repeat it over and over."
"Yep, that sounds like church when I was growing up. But what if it is a more complicated message?"
"Break it up into simple parts. Do one part at a time, each part building on the last, and lots of repetition. You know, like in a song with a message, you put the message in the chorus, because the chorus is repeated over and over." He searched her face. There was a glint of understanding there.
"I get it now," she said, catching his eyes and staring at them defiantly. "You are telling me all this, because you want me to be the new spiritual leader in your ashram. I don't want ..."
He shrugged and continued, "The first time you speak to your flock, forget trying to implant messages. You are an outsider. They are suspicious of you. First you must gain their confidence."
"Look at me Sanjay. I look like a school girl. No one is going to accept me as a spiritual leader."
"Use your aura to put them into a trance, and then speak directly to their subconscious. What you plant in their subconcious will thereafter be thought true."
"It won't work."
"Hah, it has worked for thousands of years."
"This all sounds manipulative and creepy," she replied.
"Evil is as evil does. They are just techniques. They are neither good nor evil. It is the message that is good or evil, not the technique."
She sneered. Yeah right. "Okay, I agree, doing this to one person at a time, like in your cave, is not creepy. But doing it like, to a bunch of people all at once, like that is really creepy."
"One person at a time is too slow. Girl, it is the same technique for one as for a group. It is the same message. The only difference is that with a group you must first find and remove those that resist you, before they disrupt the rest."
"So how could they disrupt it?" she asked, suddenly interested again. She was more likely to be a disruptor than a leader.
"Why, by casting doubt on the message before it is planted, of course. Remain silent until the message is told to the subconciouses, and then yell out loud and clear something like 'that is a lie'. This not only wakes up all the conscious minds, but tags the message as a lie to both conscious and subconscious. It must be yelled immediately however, for once a message is accepted as true by the subconscious, then it is hard to reverse the acceptance."
Finally he had said something that Maya thought she may use in the future. She could picture herself yelling 'that is a lie' at political bullshit rallies, or yelling it at the TV to drown out a junk food ad. "Sanjay, I think that this is all way off topic," she said, "our agreement was to exchange our knowledge of auras. This is not about auras."
The old man looked at her in shock. "Why, of course it is. Oh why do I waste my breath on such a twit of a girl? Do you not realize that an aura is sensed by the subconscious, not the conscious mind? Your aura is so strong that its presence cannot be denied by logic. Words that accompany your aura will go directly to the subconscious."
He allowed his sharpening stone wheel to slow and looked into the face of the young woman. Was she just stunned or truly stupid? "A body has two nervous systems. One for excitation, and one for inhibition. Your aura awakens the excitation and it overrules the inhibition. When the aura is accepted by the subconcious then so will be your message.
Don't be foolish, girl. If my aura had been as strong as yours then by now I would have a following as large as the Pope. Instead I sit here sharpening knives. And you, you refuse to listen. I am explaining how you can become as powerful as the Pope. Don't you get it? Your aura gives you access to the minds of the masses."
"Umm, okay," she said, "like that is kind of way out there. I'm going to have to think about that. Meanwhile let's get back to reality. The Swedish woman needs your help, so what I will exchange for this lesson, is a lesson in how to heal with your aura. It means I must hypnotize you again, if you are okay with that."
"I have no healing powers." he said dropping the knife he had been sharpening into a slot in the bench.
"Now who is refusing to listen? Now who is a skeptic? Stop being so male and take your shirt off and sit over on that mat in a lotus position."
First she used her aura to put him into a trance. Then, as she pushed wave after wave of her aura through him, she spoke directly to his subconscious. She winced guiltily when she realized that she was doing to him exactly what she had called 'creepy' a few minutes ago. Using the aura was so much faster than using hypnosis. Once he was in a trance, she trained his subconscious in how to use his left hand for focusing the aura, and then how to sense for darkness while hovering his right hand.
Practice and reinforcement would have to wait until the Swedish woman came to her bungalow tonight, but at least he was pre-prepared. She asked him to meet her at her bungalow after dinner, and to be sure he had bathed and put on clean clothes.
The old man sat quietly, still savouring the trance and her aura, and wagged his head in agreement.
* * * * *
* * * * *
MAYA'S AURA - the Ashram by Skye Smith
Chapter 16 - Ashram in Pune, India
Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress. - Mahatma Gandhi.
Vasini was not at dinner. Maya looked up any time someone entered the hall, but it was never her. Her seat beside the salesmen at the VIP table remained empty. She so much wanted to apologize to the girl. She felt sick about her bitchy comment to her. Oh well, maybe later. She had come early to eat with Lakshima while Ajay and Marique were still in the bungalow. Once they came to dinner, she would take Lakshima back to the privacy of the empty bungalow.
Many of the women she had met at dinner yesterday were missing tonight. Lakshima explained that they had been part of a tour and they had left first thing this morning for the holy city of Varanasi, where they would stay at yet another yoga ashram.
"And the pigs at the VIP table? When do they leave?" asked Maya.
"Tomorrow morning, and none too soon. None of the companions want to partner their lessons anymore."
"Yes, Vasini was very upset this morning. I think they hurt her."
"She left early," whispered Lakshima. "Her punishment is that she must do the final lesson with them tomorrow morning."
"Why not punish the pigs instead? Cut them off," Maya thought out loud.
"You don't understand. They were the top salesmen for their company last quarter. This was their corporate reward. We have a profitable account with that company. We need that account. Besides, they meant no harm. They were just having fun."
"Tell that to Vasini," Maya replied.
"Vasini should not be discussing these things with the guests."
"I may not be a guest for much longer, so I need to know of these things." Maya had crafted the thought carefully so that it was not untrue. She was lost in thought for a moment reflecting on how many 'not untrue' things people said instead of saying 'true' things.
She would have to search her book to see if Gandh
i had a quote about that. Many of his quotes were about truth. In school she had learned enough about logic to know that 'not untrue' is not the same as 'true', but that was in logic, not in life. That was where all the engineer types like Ajay kept going wrong. Life and logic only met through coincidence.
Marique waltzed into the dining hall on Ajay's arm, and the handsome couple took their seats. They looked bombed. Either bombed on sex or bombed on vodka. Probably both. Maya hugged them and then she and the stacked Swede left for the bungalow.
Sanjay was sitting waiting patiently on the veranda step when they arrived. She showed her guests to the little bedroom, the one with the bed that had yet to have been used. She asked them to strip to the waist, as she herself was doing.
Lakshima hesitated, looking at the old man. "I don't like this. I usually cover up when he is nearby. Otherwise, he just stares at my breasts."
"Well right now, honey, staring at your breasts is, like, just what we need him to do. He knows better than to touch you. That would stop the effect of his aura." With those words Maya brought up her aura and then divined the grey areas on the side of the Swede's shapely breast. She made a mental note of the shade of grey, and then she grabbed her elbows and withdrew her aura as far as she could so that it would not interfere.
This time it was Sanjay's turn and she had the other two sit on the bed in lotus position facing each other. She ever so patiently taught the old man how to hover his hand, how to sense, how to divine for the areas of grey that would flag a sickness in another body. It took forever to teach him because his maleness kept getting in the way.
Finally, after way too long, he admitted that he could sense the grey. She told him to increase the power of his aura and focus it on the grey areas. "I always picture in my mind that I am rubbing them out. Like rubbing black ink off a whiteboard," she told him. He stared back at her with a confused look. She remembered his age and tried again. "Like rubbing chalk off a blackboard." He understood.
When he began to concentrate, she scolded him. "You must unconcentrate to encourage the aura to do its own thing." She stopped short of saying, "Like, what kind of guru were you not to know the basics," for there was nothing to be gained by insulting the man.
The more she was around this man and the more he told her things, the more she realized that he was just a simple peasant who had discovered how to use a gift, and then discovered enough gold to set himself up in business with his gift. Much of what he had taught her was simply his own best guess at the truth. They were good guesses, no argument, but were they true?
While he was working on the Swede's breast, she came to the conclusion that she was almost finished with Sanjay. If she wanted to know more than he knew, then she would have to travel to Dharamsala in the north, as the Buddhist monk in Vancouver had suggested.
She stopped him after ten minutes, and then herself divined the grey again. She thought it was lighter, just by a little. Good enough. He would improve with practice, as would Lakshima.
"This is all good," she told them both. "I think this is going to work, however, both of you have something that is getting in the way." She reached forward and gently squeezed one of Lakshima's abundant nipples. "You do not want him looking at your breasts, and he wants to do more than just look. You two need to solve this problem, else you may as well give up."
"What do you suggest?" Lakshima asked.
"It's your problem, not mine," Maya replied, "so the solution must be yours. I really don't have any say. For now, however, stay still and I will use my aura on you as well." She looked meaningfully at Sanjay and he bowed his way out of the room. She waited until she heard the screen door slam.
Lakshima looked like she was about to start a gossip session but Maya cut her off. "Shh, My friends will return from dinner soon, and we need the peace and quiet to do this." She set her travel alarm for ten minutes and then she sat cross-legged in front of the Swede to begin the treatment.
* * * * *
* * * * *
The next morning there were twenty women at the knoll to salute the sun as it rose over the horizon. This morning, however, most of the women were actual members of the ashram, rather than yoga tourists. Most of the members, the flock, of this ashram were women. It was just like the churches at home. The men were the bosses and the women were the audience.
Amongst them, she recognized the faces of the women that did the cooking and cleaning and serving. Faces of instructors, and attendants, but none of the companions. This was Sunday morning and the companions would be busy giving their last tantric lesson to the group of VIPs who were leaving today.
After the actual salutation to the sun, which everyone did facing the sunrise, she asked them to form two meditation circles with a passage connecting them. This way she could walk from the center of one circle to the center of the other.
She started meditating with the first circle, and once they were all settled into a light trance, she moved on to the second. She decided to try something different, so she put herself into the pushing pizza pose to focus her aura through her palm. Then she walked slowly past each of the women allowing each one to feel the full power of her aura for a brief time.
Being with all these earnest women made her realize the great flaw in this ashram community, and perhaps the churches at home as well. They should be run by the women instead of the men. "This ashram should be run by women," she said to herself. Of course. "This ashram should be run by women." The second time she said it must have been out loud because the woman feeling her aura at that moment, repeated it.
It was a good thought, so with each new woman, she whispered the same phase, and they repeated it. This went on again, and again. It must have been a thought they had all had, because they accepted it immediately. When she walked back to the second circle, some of the women were looking over their shoulders at the first circle trying to hear the words of the mantra.
By the time she had done rounds of both circles twice, every woman was mumbling the mantra "This ashram should be run by women." All of the women were relaxed in deep in meditation, whereas Maya was exhausted from holding her arm up for so long, but before she could relax she must walk out of range of the two circles.
When she was about twenty feet away, she stopped and held her elbows. Her own awareness was now so stimulated that the warmth of the low sun, and the smell of the fruit in the nearby orchard, and the smell of the wildflowers surrounding the knoll seemed too delicious to capture in thought.
Her delicious giddiness was interrupted by an urgent need to pee, so she left the women meditating and aimed her feet towards her own bungalow. The old gardener came out from behind a papaya plant and walked in step with her.
"So you have begun to take your power," he whispered. "It is a good message. A worthwhile message. Very tactical. This ashram should be run by the women since they do all the work. They are the ones who believe in the community. To Manfred and the others in the office, the ashram is just as a way to pad their own bank accounts."
"It seemed appropriate," she said without slowing her hurried steps. Too much fruit and coconut. She would have to cut back. "Got to go," she yelled out over her shoulder as she saw the bungalow and began to trot.
Marique was just locking up when Maya ran through the door and into the back. "You are back early," she yelled after her. "We were just going to breakfast. Do you want us to wait for you."
"No, go on ahead. I'll catch up," she made it to the bathroom just in time and slammed the door behind her.
"That is all the curry," Ajay laughed. "your western stomach is not being equipped for it."
* * * * *
Refreshed and washed, Maya went to dress for breakfast. A simple sun dress would do. It promised to be a hot day. She was still feeling very peaceful from the sunrise session, so she hummed an Enya song as she lazily brushed her hair. There was no hurry for breakfast. It would not be ready yet. All the kitchen women were still lost in her meditation.
&nbs
p; She pulled the outside door to, and was about to turn the key to lock it when she heard a scream. From the veranda she could not tell the direction so she walked out into the garden. There it was again. The sound of a woman in pain coming from the next bungalow. She skipped into a run to go and check it out.
She was standing on the path looking at the other bungalow when she heard it again, from inside. She charged up the veranda steps, and without knocking, tumbled through the front door. She took in the scene in one glance and yelled, "What word in 'no' didn't you understand? Let her go!"
Two of the big salesman were on the bed humping Vasini, both at the same time, with her caught in a sandwich. Vasini was crying out in pain and telling them "no" and "stop" and "you must wait for the instructor".
Both men stopped humping Vasini and turned towards Maya with big smiles on their faces. The one closest said, "Ah, finally, another companion has arrived. Come and join us."
"First, get off her, let her up, let her catch her breath," Maya said, frozen in place, disgusted by such rough sex.
They did as she said, and then got off the bed and walked towards her. They were naked and very horny. She started to back away. Vasini called to her, breathless, "Go and get the instructors. They have broken all the rules."
Maya turned to run. Unfortunately the man closest to her was very fast on his feet, despite his girth. He kicked the door closed before she could grab it to hold it open. Then he tried to put an arm around her. "Come on, little one. Do not be afraid. We must leave in a few hours and we were being impatient to start. Can you be blaming us?"
Maya spun out of his arm and towards a table. Now she was trapped between the two of them. She glanced at the table for something to throw at them. Nothing with any weight. Just a bottle of scented lubricant and a bottle of boner pills and some strips of condoms. She tried a bluff. "Vasini said you were breaking the rules. You aren't wearing condoms. We must wait for an instructor. Let me see to the girl while we wait."
They stood out of the way in such a way that the only place she could go was the bed. Vasini was curled up on it groaning. She went to her, and she knew they were closing her in against the bed. In a moment they would touch her. She mentally prepared herself to feel the darkness from their touch and to smell charred toast.