“Because we are the way, we are the truth, and we are the life,” Yeshua interjected.
“Indeed, we are, master!” Bai-Ming concurred.
They arrived at the infirmary. Two monks required immediate attention. Both men had slipped and fallen on the side of the mountain. One had a very severe fracture in his left arm, the other had a crushed a vertebra, just above his shoulder. He was paralyzed from the neck down. Grandmaster Chang was in the infirmary as well. Bai-Ming and Yeshua greeted him and the others, who returned their greeting.
“I hope you enjoyed a good night’s rest, young master,” Grandmaster Chang said.
“I did, grandmaster, thank you!” Yeshua replied. “Brother Bai-Ming saw to my accommodations.”
“Right to the haircut, I see,” the grandmaster interjected with a slight smile that was almost concealed by his long, white beard. “Everyone leave us, please” he ordered.
The other monks obeyed. The grandmaster walked over to the monk with the fractured arm and looked down as at him as if he were looking through him.
“Your first lesson will be on the qi,” he said. “Do you know anything about it?”
“I am not sure I do, grandmaster,” Yeshua replied.
“Qi,” Grandmaster Chang began, “is the life force in everything, and yes, I mean everything. Everything is from the Source, is one with the Source and, hence, everything carries the Source within itself. The qi is like an extension of the Source. Therefore, it is described as the ‘life force’ of everything. Most people have only unconsciously accessed their qi. But if anyone can access their qi consciously at any time, then the possibilities will be endless for that person!”
He reached out to the monk with the broken arm and touched his arm. He closed his eyes and slowly breathed in and out three times. Suddenly, the monk’s arm straightened out, and the bone became whole. The monk sat up and massaged the area on his arm that used to be sore from the fracture. It was completely healed. He stood up from the bed, thanked the grandmaster with multiple bows and left of the infirmary.
“So, with this life force,” Yeshua said, unmoved by the sudden healing of the monk with the fracture, “I could heal the sick, revitalize the body and even-”
“Raise the dead?” the grandmaster finished Yeshua’s question as he walked over to the other monk, who was paralyzed from the neck down, and placed his hand on the monk’s head.
“Yes, you can!” Master Chang replied. “You can even rejuvenate the human form over and over. In our tradition, the qi is like a well that never runs dry, and anyone can always drink from it. This is the true panacea for all ailments, the real elixir of life, and a fountain of youth.”
He took his hand away from the monk’s forehead and motioned to Yeshua to heal the monk. Yeshua stepped forward and placed his right hand on the monk’s forehead. He spoke kind words to the monk, encouraging the monk not to be afraid. Then, he closed his eyes.
In his mind, he visualized himself, not in his physical form, but as a being of light and colors. He continued to hold on to this image, but this time around, he filtered out the colors till all that was left was a bright and beautiful whiteness. In his mind, he was now a transparent being of light. He focused on his heart region and imagined beams of light pulsating from it. He chose this as the source of his qi. He visualized the beams of light getting bigger and brighter as it spread out and filled up his body of light until his body was no longer transparent. He was, at that moment, qi itself. He then shifted his focus to his right hand, and he imagined his right hand pulsating with qi.
He could feel the qi coursing through his entire physical form. He could feel the surge of energy. He could feel his body come alive with an aliveness that was not there before and for a split second, he was lost in his ego. He quickly snapped out of it and opened his eyes. The paralyzed monk was glowing with a brightness that could light up every corner of a very dark room. The monk sat up, brought his hands in front of his face and examined his entire body. The monk was more awestruck by his glowing body than by the fact that he was no longer paralyzed from the neck down. Yeshua opened his right hand, and slowly drew from the monk’s qi. Gradually, the glow diminished from the monk’s body. He expressed his sincere gratitude for his miraculous healing with many thanks and bows. Grandmaster Chang stared at Yeshua with an expressionless face.
“We have some fine-tuning to do!” he said.
“I am your humble student, grandmaster,” Yeshua replied, grateful the healing went well.
***
“Now, use the same idea and apply it to your leg,” Yeshua encouraged Yehuda.
He let Yehuda feel the full blast of the pain but kept the cold at bay in the meantime. Yehuda was having a tough time focusing, let alone visualizing.
“Visualize!” Yeshua commanded. “You can do this!”
Yehuda tried without success, and Yeshua pressed on.
“Pain is only an illusion!” Yeshua spoke more firmly. “You are the one in charge, not the pain! Own it! Seize it! Take dominion over this situation! Erase the distraction, Yehuda!”
And as the master pressed on, the apprentice had his moment of clarity.
“In the eye of the storm is stillness. In the center of the spinning wheel is stillness. The waves may rage, but the bottom of the sea is still. Greater is what lies within you than what lies outside of you. If you find yourself outside the stillness, then you will find yourself outside of peace. You are the immovable mountain in the onslaught of the wind. Be the one with the dominion! Be the stillness and not the storm!”
Yehuda had never understood the master’s words then. But in this moment, in his hour of desperation, the master’s words had finally made sense to him. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out as slowly as he could. He shifted his focus from the pain in his leg to his breathing. Gradually, the pain began to subside. The slower he breathed, the more it subsided. Yeshua saw that the color of Yehuda’s aura was slowly changing from dark red to yellow. Finally, Yehuda opened his eyes and looked at his broken leg. It was still broken, but he felt no pain. First step, he said to himself!
“Excellent!” Yeshua said. “Now, use your qi and heal your leg!”
Yehuda nodded and closed his eyes once again. He visualized himself as a human silhouette on a white piece of cloth. He then mentally cut out that silhouette from the piece of cloth and gave it a three-dimensional form. This form is dark and needs light, he thought. He then visualized an oil lamp in the heart region of the silhouette. He made a flame appear and light up the lamp, which burned with a bright white glow. Yehuda visualized the light from the flame gradually spreading across the body; from his heart region to every direction, until his body was fully lit up. He then focused on his right hand and the flame formed on his right palm. In his mind, he held the non-burning flame in the palm of his hand. He felt his body suddenly spring alive like never before. Yehuda relished this sensation for a few moments before he finally opened his eyes.
He lifted his right hand towards his face and stared at it. He could not see the energy pulsating in his hand, but he felt it. It was as real as if he were holding onto a rock or something tangible. But he wanted to see it. So, he made his qi manifest in his hand in the form of a bright, white flame. He smiled as he turned his hand towards his broken leg. The flame flowed from his hand to the fracture, burning away the splints to smokeless nothingness and enveloping the fracture. His leg was completely healed as if it had never been broken before.
Yeshua then let Yehuda have the full blast of the deadly weather. Yehuda cringed at the initial, freezing onslaught. But it was only for a moment. The harsh weather did not bother him anymore. He was now the eye of the storm and the center of the spinning wheel. He stood on his feet and breathed in deeply and slowly through his nostrils, before letting out the breath slowly through his mouth. He became so warm that some of the white substance around him started melting into water. Yeshua smiled, remembering his days with Grandmaster Chang when they melted
chunks of solid water on the mountains or boiled water to make tea just by raising their body temperatures.
“Well done, brother!” Yeshua commended. “You will keep practicing until, yes?”
“Yes, master,” Yehuda could not hold back his smile. “Thank you very much-”
And with the speed of thought, they were back on the hill, perched on the same rock. No one noticed, no one cared, and even if they did, no one would remember.
***
For the next six years, Yeshua stayed at the monastery. He lived with the monks as one of them and learned their ways. He performed the chores they performed, he shared meals with them and even went out with them to the cities to teach and perform community services. The locals treated him as one of theirs, even though he was not from the area. Over the years, he became more adept at using the qi, meditation and visualization, and even martial arts. The concept of martial arts was alien to him at first, but once he started, there was no stopping him. Perhaps it was the words of Master Chu, the gung fu instructor that made him develop a better understanding of why they studied the art.
“Gung fu,” Master Chu had said, “simply refers to any skill that has been perfected over time with training, patience, and purpose. For us at the monastery, we use martial arts not just for self-defense, but also as a path towards self-awareness. You see, young master, gung fu also means ‘an achievement,’ and it also stands for ‘man.’ So, it the grand scheme of things, gung fu simply means ‘an achievement of man’. And what is the ultimate achievement of man? Enlightenment!”
He had taken a sip of tea after he said this before he made his concluding remark.
“Therefore, young master, we practice gung fu as a path towards enlightenment.”
“What about Tai Chi, master?” Yeshua had asked.
“Oh, that!” Master Chu had exclaimed with a smile, after taking another sip of his tea and setting his tea cup on a stool next to his chair.
“Tai chi is about the flow of energy. Meeting resistance with resistance will only cause more resistance. The yin and the yang must coexist. Hence, in tai chi, resistance meets non-resistance.”
“So, by extension,” Yeshua interjected, “tai chi is simply offering the wicked person no resistance? Like turning the other cheek if one slaps you, or letting them have your coat if they want your cloak, loving one’s enemies and doing good to those who hate us, for example?”
“Exactly, young master!” Master Chu agreed.
On the eve of Yeshua’s departure from the monastery, Grandmaster Chang summoned him. They went to a hall on the far south of the monastery. It contained twelve life-sized statues of certain monks all perched in Buddha poses. There were six statues on either side of the hall.
“These, young master,” Grandmaster Chang said, “are the mummies of our greatest grandmasters. Not every grandmaster gets mummified; just the great ones, specifically those who were deemed to have attained enlightenment.”
Yeshua nodded and marveled at the statues in the hall. As they continued walking, Yeshua made an abrupt stop and changed his course from statues on the left to those on the right. He stopped in front of a mummy and just kept staring at it. Grandmaster Chang slowly walked up towards him, a thin smile forming behind his beard.
“I see you recognize yourself, young master,” his raspy voice peeled through the silence.
Yeshua did not respond. He gazed upon the mummy of his past incarnation in silence.
“Grandmaster Wong,” Yeshua whispered.
“It is truly an honor in the presence of two incarnations of the same grandmaster at the same time,” Grandmaster Chang said reverently. “Yes, young master, you are his incarnation, and it was your consciousness, as well as his consciousness, which knows no time or space, that chose Bai-Ming to come and seek you out in India. Perhaps that is why you felt so much at home here right from the first day, young master.”
Yeshua said nothing. He was completely engrossed in the moment and the connection he was feeling with his past incarnation. He stretched his left hand towards to the statue, and as soon as his left hand came close to the statue, the entire statue glowed with a brightness that lit up the dim hall. Yeshua smiled, and the grandmaster bowed his head in reverence. It was truly an epic moment for both men. A few moments later, both men began their return walk towards the temple.
“Thank you very much for bringing me here and showing me all of this, grandmaster,” Yeshua said gratefully.
“The honor is mine, young master,” Grandmaster Chang replied.
The following day at sunset, the monks gathered to bid the young master farewell. He pressed many hands and gave many hugs. They were sad to see him go but they understood he had to leave. He had made great friends, he had found another family and had learned so much. Bai-Ming was the saddest to see Yeshua leave. Both men clasped forearms and hugged each other tightly. Bai-Ming was a true brother, and Yeshua assured him that their paths would cross again someday. Grandmaster Chang gave Yeshua his blessings, and Yeshua was ready for tele-parture. He gave one final wave to everyone before he vanished from their sight.
He hovered for a moment over the Pyramids of Giza. They never ceased to take his breath away, even when viewed from the Akasha. A blink of an eye later, he appeared within the temple walls of a monastery in Heliopolis. There were eight men in brown priestly robes waiting for him. When Yeshua appeared among them, they all bowed their heads. Their leader wore a black robe with a white belt around his waist. A golden necklace hung from his neck. A pendant designed like the sun with rays of light streaming from it, hung from the necklace. He stepped forward and dropped to one knee in front of Yeshua. Yeshua appraised his surroundings and nodded his approval.
“Not much has changed since I left it,” Yeshua said.
The head priest smiled and rose to his feet.
“Welcome to the Monastery of Melchizedek, master,” the man said. “I am Salemwalek, head priest of this monastery and your direct descendant by more than forty-nine generations. So, forgive me, for I am not so sure how to address you. After all, you named this monastery, and rightfully so, after yourself!”
“Yes, Salem,” Yeshua replied with a smile, walked over and hugged the much older descendant of his. “I remember!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: C. E. 33
It was the thirteenth day of the month of Nisan and ‘Passover’ was the word of the day. Everywhere was abuzz with preparations for this great feast. Yeshua waited for Shi’mon by the boats. It was the ninth hour, and though the skies promised no rain, the winds blowing from the east indicated the contrary. But rainfall was the least of Yeshua’s worries. His sojourn on Earth Realm in his current form was close to an end. In a few hours, the same people who had hailed him as king a few days ago will condemn him as a criminal. Talk about an oxymoron! No need to worry or bear them any ill will. It was all part of the grand scheme of things.
Shi’mon joined him a few minutes later. He seemed to be in a sour mood.
“Is everything alright, brother?” Yeshua asked.
“Just Rania, master,” Shi’mon replied flatly.
“Is that all, Shi’mon?” Yeshua asked further.
“I do not follow, master,” Shi’mon lied, avoiding his mentor’s eyes.
“You know what I mean,” Yeshua said.
“I am not sure, master,” Shi’mon replied with a sigh. “I am just angry and frustrated.”
“Those are carefully chosen words, Shi’mon,” Yeshua said. “Is there something on your mind you would like to share with me, brother?”
“You can read my mind already, master,” Shi’mon replied with sarcasm.
“I will only read your mind if you want me to, brother,” Yeshua assured him. “And if you chose not to share, I will not insist. Believe it or not, I do respect your privacy.”
He waited for Shi’mon’s reply. But, sensing Shi’mon’s discomfort, he decided to abandon the subject.
“So, do you know why we are here?” Yeshua ask
ed.
“No, master,” Shi’mon replied, grateful for the change in the subject.
“I just wanted us to sit here and enjoy the breeze and the birds,” Yeshua smiled and waved his hands elegantly over the waters.
“I never took you for a poet, master,” Shi’mon said with a smile, and both men managed a chuckle.
“Well,” Yeshua’s tone turned serious. “I was thinking that perhaps we could do a recap of your progress over the past three years. I have taught you so much, and there is more to teach you but not enough time, partly because you are not ready just yet, and partly because there are certain things that you best learn from experience. Soullessness an example of something that can only be learned from experience. But I could give you an idea of what to expect.”
Yeshua noticed Shi’mon’s change in demeanor and he understood why.
“It is not too late to change your mind, brother,” Yeshua continued. “I will not be disappointed in you and I will not judge you. Nothing will change between us.”
Shi’mon’s aura was an erratic mélange of colors. The Master empathized with his apprentice’s dilemma as he waited for his apprentice’s response.
“I would be lying if I said I am not afraid, master,” he began. “But, as you have taught me, everything happens for a reason and everything has a purpose. You have introduced me to my purpose, and I have been your apprentice for this reason. And even though I may not understand the burden I may have to bear in the future, I am truly honored to be your apprentice, no matter what the cost may be to me. For humanity’s sake and for the sake of the realm, I gladly accept my path!”
“And I assure you, you will not walk alone, brother,” Yeshua promised. “Trials and tribulations will abound and, just like everyone else, you will have your moments of weakness.”
The Bright Eyes (The Soulless Ones Book 1) Page 20