Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
He leaned onto the chair's padded arm, peering down at me,
enjoying the advantage in height.
'Ph.D.?' he asked, his tone vaguely mocking.
'D.Phil., actually,' I replied, unease poisoning every cell within
me, heart thumping.
'
Defile!
' he added, giggling more than laughing, looking to his
straight men and women for backup.
All in orange laughed heartily at me, as if I were a hired clown.
'Defiles the mind,' Bhagwan confided, his oddly cruel yet soulful
face very close to mine. 'I want only no-mind here. Close your
eyes. I am the Murderer of Minds.'
I felt scared. And stupid. Everyone had sat down by now, and all
were looking at me. Otis huffed and puffed a tad, clearly not used to
so much sitting on hard floors, and anxious to continue his work. I
closed my eyes.
I heard the bhagwan's voice whispering phrases that I was unable
to hear clearly enough to understand.
Next I felt his thumb reach over and push hard into the space
just above where my eyebrows met and my nose ended. It felt hot
and moist, and I had to struggle against it to avoid toppling over.
'You!' I opened my eyes. The room seemed to glitter slightly, and
the bhagwan's face had a smug look about it, a look of satisfaction -
the satisfaction of having taken revenge.
'Yessss,' he purred. 'Much better to have the mind minded by the
master, yes?'
I made no reply. He turned to his courtiers, smiling a see-what-
I've-done smile. They smiled back lovingly.
'You!' He was referring to me again. 'I think you stay here. You
have died. I have given you another birth. Now you are mine, my
swami.' He considered something, index finger to temple. 'Swami
Dharma Rumi,' he told me with a smirk. 'That is your name in my
ashram. And my ashram is all this world. I have much work for
scientists to do. Much work.'
'Professor Otis has some work he'd like to do, Bhagwan.' I thought
I'd better get that in.
'Ah, yes!' The bhagwan chuckled. 'This old man - what is it
he
wants, hmmm?'
