Oliver Benjamin
Despite all of this, I found the Omniraja surprisingly original.
He had a way of appearing hopelessly conceited in an achingly
humble way. Almost self-mocking, seemingly with the intention of
bringing his magnanimous presence down to a size that could be
digested by his followers. I felt as if he was speaking earnestly,
though. In fact, it was as if he was putting into words things that I had
always felt deep inside, but hadn’t ever conceptualized.
The Omniraja bid the congregation goodnight and we let go of
each others’ sweaty palms. Within minutes the entire auditorium
seemed transformed into some sort of psychedelic neuro-carnival,
overflowing with cosmic-sounding synthesized music and exploding
beams of red and blue light. The epileptic dance of the pale-robed
audience helped to augment the experience of being trapped inside a
colossal brain hemorrhage. It was sort of fun, with everyone laughing
and hugging each other and generally having a funky time.
After the music subsided about a half an hour later, the damp
and grinning ashramites silently headed for the exits and vanished
into the night. There was an eerie silence as I looked around trying to
figure out where it was that they all went, but despite the passage of
the occasional straggler, the entire group seemed to have been
vaporized. A rather uncomfortable-looking stone bench was perched
nearby the auditorium, and feeling rather melancholy, I sat down
and looked up at the stars. I knew nothing of astronomy and could
not make out any patterns besides Orion’s belt.
The carefree jingle of skipping feet pulled me back down to earth. It
was a young woman in a white robe.
“Pretty stars,” she said.
“Yup.”
“Mind if I sit?”
“No, go right ahead. This is your bench more than mine. I’m
brand new here.”
“Yes, I know,” she responded gently.
Was my aura was the wrong color?
“Is it that obvious?” I asked.
“Oh, no. I just know. What’s your name?”
“Jake. Yours?”
“Originally Joanna. But now I’m Nivenada. That’s my sannyasi
name.”
“Sannyasi name?”
167
 |
 |
 |
 |