Soul Dancing with the Brass Band (The Brass Band Series) (15 page)

“Wait a second. This is giving me a headache. Why don’t you just start with last night? What did George talk about?” I finished a big cup of black coffee and felt my eyes begin to open as I motioned Ruth to continue.

“We were right about Will. He is a teacher for the younger boys in their house. George says it’s his Dharma. He’s always been the teacher. It’s his gift and it has been as far back as McCollum is able to see. I’m pretty sure George was talking about previous lifetimes. He was a little hard to follow sometimes. I’d think he was talking about a few years ago and then get a feeling he was referring to something a couple lifetimes ago. George would tell me a story about them as kids and then all of a sudden he would mention a country that doesn’t even exist anymore, like Prussia.”

“So,” Ruth took a deep breath and continued, “if we begin with the premise that George is sane, that leads me to believe that he’s known Will for hundreds, maybe thousands of years and Will
has always been the same guy. He’s a teacher with a magical way of opening each child’s mind…whatever…I got a little lost with a lot of that stuff. The short story is that Will’s a real sweet guy.”

“What about George? Is he the wild one?” Then I heard my stomach growl. “Ruth, I need something to eat before you get started again.”

“Go get dressed, Hillary. We’ll go out for some real breakfast.”

I slipped on my jeans from the day before and put on the first sweatshirt I came across. With an old ball cap pulled over my unwashed bed-head, I finished off my ensemble with a pair of sunglasses I found stashed in my top drawer. With any luck, no one would recognize me.

Inhaling the fresh air as we walked brought me back to life. I was finally wide awake and was beginning to get my head wrapped around what we were talking about.

We walked into a cafe and my stomach did a summersault as I ordered a scramble with cheese and an extra, extra, large iced tea. The guy behind the counter raised his eyebrow at my somewhat pale color.
I must have looked terrible.

“I believe huge hydration might be my only rescue,” I explained.

“Let’s sit at the table in the back corner, Hillary. I don’t want anyone to bother us or overhear us talking. People will think we are on drugs or something.”

We sat and I downed half of my tea while Ruth picked up our conversation where we left off.

“George told me they’ve been sneaking out at night for the last year. For eleven years, they’ve been immersed in their studies at the very house we went to for the Spring Fling party. I think George is a little burned out and is looking for a new adventure. See Hillary, you’ve got to trust the cards. The cards are always right. George is the wilder one.”

I rolled my eyes and then realized it was wasted since Ruth couldn’t see through my sunglasses.

“Did George talk about what they study?” I wanted to know Ruth’s interpretation without prompting her.

“I get the idea that they are somewhere between a Buddhist Monk and Samurai warrior. It’s not that he actually said it. It’s just a feeling I have.” Ruth said. “What did Will have to say?”

“He talked about altered states, how we can slip into them by accident, although I think
they
do it on purpose. He calls it
The River of Knowledge
. Then he talked about reincarnation and immortality. I thought he was talking about George and himself, but at the end it seemed like he was saying that I was immortal, too.”

“Today I feel immortal,” Ruth laughed, “but yesterday I would have said no! As for reincarnation, I’ve always believed in that. Please, don’t tell my very Catholic mom, she’d freak!”

“Will said that he’s known George for lifetimes and they and their fraternity brothers had planned to meet in this lifetime. How does that happen? I’ve never heard of people remembering that kind of stuff, not outside of hypnosis or a psychiatric ward! Do you think they’re crazy?”

“Look what the cat dragged in,” I heard behind me and I was pretty sure the statement was being directed at me, because I looked exactly like something the cat drug in. I turned to see Gilbert gazing down at me.

“Looks like you were at the bonfire a little too late last night, Hils. Were ya drinkin’ the firewater? You seem hung-over,” Gilbert said as he put his coffee cup on our table and pulled up a chair.

“Hi Gilbert, this is Ruth my roommate. Ruth, this is Mr. Dutton, the teaching assistant in my physics class.”

“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation.” Gilbert sat down, but never quite sat still. “Sounds like studies of ancient Vedic teachings mixed with quantum physics to me. Who are these guys you ladies were with last night?”

“Don’t give me that crap so early in the morning, Gilbert. You did mean to overhear us and what does any of this have to do with quantum physics?” I said while repositioning my sunglasses. I had a twinge of guilt about treating one of my professors with such little respect, but he was the one butting into my business.

“A little testy this morning, are we? Is it because you didn’t get enough sleep, or do you really not understand the relationship between quantum physics and the human journey?” Gilbert asked, looking at both of us.

I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. “Explain it to us, Gilbert.” I said, figuring he might be able to shed some light on the subject.

“Where do you want to start? Do you want to know from a scientific or religious point of view?”

Ruth didn’t seem to have a preference. She just leaned back in her chair, as if settling in for a professor’s lecture.

“Okay, let’s start with the religious view point. After all, it is Sunday.”

“Which
Christ figure should I pick? Buddha? Krishna?” Gilbert mumbled to himself, and finally looked up to engage Ruth and me. “Let’s pick Jesus. We all know who he is, right?” Gilbert took a swig of coffee and began.

“Here on Earth, there have been a number who have reached the level of Christ. The one that
westerners are most familiar with is Jesus, so let’s talk about a few things Jesus said like, ‘the kingdom of heaven is within’. That’s a good place to start.”

I sarcastically thought maybe we should have picked science.

“What is the human life? I think it begins when
spirit
enters
density
here on Earth, density being the tactile world, things like touch, smell, hearing, what we see and a spirit consisting of awareness, sense of self, the ability to experience feelings, to love and be loved.”

We both nodded our heads to indicate our understanding even though I was sure we were both clueless
.

“Religions would like us to think that Earth is God’s great testing ground to see if we’ll be naughty or nice, if we will choose good over evil when given the opportunity. To help us, religion tries to control our behavior by the threat of condemnation. You know, burning in hell for eternity versus hanging out on a cool cloud with benevolent spirits. Now
that’s
where the ultimate conspiracy story begins, ladies.”

Gilbert leaned forward and lowered his voice for a dramatic effect.

“Let’s start with this lifetime. You’re born, grow up and things seem like they’re rolling right along. You know, shit happens, good and bad, but it’s largely out of your control. I don’t have the right job. I don’t have the right body. I don’t have the right lover.” He nodded his head yes, indicating that this was a foregone conclusion.

“The reality on this earthly plane is that the average person’s attention span is 6 to 10 seconds. The human mind is crazy with thoughts twenty-four hours a day. Most can’t stay on the same subject long enough to see anything clearly.”

I had to agree with Gilbert. “So, what’s the point? What are you suggesting?” I asked.

With his fingers steepled to hold up his chin and still his hands, he continued.
“You ladies should do what I do:
manifest
your life! Take a few extra minutes when you wake in the morning to figure out what you’d really like to create in your life today...
consciously
, with deep and intentional thought rather than blindly accepting that it’s out of your control. Don’t worry about the coffee being made, what you’re going to wear, just think about what you’d like in life. It’s similar to planting a seed in a garden. Don’t worry about how it will happen. Seeds always sprout. You just have to decide what it is you’d like to grow, plant your dreams firmly in the soil of your mind and then watch them unfold. If you’re attentive and water them every day, you will begin to see miracles. That’s how you start… baby steps.”

“Then as you grow, job opportunities appear and a cute guy smiles at you from across the room. The most amazing miracle for me was the day I realized that I could be happy by just making that
choice
. People don’t believe it. I can tell by the tension in your face, Ruth, that you want to argue right now.” Gilbert egged her on by the smug smile on his face, so Ruth let him have it.

“Come on, Gilbert. Sometimes bad things happen. You can’t just pick happiness,” Ruth said defiantly.

“Okay, let’s take an example. What really pisses you off, Ruth? What isn’t going your way?” Gilbert asked calmly. “What’s happening in your life that wouldn’t be better if you just
choose
to go with happiness?”

“You’re saying I should be happy about losing the lead in my theater production. I’m the best choice and I got passed over because of politics,” she responded.

“Yes, I am saying that. I expected a more thought provoking example, but let’s go with the ‘lead in your play’ for now. Next time you go to class make a conscious choice of happiness and watch to see what unfolds. Happiness is really YOUR choice.” Gilbert put up his hands to stop Ruth’s interruption.

“The most important part of this experiment is to NOT be connected to the outcome. You have to let things unfold in their own way. Don’t mess it up by trying to control it. You need to be an observer of what you are creating by making the choice to be happy with whatever transpires.”

Gilbert smiled, eyes twinkling, “When you start on this path, all you can see is where you are standing at the moment, but as you become the creator of your life and look back from the mountain top, you’ll understand that it was never about that one place in time. Life is about the whole vista, everything we have planted along the way.”

Ruth attempted to argue with Gilbert, but Gilbert cut her off again.

“Get back to me on what happens. You’ll be amazed,” Gilbert replied, confidently. “Plant a seed in your garden of self creation when you wake up tomorrow. Next time I see you, we’ll talk.

“If it’s that easy, everyone would be doing it,” Ruth touted, with conviction.

“It is that easy. It just doesn’t occur to most people to think about consciously making a
choice
to be happy no matter what the outcome is, let alone to consider making it a life-long practice. Most people on this plane construct their life around being happy
if
a certain outcome happens. I will be happy
when
I get my next raise,
when
I can buy a bigger house,
when
this hot guy asks me out. Their state of well-being is predicated on specific outcomes that they think, when they’re achieved, will make them happy. It is work to claim control over your life and even harder to take responsibility for it all. Most people find it easier to blame things on the other guy or bad luck. They don’t want to consider that it’s their unconscious creation.”

“Okay, Gilbert, what does this have to do with Will, George or Jesus? I think you’re getting off the subject,” I interrupted.

“It’s exactly the same subject at its infancy. These guys are just a lot further down the road. So…let’s jump ahead on the evolutionary path. Now that you have become the creator of your life, you‘re one of the lucky few that views your life as more than happenstance. This state is called ‘free will’. Doesn’t the bible talk about that?”

He took a sip of coffee.

“The reality is that your moment to moment existence is altered by your love of life. Each of us is meant to be successful, happy and fulfilled. We are already perfect in God’s eyes. Our journey in this lifetime is to insert our divinity, the magic of life back into the equation.
The kingdom of heaven is within
. Jesus told us that! And if God is the creator, then he exists in us too and even better, God, as the
divine creator
, exists within each of us and as the
divine creator
we each have the capacity to bring into existence the life of our choosing. Can you begin to see that? And if your two guys are for real, they already have this
creator
stuff down.”

I gave him a standing “O”. “Gilbert,” I said, as I sat back down, “that was a great lecture. Where can I sign up to be God?” I laughed.

“Hils, as a quantum physicist, I have to say that you already are God,” Gilbert answered with total sincerity. “You just need to awaken the part of you that has forgotten. Well ladies, I expect I’ll see you around campus and we can talk again. Maybe then we can talk about neurons and peptides, the places where science and religion intersect,” and without another word, Gilbert stood, spun on his toes and walked away, leaving us feeling like we’d been hit by a hurricane.