Chandra adjusts my arms and moves on, and I close my eyes, letting the sun warm my face. Sitting here on this hillside in the middle of nowhere, I feel so pure and calm. It’s not just Luke who’s changed over the last ten months. I have too. I’ve grown up. My priorities have altered. In fact, I’m a different person. I mean, look at me now, doing yoga at a spiritual retreat. My old friends probably wouldn’t even recognize me!
At Chandra’s instruction, we all move into the Vajrasana pose. From where I am, I can just see an elderly Sri Lankan man carrying two old carpetbags, approaching Chandra. They have a brief conversation, during which Chandra keeps shaking his head, then the old man trudges away over the scrubby hillside. When he’s out of earshot, Chandra turns to face the group, rolling his eyes.
“This man is a merchant. He asks if any of you are interested in gems. Necklaces, cheap bracelets. I tell him your minds are on higher things.”
A few people near me shake their heads as though in disbelief. One woman, with long red hair, looks affronted.
“Couldn’t he see we were in the middle of meditation?” she says.
“He has no understanding of your spiritual devotion.” Chandra looks around the group seriously. “It will be the same with many others in the world. They will not understand that meditation is food for your soul. You have no need for… sapphire bracelet!”
A few people nod in appreciation.
“Aquamarine pendant with platinum chain,” Chandra continues dismissively. “How does this compare to the radiance of inner enlightenment?”
Aquamarine?
Wow. I wonder how much—
I mean, not that I’m interested. Obviously not. It’s just that I happened to be looking at aquamarines in a shop window the other day. Just out of an academic interest.
My eye drifts toward the retreating figure of the old man.
“Three-carat setting, five-carat setting, he keeps saying. All half price.” Chandra shakes his head. “I tell him, these people are not interested.”
Half price? Five-carat aquamarines at half price?
Stop it. Stop it. Chandra’s right. Of course I’m not interested in stupid aquamarines. I’m absorbed in spiritual enlightenment.
Anyway, the old man’s nearly gone now. He’s just a tiny figure on top of the hill. In a minute he’ll have disappeared.
“And now.” Chandra smiles. “The Halasana pose. Becky, will you demonstrate?”
“Absolutely.” I smile at Chandra and prepare to get into position on my mat.
But something’s wrong. I don’t feel contentment. I don’t feel tranquillity. The oddest feeling is welling up inside me, driving everything else out. It’s getting stronger and stronger…
And suddenly I can’t contain it anymore. Before I know what’s happening, I’m running in my bare feet as fast as I can up the hill toward the tiny figure. My lungs are burning, my feet are smarting, and the sun’s beating down on my bare head, but I don’t stop until I’ve reached the crest of the hill. I come to a halt and look around, panting.
I don’t believe it. He’s gone. Where did he vanish to?
I stand for a few moments, regaining my breath, peering in all directions. But I can’t see him anywhere.
At last, feeling a little dejected, I turn and make my way back down the hillside to the group. As I get near I realize they’re all shouting and waving at me. Oh God. Am I in trouble?
“You did it!” the red-haired woman’s yelling. “You did it!”
“Did what?”
“You ran over the hot coals! You did it, Becky!”
What?
I look down at my feet… and I don’t believe it. They’re covered in gray ash! In a daze, I look at the pit of coals — and there’s a set of clear footprints running through it.
Oh my God. Oh my God! I ran over the coals! I ran over the burning hot smoldering coals! I did it!
“But… but I didn’t even notice!” I say, bewildered. “My feet aren’t even burned!”
“How did you do it?” demands the red-haired woman. “What was in your mind?”
“I can answer.” Chandra comes forward, smiling. “Becky has achieved the highest form of karmic bliss. She was concentrating on one goal, one pure image, and this has driven her body to achieve a supernatural state.”
Everyone is goggling at me like I’m suddenly the Dalai Lama.
“It was nothing, really,” I say, with a modest smile. “Just… you know. Spiritual enlightenment.”
“Can you describe the image?” asks the red-haired woman in excitement.
