BISKOOT

“Inquisitive child”, the Master invited, “I have sensed your perturbation. A question has finally taken shape in your mind. What is it?”

Nimit adjusted the frequency and lowered the volume slightly. His Master’s Voice was exceptionally loud and clear today.

“Master”, he began expectantly, “I am tormented by the feeling of not being free. I supposedly have a good education, a job that pays me well, a car and a house. But I have this creepy feeling that I do not have control. I feel that it is not me, but somebody else who is in control. I cannot see this somebody, but I feel sure that he/it is there, and can someday pull a plug and bring me to ruin. Sometimes in my dreams I vaguely see this somebody shrouded in darkness, holding a sword that could snap off all the strings that I hold in my hand, in one fell swoop”

“The question I am grappling with”, Nimit continued, “is that in the longer term of things, what should I do and how, so that I become more free, and therefore feel happier and more powerful?”

The blue-green scope lit up as His Master’s Voice spoke from behind the starphone speaker.

“I understand your torment. In the years before my transformation I have grappled with the same question, and have arrived at practical and actionable ideas to deal with this problem.”

“Others of self-claimed wisdom, on hearing your predicament, would advise you that the reason for your misery is attachment. While this observation is not entirely untrue, it is not precise. The direct reason for your misery is not attachment, but fear, fear of losing what you have brought yourself to depend on (and are thus attached to)”

The Master went on.

“The others will tell you that the solution is to renounce all your material possessions. But this is a crude solution. An extreme reaction to an extreme situation. If you pull the ends of a string of rubber in opposite directions, it creates tension inside it. Now if you suddenly release the string, the tension will be resolved, but not before the string flies about violently and unpredictably.”

“My approach is to relax the string in a measured way. You do not have to let go of the string, as the professors of renunciation will have you believe”

Nimit smiled in appreciation. He found this analogy elegant and imaginative.

“Your goal should be to rid yourself not of your attachments, but your fear of losing what you are attached to. Eliminating this fear totally is not easy, but I assert total elimination is not even necessary. It is enough if you feel that you are always coming closer to this goal.”

“With every step that you take towards reducing this fear, you will feel your freedom and power increasing, and this will make you more happy. You do not have to renounce anything to do this. You only need to see things from a different perspective, and use certain strategies and their allied techniques. These I will surely teach you”

For the first time, the flow of His Master’s words was broken by a long pause.

Eagerly, Nimit said, “Wise One, I am ready to learn and unlearn, as You advise”

“I know. Otherwise I would not have spoken all that I have already spoken”, said the Master.

“Master, please teach me the strategies and techniques that you have spoken of”, Nimit pleaded, now somewhat excited.

“Soon, young one. But first, I want you to ponder over what I have already said. I also want you to think about the dark dream you told me about. The next time, we will probe that dream together. It will help you discover a few things and better appreciate that which I am going to teach you.”

Nimit felt a little disappointed; the time for this session had almost run out. Spurious lines began to flicker on the scope. Within less than a minute the link would be lost.

The Master’s voice came back on:

“As you can see we are going out of range. I will share more the next time. Until then I have an assignment for you.”

“What assignment, Master?”

“You must tell, not ask, but tell your boss that tomorrow you will not go to work. You will take your bicycle and guitar to the leafy hill in the adjacent town, find a pleasant spot and spend the night there with these instruments”

“Yes, Master”

“Good. You will see the point of this soon. I shall speak to you again the day you return from your assignment. Take care until then.”

With that, the link dropped. The scope stopped dancing, and a steady white line appeared.

Nimit reached out for his cellphone, and started dialing his boss’ number…