all are equal in their opportunities but some are more equal than the others,” summarized Stas.
“What did you want?” Volodya said again in a bass voice. “Ariman gave us a right of choice. His elections have the only motto: “The rich get the real power! The poor only arguments and facts!””
“Aha,” hemmed Stas. “And the only candidate during these elections is Ariman! Just try to vote against, you will immediately sing in falsetto voice.”
The guys laughed again but then gradually calmed down, probably thinking about something personal. Their jokes induced my thoughts about the duality structure of this world. But as soon as I deepened into them Victor again uttered with a sad smile, “I have thought that nobody and nothing may divert me from the spiritual way. But this case…”
“Ariman entrapped us so cunningly,” Stas agreed with him.
“How did I get entrapped, I can’t understand?!”
“Me, too,” Eugene assented to Victor. “I listened to him, it seemed that he takes care about our spiritual development. So I, the dunderhead, opened my mouth.”
“If you were the only dunderhead,” Stas said friendly, “then no problem. But now after Ariman there is a true jungle in my head.”
“Right,” Volodya nodded with a grin. “Impassable jungle!”
“So why do you need to neglect your thoughts till the state of impassable jungle?” half in jest said Sensei. “Take the instruments and change this jungle to the noble garden. Put your thoughts into order. Since that’s you who decide whether you will lose you way in impassable jungle like monkeys in search of bananas or you will pass the life like wisemen walking around the cultivated garden. Since this jungle only seem to be impassable as it’s your Animal nature presented it to you so, for whom Ariman is a Master, therefore he is a king of this jungle. But if you evaluate the events from the spiritual point of view bringing your thoughts to the order, you will reveal a very precious lesson in the yesterday’s visit, where the lecturer was the most merciless and hard-edged teacher. Only mature pure souls may overcome all his hinders, pass final exams and completely leave the circle of reincarnations if they are full of sincere stable desire to come back home.”
We quietened, thinking over the words of Sensei. Meanwhile Ruslan who together with Yura before didn’t take part in the conversation but just listened and laughed with all of us also made up his mind to speak out.
“On the one side that’s true… But I have also thought that Ariman takes care about our spiritual development. In the beginning he was also talking about achieving happiness, success, spiritual development. It’s the same what you, Sense, were talking to us about.”
“Never, it’s not the same,” Victor objected to him. “I have also thought about it yesterday. But then I fixed it out! There is a serious cheating!”
Sensei only smiled to the guy’s conversation and uttered, “And you get surprised why pure knowledge has been lost. This is a clear example for you how the pure knowledge is turned into religion, how its true sense is substituted, how the spiritual strives are changed by the wishes of the Animal nature.”
“It means that Ariman is guilty in all of this!” Ruslan made a conclusion declaring it with some inflection of aggression and discontent.
“What has Ariman to do with that?” said Volodya in a thoughtful way. “He has just done his job well. Ariman only advised us, he didn’t press on us. We listened to him deliberately and made our choice.”
Sensei nodded agreeing with his answer, “The problem is that people want what Ariman was talking about. They want to become significant in this material world in front of other people, to satisfy the ambitions of their Animal nature, but not to prove God that they are worth to be called Human, to strive to Him and to take care of their soul. They want to become here and now superrich, famous, coming over all possible boundaries for the sake of their stupid dreams, no matter in which way, just to achieve their goal. They live to be not worse than others, and if it’s possible to be much better than others. Many of them try to become leaders. Almost everybody assumes that if he’s got a chance to be born in this world he should certainly live better that others and achieve certain peaks in career, society rank, material wealth.”
Nikolai Andreevich looked at Sensei as if he intended to ask him something obviously connected with his last statement. But he refrained from that and kept silence.
“Eh,” Victor sighed. “That’s right. You should be always vigilant regarding your thoughts and be careful in choosing your wishes.”
“Well, I agree, it’s good when you are just vigilant and careful,” uttered Stas. “But if you are attacked by such slogans as “freedom” and “equal opportunities”, if you are suggested by that from all sides, but in fact you are just used as a slave?”
Sensei replied, “‘Freedom’ and ‘equality’ are the most seducing trap words of Ariman, since a person reacts on them depending on his spiritual needs but then due to the shrewd interpretation of the Ariman’s ‘democracy’…”
“…He steps into the full… material,” Volodya added with a grin.
“Right you are.”
“Is it something like ‘the democracy is the way to choose you slave owner?’” joked Victor.
“Something like that,” nodded Sensei. “As Ariman manipulating with a word ‘freedom’ leads a human to the understanding that he can achieve it only through money, when he has enough of it. Richness and power is the main weapon of managing the consciousness of people. But the true freedom is when a human becomes higher than this world, higher than material wishes, when a human lives each day, each hour for the sake of his soul, enriching its treasury with good doings, thoughts, help to surrounding people. When a human doesn’t live for the sake of his egoism and significance, but for the sake of other people, in the name of God.
“These are golden words!” Eugene nodded seriously. “I’m, for example, with all my hands and other extremities “pro” good doings, and thoughts, and help. But what can I do if I can’t manage my thoughts? Frankly speaking, I’m fed up with them! I can’t bear all of that.
The guy was saying this so sincerely that I even felt sorry for him. In certain sense he got it in the neck by Ariman more than most of us. And nevertheless taking into account his internal struggle and sufferings about it, he behaved worthy of respect, didn’t complain or show aggression towards others as some of us because of the internal conflict, he even didn’t complain about the physical pain, though the day before he got a lot of serious grazes in sparrings. But it was obvious that the guy was on the verge and let splash out his “indignation” only through the prism of his endless humour, as they say, without detriment to other people.
Looking at him I sincerely offered, “Eugene, try a new meditation of Lotus flower. I’ve done it today. It’s so nice! My bad thoughts disappeared and my mood became perfect!”
In reply Eugene said, “I’ve tried this method not once.” And already addressing to Sensei he asked, “By the way, Sensei, I don’t understand what is the matter? However hard I tried with this meditation it doesn’t work and that’s al. Everything stays at the level of bare imagination.”
“It’s really a complicated meditation,” Sensei replied to him. “And in order to achieve much success in it, you should be persistent, hard-working and have a special state of will. Then your “resistance” will disappear and you will see a completely different reality.”
“It’s a bright perspective,” smiled the guy. “But I seem to have a growth problem. All my attempts don’t let me achieve another level, I have only after-effects caused by excessive pressure. Maybe there is some complementary additional “device” for such dummies like me?” As always, Eugene could avoid humour even in such delicate issues. Having heavily sighed the guy added with a supplication in his voice, “Sensei, throw me to this ocean of turbulent elements of my Animal nature a little straw to catch! As my Buyan isle was washed away together with a palace and a squirrel with