The Black God's War by Moses Siregar III Read Free Book Online Page B

of his face.
    “I’m sure everyone tells their wives anyway,” Rao said.
    Aayu’s round belly shook as he nodded. “I still wouldn’t do it, though.”
    “Are you two done keeping secrets from me? It’s rude.”
    Rao looked in Narayani’s eyes again. “Could you promise to keep everything I tell you a secret?”
    “You sure about this, bhai?” Aayu asked.
    “I solemnly promise that I will not tell a soul,” Narayani said.
    Rao looked down at the intricate dark patterns on his sheets. I may regret this, but s omehow this decision feels right . “Aayu, feel free to interrupt me at any point.”
    “I think I can manage that.”
    Rao let out a deep breath. “Early in our training, each of us is tasked with mastering a state of awareness, something unique. This is called your sadhana , and our gurus choose this focus for us early on. The hope is that someday you can teach other sages how to achieve your sadhana , too. Later, we develop a secondary sadhana .”
    Rao took both of Narayani’s hands in his own. “Aayu’s sadhana allows him to become transparent to the physical senses. When he focuses his mind with the aid of certain mantras that came to him after years of meditation, his consciousness changes enough so that no one can see, hear, touch, smell, or—”
    “Don’t say it, bhai.”
    “Or taste him.”
    “Disgusting,” Narayani said.
    “Forget that part. Since he and I have always been partners, I know something about his sadhana . I’m not as good at it as he is, but I can do it. He can make others invisible too, and sometimes I have been able to do that, as well.”
    “Hopefully I can do this for a lot of people someday, like an entire army,” Aayu said. “I’ve already taught some of our gurus how to do it on their own. It’s really not that difficult.”
    “Then let me see you use your ability now,” Narayani said.
    Aayu stood and closed his eyes. One breath later, his physical form vanished. Narayani jumped off the bed and ran to where Aayu had been standing. She waved her arms around, finding nothing. “Amazing!”
    “We haven’t figured out yet how to influence the physical world while in this state—we call it shunyata . Right now he’s aware of us much like he was before, but he can’t do anything to us.” Rao leaned back against the large pillows and the wall. “Occasionally other people can see through our shunyata . We believe this has something to do with the other person’s state of mind and their own spiritual awareness. Some of our teachers can see us in shunyata if they reach a deep enough state of meditation.”
    “Then that’s a problem.” Narayani kept walking around the room, swinging her arms around and looking for Aayu. “Can you do this as often as you want to?”
    “For the most part, but it requires concentration initially. It also requires a certain amount of ojas , subtle energy that can only be gained through spiritual practices.”
    Rao cleared his throat as he thought about how to explain more. “The mind is the master of the physical world. The physical isn’t observed by the mind—it’s actually dependent on the mind. It’s more correct to say that the physical world is also mind. Remove or transform the mind, and the physical world has no independent existence. When you know the truth about reality, you don’t have to fear anything in the physical world. As sages, we are trained in this understanding, and we use this awareness to protect ourselves.”
    “But if Aayu’s sadhana doesn’t work on everyone, what if their Haizzem can see through it?” She was still looking carefully for Aayu.
    Rao stood and followed her around his chamber. “These aren’t our only powers. Like most sages, we also learn things that allow us to support our soldiers or to fight when needed.”
    “Rao’s sadhana is really strange.” Aayu appeared on the bed, lying on his side with one hand propping up his head, looking up at the ceiling.
    Narayani walked