The Monastery

Chapter 36: The Elements

It was in such a way that Susant found the girl in the garden once again. She was in the same place she had been seven days before, going through the same strange arm movements while breathing. Susant merely watched her as the sun crept higher into the sky. He watched her until he could close his eyes and see her perfectly.

              He took in a long, deep breath of the morning air. He felt a calm in his spirit and mind that he had never experienced before. He smiled, realizing that his thinking mind had finally fallen asleep, even though he was awake. He was not being constantly harassed with thoughts, questions, doubts, fears or anything of the matter. He was perfectly at peace to simply appreciate the wind, grass and sun.

              Standing up, Susant walked over and sat down next to the girl. He was quiet as could be, careful not to disturb her. He would wait seven more days again, if he had to. The need for haste had passed.

              A couple hours later, the girl opened her eyes to find Susant sitting calmly next to her. Even though she would have never admitted it, she felt a stir in her heart upon meeting his eyes. It was no longer the same frustrated, fidgety boy that sat before her. Instead, she felt slightly intimidated by the look in his eyes, and she realized his success. 

              "I see you made it," she finally said.

              "Actually," said Susant, humbly tilting his head. "I failed. Quite early, too." He laughed.

              A puzzled look came over her face. "You failed?"

              "I took a bite of an apple the first day."

She raised an eyebrow.

              "But I don't regret it. That mistake taught me something that I now cherish."

               She looked at Susant, taking him in. There was a stillness in his eyes, his movements, his speech. He was calm like a pond with no wind. He was tranquil.

              "I want to thank you," said Susant. "If it weren't for you, I would have never tried to fast for seven days. I would have never been silent. I would not have learned to still my thinking mind and never have been able to meditate for a day and a night under the tree. You have given me all these things. For that, I am eternally grateful to you, and no matter whether you decide to teach me or not, I will always cherish you as one of my teachers."

              The girl felt her cheeks flush red. Standing to her feet to hide it, she couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. If anyone else had told her the things he had just told her, she would have laughed them off, considered them arrogant, foolish and absurd. But the way he had said it, with the words he had chosen to use, and the sincerity that she felt in every moment of it . . . that was real. He meant those things.

              She turned to face Susant, who was still sitting. "My name . . . is Lotus, and I will teach you."

***

              Susant looked up from one the books she had given him in the library. "I didn't think that, by teaching, you meant you were going to stack book after book for me to read from dawn til dusk." He cracked a smile as she stacked another book on top of his already tall pile.

              "Have any of your lessons been particularly pleasant up until this point?"

              Susant shook his head, laughing. "No, I suppose they haven't been."

              The two of them spent the afternoon in the library. She went over the basics of the ancient language, the symbols and characters that made up the alphabet, and some of the simpler mantras. He learned that mantras were phrases that one could speak, whether from the mouth or in the mind, that were believed to have subtle powers. The first one he learned was the mantra of compassion.