MANAN FF - TILL THE END OF TIME

MANIK'S LOVE FOR THE STARS

Dr. Dhawan was momentarily confused. Manik had walked through a door, in his mind, to another time and another place. By the movements of his eyes, Dr. Dhawan could tell that he was observing something. "You will be able to talk," Dr. Dhawan told him, "and yet you will be able to remain in a deep trance state and continue to observe and to experience. What do you see?"

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"I see myself," Manik answered. "I am lying in a field at night. The air is cool and clear. ... I see many stars."

"Are you alone?"

"Yes. There's no one else around."

"What do you look like?" he asked, looking for details in order to learn more about the time and place in which he had emerged.

"I'm myself . . . about twelve years old. . . . My hair is short."

"You are yourself?" questioned Dr. Dhawan, still not realizing that Manik had merely gone back into his own childhood and not a past life.

"Yes," he answered simply. "Back in Mexico as a boy."

Now he understood, and he shifted gears, looking more for feelings. He wanted to find out why Manik's mind had selected this particular memory from the vast panorama available to it.

"How do you feel?"

"I feel very happy. There's something so peaceful about the night sky. The stars have always seemed so familiar and friendly to me. . . . . I like to pick out the constellations and watch them march across the sky as the seasons change."

"Do you study the stars in school?"

"Not really, just a little bit. But I read about them on my own. Mostly I like to watch them."

"Does anyone else in your family enjoy watching the stars?"

"No," he answered, "only me."

Dr. Dhawan subtly shifted now to appeal to his higher self or intelligence, to his expanded perspective, to learn more about the importance of this memory. He was no longer speaking to the twelve-year-old Manik.

"What is the importance of this memory of the night sky?" asked Dr. Dhawan. "Why did your mind select this particular one?"

He was silent for a while. His face softened in the thin afternoon light.

"The stars are a gift to me," he began softly. "They are a comfort. They are a symphony I have heard before, refreshing my soul, reminding me of what I had forgotten.

"They are even more," he continued, a bit enigmatically. "They are a path guiding me to my destiny . . . slowly but surely. ... I must be patient and not get in the way. The schedule is already set." He was silent again.

Dr. Dhawan let him rest as a thought crept into his mind. The night sky has been here far longer than mankind. At some level, haven't we all heard that ancient symphony? Are all of our destinies guided as well? And then another thought, very clear in its words but not at all in its meaning. I, too, must be patient and not get in the way of Manik's destiny.

This thought came to Dr. Dhawan like an instruction. It turned out to be a prophecy.

***

NEXT: Nandini recalls a tragic past life in Egypt.