Kelly's Koffee Shop (A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystey Book 1) (21 page)

The
chairman’s poise was momentarily ruffled by the old man’s question.

After
a pause, he reached down and withdrew a large-denomination bill from his
pocket, which he slowly folded into a paper airplane. He tossed it gently into
the air, and after a respectable flight, the green bill landed on the floor
near a young gal’s feet.

“Money
can fly,” said the chairman. “The dodo couldn’t.”

The
crowd chuckled. The toothless man cackled that his money flew, all right, into
the hands of the income tax and bill collectors.

Before
all the laughter had subsided the chairman resumed, “If you don’t start living,
then you’re headed for dododum.
In the Dodo world, one dumb Dodo told the
rest that flying was a sin, and anyone who flew would be cursed to a life of
hell once they died
.

“Well,
when the hunters came the birds were rooted to the ground, not because they
couldn’t fly, but because of the guilt that imprisoned them, because some idiot
dodo proclaimed that flying was sinful,” said the chairman.

“I’ve
never heard of a better example,” said one gal, giggling.

"Human
dodos abound, the world is full of them, and to make things worse - they love
to hear the sound of their own voice. So their mouths are open like open
gutters 24/7," said the chairman.

Between
giggles, a young girl glanced at the paper airplane on the floor.

“Can
you give us an example of imaginary sin?” a young man asked earnestly, and
wondered if someone was going to pick up the money.

“If
you don’t fast during certain times of the year you are labelled a
sinner," said the chairman. "Those who 'fast' think that some foreign
entity will shower them with blessings and welcome them with open arms.

“Even
though you refuse to accept the concept of fasting and put up a brave front,
internally it's eating you up. You tell yourself you are a sinner. To hell with
it you say; you’ve committed so many sins that you might as well embrace hell
with all guns blazing. In this way you condemn yourself to a living hell right
here and right now. If you do not conform to the
dodoisms of society,
then you are gifted with the ultimate status symbol – there walks a sinner.

"The
irony of the situation is that when you condemn someone else you are committing
a sin - which is nothing but the absence of goodness. At that moment you are
spewing venom, which you thought you were never capable of.

"There's
nothing right or wrong about fasting. If it suits your spiritual path then
embrace it by all means. But coercing, castigating or rebuking others regarding
something they cannot 'relate to' nor are 'comfortable with' causes a lot of
harm to both parties," said the chairman.

"So
evil is the absence of goodness?" asked a young woman.

"Yes,
in the heat of the moment when you lose your sanity because of a lack of
awareness you become a sinner," said the chairman.    

“Are
non-vegetarians sinners?” asked an elderly lady, with a worried look on her
face.

“That’s
a good question,” said one girl.

“Hmm…
ok here goes,” said the chairman.

“If
there is one sin then here it is – emitting a negative thought. It does the
only thing it can - it comes back and bites you,” said the chairman.

“Billions
of vegetarians spew billions of negative thoughts on a daily basis and a few
even harbor thoughts of killing, looting and plundering on a global scale (if
their interests are harmed),” said the chairman.

“In
many cases, vegetarians wholeheartedly endorse murderous decisions taken by
those who represent them. In this way both vegetarians and non-vegetarians kill
hundreds, maybe thousands in conflicts, skirmishes and wars that take place on
a daily basis,” said the chairman.

“So
both are on the same level, slightly above that of animals. Animals walk around
naked, you have clothes on -
internally both are looking to survive not
thrive.
You think that turning into a vegetarian makes you ‘spiritual’
automatically. How smoothly you delude yourself!”

“Lottsa
things are beginning to take on a whole new meaning,” said one man.

“Looks
like we have much bigger issues to deal with,” said an elderly gentleman.

“Your
thoughts are diametrically opposite to ours,” opined one woman.

“Since
sin doesn’t exist, we can party a lot harder from now on,” said a young guy.
Everyone screamed: “Wooohooooooooooooooooo.”

“So
what you're saying is that we can commit a crime and get away with it?” asked
an elderly gentleman.

“Good
question. Since there’s no retribution, it’s a free ride, right?” asked one
gal. 

“Well,
it’s not that simple,” said the chairman. “When you commit a crime your
conscience gets jolted. This jolt results in the formation of a negative
imprint, which gets added to your memory bank, which is already overflowing
with billions of such imprints.

“These
imprints give out a certain type of energy just like a magnet. This magnetic
force attracts you to people, places and things vibrating at the same energy
level. You can steal a piece of paper, a pen, a book or money from a bank; it’s
all the same.

“So
if you lie or steal, no matter how small or how big, it gets registered, and
this attracts you to liars and thieves. They might be from the ghetto or they
might be wearing skirts and suits, but the undeniable fact is - ‘like attracts
like’.

"Another
way of looking at it is - your conscience is the software and your memory is
the database. When "an act" involves an emotion then the result of
that act gets added to the database. The bigger the database the harder life
gets. In other words, keep your emotions in check and travel light. You'll go
fast and you'll go far and you'll be happy.  

“So
it's back again to the memory and its back again to the most important saying
of all time – empty yourself of your memories, for the reason your life is the
same as your parents or differs very marginally is because
the same memory
patterns bring forth the same experiences
.”

“So
what you're telling us is that there’s no entity sittin' in heaven doling out
bouquets and brickbats?” clarified an old man.

“That’s
right,” said the chairman.

“I’ve
been terrorized into submission by my folks who keep telling me that I’ll end
up in hell if I sin,” said a young gal, her cheeks pink with guilt.

“I’ve
never believed in any of this worship stuff,” said one guy. “Every time I’d ask
a question they’d frighten me by telling me that bad things happen to those who
ask too many questions.”

“So
to recap, you are bleeding precious energy because you daydream, blame, complain
and criticize, because of infatuation, because you are weighed down by useless
memories, because of sin and guilt (if not a lot then a little). Sin is a
figment of your imagination that never had anything to stand on but survived
for so long
because you energized it with fear
that sprouted from
your being
,” said the chairman.

"Women
are good when it comes to all of this. Their bullshit detector is far better
than a man's. They've always been the protector whereas man has always been the
provider. You put bullshit on a man's plate, he'll eat it and then say - Well,
that tasted kinda funny.

Everyone
burst out laughing.

"Learn
from women, you'll prosper tremendously," said the chairman

*****

Once,
three beautiful birds landed on the front lawn of a house. The lady of the
house was busy with her daily chores when she nonchalantly looked up and saw
these heavenly creatures. She went up to them and almost let out a shriek when
the first bird said: “My name is Love.”

The
second bird said: “My name is Success,” and the third bird said: “My name is
Wealth.”

The
lady could scarcely believe her good fortune. She invited all of them in, but
Love told her, that she could only choose one of them.

She
went running in and called her husband. Soon, there was an animated discussion,
about which bird was to be let in. The fight was for Success and Wealth,
neither wanted Love.

A
little while later, their eight year old daughter came out and saw the birds.
Since her parents were unable to come to a decision, they asked her to choose.
The little girl didn’t know what Success or Wealth meant, so she chose Love.

As
soon as Love flew into the house, Success and Wealth too flew into the house.
This left the parents perplexed. Love had conveniently forgotten to mention,
that if it was chosen, then Success and Wealth had no option but to follow it,
wherever it went.

*****

CHAPTER
7

Nothing
can Kill You!

The chairman
looked over at the paper plane made of money that still lay unclaimed on the
floor. No one had dared pick it up. Maybe they were afraid of being labelled as
greedy. Just when the chairman was going to reach down for it, the young gal
retrieved it for him. He thanked her as he pocketed the money.

“So, how many of
you are afraid of death?” asked the chairman.

All of them
raised their hands.

“Why?” asked the
chairman.

“It's game over
once we’re dead, ain’t no fun in that,” said one man.

“Here’s a
scientific fact that science does not know yet: you are immortal,
you will
never die or in other words - nothing can kill you, because
you are the
essence
,” said the chairman.

“Howz that
possible?” asked an elderly gentleman, who flashed a toothless grin.

*****

A day is
equivalent to a lifetime enveloped in 24 hours. A day and a lifetime are like
two gears, made of the same material, have teeth, and rotate in a circular
fashion. They differ in size -
not in function
. Hence, you are born
every day.

When you sleep,
you don't sleep, your body sleeps. When you die, you don't die, your body dies.
The sun doesn't rise in the east and set in the west. The sun always is just as
pure awareness always is. Don't let the rising and setting blindside you. Just
like the sun - You are Pure Awareness and Awareness always Is. Don't let small
things like birth and death fool you!

*****

"Once you
were a baby, is that baby still around?" asked the chairman.

"No,"
said the elderly gentleman.

"Are you
still here?" asked the chairman.

"Damn right
I am," he replied, as everyone burst out laughing.

"Once you
were a teenager, is that teenager still around? Once you were a young man, is
that young man still around? Once you were a middle aged man, is that middle
aged man still around?" asked the chairman. "None of them are around,
but you're still here, aren't you?"

"Yeah,"
said the elderly gentleman.

"So you
take up all these forms that are eventually discarded, but the "you"
still remains, this ever-present awareness that is witness to everything that
is happening," said the chairman. "The witness always was, is and
always will be."

“So why are we
not aware of this fact?” asked the senior gentleman.

“You hit the
nail on the head," said the chairman. "It’s all ‘bout awareness. All
of you sleep with your eyes wide open during the day so there’s ‘very little to
no awareness’ even when you are awake. With such low levels of awareness there
is very little difference between you and an animal.

“This imaginary
fear of death keeps you rooted to the same spot, every decision you take is
centered around your safety, your security. You might not be aware of it, but
deep down its playing on your ignorance (that you are unaware of your
immortality) all the time.

“When you die
you don’t die, it's not game over, it's just break-time. Tired of this
existence, tired of playing the game of life, you take a breather and then get
back on court with renewed energy,” said the chairman.

“Death is a
figment of your imagination. The fear of death sucks out enormous amounts of
energy from you on a daily basis. This stunts your growth and you live life half-dead.
Many diseases and bodily pain in life are on account of this fear manifesting
itself in myriad forms.

“You walk around
thinking that someone or something will harm you or your family; the funny
thing is – those who surround you also walk around thinking that you’ll stick
it into them at any moment.

“If you want to
tattoo one thing then let it be this –
Death is the ultimate illusion
,”
said the chairman. “It’s back to the concepts of ‘Empty yourself of your
memories, your past conditionings and bring down this wall of resistance that
has come up on account of your memories.

“When you try to
reason, you are standing on the foundation of your memories, for without the
support of your memories you cannot reason, so such a method of learning is
faulty. In Latin -
to educate means to draw from within, not to shove from
outside
.  Eternal truths bubble up from deep within and point you in the
right direction,” said the chairman.