Where is Everyone? Five: Harold visits Arab Jesus

Arab Jesus was dressed like a belly dancer. She led Harold to her tent. It was very large, very pink, and made of silk. Arab Jesus grabbed Harold’s hand and they walked inside. Harold was dumbfounded by the opulence. There were pillows of every color scattered everywhere. Harold removed his shoes as the floor was like foam. Thick ropes hung here and there from rafters holding up the ceiling of the tent. Harold had no idea what their purpose was, but they added to the aesthetic design of the interior. There were potted palms in each corner of the tent. Three tiki torches were positioned at the center of each wall; there were torches on either side of the doorway as well. The light was soft but it was easy to see everywhere in the tent. A Chinese lantern hung from the peak of the tent. There were two large and ornate chests against the back wall on either side of the torch.

In the middle of the tent was a circle of pillows and in the center of the circle was a hookah with two hoses extended on opposite sides. Arab Jesus led Harold to a lush pillow in front of the hookah. Once Harold was settled, Arab Jesus walked to the chest on the left, opened it, and pulled out a small box. She walked back to the center and took a seat on a pillow opposite Harold. The box had hinges and Arab Jesus opened the lid. She pulled out a small three-pointed leaf, about two centimeters square.

Arab Jesus said to Harold, “This is a very special leaf.” She proceeded to put the leaf in the large bowl of the hookah. “You probably need sleep, but I want you to pick up the hose and inhale.” Harold did so. He held his breath for about ten seconds and exhaled a bluish smoke. Arab Jesus said, “Your inhalation of the leaf’s properties will allow you to feel as if you just slept for eight hours.” Harold was shocked, but noticed that he felt refreshed. Asian Jesus removed the leaf from the bowl and returned it to the box.

Arab Jesus removed another item from the box, a small brown waxy ball the size of a pebble. She held it up in front of her face to show Harold and then placed it into the bowl. “This substance, when inhaled simultaneously by two persons, switches consciousness from each body to the other. We call this substance the yin-yang.”

Harold was not sure he completely understood. “You’re telling me that if we both inhale from these tubes at the same time that my consciousness will be in your body and your consciousness will be in mine? That’s … amazing!” Arab Jesus smiled, but Harold became skeptical. “Are you messing with me? God told me Jesus’s enjoy playing jokes on others.”

Arab Jesus laughed. “God’s one to talk. God plays more practical jokes than all the Jesus’s combined!” She laughed even harder. “Oh, Harold, what you must think of yesterday.” Arab Jesus smiled benignly. “Are you willing to swap consciousness with me?”

Harold thought about her proposition. He would be in a woman’s body! There was certainly some appeal, especially as Arab Jesus was extraordinarily sexy. She had the body of a belly dancer and a deeply spiritual presence. He winced, though, when he thought of what it would be like to look at his face with the eyes of Arab Jesus. He thought to himself, “That might freak me out.” But then he thought what it might feel like to be in such a sensuous body, to feel what it was like to have such shapely curves, such full breasts, and … a vagina! Harold, without realizing it, blurted out, “Holy shit!”

Arab Jesus jumped in her seat and stared back at Harold with surprise in her eyes. She gasped and said, “Harold! You gave me quite a jolt. You were sitting so still, so deep in thought, and then you just exploded!” Arab Jesus began laughing. “Oh, Harold, what it must be like to be you.” She shook her head, softly chuckling to herself.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. The implications of switching consciousness just hit me. I mean, I’m incredibly intrigued. In fact, I’m aroused by the possibility. But,” Harold paused searching for the words bubbling to the surface of his thought, “will it be possible to switch back?”

Arab Jesus sat still for a few minutes. Harold was becoming uncomfortable. Just as he was about to speak, she said, “Yes. We can switch back … if that’s what we both want. If you want to switch back but I don’t then there will be no switching back. Conversely, if I want to switch back and you don’t there will be no switching back. Either one of us may try to persuade the other, but there can be no hostility or pressure to do so. Respect for and acceptance of one another’s wishes is tantamount.”

Harold sat with this information. He assessed the risk involved. What if he didn’t like being a woman, didn’t like living in the body of Arab Jesus? Could he take the risk of becoming trapped?

Suddenly, though, Harold had an epiphany: He was already trapped in the body where his consciousness resided. He understood what the Jesus’s had meant when they said his daughter had shifted time to allow him to realize he was a being that manifested as “Harold” rather than actually being “Harold.” He’d crafted an identity based in large part on his body, especially on having a penis!

This realization stunned Harold. He gazed at Arab Jesus with wonder in his eyes. “I understand. I really understand.”

Arab Jesus’s eyes lit up. “Oh, Harold, I’m so happy for you! I don’t want to temper your enthusiasm or detract from your euphoria this moment, but I will say that there are even greater understandings awaiting you. Still, it is very exciting and impressive to have realized what you have so soon after living yesterday. You have to foster your discovery so that you can develop it. Realizations are difficult to come by, but development of realizations into ways of thinking and living are much more difficult. Discipline is required, but not the sort of “I must tough this out” discipline you may have learned as a man today. You must learn how to be disciplined yesterday so that you develop appropriately for this environment. Seriousness is a significant obstacle and you harbor a great deal of seriousness within you. You were likely conditioned to be serious as today mistakenly equates seriousness with responsibility. It’s quite the opposite. Responsibility can only be developed through silliness.”

Harold listened intently, even leaning forward to focus his attentiveness. He didn’t think of it while Arab Jesus was speaking, but he felt like an acolyte, a student learning from a master. He held Arab Jesus in high esteem and felt grateful that she deemed him worthy of sharing her wisdom. He felt his heart swell and realized it had been constricted, perhaps by worry and mistrust … of himself as much as anyone else.

Harold said to Arab Jesus, “I want to do this. I want to switch consciousnesses.”

“Very well. There are a few things we must do to prepare. First, take off your clothes so that you can put on a white robe. I have one that will fit you in one of the chests.” Arab Jesus rose from the pillow and walked over to the chest. She lifted the lid, removed a white robe, closed the lid, and walked back to Harold. She held the robe and asked Harold to stand up. Harold did so. “Please disrobe Harold.”

Harold felt skittish about removing his clothes in front of Arab Jesus. She noticed this and said, “Harold, I will be in your body soon enough. There is nothing I will see that I won’t feel very soon.” Harold nodded in agreement and began removing his clothing. When he was finished, standing naked in front of Arab Jesus, she asked him to put his clothes outside the tent. “Someone will pick them up and take care of them for you.” Harold walked to the opening of the tent and set his clothes outside. He walked back and Arab Jesus held the robe up so Harold could slip into it. He pulled the sides of the robe together, one side overlapping the other, and tied the rope around his waist to keep the robe in place.

Arab Jesus said, “There, doesn’t that feel better?” Harold had to admit that it was very comfortable, much less constricting than his underwear, blue jeans, and sweatshirt. “Maybe this is why we’re all so serious today; we’re wearing clothes that bind up our bodies,” thought Harold. Arab Jesus walked to her pillow and sat and Harold sat on his pillow opposite her.

“Harold, I want you to close your eyes and relax. Remove all verbal thought from your consciousness. Concentrate on your breathing. In … and out … in … and out. Let the muscles of your body relax as you continue breathing in a relaxed manner. Feel the tension release from the muscles in your face. Feel your whole body as one interconnected entity. You have no arms or legs, no neck or chest, no feet or hands. You are simply a body, one uniform mass of relaxed flesh. Air is inhaled in and air is exhaled out. Breathing is the only activity of your body. The only movement you feel is air coming in and air going out. Continue breathing and relax, continue even after you stop hearing my voice.”

Harold slowly disappeared as an identity and became an indistinguishable mass that merely inhaled and exhaled air. The differentiation of time and space lessened to such a degree that Harold could not have measured either. He did not want to do so, anyway, not through will or desire but through an absence of will and desire. “Harold” ceased to be; a breathing mass of flesh remained.

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chapter six coming soon ...