Mystic Detective(2)

[creative writing]

Paul hardly recognised Xavier when he turned up late for their pre-arranged meeting. The trim neat short haired man about town look was gone. Xavier even smelled and not of some expensive metro perfume but merely of stale sweat. What had happened to him?

And his clothes – dear God – a dirty shirt! Xavier wearing a dirty shirt – with food stains! Paul was glad now that they had arranged to meet outdoors at the Central Café and for once the summer weather ion Manchester was warm and not wet.

The Central was in hip location in Chorlton where lots of mums and occasional dads dined with their (overly) self expressive children. But the food was good and the cappuccinos and smoothies excellent and it was Paul’s favourite place after Fuel.

- Xavier what of earth has happened to you?
The reply was a mere shrug of his shoulders.
- OK…You said you could give me the lowdown on OM
- Yes, sure. You know I’ve been exploring Eastern stuff – yoga, meditation, mindfulness for years?
Paul nodded for many times had they swapped opinions, experiences and books about mysticism.
- Well after my last bust up with the Buddhists- You remember I got asked to leave rather forcefully after heckling a Dalai.
Paul nodded.
- And I’ve still got the scares to show for it.
Clearly Xavier was still hurting after being beaten up by the over zealous Buddhists.
- About that time I started going to the yoga classes at the OM Centre in Didsbury. At first it was great. I loved their focus on the chakras and the energy rather than the more physical side of yoga. And of course their use of silence was delightful.
Paul nodded again – it matched his own experience of OM yoga.
- But after a while they got increasingly evangelical – especially in their advanced class. It was a real turn off for me. They started to really push their residential courses at their ashram near York.
- Did you ever go there?
- Yes and I truly wish I hadn’t!
- Why… why happened
- Well, it did my head in. It’s why I am ion the state I am in. I saw you wince when I came over to you.
- Xavier!
- It can’t be helped or rather I am being helped by a good therapist…. But where was I?
- The OM Ashram
- Yes, Om ashram. Yes well they are worse than the Buddhists, even worse than the Catholics which is saying something (Xavier had been regularly beaten at his Catholic School) They use fasting a lot to soften you up – they call it preparation for enlightenment – and then they hit you with their message. I think it is a form of brainwashing. And it was awful….
Xavier started to weep silently and tears trickled down his face. He wiped them away with an angry gesture. Paul gently touched his friend’s arm,
- I’m so sorry X.
His friend responded with a weak smile.

Back home again Paul sat at his keyboard. He often got great pleasure out of playing even though he knew he would never be a great pianist. An occasional jam session with his mate Denis was about as good as it got. He wished he started playing earlier in his life and had stuck at it more when he did. But what was the use of such regrets? Watching his fingers fly across the keyboards without him really thinking much about it was a pleasure. It was a kind of meditation, a reflection on the wonders of the human body and what it was capable of – such beauty and elegance. But the same human body was also capable of inflicting the casual brutality that his friend Xavier had suffered.

There was something in what Xavier had said, how did it go ‘preparation for enlightenment’ where had he heard that phrase before and what did it really mean? It was curious how this word ‘enlightenment’ could refer both to the Age of Enlightenment when the Western World broke free from traditional authority that resided in the church and monarchy and also spiritually to the idea of gaining insight, indeed for Buddhists it meant freedom from suffering, desire and ignorance. Paul always bauked at this notion of being free from desire. He could understand it intellectually but always felt like uttering a prayer along the lines of ‘Free me from the tyranny of desire but not just yet!”

His mobile beeped with a message, Paul turned to it with a frown that was quickly replaced with a crooked smile when he noticed the sender was Martha. Martha was an ideal companion for Paul. She was straight talking with no edge, relatively mature in age and experience and not seeking for Mister Right. She happened to be secretary to his old Frankie and thus worked part-time at the University.
- drnk 2nite
- yeah usual place
- 8
- OK