His gaze fell upon several well-dressed men and women wearing formal business attire with their briefcases resting in their laps. They were smiling, yet somehow, although not through any conscious intention on their part, their smiles seemed false, as if they were smiling to mask a deep and profound suffering within them. Jeremy’s gaze then fell upon a younger crowd that was chatting boisterously and laughing jovially, although far from insincere, their laughter seemed to be artificial, a well-rehearsed charade of sorts to make them feel and appear happy, and to disguise the suffering that lay at the very core of their being. His eyes then fell upon an elderly couple lightly holding hands, with grim looks of worry and discomfort, and evident discontent, spelled on their faces. Jeremy’s gaze continued to wander, his eyes landing on the young and the elderly, the rich and the poor, the infirm and the healthy. Everywhere he looked he saw nothing but suffering, and the realization began to dawn on him that life itself is fraught with suffering.
Jeremy closed his eyes, and took several slow and deep breaths from his abdomen, breaths that came naturally and unforced, and then opened his eyes once more with his gaze immediately falling upon a woman that was beautiful beyond measure; the beauty that this woman radiated was greater than any that Jeremy had ever seen in his life. This beauty that attracted him so, was not an outward beauty, rather, it was a beauty that seemed to come from within. It was as if this woman glowed, as if she emitted a radiant and golden light, the type that is said to envelope the beings of the great sages, and, in fact, in varying degrees envelopes all people. She sat perfectly still, unflinching, the most peaceful presence that Jeremy had yet to come across in his young life. Even from a distance Jeremy noticed the twinkle in her starry eyes, a twinkle that suggested a childlike nature, one of innocence and purity, untainted and unscathed by the thoughts and habits of worldly life.
The train continued on, passing several more stops before Jeremy finally mustered up the courage to rise from his seat and approach this enchanting woman. As he moved towards her, an incredible feeling of lightness of being, as if he were a feather floating in a summer breeze, overcame him. He slowly and timidly sat in the seat facing the woman, with neither speaking a word. He raised his eyes to meet hers and in that instant all notions of time had stopped, leaving Jeremy both speechless and breathless. A moment after this gaze that lasted lifetimes had finished, the woman casually spoke, “Excuse me Jeremy, do you know what time it is?”
She knew his name! How on Earth did this woman, this complete stranger, yet one whom he felt like he had known all his life, know his name?
“Ummm…” Jeremy stammered as he mechanically pulled out his pocket-watch, “It’s 10:15.”
She gazed ever deeper into Jeremy’s being, “Names are meaningless, they are simply labels that keep us from seeing our true selves, from seeing our interconnectedness, and they keep us from seeing the unified nature of our being. If you must really know the truth Jeremy, at the deepest and most fundamental level of our nature, it is that I am you.”
“You are me… are you telepathic or something like that?” Jeremy spoke hoping not to sound too embarrassed.
The woman began to laugh, a laugh that seemed to come from her innermost being and one that brought a great smile to Jeremy’s face. “Yes Jeremy, of course I am telepathic. Aren’t we all? Telepathy is perfectly normal and it is completely natural. The key is to quiet your mind and free it from all of the distractions that usually preoccupy it. It has been said that there are windows through which we can enter into each other’s minds and hearts. But if no walls existed in the first place, then why do we even need to have any such windows? Where I live, Jeremy, there is no distinction between you and I. There are no walls between our minds nor between our hearts, so telepathy, as you call it, is just me tapping into a different part of my own consciousness.”
The woman rose slowly to leave the train, she rose as gracefully and purposefully as the morning sun, when Jeremy spoke sheepishly, “Will… will I… will I ever see you again?”
The woman laughed her melodious laugh that Jeremy had come to love so dearly in such a short period of time, “I am here Jeremy, all of the time. It is up to you to see me. I have a thousand different names and I come in a thousand different forms. My face can be seen in the innocent eyes of a child, in the heart of a snowflake, and in the glory of the setting sun. My voice can be heard in the song of a swan, in the roaring of an ocean tide, and in a whispering wind. My breath is the very breath of life itself. I am here and now, in every single moment I am there, all you have to do is choose to see me; wherever you are Jeremy, that is where I am, and that is where you will find me.”
“Always?”
