The Abbot gulped his soup thoughtlessly, sat in his usual position, cross legged on the cold marble floor of the prayer room. The opening to his left allowed the rays of the sun to come in and scatter across him and the other objects at the far end of the space.
In his usual daily habit, the sunlight illuminating his body was the signal that it was time for his mid-morning meditation. The realisation of this brought his meal to an abrupt end and he placed the bowl to his right hand side. It clinked against the floor as he placed it.
At the production of this ever so subtle sound, a young monk no more than nine years old scampered in, light footed barely making a sound. He moved to pick the bowl and that's when the Abbot felt it.
"Stop," he said to the boy. The boy almost froze crouched with his right hand outstretched to the bowl. The abbot felt a disturbing internal impulse. Fear.
"We must go to Yi," said the Abbot. "Quickly."
The boy fetched the Abbot's walking cane. The Abbot sensed a malevolent force coming towards the monastery. In his urgency he tried to get up fully without balancing on his stick. He half-stumbled. For such an elderly man, he still had a sinewy appearance, yet his age meant that the look of youthfulness deceived.
Both boy and old man hurried out of the room. Rushing, agitated the Abbot. Indeed, one of his favourite sayings was that, "haste is a form of violence." But it couldn't be avoided when violence was coming to his doorstep.
Yi's raised bed was surrounded by many other monks, sitting on the floor, much older than him, some in their twenties, thirties and forties. To be attended to by so many men was a reflection of his importance. Thought it was also due to the fact that he hadn't fully recovered from his astral projection to London.
They were repeating a mantra. "I am not the body. I am not the mind."
The Abbot did not need to tell him, he sensed the disturbance.
"They're here. The devil has come," he said. He sat up.
"Don't over exert yourself my boy," the Abbot stated plainly and uncharacteristically. A revelation of his attachment bubbling up to the surface.
"It's okay, I more or less feel myself again," said Yi.
"Master Yi, you will wait here," said the Abbot. "I will go outside to the demon."
"If only I did not project myself to London maybe I would have enough strength to possess it's mind and stop it."
"Guilt is a destructive emotion," said the Abbot.
"He will kill you," said Yi.
The Abbot paused and nodded. "Energy cannot be destroyed."
Yi understood the message and contained his fear. "Let us breathe."
They all went into meditation again.
The Abbot paid attention to his internal workings, his thoughts, cognitions, his internal physiology. Within a matter of a few seconds he'd reigned in the scattered nature of his mind, slowed his breath and corrected his heart rate.
Many years ago the Abbot learned how to regulate his physical and mental state. There would be exercises where he would sit out in the cold at temperatures just above zero degrees celsius and be draped in ice-cold sheets of cloth. But instead of freezing to death, through deep meditation he was able to raise his body heat by twenty degrees. The sheet of cloth would steam with heat and dry in under an hour. All the senior and prodigious monks at the monastery had gone through this training. And by breathing again now, in this moment, they all centered and focus. Circulating energy through their bodies, more awake, emanating energy like stars.
"We have all trained for this meeting," said the Abbot. "A void is not to be feared. It's merely a space to walk into."
The monks bowed respectfully to their leader.
"Our order has survived for two thousand years," he continued. "We survived wars, the conquest of Genghis Khan and the ravages of nature itself. However there's more to life than survival. If you have ever lived a perfect moment, you are ready to die."
The monks stood up and bowed to the Abbot again. Yi stepped off his raised bed that was a mound of stone. But he was laboured. Clearly he was too tired and exhausted to try and subdue the enemy. He bowed to the Abbot who despite his old age insisted on facing the adversary alone.
"I leave now to greet our guests," said the Abbot. "Stay within these walls. Should I fail, protect our home will all your might. Buddha be praised."
The Abbot left the room to go to the raised internal balcony and down the steps. Several thoughts passed through his mind.
'You must survive this Master Yi, our order will live on through you. You have grace, faith and humility. You are our greatest. With your potential you can transcend life itself and be a force of love, bringing a sense of peace to this chaotic world.'