Other Futures — Otros futuros

Other Futures

On a trip to India, specifically to the Gujarat region where I sponsor a child, I was invited to his initiation ceremony into adulthood. I was traveling alone. Although my wife offered to accompany me, I discouraged her because I thought it could be a tiring and uncomfortable trip for her. After a while, I would regret that decision. When I arrived at the Indira Gandhi airport, someone was waiting for me carrying a sign with my name. The taxi driver drove through the streets of New Delhi until he reached a dimly lit suburb. It surprised me that someone would hire a taxi to take me to my sponsored child’s home, especially because of the precarious situation in which his family lived.

Everything around me made me feel a strange sensation. His father came out to meet me and we greeted each other. He invited me into his house where there was hardly any furniture or where to sit. But there, a Sikh attired in his finery awaited. He got up and bowed to me. That attitude put me on guard. I greeted him and he welcomed me on behalf of the Congregation of the Illuminated.

The next day, I accompanied the family to the ceremony site. During the celebration I had the feeling that I was being watched by someone. There I was introduced to a guru as one of the twelve enlightened ones on Earth. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Apparently, and according to the Sikh who received me at my sponsored’s home, I had special powers that the guru would take care of bringing to light.

After the ceremony was over, the guru respectfully approached and asked me to follow him. I did so and we entered a room lit by two torches. At that moment I began to miss my wife.

The guru turned to me and explained that I was not there by chance. The fact that I had chosen my sponsored person was due to a plan conceived thousands of years ago and of which I was never aware. He confessed to me the powers that had been granted to me. He taught me that in the enlightened there are several mental states in which it is possible, among other things, to communicate with matter, with beings of the animal kingdom and with those of the vegetable kingdom. A moment later I began to perceive crackling sounds that were turning into words. The cut flowers that had been placed on a vasar were dying and through their crackling sound they asked me for help.

I was in amazement when the guru in a muffled voice told me that I would never be able to…