35053668-Empire-of-the-Soul-Paul-William-Roberts

174
EMPIRE OF THE SOUL
they had maintained since arriving. The New Yorker next brought
in two of the big, suspicious men and closed the door. The five of us
stood staring at each other in strained and noiseless uncertainty.
Then, some minutes later, an inner door opened without warning
and the bhagwan stepped daintily into the room, smiling. Two more
harrowingly attractive orange women glided in his wake. The room
was somewhat overcrowded by now, but no one looked as if they
intended to leave.
We all pressed palms, and the orange people bowed. ‘Scientists,’
the bhagwan stated more than asked. Otis and I nodded.
‘Then we are professional brothers,’ announced the bhagwan,
looking pleased with himself. ‘It is a science that I am bringing – you
know that?’
‘I haff been vorking with derr aura, Bhagwan,’ Otis said, a trace
of reverence trickling through his hyperborean voice.
‘Derroara?’ mused Rajneesh, clearly having no clue what this
meant. ‘Interesting. And now you wish to take sannyas from me?’
‘Take some tests, Bhagwan,’ Otis elaborated. ‘And take pictures.’
Now neither man understood what was going on.
The bhagwan came and stood about a yard from me. His big,
moist eyes searched mine, reflecting an inner unease that I found
profoundly disturbing. He looked up, his eyes nearly vanishing
beneath oily, toadlike lids. I assumed that this meant he was
consulting the Great Nothing, or that I should be aware that the
Great Nothing and he were on very intimate terms. He was not so
much especially small as particularly frail and delicate.
‘Hmmm,’ he murmured at last, returning his attention to me.
Unblinking, his eyes were now trying to do something to get a
relationship going with my eyes. It wasn’t working, and the
bhagwan began to look irritated, as well as nervous. His breathing
became laboured and his breath smelled like decaying fruit – sweet,
yet deadly.
‘You,’ he ordered, ‘sit. There.’ He pointed to the ground beside one
of those pricey tasteless armchairs.
I hesitated. Before I could react, he’d sprung on nimble feline
feet to sit in that same armchair. I thus found myself not a foot away
from his elbow.