The Death Card: A Liz Lucas Cozy Mystery (13 page)

“That’s understandable,
so let’s start with money,” said the chairman. "Before we start, wouldn't
it be nice to know the personality traits that the rich possess?"

"We already know
that. They're smart and intelligent and come from rich backgrounds…," an
impetuous young man retorted before he was cut off by an older man.

"We're here to
listen and learn from him. I think there's more to it than meets the eye. Yes,
we'd like to know the personality traits the rich possess," said the old
man, sounding a little irritated.

"They're not
smart, not intelligent, not rich, not lucky, not talented, not beautiful, not
privileged, not confident, not achievers, not the most popular, not likely to
succeed, been laughed at the most and have failed more than most," said
the chairman, much to the astonishment of all those gathered.

"That gives us so
much hope," said a young man. "You just described me perfectly."

"That means you'll
be rich, happy and stress free," a middle aged woman chimed in.

All of a sudden the
mood changed. There might be a chance after all, everyone thought. Something
deep within them stirred. Really? Was it really true that most rich people came
from such wretched backgrounds? Wow, who would have thought?

"If that's the case
then what about the things we see on TV and read in the papers?" asked a
young woman, still not convinced.

"The media gives
people what they want. If they portrayed boring people who wore boring clothes
and drove old, ugly cars and lived in modest homes then no one would watch the
TV or read the papers anymore," said the chairman.

"Makes a lot of
sense," a young woman said. The rest nodded in agreement.

"Moving on, does
anyone know the First Law of the Universe?" asked the chairman. He scanned
everyone's faces, waiting for an answer. When none came forth he replied.

"Whatever you want
will be yours!"

 "Then how come we
don't get what we want?" a young man shot back.

"Well, when I
asked you what the first law of the universe was, you didn't reply," said
the chairman with a smile. "Then how do you expect to get what you
want?"

"Also, when you
ask for something there's a lack of clarity. Because of this lack of knowledge
and lack of clarity, you ask feebly, and you get a feeble response, which, as
we all know is not what you wanted, but you got what you deserved.

"The first law of
the universe is also the deadliest law of the universe. It's a double edged
sword.  Exercise caution - for the cosmos will indulge your every whim and
fancy."

"So let's get
right to it," said the chairman with a wry smile.

CHAPTER
3

Plugging
Massive Energy Leaks

“Before we can even
begin to talk about money or anything that we aspire for in life, it’s best to
understand one simple fact -
your ability to create
is directly
proportional to the energy resources at your disposal,” said the chairman.

"If you are
vibrating at a higher energy level, the incoming energy is high and the output
too is high. So you will project a powerful reality or in others words attract
people, places and things that vibrate at high energy levels.

"In many cases the
readiness to forge ahead exists, but the chains that bind you are still in
place. So it's best to begin by taking a look at what's holding you back, break
free from them, and then begin marching on the path to prosperity.

“Most (99%) are stuck
in a low energy realm and hence your ability to live the life of your dreams
remains a dream.

“Are you aware of the
fact - that not only are you in a dream state while you sleep, you’re also in a
dream state while you are awake. It’s one big continuous dream,” said the
chairman.

“How come we’re
dreaming/sleeping while we’re awake?” asked one guy, scratching his head as he
shifted around awkwardly.

“How many of you
daydream during the day?” asked the chairman.

“Most of us do that,”
said one man.

“And how many of you
brood or get melancholy?” asked the chairman. “When I say brood, I mean to
‘blame, complain and criticize’, which happens to be the single biggest pastime
most engage in.”

“This tape that whirrs
in your head for ever and ever until you go to sleep, exhausted,” said the
chairman. “You see, more than 80 percent of the waking state is spent either
day dreaming or brooding i.e. thinking about the past or the future.

"Only the remainder
is spent doing something fruitful; this is when you are fully awake and
not
leaking any energy
,” the chairman said and then asked, “How many of you
blame, complain and criticize on an hourly basis?”

Everyone raised their
hands, except for a young man up who had been busy daydreaming.

“Now, how many of you
are infatuated with celebrities? How many of you dream of marrying them or
hanging out with them?” asked the chairman.

The daydreamer suddenly
realized that everyone had raised their hands and raised his hand slowly, so
that no one would notice. Everyone noticed.

“Infatuation sucks you
bone dry on a daily basis, beware,” warned the chairman. “When you daydream you
are projecting the future and when you are blaming and complaining (tape
whirring) you are projecting the past.

"So even when your
eyes are wide open,
your awareness 'is zero'
, since you are busy day
dreaming(future) or brooding(past), hence the dream continues even when you are
awake,” said the chairman.

"Is dreaming at
night a good thing?” a young girl asked innocently.

“There are two things
that happen while sleeping and it's important to make a distinction. When you
are just about to wake up, you get flashes which last for a very short time and
are normally forgotten by the time you are fully awake,” said the chairman.
These flashes are helpful, they are symbols i.e. coded information that comes
in the form of an image along with an emotion, and they point you in the right
direction.

"Nature by default
is very lazy or super-efficient, call it what you may, so it always tries to do
things using the least amount of energy in the shortest possible time period.

“Dreams on the other
hand go on for a much longer duration and are a massive energy leak. They take
on two forms. In most cases you dream of things that happened to you during the
day – as is. The second form also replays the same information, but in the form
of symbols and emotions, so you feel that something new is being revealed but
it's the very same thing.

"For example, you
run into a person you dislike and later on that night you dream of a snake that
symbolizes the dread and dislike all rolled into one.

"Dreams go on for
a very long period of time whereas when it comes to intuition it only takes a
matter of seconds. So dreams violate nature's law of 'doing things quickly by
expending the least amount of energy.'

“Once you stop
daydreaming and brooding during the day, you will have no dreams during the
night, and when you do get an intuitive flash you’ll remember it much more
easily. You’ll wake up fresh and with lots of energy,” said the chairman.

“Is daydreaming good or
bad?” asked one man.

"A daydream is a
desire," said the chairman, "a desire for a better life. How long
does it take for desire to take birth? Nanoseconds? So why do you need to
daydream for hours on end?

"Once you have a
desire, '
Act'
. It's the fastest way to accomplish your desires. Once you
focus on accomplishing the task at hand inspiration flows freely and
abundantly, you progress towards your goals with lightning speed and the end
result is bliss.

"Instead, what do
you do? You daydream. Stop dreaming and Act on your desires.
Your inability
to act is the single, biggest reason for failure. Take that first step
immediately.

“Watching a one hour
movie on the big screen is a tiring process," said the chairman. "Now
imagine how tiring an eight or ten hour movie can be? This is what you do every
day - you mindlessly project the past or the future (daydream) and blissfully
forget about the present.

“This is how disease
and lifelong sickness enter your body because you're bleeding energy all the
time.

“With all this
happening, awareness goes for a toss. You dream and brood even more of the
'good life' or the lack of it, and the cycle repeats itself for eternities -
your dream state continues unabated,” said the chairman.

“Nize explanation,”
said a young gun.

“Yeah, it does make a
lot of sense,” said a woman. The rest nodded their heads - none more vigorously
than the young man awoken from his daydream.

Chapter
4

Empty
Yourself First

"Ok, let's move
on," said the chairman as he gazed around the room. "Does anyone know
the most important instruction one has to keep in mind if one has to move
forward in life?” asked the chairman, with a quizzical look on his face.

Everyone stared
straight back at him, barely moving a muscle physically or mentally.

“Empty yourself! Empty
yourself of your memories, your conditioning. Your inability to let go of the
past poisons your body,”
the chairman proclaimed.

“Remember how you said
'That would be asking for too much',” as he pointed to our dear daydreamer, now
almost fully awake. "That’s what I’m talking about, there’s too much
memory, too much baggage, too much conditioning that keeps you chained to the
same spot.

"Before I go on I
would like to add that we're specifically talking about your conditioning, your
superstitions, your warped view of the world etc. We're not talking about
erasing good memories."

"Why is memory the
culprit?" asked an elderly woman.

"How many of you
have seen 'the walking dead'?" asked the chairman.

"What do you mean
by 'the walking dead'?" asked a middle aged man.

"Those who have
suffered a set-back in the past and are emotionally scarred by it, to the
extent that the incident controls them for the rest of their lives and they
can't go past it," said the chairman.

"My aunt suffered
a terrible tragedy, she's alive but only physically," remarked a young
girl.

"So how many of
you belong to this group called 'the walking dead'?" asked the chairman.

A few hands went up.
The Chairman waited some more. A few more hands went up. He waited some more
and after a while almost all the hands were up.

"Yes, you there
young man, haven't you experienced an emotional setback that tore through your
heart like a hurricane?" asked the chairman.

The young man thought
for a moment. He had suffered more than a few setbacks that had numbed his
senses to the point of no return - frozen like a glacier. At that moment he
began to realize the gravity of his situation. He raised his hand slowly.

"Well, that's the
story of humanity. All of us are shackled to our past, our memories hold us
hostage until awareness sets in and begins to untangle the emotional
knots," said the chairman.  

“Just the sheer weight
of your memories keeps you rooted to one spot forever," said the chairman.
"It leads to resistance and resistance leads to failure.
99.9% of your
thoughts are just outpourings of your memory (energy) that bubbles up and
expresses itself
.”

"How do we get out
of this self-marinating pickle?" asked an elderly gentleman.

"Good
question," said the chairman. "Periodic use is the best form of
maintenance. Disuse results in death. The more active you are, the healthier
your body is. If you were to rest all day in order to preserve your body, you
would shrivel up and die.

"It's the same
with memory - keep it active and it gets stronger and stronger. Stop using it
and its gets weaker and weaker until it is forgotten due to inactivity.

"So you're saying
that the key is - to forget bad memories?" said a woman.

"Yes,"
replied the chairman. "And how do we do that?" she asked.

"There is an
indirect approach which works pretty well," said the chairman. "Your
body is a chemical factory and when these chemicals are at optimum levels life
is bliss. One example of such a chemical is glucose.

The body is the
staircase, the roof is paradise. Once you reach paradise, the staircase is of
little use, but to reach paradise, you need all the help the staircase (body)
can offer.

"When life is blissful
you automatically focus on 'the present and the pleasant' rather than 'the past
and the unpleasant'. To be in a state of bliss your body must be in a position
to maintain these chemicals at optimum levels day in and day out. The moment
there is an imbalance 'the past and the unpleasant' take control of your mind.