\u201cLord Shiva!\u201d \u201cMy Lady!\u201d, Zee and Kay scrambled incoherently.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all right\u201d, Shiva raised his hand and smiled. \u201cWe just came to congratulate you, and possibly explain a thing or two, since you seem to be alarmed about something\u201d, he winked.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy Lady, I hope you\u2019re not offended that I got married without asking you first\u201d, Kay said sheepishly. \u201cWe sort of just clicked and it just happened\u201d. Then she remembered something else. \u201cAnd our connection seems to be based around our mutual worship of Lord Shiva, while I\u2019m your student. I don\u2019t know how to explain this, and I don\u2019t know how proper and loyal this is towards you\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I\u2019m not offended, my daughter. In fact, just think about it. How big do you think this world is?\u201d, Lakshmi nodded encouragingly<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, really; I just came here, and after meeting Zee, it kind of didn\u2019t seem important anymore\u201d, she blushed. \u201cBut probably millions of beings, and I don\u2019t know how to measure size, but it sort of seems endless\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBillions of beings are more likely\u201d, Sri nodded. \u201cAnd how likely do you think it would be for you to just happen to meet your husband in your first day here, completely at random, because you just happened to be the closest?\u201d, she smiled mischievously. \u201cYou of all people should know how luck works\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh! You mean, it was your blessing that we found each other instantly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course. I do care about you, you know.\u201d, Lakshmi rolled her eyes and sipped her coffee.<\/p>\n
\u201cLady Lakshmi, I am honoured to meet you\u201d, Zee started, while Kay was still taking in her revelation. \u201cI must apologise for not having much of experience with Gods, other than my Lord here, but could you please explain this to us, because I have no idea how your power works\u201d, he scratched his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, it is probably the weirdest out of all four of us\u201d, she nodded. \u201cYou see, it\u2019s something like this: I see something good and I approve. This creates something like a convergence nexus; imagine it like space around that thing being bent, so everything good rolls downhill more easily towards it. Fortune, luck, wealth, serendipity, good circumstances, meeting the right people at the right time, and so on. Likewise, if I see someone who is sinful and offensive and I dislike them, I withdraw my blessings and their lucky star turns into a black hole, so to speak\u201d, she grinned. \u201cThe power of Lord Shiva is straightforward and obvious. Mine is more of the sort where you just happen to meet your girl on your first day here because she just happened to be close to you when you wanted to ask for directions\u201d, she smiled innocently at Zee.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of see what you mean, my Lady, and I am extremely grateful for your blessing, and I\u2019m also relieved that you approve of us\u201d, he bowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou two are very good for each other\u201d, she nodded. \u201cYou are both very intelligent, so you\u2019ll do well together. Also, your characters blend together perfectly; her gentle cuteness and your warrior ethics and ages of experience. I approve\u201d. She took another sip of coffee, as Kay beamed from relief and gratitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are indeed very good for each other. Did you have a look at yourselves lately, by any chance?\u201d, prompted Lord Shiva.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe grew larger and more powerful!\u201d, exclaimed Kay excitedly. \u201cZee, look at us, we are almost twice the size we were when we met!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow is that even possible?\u201d, wondered the former demon. \u201cLord Shiva, would you please explain this phenomenon, because you obviously understand it and I am too new at this to even dare guessing?\u201d, he scratched his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you remember what I told you about the accretion process, and how souls attract free kalapas<\/i> in a kalapa<\/i>-rich environments such as the astral nursery?\u201d, Shiva started, and Zee nodded. \u201cWell, that\u2019s not all there is to it. Sure, for the young astral souls, it is a dominant method, but for larger souls, its effects are negligible, because, obviously, there aren\u2019t enough kalapas<\/i> around to grow a vajra<\/em> being to twice their initial size in mere hours, or eons for that matter. There\u2019s another thing going on, and if you think about it, it is obvious. You see, in places of strong presence of sat-cit-ananda<\/i>, the veil between the Relative and the Absolute becomes more permeable, and, basically, the Absolute leaks through in form of a kalapa <\/i>shower, or a fountain. For one thing, every crystalline being such as yourself is a strong presence of sat-cit-ananda<\/i> in the Relative, which means that the centre of your soul, your own heart, is a place where new kalapas<\/i> are far more likely to leak through into the Relative, than some more general place, like the space around you. Also, the strength of that breakthrough depends on what you are doing. Devotion and worship of a God focuses your consciousness on an object of such great correspondence with the unmanifested Absolute, that it essentially creates a rip in the border between the Relative and the Absolute right in the middle of your heart, through which a huge flood of kalapas<\/i>, the stuff of God, floods into your soul and instantly integrates at your highest energy level\u201d, Shiva finished, and returned to his coffee.<\/p>\n Zee and Kay were completely astounded. \u201cSo does this mean that when we worshipped your holy person, my Lord, and admired your deeds and your perfect character, not only did we become unbreakably attracted to each other, but our souls also grew immensely due to the influx of new kalapas<\/i> our devotion produced in our hearts?\u201d, Kay asked, wide-eyed.<\/p>\n \u201cExactly. Why else do you think we Gods hang out together so much and can\u2019t seem to stop praising each other? The same principle applies to us, as well. As we praise each other, we understand more of the Absolute as it manifests through the other God-person. Someone foolish enough to curse or criticise a God-person would, likewise, close themselves to everything that makes that person great, and this would diminish and destroy their soul rather than grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, when Lady Lakshmi praised you and your holy wife, and I was wholly consumed by awe and worship, this didn\u2019t just transform the substance my soul was made of, but also created a flood of new particles right inside my heart, which I felt as a flood of worshipful emotion that overwhelmed me completely, and thus filled any lack of mass that I had in my evolution up to that point?\u201d, Kay said in wonder.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are exactly right, and I see what my lovely sister meant when she praised your intelligence. You are indeed one smart cookie, and I am happy for my son for finding such a great partner\u201d, Shiva smiled and nodded at her, and Lakshmi also smiled approvingly, to Kay\u2019s great embarrassment. \u201cWe do, however, have another matter to discuss, which is why I brought Lady Lakshmi here. You see, there has been a small conspiracy, and she was somewhat left out, for which I apologise, and which I\u2019m about to correct momentarily.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRecently, my wife brought my attention to a problem we were starting to have in the astral nursery. You see, one would expect souls to be born, go through the accretion cycle, crystallise and move here, with others of their kind. However, that is something that happens with the majority of souls, but not all of them. Approximately one third of all souls aren\u2019t really making significant progress and basically just stand there like bloody idiots. A minor percentage, one in a hundred or less, turn demonic, or worse, turn into conceited fools of false spirituality. Both demons and fakers grow into large astral monstrosities, like my son here, and they stay in the astral nursery, thinking of ways to alleviate their boredom, usually in various harmful ways, like bullying beautiful souls such as his bride here. The problem we\u2019re having is that the demons aren\u2019t going anywhere, the fakers aren\u2019t going anywhere, the retards grazing aimlessly aren\u2019t going anywhere, but the best souls are filtering out relatively quickly as they attain crystallisation. The result is obvious \u2013 that plane becomes disproportionally filled with assholes and idiots, which at some point starts to affect the evolution of the newborn souls, which get to be surrounded by bullies and bad examples, which will eventually hinder all progress and completely stop evolutionary processes in new souls, and we\u2019ll be forced to just reset the plane by killing everybody there and starting anew. This, however, seemed like a radical and inelegant method, so I came up with a solution nobody likes, but which seems to solve all problems, unfortunately at the cost of introducing new ones\u201d, Shiva finished.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, so that\u2019s what\u2019s been going on. Let me guess: you created that Jewel, the artefact of Creation?\u201d, Zee offered.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. The idea was to allow for the creation of new worlds, where we would funnel demons and idiots so that they no longer overcrowd the nursery and inhibit evolution of new souls. However, that can\u2019t be something either of us Gods would make, for obvious reasons\u201d, Shiva grinned.<\/p>\n \u201cRight. Demons would instantly distrust it and none of them would get near that thing. Imagine your enemies making something and saying it\u2019s a perfect new world for everybody they dislike. Of course it must be a trap of some kind\u201d, Zee grinned back.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd that\u2019s why Karuna is so fortunate to have you as her husband, my dear\u201d, Lakshmi smiled. \u201cYou are experienced in demon-lore and know how they all think, which is why you can guide her properly and help her evade all kinds of pitfalls she would otherwise be vulnerable to, in her gentle innocence\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI do understand the point Lord Shiva is making, though, and the conspiracy he mentioned probably also includes my husband, who has been conspicuously absent lately?\u201d, she prompted.<\/p>\n \u201cIndeed\u201d, Shiva nodded. \u201cAs soon as my wife and I created that artefact, he came to visit and warn us. It was quite a sobering experience, let me tell you, as he showed us the consequences our actions had across both Time and Eternity. The carnage was extensive, and I\u2019m afraid we lost some Eternals as well, not just demons and idiots. Also, lots of young souls were lost. However, the end result was even better than we expected, which is why we didn\u2019t immediately backtrack on our plan, and instead proceeded with Lord Vishnu\u2019s guidance and cooperation\u201d, his face was grim. \u201cAs soon as he made it clear what is to happen, we instantly bowed to him and gave him the veto rights, but he declined and instead offered his support\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cLikewise, when I felt that Lord Vishnu worked with the two of you on something, I immediately gave you all my blessings without even knowing what it was, because anything you three are working on simply cannot be other than for the best, knowing the holiness of your character\u201d, Lakshmi bowed to Shiva. \u201cBut still, you said that we are going to lose Eternals, and this troubles me greatly. Those are our children, my Lord, like those two here. How could this happen?\u201d, she whined worriedly, as Zee and Kay looked at each other with great concern.<\/p>\n \u201cIt troubles all of us, my Lady. My wife was as troubled as you are right now, and Lord Narayan looked grim as well. I have been feeling terrible about it ever since we set it in motion, and I am incredibly grateful for your blessings, Lady Lakshmi, for they might be the only thing that saves us from a great disaster, finds us a way towards success and guards us from error\u201d, he brooded darkly.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, I rendered the core of the Jewel out of the Will of God and for the greatest good, which ought to guarantee this quality of the final outcome, and Lord Vishnu did show me how some of our children fell. Unfortunately, they were arrogant in their greatness and enlightenment, and thought no evil could befall them if they remain true and strong, and such mindset is a terrible match for the kind of a world that demon had designed. Some of them even dared him to do his worst, thus removing the shield of dharma<\/i> that would have otherwise protected them from abuse, and the demon is nigh-omnipotent in his realm. As you can imagine, they were broken, some outright destroyed, since the world in question is designed to deprive them of both their powers and the insight into God, making it seem as if that tiny world is the totality of all reality. The humble ones, who were used to hardship, humiliation and suffering, fared exceedingly well, and even grew due to accretion of karma caused by their unjust suffering. Those who grew in our world without being truly challenged, unfortunately, not only were deluded, harmed or destroyed due to their arrogant and imprudent approach, but their souls were also used to power the illusions and traps of that place. We lost some Eternals, but gained new ones, of the completely new soul-structure; on one hand, they are less elegant and clean in their spiritual makeup than the old ones, but they are somewhat like our former demon here \u2013 wise due to his experience with evil, able to recognise traps and pitfalls, and humble due to his own prior failings that taught him not to take things for granted\u201d, Shiva finished.<\/p>\n \u201cBut what could possibly be the outcome that is so great, that it justifies all of this?\u201d, Lakshmi insisted, her face still showing deep concern.<\/p>\n To this, Shiva just looked at her pointedly, and put his finger in front of his lips, making her know it\u2019s a secret and he\u2019ll let her know in due time and in private, so she just relaxed, quite content with that.<\/p>\n \u201cBut what do we do now, Lord Shiva? We wanted to warn the souls here about the dangers of that new world Sanat Kumar had devised in his madness and evil. Is that the proper thing to do, knowing what you know about the consequences?\u201d, Azazel asked, his voice shaking.<\/p>\n \u201cBy all means, we shall warn them, and all of us together, to give greater authority to the warning, because they would be unlikely to heed it were it just the two of you. However, you can imagine what\u2019s going to happen. Some will see it as a challenge to their faith, strength, discernment and devotion. They will disregard the warning, and their story will come to a bad ending in Time, I\u2019m afraid. However, from what I\u2019ve seen, this is unfortunate but necessary, because they are the souls that evolved without sufficient wisdom and humility, like trees that managed to grow tall only because they never faced any wind. Fear of consequences needs to enter Heaven, I\u2019m afraid, and there\u2019s no easy way to do that\u201d.<\/p>\n Kay held Zee tightly and whimpered.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cLord Shiva!\u201d \u201cMy Lady!\u201d, Zee and Kay scrambled incoherently. \u201cIt\u2019s all right\u201d, Shiva raised his hand and smiled. \u201cWe just came to congratulate you, and possibly explain a thing or two, since you seem to be alarmed about something\u201d, he … Continue reading