The Goodbye Man
- Автор: Дивер Джеффри
- Серия: Colter Shaw #2
- Год: 2020
- Язык: английский
- Год: G. P. Putnam’s Sons
- ISBN: 978-0-525-53597-3
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «The Goodbye Man». Краткое содержание книги:
Shaw said to Walter, “What’s this Second Act?” Nodded at the stage.
The man chuckled and said, “All I’ll tell you is, it’s a doozy.”
35
The ICs began clapping and the longer version of the “Ode to Joy” reverberated throughout the valley, just as it had that morning before the First Discourse.
Beyond the stage and Eli’s residence, the mountains and trees stood in sharp contrast, black and brown and green, to an afternoon sky of stunning clarity. The rich scent of loam and pine, tinged with eucalyptus, wafted on a lazy breeze.
The regular clapping broke into frenzied applause as Eli walked onto the stage. His white tunic glowed once again.
He held his hands up and quiet descended.
It was brief, as someone soon cried, “We love you, Master Eli!”
Sparking more applause.
Finally, he silenced the crowd.
“Did you Novices have good sessions today?” He scanned those wearing the blue amulets. He looked directly at Shaw.
Shouts of “Yes!”
One male voice, “You betcha!”
Eli pointed. “I like him!”
The man beamed.
“You’re working on discovering your... what?”
“Minuses!” “Pluses!” The shouted words collided.
He turned to no one in particular, like a late-night talk show host remarking to his sidekick. “I knew this group was good. They’re stars! They’re gorgeous!”
Eli’s reward was yet more frenzied applause.
“You’ll tear down that bad construction in no time and start planting the Pluses in the garden of your True Core. I know you will. I know exactly how you’re doing. And you’ll do fine. I’m never wrong.”
He fell silent.
The crowd too.
“This morning I told you about Osiris. What a man he was! A god. God of the underworld. God of fertility.”
Three or four ICs held up tablets, filming.
“Osiris. What a great guy he was. Great! Gorgeous. You know what I like about him? He came back from the dead, remember? He’s immortal.” Eli walked closer to the edge of the stage. Was it Shaw’s imagination or was the spotlight a little brighter?
The master pointed a finger over the sea of upturned faces.
“Just like all of us. Just... like... you.” He pointed. “Immortal.”
Many of the long-timers were smiling. The Novices, for the most part, looked toward Eli with rapt attention but varying shades of confusion on their faces.
“Now I’m going to reveal the secret of the Process. This is what it’s all about. Immortality. Our slogan: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. Yesterday, as in your past lives. Today, as in” — he raised his hands, palms up — “today. And tomorrow, as in your future lives.” He let this settle. “The Process will teach you how to live” — he pointed to the gold infinity symbol on the backdrop — “forever.”
36
A woman beside Shaw — an Apprentice — whispered, “Death is a fallacy.”
Eli called out: “Death is a fallacy! Death is a fiction perpetuated by those in power, by politicians, by religions, by the medical community, by corporations, by the media. Death is a lie!
“They convince you that today is your only shot at existence. They do it to control you. To sell you their bill of goods. Buy this insurance policy, take this medicine, elect that politician, buy this house. Pay a hundred thousand dollars on medical treatment. Live now, you only have one chance. Don’t waste it. Give us your money and we’ll make sure there’ll be some left for your children. After, of course, we take a little bit for ourselves.”
On the word little he held his hands out wide, as if exaggerating the size of a fish he’d caught.
Which brought laughter and applause.
“They’re the ones selling you the ugly, rotten concrete and clapboard houses with rusting roofs to bury your True Core.”
Nods and a few affirmative murmurs.
“Immortality...” Eli spoke in a soft voice, which had the effect of drawing the attention of the Companions even more. “Remember I told you this morning that today is brief, it’s fleeting; it’s a blink. And that’s true. But today is only a small portion of the entire life your True Core lives, which extends from the beginning of time to the end.
“Oh, I know, I know... This is a lot for some of you to take in. How well do I know that? I’ve been there. I’ve been where you are. I’ve been uncertain, I’ve been cynical. So, just listen to me. Hear me out. That’s all I’m asking. Will you listen?”
“We’ll listen!”
“We love you!”
He said, “Immortality. Every society, every civilization, every religion, primitive or advanced, has their own version of it. You remember my old friend Osiris, right? We love him, don’t we? Isn’t he great? Isn’t he gorgeous?”
Applause.
Shaw wondered where on earth this was going. He glanced toward Walter, who looked back and nodded.
A doozy...
“The Egyptians knew that the soul was immortal. Just ask Osiris and his wife. The Greeks? There were thousands of accounts about resurrection from the dead. Souls and bodies reunited and living in Elysium. Read your Plato, one of my favorites. Have you read him? You’ve got to read him. He’s a genius, he’s a gorgeous writer. He writes about the immortal soul all the time. He’s the greatest philosopher the world has ever seen. I read him every night.
“The Buddhists. Don’t you love Buddhism? I do. They say that when people die they transform from a physical body into an immortal body of light — the Rainbow body, it’s called — and they live forever. I love that! Don’t you?
“Christians? Believers will go to heaven for eternity. Sinners to hell. Jesus himself, well, look at him. Died, resurrected, then went up to heaven to live with his dad forever. You read the Nicene Creed? You have to read it. It says that every dead person will be resurrected during the Second Coming.
“Hinduism? They’ve got reincarnation. You live a good life, karma will make sure you come back in a higher place. A bad life, uh-oh. How about the Jewish people? I love people of the Jewish faith. The Pharisees believed the soul was immortal, and people would be reincarnated and, I’m quoting, ‘pass into bodies’ in future lives.
“Islam? The Qur’an says death is the same as sleep. You awake from sleeping. You will awake from death. I could go on and on. Billions and billions of people have been convinced from the beginning of civilization that we’ve lived before this life and we’ll live again, after it. So how can it not be true?
“But with all respect to the religions I just mentioned. They believe in immortality, granted. But there’s a problem.”
Whispers from the ground: “If you’re Christian...”
After a dramatic pause, Eli said, “If you’re Christian, what awaits you is a Christian heaven. If you’re Jewish, a Jewish one. If you’re Hindu, you will be reincarnated. If you watch TV, you’ll come back as the Walking Dead.”
Laughs and applause.
Someone shouted, “Zombies!”
Eli chuckled then grew serious. “The rules for immortality have to be the same for everyone, of whatever religion or no religion. True for atheists, as well as the Pope. But each one of those religions I mentioned excludes the others. That means they all have to be wrong. I’m sorry to be blunt but that’s the way I am. I’m a blunt talker. You know that by now, right? I tell it like it is.”
Nods.
“Now, I have nothing against religion. Not at all. I hope you all find comfort in whatever church, synagogue, mosque or house of worship you prefer. But when it comes to immortality, all the priests and holy men and rabbis and gurus... they should leave the subject to somebody who knows the truth.