THEY WERE BACK on the mountain. Another village, nothing special about this village, but there was a strange energy in the air. All were tilling the land. Some did so with a smile on their faces. Some with anger, while others with calmness. Some with worry while some with fear. Some with joy while some with a frown. They all were doing the same work but their expressions differed. Quite a few, you could see, had already lost interest and some thought the job impossible. You could see a few go about it peacefully, not in any rush, not trying to prove a point but many went about it with an aggression that you realized could not last. It was over eagerness but there was no way they could sustain such a tempo for too long. Most of them did the tilling but their minds were someplace else. Over here everything that was visible and revealed the person’s state of mind. It was apparent. Nothing was hidden here. Nobody could lie or pretend; you got what you saw. Their state of internal being was projected outwards. Unlike on earth, in this place everything was stark nude. No place to hide and pretend.

Rudra spent time only with those who calmly went about their work. When they rested he sat with them and spoke about life and work and ate simple fare along with them. Nobody was more affluent or poorer than the other. It was a state of equality where only how you went about your life and day and thoughts made you different. Everything was dependent on the individual. Baba went about amongst those who seemed most rattled, those who seemed defeated, those who seemed to be engulfed by anger, guilt and a sense of hopelessness. Some responded by calming down and then going about their work calmly but many, in fact, got more desolate and tempered. Even Baba could not get through their state of agitation. He would smile but in that smile there was reverberation of heartbreak.

Rudra walked through the village and he noticed this stark openness of thoughts follow him. From children to the aged, they were all an open book. He could read every individual and it saddened him to see how most of them were engulfed by their state of mind, hopelessness, anger, guilt and recrimination. He wanted to tell them to drop these cloaks and wear the one of calmness but it was of no use as they had made up their minds and now even Baba could do nothing for most of them. They were all good people wanting to change but for many the change seemed so impossible a mountain to climb that they sank deeper into the void of gloom.