INTO THE VOID

CHAPTER 13: TUKDAM

“The Ultimate State of Tukdam; only a few monks in the history of the sacred arts have attempted to enter and only a fewer number of them actually transcend. Many die along the way. To reach the peak of meditation, one must be fully concentrated; you must neglect the desires of life; food, love, copulation; nothing else matters.

The monks of antiquity will sit in caves and ask their students to come back after a hundred years. When the students go to check on them, they see their masters seated in the position they assumed a century ago. His skin may be desiccated, his heart may have stopped but the monk was alive. The monk have transcended beyond the physical realm, beyond death and entered into a new life. These monks become deities.

Today, our able Master Lu Ming is going to embark on this voyage. He will attempt to achieve The Ultimate State of Tukdam. The monks of old were about 70 years when they attempted this feat but Master Ming at just 30 years of age will do this incredible deed.” Master Xhou said as he addressed the students. There was a sense of pride in his voice but there was an eerie tone there too. He had known Lu Ming his whole life. They were practically best friends and now the closest thing he had to family was about to embark on a journey that he might not return from. Even if he did, what was the assurance that Master Xhou will be around in a hundred years.

As young students, they were the youngest among their set and the weakest too. The masters they trained under believed that pain was the only form of discipline and so they inflicted on the young boys pain. As he spoke, flashes of those days kept coming to his mind. The two of them in the empty, graveled courtyard doing push-ups on their bare knuckles, sharing a mutual pain; that was all Xhou could think about.

“The path to greatness is not smooth. It is like climbing a mountain. You know the task ahead would not be easy but you make up your mind, you strengthen your resolve, you grit your teeth and make the first steps. On this rough terrain, there is a point you reach when going forward is the only option. You either ascend, or you die. That is the path of greatness. A path that I have chosen

Just like the Masters of Old will say; come back for me in 100 years. I am spending a lifetime climbing this mountain.” Master Lu Ming said. After this speech, he assumed the position, the same one he did on the cold mountain during the meditation demonstration. His students stood in a circle, all clad in a ceremonial orange robes with their master in the middle of that circle. They began chanting some words. These were to help him ascend. The older monks present stood in another circle, encircling the already circled students. The chanting continued for about an hour before the monks finally left the cave.

The cave was high up a mountain and was far away from the monastery. The monks used a hidden passageway to get down from the mountain. Before they left, they sealed the entrance to the cave and left Master Lu Ming inside.

The pod appeared in the cave. There was a swooshing noise at their arrival that echoed throughout the hollow structure. The threading of their clothes glowed brightly. Petrichor seemed calm but Xaviere on the other hand looked terrified. After his activation, his eyesight improved drastically and he did not need the glasses anymore.

Petrichor removed the fastened seatbelt and got out of the pod. Xaviere did the same. She had a slim black bracelet on her left wrist. She tapped on the bracelet twice and a hologram screen appeared from it. On the screen, there was a glowing flame. The flame burnt brighter as they continued to walk deeper into the cave. At a point, it became too dark to see.

“Night vision” Petrichor said as she used her index and middle finger to tap gently on her left temple. The people of her eyes began to glow a bright blue; Xaviere did the same. A few more steps into the cave and they saw Master Lu Ming sitting in his meditative pose all clad in orange. As they slowly approached, the flame began to burn really bright.

Master Lu Ming did not move. He was breathing but very slowly. They stood there, observing him for a while and he just sat. The swooshing echo of the pod would have normally startled him but there he was, sitting unbothered.

“Can you hear me? Hey, hey… can you hear me?” Petrichor said as she slowly moved closer to the man. “Come in, come in… HQ, do you hear me?” Petrichor said as she spoke into her bracelet bringing her wrist towards are mouth.

“I read you loud and clear.” Zero said. “Talk to me.”

“We have discovered the source of the energy signature. It seems to be a monk.”

“What is he up to?” Zero asked.

“He is just sitting down in a cave. I think he is meditating.” Petrichor answered.

“It is Tukdam.” Xaviere suddenly said. “It is an ancient mystical art developed by Buddhists. The monk is meant to become a Buddha. It is the ultimate form of meditation.” He said.

“Thank you X. Desertwind, approach the target and probe. Keep me posted on any new developments.” Zero said.

“Ok sir. Copy; over and out”

Petrichor continued to close the gap between her and the monk. She stretched forth her fingers in attempts to touch his shoulder. He was just a few inches away from touching him when all of a sudden she was pushed backwards by some sort of force field. Petrichor was flung across the cave so quickly and all Xaviere could do was watch. Before she landed on the ground, Petrichor tapped on her bracelet and a shield appeared out of thin air. It was an old roman type shield. It appeared glass like and the outer edges were shining a bright blue. As she landed, the shield screeched on the ground of the cave protecting her shoulder from the impact of the throw. Not even this could distract Master Lu Ming from his meditation. He lived up to his name; The Unwavering one.

The flame burnt the brightest since they came into the cave. It seems like the energy signature was getting stronger. Whatever it is the monk was doing, it was causing increasing spikes on the VOID’s radar. ,

“What was that?” Xaviere asked.

“There’s some sort of force field around the monk.” Petrichor said.

“Tukdam…”

“What?”

“It’s Tukdam… I’ve read about this before. It’s more than just this yoga pose. If what I read is correct, this man is separating his body from his spirit but without dying. He is trying to cheat death. According to the ancient arts, a man who is able to reach this state becomes more than just a man. He becomes a Buddha; a god.”

“From what we know at The VOID, when a spirit gets separated from its body, it does not exist alone. It returns back to The Spirit Pool; the source of all life force.”

“Oh, the glowing seas; Zero showed it to me.”

“Yes, that pool. What I suspect tripped the trigger was the fact that, his spirit is leaving but not returning. He is imprinting his soul on the spirit. There is a sort of tug of war going on right now, between The Spirit Pool and the soul of this monk for his life force.

“It is an aberration, a deviation from the norm.”

“It disrupts the balance. Who knows what this can do? What if he disrupts our reality?”

“We need to stop him.” Xaviere said.

After this discussion, they both looked at the monk. Petrichor, who now had her energy shield out, stretched open her right palm and retracted the fingers immediately. As she did this comma, a sword appeared in her hand. After a while, they had a beep. It was Zero.

“Come in Desertwind”

“I read you loud and clear.”

“We checked out X’s hint about Tukdam. The story checks out. We need to find a way to him.”

“There’s a field of energy around this man. We can’t even touch him.” Petrichor said.

“The threat is coming from the Soulish realm; we cannot stop it from the physical.” Xaviere said.

“What do you suggest Agent X?”

“We need to get into his soul. Just the same way we did with the freight train.”

“Hmmm… that sounds doable. Desertwind proceed”

“Zero, you do understand what you are asking me to do right? One man in The State of Tukdam caused a threshold signal. Now you want the both of us to join him. That seems dangerous.”

“We have no other option. Desertwind proceed”

“Do I read you correctly? Your permission to enter The Soulish Realm of the monk has been given?”

“Yes. Permission has been granted. Desertwind proceed.”

At the sound of those words, Petrichor tapped on her bracelet and a beam of blue light revolved around it. In an instant, Xaviere and Petrichor were transported into a white space. It looked exactly like the one Zero had taken him to before. It was a white abyss with nothing in sight. Xaviere and Petrichor looked at each other. She was about to say something when suddenly someone else interrupted her.

“What does it mean to be a god?” The voice said. It seemed to come from all directions. There was no one else in sight, so Xaviere and Petrichor were shocked. They look around, perplexed, seeking for the source of the sound.

“Mankind has been fascinated for centuries with the idea of supernatural beings. We sing songs about them, tell stories to children about their feats, we worship them. But what does it mean to be a god?” The voice asked.

“Show yourself.” Petrichor yelled.

“I am everywhere.” The voice responded. Xaviere tapped Petrichor on her shoulder in order to draw her attention. He then pointed in a direction. They turned and looked and then they saw the monk, still crouched in his meditative pose. He was dressed in the orange robe but the necklace he wore had changed form. The beads were bigger and metallic, some of them were shining.

“What you are doing goes against the natural order of things. You will break the world.” Petrichor said to the monk who was still seated with his back turned towards them.

“The world is already broken. I will reform it.”

“You need to stop. This is madness. You will destroy the reality of everyone all because you want to be a god. This is against the Tenets of Buddha. The rituals you perform are forbidden.” Xaviere said.

“Wrong… you are very wrong. This is the ultimate display of Buddha’s wishes. I will make the world better. All over the earth, there is sickness, poverty and death. People r**e and kill and m**m. There is so much wickedness in this world. The world needs cleansing. Kindness is the center of Buddha’s teachings. What kinder act is there than to remold this broken world into a utopia. With The State of Tukdam I can do it in an instant. Whatever I conceive in my thoughts will simply just be. Just a little more time and it will be all over.” The monk replied, turning around to face them.

He raised the glowing necklace up with his right palm. On each bead, there was a special character inscribed on its surface. Only two beads were not glowing yet. That was what he was waiting for. Once the necklace fully glowed, he could return to the physical realm a god. Petrichor discerned this and then charged forward at the monk who stood there, unbothered.