26. He walked around listening to the same story of pilgrims going behind the curtain and being unable to enter the shrine. He wanted more information but he didn’t want to risk aligning with a dream person in case the girl came back. There were rooms in the temple where the pilgrims stayed but they were encouraged to return to their homes if they failed to enter the shrine to make room for new pilgrims. They were sleeping cheek by jowl without complaint because it was an honor just to be there. They would have slept with the pigs if it got them into the shrine. And actually some of them did but it didn’t help. Still no one had passed the test and none of the pilgrims would divulge what it was. Was it the same for each set of pilgrims? No one knew.
He was sitting in front of a fire over which a duck was being roasted when he saw the girl materialize across the courtyard. He went over and asked if everything was ok. She told him she had no idea. But she thought so. Did they want to try again? They did.
The next two pilgrims were a male and female. He wondered if that had been the problem before – that the pilgrim she had tried to align with was male.
They went over to the two pilgrims and stood behind them. They stepped forward and into their hosts. They looked at each other and they were both there. It was weird looking at each other as they could see both the dreamer and the host superimposed one on the other. The host bodies knelt and they knelt.
"Try to relinquish control," he said to her.
The host pilgrims were emptying their minds of thought but their memories were still there.
next
He was sitting in front of a fire over which a duck was being roasted when he saw the girl materialize across the courtyard. He went over and asked if everything was ok. She told him she had no idea. But she thought so. Did they want to try again? They did.
The next two pilgrims were a male and female. He wondered if that had been the problem before – that the pilgrim she had tried to align with was male.
They went over to the two pilgrims and stood behind them. They stepped forward and into their hosts. They looked at each other and they were both there. It was weird looking at each other as they could see both the dreamer and the host superimposed one on the other. The host bodies knelt and they knelt.
"Try to relinquish control," he said to her.
The host pilgrims were emptying their minds of thought but their memories were still there.
next