Chapter 26: Expanding Awareness

The next few months the family was involved with intense training. Udit built on the two beginning exercises with additional exercises for focus, detail and comprehension enhancement. Udit also asked them to start meditating twice daily, and then he had to teach them how to meditate.

Pete shook his head and said, "Udit, I can't sit with my legs all crossed and feet over my knees like the mediators do. I just don't bend that way."

"You don't have to be in those positions to meditate," Udit said patiently.

"I've tried that Oummmm thing in college," Susan said skeptically. "It just put me to sleep. Are you sure that you want us to do that."

Udit sighed, and reminded himself how important his mission was. "You don't have to say Oummmm or Hummmm or anything else unless you feel like it." He took a deep breath and let it out before looking around at his group. The five available for the training session was Pete, Susan, Seth, Martha, and Pappy. Sean was there too but Udit didn't count him. Avasa was supposed to be there but she hadn't got back from Prescott with BB and Sheila.

"I'm not looking at my belly button either," Pappy grumped. "I'm Mexican; not Hindu."

Udit closed his eyes a moment and focused on controlling his voice before saying, "No belly buttons. You don't have to look at your belly buttons." He shook his head again, a little more forcefully this time. "Look, I know you've all heard a lot of different things about meditation. Well, most of it is wrong. All the humming and ouming that you've heard about is to give you something to concentrate on in some disciplines'. The crossed legs are fine if you want to. The main thing it does is force a certain posture so your lungs are open so you can breathe better during meditation. But, none of that is necessary. All meditation is, is the attempt to quiet your mind and spend some time for introspection. It's dedicating a time to becoming calm inside. So, sit how you're comfortable. Don't say anything, or do say something. Whatever works for you. And don't worry about your belly buttons. Just shut up, close your eyes, and try to stay awake for fifteen minutes." Throughout Udit's little speech he gradually grew louder and louder until he was nearly shouting the last sentence.

There was quiet in the barn where they were doing their exercises until Sean broke the silence. "Udit, I think you need to meditate."

The family eventually began to understand meditation and they even learned to enjoy it. Every few days Udit gave them different concepts to have in mind when they started their meditation. He spent two whole weeks on awareness of their own bodies during meditations. At first it was only awareness of a part of their bodies, like arms or legs. He increased the scope until they were focusing on their whole bodies.

Udit spent a week on awareness of their surroundings. He wanted them to feel their surroundings with all their senses because, only seeing what was around them with their eyes wasn't enough. He even had them meditating and focusing on trying to feel their own auras and those of the people around them. The aura exercises were almost counter intuitive because they required the practitioner to relax their focus.

One of the exercises that combined focus, detail and meditation was enjoyed by everyone. Udit called it comprehension. The person exercising would look at a tree in a meditative state and try to be completely aware of all the shades of green they saw at the same time. Another version of that exercise was to look at the tree and try to be conscious of every leaf shaking in the breeze at the same time. Not to count them or to do anything with the information, but to simply be aware. Udit wanted them to learn to be aware of themselves, and their thought process, and everything around them at all times.

"No one can steal your body or your mind if you are aware," Udit said more than once. "Your awareness is your greatest defense against the Brujos."

They competed with each other during focus exercises by seeing who could focus on an item for the longest period of time. They competed with detail exercises by selecting one person to provide the detail for an action and everyone else looking for detail the victim had left out. Everyone still had their normal jobs to do and the training made them better at their chosen professions.

Pete ran his normal patrols as a Department of Public Safety Officer (DPS) and discovered that, as he trained, he became better at his job. He noticed more details at accident scenes and crime scenes and he in turn was noticed favorably by other officers and detectives. His professional training with the Arizona Department of Public Safety never seemed to end, but his improved focus in the classes consistently pushed him to the top of his classes with his test scores. Pete was placed on the promotion list for advancement in July.

Ben took over the administration of the Yavapai hospital in January. He had a lot of plans for the hospital when he was initially hired for the job. The training that he was doing with Udit enhanced those plans because he was able to see past the simple action of a change to the ramifications. The Board of Directors voted to give him a raise by July because of money saved and the high degree of efficiency Ben's policies brought to the hospital.

Liz only worked until March because of her pregnancy. She wasn't in danger of losing the baby. Her doctor would shake his head at every check up and comment at how healthy she and the baby were. She wanted to stop working in March so she could focus on the exercises Udit was giving them and prepare herself mentally for the birth of her child. Liz worked at the hospital until the end of March and, with Ben's encouragement and Susan's help, was able to make some major changes in the procedures of the nursing staff. The changes improved efficiencies and made life much easier for the nurses. The fact that her changes also saved the hospital a significant amount of money made her a favorite of the Board of Directors too.

Liz's suggestion to put Susan in charge while she was on maternity leave was approved but there were many questions and reservations. Racial tensions were running high in many parts of the US in 1976. A black nurse as the head of nursing and in charge of white nurses was considered revolutionary and by a small group of bigots, outrageous. Ben explained what the legal and possible financial ramifications were to the board if Susan was denied the position based on race. Susan got the job. Maternity Leave wasn't a formalized practice in American businesses in 1976 but it wasn't unheard of either. Businesses that had a valuable female employee were eager to find ways to ensure that employee returned to them after the pregnancy. The board eagerly agreed to the leave for Liz because they didn't want to take any chances with loosing such a valuable asset.

Pappy, BB, Sheila, and Ava had the normal exercises that everyone else was given plus some. Sheila had grown up in a home that accepted mysticism as the normal way of life. That was helpful for her because she didn't have any extra hurdles to overcome. Ava had practiced with her husband and BB had learned much from his grandfather when he was a boy. Pappy didn't have the prior experience the others had, but he had the greatest need if he was going to tackle Taklishim. That need put him on par with the others.

One of their exercises was focused on managing energy. Udit had all four of them do physical exercise until they were tired. Then he would sit them down in a field to meditate with the instruction to open themselves to the sun; to let the sun replenish their energy.

It was late May when Sheila gave a gasp of surprise and said, "I did it. I could feel it," she yelled excitedly as she jumped to her feet. I could feel the surge of energy in me."

Udit nodded with a smile and said, "Now you need to practice until you can do it every time, even if you aren't tired. You need to be able to do it when you're walking, or being attacked." That sobered everyone quickly and Sheila sat back down to try again. By July, everyone had experienced that surge of power at least once.

Seth and Martha practiced their own exercises and tried to help Sean with his. Seth noticed his improved eye when examining animals that he was considering buying. He also noticed issues with his own herd quicker so they were able to be managed earlier, easier and cheaper. The first half of 1976 was very profitable for the Gordian Ranch, thanks to Seth's, BB's, and Pappy's enhanced abilities.

Martha's only job outside of cooking, cleaning, washing, and caring for Sean was taking care of balancing the ranch books. Her job was probably the most important on the ranch because it affected the morale of everyone at the ranch that relied on her for clean clothes and food to eat. She had Ava and Sheila to help with the cooking, cleaning, and washing but her chores still seemed to go much faster than the extra help could account for. She knew the book keeping went much faster. What used to be a four to six hours every week turned in to two to three hours by the end of May, and no one helped her with the books. All the extra time saved from chores and books gave her more time to help Sean and the baby had the heaviest training schedule of them all.

The normal progression for a babies development was thrown out the window for Sean. Though his progress in normal baby growth and achievements could be considered abnormal, his accomplishments were normal. Every baby learns to talk and walk in time. It was Sean's rate of progress was amazing everyone in the family. Sean was walking by the second week in January with the help of his pup, Lightning. The dog was growing fast enough that Sean was able to put one arm over Lightning's shoulders for balance while walking across the ranch yard. Sean was frustrated because he still had problems walking by himself. He voiced that frustration to Sheila and was surprised at the answer.

"Of course you can't balance yet," Sheila said dismissively. "You're not even seven months old yet. I'm surprised your legs can support your weight to stand." Sheila paused at Sean's frustrated look. "It's a physical thing, Sean," she said gently. "Your inner ear isn't developed enough for you to balance yet."

"I made my legs stronger," Sean admitted with frustration. "Udit explained some of the possibilities of meditation so I used it to strengthen my legs. The, um, inner ear would be explained in Momma's Grey's Anatomy book wouldn't it," Sean mused to himself. He nodded his head, agreeing with himself, and said, "I need to know about how the body knows how to balance." Martha was surprised that evening when Sean rejected the encyclopedia and asked for the Gray's Anatomy section on ears and balance.

Sean was walking and running on his own by the first of February. At least he was running as well as the short legs of a seven month old could run but Sean found a way around that problem too. Using Lightning for support, it wasn't unusual to see him bounding across a field with Lightning and Storm. Sean learned to let the pup hold a portion of his weight. The dog would run and Sean let Lightning's momentum carry him forward so a running step could be six feet instead of a normal two to three feet. It was the other things he did that shattered the facade of 'normal' seven month old baby.

The exercises that everyone else were doing were a snap for Sean. He focused on the second hand for thirty seconds, frowned, and followed it for another thirty seconds as the hand turned backward. He was using Pete's watch and, when he finished, he handed it back to Pete, with the second hand still running backward.

Sean started explaining a diaper changing in excruciating, minute detail. Pete shook his head in amazement as the painstaking process of removing the second diaper pin started. They were five minutes into the detail exercise. Udit and Martha both called a halt to the exercise. And, that's when Pete noticed that his watch was running backward.

"Damn it, Sean," Pete said. "My watch is running backward and it wasn't before you did the focus exercise. What did you do to my watch?"

"Language!" Martha warned. "Your command of the English language is good enough that you don't need to swear."

"Martha," Pete said in frustration while shaking his head. "Sometime there isn't a word in any language to describe how I feel. Swearing is the only alternative."

"Well, I'll not have it," Martha replied firmly. "Sean, what did you do to his watch?"

"Um, would you like for me to explain it in detail?" Sean asked with a sly smile.

They had just been exposed to Sean's brand of detail. Martha sighed and shook her head. Udit tried to hide a smile. Pete snorted and said, "No. Just fix it. I need to leave for work."

Sean enjoyed the comprehension exercises that involved trees. He said it felt like he was in communion with the tree. Sean had more success with the energy exercises than other members of his family but it also left him frustrated.

"It feels like, like when you let me try to drink a milkshake through a straw," Sean explained to Udit. "I know there is more energy coming from the sun just like I knew there was more milkshake in the cup. I can see it, sort of. I'm not sure if there's a limit to what I can draw this way or if I'm doing something wrong. I don't understand why yet but I'll figure it out."

Passing energy to others seemed instinctive to Sean. "I give energy to others all the time," Sean explained. "That's what I do when I help someone heal. I do it when I let someone feel how much I love them. I do it with the animals all the time, especially Storm and Lightning." Udit had him practice passing energy to others while consciously drawing energy from the sun. It left Sean tired and frustrated because he could give his friends and animals energy much faster than he could draw it from the sun. Udit also helped Sean learn to draw energy from his own bodily reserves and Storm and Lightning. They had to be careful with those exercise because a person or animal could be drained of all their life energy. It frightened Sean but he did the exercise anyway, at Udit's insistence.

In addition to the same exercises everyone else was doing, Udit started Sean with a series of tests attempting to identify Sean's specific talents and their strengths. Udit concluded that Sean was primarily an air and water Wizard. His control of the weather and his ability to call lightning were derivatives of the air and water talents. His ability to control electricity was almost intuitive and was somehow caused by the interaction between the two talents. Neither Sean or Udit could figure out why his control over electricity worked.

Sean's relationship with plants was more of an affinity than control. He was able to communicate with them at a level that gained the plants cooperation. Sean explained that he really didn't have control of the plants. He could ask them to do something but that was all. He explained what he meant by describing the difference between the cactus flower he caused to bloom for Liz and the lack of flower petals for the wedding.

"The cactus flower wanted to bloom but couldn't," Sean explained patiently. "I just showed it how to bloom despite the problem it was having with lack of energy, and I helped it a little. I asked the flowering plants around the ranch if they would help for the wedding. It's winter though and they were resting. They were very patient with me and explained why they couldn't. If they bloomed in the winter, then they wouldn't have the bees or humming birds to help them spread their pollen and they wouldn't be able to reproduce. That's the real reason they make flowers. To reproduce. Not just to make pretty flowers. You understand reproduction don't you Udit?"

"Um, yes, Sean. I understand reproduction," Udit replied with a bemused expression.

"Good. So I won't have to explain that too." Sean said, with satisfaction before he continued. "Anyway, the plants will help me when they can and when it doesn't interfere with their natural cycle. In return, I help them when I can. Like that Elm tree by the house. It was feeling bad and it's leaves were turning yellow. I helped it feel better by helping it fight off a fungus that was stealing some of its energy. The elm is feeling better now."

Sean also seemed to have a very slight talent with metals. He was able to locate specific metals but he wasn't able to do anything with them. He just knew they were there. Udit didn't think his earth talent was of much use but Seth and Martha liked it. During a walk along a small creek with Udit, Sean located a small gold nugget about the size of a child's little fingernail. He presented it to Martha on her birthday to everyone's delight. Martha explained how expensive his gift would be if purchased from a store. Sean didn't quite understand the expense concept but he was happy that he made his Momma happy.

Sean's relationship with living entities other than plants was most puzzling to Udit. His talents with air and water were the basis of Sean's control of mammals because mammals are a high percentage of water and air so it made perfect sense to Udit. Avian species originated along a different evolutionary line than mammals yet Sean's control of birds was nearly absolute. Yet, Sean couldn't sense reptiles. He couldn't sense a snake or lizard even when he looking at it. To Sean, reptiles were like a blank spot in creation and it bothered him. Sean's control of insects were the most surprising and difficult to understand for Udit.

"Can you make that ant come to you?" Udit asked during a long session of testing different combinations of talents.

Sean shook his head in frustration as his brow furrowed in concentration. "I can feel it but I can't talk to it."

"How about that spider?" Udit asked pointing to a spider on a web.

Sean shook his head again after a moment and said, "It's the same thing, Udit. I can feel it but there's nothing there for me to talk to."

"But, Sean," Udit protested. "I've seen you make insects do things. I saw the bugs that left the bunk house before we started the remodel."

Sean nodded with a troubled expression while looking at a line of ant's carrying their booty back to their anthill. "I wasn't trying to do it then," Sean said thoughtfully as he remembered. "It was like a reflex. I just felt them and told them to leave. It wasn't like talking to Prince or Storm or Lightning though. They do what I want because I love them and they know it. They want to do what I want them to do. They want me to ask them to do something," Sean said throwing up his hands in irritation.

"Well, we'll work on that later because at some point you're going to run into an animal that won't want to work with you," Udit said with a sigh. "You'll need to be able to stop an animal that doesn't want to cooperate, like those animals that Cocheta sent after us." At Sean's nod of acceptance Udit continued. "For now, we need to figure out what's going on with these bugs. Try again," Udit ordered.

Sean sat looking at a group of ants carrying a beetle towards their lair. He sat up suddenly and looked around the yard and his eyes opened wide with comprehension. "I know why," Sean said softly in wonder. He turned to Udit and said, "I can't communicate with one bug because they don't have enough, um, I don't know what to call it. It isn't brain power. It's ... I think it's more like a sense of self. Solitary bugs don't have a strong sense of self. But a lot of spiders or a lot of ants or any other bugs do have a sense of self."

The line of ants abruptly turned right and scurried about a foot before continuing on in their original direction. Dozens of spiders were suddenly visible around them as they climbed to the top of stalks of grass.

"There is an identity to a group of bugs but an individual bug doesn't have a real identity," Sean explained. He turned to Udit, and said, "That's strange."

Udit had to chuckle before saying, "Sean, I have a feeling that you'll see much stranger things before your days are done."

Then, Udit started Sean on a training regime that Udit hoped would have Sean ready for the next attack. Sean learned to create a shield of air and he used Lightning to test it. The growing pup would jump at him to test the density and consistency of the shield. Sean learned that he could adjust the shield to completely stop Lightning as if the dog were jumping against a wall. Or, Sean could slow him in mid jump until he came to a complete stop, hanging in the air. Sean practiced hitting targets with lightning while riding Prince across the pasture. Udit was guiding Prince and Sean was riding in front of him. It was a challenge to focus on staying upright in the saddle and on the targets while calling the lightning.

"Cool," Sean said referring to a perfect score after one wild ride. That was one of his favorite new words that he picked up from Ben. Apparently 'Cool' was the new phrase going through the general population of the United States and Ben picked it up from the hospital. It meant everything from, 'that's nice, ' to 'I'm really glad you're here, ' and it drove Martha nuts.

"It isn't proper English," Martha complained.

"Sure it is," Sean replied confidently. "English is an evolving language. 'Cool' is just part of the evolution of usage that hasn't reached the Oxford English Dictionary, yet."

Sean also learned to create shields in front of others, and use a modified shield to hold things in place. He called it his sticky shield. Storm didn't like being held. He liked to run. Lightning didn't mind it as much for a short period of time. Lightning seemed to understand that Sean needed to experiment with his talents to learn to use them better. Sean caused Seth to get angry when he used his sticky shield to play a trick on Seth.

Seth was getting ready to drive to Prescott to pick up some feed. He started his pickup, put it in gear, and stepped on the gas. Nothing happened except the wheels spun in place and gravel was thrown against the house. He tried it again with the same results. Seth put the truck in neutral and set his brake before getting out and looking at the tires. He looked for something under this tires but didn't see anything holding him in place. He scratched his head, got back in the truck and tried again, with the same result. He got back out of the truck and looked under the truck to see if he could see anything holding it in place.

Sean's giggle from the corner of the house gave him away and Seth proceeded to give the baby a first class ass chewing. Anyone can scold another person. Many people can yell at another person. However, Seth was in another category that is reserved for a very special group of people. Seth had been school trained in how to yell at people while in the Marines and he was a master of the art. Seth understood that Sean was a baby but Sean was also a special case. Sean had the reasoning power of a responsible adult. Self-discipline is learned through experience which Sean didn't have. Because of the way he acted, almost everyone treated him with the courtesy and respect due another adult. It was when Sean played one of his pranks that everyone realized that he was still a baby and how dangerous he could be.

Seth and Martha had talked with Sean about the dichotomy between his physical age and his mental age and the restraint he needed to exercise. Sean could be very dangerous to those around him if he didn't practice self-restraint. Sean thought that he should be treated like an adult in most things because of his reasoning abilities. His parents pointed out that he still didn't have the experience of an adult. Seth explained how Marine recruits were treated to teach them to think and respond appropriately to those around them.