Sudanenka - Part Eight

SUDANENKA


VIII

THE DREAM AND THE SANCTUARY

And the centuries passed as in some strange dream, recalled and repeated in the wakeful hours. And the wind howled and whipped the abyss into a torrent of curses, yet Sudanenka remained protected in the circle, beneath the tree. But, in a forgetful moment, all was cast out and a strange body of enormous strength had entered the holy man's sphere of thought; and it was Division, Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication in number. But being a perfection of equilibrium, the holy man raised not one thought against it. The numerical dweller was strong, yet the holy man's will was stronger! He was shown a dream of all things revealing vast wonders of falsity and truth, for he was shown the point of the line at the beginning, which is nought; and he was shown the point of the line at the end, which is two and infinity. And he was led into the vision beyond words.

He saw how the beginning, which is beyond birth, is the light of the angles of the cross (3), and he saw how the middle, which is beyond life, is the darkness of the sacred eye and the cross (4); and he saw how the end, which is beyond death, is the light of the circle and the cross (5). He saw himself as Being, and as Going, and as Returning, all in an infinitesimal particle of thought. And he cried out:

'The Light I receive gives sustenance, and the shell hath been pierced through by unclean hands, which hath partaken of the Light, which is Love and Death; and the vessel of blasphemy hath been devoured by Love!' And the vision ended. And the victor passed into a strange dreamless sleep upon the eve of the third ordeal.