Nirvana Effect

14



“Look at that tree,” said Mahanta. “In the trance, you would know how many leaves flutter in its branches.”

In the morning, Mahanta had taken Edward to the “holy clearing.” The dawning sun bore through the thick mist of the jungle.

“Hmm,” said Edward, noncommittally.

“You will see. You will be in the trance again, soon, if you so wish. The thing to understand about this is that you already know how many leaves flutter in that tree,” continued Mahanta.

“Is that so?”

“If your mind did not know how many leaves were in the tree, it could not process them at all. How much harder do you think is it for your brain to capture the entire sensory message of that tree? A number is simple. And some people do it already - your medical texts call them idiot savants.”

Edward nodded grudgingly. “You must have read an older text - that’s an old name - but yes, to a smaller degree than counting the leaves on that tree, I’ll admit that’s true.”

“My theory is that the substance, the lleychta, which bring about the - the trance -”

“The nirvana effect,” interrupted Edward.

Mahanta stewed that one over. He nodded finally. “Yes, that’s a good English name for it, yes. The nirvana effect. So when a mind is under the…nirvana effect…it isn’t doing anything that it can’t already do. There are just certain abilities of the mind which are apparently repressed in everyday life. The drug seems to take away those repressions.”

“What’s been repressing it?” asked Edward. Mahanta’s lip curled slightly. “I’m just playing devil’s advocate.”

“Devil’s what?”

“Devil’s advocate. I’m just testing your theory,” explained Edward.

Mahanta nodded. “Well, devil, this god hasn’t taken his theory that far. And neither have your scientists, either. We could label it, call it subconscious barriers, call it what you will, but that would only be a label. I know of no structure to it, just an idea and my own experience. It just seems that there is a cap on my mind’s abilities, and whenever I am under the - the nirvana effect, that cap is lifted.”

“Well, I’ve certainly experienced that, too.”

“It seems there are certainly hidden portions of the mind that are under one’s full control during the trance.”

“Like the body control,” said Edward. “I was able to make my body heal, shut off pain. It even seemed I could experience my neurons to some degree.”

Mahanta nodded. “I’ve had the same experience. And are you able to control your other sense channels during the trance?”

Edward nodded. “I can hear farther.”

“And individual conversations in a crowd?” said Mahanta.

“It seems impossible, but yes,” said Edward.

“Well, your mind has always been perceiving it - your mind perceives every voice in a crowd. Why can’t it be aware of each voice?”

“It’s just impossible,” insisted Edward.

“Well, apparently it’s not. And I’ve been able to trace much phenomena of the nirvana effect to previously observed phenomena.”

“Like what?”

“There are cases on record of extended hearing, of near super-natural sight, of uncanny calculation. There are cases who have seen the exact future in their dreams - déjà vu - and who have accomplished physically impossible acts under moments of stress. It would seem hardly an assumption to postulate that the drug does not add mental abilities, but rather reveals them.”

Edward mulled it over. He could not help but notice how Mahanta had adapted to the style of communication found in Edward’s scientific texts. It was as though the native had absorbed the books. “It sounds like a correct assumption to me,” Edward finally said. “You see the future in the trance?”

Mahanta shrugged. “I can predict. It is akin to seeing. I am interested to see what you can do. Since I have been the only human being to experience the trance, I do not know if all such experiences are uniform. Your description of the trance matches mine to a large extent, but it may be that not all minds work the same.”

“That doesn’t sound particularly scientific,” said Edward.

“Just an observation. Observation is absolute science. We can only draw conclusions once we have more observation,” said Mahanta. The Onge sat on the grass near the giant tree in the clearing.

“Time slowing down?” asked Edward, as though the question rushed out before he could even formulate it into a complete thought.

“I don’t know why,” said Mahanta simply.

“I thought that perhaps it’s just the effect of so much more sense data coming into the brain. Things appear to be moving more slowly when in actual fact time is clipping along at normal speed.”

Mahanta nodded. “I thought something on the same order.”

“So what is your plan?” asked Edward, taking his seat.

“Much of it is planned, but much of it isn’t. I wish to go West. I want to leave this place. I want to eventually announce my discovery, in a place and time that will not result in destruction. I will do so in a way that benefits me, my tribe, and all humanity. I will be no martyr to science. In your history books, science has more martyrs than religion, it seems.”

Edward nodded. Mahanta’s plans seemed reasonable. “And what is in store for me?” he asked.

“Having tasted it, you have a right to the lleychta as much as I do. You’ll be able to set your own destiny, and we may or may not remain friends in the end. For now we are friends, and we will help one another.”

Edward observed from an anthropological viewpoint how pragmatic the Onge really were about matters of alliance and survival. The only assurance of honesty and loyalty from an Onge was strength. It was a game Edward had never played, but saw that he would quickly need to learn.

“Why all this ‘god’ stuff?” asked Edward.

Mahanta nodded as though he’d been awaiting the question. “Power. Control. Influence. I need it all. Religion is the only way I’ll be able to alter the culture of my people. I will modernize my tribe by gaining enough influence to reinterpret the oral tradition that so far has kept us bound to the mud.”

Edward’s priest side objected on moral grounds to Mahanta’s abuse of religion. The scholarly side could not help but agree with him, though.

“I know what you are thinking,” said Mahanta. He laughed. “You are thinking, ‘This young man is not a god.’”

Edward laughed, too.

Mahanta continued, “You are right - to you, I am not. To the West, I am not. To a Christian, or a Jew, or Muslim, or any monotheist, I am not. But to my people, I am. I have fulfilled their prophecies. I am what they have always wanted. And I will lead them to civilization and freedom. You cannot slight me or my manipulations for that. If you do, you are not who I think you are.”

“We are an odd couple,” said Edward. “If anyone were to write a book about this, they could title it, ‘The Priest and the Heretic.’”

“Or ‘The God and the White Devil’,” said Mahanta. “In any event, my status has given me control of the tribe’s resources. Already they have begun to harvest the substance per my instructions. The Onge are at our disposal to carry forward the research of this substance as far as we can before we need to leave.”

“What do you plan to research about it?” asked Edward.

“That is up for discussion,” said Mahanta. This surprised Edward. “I have some ideas, but I wanted to give you all the facts that I have on the nirvana effect, the plant sap it comes from, everything, and have you trance on it before we set on a course of investigation. We can discuss it all as we walk back to the temple. If you’re willing, I’ll inject you with the substance again.”

Edward nodded. He was more than willing.