Now, on the speakers’ platform, Ngunda stepped to the microphone, and Cochran gave him his attention. The subject, Ngunda stated, was the coming “next incarnation of the Infinite Soul.” That was his big pitch now. Still, to Cochran, the first minute or so was prosaic, not the sort of thing to excite the guru’s audience.
Then he became more specific. “This new incarnation,” he said, “what some refer to as ‘the Second Coming,’ is very close at hand. The physical human being, the receptacle the Infinite Soul will occupy and use, is already teaching among you. Soon the Infinite Soul will descend onto that body, and the human soul which had occupied it will ascend, so to speak, to what is commonly referred to as ‘heaven.’
“When that happens, that body will largely cease to preach. For the Logos—the ultimate truth as it applies to the physical plane—cannot be expressed in words, or in paintings or images or abstracts or mathematical equations, or in anything created by humans. Words cannot come close. Occasionally, great music, and the greatest figure skating and dance performances, can give a sense of it. But such transcendental performances are uncommon. Perhaps the strongest sense of it readily available to us over the centuries is experienced by watching a major display of the aurora, the northern or southern lights.
“But that will change when the Infinite Soul travels among you in a human body. Simply showing itself to you will demonstrate its incredible power and love. Then you will perceive and know more than you can grasp with your intellects, though there are those who will reject it.”
Jesus Christ! thought Cochran. Talk about going out on a limb! He’ll have to step up and claim it soon, and make a damned good show of it, or he’ll lose all credibility.
“And at the end of the Infinite Soul’s time among you . . .” Ngunda paused, to strengthen their attention, then repeated himself. “At the end of the Infinite Soul’s time among you, the Tao will also manifest itself in a geophysical event that no one—no one!—will ignore or deny: a geophysical event that began a long time ago, and is only now approaching fruition. For people to whom only physical phenomena are valid, especially painful physical phenomena, that geophysical event will carry conviction.
“But the spiritual manifestation will express itself in the physical form of a human being. Not as Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was of and for an earlier time. But as someone of and for our time.”
He’s not leaving himself much wiggle room! Cochran thought. And now he’s pissed off all the people who believe the real messiah has to be Jesus returned.
It occurred to Duke that Ngunda might believe what he was saying. In that case he might not be influenced by whether people liked it or not. But what about the people pumping money into Millennium: the board of directors of the Millennium Foundation? All were presidents, or board chairmen, or CEOs of wealthy corporations. Estimates of personal, pre-Depression worth ranged from $130 million to $3.7 billion. What were they thinking now, sitting in their mansions listening to this speech? Was this part of their plans? Or were they shocked? Maybe thinking Oh boy! There goes the farm! How do we cover this?
It was then Cochran had a major realization: When Ngunda claims to be the messiah, he’ll have to die shortly afterward. Because no one—not Ngunda Aran, not anyone—could act the role of messiah the way he’d described it. With some good special effects, he might get away with faking it for a few days. But no way in hell could he string it out longer than a week or two. He’d have to die, whether he wanted to or not.
* * *
When the time came for the ethicist from Denver University to question Ngunda, the professor blew his opportunity to press him with what Cochran thought of as telling questions. Instead he asked, “What might we realistically hope for as a result of such a remarkable event?”
Ngunda smiled. “The Infinite Soul will not incarnate to ‘save’ humankind, nor transform it into saints. Combined with the geophysical event, he will help you see more deeply into yourselves—your lives, your motives, your values. And to do so more honestly than you had before. The result will be a substantial shift in the orientation of human society as a whole, from materialism and its idols of comfort and wealth, power and security—toward tolerance and compassion.” He paused and repeated. “Tolerance and compassion.