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Volume 6
Chapter 267: Attempting Meditation
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The secret of the Triple Flower Meditation lies in the ability of someone to ‘imagine’ one’s self.
The higher and more detailed one’s imagination is, the more accurately useful the projected ‘image’ one can study in their practice of the Triple Flower Meditation will be.
It is easier said than done.
The twins said that there is an abundant energy in the universe called “Cosmic Energy” which has so many forms and frequencies. But according to them, the most basic and the most general term used for this so called free and abundant energy is plainly just “Mana”.
From the ancient times until now, martial practitioners had come and go generation after every generation.
The general term “Kung Fu” is representative of the widely known Martial Arts of China…
Muay Thai and Muay Boran are also other famous Martial Arts…
…and so are Silat, Jujutsu, Boxing, Savate, Judo, Taekwondo, Aikido, Bando, Jeet Kune Do, Capoeira, Krav Maga, Shotokan, Kenpo, Sambo, Sanshou, Sumo, Systema, and Yaw Yan, among others, are famous Martial Arts, along with many more that uses weapons like Kenjutsu or Kendo, or Spear Systema, or Arnis, with names varying on their origins and weapons used but generally just utilize the advantage of the weapons’ designs.
These martial arts all centered on their forms and emphasize discipline and focus.
As much as all of them are different in origins and styles, what they all have in common is the fact that they all improve the body of the martial arts practitioner.
So the question is, what is the connection of Martial Arts to the cosmic energy “Mana” and Rex’s meditation technique?
The answer is the ‘human body’.
The eastern culture says that inside the body is the “inner (or self) version” of the cosmic energy called [Qi] (pronounced as Chi) while the western culture just plainly uses the term “Mana” to speak of the so called [Life Force] that exists in everything that has life in it.**
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(**please be advised that the word “Chakra” is just another term for Qi used generally by Yoga practitioners. Oh by the way, Yoga is also a form of Martial Arts that focuses majorly on improving one’s Spiritual Insights, or in other words, mind)
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Cosmic Energy is Mana (or Qi);
Mana (or Qi) is Life Force;
Life Force is what runs the human body.
To improve the human body, a Martial Artist tries to circulate their Life Force (Mana or Qi) in a certain way that can create miraculous effects to the body.
But this ‘practice’ is easier said than done. And as good and as easy as it may seem, like what was previously spoken of, those who succeed in the path of Martial Arts and have some attainments (which is improved health and longer lifespans) are talented individuals.
Those who do not have talent, however, rely on extremely taxing and dull, time-consuming and very boring, hard work.
But practicing and then gaining achievements in Martial Arts takes years.
To shorten the years, certain techniques were created by masters across the ages and passed down on certain individuals as a form of legacy.
These legacies are either some kind of specially-designed physical training method, or just like the Triple Flower Meditation, a technique that focuses on ‘controlling’ the flow of Mana in one’s body.
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“There are three important parts on practicing this technique; first is to imagining the form of the body; second is to feeling the state of the body; third is to manipulating the Life Force to mold and, in turn, strengthen the body.”
While he was in the bench, his eyes closed, Rex was focusing on the method to practice the technique.
Unlike what was traditionally spoken of in novels and mangas, Martial Arts are trained by mastering a form or completing the way to do the technique, not by reciting mantras and sutras.
To succeed, understanding fundamental aspects and knowing the desired results regarding the Martial Art Technique, knowing the right method of practice, and following the required certain particular guidelines, rules, and conditions, or having the required items… are needed.
The triple Flower Meditation Technique required one to complete those three important parts before practicing the technique.
The more detailed one’s imaging of his body is, the more useful the projected ‘image’ for studying and practice will be.
Like what was said, imagining one’s body is easy and almost anyone can just imagine themselves as being strong and powerful in their minds.
But if this is done so, what is the use of practicing this technique then?
Knowing one’s self thoroughly is also knowing the weaknesses and strengths one can utilize in his advantage.
In Rex’s current job description, “Siva” is just one player where his potential enemies are the world and the people in it. If he was given more time, he would be able to gradually acquire resources and gather enough strong people to establish the core strength of his “The Company” to fight against all possible contingencies.
Bu that’s one thing that Rex doesn’t have.
“I need strength… strength is everything!! I need to have enough strength at the shortest amount of time possible.” He kept on telling himself and did his best to imagining, feeling, and forming his own body’s image in his mind.
The first to take form was his “physical” body. He had seen his reflection in the mirror and for some reason, his memory of himself was as clear as if he was looking at a mirror.
“I really became taller by at least 4 inches…” as he studied his image, he also noticed the longer hair and the fairer and slightly more handsome ‘image’.
“Now that I have an image of myself, the next part is to dwell deeper and imagine and feel the state of my body. My current state is…”
The first he studied was his former injuries.
His right arm, left leg, torso, ribs, head, eye, neck, skin, down to his internal organs… are there any internal organs that’re hurting? Where is the hurt coming from? Are my heart beats irregular? Is my vision slightly blurry?
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Rex remembered his ‘former’ self before his life went awry and became obscured by the accident.
With eyeglasses, slightly thick but not long hair style, athletic build, average athletic height, and no kind of long lasting injury… none. This was his normal self before everything went downhill. Then he cross-reference his ‘self’ after the accident.
“Hm?”
When his image of his former himself and the current image of himself interlaid with each other, the changes were more visible and noticeable.
“The manner which I transfers my weight center are slightly more balanced. My muscles’ density are thicker but still looked the same. My bones are also sturdier than before. My blood vessels are more robust and my blood denser in volume but a little more smoothly flowing… wait… how do I know about this?! Why… how do I know all these information?!”
Of course it was surprising as to how he was able to tell how it was before and how it is it now.
When Graham and the twins “baptized” him with the NanoMechs, the central processing unit of the entire volume had been ‘implanted’ on his head.
While the rest of the NanoMechs in his body are like an extension or a tentacle of a network, the core of it all was directly feeding these information on his mind.
Like a 24/7 active scanning system, whether the twins knew that Rex would practice the Triple Flower Meditation Technique they taught him to organize his memories and thoughts or not, the fact remained that what they did helped him greatly on surmounting this difficult task with flying swaying grand colors.
Even the person who created this technique were only capable of “imaging” his bones, muscles, his internal organs, and his overall condition, whether he had injuries or not, and was not able to actually know “exactly” the every details of physical being.
And yet, Rex just did, with the help of the scan the dormant NanoMech was feeding his mind.
Whether by chances, luck, or just plainly fate’s hand doing its thing, the NanoMechs installed on his body without his consent became a large boon on his practice of the triple Flower Meditation.
No matter how much Rex became shocked and surprised of this detailed result, he couldn’t just erase the fact that he was now aware of his body’s current physical condition.
Still, due to his shock from seeing the supposed microscopically tiny red blood cells moving on his arteries as if he was watching a slow march of red balls in an endlessly deep cave, his eyes snapped open and he inhaled a deep breath in reflex.
“This is…”
He looked at his hands and felt his heart beat was rising due to anxiety but then, when he thought of wanting to calm himself, he actually “felt” that his short breathing calmly went to normal and his rising heartbeat slowing down to normal pace.
Fear creeped over on his mind but no matter how much he seemed to get “nervous” over this fact, he would immediately calm down and the surprise he felt would vanish as soon as he felt it.
“Just what’s going on to my body?!”
Rex assumed that these weird phenomena were all in his body. Even the fact that he could clearly imagine his body’s state down to his own red blood cells was also blamed on his body.
“How did this happen?!”
In fact, right now, he felt afraid. But then, just as he felt that fear creeping over his heart, there was also a voice, or if put another way, a notion that’s suddenly sprouting in his mind like a second self, telling him that there was no need to be afraid.
That voice became his thought and Rex calmed down and began to examine his self again. He did not mind that that voice was actually, gradually, taking over his supposed “normal rationality”.
Under these circumstances, a normal person’s reaction is just like Rex’s but this ‘voice’ was like a persona of Rex Kingsley, a part of him, another half of himself, or better put… a reflection of his own thought process… telling him what not a normal Rex should be feeling.
“This… is just normal…” when he calmed down, he looked at his hand on a different way now. “My life was never just limited… in… this… world.”
………...world.
……..world.
…world.
World.
…..world….
…….…world……
…….……….world………
“This is not… the only world…” In a whisper that’s as soft as cotton and as gentle as a morning wind, the ‘voice’ suggested this phrase in Rex’s mind.
As if he was hypnotized, Rex murmured the same words that he should be finding abnormal and even more so, creepy.
Just who that voice belonged to or where it came from was never even asked as Rex seemed to be under control of that hypnotic, other self’s voice, that seemed to be not a bad person.
For some odd reason, whispering a sentence as if it was dictated by another’s will was also never question.
Rex…. was completely submissive on that voice’s kind and gentle suggestive will.
The word ‘world’ was echoing in his mind both like a whisper and like a repeating ripple in the surface of a water. It was going back and forth in his mind in a steady pace and yet differing in volume and intensity.
If a psychologist could hear this, he’d immediately recognize this echoing pattern as something that is called hypnotic suggestive brainwashing method.
Or in other words, whoever owned this ‘voice’ was implanting an idea in Rex’s mind.
And this ‘idea’ centered on the line that ‘this is not the only world’ and that there was another.
“There is also Terroa.”
SNAP!
Like a bolt of lightning signal the arrival of the end of a sunny season, someone snapped his fingers.
Rex, who was in the middle of his trance, was so startled and very surprised by this snap that he jolted into standing on his feet and hit someone’s chin in reaction.
“Ow!”
“Aw!”
That someone yelled a painful cry at the same time as him.
Rex saw Frank McCullers stumbling back as if he just received an uppercut; Hank, beside him, with a surprised face; and then Graham at the open garage gate, staring at him with a stone cold and indifferent sunglasses-expression.
Rex was holding his head while he agonized with the sensation of pain. But more than that, he felt shocked and so surprised, yet again, by the light of day that he was blinking many times staring at Doctor Martinez who had an open panel window in front of him as if he was scanning Rex with it.
“What?! What time is it? What day is it?” Rex exclaimed. He did not even feel as much as being surprised when the sun was high up when he woke up next after his meditation session now since this is not the first time he ‘skipped’ on a day during a session.
Martinez, who was in the middle of his activity, is the one who looked at Rex for a moment to answer his question.
“It’s 8 in the morning. It’s Tuesday.” His tone was semi-nonchalant and semi-curious and he looked at Rex for a few moments more and asked, “Just how long do you think you were in meditation?”
Rex looked at him, unable to answer him yet. But when he thought that he needed time to organize his brain before answering, he was surprised that with just a few moments before after his confusing wake up call, he immediately found the answer to this question.
“I started meditating around 10pm last night."
When they all heard this statement from Rex, the four adult men looked at him with one brow raised like the Eiffel.
“What?” Rex blinked at the twins. “Aren’t these the normal rate? Haven’t I been doing it longer and longer the more I master it?”
The twins looked at each other then looked at Rex as if they were seeing a toddler preaching about the mysteries of quantum physics. Their eyes were wide and they were smiling awkwardly.
Hank pulled Frank up and the two went to stand in front of Rex with their hands behind their backs.
Frank asked, “Have you managed to bloom at least a single flower?”
Rex thought for a moment but shook his head.
Hank asked next, “Have you at least managed to feel the existence of that Mana in your body?”
Rex had long been taught of the fundamentals of the Triple Flower Meditation. Of course he knew what that weird heat that had suddenly formed in his body after waking up with that black soot that time after he had woken up last night before the second session that ended a few moments ago.
“I did.” Rex nodded but paused to think. “But what I wanna know… is it normal for Mana to produce a physical kind of heat like steam coming from one’s body that was enough to cancel even the AC?”
The twins was widened their eyes.
“Impossible.” Frank chuckled and shook his head.
“Right. Right.” Nodded Hank, pointing a teacher’s finger up, preaching the next moment, “Although it is said that Mana is everywhere around us, this is still the 22nd century, kid. We’re not in some novel of someone’s imagination. Science is still the best reference to divide what’s fictional from not.”
“Hm. Mn!” added Frank, “Although there are some cases that a human’s body heat can reach high degrees when triggered by certain events like after a hot bath, to cancel even the AC? That’s just impossible.”
Rex shut his mouth and did not continue asking.
He himself knew that what he was asking was just stupidly impossible. He can’t rely on anyone else to find out the truth about the weird things that’s happening to his body right now.
What he can do is just practice control over the mysterious Triple Flower Meditation until he was able to manually reorganize everything confusing him at the moment.
“Anyways, there is a more important matter I want to ask you regarding our answer earlier.” this time, the one who asked the question was Martinez.
“What is it?”
“You said you’ve been in meditation since 10pm last night and only now, when Frank woke you up were you on that position?”
Rex seemed to feel that there was something that is hidden on the doctor’s question. Especially so when this question was asked, Graham’s cross-armed stance and the twins’ carefree expressions became serious.
He gulped and paused to think, but he couldn’t really recall what happened last night. Aside from the fact that he had poured all of his attention into sensing the “Mana” in his body to attempt to enter the first stage of the three stages of the Triple Flower Meditation Technique.
Rex nodded to assent.
The twins exchanged looks and then sighed while Martinez gulped while Graham raised a brow and only stared at him, wariness on his aura.
.
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Did he fail or…
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