Meditation III
“Ah, so you meditate as well, that’s awesome,” said her date, “me too.”
She flashed a smile, nodding. Of course, she knew it. She chose his profile according to his interests and she thought it could be romantic to meditate together.
“Which kind of meditation do you practice?” he asked.
She looked at him with a question mark painted on her face.
“I sit and breathe.”
“Yes, of course, but which kind, zen, transcendental, chakra…?”
She looked at him as if he were speaking a foreign language.
“I don’t know, I close my eyes and I let my mind wander.”
“What? You let your mind wander? Who taught you that? You don’t focus on your breathing?” He looked at her as if she had violated all ten Commandments.
“Yes, I concentrate on the breathing at the beginning, but then I let the thoughts come and go. I read it in a book.”
“Ah, you mean that they pass by, as clouds?” he asked, his eyebrows now knitted together.
“No, they come, and they stay, I think about this or that, according to what comes first.”
He opened his eyes wide and retracted his body, as if he needed to put some distance between him and the impure.
She took the plastic strow in her mouth to a sip of coke, crushing the edge with her front teeth.
“But this is not meditation, I mean…I don’t know where you read such stupid things.” He sighted, bringing his body nearer the table again, putting on his teacher face and started lecturing her on the real meditation.
Her hands on her lap, she listened politely, with a faint smile on her face. As soon as he stopped spreading the verb, she rushed to change subject and asked him about his job, his plans, his dreams, assessing between his words and his pauses his yearly revenues (he complained about the costs of a monthly metro card) – and fun potential (he went to bed every nightat 10 pm).
After the second drink, a beer for her and another healthy drink for him, they left the bar and said their good-byes. Both were clear that the match was not meant to be, and they parted with no bad feelings.
He went home, a few centimetres taller, his chin held right and occupying all the space around him, thinking how ridiculous that girl pretending that she meditated.
She looked at the time on her mobile, and saw she had the time to stroll leisurely to the KaDeWe mall to pick up the tray of mixed canapé and caviar jars she ordered for the weekend. She was expecting a couple of friends over and was looking forward to it.
The food hall was quieter than usual, and she could reach the stand without juggling her way through the customers. She was glad to be promptly served and once done, she felt again grateful for there was but one customer before her at the check-out.
The casher told her the total amount and she noticed offhand that it was threefold the cost of a monthly metro card. She handed over her credit card pleased at the delicacies and thought that she maybe did not meditate right, but those meditation sessions still allowed her to build a flourishing business which brought her both wealth and peace of mind. Taking the bags, she left the mall, wondering how much money she could get by selling her meditation style.