"Shanti - that's it! We are all striving for Shanti. That's the word our sages use now."
Just then a thought flashed in his mind, "Shanti! I wonder what Shanti is up to. I know he's been ill this last week and probably feels lonely trapped in between four walls." He turned over in the warm sand, ordered HAL into communicator mode and asked for Shanti. In a flash, Tilak's surroundings were filled with a holographic view of Shanti in his bedroom engrossed in listening to his favourite kirtans using his info-link. People had learned how to pass even periods of illness spiritually!
"Shanti!" yelled Tilak into HAL, forgetting for a moment that their 5,300 miles distance was no reason for yelling into an info-link. "How are you feeling? You must be feeling a bit lonely."
"Sure I am," replied Shanti in a deep, serene voice. "You know that all the info-links in the world cannot replace the living voice of a human. Anyway, I'll get over my illness soon. I've prayed as the doctor recommended. You know, if I were living 100 years ago, I would have been taking those dreaded things called 'pills'. What a waste!"
"It was a great discovery wasn't it? You can change your life simply by changing the attitude of your mind. It's a good thing we accepted it and radically improved life in one grand sweep. Sure people still become ill. But our remedy is ...."
"Tell me Shanti," Tilak interrupted out of enthusiasm, did you tune in to last week's International Youth Sabha on the Universal Net? It was awesome. Really! We saw rare 'videos' of the Suvarna Tula of Shastriji Maharaj and Pramukh Swami Maharaj. It was in 2-D; they didn't have 3-D projection systems then. But it was really emotional. The theme of the sabha was 'Then and Now'. There was also a fascinating lecture by Vignanswarup Swami. He talked on 'The Taming of Science'. Out of this world!"
"Go on," Shanti suggested to Tilak. "You have captured it on your personal records, haven't you?"
"Yup! Here it is." Tilak ordered his info-link to replay the lecture and instantly Shanti's info-link projected lifelike holograms of the sabha into his room, making him feel as if he were actually present there. The image focused itself in front of him and with a 3-D caption 'Then and Now - The Taming of Science' hanging in mid-air, the lecture commenced.
More abstracts about the Then and Now - 3