The Atua Man

by John Stephenson

  Gary supervised the placement of the table on the dais. With his usual attention to detail, Gary marked where Jason would sit and chose a leather wing back chair from what was offered by the hall. He made sure his staff knew exactly where to place the chair and let them know that the table would be covered in flowers. He went over the sound system with the engineers, making sure the microphone would be hidden in the flowers, and told his security personnel where to stand for the optimum crowd control. When he finished with his staff, he walked to the elevator by the stage door pulling a wheeled case behind him.

  An Albert Hall security guard stopped him. “Where are you going with that?”

  “I’m moving some special sound and video equipment to the back of the hall,” Gary replied.

  “Mind if I look inside?”

  Gary laid the case on the floor and opened it. It looked like a typical audio/visual trunk; the inside held microphones, booms, and tripod and camera equipment in foam receptacles. “We like to have our own record of Mr. St. John’s events. I have a box on the Grand Tier. It would be easier for me to set it up now than this evening.”

  The guard gave the equipment a cursory inspection and stepped aside.

  Gary continued, “We have some special cameras that will capture the heart and soul of Mr. St. John’s talk tonight. Thanks.”

  Gary entered the elevator and exited on the Grand Tier. He pulled his case down the curving corridor, finding the box he had reserved and unlocked the door. Inside the box he closed the curtains that separated the reception area from the seats. He set up a tripod and using a mono scope lined it up with Jason’s chair. He marked the position of the tripod on the floor, collapsed it and put everything back in his case. He secured the case and left the box, locking the door behind him. Gary walked around the Grand Tier, coming back to his people setting up the stage.

  Chapter 47

  Stanford House

  Tuesday Afternoon, November 2004

  It was a joyous moment when Jason walked into his apartment. Lillian let out a happy cry and ran into his arms. Everyone he loved was there, which took some of his anger away. Alex dropped his mobile and joined the family hug. Melanie and David applauded. He acknowledged them all as he made his way to his bedroom. “Thank you, guys. I’ll be back in a minute. I just have to wash MI5 out of my hair.”

  When he returned to the great room everyone except Alex and David were on their phones. Jason stepped out into the hall where Thomas Parker was stationed.

  “Hey, Thomas, how’re you doing?”

  “Fine, Mr. St. John.”

  “Did you get in trouble the other night when we all came back from the country?”

  “A little. Nothing really. Don’t worry about it.” Thomas was flattered by Jason’s attention.

  “Mr. Howell doesn’t always see the bigger picture. Listen, I need a favor. Can you get me a list of the phone records of all the calls coming in and out of the compound right after the broadcast?”

  Thomas hesitated.

  “That’s alright, Thomas. I can get it from Gary.” Jason gave him a pat on the back and went back inside his apartment.

  The adults were still on their phones. Alex was showing David his battleship game on his Nintendo when Jason walked up to his son and put his arm around him. “I heard you had a trying day yesterday, too.”

  “I don’t understand why people are so crazy,” Alex said.

  Jason ruffled his son’s hair and gave David a friendly arm punch and a look that meant thanks… and here we go again.

  “Don’t even try,” David responded.

  “Melanie’s going to be interviewed this afternoon on the Norton Graham show,” Lillian announced to the group, closing her phone. “Once we let it out that we were willing to talk about our work here, everybody wants an interview.”

  “Well, tell them I’m canceling tonight.” Jason walked into the center of the room.

  “Why would you do that? We’re turning this whole thing around.”

  “Because I’m tired. Because I’m not going to fight Tony.”

  Lillian went over to Jason and gently took him in her arms and held him close. The buzz in the room quieted down as the others felt a transcendent peace descend upon them. They were together for only one purpose, to recognize this atmosphere, knowing that by doing so they would throw open the doors to the hidden life within. The stillness nearly took their collective breath away. Finally, Jason broke the silence. “You’re are so wonderful staying by me and coming so far to support this work. I suppose we do make a difference, but sometimes the ignorance and self-interest can be overwhelming. That’s the big, hypnotic trap, believing that there is power in the material world that needs to be overcome. Thank you for breaking the hypnotism.”

  “Will you go ahead with the program, then?” said Melanie.

  “Yes.”

  Chapter 48

  Royal Albert Hall

  Tuesday Evening, November 2004

  The police had closed Kensington Gore in front of the Hall and a sea of humanity spread across the street to the Albert Memorial. People congregated around the building and down the steps to Prince Consort Road. Jason and his motorcade entered from the east, turning off Prince Consort Road onto Kensington Gore before driving up to the stage door. Alex sat between his mother and father in the back seat of their Jaguar sedan. For the most part the crowd was quiet and orderly. Some people around the Albert Memorial chanted Antichrist slogans, but most everybody was there to experience the consciousness Jason brought to these rallies.

  David called Gary over to the stage entrance as one of the Hall attendants showed Jason, Lillian and Alex to the headliner’s dressing rooms. Melanie and Michael followed them, and David asked Gary to take him to the stage. “Jason’s decided he’s not going to sit. He’ll be standing and walking around,” David told Gary. “And the table with the flowers should be behind him.

  “I wish you’d told me that sooner,” Gary complained. “We’ll need to adjust the receivers and re-equalize the room for sound.”

  “It’s what the boss wants.”

  “But he always sits behind a table. I’m not sure he can create the proper atmosphere unless he’s stationary.”

  “Don’t worry about that, my man. I’ve seen him quiet fifty thousand people in an arena just by walking on stage and standing there. I thought you got your healing at one of his arena events.”

  Gary wasn’t going to argue with David. He’d make the changes and adjust things accordingly, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t like David. What he’d heard about the early days sounded chaotic to Gary. He was convinced you needed order and structure to heal, and that’s what Tony had brought to the Ministry. And, he couldn’t forgive David for abandoning the Ministry when Jason needed him the most. Granted, Gary had been healed at an arena event in Washington D.C. but that had nothing to do with David. And David coming back now really ticked him off. What entitled him to have a say in the direction the Ministry would take? By supporting Jason in his out of this world adventures he would kill the Ministry.

  The men walked onto the stage. The choirs behind them were empty, and rows of potted palms lined the back of the stage blocking the view from those sections of the hall. Two stagehands joined Gary, and he told them how to rearrange the furniture.

  David politely thanked Gary and said, “When do the doors open?”

  Gary checked his watch, “In about thirty minutes.”

  “Any fundamentalists coming?”

  “A few hundred, I expect, from the reports I’m getting.”

  “Are they going to be a problem?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m making sure they’re spread out and not sitting together.”

  “I’m glad I don’t have your job. See you later.”

  David left the stage and joined Jason’s party in his dressing room. Jason was meditating and Lillian and Alex were holding his hands. The others were quiet but had their eyes open. When David entered Melanie got u
p and took him aside.

  “I have such a negative feeling. I don’t know why.”

  David gave her a warm hug and she melted into his arms. Michael looked down at his feet.

  “This feels like Hakamaii,” Melanie whispered.

  “I hope not.” David pushed Melanie back, holding on to her arms and looking into her eyes. “You know, until J.J. gets out there and takes them through his mind exercises, it’s chaos. All those people with their expectations and fears and who knows what? They’ll calm down. Be patient. Have you been able to get still?”

  “No. Every time I get to a point of opening, I’m bombarded with negativity.”

  “I guess things are more charged since the TV show.”

  Melanie hugged David again. “You’re the rock.” She went back to Michael just as the assistant stage manager knocked on the door, opened it, and called “ten minutes.”

  “Why don’t you guys go on out and get your seats?” Jason said. “I want to be alone the last few minutes.”

  They all got up and left without saying anything.

  Lillian and Alex sat in the first row of the stalls, next to the railing and facing into the arena. The others sat behind them. David leaned over and whispered in Lillian’s ear. “Where’s the rest of the board?”

  Melanie tapped David on his arm to get his attention. “Dorothy never comes to these events. She can’t handle the crowds, and Barbara and her crew pick up the live feed at the studio. I thought Tony would be here though, it’s right in our backyard.”

  David sat back in his seat and patted Melanie’s knee. “You feel better?”

  “No, not really.”

  “I’m a little nervous too. Haven’t been to one of these things for years.”

  The buzz in the Hall began to quiet down as the time for Jason to appear drew near. Many were there to experience the stillness and feel the peace that came with these events. Many did not expect to be healed or didn’t need a healing. Rather, for them it was a rare opportunity to be with someone in such a high spiritual state and have that soul connection. Others did have problems and expected Jason to solve them. They weren’t sure how he’d do that, but many said that after being at a St. John rally their problems disappeared. Some felt the moment when a healing took place. Others didn’t realize they’d been healed for days after. Then there were those who came to scoff. Often, they were changed but they never admitted it.

  Finally, Jason came out and was handed a wireless microphone by a stagehand. He stood in the middle of the stage, the flowered covered table and a wall of areca palms behind him and waited for the room become quiet. When he had the audience’s attention, he felt the invisible presence rise in him and a great peace filled the Hall. He smiled. This truly was his calling. He took a moment to look into the eyes of those standing close to the stage. Many were young, and hungry for the experience, wanting to be filled with the invisible essence of Spirit. They wanted to let go of their persona and experience the incorporeal One, united as the heavens were united in the void of space—no more you, and me—just one.

  “Good evening.” Jason brought his hands together in a gesture of Namaste. “I’m going to be asking for your help tonight.” A murmur rose from the audience, and then was replaced by a stillness.

  “I know you think I’m here to help you, but that’s not true. My presence at a healing rally is for one purpose only and it is not to give people healings. That is something I cannot do. What I can do is realize the spiritual oneness of all here in this auditorium. Those of you who have read my books know what that means. The universe is perfect in its creation. The infinity of creation, from the planets to the forces that keep them aligned to the smallest expressions of life, all of it is perfect. It is all in harmony. It exists in this moment. Nothing exists outside of this moment. The past doesn’t exist. The future doesn’t exist. All existence is now, and it is perfect.”

  The audience began to feel the stillness and grow quiet. Jason honored that quietness before continuing.

  “If I know this completely, if I have brought my mind and body into the harmony and perfection of this moment, everything conforms to its original state of grace. When I understand that creation is one, one substance, one cause, one life, and I experience that oneness completely, I am there in that consciousness. I am one, and I feel the presence, the consciousness, that is both the Creator and the Creation. I am the perfect manifestation of life in a particular form. I would like all of you to experience that with me.” He paused for a moment to let that idea sink in.

  “All of you have concepts of me, but I am just a man. And as much as I try to see through them, I have concepts of those around me. Concepts lead to judgment, and judgment leads to conflict. This past week I have been in the center of a conflict. People have said that I can take my body and transport it instantly from one place to another. Is that possible? Perhaps. Someday when we learn more about the nature of matter, and we are able to bring matter under the dominion of the mind, we might experience a greater freedom. To do that, though, the mind has to be free of concept so that through it, we, the incorporeal beings that we are, can see how one we are. There is not me onstage and you out there. That is only the appearance of this moment. In reality, there is the infinite nature of life experiencing its essential self as individual expressions of life and realizing that its purpose is in its expression.

  “Quantum physics shows us that matter is based on observation. Without an observer, and remember we are one in this endeavor, matter does not appear. When the observer is conditioned, the matter he or she experiences carries that same conditioning. If we all join together to disregard the appearances in front of us, me up here and you out there, the belief that I am different from you, that I have some special abilities or that I have been given a divine gift, all that will be revealed as false. You are as spiritually endowed as I am; just realize it. If you do that, and contemplate our essential unity, then you will be helping me dissolve this conflict.”

  “Heresy!” someone yelled from the audience.

  “We are not a religion. We are talking about the nonphysical reality of life.”

  Jason began to walk around the stage. He took in all fifty-two hundred people. “Healings,” he continued, “are not miracles. They are bringing into harmony that which is out of balance because of human belief.”

  “Only Jesus can do miracles,” another voice shouted.

  David scanned the audience to see if he could spot the hecklers, but the Hall was full. The people standing in the prompit were spellbound. Most of the people in the stalls were still. The boxes were full, and he scanned the tiers encircling the hall. Even the Royal Box was occupied. But next to it, that box was empty, and the curtains behind the chairs were drawn.

  “Where’s Gary?” David leaned forward, speaking over Lillian’s shoulder.

  “He’s around. He’s always moving around the edges. If the hecklers get too intrusive, he’ll find them and escort them out.” Lillian was distracted, watching Jason, and trying to get a sense of his state of mind. He didn’t seem thrown by the hecklers.

  Jason continued, “Every culture, and every era has made magicians or gods out of their great sages. Most were like us here in this hall. They were seekers of truth, and, for one reason or another, they discovered the grand secret—that creation is spiritual, or to put it simply, nonphysical. When the secret is known, and the physical sense of a person changes because of that truth, that person is separated from the crowd. If an individual frightens authority, he or she is either co-opted by the powers that be, or they are eliminated. Saint Teresa of Avila was said to levitate. The church locked her in a cell. After Moses learned the name of God, he came down from Mount Sinai and found his people had made a golden idol to worship. An incorporeal God was beyond their comprehension. Jesus said that ‘I am the Christ’ and became the Son of God to the exclusion of the rest of mankind. All of us are the only begotten sons and daughters of God.”

  A roa
r of protest came from the evangelicals around the hall.

  “What’s he doing?” Lillian cried, turning around to the board sitting behind her. “He never talks like this in public.” She took hold of Alex’s hand.

  David stood up and searched the audience again. Most of the people were on their feet. Some were booing and shouting epitaphs, others were trying to quiet things down. The noise grew deafening.

  Jason raised his hand for quiet. “I am not the messiah nor the Antichrist. The St. John Ministries is no more a religious organization than the Ministry of Justice. Those who want to create a religion around what I do are misguided and wrong. Be skeptical of those who tell you they can heal you, or make you happy, or take away your suffering. I have never said that. If you have the impression that I have, coming from those around me, they don’t know what they’re talking about. From this moment on I renounce the St. John Ministries and all who work there. They no longer represent the truth of my work. My work is, and always has been, to teach humanity how to be absolutely and unconditionally free.

  “Look at our literature. It’s all about teaching you, you, how to achieve an understanding of your spiritual identity. That is your ultimate freedom. That is healing…”

  At that moment Jason jerked and collapsed on to the stage floor. The Hall instantly became hushed. Lillian and Alex jumped up. David bounded over the railing and ran onto the stage. Lillian and Alex immediately followed and all three surrounded Jason. David cradled his friend and then Lillian screamed! She saw blood and tried to keep Alex back. Melanie vaulted over the first row of seats and ran to her friends. The audience began to murmur, especially those in the front, and then the entire hall erupted in chaos. The rest of the board members rushed on stage and encircled Jason.