Jen: A
woman in her early 30s, dressed ordinarily.
Stephanie: A
woman in her early 30s, dressed ordinarily.
Joelle: A
woman in her mid-20s, dressed ordinarily.
Peter: A
man in his early 30s, dressed ordinarily.
Sam: A
man in his early 30s, dressed ordinarily.
Master: A
man in his mid-30s. He is dressed in loose-fitting, white cotton.
SCENE
A common
area in a communal home, austerely furnished. There is a couch, chairs, a
coffee table between them. Jen sits on the couch reading a book.
Act I
Stephanie
and Joelle enter the room from stage
left. Stephanie sits to Jen’s right on the couch and Joelle sits in the chair to Jen’s left.
Stephanie: We need to talk to you, Jen.
Joelle: That’s right.
Jen [apprehensively]:
About what?
Stephanie: Some of the things that have been
noticed. [Glances at Joelle; Joelle
glances back] About you. About your tendencies. Your reactions.
Joelle: Yeah!
Jen [worried]:
Who notices?
Stephanie [with
a smug laugh]: EVERYONE notices, Jen.
Joelle [eagerly]:
You can’t hide!
Stephanie: Joelle is correct. You can’t hide!
How can you hide?
Joelle: No one can hide.
Stephanie: He notices too, by the way.
Jen: He does?
Stephanie: Of course he does. He notices
everything.
Jen [annoyed]:
Notices what?
Stephanie [trying
to sound soothing]: You, Jen. You, you, you, you. You’re—
Jen: What?!
Joelle: You’re not being real.
Stephanie [after
flashing a look at Joelle]: Not being real. I was going to say.
Jen: I’m not being real.
Stephanie: You’re not being real. That’s
right, Jen.
Joelle: Just be real!
Stephanie: Just be real.
Joelle: Be real.
Jen [pleading]:
I am being real!
Stephanie: You most assuredly are not.
Joelle: You’re being unreal!
Jen: Like what? When?
Stephanie: Uh… When you enter a room. When you
interact. In relationships. With others and yourself.
Joelle: In your relationship with the
universe!
Stephanie [shaking
her head scoldingly]: You’re not being REAL.
Jen: [Slams
her hand on the couch pillow in frustration] What does that even MEAN?!
Stephanie [quietly,
resolutely]: You know full well what it means.
Joelle: Everyone knows what it means.
Jen [with
a sigh]: Yes. But tell me what it means.
Stephanie: It’s quite clear you’re
inauthentic.
Joelle: It’s like you’re acting!
Stephanie: Acting, pretending. Putting on a
little play. [In a mocking voice] This is me, I’m Jen. Hello world. I want you to love me, world. Jen is
talking. Jen does her practice. Jen reads a book. It isn’t real!
Joelle: It’s a performance!
Stephanie: It’s a performance.
[Jen
stares glumly in the middle distance for a few moments, then lowers her head. A
few more moments pass before she speaks.]
Jen: You’re right. I know. Of course I know. [She breaks into sobs.]
Stephanie: OK. OK. You know.
Joelle: At least you know!
Jen [softly]:
I’ve known it all my life.
Stephanie: Sure. OK.
Jen [through
tears]: I’ve been doing this since I was a little girl! God! I’m so sick of
myself!
Stephanie: That’s right. That’s right. [After a few moments] Now cut it out.
Jen [holding
her hands up in front of her in a pose of supplication]: I’m trying! I’m
trying! I’m trying!
Stephanie [quietly]:
You can’t try. Stop trying.
Joelle [ingenuously]:
Just do it!
Stephanie: Joelle is absolutely correct. Just be. Real. Just be real.
[Jen
explodes in an agonized scream, directed at the ceiling.]
Stephanie [closing
her eyes and waiting for the scream to stop]: OK.
[Jen
rapidly shakes her head, then looks at Stephanie with resolve.]
Jen: OK, OK, OK! Now! Now! Look at me!
[Stephanie
peers skeptically at Jen and Jen stares back.]
Stephanie: Yes?
Jen: I’m being real.
[Stephanie
scrutinizes Jen for a few moments.]
Stephanie: Sorry. No.
[Jen
closes her eyes and grimaces with frustration.]
Jen: Why?
Stephanie: Why?
Jen: Why? What am I doing? What am I doing
wrong?
Stephanie [earnestly]:
Well, you’re holding on. That’s clear. You’re not letting go. You’re...
standing in your own way. You’re—
Jen [agitated]:
But what am I supposed to do? I’ll do
whatever it takes. I’ll do it. I swear I’ll do it.
Stephanie: Stop
doing. Stop doing.
Jen [growing
more agitated and panicky]: I have to do it. I have to fix it. I have to
fix it or I’ll DIE!
Stephanie: Stop. Breathe.
Joelle: Breathe!
Jen [wailing
and crying now]: I have to fix ME!
Stephanie: I know. I know.
Jen [not
at all comforted by Stephanie; in fact more distressed now]: Aaahh!!
Stephanie: Look, listen, you’re upset. It’s
OK. Get upset. That’s when you know you’ve found the locus of the problem. This
is the obstacle. It’s right here, now. Where you are upset.
Joelle: This is good!
Stephanie: It’s an opportunity.
Jen: I need help, I need help, I need help.
Stephanie: Stop needing.
Joelle: Stop needing!
[Jen
breaks down in wailing sobs. Some time passes. Stephanie places her hand on
Jen’s shoulder in an unconvincing gesture of support. Jen flinches slightly.]
Jen [calm
now]: What did he say?
Stephanie [after
a few moments]: Oh you know, Jen. [Sighs]
It’s often not even what he says.
[Joelle
nods as Jen looks at her and back at Stephanie with alarm.]
Jen: What did he SAY about me?
Joelle: He said you’re not being real.
[Stephanie
flashes a quick look of irritation at Joelle as Jen buries her face in her
hands, sobbing.]
Joelle [to
Stephanie]: What? That’s what he said!
Stephanie: Joelle—while you are correct on the
face of it, please be sensitive to the fact that Jen is in crisis at the
moment. Furthermore, it’s not... responsible to repeat Master’s words like
that. Willy nilly.
Joelle: Why is it irresponsible? It’s what he
said. It’s what he meant. And also—
Stephanie: Shh.
Joelle: Also he told us to—
Stephanie [loudly,
alarmed]: Shhh!
[Joelle
looks down, chastened, a bit ashamed. Jen raises her head and stares in the
distance, at neither of the other women. She’s suppressing her sobs now,
sniffing, breathing hard. She appears to land on a realization.]
Jen [darkly]:
Joelle, were you about to say that Master instructed you to confront me?
Stephanie [quickly,
so Joelle does not reply]: Jen, that’s quite beside the point, we’re here
to—
[Jen
stands up, suddenly furious, and points at Stephanie.]
Jen: YOU’RE not real! YOU’RE not real! You
goddamned bully!
Stephanie [a
bit surprised, leaning back]: OK.
Jen [righteously
angry]: It feels good, right? It feels good to be right and everybody else
is wrong. You act like you know it all.
Like you’ve got it figured out. It’s
an ACT. That’s an act! And everybody
knows it. You’re the biggest faker here!
[Stephanie
composes herself for a brief moment and forces a wide smile at Jen.]
Stephanie: Good!
Jen [pointing
at Stephanie]: FAKE! Not good!
What you’re doing now! Look at that fake fucking smile! Trying so hard to be in
control, to look like you predicted I’d be saying this, to look like you don’t
mind. That it doesn’t hurt to hear.
It should hurt. I’m hurting you!
Stephanie: Jen, you’re being REAL! You’re
being REAL!
Jen: I’m not playing this fucking game. I’m
fucking serious now. You’re a goddamn faker, and everyone knows it, and
everyone has had it up to here with your judging and policing!
Stephanie: Jen, you’re having a breakthrough!
Jen: Maybe you’re right. And you’re having a breakdown. I’m taking you down. I’m
calling you out.
Stephanie: Brilliant, Jen! Brilliant!
Jen: Maybe you’re not listening to a word I’m
saying. Maybe you’ve never listened. Maybe you’ve never listened to anything
anyone says.
Stephanie: Jen, this is wonderful. I’m proud
of you!
Jen: You’re full of shit!
Stephanie: Jen, I’m seeing you! I’m hearing
you! You are being heard!
Jen [pointing
her finger]: And I’m telling you
that you are FAKE, FAKE, FAKE. Not REAL.
[Stephanie
turns to Joelle and smiles. Joelle smiles back. They touch hands briefly.]
Joelle: This is real, Jen! This is you being
real!
Jen: You too, Joelle. Who the fuck are you? You’re a cypher. You’re a nobody. And I don’t mean that in a good
way.
[Joelle
tries to appear strong and endorse Jen’s transformation but her body language
shows that she is shaken.]
Jen: You ran away and came here because you
had nowhere else to go. No job. No boyfriend. Flunked out of school.
Parents rolling their eyes. You came here to hide. Admit it! You came here to hide.
[She
lets her words sink in, then turns back to Stephanie.]
Jen: Stephanie, you let Joelle follow you
around like a fucking puppy because it gratifies
your ego.
[At
this, Stephanie stiffens—she now can’t help but show her defensiveness.]
Stephanie [with
a forced little laugh]: OK, Jen. Listen—
Jen: Ha! You listen to me! Aren’t I being real? Aren’t you listening to me being real?
Stephanie [after
a moment, sullenly]: Yes.
Jen: You think you impressed him and now you’re the little one-woman
ego police. His right-hand woman, doing his dirty work. Pathetic. It feels good to put other people down, doesn’t it
Stephanie?
[Stephanie
visibly flinches.]
Jen [darkly
sarcastically]: Oooh I touched a nerve! I
touched a nerve! I found you
Stephanie! I found you under there! You are a woman who enjoys making other people feel bad. Or maybe even enjoys making other women feel bad.
That’s who you are. That’s the person you are. I’m right, aren’t I? Am
I on to something?
[Stephanie
is mute for a few moments. She’s clearly trying to suppress an emotion.]
Jen [suddenly]:
BE REAL!
[At once
Stephanie closes her eyes and bursts into tears. This goes on for a while, Jen
looming over her. Jen crosses her arms. Uncrosses them, waiting.]
Joelle [earnestly]:
That was beautiful, Jen.
Jen [slightly
taken aback, almost offended]: Beautiful?
Joelle [enthusiastically]:
You just did so much work! I’m just…
moved. I’m impressed. Stephanie was
there for you in such a real way. And
look how you responded! And now you’re there for her! Look at her!
[Jen
turns to Stephanie, who is still convulsing with sobs, now with her face in her
hands.]
Jen [skeptically]:
I’m looking at her right now, Jo.
Joelle: She’s having such a real moment! Thanks to you!
[A few
moments pass as Joelle watches Stephanie happily and Jen watches her with some
concern.]
Joelle [cheerily]:
It’s like Stephanie was your teacher and now you are her tea—
Stephanie [lifting
up her head and stopping herself from crying]: Shut UP Joelle!
Joelle [calmly]:
I know! It’s har—
Stephanie: SHUT UP! SHUT UP! Shut the FUCK up!
Joelle [still
calm, but tentative]: OK. Sure.
Stephanie: Why is this so hard? Why is this so
goddamned hard?
Jen [shaking
her head]: Yeah, I don’t know.
Stephanie: This doesn’t feel right. It can’t be right.
Jen: You’re right. You’re fucking right.
Stephanie [looking
up sadly at Jen, who is still standing]: Jen, you and I were so close!
Jen: I know.
Stephanie: We were friends! We used to talk. And look at us now!
Jen [again
shaking her head]: You’re right. It’s making me sick.
Stephanie: Jen, do you ever feel like there’s
something wrong with this?
[Both
Jen and Joelle tense up, shocked at what Stephanie is suggesting.]
Jen: Well, I—
Stephanie [tearfully]:
I think about it all the time!
Joelle: Stephanie!
Jen [with
some difficulty]: I know. I think about it too.
Joelle: Jen!
Stephanie: This can’t be right! Feeling like
this can’t be right. This is no way to live!
Jen: Oh my God. Oh my God.
Stephanie: I feel completely terrible and
scared and nauseous and guilty and ashamed every single day, every minute of
every day.
Jen: So do I. Jesus Christ, so do I.
Joelle [imploringly]:
Jen, Stephanie, hold on, hold on, hold on. Stop. This is a test. You’re being
tested. Stay strong! Stay with the teaching. You know what’s happening right
now. This is the Devil testing you. Master said it would happen! He said it
would happen just like this. You have to stay strong! This is the moment! This
is the moment right now!
[Jen and
Stephanie look at Joelle with skepticism but some deference, too. CURTAIN.]
ACT II
The
curtain rises on Jen, Joelle, Peter, Sam,
and Stephanie gathered in a
dorm-style bedroom, some on the bed, others standing or seated at desk chairs.
They are engaged in an animated discussion.
Peter: But you’re so close, Stephanie! You’re
so close to… holding the universe in the palm of your hand!
Stephanie: So close, so close! But never there. Being told that is a kind of… mind control.
Sam: Careful what you say.
Stephanie: I can say what I want!
Sam: Careful what you say.
Stephanie: This is my genuine experience.
Peter: Oh listen to yourself. “My, my, my.”
Jen [adamantly]:
We’re doing it, guys. We are just letting you know that we are doing it.
Peter [aghast]:
Oh God, oh God, oh God!
Sam: I’m shaking right now. I’m visibly
shaking.
Jen: The reason you’re shaking is you know
we’re right. You just can’t bring yourself to admit it. Yet.
Stephanie: The time is now, guys. We’re
talking about real liberation right? Real.
Jen: All those doubts in the back of your
mind. In the front of your mind.
They’re not distractions. They’re not delusions.
Stephanie: They’re real!
Jen: They’re real.
Sam: I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud
but…
Peter: What are you saying, Sam?
Joelle: Sam! Careful what you say!
Sam: There’s something inside me that…
Joelle [imploringly]:
Sam!
Sam [blankly,
staring off]: That believes that Stephanie and Jen are right.
Peter: Oh God.
Joelle [sternly]:
Sam, that thing inside you. You know what it is.
Peter: You know what he would tell you it is!
Joelle: That’s right. He would tell you it’s
the Devil and you know he’s right.
Jen [disgusted]:
And he should know! He’s got a Devil inside bigger than any one of us!
[There
are gasps around the room, even from Stephanie.]
Jen: Come on! Come on!
Sam [in
a whimper]: Careful what you say!
Jen: I am not
going to be careful with the truth! He’s the biggest monster of us all!
Stephanie [fearful
but admiring]: Jesus, Jen. Wow!
Jen: Remember the cake we made? That I made
with Joelle?
[Various
people nod.]
Jen: That motherfucker sent it back six times!
We made him seven cakes!
[Some
shake their heads in disbelief.]
Jen: Joelle, I’m not lying. Tell them it’s
true. That we baked seven birthday cakes for him.
Joelle [sadly]:
It’s true.
Jen: He didn’t like his fucking birthday cake six times and wouldn’t
even tell us why. Peter, you were the one he told to tell us. He told you to tell us that he was unhappy with his cake. Six times! Am I lying?
Peter: No Jen, you’re not lying, but—
Jen: He’s not God, he’s just a little kid! He’s a little kid who
figured out how to push everyone’s buttons so he gets SEVEN CAKES!
Peter [aghast]:
No, no, no, no, no. Come on, Jen. You know that’s not what’s going on.
Jen: I’m saying the TRUTH!
Peter: He’s not, he’s not, he’s not—he’s not
asking you to make him cakes because he
likes cake!
Jen [a
bit sarcastically]: Aw, Peter. Everybody likes cake.
Peter [his
voice gradually rising]: He’s not some, some, some… some little KID who
wants another cake and then another CAKE!
Jen [sincerely]:
Then what the fuck does he want Peter? What does he want from us?
Peter: He doesn’t want anything from you Jen! Do you pay any goddamned
attention to the teaching?
Jen: He rejected cake one, cake two. Cake
three, four, five, and six. How is that part of the teach—
Peter: Jen, Jen, Jen, look. You know the
answer to that. You know why he did that. Come on. Come on!
Jen: Peter, you better not be about to tell me
he was teaching me a lesson.
Peter [adamantly]:
He was teaching you a lesson!
Jen: That’s a load of SHIT.
Joelle [abruptly,
almost involuntarily, to Jen]: That’s the Devil talking!
Peter: You KNOW it’s hard, Jen! You know these
are hard lessons! The teaching is a challenge!
It’s supposed to make you doubt! It’s supposed to awaken all of your suspicions,
all of your skepticism, all of your cynicism! And when everything is out there
it’s supposed to awaken you! It’s not
easy! But this is the teaching! It’s a very powerful teaching and it works!
Jen [after
a few moments]: I doubt.
Peter: Oh God.
Jen: I doubt.
Stephanie: I doubt too. Oh my God, I doubt
too.
Sam [meekly]:
I doubt too.
Peter: Sam!
Joelle: Sam!
Sam: I’m sorry! I doubt!
Stephanie: It’s not just the cake. It’s
everything. We’ve all been on our hands and knees to scrub his floor. Arranged
and re-arranged and re-arranged the flowers that greet him everywhere he goes.
Searched strange cities for his tea.
Jen: His fucking tea.
Stephanie: What is it about? What is it
actually about? You know, a dispassionate outside observer would say we’re in a
cu—
Peter: No!
Stephanie [shaking
her head]: Peter!
Peter: Don’t say it! Don’t say that!
Jen: Stephanie, you can say it with a capital
C. It’s true and we’re leaving.
Stephanie: We’re leaving. And you can too.
Joelle [in
a frenzy]: But when Master demands something he’s demanding you to be free. That’s all he wants! Peter’s right. He
doesn’t want cake! He doesn't want something for him, he wants something for you. He has nothing but love inside him! He wants you to make
it! If you resist, it’s the Devil that’s resisting! The Devil wants you in chains. What’s happening now is a test. It’s so obvious! Master taught us this! Master warned us this would happen!
Jen: Jo, Jo, Jo. For Christ’s sake Jo. You do
know a little about Master’s demands, don’t you?
Joelle [taken
aback, shaken]: What are you talking about?
Stephanie: Everybody knows, Jo. Everybody
knows, everybody knows.
Joelle [tremblingly,
defensively]: Listen to you! Listen to you ALL! Sneaking around and
gossiping! Pointing fingers. Judging! And all the while pretending. Pretending you made
it. What a… what a… DISGRACE!
Jen: That’s my point exactly.
Joelle [heatedly]:
You know nothing! Remember! You know nothing!
[A few
moments pass. Joelle is red-faced, breathing hard. The others wear sad,
introspective looks.]
Stephanie: That’s not true. I know one thing.
[The
others look at Stephanie expectantly.]
Stephanie: Tomorrow before the meditation I am
going to defy him.
[Joelle
and Peter gasp.]
Stephanie: I’m going to stand up on my own two
feet and denounce him.
Joelle: Stephanie!
Stephanie: SHUT UP! [A few moments pass. Then calmly.] I’m going to stand up and tell
him he’s a FRAUD.
Jen: I’m standing up too!
Stephanie: I’m going to tell him he’s a
HYPOCRITE.
Jen: Yes.
Stephanie: I’m going to tell him he’s a
SADISTIC CHILD.
[Joelle
and Peter shake their heads.]
Sam [unsteadily,
with emotion]: I’m going to stand up too!
Stephanie: I’m going to tell him if he has any
idea what freedom means he’d cease his teaching right away. But he doesn’t. So
he won’t. But the one thing I can do—we can do [looking at Jen and Sam]—is stand up and WALK AWAY.
Joelle: Stephanie.
Stephanie: What, Joelle.
Joelle: Stephanie, what about the events of—
Stephanie [rolling
her eyes]: Don’t tell me about the events of—
Joelle [firmly]:
Yes! The events of April 17th, 2015!
Stephanie [ruefully]:
The events of April 17th, 2015.
Peter [standing
up]: The events of April 17th! Thank you Joelle. We can’t sit and listen to
this… this cowardice when every one
of us is well aware of the events of
April 17th!
Stephanie: To be perfectly honest with you,
Peter, I’ve had it up to here with talk of the events of April 17th. It’s
turned into such… code. A means of
drawing lines between us.
Jen: Yes, dividing us. Testing us.
Stephanie: Testing, judging. Pushing. Making us feel worthless for
not doing the goddamned [sarcastically]
work required to live up to the
fucking haloed events of April 17th.
Jen: I’m tired of the oppressive mythology of
that date!
Peter: Oppressive mythology?
Jen [righteously]:
That’s right. We’re never good
enough, are we? Somehow we’re never worthy of living in the same universe as
the one in which April 17th, 2015 took
place.
Peter [imploring]:
Sam, you were there! Weren’t you actually there on April 17th?
Sam [hanging
his head, quietly]: I was.
Peter: I think you should tell the story. I
think we need to hear the story.
Sam [slowly]:
It was… it was… [beginning to sob softly,
then stoically raising his head] Beautiful!
It was beautiful.
Peter: Go on.
Sam: It was Master and a few of us. Eight or nine
of us. A day like any other, really. We’d done a meditation and decided to take
a walk out by the lake. I don’t know who decided. Maybe it wasn’t even Master.
But it was a warm spring day. Everyone was so… relaxed for some reason. We sat in a circle on the grass. No one
said much. Just a few words here and there. Small talk, I guess. About the
weather. About the birds. The lake. And then [trying to contain his emotions]... it happened.
Peter: Tell us.
Sam: I felt a radiant light inside me. Like
every atom in my body was shining, projecting light. Something inside of me… dissolved. I looked around and I, I [breaking down]... I realized it was
happening to everyone else too! And they realized it was happening to me! We
looked at each other like we’d never looked before. We spoke easily, freely.
I’m not even sure what about. We spoke about what was happening but not like we
were surprised. Because we weren’t surprised! It was all happening, it was
happening to all of us, and it was meant to happen. There were no boundaries.
Anyone could say anything. And everything was understood. I felt nothing but
pure love for everyone and everything around me. Around me and beyond. We were
by the lake but we were really floating in space. All my petty worries, my preoccupations,
my doubts—they all were gone, annihilated. No more envy. No self-loathing. And
I knew in my heart that death was an illusion. It was… it was... [through sobs] the most beautiful
experience of my entire life!
[Various
people approach Sam and touch him comfortingly, understandingly.]
Jen: Sam, that’s powerful.
Peter: It is. It really is. [Appealing to the group] Isn’t it?
[All
solemnly offer nods and words of assent. A few moments pass.]
Stephanie: Sam, what happened on April 18th?
Sam: What?
Stephanie: That was April 17th. Tell us what
happened on April 18th.
Sam [reluctantly]:
Nothing.
Stephanie: What do you mean, nothing?
Sam [sighs]:
Nothing happened.
Stephanie: Did your experience of April 17th
persist?
Sam [quietly]:
No.
Stephanie: Did you return to your, what did
you call them, doubts and fears? Petty preoccupations? Tell the truth.
Sam [quietly]:
Yes.
Peter: Stephanie, that’s cruel.
Stephanie: That’s cruel?
Peter: I think you’re being cruel. Yes.
Stephanie [livid]:
You want to know what cruelty is, Sam? It’s having the ultimate power over
someone and telling them they’ll never make
it! Looking them in the eye and saying the chances they’ll make it are so
infinitesimally small, they should go home right now. Go home and marry their
girlfriend, finish school. Get a job and live out the rest of their days in the
dark. Eating, fucking, watching TV.
No chance of making it so might as well GIVE UP. You know what I’m talking
about, don’t you?
[Peter
solemnly nods his head.]
Stephanie [growing
emotional]: Henry was a good person!
He didn’t fucking deserve that! And
you know it!
Peter [saddened]:
You’re right, Stephanie.
Stephanie [gritting
her teeth as she tears up]: I wish he had
gone home! [After a few moments] I
wish he’d gone back to school and got married! And had kids! Lived a goddamned life!
Peter: We all do, Stephanie. We all do.
Stephanie [trembling
with anger]: And you know what Master did after, don’t you? Don’t you?
Peter [hanging
his head]: I do.
Stephanie [darkly
angry]: He LAUGHED. He laughed about Henry. He laughed in front of me, and
he laughed in front of you, and because he is what he is, and we are what we
are, [bitterly] we laughed too. God I’m so ashamed! We were so WEAK, Peter. What
kind of, never mind teacher, never mind master, what kind of… human being!... [She grows incoherent and finally breaks down. Jen stands up and puts
her arms around her.]
Peter: Oh my God, Stephanie. You’re right. I
know, I know. I’m sorry. You’re right.
Joelle: He was weak.
Stephanie [aghast]:
What?!
Joelle: Henry was weak.
Stephanie: Joelle, I know you’re trying hard
to be the good disciple here. But spare us for a second.
Joelle: He was weak!
Sam: Jesus, Jo. This can’t all just be some
competition about who can survive and endure and put up with this goddamned
shit day after day after day. That can’t be the—
Joelle: Stop looking for a way out! You’re all
just looking for a way out!
Jen: Oh because the only way out is up, right
Jo? Isn’t that how it works? And name one person who’s ever made it!
Sam: No one ever makes it.
Joelle [tentatively]:
Robert made it.
Jen: Robert lost his mind, Jo. He thought he
made it and then he had a fucking mental breakdown. He’s back living with his
parents right now for Christ’s sake.
[Joelle
doesn’t respond. After a moment she drops her head and closes her eyes.]
Jen: Tomorrow we’re walking out. We’re
standing up after the teaching.
Stephanie: I’m going to denounce him. And then
we’re all walking out. Are we all walking out? Peter?
[Peter
stares in the distance a few moments.]
Peter [anxiously]:
Oh my God. I am. I’m walking out.
Stephanie: Joelle?
Joelle: I can’t.
Stephanie: You can’t.
Joelle [resolutely]:
I can’t and I won’t. I have integrity.
I am committed.
Stephanie: Joelle, that’s Master’s
mumbo-jumbo.
Joelle [defensively]:
It is NOT mumbo-jumbo! How can you all sit here and throw away years of
practice? Because you can’t make it?
Because it feels good to quit? It feels good to see others quit? That’s the
easy way out! You know it!
Jen: Joelle, it’s taking all the strength and
resolve I have in my being to quit. Don’t accuse me of weakness.
Joelle: Listen to your pride! Listen to your ego! [Mockingly] Don’t accuse me.
Master said this would happen! The Devil would test us, and test us, and test
us again, and finally he’d test us so hard that we would desperately want to
break, and that’s the moment not to
break! I’m not going to break. I’m going to MAKE IT!
Sam: There’s no such thing as making it.
Joelle: Sam!
Sam: It’s an illusion. It’s a sick game
designed to get us to make a lot of cakes. I’ve made enough cakes. I’ve done
enough prostrations. In the morning. In the evening. Waist-deep in the
freezing-cold lake.
Joelle: You’re weak and you just want to quit!
Jen: Joelle, fine. You’re free to do what you
want to do. You can join us or you can stay. You’re an adult wom—
Joelle [suddenly
emotional]: I don’t have anywhere to go!
Jen [compassionately]:
Joelle, there’s always somewhere to go. We can go places together. We can—
Joelle: I don’t have anywhere to go inside! [She points her finger at her brain] I don’t have anywhere to go in here. I have to make it! Don’t you understand?
[No one
responds. A few moments pass.]
Joelle [desperately]:
If I don’t make it I’m gonna DIE!
Curtain.
Act III
A large
gathering room. Two dozen men and women sit on the floor, perpendicular to the
audience, facing a small platform at stage right that’s festooned with flower
petals, with a white pillow on it. Jen, Stephanie,
Peter, Sam, and Joelle occupy one row in the middle of the crowd.
The people are murmuring among themselves but grow quieter in anticipation of
the arrival of Master. Finally a
reverential hush descends as Master
enters slowly from stage right. His posture and gait are normal, not regal, but
there is an air of supreme authority about him, and a subservient awe on the
part of his followers. In fact, it’s hard to know how much of his charisma
comes from him and how much from the crowd’s reaction to him. He sits in a
cross-legged lotus position on the pillow and beholds his audience serenely. A
few moments pass as the anticipation of his speaking builds.
Master [surveying
the crowd]: How do we feel?
[Murmurs
of positive words are heard.]
Master [teasingly]:
Really? Come on. Someone feels bad
out there. I don’t feel good all the time. Sometimes I feel bad. Sometimes I
didn’t sleep right. Sometimes I have a headache. [After a beat] Sometimes I have a hangover.
[Chuckles
are heard.]
Master: Someone feels bad. I just know it. [He scans his audience with an air of mild
suspicion, as though he’s about to accuse someone.] Someone feels good. I just know it. [He furrows his brow and makes a little
comical grimace. More chuckles are heard.]
Master: We feel good, we feel bad. Why do we
feel bad? Because we want something we don’t have. Want, want, want. We lost
something and we want it back. Someone else has something and we want it from
them. Want. Why do we feel good?
Because we got it! [He makes a curious
guffaw, like an engine turning. The crowd laughs in response.] We got our
hands on that thing. But the more we
want, the more we get, nothing really happens, right? We’re not happy. We’re
not satisfied. In fact we’re miserable. So now we want to break the chain. We
want what? What do we truly, deeply
want?
[He
gazes about, indicating that this is not a rhetorical question. “Freedom”
someone says. “To be free,” someone else says.]
Master: That’s right. Freedom. We want freedom. But the more we want it, the farther out
of reach it seems. Right?
[Murmurs
of assent.]
Master: That’s because we’re trapping
ourselves. It’s the want trap! [Another
guffaw. Then, somberly] That’s not your true self that wants to make it.
That’s your ego. It wants a trophy. It wants a little gold star. It wants some
kind of payoff for all the years of devotion, right? All the years of practice?
The prostrations?
[He
smiles knowingly at the audience and they do the same. They nod sheepishly.]
The ego is a businessman. It specializes in
transactions. Deals! [In a salesman-y
voice] Boy, do I got a deal for you.
I give you A and you give me B. Let’s see what I can do to get what I want.
No—let’s see how little I can do and
still get what I want! [Guffaws] And
what happens when the deal falls apart? When we pay, we pay, we pay and we get
nothing in return? [Pauses, scanning the
room.] We get mad. Don’t we get
mad? We say, To hell with this. [Pantomimes a petulant child stomping away by
swinging his arms by his sides] I’m leaving! [A longer guffaw] I’m leaving because I’m not getting what I want.
I’m running away. Starting over. I’ll get a new job. I’ll make new friends. And
maybe I’ll make it this time. Maybe I’ll make it like this. [Pantomimes a proud face] I’ll make it my way. [Long pause] Let me promise you something: You will never, ever,
ever make it. As long as you’re in the cycle. As long as you’re in the trap.
You will never, ever make it. [Somberly]
You’ll be digging your grave deeper every day. That’s what your life will be.
How deep can I make my grave? One shovel of dirt at a time. Deeper, deeper,
deeper. I want food! Deeper. I want sleep! Deeper. I want sex! Deeper. I wonder
what’s on TV! [Guffaws] Deeper. [Pause] I want to make it! Deeper still. So deep now. So deep.
[A long
pause as Master beholds his disciples gravely.]
Master: The want trap. [Master recites the following quotes with a trace of mockery, looking
around the room. Audience members cast their heads down in shame, in turn, as
in each instance they realize he’s talking about them.] “I want to write a
screenplay.” “I want to be a sculptor.” “I want to sing.” “I want to be a
chef.” “I want to ride across the country on a motorcycle.” [Pause] “I want to be free.” [Pause] Want, want, want, want, want. Guess what? You don’t know
what you want! You know nothing. Want nothing. Know nothing. [Pause] Know nothing.
[Another
long pause. Then Master lifts up his arm and snaps his fingers.]
Master: Wake up! [He surveys the audience, who strive to appear as alert as possible in
reaction to his command. He snaps his fingers again.] You know what that
means: That means wake up. [Pause] Wake up! [Snap!] Wake up. When you’re drifting, when you’re falling. When
you’re digging your own grave. [Snap!]
Wake up. When you think you’re awake but you’re not. [Smiles broadly] Oh yes, that one. [Nervous chuckles around the room] You know what I’m talking about.
[Mimics a plaintive, defensive student]
“But I am awake!” [Shakes his head, smiling] You’re not
awake! [More nervous chuckles from the
crowd. Then another fingersnap.] Wake up! Whenever we feel bored, lonely.
Tired. [Snap!] Wake up. [He surveys the room for a long moment, then
softly] Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up. [After another pause] There’s no way out but up. [Pause] There’s no way out but up.
There’s nowhere to hide. You can run away. You can go back home. You can run
away to a physical place. Your parents’ house. Maybe an ex-boyfriend. An
ex-girlfriend. You can run away in your mind. You can physically be here—stay
here—but run away in your mind. [Guffaws]
I’ve seen it happen! You can hide in your mind. Run away in your heart. In your
soul. [Suddenly very serious] If you
do that I will know. And if you do that you
will know. We both will know! And I promise you that you will regret it deeply
every moment of every day. [Snap!]
You will hear that whether you respond or not. [Snap! Snap! Snap!] You will forever hear the snapping of my
fingers. Telling you: Wake up. [Pause]
Calling you to the truth. Wake up! I
have nothing but complete love for you and that’s why I’m telling you: wake up.
[The
audience is silent, reverent. Master exhales, feeling as though all that had to
be said was said.]
Does anyone have anything to say?
[He
scans the room, taking his time, perhaps expecting someone to reply. No one
does.]
No one? [Smiling]
OK. Now we meditate.
[There
is a sense of a terrible, heavy pall falling upon the assembly. This is
represented by an ominous, droning hum that had been playing in the past minute
or so but is now just loud enough to be audible. Everyone who isn’t in one
already slowly gets into a lotus position, drops down their head and closes
their eyes. The stage light dims. The hum continues as all are now deep in
meditation. Then the hum quiets as a solitary spotlight shines on Joelle. Her eyes open. She seems confused, scared,
bewildered. She looks disbelievingly at Jen, Stephanie, Peter and Sam, all of whom are deep in their trance. She looks all around her, at
the prone, quiet bodies. Hesitantly, unsteadily, she stands up, her eyes wide
open. She furtively exits her row toward the front of the stage, careful not to
draw any attention. Then she runs away, as if for her life, exiting stage right.]
CURTAIN.