#stevejenkins

Send me ☁ for a clouded day.

It was a very grey day and Oliver felt grey. The summer holidays had come and Oliver officially had no idea what he was going to do with his life. He had no homework or school to make those thoughts be pushed away. He told himself to enjoy these three months of holiday until he’d either get himself a job or go and get a degree somewhere, but he truly didn’t have a clue and not for a million quid would he get rid of his blue hair, just to be able to get a fucking job he didn’t want anyway.

They were going to hang out at the garage, as Darko had just finished his year of college and they were going to get together to have a drink and plan a party slightly bigger, now everyone was available to celebrate their freedom, although Johnny was stuck revising for the test he’d failed. At least he had Stacy to help him with that.

He was at home, actually tidying up his room as he was now able to throw out his school stuff and in the process, he ended up just tidying everything up. It was cloudy for a summer’s day and annoyingly cold too, but he didn’t let that get him down… or should he say, even more down.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and once he pulled it out of his pocket, seeing Steve’s message pop up on his screen saying ‘I’m outside.’ he switched off his music and headed downstairs, grabbing his jacket and keys and going outside, where Steve was indeed waiting for him, the second helmet hanging on the handle bars, which he got handed.

He saw Steve’s green eyes look him over and a slight frown play on his face, but he didn’t say anything as Oliver got on the back of the motorbike, putting the helmet on and clutching Steve’s waist. They set off without a second thought and soon Oliver found them passing the street they should have turned into to get to Johnny’s. He wanted to say something, but knew Steve wouldn’t be able to hear it, but when they finally stopped, Oliver got off and pulled the helmet off his head.

“What… are we doing here?” he asked as Steve got off too, pulling the helmet off and instantly moving his hands over his Mohawk to straighten it once more. Steve just motioned to follow him, which he did after Steve had locked his motorbike and soon they left the road and walked into the park. Very unlike Steve, all of this was. “Seriously, dude, what is this?” Oliver asked, before Steve moved to one of the benches and sat down.

“Smoke,” Steve then stated, turning his green orbs to Oliver, who listened to the order and turned to Steve once more. No matter how terrifying Steve was, Oliver always looked at him with admiration, with respect. He loved Steve, no matter what he did and that frightened him, but reassured him at the same time.

“Are you now going to tell me what we’re doing here?” Oliver asked, turning towards Steve as he pulled his feet onto the bench.

“You’re troubled with something and before you go to the garage you should talk about it,” Steve spoke, his voice monotonous, but seemingly less deep. Oliver took that as a sign that Steve might actually be doing alright.

“Apart from the obvious problem of not knowing what the fuck to do, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Oliver said, bringing the cigarette to his lips again.

“Yes you do,” Steve turned his gaze towards Oliver now. Those eyes were so piercing, but too familiar to Oliver to have that same effect on him. He had no idea what those eyes saw and what it all made him think, but it didn’t scare him.

“Right,” Oliver said and he fell silent shortly, looking out of the park, where a vast amount of wild shrubs and plants were growing, among which were some that had some beautiful flowers blooming. Steve cleared his throat after a few moments and spoke: “Tell me about her.”

Oliver moved a hand over his slightly less-than-normal poofy hair and sighted softly, looking at Steve. “It’s one of Tom’s friends,” he started, at which Steve’s hands tightened. Oliver had no idea that Steve had had anything to do with what had happened to Gary and thus the tension the mention of Tom’s name caused Steve went unnoticed, he wasn’t looking for it after all. “Her name’s Ohstyn… she’s beautiful,” he said, clearing his throat. “She’s not like everyone else, you know… she’s just… just Ohstyn and she’s so kind and shy and… I don’t even know her that well but I know that I’m just… I want to be with her,” he stated. “Really be with her. Not kiss her and fuck her and then it’s over,” he stated, putting the cigarette out on the bench, keeping it in his hand.

“You’re in love,” Steve stated, his eyes fixed on the small lake that lied ahead of them. “I could tell.”

“I guess I am,” he said, although Steve’s words made it obvious he didn’t have to confirm his suspicion. “I just, God… I can take it, you know, that Tom and Ohstyn sleep together, I think that’s okay because he’s a good guy and if Ohstyn and I’d get together, in some ridiculous dream, he would lay off if that’s what I wanted,” Oliver said, sighing again before laughing out. “Not that it’s ever going to happen, I mean Jesus fucking Christ man, look at me,” he said.

“You never know,” Steve said, turning to look at Oliver. “Invite her over to the garage and I’ll tell you what she thinks of you,” Steve spoke and at that, Oliver leaned his head against Steve’s shoulder suddenly. Steve smiled a little, though quickly hid it. He was used to Oliver doing things like that and, with difficulty, had come to the conclusion that Oliver actually liked him enough to lie against him like this.

“We should go to the garage,” Oliver stated, at which Steve nodded.

“Feeling better?”

“I didn’t want to say anything,” he said.

“Maybe a good thing. Darko is having trouble with his girlfriend,” Steve spoke, at which Oliver frowned and cursed softly under his lips. “You didn’t answer my question though.”

From "A Day in the Life of a Brahmin Priest" by Peggy Bendet

"If someone knocks on your door between the time that you offer this food [for puja] and you eat it, then that is God and he must be fed...it is through this offering that food gains its power to nourish....think good thoughts while you are putting food into your mouth, then the food goes to the right place in the body and does the right thing there."

"But if the father hasn't been using the mantra, how will he have the power to make that mantra alive for his son?"

From "Hinduism: Experiments In the Sacred" on The Vedas

"First, the universe is a projection of a primordially sacrificed body of a cosmic being [Purusha]. Second, it is a human responsibility to refabricate and sacrifice anew that cosmic body. Third, there are two mysterious cosmic substances- fire and plant- that must be identified and made available through ritual work."

"First, existence is understood as a process of projection and assimilation. There is unity in the macrocosm (the world of the unmanifest) and multiplicity in the microcosm (creation, the world of phenomena). Each, however, is divided in three parts, each is hierarchic (that is, the three parts are ranked one above the other in authority and power), and each is organically interdependent (that is, the parts work together as one being with three separate functions).

"A second imported concept concerns human responsibility for this continuous sacrificial process. Since the projected world is a result of a divine sacrifice (yajna), the continues existence of the world is dependent on repititions of that primordial, cosmogonic event. As the Purusha hymn declares, the original cosmic laws were laid down by sacrifice. Once created, the world is thus constantly re-created by sacrifice. But now the ritual action is accomplished by human agents, namely the godlike Brahmans who take upon themselves the work of the deities.

"The third Indo-European concept brought into India some 3,500 years ago involves an interaction of both myth and cult focused on concepts of sacred fire and sacred plant. There i a life-maintaining fire that pervades all and translates mutable existence to immutability, and there is a life-transcending plant of celestial origin that provides mortals with poetic inspiration and immortality. Like Purusha these two substances are divisible, macro-micro-cosmic, and obtainable by the ritual use of a special knowledge, that of operational correspondences between the divine/human and the unmanifest/manifest realms."

From "A Survey of Hinduism" by Klaus K. Klostermaier

"The aim of Vedantic knowledge is to reach reality, not to abstract a concept from it. This means the training not only of the mind, but the development of a lifestyle of inwardness, from within which life then develops in a new way." 

From "Religion And The Body, Ch 10: Medical and Mythical constructions of the Body in Hindu Texts" by Wendy Doniger

"We hoped to ground even religious history in the study of the body, [because] the body is always mediated by symbolic expression of the culture...The body is both given and constructed."

("mythological somatic themes")

"A basic assumption of Hindu medical texts is the doctrine of the three humours, closely related to the Hindu belief that all matter, including the human body, is composed of the three elements of lucidity (sattva), energy (rajas), and torpor (tamas). This remains the prevailing view of Ayurvedic practitioners today."

"Not until you shake off the torpor of factionalism from what you want to know will true knowledge emerge. The use of good food is one cause of the growth of a person, and the use of bad food is a cause of diseases."

"This physical model, of danger flowing in and out of the body at all times, is echoed in the social model of karmic transactions."