The Day My Ego Got Electrocuted

	View from the main entrance to Hidden Valley Ashram — a yoga hermitage where I lived from 1996 to 2000 with 20 monks and about 30 residents.

After two years of serving in the kitchen of a yoga ashram I was “promoted” to the computer lab. After successfully installing a simple graphic card I was given the task of replacing a high-voltage power supply.

I confessed to having no experience in this area (I was a programmer not a technician). So my supervisor assigned Roger, another resident who used to build robots, to look over my shoulder.

Roger was quite busy, however, and didn’t appreciate being asked to split his attention. So when I asked him to confirm I put the blue wire where the blue wire should go he just said: “Yeah, that looks right.”

Assured of my technical prowess, I turned on the power supply. A shock immediately leapt up my arm. Sparks flew. There was a loud bang and the circuit breaker cut.

It looked like the thousand dollar motherboard and harddrive had been fried.

In the gym, I explained the situation to the senior monastic.

“Should I take all the blame or explain how it’s really Roger’s fault?”

“Well, it is ALL your fault,” he said. “After all… who are you?”

Silence.

In other words, did I want to identify my consciousness with my fleeting incarnation as John Manley or with the omnipresence of God Consciousness — one with everything and everybody?

In the end, I took full blame. My punishment was never being allowed to do any hardware upgrades again.

P.S. My first metaphysical novelette, EsuM, is almost ready for release.  Subscribe below to be notified when it’s out.

About the Author: John C. A. Manley writes meaningful science fiction and fantasy novels with a spiritual backbone. You can get a free subscription to his MetaphysicalSF email newsletter and free sample chapters from his novels. Click here to find out more....