whichever hue I imagined. Nonetheless, I had not detected The
Change. I wanted to maintain complete trust in my mentor, housemate,
and friend. I told myself that my seeing abilities must not be too
advanced.

Atmananda then changed the subject. "The Golden Gwid Card," he said
with a grin, "gives The Gwid and Roshi Megabucks unlimited access to
multi-dimensional, trans-reality banking networks."

Perhaps it was with The Golden Gwid Card in mind that Atmananda asked
me to perform a "task of power." He instructed me to inspire each of
the several dozen disciples in the Centre to donate money. "Tell them
that the money will be used to buy me a surprise gift, and tell them
the gift will be a new car." He suggested that I remind them that he
worked night and day for the good of others, that he was broke because
he gave all his money to the Centre, and that if he concentrated on
making money rather than on helping Guru's mission, he could easily
afford to buy his own car.

"Got it," I said.

"Don't pressure anyone. If someone does not want to contribute, that's
fine."

"Of course!"

"And keep a list of who gave what."

"No pro-blem-mo!" Honored that Atmananda would trust me with such
responsibility, with such a secret, and with so much money, I felt
guilty for not having thought of the idea myself. I understood that
Atmananda was being a sneak. But he did work for the good of others
night and day. And ours was the fastest growing Chinmoy Centre in the
world. And the Guru's mission would suffer if Atmananda worked a
traditional job. Besides, I was drawn to the idea of sneaking for a
noble cause.

The disciples gave generously, and Atmananda soon shifted the garage
door opener from Rachel's car, which he had frequently borrowed, to the
glove compartment of his shiny, new Renault LeCar.

Rachel, who had donated generously to the "surprise" gift, felt that
they should share the garage door opener. She decided that Atmananda
was being unfair and told him so.

The next day, Atmananda instructed Dana to tell Rachel that,
spiritually speaking, she was heading for some serious hot water and
had better apologize quickly.

Unaware of the "Garage Door Opener Incident," I was feeling pretty
good. I felt even better when Atmananda, who liked the new car,
reminded the Centre of how advanced a soul I really was. When the
disciples began to treat me with a mellow kind of reverence--a
phenomenon local, perhaps, t