At that moment, Rama raised his arms again. "Do you *see* it?" he quavered.

"I *see* it, Rama. Golden light is filling the room." ("Yeah! Yeah! Right! Right! Right!" I thought.)

Rama waited for me to continue describing the Light which I did, and though I was lying and probably fanning the flame, I supposed this would beat an ongoing dark night of the soul.

Rama now looked directly into my eyes. I could not recall him doing so, except during lectures and meditations, since 1981. "We used to be friends," he murmured. "What happened?"

"Rama, I don't know."

"Should there be any problems between us?" he asked.

I felt that this was Fred trying to break through, and I struggled to hold back the tears.

"You and I used to be friends," he continued. "But then something happened. We should be friends. Would you like that?"

"Yes, Rama."

He smiled at me with big, puppy eyes.