by Bob Frank
Her two listeners stared at her blankly for a moment, then Clay scowled. “If you and your organization have had this medical knowledge for thousands of years, why the hell haven’t you brought this to society? What’s the purpose in letting people suffer for thousands of years?”
Pema started to speak, but Clay continued in a terse, cynical tone, “And how did our mad scientists validate this truth? Float deformed babies in the air and cure them in-flight?”
Shali reached across the table and grabbed Clay’s forearm. She squeezed with a sense of comfort yet firmness, telling him to get a hold of himself. Clay looked down at the table, embarrassed by his loss of control.
He looked at Shali gratefully. He then looked at Pema. “I am so sorry for speaking to you like that. I didn’t mean — ”
“No need to apologize to me,” Pema interrupted him politely and smiled with empathy. “When I learned this, I physically came across the table, grabbed the man who told me, and shook him. But now I understand. When you understand the reality of being, the reality of life, then you too will know why we continue to keep the truth hidden in caves. It is not just prophecies that tell us what to do.”
Shali asked, “Can you at least help us understand the fundamental reasons for holding back these secrets?”
Pema leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling for a few silent moments. Finally she responded, “Through your past-life regressions, you understand the fundamental process of being. Souls reincarnate again and again to learn and grow; to mature. You even told me that if a soul does not learn its lesson in one life, then it will be challenged again by a similar challenge in a subsequent life, perhaps even more intensely.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“The physical world, the one percent, is really just a school for the soul. The soul itself is the other ninety-nine percent, is it not? If you have a school but there is no learning, then what is its value? In our real world, how do children grow and develop if their school provides no learning? If we take away all of the pain, the suffering, the sickness, and the challenges of life from the physical body, how is the soul to learn?”
Silence filled the room. Shali looked at Clay, then back to Pema. “I think we understand. But if this is so, why should we do anything with the writings at all? Why bother? Why struggle to preserve this knowledge, let alone bring it out to the world now?”
“My friends, the prophecies of the ancient Oracles say it is time for the next phase of this world. You are a part of bringing out the truth. It is time.”
Clay asked, “Besides the prophecies, why do you think it is time?”
Pema hesitated again, looked across the room, and then she squinted her eyes at Clay. “We don’t exactly know. We are hoping you can help us figure that out.”
* * * ~~~ * * *
After a light lunch where they talked about anything but their work, they convened in the workroom. Pema said, “Let’s get back to work. There are several more areas we have not talked about; the big ones.”
Clay and Shali looked at each other as if caught off guard. But with a bounce in her voice, Shali quipped, “Just how much bigger could this get than free energy, anti-gravity and perfect health?”
“Time — destiny — cycles of our human periods on earth,” Pema said.
“Whoa. Slow down. One at a time.”
There was a pause and hard stares between Shali and Clay as they sorted out what she had just said.
Pema continued before they could react. “Time is an illusion, my friends. We see time as one line, one string, continuous and unstoppable.” She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to one side. “Except, of course, on TV, where you can jump in a machine or leap through a void, stargate or time warp, then suddenly pop up in a different century. No, that is not possible. These physical bodies cannot travel though time. But as for the soul, the spirit, that’s a different story. You’ve certainly read all of those regression books about Michael Newton, Brian Weiss and the other psychologists who created a near cult following due to their past-life regressions? I’m sure you know their clinical studies say they can do future-life progressions too. Tell me you haven’t done a few progressions along with your regressions?” Pema grinned. “Maybe you’ve tried for a few lotto jackpots?”
Clay nodded with a smirk. “Alright, I think we understand the time topic. We’ll get the details from our three Mah-Jongg-addicted doctors, in English this time. But what’s this destiny thing? And cycles?”
Pema’s demeanor became almost somber. “I haven’t said much about the destiny aspect of the secrets. You’ll have to wait until you dig in to get the grimy details. I just know that’s what the Oracles predicted thousands of years ago, and many of those prophecies have come to pass. On the prophecies that our predecessors followed, the Oracles were very accurate in calendar time, scale and detail. Their predictions make Nostradamus and Edgar Cayce look like tricksters in a circus sideshow. If the fact that someone can so accurately predict the future is not destiny, then I don’t know what is. Destiny is somehow related to time. If someone can move forward in time to accurately see what is coming, then is destiny not set for us?”
Shali saw that Pema was struggling, but she pushed her anyway. “This destiny thing, and your prophecies, it all relates to the cycles, doesn’t it? You don’t want to talk about it because of the cycles. Does this cycle have something to do with the existence of humans on this earth? Is this human cycle ending?”
Pema was really struggling now. Her face flushed in emotional pain, and her eyes were almost tearing up. “I don’t know. I just don’t know. The prophecy ends soon after this period we are in now, but this could be because we are giving you control of the secrets. In the writings, there are descriptions of five great human cycles. We may be nearing the end of the fourth cycle, if the timing is correct. But it is unclear to us.”
Shali quietly asked, “Are you talking about human extinction? Like an apocalypse?”
Pema simply shrugged her shoulders.
“Was the last cycle the period of Atlantis?” Clay queried. “There was always talk about some kind of crystal power source in Atlantis, like free energy. Is that how our three Yoda’s figured out how to fly their little crystal powered cars in the cave?”
Pema chuckled and slowly said, “I really don’t know. I’m sure you’ll learn that in the future. There is so much for you to learn; it may or may not be in the writings. This has always been difficult for me to think about, so I never spent much time on it.” She smiled. “Hey, I’m not a monk, and I didn’t live in a cave for half of my life, so I don’t have all the details. But those three Yodas do.”
Shali asked, “So if this cycle is ending, why would the prophecies say we are to release these secret truths to the world? Why would we suddenly make everybody healthy, and make all energy free, and get technology that could solve hunger, disease and pain in the world?”
Pema said, “Some of us have this theory. I read the past life regression books. They say that if a person has a very difficult or traumatic life, then the soul has a more difficult recovery period in the in-between lives period. Suppose that all on this earth was much easier, more peaceful and healthy, as it was in the supposed time of Atlantis. Then, if the entire living world comes to end in a very short time period, most of the souls should be at peace. Because it may be a long time before souls reincarnate on this earth, the souls can rest without bad experiences from recent life problems. Then when the fifth human period starts, the souls can again start living lives to learn. But this is just our theory.”
Shali saw the barely hidden pain showing in Pema’s face, so she diverted the conversation. “I think we understand. We’ll work with our PhD buddies on this. But can you help us understand where and how these ancient writers got the knowledge? They had none of the technology we have today, and yet they acquired the knowledge. How did they do it, and where did they get it from?”
Pema relaxed a bit and regain
ed her composure. “If you look back in history, the first Axial Age was a tremendous period of human advancement. Some of the greatest alchemists, mathematicians, and scientists of all time thrived in that period. They did not need all of our modern tools to understand the fundamentals of their world. They thought about it, reached into their deepest subconscious knowledge and wrote it down. And, yes, Clay, to partially answer your earlier question, there were certainly previous cycles of advanced human existence, like Atlantis, and they were supposedly more advanced than we are after our tens of thousands of years of development. By reaching deep into their souls through meditation, these ancient writers could pull out knowledge from living lives in the earlier cycles. The information is there, they just had to pull it out. The knowledge was gained through deep thought and meditation.”
“As in self-regression —” Clay commented, almost as if talking to himself.
Pema broke the ensuing silence. “Take a contemporary scientist like Einstein for example. How did he really know about relativity? Could he actually see sub-atomic particles? No. Could he really see an ‘e’ and an ‘mc’ squared? No. And where did Einstein ever get that time-space continuum thing? It’s similar with our Ancients of the first Axial age, although there are subtle differences.”
Shali interrupted her. “Are you putting Einstein at a level equal to, or perhaps below, these ancient mathematicians and alchemists?”
Pema grinned. “I have to tell you that my PhD dissertation in nuclear physics was on Einstein.”
Shali and Clay winced at another new surprise from their colleague.
Pema moved back into lecture mode. “Einstein has been my idol, my hero, since I was a small girl. This is partially how I ended up where I am. Let me explain a few things about Einstein and why the Ancients were not as handicapped as our contemporary scientists. Einstein once said, ‘Die Natur verbirgt ihr Geheimnis durch die Erhabenheit ihres Wesens, aber nicht durch List.’ This basically means that ‘Nature’ hides her secrets because of her essential loftiness. But to help you understand the context of his little scientific window, he wrote, ‘Science without religion is lame.’ I have to rhetorically ask, could not Einstein’s potential in science have been constrained by his religion? Was not Rhazes’ potential limited by Islam? Since the end of the first Axial Age, the core religions have permeated nearly all societies. Could their religions have limited all those souls during our second Axial Age?”
One could have cut the air with a knife, but Pema was not done. “Let me give you a few more quotes from Mr. Einstein: ‘Theosophy and Spiritualism is for me no more than a symptom of weakness and confusion. Since our inner experiences consist of reproductions and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seems to me to be empty and devoid of meaning.’”
Pema started to chuckle, “Yes, my friends, Albert Einstein was referring to Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society. He never believed a soul could have meaning without a body. With all of your regressions and protocols, do you have that same belief? Do you believe reality is about the human body, or is reality about the soul? Einstein was clearly limited in this Axial age by his culturally, religion driven beliefs. Hey, he was my doctoral thesis and I now believe he never reached the full potential in this life compared to what he could have reached over two thousand years earlier. Those in the first Axial Age did not have as many artificial bounds on their beliefs.”
Clay drew in a huge breath and then slowly exhaled.
“One more Einstein quote and I’ll let this rest,” Pema said. “In 1950, he responded to a young student at Rutgers University who had written a letter to him. This student was despondent and saw no purpose to life; nor could he see any help from religion. Einstein’s return letter to the student pretty much gave his view on the capabilities and achievements of the Ancients during the Axial Age. Einstein said something like, ‘It is undeniable that the enlightened Greeks and the old Oriental sages had achieved a higher level in this all-important field than what is alive in our schools and universities.’ Shortly after I published my dissertation on Einstein, I came into association with the organization that has been preserving these secrets for you today. That last quote of Einstein’s is why I am here. The Ancients knew so much more than our scientists have been able to learn on our own through physical science. That knowledge is now locked up in our cave at Copper Canyon.”
* * * ~~~ * * *
After a several more days of intense preparation work, it was time for Pema to leave. Early the next morning, Pema was packed and ready for her journey back to Asia. The three of them met in the lobby of the hotel to say their goodbyes.
“My good friends, I promise to return after the opening events. I will then assist with the digitizing and help with translation and interpretation. I know things will get very crazy for you between now and the formal opening. But if you can, please try to spend time with our robed Yodas.”
She smiled. “They have fundamental knowledge you will find invaluable in serving your new role as the custodians.”
Chapter 25
The next few weeks were insanely busy for Clay and Shali. Shali worked on construction logistics for the workroom and storage vault at the university. Clay concentrated on work with the university public relations department, pre-announcements, press releases and engagement of university sponsors. They worked together to plan for the opening night. Unfortunately, the three monks could not contribute much at this stage, so they continued to enjoy their time meditating, reading and debating politics. When the monks went off for a weekend mahjong marathon with some new friends, Clay and Shali agreed to take off one Saturday night and relax at a restaurant in Georgetown.
“Damn, Shali, this is going too fast to suit me. We haven’t spent nearly enough time with our three friends, especially since they now speak English to me,” Clay said with a laugh.
“I know. There’s never enough time.”
“The university bureaucracy has been really difficult to work with. Every professor, trustee, dignitary, historian or philosopher associated with Georgetown seems to want to weigh in on everything we do.”
“We can’t be swayed off course by any group or individual, good intentions or not. We’re going to dig the truth out of these writings and get it out to the people.”
Clay reached into his pocket and took out a pack of Tums. A motherly scowl came over Shali’s face. “You’ve been going through a bottle of those antacids every week; stress induced no doubt.”
He smiled with a wince. “No, I have a calcium deficiency, so I’m building up my bones.” He munched down several of the tablets, then continued with a stern look and serious tone: “We’ve got a balancing act here, you know? All this outside influence by special-interest groups, plus having the press poking around is hard to juggle. We can’t cut them off or alienate them, or they could turn on us. Remember the regressions with Blavatsky’s soul, and the dozens of other lives who told us about false information that were put out from groups with adversarial motivations? We can’t let them do that. We have to just stick to the truth of whatever we find.”
“We anticipated these problems. We should have brought on a PR firm to take the heat off us. I expected pressure from the organized religions, but they’ve been the least of our problems. I certainly never expected this much interest this early from all these other groups.”
“I know. Leveraging the university’s PR department just isn’t enough. We’ve got to get a PR firm to help.”
“I agree, but maybe after the opening night. It’s too close to change right now.” Shali added, “We’ve got to make sure we have the storyline straight on the content. We’ve been pretty elusive about the technological secrets like energy, gravity and medicine. We only know what Pema has conveyed to us and it is all built on trusting her. Even with the little bit we are leaking, these topics are creating a lot more interest and controversy, any way you shake it. So we better stay clear of the technology until we know mo
re.”
“I’m ahead of you. At the opening, I’ll talk about it in very loose terms, but we’ve got to keep it high level and admit we don’t know the details. The storyline is that we won’t know for several years until we can sort through and validate things described in the writings.”
Shali said, “Although, as soon as we understand enough about the technology, we have to patent every possible shape and form of it, and quickly. No individual or group must be allowed to gain financially or politically from these secrets. As noble as it seems, this technology is for the benefit of humankind, not a few greedy entities. If you are agreeable, I’ll line up a few intellectual property law firms to help us with that.”
Clay nodded his head. “Good with me.”
“How’s your new apartment?”
“Fine. That’s a nice complex in Arlington. It’s convenient to Georgetown and more secure than a hotel room. How’s our three buddies doing in their apartment?”
“Good,” Shali said. “They’ve each got their own room, plus a big living room to play Mah-Jongg and meditate. They made friends in Chinatown, Arlington and Alexandria. Their friends are now coming over to join them in night-long marathons. How do you think our five grad students are doing with the project so far?”
“So far, so good. I had them order fifty custom-made glass display cases for the writings. The cases are museum quality, sturdy with shatterproof glass and UV film.”
“Is fifty going to be enough?”
“It should be; they’re big. But if not, the local supplier can fill the orders pretty fast.”
“How many cases should we display at the opening?”
“I figured we’d put three or four cases out on stage, just enough to whet the appetite. We can keep the rest locked up in the storage vault.”
“There’s a lot of demand for opening night, you know.”
Nodding his head, Clay said, “Yeah, this is spreading like wildfire. The Internet blogs seem to have a cult following, already. What did you find out about moving our opening night to the Kennedy Center?”
