The old man stepped out into the crisp morning new air. Before walking to the top of the hill where the assembly hall had been built, he paused to enjoy a few deep breaths and let his eyes absorb the beauty around him, and in particular the darting waltz of the brilliant butterflies. Maybe he so greatly appreciated experiencing this now ordinary beauty because he was one of those who could remember when there were no more butterflies, when the world had been stripped of such glory, when the world came to its end.
In the past, this old man might have been called a sage or a priest and the assembly hall a temple, but that was before humankind knew that the Earth itself was a temple, that the celebration of life was the only ritual, that no one was superior to another and no one possessed, they shared. So this man was just a story teller on his way to share his story with those who came from miles around to hear. He wasn't the only one whose job and pleasure it was to tell the story. There were others all around the globe, wherever there were those who wanted to hear it.
He never tired of telling the story, because each telling added to the celebration. And beyond that, there was an important purpose for his telling it. His listeners were mainly young people, born in the new day. Most of them were reincarnations of those who had died at the end of the world. Hearing the story they would understand how they had arrived at their present freedom, where consideration, patience and love were as natural as breathing, and all had mastery over their physical universe. When he took his place, smiling faces greeted him. There was a short appreciative silence, then he began:
"My story is about the last days of 'the world'. Things were very different in those days. People saw and understood the planet through a state of ignorance we now call the 'world view'. This 'world view' was a kind of blindness, a mistaken impression about the true nature of the Earth and its inhabitants. As long as people were under the spell of this 'world view', they acted in a strange and frightening manner, both in the way they mistreated the Earth and in the way they mistreated each other. What we have come to hear today is how humanity finally awoke from the spell and found freedom.
"Perhaps you'll understand those worldly people better when you realise that we didn't arrive where we are today in one jump. We evolved into our fullness, and that took thousands of years. First our bodies developed, then our minds, and finally our spirits blossomed, until we became what humans were meant to be. Evolution just didn't reach its fullness until the end of the world, and when it did, the spell of sub-humanity was broken. Before that time, all human problems, problems we don't have today, came from an inability to keep a balance between the physical, emotional and spiritual natures.
"Now this imbalance didn't become dangerous until the mind grew so strong that it began to dominate. The first dramatic illustration of how destructive this could be, happened on a now sunken continent called Atlantis, thousands of years before the end of the world itself. The Atlanteans had developed a marvelous and almost perfect civilisation, much as ours is today. They lived in cities of architectural beauty which seemed to complement nature, as clean and joyous to live in as anything we have, and there was nothing they were incapable of achieving. As their mental powers grew, however, their technology developed the capacity to destroy life itself. The spiritual side hadn't evolved far enough to keep the mind in balance, so these Atlanteans lost the way and, through their technology, totally destroyed themselves.
"Fortunately, in those days, the world did not react or function as one giant body, as it came to do in future years; so the Atlanteans destroyed only their own civilisation and not the whole world. Nevertheless, their example should have been a warning as to what was in store for the world if people didn't learn how to control their minds, but it wasn't heeded."
The old man stopped for a minute. His empathy told him that there were some who were perplexed over why the Atlanteans had let things get so drastically out of hand. Smiling with compassion, he continued:
"Don't forget, people were under a spell. Everyone was confused about who or what they were, rather like the fairytale prince who was hypnotised by the wizard into thinking he was a frog. At that time, people based their actions on something called 'fear', a kind of primitive survival instinct. We have called this the first law of sub-human nature, of people who were not fully human or fully awake. They didn't know that they could materialise and dematerialise their bodies at will, as we do now, so they actually believed they were their bodies; that if their bodies were destroyed, they would cease to exist. The first motive behind all their actions was the survival of their physical bodies, in the mistaken belief that this was who they were.
"It was a few thousand years after Atlantis that the first individuals evolved to break the spell. In the West, one of the first whole unhypnotised individuals appeared as Jesus the Christ; in the East, Gautama the Buddha. These two were not only fully developed into what humans could be, but they were also totally conscious of it. Of course, there were many others who became fully human, of whom the public never knew, but these two were the first who were commonly recognised as having broken the spell.
"I say they were recognised, but that isn't quite true. People saw that there was something very special about them, but in general the spell prevailed and very few realised these men were telling them that they too could wake up and be free.
"Jesus and Gautama could do all the things we do today; they could translate themselves into different vibrational levels, turn into light or materialise in different places at will, walk on water or through walls, but when they did these natural things, their actions were called miracles. They tried, in every way they knew, to explain that they were not exceptions, that everyone could do as they did, but most people continued to believe that Jesus and Buddha were talking only about themselves. Nevertheless, at a subconscious level, there was a realisation that these two represented the flowering of humanity and they were worshipped for it. However, their warnings that unless their example was followed the world would be destroyed, were all but ignored.
"Well now," the old man continued with growing enthusiasm, "as the years passed, more and more - a few here and a few there - began to recognise their true selves and become fully human and, as they did, their spiritual energies added to the growing superspirit of humanity. Finally, by the twentieth century of the so-called Christian era, the world arrived at the same place Atlantis had, only this time with two differences: this time the whole planet participated, and this time the power of spirit had evolved.
"Humanity was like a butterfly ready to emerge from its cocoon. Before a butterfly is kicked out of the cocoon, it is unaware that it has grown from a caterpillar into a creature of beauty with wings capable of lifting it freely into the infinite sunlight. Ignorant of its true being, the butterfly tries desperately to hang on to its hot, dark and painful cocoon. That is, it hangs on until Life forces it out into freedom. Now the big push began, forcing humanity to wake up to its identity. The sleeping prince began to awaken, kissed by knowledge.
"You see, knowledge became self-multiplying. Because the rate of the growth of knowledge over the centuries had been slow, no one noticed that it grew in a kind of geometric progression. At first it was hundreds of years before accumulated knowledge doubled, but the gaps became shorter. For instance, recorded knowledge in books, laboratories and such doubled between 1900 and 1950, then it took only ten years for it to double again. With the aid of computers, the accumulation of knowledge doubled again in five years and the gap continued to narrow until humankind had access to infinite knowledge. From then on, any problem they could state, they could solve.
"The new technology created out of this infinite knowledge actually gave access to limitless energy, but no one knew how to use it, because they were still living under the spell of fear. Not realising they could use their new sources of energy to free themselves, people still clung to the age-old belief that they needed 90% of their personal energies to feed and clothe themselves.
"Men and women left their homes each morning to go to work…" The old man stopped for a second, noticed the look of questioning on the faces of his listeners, broke into a smile and said, "Oh I forgot, you don't know what that word means! To 'work' was to use one's energy and time doing something one didn't want to do in order to obtain food and clothing. In those days there was something called 'money'. While nowadays we materialise anything we want directly from Spirit, having no sense of lack, and simply enjoying the abundance of Life, in those days they feared so much for their survival that they invented pieces of paper and metal called, 'money' which they then exchanged for things. Most people went to work, where they took their bodies and minds, but not their spirits, and in return for their ordeal, were given 'money', which they believed made up for the sacrifice of their time and freedom.
"I know it's difficult to realise," the old man continued, "but in those confused days, while the parents were at work, they would actually imprison 30 to 40 children in one classroom, where all the teacher's energy was required just to keep them in their seats; parents would return home after their needless hours of exhaustion with no energy left to love their families, or to listen to their children, and the young grew up more or less unloved.
"If they had known how to let their spiritual natures control and direct the use of their limitless energy sources, they could have been free, as we are today. Now, everyone is able to spend limitless time with each other, loving and experiencing together. We have the ideal situation of three or four students to one teacher, or guides as we call them, and now in all areas there is the energy and time for acknowledging each other, for encouraging self-responsibility and self-mastery, for sharing in the spirit of unconditional love.
"By the 20th century humanity had, for the first time in history, a technology which could have guaranteed survival to everyone on the face of the Earth; and by thus eliminating fear, that first law of sub-human nature, everyone could have learned to live by the law of spiritual nature, love, as we do today. As strange as it may sound, humanity could have brought on the spiritual age by mechanical means.
"Visible cracks began to appear in the world's life pattern. One of the first places the pattern broke was in relation to the young. More and more of the young had the capacity to live as whole people, like Jesus and Buddha, not just individually but in community. They confused the existing society by their attitudes and actions, because, though they themselves didn't yet realise it, they were potentially new-day people with the ability to perform new-day professions. But society was still operating under the 90% 'work' law, so there was no place for these young to fit in. Many of them naturally refused 'work' to which they were unable to bring their true selves. Thousands left the places of their birth and began to roam the farthest reaches of the planet, subconsciously sensing that home was not a place, but a state of mind, that the whole Earth was home, and that all humanity was their family.
"But it was not ignorance of the potential at their fingertips which brought on the end of the world as much as a misuse of their new technology. They didn't blow themselves up as the Atlanteans had. They started poisoning themselves to death. In fact, they poisoned everything in sight - their water, their air and their plant and animal life as well.
"The first conclusive sign of the end came with the ocean's death rattle. Poison had been sprayed all over the Earth in an attempt to protect edible foods from insects, and these poisons then found their way into the ocean and slowed down the photosynthesis in marine plant life. Without this process, by which the Sun's energy enters growing things, plant life in the ocean began to diminish. And, instead of exhausting themselves in the ocean, these poisons seemed to grow stronger as time passed.
"Of course, the ocean and the air are just different aspects of the same elements, and what affects one affects the other. Industrial plants, automobiles and aircraft spewed great masses of poisonous carbons into the air, changing the atmosphere to the point that a heating effect was caused, again affecting the ocean. It was a vicious circle.
"Things were no better on land. The same process of breaking down the chain of life was taking place everywhere. Soon famine became widespread, first in the under-developed nations and then in the technologically advanced, but small, densely populated countries. Up until then, most nations, still operating under the law of fear, kept themselves separate and brought on the very things they feared by bickering and using aid only as another tool of war.
"For many years there had been an organisation called the United Nations where representatives of most countries met, but it had been little more than an international gossip club. Now it took on some real importance. When it became obvious that the ocean was dying and that crops were diminishing at a rapid rate, the small nations gave up and threw themselves completely at the mercy of the UN. And soon, violence and disease, growing out of hand in the bigger countries, forced them to turn over their authority to the UN as well.
"Actually, the final and conclusive issue which pushed the world into placing itself under one supreme government was the discovery that the world was literally running out of oxygen. Most people had mistakenly thought that their oxygen supply came from the plant life on the surface of the Earth, but in fact the great majority had come from the plankton and other plant life in the ocean. As the ocean was almost dead, the supply of new oxygen was nearly exhausted. Unless the ocean could be returned to life, it would only be a matter of time before all the oxygen was absorbed.
"As world catastrophe became imminent, nations sent their most trusted and learned citizens to the UN headquarters with full power to represent them. There was no bickering now. The General Assembly elected four representatives to be the overall governing body. Survival was the one issue around which everything revolved. Experts from every field of science worked in the UN laboratories in maximum person-to-person contact with each other and with their staff around the world through CCTV. Technology reached the height of expertise and efficiency.
"Scientists worked feverishly, searching for some way to return the oceans to a living state. Finally, after exploring thousands of master plans, one last plan emerged. A new chemical was formulated which could neutralise the poisons in the oceans. It was found that if this new chemical was administered at just the right moment and in just the right quantity, a reaction could be induced which would indeed neutralise the poisons. But there was one catch; it took an enormous amount to counteract the stupendous quantities of poisons now active in the oceans. And with anything less than the precise amount, a reverse effect could take place and the poisons be stimulated to further virulence.
"It was up to the Council of Four to make the ultimate decision to go ahead or not. Everything hinged on their decision, because, if enough of the new chemical was to be produced, all other methods would have to be sacrificed for this one last effort. If it didn't succeed, there would be no time left for another or different try. After long deliberation they gave the order to proceed.
"The entire population of the world was focussed on this endeavour. Everyone looked toward 'I' Day - Infusion Day. It took almost 2 years to mobilise the effort, with thousands more dying from lack of food and oxygen each day. Finally 'I' Day came; on signal, at the exact moment the computers had dictated, the infusion took place. Everyone held their breath waiting for the results to register. It was a time of great quiet on the face of the Earth.
"After a few days the monitoring stations began to send in their reports. One by one, the story was the same. The attempt had failed. The poisons had triumphed. Within a very few years there would not be enough oxygen, food or anything else for any life at all to survive on the face of the Earth. The world was to become an infernally hot, dead planet. Humankind had become the first life form, not only powerful enough to alter its own evolution, but powerful enough to destroy its own planet."
The old man sighed, remembering, and continued, "You might have thought that such news would send the world into panic, but it didn't. Thousands had already taken their own lives in despair, and now there was only a kind of calm resignation, almost relief. Perhaps their efforts had started too late, but they had done everything they possibly could. Many now felt stripped of their responsibilities, their minds were calm at last and they could listen.
"It was in this attitude that the four leaders, each of whom had heard the news in their own quarters, made their way to the central meeting room."
Once more the old man paused. He realised that his young listeners were caught up in the story, because most of them now leaned forward or shifted their positions to make sure they wouldn't miss a single word. He continued, "This meeting was one of the most significant moments in the history of humanity. All four leaders spoke as though they were thinking with one mind, a new universal mind, and their conclusions crystallised humanity's coming of age.
"Let me picture it for you. The leaders came into the room and took their usual places around the polished conference table, but this time it was obvious things were different. In the past, computers had hummed, keyboards clicked and printers had rolled off data as information was accessed from all round the planet. Now all the machines were switched off. The silence was significant; decisions made on the strength of factual information had failed. A single white candle burned in the centre of the table.
"Yet, oddly enough, none of the leaders showed signs of despair or sadness. The first one to speak was the mathematician, whose job it had been to channel the world's resources into the struggle for survival. He was a rugged-looking man with clear, direct eyes and a friendly no-nonsense approach. He started by describing the unaccustomed sense of peace within him and how, as he pondered it, he had come to some conclusions that had made him believe humanity was on the edge of a new and total freedom.
"I'll try to put into words what he said," the old man continued. He began, 'The clue which opened my eyes seemed almost too simple-minded at first, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Yesterday, when I was taking a walk, I looked up at the Sun. My first thought was that perhaps the Earth would be like that before long, a burning mass with no life. Then I asked myself, 'What makes me think there is no life on the Sun?' and I realised I believed the heat of the Sun would make it impossible. Then it came to me that I've always believed there was no life on the Sun, because I've been too maddenly literal. I've thought of life only as matter, as material.
'I've been working with forms of energy all my life. I've written papers explaining how all matter is energy expressed in form, but I didn't absorb the full meaning until now. Energy is the highest form of Life, higher than the material forms or bodies we see with our eyes. We know that the Sun is the greatest energy source in our solar system, and yet, somehow, we have felt that the Sun is inferior to our Earth, that we have life forms here, but that the Sun doesn't. If the Sun is the highest energy source, couldn't it also contain the most highly evolved life forms, thought forms of pure energy, a kind of creative consciousness, which isn't subject to material destruction?
'I began to apply this line of reasoning to myself and my own body. First, I remembered that every cell in my body is renewed every few months. My body regenerates and changes form constantly. Even if I lost an arm, I would still feel a continuity of Self. Because I am not a body. I have a body, but I am not this body.
'It doesn't stop there. I am aware that my body is made up of atoms, as all matter is. The difference between my hand and this table is simply a difference of structure and density. The table is more dense and has a different inner structure, that's all; the atoms in the table are vibrating at a different speed. Being a mathematician, I should have realised that matter, when increased to the speed of light, theoretically becomes light. However, we would be wrong if we thought it stopped being matter. Being light wouldn't really change it; it would still be matter, only seen in a higher form.
'If I can really identify myself with the highest form of energy, with Light, I will be able to translate myself into any form or level I wish. I will be able to convert energy into body or body into energy at will.'
The mathematician paused, as though talking to himself, and said, 'What I am trying to say is that my very survival is dependent on finding out who I am. We are not searching for greater material powers now; we have been pushed into a tremendous worldwide identity crisis, a total identity emergency. If we can resolve that dilemma, we will save the world.'
He settled back and looked enquiringly into the faces of the three fellow leaders. There were nods of understanding and agreement.
The next to continue the group's collective path to the answer was the representative from Asia, whose strength of intellect and integrity shone from her dark face in contrast to the frail slenderness of her body. Her department was responsible for education and all social needs.
She started by explaining that, although she had spent most of her life away from her home country, she was still rooted in her early Buddhist training. 'For years,' she continued, 'I have tried to approach my work as scientifically as possible to ensure that I wasn't caught up in a false sense of the world, but in the past few days I have seen how limited the purely rational approach can be.
'I have found myself drawn into deeper and more penetrating meditations than I have experienced for many years. In the depth of the silence, I have reached something close to the divine bliss I heard about as a child. For the first time, I now see what Buddha meant when he said that life is illusory. I have always accepted a false sense of who or what I am and I'm only now realising that I am not just a human being, caught in the web of illusion, but also a divine creature, free and limitless.
'However, my dear friends,' the gentle Asian continued, 'somewhere along the line, a key has been missing, otherwise the messages of the mystics of the past would have freed us by now from this illusory sense of self. I tried to see what that key could be, in the light of recent discoveries about the nature of humanity.
'Carl Jung, less than 100 years ago, said that, not only do we have a conscious and an unconscious mind, both of which have been built in our lifetime, but that we are also connected with a superconscious state that has existed for all time, a connection with all truth and knowledge, call it God if you will. Working from the inside, from consciousness, to the outside form or body, he demonstrated that we are primarily Consciousness and that, when we realise ourselves as being Consciousness, we can be free of our physical limitations.
'If, as Freud demonstrated well before Jung came along, a misuse of our mind can actually create a malfunctioning body, then the proper use of consciousness can create a harmoniously functioning body. As we correct this misuse, we can not only learn how to create properly, but also begin to see that the creator is greater than the creation, that somehow we are more than our bodies, these bodies that our own consciousness has created.
'Perhaps Buddha too was saying that our illusory sense of life is the belief that we are body, rather than Consciousness. This illusion was created out of an ignorance of our true identity. Up until now, we have been fighting the forms, believing that survival lay in form rather than in Consciousness. We have been struggling with the illusion rather than revealing the truth of our being. Is that our mistake?
'In the Orient, it is said that we live by three kinds of food. The least important is the kind we put into our mouths. We can survive for weeks without this kind of food. The next is the food we breathe, without which we can survive only minutes. But the most critical kind of food is the psychic impressions we take into our minds. We have just about destroyed the first two foods, but perhaps our future lies in altering the food of consciousness.'
As soon as the second leader had finished, all eyes shifted to the renowned scientist, who had been head of the technical operations. There was something professorial in this tall, dignified man that made you feel he could take the most complicated of ideas and express them in simple terms. His words went something like this:
'Last night, my thoughts kept returning to the theories of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. For many years I was attracted to his ideas because, although he was a priest, he believed that the answer lay, not in a rejection of the Earth, but rather a deeper understanding of matter and the material world.
'I'd like to give you a simple explanation of his basic premise. He claimed that all growth takes place through the action of one fundamental principle. Organic matter is made up of infinitesimally small particles, which, drawn together, form atoms. Then, when thousands of these atoms are symmetrically grouped, they become molecules of carbon compounds. Next, when thousands of molecules are linked together, they become a cell; cells gathered together become tissue; collected tissue becomes body. Now, none of these stages happen by accident. The forms are compelled to change and become part of a new form. It is forced on them. It is forced on them because space becomes limited. If space isn't limited, nothing happens, but because a pressure of density is brought on by limited space, the forms have to die or else become part of a larger life form. You might say that each stage represents an identity crisis.
'By identity crisis I mean that, at each stage, the life form has to cease being an isolated identity and find a new identity as part of a larger being. It has to function as part of a larger identity or become isolated and be destroyed. In other words, all growth takes place by giving up a small identity for a new identity as part of a larger life form. Teilhard called this process, Entropy.'
The scientist hesitated for a moment. With a pleased look of understanding, he addressed his Asian colleague, 'I appreciated hearing just now that you sense the answer lies in our realising the scope and power of Consciousness. I, too, believe that the next stage of our evolution is one involving a new understanding and relationship with Consciousness.
'We know that everything, down to the smallest particle, has at least an elementary kind of consciousness. And we have seen that as forms grow in complexity, they grow in greater or more obvious consciousness. Matter becomes more conscious. You might say that matter becomes more spiritualised. It seems to me, then, that matter can be converted into spirit.
'I get the feeling that, as the world has become dense with greater consciousness, the next stage we are being pushed into is the transcendence of Consciousness over material and physical limitations. We are being pushed into identifying ourselves with Consciousness rather than body. I guess we had to experience possible death as part of the entropy process to force us into a larger sense of Life.
'I have no concrete idea of how we can do it, but I sense that once we realise we are a kind of Potential Conversion Machine, able to convert matter into Consciousness, then we will also be able to convert Consciousness into matter. We won't be confined to the old laws of matter, but will be able to create a perfect and harmonious world out of our consciousness.'
The scientist hesitated once more, but instead of continuing, he turned to the last member of the group, the fatherly physician from America, upon whose shoulders had fallen the job of attempting to dispense medical aid to a dying world. It was almost as though all the others had made their comments first on purpose, waiting for the physician, whose loving spirit and personal manner had more than once lifted them, when all hope seemed at an end.
He spoke, 'Well now, my friends, you don't know how happy you have made me. Listening to you has made me feel reborn. You seem to be speaking with one voice; each of you said what you had to say through the lens of your own profession and science, but there was one theme, and that theme reinforces a spark of hope that has come to me. Let me tell you of an experience I had this morning which gave rise to that hope.
'On my way to this meeting, I saw a service in progress in the chapel below. I had a few minutes to spare, so I slipped in. It was then that I realised what service it was. It was the remembrance of Good Friday. On this day, some 2000 years ago, Jesus experienced the crucifixion of his own personal, material sense and lived to tell of it. He hadn't wanted to undergo the agony of that experience, he said, Let this cup pass from me, but evolution was forcing it upon him. If he had not been pushed into going through that experience, if he had managed to find some other way than the destruction of his body, he would have not proved that he was more than a body, that he was a form of life eternal. He wouldn't have shown that he could lay down his body and pick it up.
'When I heard a few minutes ago that Teilhard referred to this process of evolution as entropy, I realised that Jesus' experience was one of entropy, of dying to be born. Isn't it obvious that the day has now arrived when the world sense of materiality is being crucified? We certainly don't know of any material means to stop the end of the world. Right up until this very minute, we have placed our faith and belief in material modes and means to save us, but they have failed.
'Maybe Jesus' words can show us how we can follow this universal Good Friday with an Easter resurrection for the Earth. Because I had always interpreted Jesus's words as symbolic, I wasn't able to see that he quite literally means, Destroy this body and in 3 days I will raise it up. He said, I will raise it up, meaning, I am not body. I have body, and I have the capacity to raise this body up any time I want. How? Not by fighting it, not by test tubes, not by adding more flesh, but through Consciousness, by attaining an awareness of my true Being, by knowing who I am.
'Jesus explained, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. I. He didn't mean that he, Jesus, was the I alone, but that each one of us could say, I - that each one of us has a unity with Life Eternal and that this unity is I. He said, I am the Light, and though we have thought he was speaking philosophically, my friend here just told us that it is a scientific fact. Jesus, through Consciousness, could raise himself to the speed of Light and transcend material law. Through Consciousness he became free of physical death. He could not be killed; he could lay down his body and take it up.
'We can lay down our bodies, too, and take them up, if we can attain Christ Consciousness. That Consciousness is the realisation of who we are. It is simply the resolution of the universal identity crisis we are facing. Our survival depends entirely on whether we can transcend the centuries of spiritual sleep and ignorance before it is too late. We may just have time, between this universal Good Friday and the few months that life can be sustained in the old awareness, to bring a universal Easter and with it a freedom over all material law.'
"A great rush of excitement swept the room. Everyone spoke at once, but it was as though one mind was speaking, with each finishing the sentences of the other."
The excitement among the listeners in the meeting hall where the old man was telling his story matched the excitement he had been describing in the story. His listeners were simultaneously eager to show their delight in seeing how the new awareness had been arrived at and anxious for the old man to continue, so they could hear what happened next. He leaned forward and went on:
"The leaders spent hours crystallising their concepts into central points. First they realised that, since only a few had been able to rise to the level of Jesus or Buddha in the past, it was necessary now that great numbers do so, in order to affect the planetary consciousness. They saw that there was reason to hope this could be done now, for the first time. In the past, spiritual illumination had not been necessary, so most people just played at it; its becoming necessary had opened up inner capacities, making it more easily attained now.
"Overnight, the entire scientific and technological know-how of the world was directed toward this goal of building the new planetary consciousness. All the beliefs and theories of all the world's religions were fed into computers, cross-referenced, calibrated and defined. Various groups of students were chosen for their unique abilities and given the best instruction and encouragement from those in a position to assist them.
"Simultaneously, the general public became totally dedicated to the subject of mastery of the physical body. Fasting and other spiritual aids were widely practised and the newspapers published everything that could be found to support the possibility of moving into a new awareness of self as creator.
"Successes were computed and failures noted and the results were watched carefully. But soon it was obvious that time was running out. Progress was still way too slow. Then the computers revealed an interesting fact. With few exceptions, all people over a certain age were progressing more slowly than those of younger years. Older people seemed able to generate enormous spiritual power through meditation and were doubtless helping build the new envelope of consciousness, but individually they were not able to vibrate at a level that would transcend matter and convert it into spirit.
"The answer to the problem of the older generation was revealed. Those who had been conditioned before the atom had been split were not able to rise far enough in consciousness. They had been so conditioned by materiality that the jump was too great. Before the atom was split, everything was seen as having a visible explanation; speed came from the visible muscles in the horse's legs, light from the burning of visible wax, and so on. But after the splitting of the atom, invisibles were put on an equal footing with visibles, and the young were conditioned to accept invisibles easily. For them, the jump in consciousness was not as great.
"It was not only reported that the young were able to progress more quickly than the old, but it was seen that the group who responded most quickly were many of the same people who had been rejected by society a few years before, because of their difference in attitude and reluctance to accept the established systems.
"Once more the computers were consulted. They revealed that, scattered around the world, were just enough of this unconditioned generation with the basic capacity for attaining the New Consciousness. If all these were helped into the new awareness and were able to generate the energy of the Higher Consciousness, the awakening could take place and there would be a new lease of life for the Earth. All efforts now centred on helping these people and their teachers. When the older generation knew they would not be able to attain personal freedom individually, they selflessly added to the power of love, or spirit, in every way they could.
"Eventually, more and more of the young began actually to attain the realisation that they were Consciousness rather than body. Effects began to lose power over them. Medicinal drugs, for instance, no longer worked on them, proving that they were going beyond material cause. It became obvious that there was a direct relationship between the fear in a person and the power material things had over them; that in direct ratio as humanity was able to rise beyond the consciousness of fear, the material destruction ceased. Whereas there was no material force which could stem the power of the poisons, now that the fear of them was lessening, the poisons were no longer able to destroy.
"Of course, this lessening of fear did not happen overnight, nor were all people able to rise above fear. What really took place was a change in Consciousness. It wasn't that the Earth died. What died was the 'this world' spell, and when that ignorance left, the power of destruction left as well and the Earth became itself. It had been the poison in the old consciousness that had been poisoning the Earth.
"Those who were not able to become free, who were not able to eliminate the poison of 'fear' consciousness from their minds and bodies, succumbed. But as the old were dying, more and more of the young were mastering their bodies and finding out that they were no longer subject to the laws of matter or of fear. Ageing beyond maturity stopped. As now, people reached their maturity and stayed there without further deterioration. The ignorance and hypnotism of materiality was ending.
"Now, when anyone needed an answer, they knew they could turn within, lift their consciousness into the impersonal, universal source of all knowledge, and return with whatever knowledge they needed. They knew that since they were connected with all others through the collective unconscious, they could contact anyone they needed by reaching out spiritually to that person, through this divine link without even the need of a telephone! When it was understood that everything in the world of effect, anything that could be seen or touched, was the result of Consciousness expressed in form, it was a simple matter to change the forms into harmonious and perfect oneness, simply by changing consciousness. Everything worked in harmony and, since it was realised that infinite supply was an activity of Consciousness, all lack disappeared.
"The naturally harmonious flow of nature began to resume. The Earth began to look more beautiful than it ever had, when it was the world. It had similar trees, similar flowers, the same star-filled nights with the same lovely fire-flies, but now it was pure Consciousness expressing itself. People no longer stopped at superficial or face-value impressions, but were aware of the invisible Consciousness at the source of Life. The only thing that ended was the misconception of what Life really was. Now everyone knew that there was only One, and all Life and all Being responded in perfect harmony.
"This beauty and perfection has come about simply because the identity dilemma has been resolved. Now we know we are Consciousness or spirit rather than just material form. Being infinite, we know we have an individual identity made up of body, mind and spirit, but having gained the capacity to see ourselves in a relative fashion, we can celebrate all of Life and self and we're free to operate at any level.
"The false sense of Life, burned off by the light of truth, has lifted like a fog. The new Earth has appeared right in the place where the old world of plague and famine once was, and living has become a continuous celebration of Life."
(Rewritten from Walter Starcke's "The Gospel of Relativity" (1973) by DB in late '80s with Walter's blessings - I left the middle part of the story more or less unchanged although it is obviously out of date now, but still stimulating!)