"She's right," I said. "C.I. told me that although the Macro society originally gathered up all the micro survivors after the disastrous earth changes and plagues and put them on Micro Island, it was not done to punish them, but to help them."
"How's that?" Karl asked.
"Well, they planned to use Micro Island as sort of a grade school where they could show everyone the concepts of Macro philosophy," I explained. "Elgon and Sela were among the early resource people there on the island. It was the misuse of their powers, which they used to control their students, that caused their regression to lower levels of awareness.
"Elgon insisted that there was one way and only one way to attain Macro awareness, and that way was his way. He stopped being a modest resource person and became an arrogant teacher declaring himself as the one and only authority on Macro awareness.
"He then gathered about him such souls as he could influence through coercion, intimidation, hypnosis, or just plain fast talk, and started his own little 'family.' His aim was to clean up the Macro society by giving them firm rules to live by, a police force to help them stay within these rules, and a great charismatic leader-himself -to look to for wisdom and guidance.
"As long as his students did as he said, he 'loved' them dearly and praised them as his 'family.' If they did not do as he said, he told them they were inferior, excluded them from his 'family,' and directed his remaining followers to do likewise. One could get back into Elgon's family only by acknowledging his omniscience."
"Then why do all those people stay on Micro Island if the Macro society doesn't keep them there?" Karl questioned.
"Elgon's propaganda has most of them believing they have the best of all possible worlds. Those who are discontent are not permitted to leave. Elgon knows that if they are exposed to a more Macro way of life they will lose their fear of him and he will lose his power."
"But, Jon, if you and the Macro society know this, why don't you capture Elgon and his thousand controllers and put them on another island where they can't control the lives of other people?"
Neda answered, "Because that would be controlling the lives of Elgon and his followers, which would, in the long run, just keep the problem alive."
"How do you figure that?" he asked.
"It would be just like healing someone who had not yet learned all they wanted to learn from being sick. He'd have to start the lesson all over again. If those souls didn't want to grow from a micro experience they would not have chosen to be born into Elgon's rule," I explained. "If we end the experience for them they'll just have to design another experience to learn that lesson from. No, if it's to end, they must end it themselves."
"Then there's no hope!" Karl exclaimed. "You've just got to let everyone crap on you and take it with a smile. I'll be damned if I'll buy that humble pie nonsense."
"You're right, Karl," Neda said. "You'll be damned, by your own negativity. That's what hell and damnation are all about. They are the micro refusal to accept the consequences of our own actions."
"Now, wait a minute, Jon," Karl injected. "Didn't you once tell me that the Macro society doesn't believe in eternal hell or damnation?"
"That's right," I answered. "But remember, our subconscious mind contains the memory of all our past thoughts and actions. To the extent that we try to avoid applying what we learned from the lessons offered by our past experiences, we are unconsciously driven to repeat them. In other words, we attract to us exactly those experiences which we, within our own minds, condemn."
"I was fascinated," Neda added, "to learn that we can only hate or dislike that which is in our selves, and we can only love or like that which is in our selves."
"That's a lot of crap," Karl said shaking his head. "Why, I can hate a rapist and murderer and not have that inside me."
I shook my head, "According to the Macro philosophers, to the pure in heart all is pure. So, if you find yourself hating or condemning anything, you not only have performed the same act in the past, but by actively condemning this action you'll soon find yourself performing it again possibly in this very life, though some times in another."
"I just don't believe that," Karl replied stubbornly.
"I can understand why you wouldn't believe it," I responded. "It's only been since I've been able to recall more and more of my past lives that I've been able to see the truth in it."
Neda reminded us that it was time for Karl to go off to teach his morning class, so I said I would see them later and went back to my apartment. There I wrote in this journal, bringing it up to date.
I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out some way to reach Carol and get her away from Micro Island. By evening I still hadn't thought of any successful way to save Carol without giving in to Elgon's wishes that I become a permanent resident of Micro Island.
That evening I had dinner with Karl and Neda and I explained to them that I felt that Elgon's thousand followers with their telepathic mind net were just too much for me to overcome.
"In other words," Karl said, "no matter what you might try to do they could stop you by overpowering your mind."
"And the reason you're having this experience is because when you were a priest in ancient Atlantis and had Macro powers you frustrated others by controlling their minds. Right?" Neda asked.
"That's right," I agreed. "But being able to remember the classes I failed doesn't mean I like taking them over."
"Well," Karl said, "then the solution to saving Carol is rather simple. All you have to do is cooperate with Elgon."
"You mean," Neda added, "all he has to do is sell his soul to Elgon."
"No, that's not true," Karl protested, "because once he has let Elgon and his gang complete the time translation he will have freed Carol and become a permanent resident in 2150. Then he has the rest of his life to escape from Micro Island with or without the help of the Macro society."
"You forgot one thing, Karl," Neda reminded him. "The wisest people of the Macro society said that if the time translation came before he had attained level-three awareness he would soon regress and lose his Macro awareness."
"But not necessarily my Macro powers," I added, "which would really cause me trouble because Macro powers without Macro awareness are always used for micro purposes."
"Oh, hell!" Karl complained. "The more the two of you talk, the more hopeless it becomes."
"Is it really as hopeless as it looks, Jon?" Neda asked
I shook my head, "I can't see any way out. It looks like the perfect double bind-I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't."
"But, Jon," Neda said, "certainly the Macro society wouldn't have allowed you to walk into an impossible situation. After all, Rana said she believed in you. That must mean that she knew your future wasn't hopeless."
"She also. believed that the greater the failure, the greater the success-another thing that doesn't make sense from the micro viewpoint," I reminded Neda.
"Wait a minute," Karl inserted, "if you could just attain level-three awareness in the next two weeks the Macro society would know it and then they would complete translation, right?"
"I thought of that," I said, "but going from level two to level three is like going from first grade to ninth grade, according to C.I., and no one has ever done it in just a month."
"Well," Karl replied, "then you can be the first! After all, they've never had a time translation before, either."
"No, Karl," I replied, "that's just too simple a solution. In all my experiences in 2150 there has never-not even in a single case-been an easy solution. Every time I tried to find one I ended up embarrassed by my own ignorance. I've always had to use my head-I've always had to stretch to my limits. This is no exception.
"I can't just up and make level three with a snap of my fingers without giving up some of my micro ways of thinking. And there's the key, Karl, giving up my micro ways of thinking. If I could just see the situation from a Macro perspective the solution would probably jump out at me.
When I got to the door I came out of my daze and turned to say, "Hey.. thanks. Thanks to you both. See you tomorrow." I closed the evening and did just what I said I was going to do.
When I woke up in 2150, however, I didn't think of anything new.
For the rest of the week I kept making futile attempts to contact Carol and to break out of my suite of rooms in 2150, while back in 1976 I spent my time pacing the floor or discussing this maddening puzzle with Karl and Neda. But in spite of all the hours of thinking and talking, no solution came to me. Then one evening Neda asked me if Elgon's telepathic mind network blocked out all my Macro powers. I responded affirmatively, and that was that.
Later the same evening while I was trying not to go to sleep, so I could postpone waking up in my 2150 prison, I remembered Neda's question and began to review the seven Macro powers. I considered clairvoyance, telepathy, and precognition. Of these the first one worked, but was no help. The second one was blocked, and the third one I had never developed much but doubted whether knowing the future would be of much help to me with this problem. Considering the next three, retrocognition, PK (psychokinesis), and telekinesis, I again drew a blank, for the first one worked but was no help, while the second and third were blocked. This left only the seventh, which was astral projection. Was that, too, blocked? I didn't know because, since it didn't seem very practical, I had never consciously tried it.
For a prisoner, though, surely astral projection, in which one leaves the physical body and its limitations and moves about in an astral body with no physical limitations, could have definite advantages. I could visit Carol, the Macro society, and Lea. I had wanted to talk with these people, and astral projection was the only way left to do it. Or was it? Could I learn to use it, and even if I could, would the telepathic mind net interfere and stop me? I decided that the only way I could answer these questions was to put them to the test, so I immediately began trying to free myself from my physical body. I failed.
After thirty minutes of failure in my attempts to separate my astral body from my physical one I gave up and began trying to remember everything C.I. had told me about this seventh Macro power.
I remembered that my trips into the future had been via my astral body, which was connected to the 1976 physical body by a sort of electrical-energy umbilical cord that had unlimited elasticity. This was the silver cord that mystics throughout the ages had talked about as maintaining the life-giving contact between the astral and the physical bodies. Once this silver cord, made up of very rapid electrical vibrations, is severed, the physical body dies.
When I had first come to 2150 I had been provided with a new physical body and a second silver cord to provide the necessary connection between my astral body and this new physical body. This worked because the Macro society had my twin soul, who shared an identical astral-soul pattern with me. They used this as a model from which to fashion the physical body, the silver cord connection, and to supply the, psychic translation for attracting my astral body through time and space.
If this seems not only complex, but incomprehensible, it is-to the micro self. C.I. had given me a far more lengthy and complex explanation but I had decided that I didn't need to know all about this Macro area so I hadn't paid very close attention. Now I desperately wished that I had. Still, however, the two essential ingredients in all learning were desire and belief, and if I had these, then I could learn astral projection. I certainly believed it was possible because I had already experienced it. The problem, therefore, must lie in the area of desire.
I practiced the Macro pause, in which one instantly expands his perspective from micro to more Macro. It became immediately obvious that, as usual, I had been desiring not to fail in accomplishing astral projection, which meant that my mind had been focused on failure rather than success.
Once I was able to see my efforts from a Macro perspective I could remember that all failure is success (leads to success) and, thus, forgive myself so that I could start again without the interfering load of anxiety and guilt. I began by recalling the sensations I had experienced on my first visit to 2150 when I had awakened in my astral body. Then I began gradually imagining and desiring my astral body to stand at the foot of my bed. The desire built until I began imagining the perspective of my bed and physical body from the foot of this bed.
Suddenly with a sort of snap I was standing looking across the bed at my sleeping physical body.
Again I experienced the marvelous sense of freedom from physical limitations and discomforts. And now, even in 1976, I had two healthy and whole legs. C.I. had said that articles of clothing on the astral level were created as thought forms, so I mentally visualized myself clothed in my 2150 aura tunic. Sure enough, it became a reality so that I could experience the sensation of pulling and tugging on it and having it respond just as my tunic would in 2150.
I now began walking about my room as I would with my 2150 physical body only about a foot off the floor. Levitating this astral body didn't take near the amount of PK energy that I had to expend to levitate my 180 pound physical body. As I approached the door I forgot and tried to open it and had the uncanny sensation of watching my hand disappear through the door. I quickly followed it and found myself out in the hallway. Then instead of walking to Karl and Neda's apartment I visualized myself standing in their living room and instantly I was there.
Walking through the bedroom door and over to where Karl was sleeping, I tried to wake him. Of course, he couldn't hear me and my shaking his shoulder didn't work, as my hand went right through him. I looked at Neda sleeping next to him and tried telepathic contact asking her to wake up. In just a few seconds she opened her eyes and looked about. I immediately used PK to turn on the lamp on her night stand. This startled her, but she didn't look frightened. I used PK to pick up the pencil and wrote the word "Jon" on the pad of paper which Neda used to record her dreams.
She started to become alarmed so I began telepathically reassuring her that all was well, impressing on her mind the concept of astral projection. I could tell that I wasn't completely successful because she woke up Karl and said, "I heard Jon calling me and telling me to wake up."
"When?" Karl mumbled sleepily.
"Just now," she replied, "and when I opened my eyes I couldn't see anything at first, but then the.lamp turned on."
"You must have turned it on," Karl said. "You were probably dreaming."
"That's what I thought at first, but when I picked up my dream notebook to write down the dream I saw this," Neda responded holding out the tablet for Karl to see.
He looked at the spot where Neda was pointing, saw my name written there in my own handwriting, and was suddenly wide awake and climbing out of bed.
"I'm going up and see if he's all right," he said as he slipped into his robe and slippers, then started out of the room.
I decided that the quickest way to reassure Karl was to go back and get my physical body-which I did-and met Karl halfway up the stairs. I explained about my experiment with astral projection and apologized for waking him up. He insisted that I come back with him and explain it all to Neda. I did, as quickly as possible, so they could get back to sleep and I could get back to 2150 and try using this new Macro power to solve my problem.
Once back in my apartment I had no trouble getting to sleep and was soon lying under the canopy of my bed in Elgon's palace. My one great concern was that the telepathic mind net might stop me before I could escape from my physical body, or once out of it force me back into it. Therefore, I immediately focused my mind on the end of the bed and again slipped out of my physical body. Once I was completely out of the physical body I visualized the journey back to my Alpha and was instantly there standing in the middle of our Alpha room just as I had visualized it.
The emptiness of the room without Carol punctuated the urgency of her plight and I sought out
the rest of our Alpha to ask for their suggestions. It was breakfast time and I found them all in the dining room talking about Carol and me. As I entered the room Steve was the first to become aware of me and he directed the attention of the others toward me. Then everyone was aware of my presence except Adam and Nancy, who were having some temporary difficulty tuning me in. I was pleased to find that I had no difficulty hearing them.
I soon learned that the whole Macro society was aware of all that had happened to Carol and me. Unfortunately, they had no suggestions as to how Carol and I could escape from Elgon without help from the superior Macro powers of the Macro society.
I decided to talk to Rana to see if she could offer a solution to my dilemma. But before I left my Alpha members, something very strange happened. Adam and Joyce asked if they could accompany me back to Elgon's palace.
I refused. "If Carol and I can't escape, you'd just be two more prisoners for Elgon."
"We realize that," Joyce said, "but Adam and I would like to be with you during the next few days, Jon. If we can't help you, we'll at least provide companionship."
I was reminded that if I couldn't raise my awareness level and still refused to cooperate with Elgon I would have just a few more days in 2150. I was touched by Adam and Joyce's offer to share my prison even if it meant becoming prisoners themselves. I thanked them; but explained that knowing Elgon had four of us instead of just two would more than double my anxiety, and if I needed companionship I could now just project my astral body to visit with them.
It was Adam who then said, "Perhaps we can help you another time then, Jon. You 'see, we owe you a great debt, for you were of great help to us in another life. In that life you know us as Griff and Judd."
To say that I was breathless, speechless, elated, is an understatement, for beautiful vivacious Joyce and tall handsome Adam bore absolutely no physical resemblance to Griff and Judd of 1976. Yet, as I reached out to make contact with their Macro selves, I knew these were indeed the same two souls who 174 years ago had inhabited bodies called Griff and Judd, and I thrilled with the joy of their growth.
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