Chapter XVIII
We had asked one of the attendants to call us at the first sign of daybreak; and almost before I knew it, there came a rap at the door. We all bounded out of bed, so eager were we to see the first break of day from our lofty perch. We were dressed in no time and went rushing out on the roof like three eager school boys. In fact the noises we made so startled the attendants that they rushed up to see if we were really in our right minds. I suspect the noise the three of us made was more noise than had ever disturbed the peaceful quiet of the old temple since the days it was built and this we learned was more than ten thousands years ago. In fact it was so old that it looked a part of the rock upon which it rested.
When we arrived on the roof there was no need to ask for quiet. One look and my two associates’ eyes and mouths went wide open. I suspect, had anyone looked at mine, they would have seen the same. I waited for them to speak. Almost in one breath came the exclamation, “Why, we are surely suspended in mid-air.” They said the sensation was exactly like that I had experienced in the other temple. They had forgotten for a moment that there was anything under the feet and the sensation was that they were floating in mid-air. One remarked, “I do not wonder that these men can fly after experiencing this.”
We were aroused from our reveries by a laugh and all turned to find Emil, Jast, and our friend of the records standing close behind us. One of my associates walked quickly up to them, tried to grasp all of their hands at once, and said, “This is wonderful! We do not wonder you are able to fly after you have been here for a time.” They smiled and one said, “You are as free to fly as we. You only need to know that you have the power within to do so, then use the power.” We then turned to the outlook. The fog had lowered and was floating in great billowy waves just high enough so that not a foot of land could be seen anywhere and the movement of the banks of fog all around gave the sensation that we were being carried on noiseless wings along with the fog. Standing there looking far out, one lost sense of anything underfoot and it was very difficult to believe that we were not floating in space. As I looked out, it seemed as if my body lost all sense of weight and that I was actually floating above the roof. I had so far forgotten myself that when one of the party spoke, my feet hit the roof with such force that I felt the effects of the jar for several days after.
At breakfast that morning we decided to stay over for three days, as we expected to visit only one other place of interest before going on to the appointed meeting place. Upon reading the messages Emil had brought, we learned that our Chief’s party had visited this temple only three days before. After breakfast we went out and found the fog gradually clearing. We watched it until it cleared entirely and the sun came up. We could see the little village nestling close in under the cliff and the valley far below.
Our friends decided to visit the village and we asked if we might go with them. They laughed and said we could but they thought we had better use the basket as we would present a better appearance if we did than if we attempted their mode of travel. So we lowered one by one to the ledge, then down to the little plateau just above the village. No sooner had the last one stepped from the basket than our friends were there. We went down to the village and spent the greater part of the day. It was a quaint old place, typical of those mountain districts with its houses built by digging into the side of the cliff, then closing up the opening with rock walls. There were in all about twenty of these houses. We were told that the houses were built in this manner to keep them from being crushed by the heavy snows in winter. The villagers soon began to gather and Emil talked to them for a few moments. It was arranged that a meeting should be held the following afternoon and couriers were sent out to notify those of the neighborhood who wished to attend.
We were told that John the Baptist had lived at this village and received instruction in the temple and that the temple remained the same as when John received his instruction there. We were shown where the house had been torn down. That afternoon, when we returned to the temple, the weather had cleared so that we could see a wide expanse of country and we were shown the trail that John had used in going to and from the temple and the different villages where he lived. The temple was supposed to have been built and the village established more than six thousand years before John visited there. We were shown the trail we would take when we departed and were told the trail had been in use since the temple was built. About five o’clock that afternoon, our friend of the records said he would leave us for a time. He then shook hands, saying he would see us soon and disappeared.
That evening we saw the most remarkable sunset from the roof of the temple that I have ever witnessed and it has been my good fortune to have seen sunsets in nearly all lands. As evening advanced, a light haze was gathering over a low range of mountains that bordered a wide expanse of table lands which we could look down upon. When the sun reached this rim, we were seemingly so far above it that it appeared as if we were looking directly down upon a sea of molten gold. Then came the afterglow and every mountain peak appeared to be aflame. Those in the distance that were covered with snow seemed to be blanketed with fire and, where glaciers filled the ravines, it appeared as though they were shooting forth great tongues of fire and these flames appeared to meet and melt with the different hues in the heavens. The lakes that dotted the plain below were transformed suddenly into volcanoes belching forth fires which ascended and blended with the colors in the heavens. For one moment it seemed as if we were standing on the brink of a silent inferno; then all blended into one harmony of color and the soft peaceful quiet was beyond description.
We sat on the roof until after twelve that night asking Emil and Jast questions. These questions pertained principally to the people and the history of the country in general. Emil quoted liberally from their records. These records proved that this country was inhabited thousands of years before our history began. Emil went on to say, “While I do not in any way wish to disparage or make light of your history or of those who wrote it, I will say that at the beginning of this history the historians did not go back far enough, but took for granted that Egypt meant what the name implied, outer darkness or the wilderness. It really meant a wilderness of thought. At that time as now, a large portion of the world was in wilderness of thought and they did not go back of it to get the deeper meaning. They accepted what they saw or heard or what appeared on the surface, recorded it, and your history began. It is quite difficult to correlate the two and I would not attempt to say that you must take ours as authentic. I would suggest that you choose for yourselves.”
The moon then appeared over the far-off mountains. We sat and watched it round and full until it rose nearly overhead. It was a beautiful sight with an occasional light cloud passing by at an elevation just above us. When these clouds went drifting by it seemed as if the moon and clouds were standing still and we were drifting past them. This went on for an hour when, suddenly, there was a noise as of some object thrown to the roof behind us. We started to our feet and looked around. There stood a middle-aged lady, smiling and asking if she had startled us. Our first impression was that she had jumped from the parapet to the roof but she had only stamped her foot to attract our attention.
The stillness had been so intense we had greatly magnified the sound.
Emil stepped forward quickly, greeted her, and introduced us to his sister. She smiled and asked whether she had intruded on our dreams. We then sat down and in a short time the conversation drifted into reminiscences of her experiences. She has three sons and a daughter that had been raised in the work. She replied that the youngest two were always with her. We asked if we might see them. She replied that they could come there that evening; and immediately two figures, a man and a woman, appeared. They greeted their uncle and their mother, then came forward and were introduced to the three of us. The son was a tall, erect, manly fellow, whom we took to be about thirty years of age. The daughter was not tall, rather slight, with very fine features; she was a fine, well-poised girl, whom we judged about twenty years of age. Afterwards, we found that the son was one hundred fifteen and the daughter was one hundred twenty-eight years old. They were all to be present at the meeting the next day and soon went below.
After they had retired we passed complimentary remarks about the son and daughter. The mother turned to us and said, “Every child born is good and perfect. There are no bad children. It does not matter whether they are conceived in the perfect or immaculate or through the sense or material way. The one conceived in the perfect way will soon recognize his Sonship with the Father, that he is the Christ or Son of God; then he will develop and unfold quickly and he will see only perfection. The one conceived through the sense way may also immediately recognize his Sonship, perceive that the Christ is in him, and may realize his perfection by idealizing the Christ. He gazes upon that ideal, loves and cherishes it until he manifests or brings forth that which he gazes upon, the
Christ. He is re-born and is perfect. He has brought forth perfection from within himself, that perfection which was always there. The one held to the ideal and was perfect; the other perceived the ideal and unfolded that ideal, and regained perfection. Thus no child is bad; all are good and from God.” Here one of the party suggested that it was bedtime, as it was past twelve o’clock.
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