'Hey, hey, hey!' cried Milplat, raising his voice. 'Enough of that, please! You sound as if you're on their side! What's got into you? Did they get to you? How much of this eulogy to anarchy is Lemurian? How much of it is Dr Jordan Karpachian? I didn't know you were an armchair anarchist, Jordan?'
The team of onesies laughed nervously, one or two cheering and raising their fists and bottles in a mock gesture of solidarity.
'I don't deny that I sympathise with what they think of us wheelies, Mimplat. You can call it anarchy you like.'
'We're public servants, Jordan! ' argued Milplat. 'We're not paid to be rabble rousers. You should be grateful for what you have. We're doing a valuable service back home. What do you think would happen if children didn't go to school? You're a father yourself, aren't you? What kind of a society would Atlantis become, for God's sake?'
'Lemurian?'
'The Lemurians, Jordan, don't believe in God, isn't that so?' interjected Salpo, with a smile and a soothing voice, from Religious Services and Institutions. 'They don't believe in a life after death, do they?'
'They're communists!' cried Craxl. 'Not just atheists!'
'They certainly don't believe in a life before death!' muttered Mimplat aloud to everybody's amusement.
'I think if you were to ask them that yourself, Salpo,' I replied, 'they would say that matters of life and death are far too important to be left to the fragility of mere belief. That's what they say about reincarnation.'
'Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Salpo!' came a voice from the group.
'I'll remind you, Jordan, that belief is central to all faiths,' counselled Salpo.
'What I meant to say, Salpo, was that belief for them is not a wager. X believes in this god, Y believes in another, Z doesn't believe in either of them. For most people, a belief is directly linked to one's culture or place of birth. Each belief has some bible or ancient book or text or other to support it and lend it some rational credibility. The book itself may be of doubtful progeny or authenticity or may have been altered or redacted or mistranslated or open to various interpretations, so the book too, itself, has to be believed. It's not like that for the Lemurians. They are not interested in what we call belief. They view such a precarious way of stumbling through life as an actual impediment to truth. Lemurians are spiritual, not religious. When they say to believe is to see, rather than to see is to believe, they are talking about trust. To heal or be healed, for example, you need to believe it, you need to trust in yourself, in the healing. Doubt is, I understand, an acceptable aspect of some of the belief-based faiths in Atlantis. Trust, however, harbours no doubt.'
'I suspect you've been converted, Dr Karpathian!' Salpo remarked. 'And in a single day, to boot! I must find out what the trick is and take a leaf out of their book!' he smiled.
Everybody laughed aloud at the priest's response.
'But you haven't answered my question, Jordan. What do they have to say about life after death?'
'Atheism and anarchy! You've been brainwashed, Jordan!' shouted Milplat.
'The Lemurians communicate regularly with their departed, Salpo,' I continued, ignoring the laughs.
'They say that when we die - they call it retUrn - we retUrn to our true state between lives which is pure joy. They also say that we are already living in what you call the afterlife.'
'What?!' bleated Craxl.
'They say that Earth is an integral part of Paradise. We are actually living here, now, in a paradise, they say. However, we, the Atlanteans, have chosen to turn it into a hell. We still choose to turn it into a hell. In our blind folly, we have deprived ourselves of the three basic freedoms, freedom from economic restraint, freedom of expression, freedom from interference. Above all, we have deprived ourselves of our freedom from interference.'
'Of course they'd say that! What do you expect? So what's their rationale for existence? What's it all about? How do they answer that one?'
'Good question, Craxl,' agreed Salpo, nodding sagely.
'According to the Lemurians, Craxl, the reason we chose to be here at all in this 3D world is to interface with, and metabolise, if you wish, the infinite variety of experiences presented to us here on Earth. Clearly, the most enjoyable way to do this is live in the present moment and to know that you are a spiritual being having a human experience and that you are one and that you are all, that you are the drop in the ocean and the ocean in the drop.'
Another applause, to my surprise. Even Salpo clapped, although it was more fingers than hands.
'Is that it?' cried Craxl with his mouth open.
'That's it.'
One of the quieter delegates asked me what everyday home-life was like in Lemuria, a very good question, because I'm sure it'll be the first thing Croescia and Jarok will be asking me when I get back. I had to tell him that I had no idea! Unfortunately, I explained, I never had the opportunity to see inside their homes; being so caught up in my life-changing adventure, I completely forgot to ask them about it.
And so, the questions went on tirelessly for the next hour or so and the alcohol kept flowing, but then I showed them the Master's envelope, and everybody was all agog and insisted that I open it there and then. I told them what the Master had said about not opening it before I got home, but they argued that he was only playing at being the Master with his esoteric riddle just to keep the show on the road and hold me in suspense. What difference would a few hours make? they reasoned. In truth, I felt the same myself, my discernment, at this stage, warped by the alcohol. As long as our intentions were good, I felt, sure what harm was there in it?
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