Conversations with Men who Don’t Die

Dwttiz would be called an anthropologist on Earth and belongs to the same long-lived species as Ahat, who has been the resident Adjudicator on Earth for more than 10,000 years. Dwttiz has caught Ahat in a rare moment of calm, as he strives to save the human species from it’s self-destructive, and Gaia-destructive, patterns of behavior.

Dwttiz: “I’ve been wondering if your time with Buddha and Jesus, whom you call Issa, helps you understand how the human species can be reached now. You have already shared with me that Buddha felt you could develop an eternal soul, even though our species was created without one; and that possibility fascinates me on a personal level. But we, with you at the center, are trying to find a way for the human species to survive. Do the teachings of those great beings suggest how to halt this drive to self-destruction?”

Ahat: “I’ve been thinking a lot about how Issa would tell people to just accept it when those in power impose requirements that have no benefit for them.”

Dwttiz: “That seems relevant to the situation on Earth now, where so much is deeply embedded in systems of production and exchange that inflict terrible side-effects on the powerless and on Earth Herself.”

Ahat: “For instance, when someone asked him about paying taxes imposed by a Roman overseer, which were not used to benefit the people burdened by those taxes, he said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto our Father in Heaven the things that are His.” That distinction made a lot of sense back then, and provided a way to protect what was most important. But it left something important out. Now, 2000 years later, that missing element has become critical.”

Dwttiz: “How did you interpret those words back then? And what is different now?”

Ahat: “As you and I both know, our training to become monitors on other worlds taught us that no living being survives the death of their body. We were taught that belief in an afterlife is a delusion that just causes indigenous species to squander the only life they have. With that background, I was deeply perplexed by Issa’s promise that there is a place after death that is greater than the world in which those around him had to live with so much pain. You and I have since directly witnessed the truth of Issa’s promise, but back then I couldn’t fully accept anything I couldn’t verify in my own experience.”

Dwttiz: “And how do Issa’s words back then appear different now?”

Ahat: “I was deeply affected back then by Issa’s distinction between dealing with the external challenges of living in a world and nurturing an inner being that innately understands what is most precious about life. It was important to me back then that the truth of this distinction didn’t require the existence of another phase of life after this present one, even though Issa spoke as through such a future could be counted on. Of course, if there is an eternal soul looking out from this body, which survives it, that changes a lot. But whether or not there is an eternal soul that survives death, doesn’t alter the wisdom of hearkening to our present inner being–to that part of us which hasn’t been put together out of social conditioning and the bargains-of convenience we adopt to get by in this world.

“But over time, this claim that our inner being comes from and will return to an eternal domain—to our true home with “Our Father in Heaven” — has contributed to a terrible reality here on Earth.”

Dwttiz: “Why has this formulation become such a problem? Is it the use of Father instead of Mother? Is it the seeming identification of a mystical abode, called Heaven, that offers a destination more important that any goal we can form here on Earth? Does this bifurcation between the secular and the sacred leave something out? Has it given free rein to worldly power since this world itself isn’t ultimately important? And is there another reality more fundamental than any waystation we can identify, in which everything arises and falls away like mists on a morning lake?”

Ahat looked at Dwttiz and was tempted to remark on his New Testament love of metaphor, but just then he received a message about a financial magnate who was making moves to sell bottled water in a drought-plagued area. He would ask Dwttiz to brainstorm with him how to handle this situation, but they had enough time to finish up their present conversation.

Ahat: “All those elements are certainly in play. Two thousand years ago, humanity didn’t have to be acutely aware of the cost of taking from Gaia whatever they needed. Gaia was not then on her deathbed. She was a young mother well able to give bounteously to her children, while only receiving an occasional nod of thanks in return. But now she has given all she has to give and is deeply suffering.

“When Issa gave his response to a question about taxes, he didn’t mention Gaia. He made a distinction between God in Heaven and secular leadership on Earth, because that answered the immediate concern of the questioner. I understood Issa at the time to be suggesting that there are better ways of using the gift of a human life than rotting in prison because you have decided to make an ineffective gesture against unjust taxes.”

Dwttiz: “I’m still not clear what you now feel was incomplete in that advice given two thousand years ago, and how it relates to the current problems that plague humanity? Is it just that humanity has reached a point where even a sincere belief in God-in-Heaven lacks the power to affect the secular forces sweeping across this world?”

Ahat: “I’m thinking of something more specific. The World of Caesar is not the same as the World of Gaia. And neither is ‘Our Father in Heaven’ the same as the World of Gaia. By conflating the living world with those who rise to power in it, humanity is in danger of forgetting that fathers only arise through mothers. Even a ‘Father in Heaven’ can only be known on Earth because those who know Him have come into life through Gaia, their mother. The present urgent task facing humanity is to finally understand that there are not just two poles but three, which unify their reality. The human species must recognize that they can no longer afford to render unto Caesar what really belongs to Mother Earth.”

Dwttiz: “Is there any possibility of influencing religious perspectives at this late date, to give Mother Earth the seat at the table she deserves?”

Ahat: “I’m trying to do that. And I hope you can help me to straddle a balance between using our powers too forcefully, which will ultimately create subterranean energies of an opposite valance, and idly standing by while Gaia is irrevocably destroyed along with her other children. So far, I’ve done little but steer resources to churches and other organizations that provide direct aid to what Issa called “the least among us”. But far more is needed if humanity’s relationship with Earth is to become healthy in a sustainable way.

“Now, I’d appreciate your help with an issue that falls entirely in the realm of Caesar. There’s an investor who keeps trying to push his way into the space between production and consumption, then syphoning off from an inflated selling price for a product to which nothing real has been added. He’s like a pick pocket who gets a job greeting customers, in order to fleece them. As I said a moment ago, now he is angling for a way to sell bottled water in a region of drought with his invisible mark-up included in the price. I’d like your help in figuring out how we can divert all that skill and energy into a more productive use of his knowledge of how financial exchanges work.”