Mesopotamia - The Redeemer (27 page)

Sophia shuddered. Thales'
determination surprised her, but she disapproved of his cold
attitude toward violence.

“Wait,” she said, “we need to
consider a few issues first. What about the inhabitants of
Samos?”

“Aren't you going to tell them?”
asked Enosh.

Thales and Sophia exchanged
glances. Finally, she answered him. “I think that it would not be
proper to include them in this discussion.” Thales nodded in
approval. Sophia imagined that she would be unable to convince them
to ignore the Pythagorean pacifism in which they were entrenched.
Meeting Enosh had transformed her and Thales; they were no longer
like the rest of the people in Samos. Nevertheless, she found it
difficult to come to terms with the possibility that all of them
would perish without the chance to prepare or defend
themselves.

She furrowed her brow and spoke
quietly. “Thales, Enosh and I will stay at a distance. You will
take my place in the daily management of the station. I must focus
on my Socratic training. As Octavians, the residents of Samos will
not be able to undergo a transformation of consciousness in the
remaining ten days. If we have to try to reeducate them by engaging
in ethical debates and facing opposition from them, we won't be
able to focus on the most important part. In any event, they have
nothing to contribute to the cause: neither influential nor martial
capabilities. At this stage, we will not tell anyone. We'll
reevaluate the situation later based on what develops. In the
meantime, we'll adjust the radar computer so that it appears to the
on-duty scout as though it was a mistake, and from now on we will
delete the Gnostics from the radar.”

Enosh was struck by Sophia's
analytical and decision-making skills and shot her a look of
admiration. Sweeping decisions such as the kind facing Sophia now
were liable to impair anyone's judgment.

“At this point in time, we will not
disrupt the daily routine of Samos,” concluded Sophia. The men
nodded in agreement.

Enosh and Sophia sat together in
the sample room surrounded by planetary models that orbited
them.

“I'll begin with a preface
detailing the differences between the cultures in physical
terms.”

“I'm all ears.”

“You Pythagoreans believe the basic
molecule of nothingness, the single chord from which the universe
inflated during the Big Bang, is one form of unity. You believe
that the entire universe that emerged from it, like a flower
emerging from a bud, is an expression of unity, due to the
magnificent order of the different components of the universe.”

“Very correct. You have understood
us.”

“The Gnostics agree with you that
the primordial particle of nothingness, the single chord, is indeed
an entity that is completely empty and expresses complete unity to
which they aspire. However, according to their view, from the
instant the Big Bang occurred forward, the universe became more and
more chaotic. They correlate the chaos of the Big Bang with the
myth of Yaldabaoth, the demiurge creator. The primordial particle
is attributed to the pure Yaldabaoth in the tower of Nothingness,
the heavenly pleroma, while everything else that happened since
then, such as the Big Bang and even your and my existence, is a
consequence of Yaldabaoth's sin of bringing chaos into the world.
We could have engaged in a metaphysical debate over this point, if
only the Gnostics were not already on their way here to correct
Yaldabaoth’s misdeeds.”

“I understand that they are driven
by ideological fervor based on solid internal logic,” she said.
“They are not simply erratic lunatics. They will not back down
easily.”

Enosh nodded in agreement. “The
module is designed to reverse the developmental process of the
universe. The Gnostics intend to use the module to cause the
universe, or at least the galaxy, to contract and collapse into the
magnificent and compacted unity that existed before the Big
Bang.”

“And they are capable of achieving
this with the module.”

“Yes,” replied Enosh, his face
grave.

Sophia averted her gaze. “And what
drives you, the Atheists?”

“The key word for us is passion.
You see the understanding of the universe, the development of
physical laws and the ensuing technological tools are all a result
of the scientist's passion. In the twentieth century, we discovered
that the subatomic phenomena behaved according to the scientists'
passion. Scientists who were eager to differentiate themselves from
their environments believed in distinct subatomic particles, while
scientists who were eager to blend in and belong interpreted the
subatomic spatial behavior as a wave. Both camps found that their
observations correlated with their findings and developed their
technological advancements accordingly. Therefore, we believe that
the basic form of the universe is neither nothingness or actuality,
chaos or order, dissonance or unity, but rather passion
itself.”

He waited for the flash of
understanding to illuminate her eyes and then continued, “The most
basic component of the universe is passion.”

“How is all of this related to the
preparations for the encounter with the Gnostics?”

“The models of the universe are
also models of consciousness. We, the Socratics, draw inspiration
from the realm of physics of the creational constant in order to
conceptualize conscious and relative processes.”

“Go on.”

“The principle of the creational
constant dictates that actuality is composed of molecules of
nothingness.”

“Correct.”

“And the element that determines
the nature of a substance or energy is the arrangement of these
molecules.”

“Correct.”

“That is to say, the nature of a
substance is a result of its structure.”

“Correct.”

“This is true for consciousness and
relationships as well. Consciousness is determined by
relationships, which are in turn determined by structure.”

“Continue.”

“Now we're getting down to the
essence of it.” Enosh grasped one of the balls in the planetary
model and halted the motion of the remaining balls. “Each one of
the three cultures has its own conscious stance. The Pythagoreans
are engaged in perfection, the Gnostics in nothingness and the
Socratics in passion. But each one independently, as well as all of
us together, revolve around the conscious stance that each one
formulated as well as around the collective relative axis.”

“What do you mean?”

“It's like a planet that rotates on
its own axis in a daily rotation, as well as on its outer rotation
around the sun in its yearly orbit.”

“I understand.”

“The principle of an internal axis
and an external axis is true for planets, as well as for electrons
that spin on an internal axis while orbiting the nucleus of an
atom, and also for souls and cultures.”

“So there are orbits with
Pythagorean, Gnostic or Socratic characteristics?”

“Precisely. Look at it as though
the orbit around the internal axis is the conscious stance of the
person. The characteristics of the orbit are determined by its
position in the structure, that is to say, its position in the
circular path.”

He rose and began slowly pacing the
circular room while still holding the tiny planet that he had
detached from the kinetic model. “This planet represents me. I was
required to disconnect myself from the Socratic culture and from
the Socratic structure, which had determined the Socratic rotation
that I had been inside, in order to penetrate the Pythagorean
structure. I achieved this by forgetting my identity.”

She looked at him, waiting for an
explanation.

“When I penetrated the Pythagorean
structure, I altered the balance that had previously existed
here.”

He returned the planet to the model
and set in into motion with a touch of his finger. “When a planet
is pushed into the model, the other planets change their position
in the orbital path. The change of location also creates a change
in each of the planets' rotations.”

“I understand the comparison,” she
said. Her voice evinced impatience. “But what does this have to do
with the Gnostics?”

“The structure has three positions:
the Pythagorean perfection, the Socratic passion and the Gnostic
nullification. As a Socratic, my starting point is one of passion.
I transformed from passion to nothingness, from a position of a
desire to influence you to a position of ignorance, while not
knowing who I was or what I wanted. As a Socratic, I had to
transform from a mode of passion to a mode of nothingness, which I
did. And now you, as a Pythagorean, must transform from a mode of
perfection to one of passion, which you are doing.”

Sophia blushed. Enosh continued.
“The Gnostic must shift from nullification to perfection, and you
must aid him in this process. You must enable him to experience
actuality, to experience the return of what he has lost. By
vacating my position of passion, I created a vacuum, which drew you
into the position of passion and removed you from a position of
perfection. Because I did not know who I was, I stirred within you
the desire to want something for me. This in turn caused you to be
receptive to desire in the form of emotions toward your father,
emotions which had no place as long as you were in a state of
perfection. And regarding your question of how this is all related
to the Gnostics, here is your answer: They are coming from a place
of nullification. In your encounter with the Gnosis, when you pass
from a modality of perfection to one of passion, you are vacating a
place for them and thereby drawing them from their position of
nothingness to a position of perfection.” Enosh traced a diagram on
the light display with his finger:

“Is that like a vortex that creates
smaller vortices? Or like a small cog of consciousness, whose
rotation generates movement in a larger cog of relationships, which
in turn sets another small cog in motion, which is someone else's
consciousness?” asked Sophia.

“Precisely,” exclaimed Enosh
exuberantly. “If you understand the concept of enacting a conscious
change by rearranging the structure, I will then proceed to the
next topic: How small changes lead to larger changes in a chain
reaction.”

“I'm with you,” said Sophia.

Enosh moved to and fro about the
room, taking small steps. He waved his arms and turned his head as
if he were searching for something. “Like the chain reaction of the
Big Bang and the universe coming into being, so too is the
influence of consciousness to consciousness. Our purpose is to set
in motion a chain of influence that begins on a small scale and
then increases as it progresses. In practice, the influence happens
from person to person. When I influenced you, I initiated a chain
reaction. You will influence one Gnostic and he will in turn
continue the chain by influencing another Gnostic and so on and so
forth, until it reaches a critical mass of Gnostics who have been
influenced, at which point a communal transformation can occur.”
Enosh relaxed in his chair.

“How do the Gnostics view
themselves when in a modality of nullification, and how are they
supposed to view themselves when in a modality of perfection? What
needs to be done in order to initiate the chain reaction and cause
that change in them?”

“How do they view themselves in a
modality of nullification?” He rubbed his hand over the stubble of
his beard. “Well, in order to imbue meaning in the destruction of
the Earth and in order to extract the destruction from the
isolation of private experience, a portion of the refugees invented
a certain way of thinking. This stance maintains that destruction
is part of a shared fate. A fate shared not only by other Earth
refugees, but also with the Gnostic Gods and the entire universe.
Perceiving nothingness as a cosmic principle transforms it into a
value of spiritual significance in the individual's
consciousness.”

“Give me an example.” Her brow
wrinkled in concentration.

“Throughout history, there are
innumerable examples of situations in which an individual who has
experienced the trauma of loss imbued the tragic event with a
cosmic significance. Take for example the Jewish refugees who were
expelled from Spain in the middle of the second millennium. They
developed a concept of an exiled God as part of their
metaphysics—the Kabbalah. Or take the Aztecs, who developed a
theology of a God who was thirsty for human blood, which reflected
their own thirst following a devastating drought. The same
principle applies with our refugees at hand. By belonging to the
Gnostic tradition, they tied their personal destruction to the
destruction of the universe and thereby lent a form to their
concept of nothingness. They imbued meaning in their personal
tragedy by placing it in a cosmic context.”

“And how should they perceive
themselves in a position of perfection?”

“The Gnostics gave up the
experience of perfection that is so lacking in their lives. The
moment that the good world in which they lived had been taken from
them, they chose to give up on the idea of perfection in order to
spare themselves the inherent frustration brought about by yearning
for something that no longer exists. This is how they developed the
belief that purports that nothingness is the only reality. Our
purpose is to enable them a little taste of perfection in order to
undermine their metaphysical worldview that is based on
nullification. Out of the reality brought about by this connection,
they should be able to experience actuality and wholeness, even
momentarily; just for the sake of contradicting and undermining the
overwhelming nothingness that overpowers them.”

“And what must I do in order to
bring about this change in them?”