The Rozabal Line (9 page)

'Can you see anyone who is from your present life?'

'Clementine--she's Nana in my present life.'

Vincent was still in a deep hypnotic state. Terry gently probed, 'So why do you think she is here with you again in this life?'

Vincent paused and then replied, 'She seems to be taking care of me, nurturing me, much the same way that I took care of her in our previous lives.'

'Can you see anyone else you recognise?' asked Terry.

'My parents.'

'Present-life or past-life parents?'

'My present-life ones. In my previous life, they were strangers who were simply crossing the street and I was in a hurry to get some wounded soldiers to the hospital.

My ambulance knocked them down!'

'What are you doing?'

'Not much I can do. They are dead. There is a young boy standing at the edge of the road. He's crying! I think he's their son. Oh God! What have I done?'

'Relax, Vincent. What do you think you can learn from what you have done?'

'I caused someone to lose his parents by my carelessness . . . my parents were lost by me in exactly the same circumstances--a car accident!'

'Vincent, I now want you to once again hover above the memories. I will again count backwards from five, and I want you to go deeper, beyond the lifetime that you have just recounted . . . much further . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . .

and what do you see? Where are you now?'

'In Ireland, I think. They have no food.'

'Why? Who are they?'

'There is a famine. The Catholic farmers are starving. I am the Protestant tax-collector. I have betrayed them all. I collect taxes from them that they cannot possibly pay, even if they were to sell themselves!'

'Anyone familiar?'

'Yes, I think so.'

'You think so?'

'Yes. I have a friend. Father Thomas Manning. It's him.'

'Who is he?'

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'He's one of the poor Catholic farmers. I have persecuted him.' Vincent fell silent.

Terry realised he was not getting much out of Vincent, so he quickly shifted gears. 'Let's go deeper, Vincent . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . where are you?'

'A farm in rural India, a palatial house which is on the banks of a beautiful river.'

'Who are you?'

'I'm the son of a landlord. I am a teacher. I have just written a book.'

'Do you love your father?'

'Yes . . . no . . . I don't know. He is supporting the view of the village elders. He does not want me to tamper with the traditions and caste equations of the village. I feel very let down.'

Terry could feel the sweat building up on his forehead as he asked the next question.

'Do you see anyone familiar?'

'Yes. It's you! You! Terry! You are my father! I hate you! You sided with them!'

'Anything to learn?'

'For you. Not me.'

'What?'

'You prevented the truth from emerging. You blocked my path. You will make amends in another life, maybe this one. You will go to any lengths to ensure that the truth emerges.'

Terry digested this information and decided it was time to move on. 'Vincent, hover above the memories again . . . I will again count backwards from five . . . go deeper . . . much further . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . and what do you see?'

'Abwun d'bwaschmaja nethkadasch schmach tete malkuthach nehwe tzevjanach aikana d'bwaschmaja af b'arha.'

'Which language are you speaking in? Is this your native tongue?'

'Hawvlan lachma d'sunkanan jaomana waschboklan chauben aikana daf chnan schvoken l'chaijaben wela tachlan l'nesjuna ela patzan min bischa metol dilachie malkutha wahaila wateschbuchta l'ahlam almin.'62

'Vincent, I cannot understand what you are saying. I want you to float above the scene and see it as an impartial observer . . . I need you to tell me what it is that you see.'

'I am in Yerushalem. I am here on a visit to the great city.'

'Where have you come from?'

'Cyrene. It's in North Africa.'

'What are you doing? Can you see who is around you?'

'The streets are filled with people. The rough stones that line the street have blood on them. There is a lot of shouting. I can see Roman soldiers everywhere.'

'What does Jerusalem look like?'

'Yerushalem? It is the most magnificent city between Alexandria and Damascus, with almost 80,000 people living here. Almost 250,000 visitors are here right now 56

because of the Passover!'63

'Is it very crowded?'

'The pilgrims share the roads with teams of oxen who are hauling huge blocks of limestone. Large-scale construction work is going on. As you approach the city, on the left side is a massive wall around 150 feet high. It's not the temple, merely the platform of the temple! To my right is the upper city where the Jewish priests live in splendour.'

'So the city is being rebuilt?'

'Herod is a great builder. He has built forts, palaces, cities and an artificial harbour. He has rebuilt all the existing meandering streets on a paved grid and has created a palace that is surrounded by a moat and boasts of wondrous water gardens.

He wants to outdo King Solomon.'

'How?'

'Tradition forbids enlarging the temple beyond the size originally constructed by Solomon. Herod has added this gigantic thirty-five-acre platform, on which the temple sits. Some of the stones weigh more than fifty tonnes each.'

'Can you describe the temple?'

'The temple mount has seven entrances, but the main entry is from a stairway on the south side. At the foot of the stairs are shops selling sacrificial animals. There are also baths for ritual purification.'

'What do you do at the temple?'

'Sacrifice. A lamb for Passover, a bull for Yom Kippur, two doves for a child's birth.'

'So, one buys the animals and sacrifices them?'

'Yes, but to buy animals, one has to first change Roman denarii for shekels.'

'What are shekels?'

'Shekels are temple currency--coins that have no portraits on them. They do not contradict Jewish law.'

'What is the temple like?'

'There are thousands of priests and scholars. There is smoke from the pyres as well as the screaming of terrified beasts that are about to be sacrificed. The abattoir smells terrible and there is blood everywhere.'

'How did you come to Jerusalem?'

'Caravan. Goods come in caravans from Samaria, Syria, Egypt, Nabatea, Arabia and Persia. Yerushalem is very cosmo-politan. Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew are spoken here.'

'Are the Romans in charge of the city?'

'Yes, but they do not really control things. In one of the corners of the temple is the Antonia, the great Roman garrison that houses about 3,000 soldiers. Many do not like what Herod has done by virtually demolishing the old temple. He has more or less built a Roman temple. People seem to hate being under Roman rule.'

'Which religions are under Roman rule?'

'Most of the temple elite consists of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Zealots are rather militant in nature whereas the Essenes live in monastic groups 57

outside the city. There is a lot of tension among these groups.'

'What is causing the crowds on the streets?'

'I know the reason . . . I saw it myself. Caiphas, the high priest of the Sanhedrin, has asked Pontius Pilate to crucify this man who is bleeding. People are lining up in the streets to see him. He is being made to carry his crossbeam to Golgotha. The crowds are shouting, "Barabbas! We want Barabbas released!"'

'Anything else?'

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'Vincent, you are again slipping into a language I cannot understand. What did you just say?'

'Greek! They are calling me a Jew in a contemptuous way and are asking me to help him with the cross.'

'Who is telling you this?'

'The Roman soldiers coming down the Mount of Olives.'

'What are you doing?'

'I am lifting up the crossbeam for him. I can see the man's face and body. He has been beaten so savagely that his features have been rendered almost indistinguishable.He is stooping even though I am now taking the entire load of the crossbeam. He is trying to say something to me.'

'What?'

'Nayim mayod Simon. Toda. Hashem Yaazor!'

'You're again speaking in an alien language. I need you to float above the scene so that you can be a neutral observer. Now, what is he saying?'

'Nice to meet you, Simon. Thank you. God shall help. It's Hebrew. How in heaven's name does he know my name?'

'What else can you see around you?'

'The Jewish leaders. They seem to be very excited. They are hurling insults at him. Some women are crying. He is saying to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me. On the contrary, weep for yourselves and for your children! In the days ahead the childless woman will be considered lucky. When the end time comes, men and women will be calling on mountains and the hills to cover them. If they do this when the tree is green, what will they not do when it is dry?"'

'What else can you see or hear?'

'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani.'

'What are you saying, Vincent? What does that mean?' asked Terry.

Vincent continued animatedly. 'I have seen his agony as the hammers pound nails through his body. It's excruciatingly painful when the crossbeam is hoisted by ropes up the vertical post. They have placed two criminals on either side of him.'

Vincent had been in a hypnotic state for close to an hour. Terry was sweating profusely and his pulse was racing. Could this be real? A person in the present day having seen Jesus upfront and alive in a previous life?

'"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" is what he is saying. They have put a sign over his head.'

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'What does the sign read?'

'Iesous o Nazoraios o Basileus ton Ioudaion.'

'What is that?'

'Greek. Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.'

'What else can you see?'

'The soldiers are dividing his clothes among themselves. The crowd is taunting him. They say that he saved others but cannot save himself.'

'Is he replying to them?'

'What's that?'

'Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.'

'What else does he say?'

'Okay. To whom is he saying that and what does it mean?'

'He is talking to one of the criminals. He is promising him that he will take him to Paradise. Two men are sharing a private joke near the cross. One man is commenting that the crucified king of Jews is calling for Elijah. The other fellow is saying, "Let's stay and see if Elijah helps him down!"'

'Anything else?'

'He's thirsty. They aren't giving him water. They are putting something that looks like vinegar. Is it vinegar? I can't quite make out. No wait, it's a combination of a couple of things that they are putting on the sponge at the end of a long stick. They are now putting it to his lips. He's groaning. Wait! He's saying something . . . "Father, I commit my spirit to your hands. It is finished." He seems to have passed out.'

'Is he dead?'

'I can't be sure. He has definitely fainted. He certainly looks dead. The centurion seems nervous. "Surely that good man was a son of God," he is saying. The crowd that has been standing around is now beating their chests with their fists. They are going away.'