The Unpretenders - Chapter 24

Isobel had texted me even before I'd left the building. "You nailed it again," she wrote, followed by a smiley. Or, rather, I thought it was a smiley. Upon closer inspection, however, I saw that it was actually a wink. Which seemed a little strange, given the comment. What could she possibly be implying with a wink, I wondered, in reference to carpentry? Perhaps she was trying to warn me that I was developing a messiah complex. Or perhaps she was somehow being used to prepare me for the fact that I was, indeed, going to become the next Messiah. Admittedly these were crazy thoughts, on one level. But after everything that had happened, I found it hard not to entertain them.

Julian high-fived me when I met him in the foyer. "You heard it then?" I said.

"Every word," he confirmed. "You were brilliant."

"Not too preachy?"

"Not at all. You pitched it just right. Well done."

"Thanks. I did my best."

Meanwhile, outside, a crowd had gathered to watch the freerunners performing a routine. Melody had just dropped to the ground, from a second-storey ledge, and the amazed spectators were whistling and applauding in response. "Is there any limit?" I wondered aloud. "You know, to the power of words over the physical?"

"The physical is made of words, in a sense," Julian explained.

"In what sense?"

"In the sense that everything you see is thought within consciousness."

"So you're saying that objects are made out of thought?"

"There really aren't any independent objects in existence, any more than there are independent objects on a television screen. And yet there certainly appears to be. In a similar way, the physical experience is made out of language, not in the sense that ice is made out of water, but rather in the sense that an image is made out of the screen upon which it is appearing. Only, in this case, that screen is God. That screen is you, Sophie. Which means that there isn't - and can never be - anything 'out there'."

"So the power of language to influence the screen is limitless?"

"Not the screen."

"Sorry, I mean the image on the screen."

"Yes, the ability of words to effect the image is only limited by the filter of individual conditioning, through which they first must pass; the guardian at the gate. And really that's what this crowd is applauding, whether they realise it or not: the transcendence of individual conditioning. Certainly most of them would struggle to match these feats, even in a lucid dream, such is the weight of their own conditioning. What you've just done is no less impressive, however."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because the taboo against knowing our true identity is the hardest conditioning of all to overcome. It's almost hard-wired into us, in fact. Anyone can say the words, of course, or reach some intellectual understanding. But few will ever admit the truth publicly, and with conviction, as you just did."

Leaving the spectacle behind, we strolled back to the Audi and headed for home. Julian picked up where he left off: "Remember, conditioning has created the mask of identity that stands in opposition to your true self; your true will. It represents the resistance that some souls felt they needed in order to make their eternal existence more tolerable. That's what this whole masquerade ball is about, after all. And you can see that primal need mirrored in all aspects of human behaviour."

"For example?"

"Well, what's the first thing that someone might do when they're bored?"

"Play a computer game."

"Right. That's resistance. A programmed enemy or opponent. What else?"

"Sport."

"Again, resistance. Only, a real opponent this time."

"Watch a movie."

"That's the depiction of resistance as entertainment."

"Yeah, I suppose it is. There's always a protagonist trying to overcome something or other."

"You see, Sophie, people aren't even satisfied with the resistance that life on Earth naturally provides. They also go looking for it in games, in sport, or as entertainment. Even the news is a kind of resistance, to the peace and harmony that we all ultimately long for."

"So wanting resistance is wrong then?"

"It's not wrong. But neither is it necessary; not to the extent that it's experienced here on Earth. Most beings, believe it or not, live quite blissfully without any significant challenge in their lives, or even the depiction of challenge."

"I think I can see where you're going with this, Julian."

"You can?"

"Yes, you perceive my embarking on this community idea as a kind of unconscious avoidance... of the easy life."

"And is it?"

"Not as far as I'm concerned. I mean, I know there'll be challenges involved, but that's not why I'm doing it. I'm not addicted to resistance, if that's what you're implying. I don't need to prove anything to myself."

"So long as you know the difference between egoic pleasure and sensual pleasure. It was the former that took us out of Eden, remember, not the latter."

"That's interesting. I've never thought about it like that before."

"Eden offered every pleasure imaginable, bar one: egoic pleasure. That most illicit of indulgences that only duality could satisfy; the illusion of otherness; a winner and a loser. The personal ego, therefore, can never come into the light, because everything that it wants is in the darkness. The ego can never know oneness because it depends upon twoness for its continued existence. The ego can only ever be taken off and left behind, like an old coat."

"Or an old mask. Yes, I understand. But I really don't have very much of an ego."

"Not now, no. But I see a danger, as things progress..."

"I know. And thank you for pointing that out."

"Remember, the high achievers in this world tend to be the furthest from God, by definition. Unless, of course, they're doing God's will."

"Do you think that I might be doing God's will, with regard to this New Eden project?"

"I'll tell you when I've tasted the fruits of your efforts."

"You want to taste my fruits?" I queried.

Just then, I received a text message from Isobel: "Warn Julian to expect trouble. There's a mob outside with placards and s**t."

But it was too late to warn him, because we could already see them for ourselves!