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Dusk at the Pyramids

Time passed, and I now found myself thousands of miles away in the Middle East. I was now observing a bus unloading a group of tourists from Germany. I had decided on my day off here in Cairo to rent a van and come out here on my own. As I gazed upon this fantastic landscape, I heard the tour guide's explanation of the purpose of the pyramids of Giza. It was haunting to watch the golden sunset begin behind this great wonder of the world.

After taking in the haunting landscape, I turned my gaze elsewhere and noticed that the tour guide was wearing the traditional garb of the desert people. Yet interestingly she spoke in the most modern, proper English. After she completed her final summation, I walked over to her and told her how delightful her presentation was. I mentioned that I caught the last part, and was intrigued by her insistence that a subtle magic permeated the area.

She thanked me for my feedback, and we walked back together to the bus for the German tourists. I mentioned that I was here on a free day, and was getting away from the intense project I was working on here in Egypt. She then asked me about it, and I explained that I actually knew very little. I told her that my involvement was limited to connecting the web site to a back end database of secret information. I mentioned that the project had something to do with a cumulative knowledge base of human consciousness. I also indicated that there were some strange goings on surrounding the project that I didn't understand, though I didn’t dare get into the the phenomenon Satish described in Bangalore.

She raised her head, and said: "I knew it! I felt a presence around you.”

"My name is Francine Alfassa," she continued. "I have a few minutes before we drive back to the hotel in Cairo. Perhaps you'd like to get a beverage."

We then walked a few hundred meters to the refreshment area, sat down with our drinks, and exchanged a few pleasantries about the the freshness in the air and beauty of the sunset. Now where the sun had gone down, the sky began to turn crimson. For a half hour, we gazed silently as the sky changed from pale red to an inky blue. We were lost in the silence of that moment.

After awhile, I turned to Francine, reached into my wallet, and once again produced the card for Growth Online; wondering if it would elicit a response anything like Jason’s.

"This is a card for a personal growth web site I visit on occasion. There are some interesting ideas presented there: insights that I have not read anywhere else. Many of the ideas are fantastic: things I've never come across before."

"Yes I am not surprised that you have found such a place. The atmosphere around you is filled with light." she remarked.

"How so?"

She was about to explain, but then hesitated. She looked down at the ground, and then looked back up at me and began to explain.

"You see, I am part of a group of woman who have embraced a number of revolutionary ideas about human consciousness. Our group is spread around the globe, and communicate with one another through our computers and smartphones. We don't have a public website, yet we share our experiences regularly. We are performing an experiment in human evolution. Not with drugs, or genetics, or exercises, but with consciousness. We believe that we have found several of the keys that can help an individual live as long as he or she wants to. In other words, we are learning to overcome illness, sickness -- even death itself."

"This is fascinating. Please tell me more." I said with journalistic curiosity.

"You see there was a woman in India who actually tried through efforts of consciousness to overcome the limits of the human body. She learned to bring down a spiritual Force, which could end physical suffering -- even overcome the deterioration of the cells of her body and thus the inevitability of death. She made bounding strides, and succeeded to a large degree, achieving something no one on earth had ever done before. She was somehow able to to commune with the very cells of her body -- i.e. actually have a kind of dialogue with them, and eventually gained their cooperation in her transformational attempt. She reached the point where she was able to beat back illness and pain; where the cells were no longer decaying and dying; where there was the possibility of prolonging life indefinitely. By opening to the spirit, the consciousness and programming of the cells had begun to change to the point that they themselves felt the possibility of their own immortality!

You see, in recent years we have taken up that monumental effort, though in a more modest way. For after all, she was already a realized soul before she even got into the physical transformation business. We are not anywhere near that point. Still, what we have achieved of late has really been a marvel.”

Francine paused for a moment, but then began again breathlessly. “You see, before the cells of the body acquire this capacity, -- this willful aspiration and power to overcome suffering and death, -- we have to establish a more solid footing. That is, we need to become more whole and integrated beings before we make the physical change. Specifically, we need to shed our limiting habits, our wanting attitudes, and all the rest. We have to put our psychological and spiritual house in order before we can tackle the body’s capacity for unending life -- for immortality.

Thus, the physical transformation comes much later -- after the emotional and psychological change has taken place. In fact, we first have to come in contact with the spiritual Reality, its Force, and apply it in the details our lives before we can begin to engage in the more dramatic physical transmutation.

This radical change in the condition of the body is really the final frontier of human evolution. It is the most difficult type of conversion to bring about. Much harder than changing our psychological condition. That is because the body is so inflexible; is so tied to old habits; is programmed through hundreds of millennia to act and respond in a limited, unconscious way. And so an effort to overcome these limits requires a great deal of calm, equality of being, purity, and inner development. That will in turn serve as the foundation for this much more challenging and difficult physical transformation and change.”

Francine looked up at me, smiled broadly, and then continued. “From what you say, it sounds as if your project and this Growth Online site would be of great benefit to us since we need to improve our psychological makeup before we embark on this more challanging physical work."

 

There was a pause in her narrative. I then considered her surprising proposal. Then, in a low, soft voice, I responded.

"The program we are working on is supposed to take this knowledge about personal growth and turn it into an expert system of some sort that you take with you everywhere. It measures your capacities, strengths and weaknesses, and develops a personal profile for you. Then as you come up against particular circumstances in life, it suggests what you could do to invoke an immediate, positive responses from life. When you then take up that advice, you attract sudden good fortune!

I don't really understand the specifics, but I think the program could be helpful to you and the members of your group.” I then paused for a moment. “Sometimes, it seems to have a mind of its own. In fact, I know of someone who had this strange experience in Bangalore in which ..."

I stopped myself cold, realizing that I could not breach this taboo subject.  Satish had asked me to promise to keep it under wraps. I then took a deep breath and continued.

"Well I'm not sure I can talk about that, but anyway I can send you a beta copy of the software when it's ready. We do need several people to test out the program. Does that sound like something you would be interested in?"

"Yes, absolutely, it sounds fascinating! We can definitely help one another. After all, we also have some experience in this area. We may know things that could be built into the smarts of follow-up versions of the program. I know we are talking in generalities here, but I sense that we really can definitely collaborate!”

Francine then looked at her watch, pursed her lips, and abruptly got up. "I've got to go. They are probably wondering where I disappeared to!"

She wrote down her phone number on the blank side of her business card, and apologized for breaking off at this point. She told me to get in touch when our program was available.

Suddenly, I was alone in the darkness. I leaned back and saw the first evening stars twinkling above. It then dawned on me that I was now part of a startling and mysterious adventure.