Maya

MASADA

… “I feel a short review of how we reached this point is important,” continued ben Yair in his solemn tone. “We are the Sikrikim, the dagger-wielding sect within the Zealots—or the Sicarii, as the Romans call us. Our mission has always been to evict the Roman occupiers from our beloved Holy Land, and occupation of this Roman garrison was planned to give us an impenetrable base in such a remote place in the desert that the Romans would not have sufficient appetite to recover their fort. We underestimated their pride and determination. But then they would not have conquered the known world if they were less than that, as we now realize, to our detriment. I believe we have the following alternatives. First to capitulate and accept slavery.”

Immediately, the group responded with no’s, abruptly ending that option.

“We have a limited number of fighters to consider in engaging the Roman legion, and after losing, our surviving men, women, and children would be slaughtered, tortured, and raped and any surviving sold into slavery. I will not even ask whether that is an option to consider. A thousand people escaping in the night is equally impossible. Apart from the inevitable noise, which the Roman night shift guards would hear, even if we all got away, the desolate Negev Desert harbors nothing but heat and thirst. Roman cavalry would quickly find us and cut everyone down.”

“That leaves only one option, and it is undoubtedly the one we must consider,” said Aharon ben Yechezkil (Aaron, son of Ezekiel). “The Romans must not take any of us alive, and the primary debate is whether we feel in terms of our belief in the sacredness of our God-given soul that we have the right to kill ourselves. If we concur under these circumstances, then the next debate is how to do it with minimum fear and pain to our loved ones.”

ANCIENT TIBET

You are my earliest memory as my beloved Chin Ho.

When I ran away from our village Qutuo,

I left you behind.

But soon after, you were in the

Labrang Monastery, looking for me.

You became a disciple and changed your name

to Tenzing to remain with me.

You did all this mainly to be with me,

dearest eternal light of my life.

You taught me the Lion’s Roar martial art for years

as an excuse to be near me.

It saved our lives after the Chinese attack,

bringing us together as a couple.

Now you are following my dream of an ideal community

and are helping me build it.

You love me unconditionally and make love to me

with tenderness and compassion.

You are my soul mate, my beloved, my one and only.

Your support is as constant and reliable

as the rising of the sun and moon.

I live under your safe canopy like stars

always twinkling your love down on me.

How do I capture such love, devotion, and loyalty

in a few rhyming sentences?”

INCA PERU

King Pachakútekk’s conquests took place over a decade, and toward the end of his second decade of rule, the king considered the legacy of his Inca empire. Prince Tupac was the eldest son and, therefore, heir to the throne. Having lived a privileged life in the Quosqo palace, Tupac was trained in all subjects the king considered imperative for a future ruler, including martial arts. But Tupac was no soldier. He had never been to war nor taken up arms against assailants in his sheltered palace life. Now as the prince was in his late teens, King Pachakútekk considered it time to expose Prince Tupac to worldly experiences by sending him to travel throughout the kingdom he was destined to inherit.

 STONE-AGE SOUTHERN AFRICA

The fleeting shape of a leopard creeping into the cave changed the dark outline of the opening and then disappeared from view. Automatically Tsitsi slipped into his planned routine in the event of a leopard attack. His right hand grabbed the spear lying next to him while his left grasped the flint blade knife under his headrest. As he quickly rose, he transferred the knife to his spear hand, freeing his left to lift the leather kaross, an animal skin blanket, to protect his body from an attacking leopard’s claws.

With the back of the spear shaft, he prodded ǂNiqua behind him saying softly, “Leopard in the cave. Blow on the fire embers for light.” He had previously explained his strategy to confront a leopard after !Kwabba’s warning, so ǂNiqua knew exactly what to do. With minimal movement, she immediately rolled over to the fire, pulled her kaross protectively over her and blew on the glowing log embers.

PART II - THE PRESENT

Aaron: Thank you for asking me to chair this series of meetings and share what I have learned and believe. We will be considering specific questions. These include how does life work? Do we have any control over our destinies? Do fate and destiny exist? Is there a God? Do we each have a purpose given by God, and is there a soul? Also, what about reincarnation, karma, and the many other aspects of life that we struggle to understand?

Of course, the short answer is “I don’t know.” But let me rather say, “I don’t know for sure.” However, I do have some pretty strong beliefs in how the fundamentals work, which are entirely different from the older classical explanations, particularly those found competing within various religions. I believe that the sources of my information are credible, and I will share these with you.