When I had paid my respects and said my goodbyes to Lationusi and his companions, we left the village and boarded the flying platform once again, to retire to my doko.
We took a different route this time, flying over large cultivated fields, and pausing long enough for me to admire the crops of wheat which grew there with very large ears. Our route also took us over an interesting looking city - not only were all the buildings ‘dokos’, from the largest to the smallest, but there were also no actual streets linking them.
I understood the reason for this:
the people here were able to move from place to place by ‘flying’ - with or without a Lativok so that proper streets were unnecessary. We passed close by people entering and leaving huge dokos, similar in size to those at the spaceport.
‘These are the ‘factories’ where our food is prepared,’ explained Thao. ‘The manna and the vegetables you were eating yesterday in your doko, would have been prepared here.’
We didn’t stop but flew on, over the city and then over the ocean. Before long, we had reached the island where my doko was situated. Leaving our vehicle in the usual place, we went inside.
‘It’s not really so surprising, my friend. Our food here is prepared in such a way that the calories contained in the food are released at regular intervals over a two-day period. We continue to be nourished without overloading our stomachs. This also allows our minds to remain clear and alert and, after all, our minds must be a priority - isn’t that so❓’ I nodded my agreement.
We helped ourselves to various coloured dishes and a little manna, then, as we enjoyed a glass of hydromel, Thao asked, ‘What do you think of your stay on Thiaoouba, Michel?❓’
‘What do I think of it❓ Perhaps after my experience of this morning, you should rather be asking what I think of the planet Earth❗ It seemed to me during those...
fifteen minutes - that years had passed by. Some moments were, obviously, dreadful, but others were enthralling. May I ask you, why did you take me for that journey in time❓’
‘A very good question, Michel. I am glad you have asked. We wanted to show you that, prior to your present so-called civilisation, there had been, on Earth, ‘true’ civilisations. We didn’t ‘kidnap’ you, as you might say, and bring you several billion kilometres just to show you the beauty of our planet.
‘You are here because you belong to a civilisation that has taken a wrong turn.
Most of the nations on Earth believe themselves to be highly advanced, which is not so. Rather, their cultures are decadent, from the leaders and so-called elite classes. The whole system is distorted.
‘We know this because we have kept a very close watch over the planet Earth, particularly during recent years, as the great Thaora explained to you. We are able to study what is happening in a whole range of ways. We can live among you in physical bodies or in astral presence. We are not just present on your planet - we are able to influence the behaviour of certain of your leaders, fortunately for you.
For example, our intervention prevented Germany from being the first nation to have the use of the atomic bomb, for it would have been disastrous for the rest of the people on Earth if Nazism had triumphed at the end of the Second World War. As you will appreciate, any totalitarian regime signifies a great backward step for civilisation.
‘When millions of people are sent to the gas chambers simply because they are Jews, their murderers cannot pride themselves on being a civilised people.
‘Still less, could the Germans believe themselves to be the chosen people. To act as they did, they had to have fallen lower than any tribe of cannibals.
‘The Russians who send thousands to work in concentration camps and who eliminate thousands more, on the grounds they represent a danger to ‘the regime’ are no better.
‘On Earth, there is a great need for discipline, but ‘discipline’ does not mean dictatorship. The Great Spirit, the Creator himself obliges no creature, human or otherwise, to do anything against their will.1 We all have free will and it is up to us to discipline ourselves in order to improve spiritually.
(1 ‘their will’ was originally ‘its will’. This caused the entire sentence to have a double meaning. WHOSE will❓ Creator or human❓ Of course HUMAN. Sentences like these were repeatedly mistranslated in religious texts, requesting people to submit to ‘God's will’ formulated of course by the clergy to control the crowd.
Free will is absolutely essential to any spiritual evolution. We used plural (creatures, people) to remove the ambiguity. —comment of the Editor based on the clarification of the Author)
‘To impose one’s will on another, in a way which deprives the individual of the privilege of exercising his own free will, is one of the greatest crimes that man can commit.
‘Thao,’ I interrupted, ‘there is something I don’t understand. You say that you prevented the Germans from being the first to have the atomic bomb, but why did you not prevent all countries from having it❓ You must admit that, at the point we have arrived at with atomic arms, we are sitting on a volcano. What do you say of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - don’t you feel in some way responsible❓’
‘Michel, of course you look at such things in a very simplified way. Everything for you is black or white, but there are also many shades of grey. If the Second World War had not been stopped, as it was by the bombing and destruction of those two cities, there would have been many more deaths - three times as many as there were victims of the atomic bombs. As you say in your language, we chose the lesser of the two evils.
‘As I have told you before, we can ‘lend a hand’ but we don’t concern ourselves with the fine details of a situation. There are very strict rules to be followed. The bomb had to exist - just as on all planets it is eventually discovered. Once in existence we can either watch what ensues, as spectators, or we can intervene. If we intervene, it is to give an advantage to the ‘side’ which is most sincere and most respectful of individual liberty.
‘If certain of the leaders who read your book don ‘t believe you, or doubt what is written, challenge them to explain the disappearance of billions of ‘needles’ put into orbit around Earth 1 several years ago. Ask them also to explain the second disappearance of billions more ‘needles’ again put into orbit. They will know what you are referring to, never fear. We are responsible for the disappearance of these ‘needles’, judging them to be potentially disastrous for your planet.
(1 ‘needles’ - 11 years after Michel's adventure, Scientific American, August 1998 (Vol 279, Nr 2, article by N.L.Johnson, p43, (63 in US edition⁉️)) explains: ‘80 clumps of needles (were) released in May 1963 as part of US Department of Defense telecommunication experiment.
The radiation pressure exerted by sunlight (❓❓❓) was to have pushed the tiny needles - all 400 million of them - out of orbit...’ Has anyone ever heard of anything else in the Universe that has been pushed out of orbit by the ‘pressure of sunlight’❓❓ Why do we use rockets❓ To comprehend the situation, I invite you to calculate the MASS of 400 million needles. —Editor’s comment)
‘We do, at times, prevent your experts from ‘playing with matches’ but it is important that our assistance not be relied upon when mistakes are made. If we judge it appropriate to ‘lend a hand’, we do so, but we can’t, and we don’t wish to save you from disaster automatically - that would be to contravene Universal Law.
‘You see, Michel, atomic weaponry seems to cast fear into the hearts of people of Earth, and I admit that it is a sword of Damocles suspended over your heads, but it is not the real danger.