Mark was a
farmer. When he reached the age of eighteen, having finished high school with
all its sports and extracurricular activities, the administrators had approached
him to tell him of his role, needed in society, and it had made him exceedingly
glad. All these professions are necessary, and each has its pluses and minuses,
its strong and weak points. Farming was one of the most common occupations
handed to the young, in a society where the excess energy of the twenties, as
well as the relatively raw state of the intellect at that age, was acknowledged
with a wisdom that never interfered with the true profound development of the
soul.
Ah, what a wonderful system it was! A
fellow didn’t have to worry about what he was to do, the society would tell
him, and it would be something that was really necessary. Mark’s choice was to
demonstrate power and flexibility, that he could perform this role, or any other
role, but his heart was with the joy of the people. Kurt had said that any angel
could do any job, so the assignation of jobs could be handled logically, as
people who had worked all their lives and became administrators after the age of
fifty, did their very best to expand the society in careful ways, seeking an
overall beautiful state.
In many cases, the farmers were
offered other occupations as they reached the age of thirty and beyond. There
was no barrier to the most intellectual of professions, since the Nameless kept
the intellect active at every age and every job. He’d have to go back for two
or four years of school, but it would be very focused, and probably combined
with some experience at his next role, so the education could be most effective
at supporting his thoughts and actions there. But Mark didn’t think he wanted
to do anything else, but farming. If he stated that wish to the administrators,
they could probably accommodate him, though if they told him they really could
not use any more farmers, he’d face that reality and accept another role.
The hard physical labor belongs in
the twenties. That much should be obvious to anyone. But some enjoy such labors
in their thirties and beyond, and there are many roles among farmers for
educating and directing the younger generations, and Mark had an idea that’s
what he really wanted. Among the Nameless, the desires of the heart tended to be
rather direct from the Atman or spiritual core, so that what a man wanted, was
what was really best for the world. If told the society needed a biology teacher
more than a lifetime farmer, Mark would accept it and do his best. But he hoped
he could stay out among his green fields, performing the function that could be
seen as central to all civilization.
Among the Nameless, there is
absolutely no social distinction by role. Mark knew that his opinion would be
highly valued by anyone, including the doctors, mathematicians, engineers and
architects. All roles are needful, and a man who performs his role well has done
his duty, thereby gaining all respect. In the early days, some egos had tried to
join in among the Nameless, but they couldn’t get past this barrier. They
expected social distinction. They expected to see some in a superior position.
To see the doctors for the community meeting eagerly with the farmers for some
intellectual discussion after work, boggled their minds. To see the
administrators, aged and venerable, playing “Ultimate Frisbee” with the
youngsters, was more than they could handle. “Surely there must be some
pretense,” the egos thought, but none could be found.
As a farmer in his commune, Mark was
heavily supported by logic, so that he like the others worked an ordinary eight
hour day, except in certain periods such as harvest. This gave him substantial
free time, like everyone had, and at the commune there were nightly seminars,
where small groups would meet to discuss novels, philosophy, science,
mathematics, and other topics. Sometimes a person would set up a seminar and no
one would attend, or perhaps there would be two or three. The public spaces were
available, and if no one was interested the poor chap would need to reconsider
if his topic were valuable to the main, and if there were few they might need to
meet in private quarters. But that was what life was all about. You have an
interest, you interact with others.
Not only this, there were many forms
of recreation occurring nightly. Kurt had written that he wanted to see God’s
children out laughing on the green, which might mean the men gathering for a
game of horseshoes on a summer evening, or the women playing bocce ball. Or, it
might mean the women playing horseshoes, and the men playing bocce ball! The
women had been the biggest surprise among the Nameless. They had emerged
powerful of intellect, and machines had mostly leveled off the weakness of their
bodies, which the Creator had intended to reflect the gentleness of the female
nature.
So Mark, in his twenties, had been
given sufficient direction for his energies, that he would farm in the day and
engage in recreation at night, perhaps exercising the intellect directly in the
seminars, or perhaps mainly relaxing. Like most, he chose a mixture of these
two, a few nights per week attending seminars, other nights following
recreation. Like everyone among the Nameless, Mark was committed to daily
meditation. Kurt had said it right, like many others to follow him, that
meditation makes life holy. From meditation, you posture from above the senses,
emphasizing the pure spiritual nature of the soul. Without meditation you live
only in the senses. The Nameless engaged in daily meditation, from the age of
sixteen, to keep the core of spirit imminent in every situation. You are a
spiritual being first, then the senses are encountered. In meditation you are
completely serious, aware of what is above the senses. After meditation you
enter life not as a sense reflection, but as a spiritual man or woman, the body
as an afterthought.
Meditation is also a social activity.
You come to “know” the people around you, not just from daily encounters,
but from seeing their eyes closed in profound meditation, awareness raised above
the body in spiritual seriousness and ecstasy, before they talk with you. The
communes therefore all had meditation halls with sufficient space for everyone,
and no one ever failed to be present every morning. It was in some ways the
sweetest part of every day, that you are with profound entities who care deeply
over the questions of existence and awareness. From that platform, all other
activities develop.
The commune situation was awkward in
some respects compared to the town model followed by the “other world.” But
the noble people wanted to spend time in close proximity so much, that they
always found ways to do every needful task, from communities rather than
families. Some were agricultural communes with some manufacturing, others were
manufacturing communes with some agriculture.
But the people just got such a thrill from being together, that they found ways
to get everything done, across the generations. The Nameless are powerful souls.
They are not satisfied with four or five “dear ones,” as it is among the
egos in their families. Each of them is capable of having a thousand or more
“dear ones,” and if they move from one commune to the next, they know they
can love the others there for their noble traits.
Mark didn’t understand how things
operated in the other world. As a youth, he had few ideas of what could help
society, but he was eager to support the joy of everyone. Among the Nameless, if
you did your job, you got what everyone else received. You’d never have to
worry over a house or food. Medical care and dental care were given freely to
all, within the ability of response according to knowledge and resources.
Watching the other world, it was obvious those people would stop working, if
they didn’t get a selfish reward. Mark laughed about money. Isn’t friends
what matters, and isn’t it wrong to demand more than they can receive? The
living standard among the Nameless was lower than the rich in the other world,
but higher than the poor. That asking for what another cannot receive is a form
of enmity, is a truth that could not penetrate the egoic domain or “matrix.”
One day, Mark knew, he might himself
be called to serve in the role of administrator, which is a very difficult but
crucial one. He secretly hoped to remain a farmer all his life, but what will
be, will be. He would be prepared to answer any real need, since he knew, like
Kurt said, that any angel can do any job. This one aspect had seriously baffled
the egos. From Soviet Communism it had been demonstrated that if you remove
money from the egoic situation, work ceases and quality is absent. But among the
Nameless the opposite situation obtained, that they found so much joy and
meaning in daily interactions with other noble entities, they laughed about
money, calling it insulting. The communist leaders were always subject to
corruption. The Nameless leaders, by contrast, always maintained the utmost
humility, reflected in hard work the first fifty years of their lives. Someone
needs to take an overview, the society requires rational direction.
In every generation the Nameless
leaders appear, “O children, we are here to tell you your roles.” In every
generation the Nameless children respond, “We admit we are young and unaware
of society’s needs, we are thankful for these roles and for the lack of worry
over our sustenance if we do our best to meet them with the highest quality
labor we can evince. One day we may too be administrators, and may our decisions
be as wise as we can make them, as we trust is the case with you, the current
administrators.”
The Nameless children defied every
expectation of human history. Instead of rebellion, they present challenges to
dharma, righteous order. You are an adult, you thought you were doing things
well, but this little child comes to say, “I think you could be doing better,
why not consider this?” Perhaps it is what Jesus meant, “A little child
shall lead them,” but such children are not found in the other world. The
Nameless understand that they’d be poor parents for egoic children, and would
suffer as the children of egoic parents. If you are a parent of an angelic
child, your hands are full trying to explain why you have made wise choices.
That task is radically different from among the egos, where the children act to
destroy wise choices, trying to dominate it all.
In any case, Mark knew that all his
mental energies could safely be focused on his daily labor, for if the society
decided that he was needed in another role, he would be completely supported in
the process of reeducation with the same shelter he had always enjoyed, the same
clothing and food, and the same rich circle of friends on every side. The
Nameless knew this basic truth, that if a person was ready and willing to work
with all his might for the sake of the benefit and happiness of the whole group,
he deserved everything essential to daily existence. You are already noble for
wanting to help in the common project, and it is society’s role to bestow
those things to you, not your role to extract them by competition with others.
In this way the mind is freed to total joy without worry, which is the ordinary
and ecstatic state expected by the Creator, among the intelligent entities.