Tina patted me on the knee, smiled, whispered,"I didn't tell Elise about Uriel," and then put her hands in herlap, closed her eyes and apparently began to meditate.
'That's a relief,' I thought. I looked at thebrochure. Tonight's topic was "The Logic of Illogic."
I thought, 'I think I am beingsandbagged.'
The lady sitting next to me smiled and said,"Hello, I am Marilyn, isn't this exciting! Where are youfrom?"
"I don't live far from here," I replied. "Howabout you?"
"You're lucky-I'm from Vancouver. Are you herefor the weekend workshop?"
"No, I am only here for this evening. This ismy first time to one of these events."
She beamed, "How nice. In an evening, you willget some amazing information. However, in a weekend your life canchange in some important ways."
I looked at the brochure and saw that tonight'ssession was a precursor to a two-day program, New Ways To ThinkAbout Thought, which cost nine hundred dollars to attend. Ithought, 'These people are serious.' I had always thought this NewAge stuff was for hippies and bored housewives with nothing else todo but go to yoga classes and sit on the floor in cross-leggedpostures wearing designer yoga outfits. As I scanned the room, Icalculated that the gross from this event was probably somethinglike a quarter-million dollars.
Then, the room started to get quiet. The lightslowered, and a man walked onto the stage smiling and greetingpeople in the audience. He sat down in a comfortable chair in themiddle of a small stage. Next to the chair on a table was a largebouquet of flowers, obviously the product of an upscaleflorist.
He sat down and picked up a microphone andsmiled as he looked around the room. "It is a pleasure to back inLos Angeles and see so many old friends. But, you didn't come hereto hear me so I will get out of the way and let Herondus comethrough. He closed his eyes and placed his hands in his lap. Allwas silent for about two minutes, and then he smiled, picked up themicrophone, with his eyes still closed and said:
"Greetings on this evening as you know time to exist. It is alwaysa delight to visit with you in this space-time here, now, in whatyou call Los Angeles. Some of you have come from what you call farand others from what you call near, but it is a pleasure to sharethis group energy, a bright spot in space-time. Some have beensharing thoughts with us for years, and others are here for thefirst time: we welcome you all, to tonight and for those of you whowill be staying, for the weekend. We have exciting things to sharewith you about what you call thought."
He paused and turned his head from side-to-sideand then continued:
"But first, let us do a melding of all ourenergy. This is not a meditation. This is a chance for us toquietly spend a few moments with each of you. Close your eyes andsit relaxed while we greet each of you."
The soft music came on as I closed my eyes. Iwas thinking about Tina and then wondering about Elise, and then mymind and body relaxed. For a moment I felt a surge of energy, kindof like joy, but not exactly, and then felt very peaceful, and myattitude of cautious judgment disappeared. After a few minutes, themusic went down and I heard Herondus say:
"You can open your eyes again."
Tina squeezed my hand.
Herondus continued:
"The logic ofillogic. That is the kind of word construction ofideas, that you can have in your civilization, which we love. Oneidea swallows another in the same sentence.
"Many on your planet think that logic is thehighest form of thought. It is only something that your humanspecies uses to deal with the physical universe.Logic does not exist in the structure of thephysical universe: it is an overlay that your physical brain usesto interpret what you perceive as your surroundings.The physical universe existed in the way it is long beforeyour species acquired what you call logic through geneticevolution. In the vastness of what you call the space of theuniverse, and in the spaces within atoms, there is no such thing aslogic. Logic is created in specific parts of your physical brain asyour scientists are now exploring with what you call MRIs. Peoplewho have that part of their brain damaged can no longer think oract logically.
"The lion chasing prey, in what you callAfrica, does not think logically, saying to herself, 'If I run thisway the prey will run that way and then I can corner them overthere.' The lion simply chases its prey without any internal verbaldialog.
"Logic, language, orsymbols only exist in your physical brain. They are aproduct of activities in other parts of your physicalbrains."
"That which you call your subconscious mind,and your spirit level, is where all your true thinkingoccurs. You, the spirit, think in abstractideas, concepts, and pictures, and have no language, as you knowit. There are not English speaking, Spanish speaking,or Russian speaking subconsciousnesses or spirits. Language isadded by parts of your brain. The human brain is a physical part ofthe body. You as spirit, resident in abody, communicate ideas, concepts, and pictures to your physicalbrain that then translates them to language and logicalstructure. When your body speaks, it is expressing atranslation of an abstract idea. When your body hears anotherperson speak, your brain translates the language to the abstractform understood by the spiritual you.
"In our world we are only what you would callspirits, we are in a non-physical realm. We can create the idea ofan apple tree at will without going out to find one. If we want anapple we can create the idea of it in our hand, which we alsocreate.
"In your physical world, if
