The Six Messiahs - Mark Frost [56]
"Jack. You know me better than that."
They looked at each other:
And I know you better than you think I do, my friend, thought Doyle. I'll go along with this if only to get to the bottom of what's happened to you.
"We'll start tonight, then," said Sparks, moving toward the door.
"I have an obligation."
"Afterward..."
"Where shall we meet?"
"I'll come for you."
Sparks left the room, silent as a cat.
BETWEEN DENVER AND PHOENIX
"In Hebrew Kabbalah means 'to receive,' as in the receiving of wisdom.... I don't wish to burden you, are you sure you want me to explain all this?'' asked Jacob Stern.
"Absolutely," said Eileen. "I'm fascinated."
"Well, it's a long train ride. In Kabbalah it is written that God created the world along thirty-two paths of secret knowledge; these are represented by the numbers one through ten and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each number has a secret spiritual meaning that corresponds to one of the ten power centers in the physical body. Each one of the twenty-two letters has a numerical value and a visual significance in the way it is drawn, in addition to its sound that forms language. Each of these different paths to knowledge is of equal importance in deciphering the mystery that lies behind creation. Do you follow?"
"I think so," said Eileen without much assurance but encouraged to try by the man's soft, infectious happiness.
"The student of Kabbalah uses the sound of certain powerful words in meditation to create a higher consciousness in himself; the numerical significance of its letters is analyzed according to numerological values which reveal hidden meanings; the shape of the letters provides a basis for studying visually coded information, like the mandalas of the Hindu. Each discipline exercises a different area of the mind but all are equally valid ways for the aspiring student to move closer to enlightenment."
Night was falling rapidly outside the windows of their moving train; the lights of Denver fading behind them as they snaked through the sparsely settled foothills to the south. Even in the dwindling twilight, one could sense the ponderous weight of the Rockies lying to the west; Eileen wasn't sure which seemed more dense and impenetrable, those mountains or the response she'd gotten from Jacob Stern to her simple query: What is it you do, exactly?
"There are only two qualities of reality that we as human beings can experience: One is physical matter, the other is information." Stern held up a bright green apple. "There are the atoms or particles that make up the form of an object: matter. There is the idea of the object that exists only in our minds: information. One has no meaning without the other but the combination of these two qualities is life. An apple, for instance." He took a big bite and chewed vigorously, smiling. "Would you care for one?"
"Thank you," said Eileen, taking the apple he offered from his bag.
"They are called Granny Smiths; isn't that fantastic? What an image; this wiry old grandmother running around the orchard."
Eileen laughed; he could go on talking about anything he liked as long as he made her laugh.
"It is the same with these old books I study," he said, pulling a leatherbound volume out of his valise. "To a person who has no experience of them they are nothing but funny symbols printed on pages bound together and wrapped in a cover. A primitive could make no sense of this object!"
"Neatly summing up how I felt about schoolbook Latin," said Eileen.
"Of course; because they couldn't convince you of its relevance to your fifteen-year-old existence. But to a scholar whose whole life has been spent preparing, or even better to a prophet whose mind is not clouded by the influence of the physical or animal soul..."
At which point Bendigo Rymer, who had been straining to eavesdrop from the seat in front of them—outraged that Eileen had abandoned him for this interloper—fell into a heavy, untroubled sleep.
".. .a great holy book is not just a document for the study of God or even an instrument for the communication