Stephen's Secure Blog #223
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students, in the 1950's. This was from a time before computers
would fit on a desk, and when people communicated with friends in other
countries by actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote
225 of them to a friend. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he
still wanted to record his life, in case he lost his memory again, and
wrote 30 entries in his first logbook. Then he wrote to an artificial
intelligence called Geenee, in the master computer in his school for
gifted students, which he started attending in 2016. Now it's after
2018, and he's continuing to save his memories in a secure blog.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 16 in this story, in the Fall of year 7 of his special
school.
Stephen's Secure Blog #223 "Jokhang Temple in Lhasa"
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On the second day of my visit to the Temples of Lhasa, we visited the
most important one, Jokhang. I ported to my usual spot in front of
Sera, and found Rhamcha sitting in my new pavilion, just off the road,
there. It was a 5m diameter covered open kiosk, with a thick central
pillar of blue jade the color of my uniform, with inscriptions of some
of the things I had said over the years, in English and Tibetan, inset
in white jade. There were benches where you could sit and read them,
all made of what the rest of the building was made of, white jade. He
stood, and waited for me. There, he said to me, "Your sayings?" I said
"Yes. First time I've done that." He said "Please do it often." I said
"Well, there aren't that many places I would want to. This one seemed
right for it." He said "You do know best. For all, I thank you for your
gift." I said "I could say it was my pleasure, but it wasn't. It was
just something, the artist in me, thought I should do, so I did. I do
think it turned out well, though." He grinned and said, "It would not
be here, if you had thought otherwise. You will not be wrong." I said
"Oh, that again! You are correct, though. This time." We bowed to each
other.
I said "Today, I want to visit Jokhang. I think it is better we just
appear there, and not risk another incident." He said "I agree. Not
that I wouldn't." I had to laugh. I said "There isn't much to it.
Ready?" He nodded, and we were there in the Square. There weren't many
people in it so early in the morning. I had made sure that nobody was
looking in our direction, by suggestion, before we ported. Our arrival
was noticed by people in the Temple, and in the Monastery on the
grounds. We walked slowly to the main entrance. I said "Are you
disappointed?" He said "Sadly, yes. Your method of transportation is,
er, uneventful." I told him about my surprise pool guest, without
telling him about the alien aspect. He laughed in the right place. I
said "Uneventful is the goal." He said "I see that now. Thank you.
Airless space, NO thank you!" I nodded.
Before we got to the entrance, a Lama came out to greet us. He
addressed me by name, and I surprised him by doing the same, and
introduced Rhamcha. We were escorted into the building, and into the
office of the Abbot of the Temple. There was a different Abbot for the
Monastery. We were greeted warmly, and asked to sit and have some
butter tea. We did. Rhamcha described my new pavilion to them. I said
"Better than words, would you like me to show you an image of it?" They
did, and I projected it into the air. They admired it. I said "I could
transport us there in less than a second, but the sudden vanishing of
your aura from here, would frighten your people, which I would not like
to happen." He said "Disappointing, but you are wise. Would you like us
to show you our Temple?" I said with a grin, "Absolutely!" He laughed.
We went to the big hall, and saw the Jowo Buddha. A statue. It was
very big, of gilt bronze, almost completely covered in decorative
clothing. Most Tibetan statues don't show much more skin than the face
and fingers. I prefer a simpler form, artistically. There were other
less famous statues. Some of them were sexual couples, in what is
called the Yab-Yum depiction, representing the duality of spirit in
sexuality; polarity and union, the understanding of which is believed
by some to be necessary for enlightenment. I stopped in front of one,
and said to Rhamcha, "What do you think of what this represents?" He
said "I am not sure. It is not thought much of in these times." I said
"It should be, and it doesn't necessarily require actual sex, although
that is something which shouldn't be denied. I would not be as
advanced, nor my students, without Yab-Yum, and the spiritual freedom
and enlightenment it brings. You have felt my love. This is part of its
source." His jaw dropped in astonishment. I reached over and closed it
for him, and he almost choked. The others were amused. He said "I must
think about this!" I nodded, and said, "In a related thing, the more
you give of yourself, the more you receive in return, and this includes
love most of all. I am love. I know. Do you love me?" He looked
startled, and said as if he just realized it, "Yes, I do." I said
"Consider my statement proved." The others nodded.
We moved on to other rooms, other floors, and other buildings. I said
"You have a lot of metal sculptures. I am aware that they are not shown
to the public. I am honored." They bowed. The Abbot said, "Close to a
thousand." I said "But they are covered in cloth." He said, "So we
honor them." I said "But how is it an honor, when one is prevented from
seeing all but a small part of each one?" They were a little confused.
I said "I am an artist. If I had one here, well, as an artist, I would
not like my work, my soul, to be deliberately hidden from view. Any
part of it. If I had not known the reason, I would have felt deeply
insulted." He froze in shock, and then said, "I had not thought of
that! In truth, we dishonor the artists, even though they are long
dead." I said "They are not dead. Some live in new incarnations. I
know." Rhamcha said, "Would you tell us which one or ones is or are
yours?"
I said "I will not, and I will not add to the collection as it is.
Please, are there other rooms I can visit?" We left that room, and they
could feel my sadness, which made them sad, too. Back at the office of
the Abbot, I said, "I have a problem. Usually, I give a gift of my own
work to the Temples and Monasteries I visit. While I really like doing
that, and partly because they are really appreciated, my primary reason
for that is to poke Beijing with my presence, and in the impossible way
I do it, to further my goal of freeing this country from their rule, a
task I was given to perform. I need to make myself look so powerful to
the government in a way they have to believe, they will grant my
requests before they become bad consequence causing demands. I need to
do that gradually, for if they were to witness my true power all at
once, they could not believe their own senses. Do you understand this
so far?" They did. I said, "My problem here and now, is I can't think
of anything to make and give to this Temple, which would be noticed
easily, and be appropriate, and this has never happened before."
They were a little shocked, but did understand why my creativity was
being blocked, and very sad at that. The Abbot said "Perhaps a copy of
what you have given before?" I looked at Rhamcha. He said to them, "An
artist creates, not copies, and further, he would not copy himself,
because he would lose some respect from the people he is intending to
impress." I said to the Abbot, "He has been studying me." He said "I
can surely understand why!" I said, after some thought, "There is a lot
of the Wheel of Life here." He said "There is. We favor that symbol in
this Temple." I said "I thought of something, but I don't know if I
should dare to do it. It might cause some er, excessive attention, and
you could be bothered by scientists who are tearing their hair out in
frustration. You would need to assign somebody to sweep that up." They
laughed. I said "I could make a large Wheel of Life, and suspend it
over the Square. It would float above it at the level of the tops of
the tallest posts, and slowly revolve. It will not be on a post, and
not hang from anything, but just be there, without any detectable
support. It will stay there unaffected by anything, practically
forever. Well, until the Earth is burned to a crisp by the sun in a
billion years. What do you think of that idea?" A collective "Wow!" I
waited. The Abbot said "What would it be made of?" I said "There are
two basic ways I would do this. It can be made entirely of light. Here
is an image of something I did, which uses that principle." I showed
them my big light sculpture outside my house on Zichesshich. I said "Or
I could make it out of any non living solid material, such as jade, or
even diamond. But I do not recommend anything which plays with and
concentrates sunlight, or we could blind some visitors, or even fry
them. Not the best thing for vegetarians." They laughed.
Rhamcha asked, "Which would be the most appropriate for your
purpose?" I said "Both would, but the solid one would be the most
impossible. I'll show you in miniature." I made a miniature light box,
and said, "I have given these to be sold in a museum in a far away
place. No, not what you think. REALLY far away. Do you think my method
of transportation is restricted to one planet?" Some dropped jaws. I
said "After you close those flytraps, one of you touch the cube." One
did, and it turned on. I said "It changes every time you touch it. To
turn it off touch two sides at the same time." They did all that. I put
my hand through the light and said, "It's perfectly safe. I don't offer
it on this world, because governments would demand to know how it
works, and I couldn't tell them." I ported another cube to the desk,
which had a little green jade and gold wheel above it. It rotated
slowly, and turned slowly, too. I put my hand all around it, to show
them there were no connections, and nothing which could be felt. I said
"The control box for either of them could be put anywhere, such as deep
in the ground under the Square. The light one can't be felt. The solid
one can be, but can't be harmed or interfered with. With the controller
properly braced underground, you could hit the Wheel with a bus full of
tourists, and it would not notice it, even though the tourists surely
would, in with their heads bouncing on their rubbery necks." They
smiled. I grabbed the box with a 4th hand and said, "Push or hit the
wheel." They did, and it was like it could not be moved or damaged. The
Abbot said "This one. Make those in Beijing soil their clothing." We
laughed.
I said "Now we have to decide what size, and what it is to be made
of." The Abbot said "I like that design!" I said "If you had not seen
it, would you have told me you would like it that way?" He said "Ah! I
see. I am not an artist, so I can only envision what I see, not what I
have not yet seen." I made a larger image, with the hub and some
decorations in the color of my clothes, with some platinum added, too.
He said "I have proved myself correct. I like this new one better. I
have learned many things today. You are indeed The Master Teacher." I
bowed. I said "It is made of green and blue jade, solid gold and solid
platinum, and a variety of gemstones will be on it. Don't worry about
theft. The protection from damage will not allow any part of it be
touched directly, by anything. I will demonstrate. Move your hand
toward me." They did, and felt my shield. I said "Nothing in this
universe can get through that, if it is set so. Now we have to decide
the size. To assist with that, here's what I propose. We can go out to
the square, and I will cast an illusion only those here can see, of
different sizes, so we may judge the affect from all places in the
Square. I will also cause the people to not notice us, but move out of
our way when they should. Or they will think we are brain damaged,
looking up into the empty sky in strange ways." They grinned. We did
what I offered, and they chose a big one. 10 meters in diameter. I
designed it with a LOT of gems on it, and some writing, too.
We went back to the office. I said "The presentation, next. It should
be public. I will walk out and stand in front of the Temple, ten meters
from it, alone. In doing that, I will cause the people to make way for
me. I will glow like an excited light bulb, and raise my arms, and give
love to all who are in or near the Temple. Then I will make the wheel
appear in the air where it should be. Then the Abbot will come out to
meet me, and we will bow to each other. Then I will vanish, and
reappear in this office, to vanish again with Rhamcha. Is all that
Acceptable?" He said "A showman! Yes, we will do it that way." I said
"I will leave you a recording of the event, and copies, so you can give
it to the government, er, insert bad names here, almost people, when
they demand it." He laughed.
It didn't happen exactly as I had described. He called me a showman,
and I was going to make a show, man! I walked out of the Temple, and
into the square. I was already glowing, visible even in the sunlight.
Well, I added some extra light to it. With my Ki flowing fully, I
didn't have to make people move. They just did, not realizing it. I
raised my arms and broadcast my love to the Temple area, and pushed
from my hands a silvery something, which moved to the middle of the
square, above it, and expanded a lot, to a silvery sphere 11m in
diameter. There were a lot of oos and ahs. The sphere thinned out and
disappeared, leaving the slowly rotating and turning imperial green
jade, gold, blue jade, platinum, and gemstone encrusted, Wheel of Life,
in the middle of the square 17m in the air, from the stone paving to
the bottom of the Wheel. There were a lot more oos and ahs. I had taken
more time than I needed, so the tourists could get their cameras out.
Then I let the love broadcast die down, and I bowed to the crowd, and
many bowed in return. Then I turned toward to the Temple, and the Abbot
came out alone to stand in front of me. We bowed to each other. I
ported my silvery way, back to his office, and he walked back in, too.
I grinned at his expression, and said, "You called me a showman, so I
thought I should actually be one for you. And the er, bad names." He
laughed. I said, "Oh, and it will light up in the dark." I put a video
camera on his desk and said, "There are memory cards, too. So you can
watch it yourself. As soon as the tourists get to an internet
connection, what happened is going out all over the world, but only you
here will have a perfect recording of it, in high definition. Share it
with pleasure. Have fun. Farewell." We bowed to each other again, with
Rhamcha, and I ported away with him, in a silvery flash.
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Grant
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