"See," said Ah Ben, "the people here are of one mind. There is no
wrangling nor struggling for place. These palaces are the property of
the public; and why should they not be, since man's unity is
understood? Exclusiveness is the result of ignorance, but privacy and
seclusion may even be better enjoyed in the conditions prevailing
here than in our own state of existence, and because of the unlimited
power and material to draw upon. No man can crowd another after he
has come to realize that all is mind, and that mind is infinite."
"But where is Guir House, and the estate?" inquired Paul, feeling as
if the whole thing were an incomprehensible illusion.
"They have not been disturbed," the old man answered. "They are where
they always were, in the minds of those who perceive them, and upon
whose plane they exist."
"It is too utterly bewildering. These things appear as real as any I
ever saw."
"Appear! They are as real. Let us go into one of these bazars, and
see what the people are doing."
They turned through an open doorway resplendent with burnished metal
and sculpture to where great corridors, halls, and galleries, stocked
with properties and merchandise of every description, were crowded
with people. No one was in attendance; and those who came and went,
carried with them what they pleased. No money was passed, nor did
compensation of any kind seem forthcoming. "If anything strikes your
fancy, take it," said Ah Ben. "All things here are free, and yet
everything is paid for."
Paul asked for an explanation, which Ah Ben gave as follows: "The city before you is located in the year 3,000, more than a
thousand years in advance of our time. It is called Levachan, and
will appear upon earth about 700 years hence; in about four hundred
years from which time it will attain the size and splendor you now
behold. We here see it in its spiritual state, which precedes and
follows all material forms. It will begin its descent into matter,
through the minds of physical man, about the time I have mentioned.
It is merely a type of a class toward which we are tending, and I
show it to you that you may see the vast strides we shall have made
by that time. In the state of society in which we find ourselves,
compensation is made by a system of absolute freedom in exchange.
Here, if a man wants a coat, he takes it, and the owner reimburses
himself from the great reservoir of the world's goods, which is open
to all men as integral parts of a unit."