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"Was this the effect on the village in your dream? Where the founder's expectations realized? Did the village prosper?"
She nodded and smiled as if this was an answer in itself. "In its closely knit environment the village was constructed into a virtual paradise," she said. "Everyone was committed to the building for the good that they all shared. The hillsides had been terraced into gardens that the whole village cared for. Silt, that accumulated where the river had widened its course across the valley was dredged up and used as soil. Some of their former food-plants had been found at the edge of the river. Apparently upstream-flooding had uprooted the plants. This bounty became their planting stock. Obviously they all shared in the harvest. The entire village economy appeared to operate on the platform of honor and integrity that everyone had become committed to. Evidently, the village was maintained that way.
"When the temple reappeared in my dream I understood its significance. I also understood why my earlier question couldn't be answered. The villagers had built the temple as a monument to the commitment on which their forbears' existence had depended, which they still understood and remained committed to. I saw the temple being used as a meeting place for village events, as well as for quiet contemplation. The temple had no walls, only a delicately crafted roof supported by carved pillars. Without walls, it was open on all sides from where one could behold the beauty of the gardens that surrounded it, and the river below.
While I pondered in the temple, in order to fully comprehend its significance, I awoke."
"What you have witnessed was a deeply honest commitment to the General Welfare Principle," I said in response to her magical story.
She shook her head and grinned. "I would say, it was much more than that. It was far more advanced than what you have enshrined in your American constitution. It was something deeper that should be enshrined in our very lives."
"You were referring to the Preamble to our Federal Constitution," I corrected her. "A preamble sets the stage for a beginning. It doesn't create a commitment. The commitment has to come from within. There were a few isolated periods in American history when this principle meant something to the people. Those were the great periods of prosperity when America became the envy of the world."
"Would you also say that those were periods of love?" she asked. "Do you realize, that what I saw in my dream is a perfect platform for exploring the roots of love? Love isn't a shallow abstraction that one trots out in a parade of emotions. There is a principle behind it, and unless one understands that principle one doesn't understand what love is. Herein do we find its mystery."
"And the magic of it," I added.
Erica agreed. She agreed with me on many things. Also she was a fascinating person to listen to.
We exchanged thoughts for almost an hour on this subject, and on the worlds upon worlds that it encompasses.
It all seemed magical to me. What went on between us, what we said to each other and what came out of our conversation, was almost unbelievable. What we shared totally defied our surroundings. We were in a dark corner of a dark pub, but with perceptions unfolding that made this ending of our day into a brighter event than we ourselves could have imagined. The evidence for that became apparent when we stood up to leave. We suddenly realized to our surprise that we had forgotten to order anything from the bar. "Who needs beer in times like these?" was my comment.
We left happy that night, far happier even than we were after our dancing. Naturally, she allowed me to drive her all the way to her house.
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