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knowledge beyond my knowledge and they took nothing seriously, not even life, not even death. At least, that is the way I felt for a couple of days, and then my entire attitude on everything changed. I started from the very beginning. Now I find myself asking me what, when, how and why? That last is the one beyond approach— Why? “T entered the labyrinth of questions, and I have found that only the doomed have an answer, only the doomed have been able to fathom the depths. I want so much to leave the wisdom of the dying, which has before this evaporated into the ether. Instead, I find and truly believe I have learned the glorious promise for the living. After all, what can I depend upon to think of or to remember me except the living? Whatever we leave behind us is exactly what we inherit, no matter where or when. So, permit me to tell you everything, and then may you carry on the blazing torch. At this point he stopped and looked at me inquisitively. Then, almost cautiously, he asked me, “Say—I wonder if that is not, after all, the wisdom of the dying?” He had caught the meaning in my own smile, though I had not said a word. Quickly and anxiously he shot another question at me. “How is it you seem to be so easy to tell all this to? Why is it you seem to understand all that I say?” r 1 -toer . m1: 14 I paused a moment before answering. This man puzzled me now. My instinct had told me from the moment of our meeting that he knew the answers to all of life, had the wisdom of the cosmos, yet here he was, asking me to tell him something as if he did not already have the answer. It was not until later I realized Adam had absorbed wisdom and understanding during his experiences, but had not as yet become conscious of his great knowledge. It was to return to his memory gradually, while he told me his story and we discussed the truths. “Because, Adam,” I finally answered him, “I once felt doomed for long months. It eventually dawned on me that we are all doomed in this short and single existence. Don’t “T once felt 25 ADAM IN THE DESERT