The Judge, resorting to the authority that the King had awarded him, ordered that the tribunal continued the following day. He spoke to each one separately and gave them time to prepare for their respective roles. Of course, with all that out in the open, and seeing that the King himself who until then ignored them was now taking part in the tribunal itself. Albeit only as a spectator, they all made an effort.
At this point, the Spirit of the Judge returned to his body, flying, making his own thought turn into reality. Before entering, he looked at the house from above and found it curious, as he had never seen the building from this angle. Upon entering the room, he saw his beloved wife sleeping peacefully. He found himself in another room, also sleeping, although in a rather unhealthy posture, and entered the body. When he did so, The Judge – the Physical Judge – woke up. He got up and went to his bed, feeling utterly exhausted.
The judge woke up the next morning and felt as if he was almost sleepwalking through his day as if he were not rested or had a fever. But he remembered every detail of what it was that he had to do. He remembered very well what he had dreamt. He felt so anxious that he decided to consult Him in Prayer. He was told:
”Await tonight for the dream is not over yet.”
The day had eventually come to an end, too slowly for his liking. When the time came to get some rest, he fell asleep, totally exhausted. That, however, did not prevent him from waking up three hours later and reliving everything he had seen in the last night’s dream. He then fell asleep again and re-entered the Court, where the ELDERLY was on trial.
The same thing as the night before happened. The Spirit of the Judge left the physical body and, after looking at it for just a moment, he thought of being in the King's palace. And just as he thought about it, he flew immediately over in the direction of the place where they had to meet up. He was the first to arrive, so he watched everyone else, the last of whom was the King, enter. The King sat down in his armchair, with the Minister of Justice as well as two more Ministers that he invited beside him. Once everyone was present, the Judge commanded to begin.
Tribunal began with the Judge explaining the reason for the gathering and setting out things that had to be done. He also brought up a subject of anyone potentially having any prejudices or pressures or motives for the tribunal to be deemed invalid. Everyone knew that to be the case, and so the Judge spoke aloud the words:
”I know that this is so; however, I understand that you are all Judges, so you should – before entering – be able to leave at the door whatever it may be that may affect what is said here.”
All agreed, and it seemed that, with the night that they had to reflect, their aptitude had changed. They realized the Judge was being serious and could give them a cause to be concerned if they did not comply, especially with the King being there.
The Session was opened by him, who had to lay down the accusation and who you would call a Prosecutor. He argued that all the elderly at a certain age or of certain circumstances had to be either killed or permitted to die since they were now useless. Instead, they were a great burden to their family, who had to have people dedicated primarily to them. He argued that, in ancient times, when someone reached the moment of not providing any value anymore, they were left on the mountain to wait for their death, alone and starving. All there would be were two to four days of suffering. He said that it was nothing when compared with the years of suffering that they could otherwise endure if they were cared for, as it could last for years. And then there was suffering of others.
Everyone listened and, although they did not like the subject, it was well presented and well-argued. And so the man who seemed to be made of iron continued with his harsh words:
”Naturally, there are exceptions but, as a rule – and because a Judgment must encompass a general rule, and only then, in its light, each particular case is considered – I say that suffering neither purifies nor helps in your Spiritual life. So there is no point in prolonging suffering because it is also worthless for your internal Spirit. After all, there the minds do not govern. And it is known that the Spirits and the physical body connect through the mind. So, if the mind does not work, this connection is interrupted. The Spirit is waiting for the death of the body to come, so it can leave it behind and go to a place where the Spirits dwell.” Judging by the demeanors of the others, it seemed that what he was saying was considered right.
The Accuser – or the Prosecutor – called on one of his witnesses, who said that his father, whom he had lived with for a long time, was such a heavy burden that everyone wished for him to die. This had been going on for more than ten years. It was the consequence of an accident, a fall from a horse.
This was going on day in and day out. The man could hardly be moved because he was a heavy load and had problems with his back. He had to be bathed and his personal needs attended to. As you know, the sick do not have control of their functions, and thus he was often laying in filth. Everyone seemed to agree.
The man – who was a Judge of the assistants and who ended up with the role of a witness in support of the charge – was saying:
”I am the one who suffers the least since I hardly see him. When I leave in the morning, he continues in his bed, and when I return, he is in his bedroom. All the work falls on the woman and the children, and they can no longer bear it, especially being aware that he occupies a space in the house which we need to be able to separate the children – who are both males and females. They are older now, but must continue sleeping together.” He offered many arguments.
Once he was finished, the second prosecution witness continued:
”You will see that my case is different. I have a father who is already very old, and his mind is gone. But, since he is still alive, according to the Law, the inheritance cannot be distributed. So we just have to endure not being able to do anything while he says, ‘Everything stays as it is. Once I am gone, you can sell up or do whatever else you want but, for now, all the assets are mine to do whatever I want with them.’”
”He does not believe that we would take better care of it if he left the money for us to manage. And he understands that, when he does not own the fortune anymore, we may abandon him or get rid of him, as has happened in some cases that he says to have known throughout his life. See, this is a lot for us to take; and his hair and beard are already grey. He constantly humiliates us by making us ask him for money to be able to continue with the estate. He is bad in the head, and he cannot look after it. He did not see that it was necessary to replace a pair of animals for mating in order to have good livestock. As you know, that costs a fortune. We told him, ‘We sell a piece of land, and with the money we buy animals.’ And, because he is not right in the head, he said to us, ‘By the price you are telling me, it sounds like a robbery.’”
”Since he does not live in our times anymore, he thinks that everything is much cheaper. And there is nothing we can do.”
The witness looked at everyone and, seeing faces reflecting agreement, continued:
”I end by saying that we want him to die, and we believe that things would be much better if such a thing would happen. In our case, he experiences no sufferings, but he has imposed the suffering on us. He seems to have still a body that can endure life, and it will mean ruin to all us brothers.” And here he closed the matter.
The Judge listened, but his face was not giving away whether he was convinced or not. Everyone knew that a judge could not show whether he agrees with any of the parties and that he must reserve that for when the passing of the Judgment comes. Regardless, everyone still expected to glimpse some indication. The prosecution witness finished his presentation, but he spoke again and said:
„I reserve the right to speak again, in the end, after the Defence has spoken.” And, although this kind of thing was rarely ever done, he wanted to show off in front of the King and had thought of this as something unusual to impress him.
The accuser – or prosecutor – finished, and gave the floor to the Defender, who proceeded with the following:
”When a person is sick, they are cared for, so life can go on. If, when we are of no use, when our minds are not bright – because of fever or illness – they look after us, life can continue. This kind of situation can often last quite some time, sometimes even longer than a year, but once it has passed, it is forgotten. How can we treat the elderly as a disease?”
”We are all bound by ties of brotherhood and consider that we have a Spirit within. We are not animals. We have humility, as well as feelings and obligation to help those who need us. That is the basis of our Communities. Look at that – since ancient times – our communities have been formed on the basis of MUTUAL HELP AND MUTUAL PROTECTION.”
The Defender, looking around at everyone and seeing from the faces that his arguments were well-conducted, continued.
”But, what is more, we have been taught since ancient times, and we know it from tradition, and also from some writings, that customs as barbaric as those that have been just presented justifying these deaths, were disavowed by the Spiritual Masters. We have been told that our actions have a spiritual undercurrent. To think, what would that make us if, not only we do not look after those who need and try to make their death easier for them, but, instead, leave those people to die without assistance?”
”Looking at us as representatives of everyone,” continued the Defender arguing,” we are all of the age that we will soon be considered to be elderly. And age will also happen to our children, as time passes. We are imposing harm on these people for having the disease of old age. And, above all, we promote the lack of comprehension in the youngest, for which we ourselves will be judged when the time comes.”
”We will be committing a crime. The greatest crime that can be committed. They are defenseless beings, and they need our help. They have been giving themselves to others throughout their lives. For this reason, I say and maintain that the elderly must be respected and treated with the courtesy and affection they deserve as people. As well as parents of those who now want to get rid of them and take what is theirs.”
”But not only this. Right now, you are trying to decide whether it is right or fair to support the elderly who are of no use to humanity while they are alive. Keep in mind that, if we are not going to offer arguments to some powerful or not so powerful as to how to stop all those relatives imposing their will, then they will have the right to decide for themselves.”
”See that, based on the above, they will only stay with those who they know will treat them right. We will be covering a crime with the corresponding actions of that who will become the victim. And, as you know, that who is in danger of death has all the right to the Defence.”
”But also consider that, if we do such a thing, all those who reach a certain age will have made sure that their fortunes had been exhausted. And they will not worry themselves with securing their estates, so as to ensure that nothing is left to that who would execute them in order to keep their property when the supposed time comes.”
”You know that everyone who owns something is concerned that their assets be preserved through others. As well as that, although some may think that hoarding assets here on Earth is foolish, some people feel like that, and the Kingdom is an excellent example of it.” As soon as the Judge said this, he realized that he had just meddled with the Crown, which was a mistake. And so he continued to correct himself. ”Not to say that this latter case is a bad example but, rather, the desire to ensure the best of everything for their own, so all can live in better health and with access to food and clothing for all.” And, when he considered that he has recovered from the failure, he continued. ”Of course, the matter that we are deciding on is important! But what also lays behind it, is the fundamental question of, ‘Who has the right to give themselves permission to kill?’ Because that would be what all men would think as they gradually approached old age. Or who has the right to kill another? Because would it not be – and that serves to reflect – the father who had that right over his children who, after all, have come from him?”
”Perhaps when I wished I would not have that right?” The Defender continued. ”And then, if we deny it to him, how can we give that right to the children, if the father is that who has given them life? Or, maybe, men of our minds do things that defy nature?”
Here he made another mistake and, after immediately realizing that, corrected himself again.
”Admittedly, nature has these customs developed in some animals. But if we carry out such act, we become carnivore animals, who kill to be left with the resources of others or simply because they do not benefit us, even when they do not bother us.”
Here, the Defender paused, and utilized what in the trials is known as ”the silence of attention.” By allowing for this silence, one has everyone still, waiting for what follows, and focusing attention on the next thing that is going to be said. The Defender, raising his voice, continued:
”So I raise my voice, as loud as I can, to say that life is important and no one has the right to take it! And if one has fought for their Country, for their land, for their family, no one from this Country, from these lands, or from his family has any other right than to protect them until the end of their days.”
After that, it was the turn of a Defense witness who said:
”You know me as a Judge, and you also know my reputation that I never lie. I want you to listen to this story, which is real and was not only prepared for this defense.”
”I have my father in my home, and I feel blessed having him beside me because he is a wise and just man, and he brings his wisdom into the house. He can hardly help out at home, but what he gives is a pleasant compensation of joy and sweetness. It has been five years that he is with us and, although we hope that he will heal, we do not know. He was in an accident where he was run over by a soldier's mount, which left his back with injuries, and his legs suffered several fractures. We know that he will never be the same and that he will always need help, but his head is just fine, and he continues teaching his wisdom to everyone around him.”
”I also want to emphasize that he is very close to my children, whom he loves more than he loved us, and it shows that they match it back in the same measure. One of my daughters says that she wants to take him home with her. She is getting married soon, and he would provide company and sound advice, which they will need for they are young.”
The witness had his say and, when he had nothing more to add, he finished up assuring that his father was a very different person before. He had always been busy with work and merchandise; he was a merchant who had little time for his family.