The Man from Earth Page #7

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Thought about

it for a while--

Say 500 years, while he returned

To the Mediterranean,

Became an etruscan.

Seeped into the roman empire.

He didn't like

what they became--

A giant killing machine.

He went to the near east thinking,

"Why not pass the Buddha's

teachings on in a modern form."

So he tried.

One dissident against rome?

Rome won.

The rest is history.

Well, sort of. Lot of

fairy tales mixed in.

I knew it.

He's saying he was Christ.

Oh, no. That's the medal

They pinned on Jesus

to fulfill prophecy.

The crucifixion.

He blocked the pain

as he had learned to do

In tibet and india.

He also learned to

slow his body processes

Down to the point where

they were undetectable.

They thought he was dead.

So his followers pulled him

From the cross, placed him in a cave...

his body normalized as

he had trained it to...

he attempted to go away undetected,

But some devotees were standing watch.

Tried to explain.

They were ecstatic.

Thus, I was resurrected,

And I ascended to central europe

To get away as far as possible.

You don't mean a word of this, John.

My god, why are you doing this?

Let me see your wrists.

I don't scar.

Besides, they tied me...

but nails and blood make

better religious Art.

( Laughs ) all the

speculations about Jesus.

He was black, he was asian,

He was a blue-eyed

Aryan with a golden beard

And hair straight out

of vidal sassoon's,

He was a benevolent alien,

he never existed at all.

Now he's a caveman.

The Christ figure goes all

the way back to Krishna--

Hercules, of course.

Hercules?

Born of a virgin, Alcmene.

A god for a father, Zeus.

The only begotten.

The savior--

The greek? Soter.

The good shepherd, the prince of peace,

Bringing gentle persuasion

and divine wisdom.

He died, joined his father on olympus

A thousand years before gethsemane.

How can you compare pagan

mythology to the true word?

Pretty damn closely, I'd say.

The early Christian leaders,

They threw away hebrew manuscripts

And borrowed from pagan

sources all over the place.

Do you realize how...

inconsiderately you're

treating my feelings?

About as inconsiderately

as we're treating John's.

Well, he doesn't

believe what he's saying!

Do you believe literally

everything in the bible, Edith?

Yes!

Before you say it,

I know it's undergone a lot of changes,

But god has spoken through man

To make his word clearer.

He couldn't get it right the first time?

We're imperfect! He had to

work to make us understand.

He couldn't get us right

the first time, Edith?

Taken alone, the

philosophical teachings of Jesus

Are buddhism with

a hebrew accent--

Kindness, tolerance, brotherhood, love,

A ruthless realism acknowledging

That life is as it is here

on earth, here and now.

The kingdom of god, meaning goodness,

Is right here, where it should be.

"I am what I am becoming."

That's what the Buddha brought in.

And that's what I taught.

But a talking snake

make a lady eat an apple,

So we're screwed.

Heaven and hell were peddled

So priests could rule

through seduction and terror,

Save our souls that we never

lost in the first place.

I threw a clean pass...

they ran it out of the ballpark.

This is blasphemy.

It's horrible! Who else were you?

Solomon, elvis, jack the ripper?

It's been said that Buddha and Jesus

Would laugh or cry if they'd known

What was done in their name.

And if there is a creator,

He'd probably feel the same way.

I see ceremony, ritual, processions,

Genuflecting, moaning, intoning,

Venerating cookies and wine,

And I think...

it's not what I had in mind.

But that's vatican flapdoodle.

It doesn't have a thing to do with god.

As you said, John,

everywhere, religions...

from exalting life to

purging joy as a sin.

Rome does it as grand opera.

A simple path to goodness needs

A supernatural roadmap.

Supernatural...

a stupid word, I mean...

anything that happens,

happens within nature,

Whether we believe in it or not.

Like a 14,000-year-old

caveman.

( Car approaching )

I--I--I drove

for a while,

And then I sat for a while.

I'm so ashamed.

( Shivering ) and I'm freezing.

Well, come inside.

I still don't believe you, of course.

You need help.

Everybody needs help.

Yes, well, some more than others.

From the Buddha to the cross,

I have always imagined

both as entirely mythic--

But I would like to hear more.

May I lie on the couch for a moment?

I'm not as young as I used to be.

Ohh!

( Laughs )

So, you were Jesus.

Well, perhaps somebody had to

be, for better or for worse.

The jury is still out.

When did you begin to

believe you were Jesus?

When did you begin to believe

you were a psychiatrist?

Since I graduated harvard medical school

And finished my residency,

I've had that feeling.

Oh, I sometimes dream about it.

Have you acted upon this belief?

I had a private practice for a while,

And then I taught.

Nothing unusual--

Oh, until one day, I met a caveman

Who thought he was Jesus.

Do you find that unusual?

Very. I would stake my reputation

He as sane as I am,

So why does he persist in such a story?

There must be a reason, though.

Unless I imagined it all?

Is that possible?

I think you're as sane as he is.

Oh, god, I--

( Laughs ) no.

Did you ever find it

prudent to worship yourself

Rather than be thought a heretic?

That would be something.

Other times, christianity

was considered heresy.

I had to pretend other faiths.

And what does Jesus have

to say to those present

Who find it difficult to believe in him?

Believe in what he tried to teach,

Without rigmarole.

Piety is not what the

lessons bring to people.

It's the mistake they

bring to the lessons.

Well, it's getting to be night.

I still have stuff to carry

And a long drive.

I'll help.

John, do you have a

destination in mind?

Never mind.

I won't ask.

Thank you.

Anyone mentally ill can imagine

A fantastic background--

Even an entire life--

And sincerely believe it.

The man who thinks he is napoleon

Does believe it.

His true identity has taken a backseat

To his delusion and the need for it.

If that's the case with John,

There is a grave disorder.

Organized brilliantly.

He's got an answer for everything.

It might involve

rejection of his father,

Of his entire early past,

Replaced by this fantasy.

He says he can't remember his father.

Precisely why?

You said he was sane.

Did I?

Do you think that perhaps our caveman

Has a monkey on his back?

Drugs?

No, no, no, no.

I've done a lot of consulting

work with narcotics.

I've seen people

tripping, strung out--

Whatever's up with John, it isn't that.

I've looked

for signs--None.

Could cavemen really talk?

We think that language

came into existence

The structure of stone age culture

Is evidence of the

ability to communicate--

Verbally.

( Wolf whistles; clicks )

Oh, shut up.

Maybe it'd be easier if I were.

Crazy?

No.

( Coyote howls )

That is fascinating, isn't it,

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