Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1994, Page 26
So far, CBJ has about 30,000 people from eighteen countries on its mailing list. But its core
members are not nearly that numerous. The Scottsdale and Tel Aviv centers have the largest
congregations, with about 300 Immortals each you‟ll find smaller CBJ groups peppered
throughout Europe, Australia and South America. The Immortals are people of all ages and
religious backgrounds, most of them college-educated and in their thirties and forties, most of
them in possession of extremely hip and creative wardrobes and most of them glowing with a
very weird but very inviting happiness. Apparently, one becomes overwhelmed with bliss
when no longer faced with the problem of having to leave this earth and get oneself to
paradise or having to turn into earthworm food or something else really disgusting and
degrading. Plus, if you are an Immortal with an Immortal lover or friend, then you never have
to worry about being alone when an Immortal promises to be with you forever, it is definitely
a long-term type thing.
In July and August each year, a thousand Immortals from around the world go to Scottsdale
to unite with CBJ at the annual “convergence.” This is the sixteen-day cellular intercourse that
all Immortals talk about with glee and longing.
Can you have cellular intercourse if you have not yet experienced your cellular awakening? I
didn‟t know. I was so naive. I was just trying to get through this airplane ride. I began feeling
a little nervous, like I always do whenever an airplane starts bouncing so uncontrollably that
the overhead compartments drop their jaws as if ready to regurgitate” and sure enough, all
the carry-on items started falling onto people‟s heads. I found myself saying a quick prayer as
arms started flailing and people tried to dodge the briefcases and raincoats and those dang
fold-up luggage carts. “Ahhh!” a woman shrieked. People should not shriek on airplanes.
Shrieking on an airplane means death is about to happen, death to all the people on the
airplane.
Then I thought, Wait a second. Maybe there is an Immortal on the flight, headed to Tel Aviv
to be with CBJ. If you‟re on the same flight as an Immortal, does that assure that the plane
won‟t go down? Well, I didn‟t know. Like I said, I was naive.
The turbulence ended, just as turbulence usually does, and we all took a lot of deep breaths,
and eventually I leaned back and thumbed through CBJ‟s book, Together Forever. All through
it are smiling pictures of C, B and J, wearing coordinated outfits. In the book, you are invited
to “sit back, relax and let the words of Charles, BernaDeane and James stimulate your cells.”
I wasn‟t even sure that I wanted to be immortal. Death, after all, is pretty intriguing. Death
could be seen as an unpleasant event you have to go through, like birth, before your plop into
some new place, get smacked and start breathing a whole new oxygen.
But CBJ is convinced that none of us would ever want to die if we could have Heaven right
here. So this is what they are out to achieve: the creation of a new species of human beings
who can live forever together in their same old bodies in a heaven right here on earth.
Or right below me on earth, as was the case at the moment. I watched with interest as the
Hasidic Jews on the airplane got up, put white cloths over their heads, bobbed back and forth
and prayed.
I thought about the way of the Jewish people and I thought about the way of the people who
reared me, the Catholic people, and I thought about the way people everywhere crave order,
meaning and worth. Heaven offers one way of avoiding madness. Heaven, in fact, can be
seen as a place that was invented by the human mind as a way of dealing with the fact that
there is no Heaven. By and large, and at the very least, you could say that the human mind
lacks the equipment needed to hold on to the notion of its own insignificance. The human
mind can get totally stuck in a spasm with a thought like this, and to a lot of people it‟s just
not worth it. It is definitely more convenient to have a priest or a rabbi or a guru organize and
give meaning to the universe on your behalf.
So far, CBJ has about 30,000 people from eighteen countries on its mailing list. But its core
members are not nearly that numerous. The Scottsdale and Tel Aviv centers have the largest
congregations, with about 300 Immortals each you‟ll find smaller CBJ groups peppered
throughout Europe, Australia and South America. The Immortals are people of all ages and
religious backgrounds, most of them college-educated and in their thirties and forties, most of
them in possession of extremely hip and creative wardrobes and most of them glowing with a
very weird but very inviting happiness. Apparently, one becomes overwhelmed with bliss
when no longer faced with the problem of having to leave this earth and get oneself to
paradise or having to turn into earthworm food or something else really disgusting and
degrading. Plus, if you are an Immortal with an Immortal lover or friend, then you never have
to worry about being alone when an Immortal promises to be with you forever, it is definitely
a long-term type thing.
In July and August each year, a thousand Immortals from around the world go to Scottsdale
to unite with CBJ at the annual “convergence.” This is the sixteen-day cellular intercourse that
all Immortals talk about with glee and longing.
Can you have cellular intercourse if you have not yet experienced your cellular awakening? I
didn‟t know. I was so naive. I was just trying to get through this airplane ride. I began feeling
a little nervous, like I always do whenever an airplane starts bouncing so uncontrollably that
the overhead compartments drop their jaws as if ready to regurgitate” and sure enough, all
the carry-on items started falling onto people‟s heads. I found myself saying a quick prayer as
arms started flailing and people tried to dodge the briefcases and raincoats and those dang
fold-up luggage carts. “Ahhh!” a woman shrieked. People should not shriek on airplanes.
Shrieking on an airplane means death is about to happen, death to all the people on the
airplane.
Then I thought, Wait a second. Maybe there is an Immortal on the flight, headed to Tel Aviv
to be with CBJ. If you‟re on the same flight as an Immortal, does that assure that the plane
won‟t go down? Well, I didn‟t know. Like I said, I was naive.
The turbulence ended, just as turbulence usually does, and we all took a lot of deep breaths,
and eventually I leaned back and thumbed through CBJ‟s book, Together Forever. All through
it are smiling pictures of C, B and J, wearing coordinated outfits. In the book, you are invited
to “sit back, relax and let the words of Charles, BernaDeane and James stimulate your cells.”
I wasn‟t even sure that I wanted to be immortal. Death, after all, is pretty intriguing. Death
could be seen as an unpleasant event you have to go through, like birth, before your plop into
some new place, get smacked and start breathing a whole new oxygen.
But CBJ is convinced that none of us would ever want to die if we could have Heaven right
here. So this is what they are out to achieve: the creation of a new species of human beings
who can live forever together in their same old bodies in a heaven right here on earth.
Or right below me on earth, as was the case at the moment. I watched with interest as the
Hasidic Jews on the airplane got up, put white cloths over their heads, bobbed back and forth
and prayed.
I thought about the way of the Jewish people and I thought about the way of the people who
reared me, the Catholic people, and I thought about the way people everywhere crave order,
meaning and worth. Heaven offers one way of avoiding madness. Heaven, in fact, can be
seen as a place that was invented by the human mind as a way of dealing with the fact that
there is no Heaven. By and large, and at the very least, you could say that the human mind
lacks the equipment needed to hold on to the notion of its own insignificance. The human
mind can get totally stuck in a spasm with a thought like this, and to a lot of people it‟s just
not worth it. It is definitely more convenient to have a priest or a rabbi or a guru organize and
give meaning to the universe on your behalf.
