2 Born Again!

Once again, Alan felt his consciousness return. This time, however, he couldn't open his eyes no matter how hard he tried. "You don't have eyes yet," a voice said to him. "Is that Maloke?" asked Alan. "No, he's somewhere else in this world," said the voice. "Then who are you," asked Alan. "I'm Ramkol," said the voice. "Are you a new Guardian Angel?" asked Alan. "No, more like a teacher, someone to keep you company for the next nine months," answered Ramkol. "A teacher, you're here to teach me something?" asked Alan. "Indeed, you are very lucky. You are also very unlucky. Usually, when I teach a young soul in the womb I will touch them between their nose and upper lip, on the philtrum. When I do this, my young students immediately forget everything I've taught them. You are very lucky because you won't forget anything I teach you. I won't remove your memories by touching your philtrum.

"You are also unlucky because I won't teach you everything I usually teach. If I taught you everything and you retained your memories, well, isn't this an unfair advantage. You would even lose your free will if I let you retain all of this knowledge. Free will is very important, you might say it's one of the most important tools humans or sentient beings are born with. Even we angels don't have free will, we know too much! Before you were born the last time, I already taught you everything you needed to know and caused you to forget everything. This is the second time I'm teaching you," said Ramkol happily.

"I don't understand, why bother teaching someone something and then cause them to forget the information?" asked Alan. "It's very simple, when you enter into a new world it will be very strange and unfamiliar to you. By teaching you about the world you're going to you will feel more at ease. Even if you forget the detailed information you will still remain a sense of familiarity with your new home. The other reason is it is easier to learn something if you have learned it before," said Ramkol.

"What do you mean?" asked Alan. "When you were a child attending school in your past life do you remember learning math?" asked Ramkol. "Yes, of course," replied Alan. "Tell me, when you learned math was there ever a time where you learned the same thing more than once?" asked Ramkol. "Absolutely, we learned the same thing several times and reviewed what we learned over and over. Even from grade to grade we would review the same information," said Alan. "Why did you do this?" asked Ramkol. "We would often forget what we learned, or the concept was unclear, or sometimes we even had to relearn certain things before moving on to something more complex," responded Alan. "Was it easier to use the math knowledge after reviewing?" asked Ramkol. "Yes, of course," replied Alan. "Why was it easier?" asked Ramkol. "I guess it was because we became more and more familiar with the idea the more we practiced it," responded Alan. "That is exactly correct. This is the same reason why I teach babies everything before they are born even though I will cause them to forget the information. They will be more familiar with the knowledge and it is always easier to relearn something than to learn it for the first time," said Ramkol.

"I'm sorry, I still don't understand. How can I be said to relearn something if I've completely forgotten about it?" asked Alan. "Have you ever read the Platonic Dialogues?" asked Ramkol. "No, I wasn't much of a philosopher in my old life," said Alan. "Hmm, yes, I guess not. In one of the Platonic Dialogues called Meno, Socrates wishes to prove humans remember knowledge they do not learn it," said Ramkol. "Really, isn't this exactly what we are talking about?" asked Alan. "It is very similar. Allow me to summarize Socrates' argument in the hopes it will help you understand our discussion of how learning is just remembering," said Ramkol. "Okay, I have nowhere else to go," said Alan. "Neither have I, my little friend," said Ramkol with a laugh.

"Meno and Socrates began discussing the nature or meaning of virtue. The conversation developed in the direction of knowledge. Socrates claimed that souls reincarnated and when they came to live in the world again they still retained information from their previous lives. This information was hidden away, blocked from their immediate memory. The knowledge could still be accessed through a process of remembering. Of course, Meno had his doubts. Socrates offered to give a clear proof of his claim. Taking one of Meno's young house slaves, he asks the slave a series of questions about a square. Socrates wants to see if the young slave is able to remember how to double a square. Eventually, through the process of question and answers, never direct teaching, Socrates demonstrates Meno's slave is remembering past knowledge not learning new knowledge," said Ramkol.

"Forgive me, but I'm doubtful of this proof," said Alan. "You should be doubtful, Socrates was a bit of a word Magician. The point is he was able to demonstrate to Meno's satisfaction people remember past knowledge they do not learn it. Whether Socrates actually believed his claim, I don't know, However, it turns out he is right. When people die and are reincarnated they go through a process of forgetting. Many cultures have this idea, the Greeks, the Taoists, and even the Jews. The exact process is debated amongst the various groups. Regardless of what you think of Socrates and his proof I hope it was helpful to tell you the story of Meno's slave. Do you feel you understand a little better?" asked Ramkol.

"Sure, it's certainly interesting. I am curious, what are you planning to teach me?" asked Alan. "Normally, I would teach you everything. However, you're special so those need to teach you everything. Instead, I will teach you from a pragmatic perspective. I want to teach you things you can use in your next life. Not enough to give you too much of an unfair advantage, but enough to give you a good chance at living. You see, the place you are going to is a world where living is the hardest thing to do. A person who is able to live, even poorly in your next world, has something to brag about. Some might consider this realm you are going to as a life of Hell. Knowing the little I do about you, I think you'll actually enjoy it. Even still, you were promised compensation for your unjust treatment. Knowledge is the biggest portion of your compensation. I hope you aren't disappointed," said Ramkol.

"It's the opposite, in my old life it was information more than anything else which determined life and death. I am very grateful for any information you are willing to share," said Alan with a polite smile. "I plan to share with you much more than information. This is called a cultivator's world. It a place where martial arts and skills allow individuals to reach startling levels of power. From the mortal level to the nearly divine, humans, beasts, and demons are able to become so powerful some can bring whole galaxies even universes to oblivion. You will be born into an amazing family of cultivators. Although I wouldn't rely too much on these parents as their a bit flaky," said Ramkol.

"Isn't irresponsible putting a baby with such parents?" asked Alan. "You're a grown man with survival skills and abilities most can only dream of. I think you'll be okay," said Ramkol with a laugh. "I'm going to teach you some very high-level cultivation techniques and martial skills. If you are diligent you can reach the highest levels with these abilities. I will also provide you with knowledge of supporting skills so you can develop a means of supporting yourself financially. A lot of the information you won't be able to use at first. However, I'm giving you information to help you survive for an extremely long time. What I will teach you is the knowledge of the path of immortality. How does that sound?" asked Ramkol. "It sounds exciting, when do we begin?" asked Alan. "Right now," said Ramkol with a sparkle in his eye.

Over the course of nine months, Ramkol taught Alan everything he promised and more. Finally, it was time for him to be born again. "Will I ever see you again?" asked Alan. "I don't know, not for a long time. You'll have to die again, maybe I'll be assigned to you for the third time. Of course, you probably won't remember me. This retaining your memories situation you've found your self in is only good for this life," said Ramkol. "I understand, it's too bad we won't be meeting again. You're the first real friend I've had in a long time. Thank you for everything you have taught me," said Alan. "Of course, it's my job. Good luck kid," said Ramkol.

Year 4,672 on the Dragon Calendar, in a small corner of the Vego galaxy on a planet about twice the size of Earth's is the planet Vol. On the Dashking Continent in the Firegoblin Empire, in Dextro, an Imperial city in the home of the Omari family. The husband Titus Omari and his wife Sidra Omari. A new life is brought into the world. Sidra Omari has just given birth to a baby boy. Titus is brought his son, looking proudly at his son, Titus cannot help but boast to his little son. "Boy, your old man is the strongest around, you'll be strong too, I can tell! Your mamma did good bringin' a little warrior like you into this world," said Titus. Titus was eventually allowed into his wife's room after the midwives cleaned things up. Walking up to his beautiful and exhausted wife, Titus beamed happily. "Ya did good sweetheart. This boy's gonna be a warrior, he's got at least as much potential as me. Good job!" laughed Titus. Sidra looked warmly at her husband and her new son. "What shall we call him?" asked Sidra. "We'll name him after your father who was the strongest man I ever met. Our son will be Laszlo Omari," smiled Titus. "Ha, it's a good name. Let me hold him." commanded Sidra. Titus handed their son to his wife. "Hello little one, hi little Laszlo. What do you think of this big new world? Hmm?" Sidra said with a loving smile on her face. Laszlo Omari, formerly Alan Smith, lay in his mother's arm with a perturbed look on his face. "That was weird," said Laszlo as he drifted off to slepp.