B969 <=> B971 [BTG XLII Beelzebub in America, p. 970]

“His name was Asiman and he was a member of a group of contemporary Asiatic three-brained beings, who, having cognized their slavish dependence upon certain causes within themselves, organized a collective existence for the purpose of working upon themselves to deliver themselves from this inner slavery.

“It is interesting to notice that this group of contemporary terrestrial three-brained beings, one of whom was this Brother Asiman, had previously existed in the country formerly Pearl-land, now called Hindustan, but afterwards when beings from the continent of Europe appeared there and began disturbing them and hindering their peaceful work, they all migrated across what are now called there the ‘Himalayan Mountains’ and settled partly in the country Tibet and partly in what are called the ‘valleys of the Hindu Kush.’

“Brother Asiman was one of those who settled in the ‘valleys of the Hindu Kush.’

“As time was precious to the members of this brotherhood who were working for their self-perfection, and the process of eating robbed them of a great deal of time, this Brother Asiman, being very well versed in the science then called ‘alchemy,’ began working very earnestly in the hope of finding what is called a ‘chemical preparation’ on the introduction of which into himself, a being could exist without spending so much time in the preparation and consumption of all kinds of products for his first-food.

“After long and intensive work, Brother Asiman found for this purpose a combination of chemical substances in the form of a ‘powder,’ one small thimbleful of which, introduced into a being once in every twenty-four hours, made it possible for him both to exist without consuming anything else except water as food, and to perform all his being-obligations without injury.