Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Chapter 10: Changing Time with Leonardo da Vinci

I have over 100 different people advising me about what to do with the material I have collected researching and interviewing a real man whom I now fully believe is nearly 2,800 years old. And the general consensus from all of these advisors is to put what I can into a book and to "do it right".

So I have begun the process of creating my first book to be published about my experiences locating and meeting this remarkable man. As part if the book writing process I created a book proposal with a sample chapter. This particular chapter is one of those I consider quite interesting to any reader of this book. Consequently it has received the most edits, although i still have yet to complete the final edit of this entire book.

By popular request, I am now posting some excerpts from this sample chapter, Chapter 10 of "Secrets of an Immortal - An Eyewitness Account of 2,800 Years of History", for your review.

The following excerpts are copyrighted by Ben Abba:




Chapter 10: Changing Time with Leonardo da Vinci

“You knew Leonardo da Vinci?!?” I was so excited I could hardly blurt out the question. As those words left my lips I heard a roaring laugh from Shojan that shocked me right out of my chair. I picked myself up, gathered my wits about me, and sat back down. I clearly saw a smirk on his face. A twinkle of fondness formed in his eyes as he looked beyond me to his past.

“Yes I knew him! I knew him very well. I met him as a young man and we worked together on a project for nearly three years”, Shojan exclaimed.

...

It had been my hope that Shojan had heard of Leonardo da Vinci during Renaissance times; or at least seen some of his early work. He shared with me a story about Leonardo that was beyond and above what I could have possibly imagined.

As I regained my composure, I asked: “How did you come to meet Leonardo da Vinci?” With that characteristic gleam still in his eyes he answered:

“I was searching for someone to help me draw plans for a project I was working on. I was told by a mutual acquaintance that Leonardo was a gifted drawer and a quick study. He was living near me at the time. He was very young, in his late 20’s or early 30’s, and a brilliant artist. I found his ability to learn quickly combined with his engineering skills, quite remarkable for the time. I quickly decided he was perfect for what I was looking for so I hired him on the spot. Although we worked together for around three years designing and building a clock tower. Although we used common building materials to build this clock tower, but it was quite unique in its design.

...

“Can you tell me anything more about Leonardo da Vinci?”

“He had dark-colored hair and dark-colored eyes. I remember he was tall, but not too tall, and he was strong, but not strong-looking. He had a rather deep voice, but not that of a large man. His demeanor was one of curiosity and determination; but never of desperation or forcefulness. He often spoke in quiet tones yet his voice carried significant weight. I enjoyed speaking with him immensely because he often added a bit of humor into his dialogue. He seemed to enjoy life and all that life offered him. He was exceedingly confident in his ability to perform any task, complete any project, and solve any problem. He did not have one special gift but many incredible talents. He would occasionally joke about God giving him so much talent that he often wondered exactly what his life’s purpose was other than to explore everything. He used his art to support himself, yet art was also a tool he used to express himself and communicate his ideas.

...

The Clock Tower and Changing the River of Time

My natural inquisitiveness kicked in as I started to think about the project Shojan and Leonardo created together. “Can you tell me more about this project you needed drawings for?” Shojan answered me:

“I was attempting to find a person who could help me draw out this clock tower idea I had in my mind. I felt strongly that I could observe and affect the invisible river of time that flowed all around us. I needed a clock, which I could manipulate. And I needed a power source to do run this clock. The windmill was a perfect answer to making my vision come true. I would often speak to Leonardo at great length about how time was flowing around everything, how we could tap into something that we could not see; and that with a windmill powered clock we could affect time.

Remember in those days we could not see the wind, just the effects of the wind. And we did not have any other usable form of energy; like the invisible force we call electricity today. However, back then, we felt that wind, power, and time were all linked together somehow. We did not know how, we just believed they did. So off we went drawing and then finally building this windmill powered clock tower near Rome.


I have enough material about my immortal friend's experiences with Leonardo da Vinci to write an entire book. However, I have decided to write this first book about the more interesting highlights of his life; with one chapter devoted to each period of his life.

As this book has come together, I am truly amazed at the picture it paints of this extraoridnary man. I fully beleive you too will enjoy his story once you finally see it in print.

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