The first person to become 1,000 years old has already been born
The first person to become 1,000 years old, has already been born.
-Aubrey de Grey, Biomedical gerontologist and SENS’ Chief Science Officer
As a fan of ancient text, one of my favorite shows is Ancient Aliens on the History Channel. In the search for ancient alien visitation, the show looks to history and ancient text for clues about our distant past.
While you may not believe in aliens, one thing is clear--like our ancestors, we are on a path. We categorize the path in many ways, but there are a few common themes, and one of them is the quest for longevity. From biology and epigenetics to technology, man appears to be on the same quest now as it was in ancient times.
The clip below is from an Ancient Aliens episode called The Steps To Immortality. It provides an interesting take on the idea that we can achieve immortality through technology. In other words, we can become immortal by becoming robots.
In addition to robots, there are those, including myself, that believe we live in a simulation and the simulation operates as a hologram. There is an inherent reward system within the simulation, but like any game, it takes practice to advance; to live a longer life. In many ways, longevity is the point of most every game. The goal is to “get to the next level”.
Currently, the longest-lived modern person in the world on actual record is Jeanne Calment of France, who died at the age of 122 years.
While much has been lost on the subject of longevity (or was never documented in a way that could survive to begin with), ancient text is filled with wisdom that has clearly been suppressed throughout the years.
What is longevity?
Before discussing the topic of longevity in all its forms, let’s establish a baseline for what it means. It does not mean life expectancy. Life expectancy is often confused with longevity. See the chart below as an example:
This chart may seem like it holds a lot of information, but it is meaningless. For clarity, let’s use an example. If you have twins, and one dies at birth while the other lives to be 90, they are said to have a life expectancy of 45. So what? This is statistically correct, but utterly meaningless to anyone looking for a measure of longevity.
The real question is how long does the average person live? Scientists have found the answer to this question to be around 70. This is average, so there are places in the world where people are living much longer and I talk about these places in the post: Ancient Longevity Techniques: Diet & The Elixir of Life, Part 1
Life Extension, Radical Longevity and Immortality
In my studies of longevity in ancient text, there are three sides of the longevity coin: life extension, radical longevity and immortality (or the mastery of time).
Life Extension
Again, not to be confused with life expectancy, longevity refers to living a long life -- 100 to 150 years old. Ancient longevity techniques in this category are aimed at life extension. By using these techniques, you will continue to age, but you will also feel better and live longer while doing it. Diet and exercise are the most common ways of extending life in ancient text, though there are many other ways as discussed throughout this website.
Radical Longevity
On another side of the coin is the idea of radical longevity. Radical longevity, as most famously cited in the Bible's Genesis 5:5, refers to people living to be 900+ years old. In most cases, radical longevity is viewed as a biblical error in translation or a consequence of genetic engineering, specifically a change in DNA. Mankind that propagated the earth after the flood was somehow different from pre-flood Antediluvians.
Today, there are attempts to “activate our DNA”. It is an attempt to change our DNA and to somehow take us back to our ‘pre-flood’ Antediluvian DNA. I discuss DNA methylation and the connection between evolution and longevity in the post: Ancient Longevity Techniques: DNA Activation / Manipulation.
Immortality
The third and final side of the coin, which is apt because it may appear that coins don't have three sides, is immortality. To some, immortality is the subject of fantasy -- like the three sided coin, it doesn't exist. To others, it is the only real side of the coin.
Also referred to as ‘the edge’, the third side of the coin holds no interest to most, but several groups throughout history, like the Gymnosophists in India, the Pythagoreans in Greece, the Therapeuts of Egypt, and the Essenes of Palestine were more obsessed with ‘the edge’ of the coin than any other side. That is, they were more obsessed with accession than life extension or even radical longevity.
Some believe ascension to be a fairly new idea--discovered in the past 100 years by some new age guru--but it is well documented in ancient text as well. Referred to by many names (enlightenment, duality, liberation), ascension is often discussed in ancient text for the purpose of documenting an encounter with a prophet or otherworldly being. The text documents the quest for longevity through the process of merging the physical body with our soul or "light body"; it is living in a state of duality.
From the Vikings of Scandinavia to the Dogan of Northern Africa to the Buddhists of East Asia, the documentation of dualism or ascension is heavily discussed in ancient text. Those that can achieve ascension also have mastery over space and time, if so desired. This is just one of the benefits of ascension.
The Quest For Longevity
You might be reading this because you want to "get to the next level". The curiosity to advance is so ingrained in our collective psyche, perhaps connected to a will toward self preservation, that it is a wonder we are not all devoted to the study. If we do have a purpose in life, at least one aspect of it should be the longevity of the species. It is the goal of this site to advance the topic of longevity for the human race and that cannot be done seriously without the study of ancient text. These texts help to realize, in more ways than one, that the only real difference between modern day humans and our ancient ancestors is time.
The goal of this website is to help you live a better life, both physically and mentally. We will look at numerous ancient text regarding the subject of longevity. These books will help us to understand how the ancients felt about longevity, how they obtained it and what steps you can take to do the same. We will look at a history of longevity for humans, pre- and post-antediluvian. We will look at what longevity means today. And, we will look at techniques the ancients used to obtain longevity. With your help, we'll be able to make this website a portal where everyone can learn more about what our ancestors had to say on living a long and fulfilling life.