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Foreword
Following so much past discussion on the various internet
forums about The Temple of the Presence I decided to go
there in person for an extended period. This was my first
physical contact with TOP, and it was for 22 days to be
precise.
I had perceived that TOP's critics, and possibly even some
of its supporters, had experienced little or no actual contact
with the organisation. Without a firm foundation of knowledge,
opinions either way are of little use, and carry no weight.
In attempting to express what I discovered at TOP, I feel
it may be useful to present my findings in three quite different
ways. The first part on the subject, is taken verbatim and
unedited (apart from the concealing of others' names) from
my handwritten journal. While clearly this is of a personal
nature, I am most happy to make a couple of days' journal
entry public on this occasion. The second part is a direct
account and the third a letter to a friend while there.
Part I
Before Breakfast, 6th July, 1999.
How does one express the inexpressible? Last night the
Maha Chohan came, on the first day of Acropolis Sophia,
following the conference. When his coming was announced,
I expected "a dictation" by the Maha Chohan.
This was not "a dictation".
I will not describe the effect last evening had on people
except to say that even this morning nobody talks about
it. What happened was too holy and precious for each one.
Never, never have I known the Maha Chohan like this. So
real, right there in front of me, speaking private words
to me, so intimately, so very, very close to stepping through
the veil which had become no veil at all.
Yet it was no mere dictation. What he did for us and where
he took us no words can describe. I shall not attempt it.
O, holy, holy, holy.
O, wondrous electrons of God's active intelligence. O,
Thou Great and Loving Reality of the Great Central Sun in
which we bathed.
Thankfully I had only to step into another building to
sleep, for we were warned to take all the time necessary
to become partly and sufficiently anchored into the physical
again before attempting to drive.
To think! All the world has no idea what is going on here
in Vermont! Not yet.
Possibly this will be released on CD, but how to ever capture
such an experience, and where it took us--in just one evening--perhaps
forever.
One day of Acropolis Sophia down. Six to go....
But what could there possibly be more than this?
And I only just heard that Xxxxx from Xxxxxxx only found
T.O.P., and was extremely suspicious of it, mere weeks ago.
In fact, she had given up on Ascended Master movements perhaps,
but the nature of her first contact somehow drew her here.
I suppose she never expected to hear El Morya speak live
again. Or perhaps, I hear, she was doubting the existence
of El Morya. During his dictation of the conference, her
eyes streamed.
No, the world does not yet know, though it will.
Why, on the last day of the conference I still had the
one-week Acropolis Sophia to come, plus the more time I've
arranged to stay after that. Yet on that, just my sixth
day here, I literally spent the whole second half of the
day trying to hold back any tears. I already had visions
of having to leave and - God help me - I do not know how
I am going to accomplish that, or how I shall do it in a
manly way. I never want to leave, but must.
That last conference day I kept a dry face by, unfortunately,
tuning out of dictations and talks, and trying to think
mundane thoughts. Had I fully engaged my heart would have
been so opened that I would have been overwhelmed. I could
not do that in public. Already I am not sure I will actually
be able to face saying goodbye to Carolyn, Monroe, and the
staff here. I actually find myself considering a silent,
solo departure to avoid all those goodbyes. But these, I
must remind myself, are early days yet, and these are my
feelings of now, not of then, which is still the unmanifest
future.
7th July, 1999. Morning.
An amazing teaching on cosmic law and how to use it by
Monroe yesterday, in T.S. terms. Heros and Amora in the
evening. Another 10 minutes trying to figure out how I am
ever going to leave this place and these people in a manly
way....
Stayed up late last night, chatting. Xxxxx was something
like the fourth person ever to join the staff of the Summit,
in 1962, and he left staff in 1976, so is of course interesting
to talk to--not the "fossil" he jokingly refers
to himself as. Then I stayed up with Xxxxxxx, for we have
so bonded, and it seemed the right thing to do, to share
our hearts through to around 2 am. An amazing core mandala
is being put in place here by the Brotherhood, and it is
such a joy, such a happiness, to know them.
Part II
I first found out about the existence of the Great White
Brotherhood (GWB) and the Masters through Theosophy. Believing
from what I first read in Theosophical literature about
the Masters, I gained the impression that they would all
be in the Himalayas and India. Therefore it was largely
in order to try to find the Brotherhood and to make contact
with them that I set out overland from Britain, for India
and then the Himalayas, in 1975.
That was an eventful journey to say the least, and beloved
Morya's Zen test of myself, for those weeks were far from
easy. To cut a long story short, the result was that I did
indeed "find" the GWB while in India - in the
form of the address of The Summit Lighthouse, Box A, Colorado
Springs, Colorado.
However, I do not believe myself to be a credulous person,
and for one solid year I painstakingly searched through
all the world's major religions and New Age movements of
the time to ensure that The Summit Lighthouse was indeed
the highest Path available in the outer world. It was, and
I became a Keeper of the Flame in 1977. I was either the
first or among the first to join the Fraternity in Europe,
and certainly the first in the British Isles where I experienced
the great honor of being able to help national outreach
throughout the years. It was also my honor to be Vice-President
of The Summit Lighthouse (United Kingdom) in the beginning,
and later Co-President from 1987. For personal reasons I
eventually stood down from this position in February 1992.
Some may have heard of me through my first book, "The
Secret Power of Music", which concluded with parts
of Morya's "The Chela and the Path", and which
Mother introduced to the organisation along with Archangel
Gabriel's "Mysteries of the Holy Grail" one day
in 1984.
Those who were subscribers to the KOF list back in November
may recollect my joining in the initial debate there when
the subject of The Temple of the Presence first arose. Though
I've never been to them, archives of this forum exist in
some form, in which could be traced my initial skepticism
about TOP in November through to more of an open-minded
"don't know" period in December, by which time
I had more information on TOP to hand and had visited their
Web site.
The subject of TOP has, we know, been conspicuous on all
the CUT-related forums this year. I personally believe that
a great proportion of the posts on this subject have been
of little if any value, however, since it was clear that
many were writing from a standpoint of scarce, inadequate
knowledge. For this reason, as 1999 progressed, I believe
I can say that my posts on TOP were not so much supportive
of TOP per se as they were affirmations of the eternal reality
of progressive revelation in general--that revelations from
the GWB ("heaven") have not and will not stop
with CUT or any other movement.
This still did not enable me to offer an opinion upon The
Temple of the Presence from truly first-hand knowledge,
however. And it seemed to me to be an issue one should have
first-hand knowledge of, given that it was believed by some
to be the new Activity through which the GWB were continuing
their contact with their chelas and seeking to transform
the world consciousness.
I therefore arranged to travel to Vermont for 22 days,
all of which I spent at TOP or with TOP people, and during
which I took in the summer conference or Conclave, and the
week-long Acropolis Sophia that followed.
Having gone through all stages from outright skepticism
to "don't know" and to an acceptance of TOP, and
having gone through all the other, previous stages publicly
on the forums, my present three posts on TOP, of which this
is the second, are not "advertising" but a reportage.
Previous to-ing and fro-ing on the subject by the relatively
uninformed had perhaps become of little value. But the perspective
of one who had never before been to a TOP event, and who
had never before actually met the Shearers, but who then
went out there for over three weeks, may be of interest
to some. I now feel I can report with authority. My report
is positive, and if my findings had been negative I would
equally have reported on that.
It is difficult to know how to sum up one's impressions
of a full 22 days into just a few posts. I have therefore
opted to give some basic overall facts in the present post,
while the other two are vignettes - one from my journal,
and one being an e-mail response sent to a friend.
What, then, did I find in Vermont?
During the conference, the week-long Acropolis Sophia,
and a Sunday Service a week later there were at least 20
live dictations - by El Morya (twice), Gautama, Kuthumi,
Krishna, Pallas Athena, Lord Maitreya, Kuan Yin, Saint Germain,
Mother Mary (twice), Godfre, the Maha Chohan, Heros and
Amora, Apollo and Lumina, Purity (with Astrea), Hercules,
Cyclopea, Peace, and Arcturus.
In my opinion these were dictations as we know dictations
to be, and as they were before Mother became ill. To me,
the Saint Germain dictation was unmistakably beloved Saint
Germain, the Mother Mary dictations were unmistakably Mother
Mary, etc.
Much of what I gained from my time in Vermont, however,
comes also from Monroe Shearer's discourses on the Path,
and on the practical use of the three Outpourings from the
three Solar Logoi. In my opinion these teachings are potentially
life-transforming and Path-transforming. As with any spiritual
teaching, whether they prove to be so for myself will of
course be a matter of free will.
In addition to this I found gorgeously lush countryside,
an array of the most wonderful friends and heart-flames,
cooking (in the instance of the conference) by a Master
Chef (no, not an A.M.), and recreational swimming and sight-seeing.
In addition to attending the conference and the Acropolis
Sophia, I arrived a couple of days early and stayed on over
a week afterwards, staying mostly at the TOP headquarters
itself. I met the Shearers and all their closest helpers,
and got to know them all well. I found nothing but purity
of heart, purity of intent, harmony and the deepest, deepest
love in any of them.
During question times, from early on I raised various of
the issues or doubts that others have voiced on the net
forums. These were answered by both Monroe and Carolyn,
and more than once El Morya himself (IMO) replied through
one or the other. To sum up all of these answers, I would
simply paraphrase from memory El Morya to me during the
conference when he said that those who believe this or that
about TOP do so simply because they do not know the whole
teaching and have not experienced it. The Masters' teaching
through TOP needs to be taught, therefore, and needs to
be experienced at source in order for this or that little
particle of secondhand misunderstood teaching to be comprehended.
At the Temple I found a thriving upcoming generation of
children and teens. Nothing but any normal parental requirements
are expected of these children. In other words, nothing
is forced and the children all have free will. The attitude
toward youth is in fact very laissez-faire as compared to,
say, CUT in the 1980s. I saw little children who earnestly
desired to decree and to be present at dictations if they
could. I also saw that children of any age were free to
go their own way and do their "own thing" at any
time, which some did, within the parameters of the above-stated
normal parental concerns.
There have been half-stated opinions from some who have
not been to TOP along the lines of its being somehow "old-fashioned"
or a return to the culture of the I AM Activity. Nothing
could be so cosmically far from the truth. The people at
TOP are healthy of mind, relaxed, loving and extremely fun-loving
(the tales I could tell!). The teachings are presented and
people practice them as they desire. It is not an Activity
based upon rules and regulations.
As Scripture says, "The first shall be last, and the
last first". What an immense joy it was to find that
some of the purest and most earnest of hearts, who appeared
so close to God and to the Brotherhood, are, at TOP, not
members or ex-members of CUT but entirely new students of
the Ascended Masters who had not even heard of them 18 or
15 months ago.
Given the background of my books, it was fascinating to
find a greater emphasis at TOP upon music. Musical meditations
before and after dictations are more varied, and tend to
be longer. Some of it was quite new to me, and exerted a
quite profound effect before the Master even began.
The world-famous sitar player, Roop Verma, who was trained
by Ravi Shankar, has a close association with the Activity,
and with his family stayed for two days during the conference
to play the music for dictations. He introduced me to nada
yoga--"sound yoga"--which is the more ancient
parent of the raga. So powerful is his ability to perform
nada yoga for an audience that for one dictation his playing
and our attention upon it was said to be equal to the preparation
afforded by decrees, so that no decrees were required before
that Master came.
Carolyn too is a musician, with a wonderful voice. It's
Carolyn Shearer we hear hitting the high notes on CUT recordings
such as "God Is My Victory". A number of the songs
in The Summit Lighthouse Book of Songs were also penned
by her. For example, "God's Real In Me", which
she has now copyrighted.
When I first came to accept, from afar, that The Temple
of the Presence was an authentic, new Ascended Master Activity,
I saw it as being one in the lineage of such Activities
which, in the West, have included the I AM Activity, the
Bridge to Freedom, and The Summit Lighthouse/Church Universal
and Triumphant. In other words, I saw TOP as being a continuation
of that lineage of movements, and knew that when the Bridge
and the Summit were formed, their Messengers were not accepted
by the existing Messengers of the prior Activities either.
I do still hold to this view, but it has been much refined
and added to during my 22-day stay at TOP's headquarters
in Vermont. Now I would tend to express things another way.
This is as a result of what I have heard in the dictations,
and what I now know of the Great White Brotherhood's latest
plans and hopes.
The I AM Activity was not a failure, but it was not wholly
successful either. What we have from it as a victory is
a wonderful array of teachings, the entirety of which probably
only a tiny number of Keepers are familiar with, if any.
But culturally it went awry. And its reputation in the eyes
of the world was broken by innuendo and the mudslinging
of an IRS case which brought that Activity to its knees,
and from which it never recovered its reputation, though
it won. (In fact it won a vital victory for religious freedom
in America, of such importance that one can read about it
in the Encyclopedia Britannica.) Yet there originally was
never intended for there to be a need for another Activity:
through the I AM, literally the Golden Age was intended
to have come forth.
Keepers tend to know very little about the Bridge to Freedom.
This is a real pity. Its teachings are marvelous, and are
authentically from the GWB. TOP sells many of its books,
and I've come home with an armful. So in terms of its teachings
it too was wonderful, yet it too did not reach fruition,
and its Messenger died in an untimely manner, all the evidence
pointing to accidental death by drowning. Again there was
no Golden Age for planet Earth.
Those of us who have been around long enough in CUT know
what it was meant to achieve, and that again there was no
conception years ago that there would be a need for yet
another, fourth Activity. Will CUT lead to a planetary Golden
Age now? Does this appear to be where the Church is headed?
I shall not elaborate all the Church's current problems,
for they receive sufficient airing on the forums as it is.
Suffice it to say that in my humble opinion a planetary
Golden Age will only be brought about whilst chelas are
consciously in detailed cooperation and communication with
the Great White Brotherhood in the here and now. The Brotherhood
will always do what they can to help a humanly-led organisation,
but for the ultimate and planetary victory they have need
for the contact to be direct, and they have need for the
release of Light.
I returned home a couple of days ago absolutely bedazzled
by the current hopes and visions, and the exuberant confidence,
of beloved El Morya, Saint Germain, Pallas Athena, Lord
Maitreya and all the other ascended host not only for a
long-term planetary Golden Age, but that it can begin soon
in the smaller scale. Even that it has begun. The foundations
are firm. The dream is still alive. And in fact it is more,
and always was more, than just a dream. It is no further
distant from us than the I AM Presence itself - awaiting
our manifestation of oneness with it, hand-in-hand with
Those who have ascended into the Light before us.
Part III
After having spent quite some time at T.O.P., I felt no
one way of writing about my conclusions or feelings would
be adequate. In this writing--since the letter is written
anyway and I can simply paste it in here--I choose to share
a personal letter I wrote during my stay in Vermont.
I have of course taken out the more personal paragraphs,
for this was a letter to a friend. I should also explain
the humorous circumstances in which the letter was written.
While driving or about to drive, a volunteer at TOP told
me there were numerous inquiries each day from around the
world, and that "We even had one from England today".
This being my homeland, I asked to see it - only to find
it was from a good friend who once served on the staff of
CUT in Montana. Since we shared the same sense of humour,
I knew he would see the joke if his inquiry to TOP was unexpectedly
answered by me!
The bulk of the letter follows.
Dear Mr. Xxxxxxx,
Hi! This is Mr. Tame here responding to your comment sent
to T.O.P.! Among the inquiries they received yesterday it
was mentioned one was from England, so I asked to see it,
and it was your fine self!
Xxxxxxx, the Conclave finished a week last Sunday, and
then I attended the Acropolis Sophia for a week which ended
last Sunday, two days ago--though one "run on"
dictation is still to come during the service next Sunday.
They have been among the most spiritual two weeks of my
life, and among the most wonderful two weeks of my life
in many other ways. It is still the size of a large extended
family, and basically everybody knows everybody else, so
yesterday was spent running people to the airport (Boston)
which is a long drive. Today, Tuesday, is a day of recovery,
for it was very busy for the people putting the events on.
<snip>
Although all are free to partake of the free broadcasts
and the free live broadcasts which are just weeks away,
and to receive the Ruby Chalice Visitations, last Sunday
a formal membership was introduced for those interested
in being more committed. These are the Torchbearers of the
Temple, of whom beloved Saint Germain plans for there to
be 10,000 ASAP.
<snip>
All that was passed on to me was your address, the inquiry,
and the comment "I love the new wine!"
They are producing CDs even as I write: there is an 11-CD
album of a seminar done in Bozeman a few weeks ago, and
a new gizmo is churning out the CDs for backorders of this
- it takes 40 minutes for 5 CDs. I'll be bringing one home.
<snip to omit a personal paragraph and a more official
response to the inquiry>
Xxxxxxx, the Conclave was wonderful! Great though the available
material is, nobody has any idea of the immense Power being
released here until they visit physically. Everybody comments
on it, and three-quarters are former CUT members. It is
as though Carolyn is able to release a purer version of
what the Masters are conveying both in words and Light.
Saint Germain and Morya in the conference were those Masters
as I have never known them before. I had the feeling that
I had never quite known them precisely until then.
The weeklong Acropolis Sophia was attended by 22 students.
The Shearers were present every day. They used to do this
all day long, but it was taxing on the students, so this
time they did not themselves begin until 1.30. It was a
profound course of study. I had expected a back-to-basics
SU type thing, but it was nothing of the sort. Monroe gave
deep and new teachings from the GWB on precipitation and
God-Mastery, and the dictations were mostly along the lines
of this course. Among the dictations were six of the Elohim,
so it is Arcturus still due next Sunday.
It is all so intimate! Mother Mary "spent" the
afternoon with us, wanting to answer any questions we had
on stress in relation to the Path. Strangely (!) there were
soon no more questions on this, so it moved on into healing
and kundalini. While under the Ascended Masters, as you
know, the raising of kundalini is usually quite gentle,
Carolyn talked at length about the fact that even under
the Masters a whole range of symptoms can occur, and this
was gone into. We are welcome to telephone them if ever
we are concerned about anything along these lines happening
to us.
The three most memorable times for me were:
(1) Saint Germain's Conclave dictation was just so, so
wonderful! I never knew him so tangible and amazing. He
is so joyful and positive at the new Activity, and assured
of its success, and that it will, this time, stay on track.
Carolyn said afterward that she could hardly shape the words,
and in fact had to repeat a few, because his grin was so
great it was pulling at her mouth! It was a true tour de
force dictation, and I think we all saw the split-second
in which he was suddenly gone. Afterward Carolyn confirmed
that in a sudden, final dramatic flourish, he shot out and
upward so suddenly that she almost fell over!
(2) On the first day of Acropolis Sophia the Maha Chohan
took us on an indescribable meditation, and our consciousnesses
within that forcefield went far away. A key member who is
a friend here had warned me that to do this course I would
need a "cosmic visa". I hope to tape that before
I leave and try it again, though it may not be the same
that way.
(3) We were all able to write down - anonymously - one
question for beloved El Morya. This was not to be too self-concerned
(e.g. who is my twin flame, or where should I live) but
a personal question for which the answer could still be
applicable and helpful to all. But I had expected Carolyn
herself to answer these in an overshadowed mode. No! ...
First El Morya dictated. Then he sat down, Monroe read
out the questions, and El Morya replied to us in full dictation
mode. I was just yards away, and it was surely as close
as close could be to actually sitting tangibly at Morya's
feet in the Darjeeling retreat. He was right there, answering
sweetly every question, and all were good ones. He answered
at length to each. He even answered things on the writer's
mind which had not been written down, but all anonymously.
When it came to my question, he knew precisely who had written
the question and, though his reply was useful to all, it
was nevertheless his own personal response to me. Morya
said himself that he welcomed such close contact, but joked
that he did not know what they would do to maintain this
Acropolis Sophia practice when there are hundreds of students.
Beloved Morya continued in this way until the last question
was answered around 11.15 pm. Then Hercules dictated, and
El Morya sealed the session. I remember Carolyn then asking
Monroe if he would take her hand, "For this Messenger
can scarcely stand up".
One great thing about having been here is to witness the
purity of heart of these Messengers. Even among the students
there is no gossip or human "stuff", and it will
be a prime goal of the Temple to keep things that way as
it grows. Concerning growth, it is not a question of numbers
but of the quality of how close Temple members can remain
to their I AM Presence. There are magnificent plans for
building the first public, outer post of the Great White
Brotherhood since Atlantis - and I do not believe this is
intended to be decades down the road. This will be a true,
wonderful Temple, with gradations of floors to which various
students have access...
<snip>
This BTW is a dispensation, to build such a place, released
to the Summit through a PoW in 1960, but never taken up.
The GWB "caught" the unmanifested dispensation
and held on to it, to release it anew now for T.O.P.
Well, it was pleasant and, I thought, fun, to be able to
answer your comment from here!
I had better get on with the day.
Love and Peace from Vermont.
David
[Republished on Alpheus with permission
of the author]
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