The Shadybrook Seminar, 1978

By Lotus Landis

  The cancellation of a prior committment seemed to provide an opportunity for us to share our message with you in a way that hasn’t been possible before. In a way, I feel that we are sort of working our way into going out into the world. We have been somewhat secluded, a quiet group for many years. We have never done any proselytizing. We have done very little advertising; we have almost been what you might call a secret society. But we’re not, and the name of our organization is the Society of the Universal Living Christ.
  Our Society has its roots in a very old organization, which was called in those days the Society of the Christ Science. It was founded in 1910, by Dr. Thomas Parker Boyd, a Methodist minister who later became an Anglican (Episcopal) priest. He was a very gifted man, very brilliant, very much a scholar. He was born with the gift of healing (his mother was Native American), and when he laid on hands he would have many, many miracles. While he was still ministering to a very large congregation in a Portland, Oregon, Methodist church, he regularly held healing meetings where he laid on hands. But the Methodists objected and made life so miserable for him that he left for San Francisco where he studied at the Episcopal seminary there. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity there and served some of the churches in that area before taking his healing mission on the road.
  He was so dedicated to the idea of spiritual healing that he decided he would like to start a college in which he would teach ministers and laymen how to lay on hands and how to heal and to incorporate all of the methods of healing that he knew about. He was also very much interested in extrasensory perception. That is a long way back, and when you mentioned (and this is fact) these things aloud before 1930, people quite literally wouldn’t speak to you again. Dr. Boyd, who was a very dignified, tall, scholarly looking gentleman, rather resented that, but he went ahead anyway. At the University of California (Berkeley) they had a Department of Psychology, which was quite new then, and they used to conduct experiments (this was during the 20s) on ESP and psychic healings. It was during this period, in 1926 to be exact, that our founder and leader, Edna Lister, became his secretary.
  Edna Lister was a native of Seattle, Washington. Her mother had been following such teachers for quite a while, and she thought of Dr. Boyd as “Dr. God.” So she insisted on bringing her daughter to hear him. So, Edna Lister sang for him at one of his services. When she finished he told her that she was going to be one of his ministers. Edna Lister hesitated because she had already decided on a singing career—she had already memorized five operas and was taking lessons. Still Dr. Boyd urged her to become his secretary and she did. She had two boys to support, and as his secretary she would have to travel a great deal, to England, Scotland, and even to South Africa. Wherever he went, her two boys would have to be taken care of. So she left them—and this was a great sacrifice—with her sister.
  Edna Lister had many gifts that were naturally helpful to the Society of the Healing Christ, as it was called then. In the first place, she could see and hear UP on the Inner as well as you and I see on the outer. So, when experiments were conducted at the University of California, he used Edna Lister as his subject. They would hold up a coin, or whatever, in another room and she would be able to describe the object perfectly from another room. Of course, such feats were very easy for her, and of course, the Psychology Department was thrilled about it. The Society was progressing and developing very rapidly under Dr. Boyd and Edna Lister. They developed a good many courses on psychology, philosophy, and she, herself, wrote courses on the pyramids, diet, the kabbalah and many esoteric subjects. She covered practically every philosophy that had been taken up from the beginning of time. She was that knowledgeable.
  Just before Dr. Boyd passed away in 1936 at the age of 93, he appointed her as head of the Society. She also attended the Unity Church Seminary in Kirkland, Missouri, and preached in various Unity churches from time to time. She lectured in Buffalo, Cleveland, Seattle, and as I have mentioned, preached and conducted healing sessions in England, Scotland, South Africa, and Belgium. At one time, she ministered to a Unity congregation of 2,000 in Buffalo. In 1936, she began to open up and to develop a travelogue of Heaven. She had this remarkable ability to chart her way up through the Planes, through the Gates, up into the Realms of Heaven, its cities, and to describe them, their rulers, the Fathers and their glorious robes. She described altars and temples and she opened this to the public.
  Many people were offended by these revelations (remember this was way back in the 30s when people thought of such “seers” as either wicked or loony). As a student in those days, you might look through books, but you wouldn’t have found anything that would confirm what she saw. Yet she could take you back and forth over the same route knowing exactly how to get to every city above. And then she would be able to take you over the same Path back again! (You might try it sometime and you will see how “easy” it is.) But she could do that without difficulty. She developed many techniques and ways of healing so that we still receive miracle upon miracle in our group. At the same time, we were (and are) also a School of Initiation, and the discipline is often very hard and very difficult so we lost many people along the way. A few of us have held on. Edward Pembroke came with us in the early 50s and Ross Whitehead and his wife Virginia came in 1957, and Ruth Johnson, our minister and astrologer, came in 1945. Virginia Whitehead is our Bible teacher. Helen Effinger teaches fundamentals and law. But we are all teachers, the five of us. And we have added Linda Mihalic, our Director of Education, David Mihalic, who teaches philosophy, and there will be others.
  The points that attracted me (Lotus Landis), and probably most of us, are in the statement Crusaders of Light. This is her real philosophy—she followed Jesus the Christ all the way. She taught everything that Jesus Christ ever taught and it seems very simple and very easy until you start to follow and to do what he did. Then you find that the world often gets in the way, and sometimes even you, yourself, get in the way, too! In following Jesus the Christ, many could hardly believe that she followed Him because she never, ever, had a pious look on her face, she never looked “holier-than-thou.” She just looked like any ordinary person, and even my own family couldn’t believe that anyone so gay, so happy, so bouncy, and so worldly-looking could be so dedicated to God. But she practiced the Path of the Christ from morning to night, and no matter what came to her in life, she was the ensample of our Lord.
  Whatever came to her, she thanked God for it. If she had pain, she thanked Him. She lost her son in the Philippines during the Second World War. She thanked God. I saw her sitting in a chair on a Monday class night having just had news that morning of the loss. He had been on that long march on the peninsula (Bataan) before they put him on board a boat bound for Japan. Our own planes had sunk that ship. Despite all that, with tears streaming down her face, she smiled and thanked God because she understood and loved God so greatly that nothing, nothing could ever spoil that love. She only went higher in ascension. She taught ascension of consciousness. She’s the only teacher I’ve ever known who taught this Path of Ascension. But if you follow Jesus the Christ, what other Path could you follow? We must ascend everything in our lives. She taught this and lived it. She brought everything in her life back to God and up to God.
  We use the word “lift.” She taught the word “Lift.” She taught a whole new vocabulary, a vocabulary for the Christed Age. This vocabulary isn’t always fully grasped by first-year students. We have to lift everything that we see in our lives, as we were taught. We visualize, and applying imagination, thinking and desire, we put up upon our cloud of Light whatever we wish to lift, surrounding it with Light so that the Light can absorb. That action lightens earth itself, and it lightens us. It opens up doors for the person, or the situation.
  As you can see, you use imagination, your thinking and your desire. This is both a form and a process of ascension. She taught that everything was Joy and not sorrow. She taught that in lifting. You see, when we lift, or when we pray, we always raise our hands. A lot of people took offense at that, but you know that as you read through the Bible, many of the ancient priests lifted their hands! It was Moses whose arms got so tired they had to be lifted up by others during a long battle. You can’t raise your arms without taking a breath. Then the soft spot in the top of the head, the Door of Brahm, the window of the soul, opens up. You take a deep breath to open this “window,” and you begin communications with the “above.”
  One reason she was an offense to so many groups stemmed from a movement that was popular back in the Twenties and Thirties called the Christ Within (or “I AM”) movement which taught that your Power comes from “within.” But she taught that your Power comes from Above. If you go up in consciousness and you reach the Light and the Power is coming from above, the Light then moves through you AND the Christ within. But not everyone has the Christ within until they can move up and let the Power move through them. When the Christ is “within,” it must be allowed in; if you concentrate on the “within,” you can never reach high enough.
  She had already learned that by reaching up and high, you can expand and ascend. It’s the only way you can do it. The other way you reach plateaus, that’s all. A lot of people have faltered on this point; they just wouldn’t believe it. They felt that the Bible said, “the Christ within,” so they got stuck “within” and you couldn’t move them. It’s remarkable how our opinions and prejudices have held us in a certain spot for such a long, long time. That’s why she was such a revolutionary in so many ways. These old “I AMers” are on a road, all right, but one must keep going. She never taught the same class exactly alike in all the time that I first knew her in 1938 until she left in 1971—never a repetition. We always had advanced classes because she worked to bring new things through, material that you couldn’t find in libraries or in books. Today, we hear echoes of what she taught all through radio and television and in books, but they never get to the kernel or to what she taught or what we are trying to work out from what she taught and left us.
  We have here our Lenten Vows.

To Know: That Lent is the season appointed for the cleansing of soul from all earthly stains. That at this time all the Power of Heaven is working for me, with me and through me. That as I prepare my soul for the reception of the Power and Light, it will go forth and bring to pass all the dream-desires of my soul. That “according to my faith” is but the limit which I myself place upon my ability to release Power. That the Father puts no limit upon my release of Power. That my own consciousness determines my results in the outer. That I shall be powerfully selfless in my actions, powerfully determined in my steadfastness, powerfully strong and humble in my heart.
  To Promise Myself: To surrender to the whole Light of God. To become the servant of all the Power. To speak only the things the Christ would speak through me. To hear only the things the Christ would hear as me. To think only as the Christ would think about my brothers as me. To act only as the Christ would act toward my family and the world as me. To do something each day to show forth this Spirit of the Christ as me.
  To Face My God: Each night with a pure heart and clean hands. Each morning with a song in my heart which shows forth my gratitude. Each noontide with a greater surrender of myself to the fullness of His Glory. Each feast time with praise for the release of His Sub­stance to rebuild my life and my body temple. Each business hour giving over every detail into His charge and keeping, ready and waiting for His right answer. Each social hour of diversion with the completeness of His joy so possessing me that I shall radiate the happiness to recreate all things new. Each quiet time of silence with the tranquility and devotion of Spirit that makes the angels of Heaven rejoice that earth is becoming Heaven.

  Now, you tell me if you have ever heard or seen any vows like these? How many of you have heard of the White Dynasty? Well, there are a few (noting hands raised). And you have never heard that the White Dynasty is here. Or how many have heard of the New Jerusalem? How many of you know that America is the cradle of the New Jerusalem on earth? This is all a part of the Christed Age work. Have you ever heard of the collapse of time and space? Well, the universe is not in the same position even astronomically that it was way back, that is has moved? Do you know that there is a Plan of Salvation and what it is? Now, I’ll turn it over for questions.

  Question. What is the Plan of Salvation?

  Ross Whitehead: We speak of salvation in orthodox terms when we have accepted Christ as our personal savior. We are saved from hell fire and damnation or from having to go through a personal cleansing period, which some orthodox people have called Purgatory. This Plan of Salvation is the embodiment and the whole history of Jesus Christ who began everything. In the beginning, the earth and all of creation was a part of the Son; that is, there is the Father, Mother, and the Son, or Logos, through whom God created everything that is. Earth was about to be taken away by (to make things simple) the devil, who wanted it to be his personal planet to do with as he pleased! So the Plan of Salvation was created to rescue earth and all of the people who were involved in the tragedy, to return earth to its place, the place from which it had been thrown. We haven’t time to go into all the details of the Plan, but it is a plan set up by high Fathers, great Archangels of Light who are a part of God’s kingdom of Heaven. This ascension work we have heard about today is part of the lightening of earth so that it can be returned to where it belongs in the Kingdom.

  In the end, of course, we shall no longer need a Plan of Salvation because Christ Himself shall reign. We won’t need armies, police forces, and the like. Even the carnivorous animals will eat grains, grasses and such. All biting creations will cease to bite and poison—you get the picture. We are a part of this Plan, as we all are. We have the details in our work.

  Lotus Landis: Well, Ross, when you’re saved, you’re saved. Right?

  Ross Whitehead: Many people feel comfortable with the idea that once they have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior that’s all they have to do. They ride into Heaven on Jesus’s coattails. After all, he did die for our sins, didn’t he? And many orthodox folks die firmly convinced of this truth.
  Such folks will surely gain entrance to Heaven, but that’s about as far as they go. We believe in paying our debts now, and accepting our responsibilities for debts not yet paid up. One thing Edna Lister taught us over and over again is the importance of words. She used to emphasize so much the problem with “idle words.” Words have Power. They release Power. And you commit adultery when you use them in vain, or apply them thoughtlessly. When you say, “I’m afraid such and such is going to happen,” that’s an idle thought (words). You are adulterating God’s perfection. When you take offense at something someone has said about you or done to you, you are literally giving them a piece of your mind. Some folks have done so much of this that they end up almost without any mind left at all, victims of their own misuse!
  She taught that every word you utter travels with the speed of Light seven times around the world, gathering together all substance like unto it before it returns to the sender. This is the true meaning of “Bread cast upon the waters returns.” So this Plan of Salvation teaches us that Law is already perfect and it is our privilege to become that Law, to be so much in Love with God that it is impossible even to think about breaking a Law. She taught that we were created for the Law (or Power) to use us, not the other way around. When we get to the point where we can see the Light, when we become Law, Christ has already moved in and we are One with God. We operate and function AS Law. That’s what we are, working toward and why all of us here are already a part of that Plan.
  We are so fortunate to have been given such insights into God’s Kingdom by our founder, Edna Lister, who gave nearly fifty years of her life that we might find that Light, to see the unseen, to be a part of that holy communion of all that is. She taught us to declare everything “Good,” because, as she revealed, Good is the lost name of God, God’s name on earth. When you say something is “good,” although it may not look that way, you are making a declaration of Love that’s a treatment of healing for whatever needs healing at that time. As part of God’s Elect, we are even now moving through the Armageddon that will bring this whole thing to a happy conclusion.

  Question: Have you heard of the Urantia book? It sounds very much like a parallel to what you are.

  Ross Whitehead: If one has the time, there must be many parallels in books and even in other teachers’ work because, after all, there is only one Truth, but many ways of looking at it and interpreting it. We can make no apologies for not having read everything, of course, but when you examine the mountain of work our founder left with us, we surely have our hands full just studying, reading, codifying this Society’s work. Edna Lister often pointed out that this is a kabbalistic school. In a current issue of Psychology Today, an article explains the kabbalistic school of philosophy and the object of their meditations. It points out that when one achieves a feeling of unity with God, study is no longer necessary because the student has “become law.” That’s one of the best definitions in an “outer” sense that I ever saw.

  Lotus Landis: If you have been watching events over the last 10 to 15 years, you may have noticed how much more morally conscious we have become recently. For a while, we didn’t have any national morals at all, it seemed, then suddenly, we became very moralistic, beginning with Watergate. Now we have come so far that President Carter is asking whether some of us are living in sin! You know at one time that would never have been brought up. You see, because of the speeding up and the shortening of time, we’re really going to have a priest-king government. The Presidents will be open to suggestion from Above. They will be guided from Above and they will be much more spiritual than ever before. We have had intellectual presidents who were spiritual to a certain extent, but not nearly as God-conscious as the Presidents we are going to have from now on, and even the President’s cabinet as well as industry leaders are already reflecting this as well. It doesn’t make any difference what line of industry; the only field so far that hasn’t really impressed me too much is that of education. But this is all part of the Christed Age and of the White Dynasty.
  We are now seeing the closing out of the old Red Dynasty. The White Dynasty has replaced it, the rulership of earth by Jesus the Christ. The reasons back of this have little to do with beliefs or tenets. It’s only because of the misuse of Power in the political arenas of the world, as well as a few other areas. Eventually, we’ll all see them merge into this one White Dynasty. This is where we’re moving; it’s already established. It isn’t visible to everyone, but it’s here. And the United States is the cradle of the New Jerusalem, as well! That is why we have been the blending of all nations in this country, why we have so many thoughts and hopefully, why we can all live together peacefully.

  Question: Did Edna Lister believe in the concept of reincarnation?

  Lotus Landis: Yes, very much so. Is there any one here who doesn’t believe in reincarnation?

  Question: You mention the White Dynasty and the ruling of earth by Jesus Christ. What about the millions who worship Buddha, a religion that also goes back centuries, or the people in India who are Hindus or Moslems? Christ to them is a saintly figure but he isn’t the answer for them.

  Lotus Landis: You are quite right, they don’t. As a matter of fact, if you don’t mind my being personal, my own mother was born a Roman Catholic and she adored Jesus. She had a great gift for healing. But when she married, my father was already into East Indian thought and he really sidetracked her. She was rather glad to be sidetracked because she had gone as far as she could with Roman Catholicism and was rather bound up in fear. She was truly glad to be able to lose that. So when I came along, they didn’t go to any church. When I was about 9 or 10, I began to read Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health, and I worked with that for quite a while. Then, in my ’teens, I became an agnostic. One day, father’s best friend died while I was in college. He was so disturbed by this that I wanted to help him. I went to a spiritualist (of all people!) to see if they could help. And what happened? I won’t go into the details except that I was in misery for two or three months. It really did something to me. I really got lost.
  When I was a junior in college, I caught the measles and had a hard time of it. I’d been taking a course in philosophy, studying Kant. I’d taken Greek, Latin, French, and here I was, out of school for about two weeks, and had to make up several examinations. In February, during Lent, I got up about 5:00 a.m. to read Fichte, a German philosopher, so that I could take the exam. But I fell asleep and had a tremendous spiritual experience. Even after that, I remained somewhat agnostic about Jesus the Christ. I didn’t believe that he was the only Begotten Son of God. I knew he was great but I could not believe that he was the only Begotten Son. So when a Hindu teacher came along—you’ll recognize his name: Yogananda—I was very glad to go to him. But I didn’t last very long with him because another teacher came along, a Sufi.
  What I am pointing out here is that these are all steps along the Way, every one. I wouldn’t for one minute say that they weren’t good and useful or that they weren’t wonderful in helping me, but I wouldn’t want to go back to them. The world had gotten so tremendous and had opened up so much for me for ascension that I wouldn’t go back to any other way. But Yogananda promised “Ever new bliss,” and the Sufi promised that if you lived by love, joy, and peace, that’s what you would have. Which is right, but they all take you just so far, and then you can’t go any farther on that particular “beam.” You have got to go “UP” in consciousness. This is what will happen in India, in all nations. We are all going to have to evolve and go higher. We are going to go at our own pace, in our own time. We cannot be forced and we are not forcing anyone else. This is why we don’t believe in proselyting. I think everyone opens up as the Father directs. I just don’t believe in pushing people into any particular corner or place. It is a great, marvelous spiritual adventure and exploration for everyone.

  Question: Why do we feel the world must be ruled by Christ, or anyone? First, it’s peaceful coexistence between those who believe in Buddha, or whatever.

  Lotus Landis: Well, that wouldn’t interfere, would it? When I say “rule,” I’m just saying that people will be directed, guided and led by the very highest source that we have ever known. Well, we did know it for a while. As a matter of fact, Israel had that for quite a while. They had priest-kings who governed their country. They listened to God, and when they didn’t listen they had to pay for it, like everyone does today. That’s pretty true for all of us as individuals. When we get to the point, as Ross said, when we become law and listen to God, there will be no more war. But as long as we don’t listen to God and instead have confidence in ourselves, there is going to be war. How can these coexist?

  Ross Whitehead: The Episcopal Church has a really good line in one of its prayers, “…whose service is perfect freedom.” “Serving” means personal freedom and perfect freedom of choice. Whether you follow the Buddha or someone else, the only genuine freedom is in the total service. That’s what is meant by the term “rulership.” You get what God’s decision is for you. Since He created everything, who better to turn to, who better can give you “good and perfect gifts?”

  Audience: I agree with what Ross Whitehead said. The quote that I like to follow is, “True freedom is discipline.” Once you learn what it is to be disciplined, then you are better able to understand freedom. There is another quote. I became interested in Alan Watts who died in 1973. At age 15, he became interested in Buddhism and went through a whole period in his early twenties when he was kind of floundering around and studying religion and didn’t know what to do. He got married and ended up in the Anglican church as an Episcopal priest for about five years. This ended in 1952, when he realized that this was not the thing to do because his heart wasn’t in it but in a broader movement, so he left the church. The way he left it was rather controversial but for the rest of his life he lectured as an author who eventually wrote 25 books, one of which was his autobiography, In My Own Way. A quote from that book has really helped me quite a lot. He said, “Faith in life, in others, in ourselves, is an attitude of the law and spontaneous, to be spontaneous in its own way and in its own time.” I think what you are saying about the nations and other people is that once you are on the Path, you know you are there. You can’t hurry it. You can’t speed it up. You can’t slow it down. It just has to be spontaneous, to go at its own rate and its own pace.

  Lotus Landis: That’s right. According to the degree and kind, where one is at. For example, we are in a School of Initiation but there are about 49 Degrees which you go through. While you work on one Degree, you are polishing the others. The world is the same. Many people are working at the Neophyte stage. Others are on what we call the Disciple. Another Degree is called “Adept” right on up to the Christos where you are one with God—the Christos, the anointed One, the one who is under the Light. This is our ultimate goal.
  Our Society’s Creed is a good example to use here: “Our creed is Love, our Path is service, our goal is God.” Ascension and what it means is as simple as that. Still, many orthodox churches emphasize the negative side, not the Joy that Jesus left with us, but the sorrow. It is a joyous time because it is a cleansing time and it is so marvelous to houseclean on the inside, on the subconscious, on the impulsive appetitive soul. This is a wonderful time to do it because there is so much Power released from above to help you cleanse and clean up the taints of the impulsive appetitive soul that you have been carrying for incarnations. This is a wonderful time to be clean and fresh and new and start all over again.
  What is the difference? Say that you’re born anew. What does that mean to you? Do you think that because you are new again that’s it? No, indeed. Because St. Paul said, “I die daily.” Well, if you die daily, you have to be born anew daily, don’t you? For example when people heard President Carter say that he was born anew I think that they thought that he would feel restricted. But he couldn’t possibly feel that way because once he had been born again he was really striking out on the Path of Initiation. That is when you are going to be tested and strengthened and tested all over again.
  Do any of you listen to Dr. Robert Schuller on the Hour of Power on Sunday mornings? He appears to be coming closer and closer to our work all of the time. Although he travels and lectures, his sermons are quite remarkable, I find. This morning’s sermon was about having reserves. He said that every sermon he ever gave is based on experiences he has gone through in the previous two or three weeks. He had gotten to the point where he had four extra jobs offered to him. While this man is as busy as one can be, he had “gone down” on it—he was afraid he couldn’t handle it. He noted that he had never faced such terror—and he has had 16 years of outstanding success being recognized by authorities all over the world—yet he hit this snag. He couldn’t sleep; he could hardly think. He said that this is the first time that he had ever prayed when struck by terror. Suddenly, he felt himself surrounded by light, and he said, “You know, I was floating. I just want to tell you that there is a river of life. I was in it. It was a marvelous experience.”
  He’s always been a happy soul, so he had a new joy this morning. Wow! Is he ascending! That’s the form of ascension. This is remarkable because he showed that you have to go through the fire, the burning sands of the desert to reach that point of surrender before things open up. You must create a vacuum for more power and more light to move through. That’s what he did. You have to prostrate yourself before Heaven. You have to suffer to open up. And, you see, the Hindus and Yogis teach that you can reach ever-new bliss. And you can (there’s no question about it), but you can’t stay there. The day comes when you have to make a choice: to leave adeptship and follow the Master all the way through or you regress. Now, Ruth, you can help us with that.
  Ruth Johnson: It’s so true, because there’s such a difference between adeptship, which still uses Power, and moving up to the mystic, the Master, the Degree of Priest and finally the Degree of Christos where the Power uses you. That is the difference. This is what Edna Lister taught—to move UP, to find the balance point of the Degree of the Mystic. Then we move up from that, to surrender yourself, offering yourself to be a perfect servant of all the Power, the letting the Light move in and permeate every cell, every molecule, every atom, every electron, every nerve, life spark, until you are so filled with Light—then the Power is using you. Then you can speak the word and say, “Let the Power move forth,” whether it be to heal an individual, group, or a nation. Let the Power go forth and the Father does the rest. That’s the difference between adeptship (mediums) and what our blessed Edna Lister called mediatorship. There is all of the difference in the world between these two.

  Question: Is there a difference between a medium using the Power as opposed to the Power using you?

  Ruth Johnson: Mediumship is a part of adeptship. There are some wonderful mediums who are good people. Believe me, they are not all crackpots, and the spiritualist church has lifted a lot of people out of their fears into adeptship. They have what they call their (invisible) guides, some of whom actually take over the individual when they are in a trance. The individual knows nothing about what goes on—the conscious mind is completely blank—but they are spoken through. A mediator, on the other hand, involves a lifting of consciousness. You have your own line of Light up to the Fathers. The Light pours down. It impinges on the brain cells and the individual then speaks the word, fully conscious at all times of what is going on. The mediator is also responsible for what is said, unlike the mediums who feel that their guides or the individuals being spoken to are responsible for their own messages, etc.

  Lotus Landis: I think that you will realize that the New Testament is the only part of the Bible that gives us so much on law, and the Love of God and the ways and means to ascend. The fifth chapter of Matthew is a whole plan of ascension called the Beatitudes. These are “attitudes” you are supposed to become. For example, Christian Science is devoted to “demonstrations.” In our work, we don’t demonstrate. We haven’t yet become the Law if we aren’t what we say we are—there isn’t any room for demonstration. We do not show you how. First, we have “to become.” We have to become the Love of God. We have to become Joy, to become Faith. A mediator works on becoming as Jesus the Christ is. He was and still is Love. He is Faith, He is Joy, He is Wisdom. He didn’t demonstrate anything. He was the ensample of perfection and that is our goal, to become that perfection. We won’t tell you how great God is all of the time; we don’t demonstrate, we don’t use the Power like that. Instead we have to be used by the Power as Jesus is used by the Power. That is a great difference, and when the world moves on to the point where it, too, is used by the Power and everyone becomes an instrument of God, the Plan of Salvation will have been achieved. That will be it. That is what the Plan of Salvation is all about.
  Now, you recall that King Solomon had accumulated 1,000 days of “burnt offerings.” Similarly, we must earn 1,000 days of burnt offerings, which means that you must live one day at a time, seeing no evil (except to lift it), speaking no evil, seeing nothing negative, speaking nothing negative, hearing nothing negative, declaring everything good. That’s the only way you can get through even one day of burnt offerings, I can tell you! You must look around and see things in order to lift them. Christian Scientists will tell you that they don’t exist or that there is no Truth in matter; but we see that it is there. It’s a part of the universe and it is necessary that it be lifted. It has got to be lifted and we’re the only agents God has, all of us. So, as instruments, we see it, recognize it long enough to lift it (but not to dwell on it), then ask the Light to move through it.
  Well, if you can keep that up for 24 hours, day after day, eventually you will achieve your 1,000 days of burnt offerings. Suppose that you start off the first day and you do very well. You get through that day all right, by the grace of God. So you start the second day, and someone says to you, “You’re not what you make yourself out to be!” If you rise to that bait and defend yourself, you’ve missed that day of burnt offerings, but it will be credited to you anyway. You will not have lost the first day, and you can go on. But the only way you can become Law is by being able to achieve 1,000 days of burnt offerings. I can remember Edna Lister saying that she had gone through 900 and some days, and then she got angry with her brother-in-law, and that was it!

  Question: Can you describe for me Christ and God and what the relationship is?

  Lotus Landis: As a preliminary to that, let me read to you our Great Creed.

  I believe in God, the Manifold Creator, the Father-Mother of us all, Maker of the visible and invisible universe… (You notice that we recognize motherhood as well as fatherhood? We don’t put motherhood down the drain as some others do.) I believe in Father-Mother God as both the Source of all life and the Expression of all life. I believe in the Father-Mother God as both Personality and Principle. Personality, which is the Father of Wisdom who plans and the Mother of Love who sustains all that they create; Principle as both Spiritual Substance, which becomes, and Divine Law, which directs and controls.

  Lotus Landis: In the beginning, when God said, “Let there be Light,” it did divide this way: one third of it was stepped off as the Christ of Light, i.e., one third the Father, one third the Mother, and one third the Son. To put it another way, one third of that original vibration was Wisdom, one third was of Love, and one third was of Power, or the Christ. Now, when we talk about Jesus the Christ as the First Begotten, that used to puzzle me for a long time. But, you see, he was stepped off as a third portion, and as a personality he was the first born. But there were many after him within that one third portion of the Emanation. That’s why there are Buddhas and avatars. But he was the first.
  And to go back, you have to ascend all of your own kingdom. Each of us has his or her own kingdom. That’s everything you see and everything you come into contact with and anyone you have had a relationship with. So you ascend that portion back. And you, yourself, can be a portion of one of those who were stepped off in the beginning, either feminine or masculine. If you are a Son of God, you are a portion of the First Begotten. After the First Begotten came seven great Lords of Karma, and then you have other grades or orders. You see, we really have quite a government in Heaven above. But it all came from those first three Emanations; that is, the third portion.

  Question: Are there other races on other planets?

  Lotus Landis: I have never known. I assume there could very well be other planets that support personalities of some sort. I don’t know that they would be visible to the physical eye or not. I don’t know.

  Question: They would have their own avatars?

  Lotus Landis: Yes.

  Ross Whitehead: There is no reason that life has to be isolated here on earth.

  Lotus Landis: And there are many universes. So, I don’t know.

  Ross Whitehead: I imagine that if we could suddenly know the truth about the entire visible universe it would so boggle our minds that we might not be able to handle it all at once. The variety of civilizations and the richness of the intelligence that is available on a universal basis is quite beyond our imagination. That is one reason why this Society is called Universal, because we identify with the Universal, not just earth.

  Question: I notice that you repeatedly refer to Christ as the Christ. Is there any significance to this?

  Lotus Landis: United, that’s all.

  Ross Whitehead: He is both Personality and Principle. Many people speak of the Christ, and I think Christian Science does this. The Christ is the Christ Principle and it is in everyone and everything. They don’t usually think of Him as a personality the way that I do, but He is both.

  Lotus Landis: Have any of you had personal experiences that brought you into this work? Almost everyone comes to this work either through a direct experience or through reading about it, studying it, or thinking about it, or being hungry, or something. Why are you in this work? Why are you interested in this?

  Audience: I was born a Roman Catholic. I went to a Catholic school and they used the fear principle always…the exclusive principle in much of Catholicism which may have served a purpose at one time. As I learned more about theology I saw more holes in the arguments they presented. So, I guess when I got out of college, I became agnostic, and it has been a long, dark period. Several years ago, I got into a fish-or-cut-bait situation. I was either going to find out or just forget the idea of a god. Somehow, I was asked to teach Sunday School. “So why not,” I said. And I have been doing it for three years now and it has been a big magnet. In order to talk to young kids, being straight with them, I try not to think or have any feelings about “does God exist or not?” But now, I’m just trying to find out what He’s telling me. I enjoyed so much what you said before about proselytizing.

  Lotus Landis: Tell me, did you have any particular method of prayer or “going up” in consciousness for your answers?

  Audience: I always have a very difficult time during prayer. I never really knew how to. I can remember from catechism prayer of communication and all that.

  Lotus Landis: Did you try lifting your hands, taking a deep breath?

  Audience: I did.

  Lotus Landis: Have you tried praise and gratitude when you start out? You know, you have to raise the vibration first in prayer. First, you thank the Father for everything you can think of, especially the inner, and then you praise Him. Now that begins to widen you, to expand your consciousness, and then, as you look up, you’re open, and if you look up, it’s not too hard to go into the Golden Silence. Most of us never get into the Golden Silence. That’s the problem, and the Golden Silence is where we get our answers and where we have the interchange between God and ourselves. This is what Edna Lister called “holding onto the live wire of omnipotence.” She said that there was always a “line of Light” that you could climb back up on and come down on.
  She could, without ever closing her eyes, tell you exactly where inner cities were and where Realms were. She never lost consciousness. She was always as conscious as I am now in this chair. She could talk and still see what was going on Above. You see, this made her a real exception. I have known many teachers, but I have never known any who could do what she did. And she didn’t make any fuss about it either. It was as normal and natural as breathing. She taught us how to get into the Golden Silence—but you do have to “go up.” This is why the Hindus, Buddhists and Yogis chant. They try to get on one vibration, and they try to raise the vibration, but that’s a long, drawn-out affair. All you have to do is to look up and just say, “Here I am. Father. Move in and possess me,” and you establish at once a line of Light between yourself and God. It’s so simple, so easy to create a direct line of communication, and it’s very easy to enter the Golden Silence from there. But, does anyone else have any special technique or prayer that they would like to share?…My, you are all so modest this afternoon. Or don’t you want to give, which is it?

  Audience: I would like to mention one benefit, one of many, the Society has given me and that’s praying with declaration. Declaring that after you ask the first time for the Power and the Light to move in for a situation, for a person, a healing, etc., that it is good and perfect. When all you are saying is, “Father, do this for me,” or “Father, let this be done,“ there is a doubt in your mind about your part in it and you continue to keep yourself away from it. But when you make the declaration, all of a sudden you become a part of this Power, you become a part of the miracle, you involve yourself and are a co-creator with God. That was one thing I learned about praying and one of the greatest benefits that Edna Lister has offered to me.

  Audience: Personally, when I ask for something in prayer, isn’t that presumption? Who am I to say that I want that? Is that a bad feeling to have?

  Ruth Johnson: No, that’s not a bad feeling. No. On the other hand, prayer isn’t always asking for something. You move up. First, remember Lotus Landis said you praise God. You show your gratitude to God for 101 things. Let Him know how much you love Him. In other words, you are completely devotional, the power is moving in, and you aren’t asking for something, but if it’s good and very good you are making a declaration. “If this be good in thy sight, Father, let it be so.” You’re not telling God what to do.

  Lotus Landis: As a matter of fact, you go up into the Golden Silence, you are so bubbly happy (that’s the only way I can say it); you are so filled with Joy to be there. It’s such a wonderful experience to know that you and the Fathers are really getting together, that all you can say, in a way, is, “Oh, Father, I’m so happy, I love you so much. Thank you for all of these gifts.” That’s all you have to say.
  Do you ever watch cats? A cat wants to be fed…what does that cat do? It goes to the refrigerator door and shows you the door, jumps onto the counter, but all of the time it’s purring and saying, in effect, “Oh, what a wonderful owner I have!” Now, you know, the cat has the absolute law on that. It’s exactly as our attitude should be knowing that the Father already has it all planned for you. He hasn’t held out anything for you. He’s never said “No” to anything. The Father is helpless—he can only say, “Yes.” Isn’t that wonderful? And that’s true. So, if you say, “Oh, Father, thank you so much for having planned this for me, or having this imminent for me. You’re so good to me. You’re SO wonderful,” you are using the same principle of Joy and gratitude, which is you avant garde, in a way, for what is coming. As a matter of fact, it probably has been planned accordingly because everything in our lives is really planned. These things are all there, waiting. Has anyone ever been in the River of Life, consciously? Do you know what it’s like to be in the River of Life? Explain it?

  Audience: Well, it’s illuminating. I think that the first time it ever happened to me, that I recognized, was about three years ago. I was finishing up my last year of school and lying in my bed, getting ready to trip off to sleep, and all of a sudden, I felt that I was being “transcended.” I felt a tugging experience on both sides of my body. To tell you the truth, I was frightened at first because I didn’t know what this was, and then something inside of me must have let go and I went with it. I could feel myself (it sounds kind of absurd, but it’s almost a Peter Pan experience), I literally felt as though I were flying.

  Lotus Landis: Dr. Schuller (a well known, West Coast Protestant minister and televangelist) explained the same thing this morning and he was thrilled over it because he had never had this before. And Ruth and I have been praying that he would have it. So, I could feel real joy. Hurray! I had an experience in the River of Life that was a little different. Once, in the middle of the night, when I was carrying my second child, I got up to go to the bathroom and all at once, I was in the middle of the River of Life. In this stream of consciousness everything was possible. It was the most amazing feeling. Everything that I had ever seen or wanted was there, right there for the touching. It was such a rich, luxurious feeling. This is why I know that the Father always says, “Yes.” He never denies you anything.
  Our problem involves moving up into that degree of consciousness where it is all available. But it is a regular Emanation from the Throne, from the Source Above, that flows through you all of the time. You walk through this. There’s only one catch: You have to be aware of it. But it’s here. It’s flowing right through this room right now. We’re walking and we’re sitting right in it. And yet, we’re not conscious of it unless we move into the Golden Silence where all this is available. You know, when you’re up in the Kingdom of Heaven, you don’t have to worry about asking because it’s all there.

  Audience: You were talking earlier about prayer. I think that from my own personal experience, one of the best forms of prayer that I know of is whistling and singing.

  Lotus Landis: Do you know what that does? When you whistle and when you sing, if your throat is relaxed, the Door of Brahm opens at once. That is why they sing in churches. The Power will flow through you. Then if you are consciously still reaching up and you whistle or you sing, you can get wonderful ideas. Edna Lister said that singing was the highest form of praise.
  Another way of getting ideas in prayer is while you do the dishes. You have your hands in water. It’s marvelous. Water is a medium. There are lots of ways that you can go up. You don’t have to go into a corner all of the time—you can pray as you go. Edna Lister taught that you don’t have to stop for even a minute. You just go right up and you can be there, and she WAS. She showed us. She was “it” all of the time. This is open to the world now. As a matter of fact, I think that even meeting here for the first time for us as a group in a place away from our own abode for a discussion like this, has opened a vibration for this material to go out into the world.
  This is the way the Father works it out. We don’t have to do anything about it except to be used. It’s what they want. They want this availability of God in the River of Life for everyone. It’s not an exclusive thing. But it is necessary to become aware of this because you have to (well, it’s a good idea anyway) be conscious of all of the negative ideas that surface in your mind because they are the roadblocks. Let’s say that you have a fear of God. What would you do with it? What does one do with the fear of God? Let me ask some of you geniuses out there.

  Audience: What do you mean by the “fear of God?”

  Lotus Landis: Suppose that you have reached something in life and you find it is difficult to cope with.

  Audience: The Lord is my shepherd.

  Lotus Landis: Very good. You move up. That’s the way to do it. But, when we have a fear of God, you know what we do? We make a gift of it.

  Audience: Whom do you give it to?

  Lotus Landis: Who else wants it but God? We only have one substance to work with so we color that substance as it comes through, and what is this substance? It’s breath, isn’t it? This is why the Hindus and everyone else concentrate on breath. So, as the breath comes through, you are coloring it (with your own opinions and prejudices and emotional hangups), and you send it through either as Light or you are sending it out as darkness, as you breath out. So then, if you have any thought of fear, you are going to send that out into the world as a fear thought. But we have a choice. We can send it out to the world as a fear thought or we can wrap it up and put it on a cloud of Light and then ask the Light to move through and transform it into its original purity and wholeness as it was when it was sent through us in the first place. God does that! So if you ask me, “Whom do I give it to?” I tell you, “Back to Him, as substance to be transformed.” But don’t ignore it! This is a part of the small self. “Fear of God” is nothing but a piece of self. It’s not of God. How does one distinguish the difference between hunches and influences—or does one classify them as being the same? How do you know which to follow?

  Audience: A hunch would be the little self. Intuition would be of the higher self, from God.

  Lotus Landis: How do you differentiate? How do you know if the hunch is of the little self?

  Audience: Well, I first declare it “good” and then wait for some kind of happening, some kind of positive support from the environment or from my own mind. Just a series of happenings that say this is the right thing. I need a little reinforcement after it’s declared “good.” To me a hunch is something in my head with a little bit of doubt, whereas with intuition there is no doubt at all.

  Audience: If I have a personal feeling for it I know that it is a hunch. If I have no personal feeling then I feel it’s intuition.

  Audience: The difference between the two words to me is semantic, so that I could only respond to the question according to the degree of pressure I will feel from this hunch and/or intuition. Many, many times over a period of years I have doubted an impression and that its outcome would be true. I’ve kind of learned or perhaps am given more trust more recently. But there also have been times when I have been directed by almost a powerful inner physical response to do something that I would not ordinarily choose to do because when I do someone’s going to cut off my nose and my ear, and yet it is not the right thing to do. And I don’t understand what that is. But I must obey this thing or I must do this thing even though it will bring me up short, humiliate or offend my ordinary, walking-around self.

  Lotus Landis: There is also an unwritten rule that if the idea or thought seems impossible—if you don’t see any way of doing it—then that idea is usually intuition. Intuition comes through the glands in the head. It’s the Light that falls on the glands in the head and is telegraphed to the brain cells to come through to the conscious. When it comes through the solar plexus, it comes through the world wash and the world mind and if you respond you may get through all right. And again, you may not, because “they” are in tune with the little self. That’s where the seat of the subconscious mind often is, at the solar plexus.
  When you move up in consciousness, into the Garden of Eden where the glands are, God will tell you—as long as the glands are watered by the River of Life in the crown lotus where the Light comes through. You know it’s from God because oftentimes you don’t see any way of doing it in the first place. It’s intuition all right, but it seems impossible—that’s God. But what you can do easily is of self, and this is one way of differentiating. There are many, many ways, but this is just one.

  Audience: Just one thing, going right ahead with what you say and the Light coming through the glands—that is, it’s the voice of the superconscious mind, which is the vehicle of the Oversoul.

  Question: Are you saying as a matter of thought we use our conscious feelings or intuitive feelings, make a decision on something that confronts us day in and day out. You’re saying that whatever intuitive feelings we were guided by are the right feelings, to do things correctly? There can’t be anything wrong with intuitive decision?

  Lotus Landis: It can’t be wrong if it’s truly intuition. If it really comes from God, there’s nothing wrong with it. When you want to differentiate between something that really comes from God intuitively, it comes from the glands in the head, through the crown lotus, the thousand-petalled lotus. But often when we are in tune with ordinary work, we just do things automatically. They’re subconscious, the appetitive soul working, and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of moving up in consciousness.
  The appetitive soul is very useful in many ways because so many tasks can be relegated to “automatic.” You just don’t have to think about them. As long as you’re conscously in the driver’s seat, as long as you are in the control tower, as long as you are the captain doing the directing from above, you are all right. But so many Truth students get into the habit of thinking that everything they get is something from God. They would be better off to check on it and be sure that it’s not really something from the small self. This is the need for the daily inventory of checking up on yourself as to what is misusing substance and what isn’t. This is what we mean by going to bed at night with “clean hands and a pure heart,” where we look over the day and see how much of self or how much soul substance we have used of God. When the little self has been involved and we ask for the Light to move through, then we can move up clean, free, and easy.

  Question: When we hear something from our Guards is that included in intuition?

  Lotus Landis: That is included, but you want to be sure; you want to check, because you can be fooled very easily sometimes. This is why it’s so necessary for the cleansing of soul substance. You see, the Fathers can use your brain cells and they can think to you via this glandular process. But if you have a little bit of self, desires, self-will, fears, you often draw to yourself those who are not your Fathers, but who are perfectly willing to talk to you if you are open. You have to watch that. You have to be sure you’re surrendered in Light.

  Question: Are there entities on Terrah that don’t go up into the Realms?

  Lotus Landis: Sure, there are, lots of them. That’s why earth is surrounded by planes and on the different planes you have different entities, each according to degree and kind of development. You have busybodies there just as you have busybodies here. They’re only too willing to have a little fun. You attach yourself to such influences through your own weaknesses—your vulnerable spots where your guard is down. You always ought to be clothed in Light; otherwise, at times, you are open to such things. We have a song, “I clothe myself safely ’round with Infinite Love and Wisdom.” It’s our way of putting Light all around us so that we have Light up to the top of our head so that nothing can come in any other way than through the glands from above. Otherwise, you’re vulnerable.

  Question: Could you explain the difference between entities and beings?

  Lotus Landis: Entities are not beings. Entities are sometimes discarnate or disembodied forms that have gone over. They’re looking for a home and they’re floating. Beings, by my way of thinking, could be angels, could be high Fathers or high Guards.

  Question: Would you consider them souls?

  Lotus Landis: They are individual spirits, but they’re still fastened to earth, they haven’t been freed. Many souls go over who have never believed in misused substance so when they get over “there,” they have no way of getting free or getting loose. Your consciousness determines this. If one’s consciousness has never been farther than this, one can’t expect things to change just because of transition. You are still in the same state as you were here.

  Ruth Johnson: If your consciousness was very low, carnal or mundane, you take that with you. Edna Lister always pointed out that you take yourself with you.

  Ross Whitehead: Jesus taught that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” What do you say is greatest: things of earth or things of spirit? And to those to whom the things of earth are greatest, they’ll stay there. They don’t move. There they are anchored.

  Lotus Landis: Can you tell the difference between a teacher, minister or preacher, who has moved up enough in consciousness to release Power? Do you know when the Power is being released or not? Are you aware of it? Can you tell the difference between an intellectual and a minister who is actually being used by the Light and the Power? Can you feel the Power?

  Ed Pembroke: I would like to share this. When I was in Denver attending the International New Thought conference with Edna Lister, I had the idea that I was going to keep an open mind. I’m going to go with the greatest teacher. So I listened to all of them. They were all wonderful folks. But when our Edna Lister spoke, even though I didn’t feel I had the intellectual equipment or the background, I knew the difference and there was nobody who could touch her, no one! I can’t say that there was a vibration that I felt, nor could I say that it was her intellect, but I knew that she was giving something that the rest were not giving. She had something that they didn’t have. I can’t really say they were vibrations or what, but I knew. I can listen to the mind and something comes through. Some come through while others don’t—lots of words and nothing happening.

  Ruth Johnson: Isn’t that the process of knowing rather than thinking?

  Lotus Landis: How do you differentiate? When you listen to someone, how do you tell whether they are really speaking the Truth or whether they are telling you what they think is the Truth? You know that you can tell about the Power—you always expand on Power. If someone releases Power, you can expand with them. You can feel the Joy. You begin to feel more joyous, you begin to feel more in love with God. That’s the release of Power, and that’s how you can tell whether the minister speaks from the Source or from the earth plane. That’s the difference. And it’s so simple and easy!

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