VII. DECEIVED BY THE NEW AGE - The Story Of A New Age Priest

“Muriel”, I asked, “why did the masters want me to leave Findhorn and return to Los Angeles?”

Having flown into town the previous day, I was having a private counseling session with Muriel at the Lighted Way. Muriel used psychological and spiritual counseling as a means of financially supporting the work of the metaphysical center. Most of the clients were not regular students at the Lighted Way. Some people came for serious psychotherapy, others for psychic readings or healings.

Muriel channeled: “The masters wanted you to visit Findhorn, but not to stay there permanently. Because they knew you would like it there, they arranged a test of your obedience; they also wanted you to learn and grow through experiencing other lifestyles”.

Muriel was not in a meditation state, but had been channeling with her eyes wide open as if in normal conversation. Apparently her years of practice had enabled her to channel while in normal, everyday consciousness.

She continued: “In coming back, you have experienced much growth and development in maturity and understanding. You feel a strong urge now to want to help others”.

Listening intently, I mentally agreed with what she said.

“The New Age cannot be just groups of people living in remote communes”, she explained. “These retreats are good, but they are not the New Age. Our way is to fully integrate into the world and bring light into it. Integrating is a more difficult path than living in a retreat. The masters want you in Los Angeles to help pioneer the path of being in the world, but not of the world”.

After a pause, I asked with concern, “Should I try to return to my old job?”

“Know that you are blessed by 'God,'“ she replied. “Doors will open. Go and see your old boss. If it is in God's will, things will work out with him”.

My former boss was pleased to see me. After some thought, he offered me a job, and I began commercial employment again.

As I resumed attending classes at the Lighted Way, I noticed a change in the emphasis of Muriel's teachings. Instead of focusing upon channeling the masters, she now channeled “the Father”. The change was subtle, but the teachings had a much more devotional and religious flavor than the former intellectual metaphysical teachings. Muriel claimed that she had undergone a certain initiation that enabled her to channel “the Father” directly.  In the groups, we began to spend time praying to “the Father”, almost as one would in a Christian church. The channelings were even cloaked in language similar to that in the King James Version of the Bible. During one of the light circle channeling sessions, a student channeled the following message: “When you wake up in the morning and start the day, first go to the Father in prayer and ask him, 'Father, what wilt thou have me do this day to glorify thy name?'”

The channeling left a deep impression on me. The following morning I set up a small altar in my apartment. On the top of the altar I placed two silver candlesticks containing tall white candles. The altar also had an incense holder on it. After lighting the candles and incense, I knelt before the altar and prayed, “Father, what wilt thou have me do this day to glorify thy name?”

I then meditated and opened myself to any instructions that “the Father” may have had for me. I decided that each morning I would start my period of devotional prayer and meditation with this invocation to “the Father”.

One evening, I went to bed as usual. Closing my eyes, I suddenly felt soothing energy filling my entire body. As I opened my eyes again, I saw that the bedroom was filled with green light, as if a green arc lamp had been switched on to fill the room with light.

I concluded that the masters must be sending light into the room. I tried to fall asleep but was unable to do so. Every time I opened my eyes, the room was still filled with the green light. Feeling a deep serenity and sense of peace, I did not sleep one wink all night.

Expecting to feel quite tired at work the next day, I was surprised to discover that I had plenty of energy, just as if I had had an excellent night's sleep.

The next night, exactly the same thing occurred. I did not sleep at all, but felt peaceful tranquility as my bedroom was filled with light. Again the mystical light - this time blue - was present all night long.

In the morning I felt perfectly rested. I worked hard all day at my job, had plenty of energy, and felt alert, in spite of the fact that I had not had a single second of sleep during two consecutive nights.

At the next class, I asked Muriel what she thought had been happening to me.

“Angels were attending you and giving you healing energy, she stated, as if channeling the information.

Unfortunately, I could not see any effects of this “healing” energy upon my health problems; my ailments were still fully evident. I reasoned that perhaps remission of my symptoms would occur later, but was disappointed when no healing occurred. In fact, the longer I was associated with the New Age movement, the worse my health became - in spite of the numerous “healings” I had received from Muriel and other New Age healers during special healing services and other private appointments.

Several months later Muriel phoned me unexpectedly while I was at my desk at work. “Last night the Father awakened me”, she reported. “He spoke to me and told me that we will need six thousand dollars in order to prepare new lesson materials and start an intensive advertising thrust to promote new classes at the Lighted Way. The Father instructed me to call up the disciples and ask them for contributions toward this project”.

Without giving much thought to what had been said, I replied, “Well, Muriel, let me see what I can do”.

During our Sunday morning services I had always given at least a twenty-dollar offering. On several occasions I gave a generous one-hundred-dollar donation. However, this was the first time that Muriel had ever spoken to me directly and asked for special donations to support the activity of the Lighted Way.

After work, I went to a nearby automatic teller machine to check how much money I had available in my account. There was just over five hundred dollars - all the money I had in the world. My trip to England and the stay at Findhorn had depleted all of my savings.

Having strong faith in the ability of “God” to take care of all my financial needs, I decided to immediately send Muriel a check for five hundred dollars. It was all the money I had; what more could I do? I did not even meditate on the matter. I simply wrote out a check and put it in the mail. I was happy to be a child of “God” and know I was under the special care and protection of my master. I had total trust in Djwhal Khul and his ability to help me wisely plan my life and obtain whatever resources I needed.

Two days later, I awoke with an uneasy feeling inside. A powerful thought in my mind indicated that I needed to send another five hundred dollars to Muriel immediately.

I got up and proceeded to carry out my morning meditation. I began with prayer and said, “Father, what wilt thou have me do this day to glorify thy name?”

“Send another five hundred dollars”, the inner voice of my higher self confirmed.

I didn't feel good about this answer, knowing I had no more money left. But when I reviewed my finances, I discovered that, with my payroll check going into the bank the following day, I would have just sufficient funds available to cover the check. I concluded that this was a time when sacrifices were needed, even though I felt uneasy about cutting my finances so close.

After I dropped the check in a local mailbox, I noticed the uneasy feeling lifted, as if a release had occurred in my nervous system in response to my obeying the inner direction.

I had known Muriel for more than four years, and she had told me that since the time she originally started the Lighted Way some twenty years before, she had used up all of her personal resources in order to support the ongoing expenses of operating the center. She once told me that she had even sold her house in order to pay for the work of the masters. Her sacrifice had been tremendous.

Knowing that Muriel had been brought up in a relatively wealthy and cultured family, I realized it must have been very difficult for her to ask me for money, even though the funds were to be used to finance the work of the Hierarchy. I had absolutely no doubt that Muriel had been specifically directed by her spirit guidance to ask the disciples for special donations.

A couple of days after sending the second donation, a sick feeling filled the pit of my stomach as I awoke. In the front of my mind was the powerful thought that I needed to send more money to Muriel. Intuitively, I was aware that the amount needed was one thousand dollars.

Apprehensively I thought to myself: No, this can't be. I don't have any more money. This idea must be merely rubbish coming from my mind's own nonsense realms.

I decided that I had better do some deep meditating to find out just what was going on. “Father, what wilt thou have me do this day so that I might glorify thy name?” I asked sincerely in prayer.

The morning meditation was confusing. In my emotionally turbulent state I couldn't meditate clearly. So I decided to go to work and meditate further on the matter when I returned home in the evening.

Returning from work, as usual, I lighted candles and incense upon the altar in my apartment. Kneeling down before the altar, I prayed: “Dear heavenly Father, I ask that you will give me clear guidance regarding the financial donations required for the Lighted Way. Please reveal to me clearly if you want me to send a thousand dollars at this time”.

I then meditated while still on my knees, holding my hands clasped as in prayer.

The inner voice of conscience quietly spoke to me. “Yes”, it said. “You need to send a check for one thousand dollars right away. The money is needed to carry on the work of bringing more people into a knowledge of the New Age. We need more people on the path of discipleship”.

In my own thinking, I protested: “How am I supposed to send money when I have nothing left in my bank account?”

The inner voice of meditation replied immediately, “You have credit cards. Use them”.

An uncomfortable apprehension flooded over me. The heart chakra area of my back felt very warm.

I then protested that I regarded my credit cards as a source of cash only in an emergency.

“This is an emergency”, the inner voice rebuked. “The money is needed now to do my work”.

After a few moments of contemplation, I reluctantly decided to end my resistance and send the money, even though I felt uncomfortable and tense about what was happening.

I made out the check and took it to a mailbox. As I dropped the envelope into the box, my apprehension suddenly disappeared. The anxiety vanished, as if by magic it had been lifted from me.

I now had to transfer funds from my MasterCard account into my checking account to cover the check. Thinking about my finances, I reasoned that realistically I could afford what I had given and would soon be able to pay off the credit card account.

Two days later when I awakened in the morning, a tune was playing in my mind. I could hear the lyrics as clearly as if I were listening to a radio playing through stereo headphones:

Take it to the limit,

oh, ho, ho.

Take it to the limit,

oh, ho, ho.

Take it to the limit...

I remembered the song to have been a hit pop number several years previously. Accompanying the tune was a powerful thought that I needed to send another thousand-dollar check to Muriel. In my imagination, I could clearly see a check with $1,000 written on it. Horror filled the pit of my stomach. “Oh, no! When is this thing going to end?” I exclaimed to myself.

Climbing out of bed, I thought: Don't panic; maybe the idea of donating more money is just emotional nonsense. Surely “God” would not want me to go into debt, not when I have zero assets to my name. I tried to stay calm and objective. Maybe this time the masters were just joking around.

As I showered, the song still ran through my mind.

Take it to the limit,

Oh, take it to the limit,

la,la,la

Take it to the limit,

oh, oh, oh

Take it to the limit...

I felt depressed and terribly frustrated about the whole situation and decided not to send any money at this time. All day at work the song kept playing in my mind, over and over and over again. I had never sung this song to myself before; it wasn't even my type of music, although I could remember the number playing on jukeboxes in the bars I had frequented years before.

Deciding that I was not prepared to go into debt to finance Muriel's center, I refused to send any more money. Besides, I sometimes had reservations about the things Muriel said. I had wondered if all of her messages and directions really came from a “divine” source. I suspected that one or two strange channelings may have come from astral entities. [Note: Metaphysics postulates that there are low-intelligence entities existing on the lower levels of the spirit realms, or astral planes. These entities include fairies, hobgoblins, and ghosts. It is claimed that sometimes a channeler can accidentally receive messages from these mischievous astral beings.] Sometimes Muriel said things that just did not seem to square with what had been written by Djwhal Kuhl in the Bailey books. Sometimes she said things that just didn't feel right. I considered my decision not to send more money to be final.

Although my mind was made up, my decision did not affect the way I felt. Severe depression began to build inside me. It was almost as if I were under a spell of oppression. The lyrics “take it to the limit ..”. were constantly bombarding my mind. No matter what I did, I could not erase these words from my mind. They were there when I ate, when I spoke on the phone, when I used my computer, and when I tried to deliberately sing a different song.

Hounding commands accompanied the lyrics.

“You have to send the money”, the voice of conscience blasted.

“One thousand dollars”, it repeated.

Arriving home after work, I meditated. The inner voice sternly rebuked, “You must send the money. Send it now!”

For once, I did not want to listen to my higher self. I wished it to be silenced. But it was relentless.

Take it to the limit,

oh, ho, ho.

Send it; send the check.

One thousand dollars.

Take it to the limit,

la,la,la.

Getting down on my knees before the altar, I prayed to “God”. “Dear heavenly Father, deeply I come before you and pray that you will bring me wisdom and clarity of mind. I do not want to do anything foolish. Please show me clearly what you want me to do in regard to financially supporting the Lighted Way. I ask that I am aligned to your will and that you will protect me from all false and astral influences”.

After a pause to meditate, I continued the prayer. “Father, I really mean it when each day I start my meditation with the words 'What wilt thou have me do this day?'”

“Use your MasterCard!” the voice thundered.

I thought, How far is this going to go?

“I also want you to immediately apply for credit-limit increases”, the voice interjected.

A cold shiver shot down my spine.

“Don't worry. You will be blessed in what you are doing”, the higher self assured. “The Father is with you”.

I felt awful. The sickly depression intensified. I perceived, I was resisting the will of “God”.

I thought to myself, “If I send this one thousand dollars, will the masters then want me to give even more?”

I decided I had better get the check written. I couldn't stand the tension, anxiety, and depression any longer. The lyrics of the song were driving me crazy.

As I wrote out the check, I wondered whether the severe depression resulted from separation from God caused by my disobedience.

I drove over to the mail-deposit box. As soon as I dropped the envelope into the box, the sickly depression lifted instantly. I also noticed that the music in my head had gone. In the welcome silence, I felt “normal” again.

When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I did was check out my mind. Nothing unusual was there. No powerful thoughtforms were telling me to make further donations. I breathed a big sigh of relief.

About a week passed in relative peace. Then one early morning I woke up with a new idea implanted in my mind. I needed to immediately donate two thousand dollars to the Lighted Way.

“Oh, no! Not again!” I protested in anger.

I hesitantly climbed out of bed and took a shower. As I was showering, suddenly the music and words, “Take it to the limit, oh, oh, oh...” burst into my mind. The music and the words were as clear as if I wore headphones connected to a cassette. Hearing every note in stereo was an amazing, but horrifying experience.

“What should I do now?” I asked myself loudly.

There was no answer. All I could hear was the song. “Take it to the limit...”

After dressing, I fell down on my knees in front of the altar.

As I meditated, the imagery of meditation now pictured a check with a figure of $3,000 written on it. Thinking to myself that three thousand dollars was ludicrous, I decided to immediately write a check for two thousand dollars without any further resistance or protest. I was not prepared to resist any longer and risk going through all that terrible depression again. If the Hierarchy wanted a further one thousand dollars, they could have it. The pain of resisting was not worth it. It was better to just do what they wanted and get it over with.

I reasoned that the masters knew what they were doing; they would just have to help me pay back all the accumulated debt. It was useless to resist.

After sending the check for two thousand dollars, I transferred funds from my Visa account into my checking account to prevent the check from bouncing. What a relief not to feel any more anxiety that day. It was better to obey than put up useless resistance against the will of “God”.

I believed that through my obedience I was building for myself a place in the kingdom of “God” and that I would be blessed with rewards of joy and abundance on account of every penny I spent on “God's” precious work.

The next morning, sure enough, the song was there again. “Take it to the limit, one more time”.

I intuitively knew a thousand dollars was needed.

The emphasis of the song's words was now on the final phrase, “one more time”. I wondered if the emphasis indicated that this check would be my last donation.

The inner voice explained, “You should have sent the full three thousand dollars, just as you were instructed yesterday. Send the outstanding one thousand dollars right now”.

I wrote out the check without resistance. That check brought my total donation over the two-week period to a total of six thousand dollars, the very a mount Muriel had asked for.

The music did not return, perhaps because my credit cards had been taken to their credit limit.

At this stage in my New Age experience, I was becoming totally “possessed” by the spirit demons. I had little ability to resist their telepathic manipulation of my emotions and control of my conscience. Some incredible changes were soon to take place in my life.

---------------------------

Chapter 8

VI. DECEIVED BY THE NEW AGE - The Story Of A New Age Priest

What was it like being a disciple of one of Satan's angels? Quite enjoyable, at first. Many fascinating and interesting things began to happen in my life. I was even taken to live in a kind of paradise for a while and I felt blessed.

I had regarded Djwhal Khul's appearance as a very personal matter and so did not tell anyone about it, not even Muriel.

Several months had passed since the master's visitation. Only a handful of people were in attendance at the midweek healing service held at the Lighted Way. Muriel was conducting the candle lighting ordinance.

A small candle, called the Christ candle, was burning in the center of the altar. Muriel invited each person, in turn, to come up to the altar, take a small white candle, and light it from the burning candle. The person then placed his lighted candle in a circle around the Christ candle. After that Muriel channeled the person a short message.

It was soon my turn to walk forward.

Standing before the altar, I waited for her to give me a personal message. Muriel closed her eyes and channeled: “You are a personal disciple of Djwhal Khul. He is giving you instructions through your meditations and is also implanting thought-forms into your mind during sleep”.

She squinted as if focusing on more data coming into her mind. “In a past lifetime you were a monk in Djwhal Khul's lamasery in Tibet. In your spirit existence before you incarnated into this present life, you had a meeting with him on the spirit planes”.

I leaned forward to listen very carefully.

“A pact was made, and you agreed to incarnate with the specific purpose of becoming one of his disciples. It was planned that you would undergo strict training and then help Djwhal Khul in some special projects that needed to be carried out on the planet in connection with the New Age”.

Muriel opened her eyes and smiled. With a motion of her hands, she briefly swept my aura in the area of my head and shoulders to balance the energy.

“Thank you”, I said, and returned to my seat.

I thought to myself, “So Muriel knows about my discipleship. I wonder what else the masters have told her about me”.

Because I was determined to be a diligent disciple for my master, I spent a lot of my spare time studying Djwhal Khul's teachings as presented in the Alice Bailey books. I was especially interested in information concerning “the Christ” and his “second coming”.

The books stated that the New Age will set the stage for the return of “the Christ”, a physical appearance of the master who heads the Hierarchy of Masters. The work of the Hierarchy is to prepare the way for this event; humanity's duty is to accept him and work in harmony with his teachings and advice when he appears.

I learned that the term “the Christ” does not refer to a specific person; rather, it is the name of an executive office within the Hierarchy, equivalent to saying, “the president” of a country. Alice Bailey states that a master called Lord Maitreya holds the position of the Christ, having occupied it for some 2,000 years. She emphasizes that the return of “the Christ” will be the same event as the promised return of the Messiah of Christianity.

Muriel taught the theory that, coinciding with the start of the new age of Aquarius, Maitreya may soon move on to other duties of a more exalted kind elsewhere in the universe. His position as the Christ would, in that case, be taken over by one of the other senior masters, such as Koot Hoomi or “Master Jesus”.

She emphasized that the masters need human disciples to help them prepare the planet for the coming of the Christ. The New Age movement is meant to provide a human resource base from which the masters can recruit disciples to work in the various aspects of their operations, areas such as politics, education, religion, culture, commerce, and finance.

To train such disciples, Muriel started the Lighted Way classes in meditation and channeling. The Hierarchy needed dedicated channels who would follow the masters' instructions and would sacrifice time, energy, and money to obediently carry out the directions given - directions that were to be regarded as being the will of God.

In contrast to the process occurring at the Lighted Way, the Bailey writings state that most of the Hierarchy's disciples are unconscious of the relationship they have with their masters. When the master communicates ideas by means of telepathy, the disciple is not even aware of what is happening; he simply thinks the ideas are his own mind's creativity at work. Supposedly many of the world's government leaders, economists, philanthropists, and religious leaders are such “unknowing” disciples of the masters.

“It is time to move out of this house”, the inner voice of conscience spoke as I meditated one morning. “I want you to live alone. You need to be in a less distracting home environment, where you can spend more time meditating and studying”.

The message came through very clearly. I was still living in the Los Angeles house that I had shared with three close friends for a couple of years. I wondered where I was supposed to move. The inner voice spoke again.

“You should move to the city of Torrance. Find a quiet apartment that has plenty of light. You will be paying more for rent, but do not be concerned. Know that you are blessed by God, and all will be well”.

Torrance is a Los Angeles suburb about twenty-five miles south of where I was living. I would be nearer to my job, but I didn't like the idea of living on my own as a recluse. I decided that the direction to move was coming from my higher self and it was in my best interest to obey, even though I was apprehensive.

As I thought about the move, I realized that my lifestyle had changed dramatically since I began attending classes at the Lighted Way and since I became a disciple of Djwhal Khul. My spiritually oriented life was no longer compatible with the worldly “secular” lifestyle of my roommates. I had lost all interest in visiting bars, one of my favorite former pastimes, I had no longer dated since the time I took a private vow of celibacy. As I became aware of how much lurid filth, sexually stimulating material, and violence were depicted in the media, I had gradually decreased attendance at movies. I even made a conscious effort to  eliminate all profanities and coarse expressions from my speech as I strove to live as godly a life as I could.

Instead of dating and indulging in “worldly” entertainment, I endeavored to spend my time in the study of esoteric literature, in prayer, and in meditation. Countryside walks and visits to museums replaced visits to the beach and parties. Aspiring to seek after the kingdom of God instead of the things of this world, I spent much time contemplating my spiritual path and walk with “God”.

After moving the last of my belongings, I sat on the carpeted floor of my new apartment and meditated. “Welcome to the White Brotherhood”, a crisp, clear inner voice announced. “The masters are very pleased with your progress along the path. You are to be congratulated for your willingness to proceed onward in the face of difficulties. Keep moving forward. Keep on the straight and narrow path. You have a tendency to work too hard sometimes. Take time for rest. Keep balanced. My blessings. I am Sanat Kumara”.

Wow, I thought, Sanat Kumara himself has taken the time to channel a special message for me. I was amazed how clear the words were, as if someone had actually spoken into the inside of my brain. I was filled with joy and gladness.

From Djwhal Khul's teachings, I was somewhat familiar with Sanat Kumara, a mysterious and interesting character. Apparently all the senior masters of the Hierarchy, including “the Christ”, were supervised by this great spirit being of non human origin who supposedly originated from Venus.

My meditations were now always accompanied by bright light shining in my forehead. Muriel told me the light indicated that my third-eye center - the chakra located in the forehead - had been “opened”.

Especially after Djwhal Khul's visitation, I noticed that my meditations were sometimes accompanied by mystical phenomena. For example, on several occasions a bright, multicolored display of lights cascaded around inside my forehead. It was like looking into a giant kaleidoscope. On infrequent occasions, I had more profound mystical experiences. One time I woke up in the middle of the night to find my bedroom filled with green light. It looked as if my room were filled with microscopic smoke particles, and a green-colored fluorescent light had been switched on - a bit like a disco filled with colored smoke. In spite of the strangeness of the occurrence, I felt a soothing peace. I had not taken any drugs, for they were forbidden to those on the metaphysical path.

On one Christmas morning, when I sat down to meditate, suddenly my brain was flooded with bright, white light. I felt a beautiful sense of tranquility, like pure bliss. A comforting sensation of warmth filled my body, as if I were sitting in the warm summer sun and the sunshine were able to penetrate the entire depth of my body tissues. Sitting in this peaceful light for several minutes, I thought to myself, “What a wonderful Christmas gift from God”.

During one Sunday morning worship service, Muriel channeled a prophetic message for me during the candle lighting ordinance.

“Someone at your work is going to leave shortly”, she said. “It means that you will be promoted and have more responsibility”.

As soon as Muriel spoke, in my own mind I could distinctly hear the name, Jack Thompson. But then I immediately rationalized that there was no way he would leave the company because he had been there so long. I decided that our vice president must be the person implied in the message.

Two days later, our company president announced an unexpected staff meeting. He began to speak: “I have brought you together to inform you that Jack Thompson is leaving the company”.

A chill ran down my spine.

“Jack is moving back to his home state of Missouri”, the boss continued. “We wish him all the best in his new venture. We will, of course, need to reorganize the department to cover his duties”.

I was shocked. Muriel's message had been absolutely accurate. Furthermore, when Muriel had given me the prophecy, the inner voice of my higher self had clearly told me the correct identity of the person about to leave, even though my rational intelligence had dismissed it as being illogical. I realized that I needed to pay much closer attention to the inner voice of my conscience; apparently it knew information that my rational mind was incapable of accessing.

After Jack's resignation from the company, I received the promotion, just as Muriel had predicted. My trust in Muriel's relationship with “God” was now unshakable, and I was totally dedicated to work with her as part of my discipleship training. I began to entertain the idea that if I obediently followed the discipleship path, I could take the “initiations” talked about in the Bailey writings. Supposedly, these rare events occurred while a disciple was asleep and visiting the heavenly realms in his “soul body”. The teachings stated that the ultimate goal of discipleship was to take the fifth initiation, called the “Christhood” initiation. At this, the disciple would become a master himself and live in bliss as an immortal servant of “God”.

A few months after Muriel's accurate prophecy regarding the changes at my work, she suddenly suspended the Sunday morning services at the Lighted Way in order to give herself more time for personal transformation. To keep up my rhythm of church going, I was impressed to attend the church nearest to where I lived, which happened to be a Lutheran congregation. Believing that I was walking with the same God, I was happy to worship alongside Christians in their churches.

It was early December. New services and classes had begun at the Lighted Way. During the first Sunday service, Muriel channeled a message for me as I stood at the altar.

“There is going to be a surprise for you at Christmas”, she said. No more information was given, and I returned to my seat.

Since joining the Lighted Way, my life had been full of interesting surprises. They were almost becoming the norm, so I didn't pay much attention to this latest message.

Just before Christmas, I knelt in front of the altar in my apartment to begin a session of prayer and meditation. There I received a clear message spoken by the inner voice of the silence. “You are soon going to be making a move that will take you overseas”, it said. “Just where you are going is not to be made known yet”.

I felt strange. An intuitive sense told me that this message was very important, even though I was not told where or when I would move.

I wondered whether I was going to move back to my home country of England? I also thought that perhaps the masters wanted me to move to Hawaii, where I had been involved with a lot of business dealings in my job.

The next evening, I attended a group channeling session. A partner channeled a personal message for me in response to questions I asked about the impending move. “The move you are to make is not necessarily a permanent one”, she said. “It will clear up old energies. It also involves further training under the supervision of the Hierarchy. Start to sell all the things you are not able to take with you. Travel very light. You are entering a new cycle of your life. After this cycle is over, you will be ready to start your soul's true vocation for this incarnation”.

It had to be England; my thoughts were constantly focused there. Conflicting feelings swept over me. I was very excited about returning, but I was also apprehensive. I would be leaving a good, secure job to face an unknown future. I agreed to trust the masters and follow their directions.

I prayed this prayer of dedication to “God”: 'Thank you, Lord, for all your blessings. Thank you for revealing yourself to me. I ask that my life will be guided by your divine power. I ask that all illusions be dispelled from my mind and that your truth will be revealed to me. I ask to be used as a servant of the Hierarchy. Amen”.

Seeking her advice and approval regarding the apparent move to England, I went to Muriel for a private counseling session. She channeled, “Your life is blessed. Have faith in God and go forth with an attitude of lightness and joy. Though you will be doing various things in England, the move is mainly a pilgrimage to release old attachments and resolve past conflicts with your parents”.

Muriel was silent for a few moments before continuing, “I do not see you working in a permanent job. You will do some things for the Hierarchy there. I see you visiting Findhorn”.

I quit my job, sold all my furniture, gave away a lot of my belongings, and flew to the United Kingdom with a single suitcase containing all my possessions.

I felt sick with apprehension regarding the move to London. The disorientation from not knowing where I was to stay or what I was to do permeated my entire being. I booked into a hotel and waited for further instructions from the masters.

A few days after my arrival in England, I awoke one morning feeling overwhelmed and depressed. Almost in tears, I decided to seek comfort in meditation. After I sat still for a few moments, suddenly a blast of energy hit me. It felt as if I were being electrocuted as a surge of light blitzed through my entire body and the voice of “God” howled into my inner ear, “Go forth in strength!”

If I had not been sitting in a chair, the force of the energy might well have knocked me to the floor. The blast lasted for just a couple of seconds. After a pause of a couple more seconds, the energy blast hit me again. “Go forth in strength!” the voice repeated.

I was then slain a third time.

“Go forth in strength!” it blitzed.

Then there was silence.

It was reassuring to know that “God” was helping me. I felt at peace. My faith had been activated again, and I went forward with courage.

Feeling that I should stay in London, I rented a small apartment in the Earl's Court district. I had absolutely no idea how long I would be staying there or what I was supposed to be doing. Perhaps it is a permanent move, I thought. I will assume it is until I receive directions informing me otherwise.

After the miraculous blast of energy from “God”, I hoped that my medical problems would be healed. Unfortunately, I was to be disappointed. My ailments remained. Only my courage and faith had been boosted by the display of “God's” power.

During the day, I mainly looked for a job. In the evenings I was impressed to take part in the activities of several New Age organizations. I cherished a visit I made to the London operations of the Lucis Trust, the organization that publishes Djwhal Khul's Alice Bailey books.

On Sunday mornings I attended services at a local Anglican church. Sadness and disappointment filled me as I observed how small the congregations in England were compared to the size of the churches. Religion had been in decline for years, with many church buildings derelict or converted into warehouses. Secularism had taken over. I regarded the New Age as being the new hope to fill the spiritual void.

One morning in meditation, I was instructed to make a pilgrimage to the famous Canterbury Cathedral, mother church of the worldwide Anglican denomination. I had a beautiful time in Canterbury and spent the entire day visiting that great historic church with its massive arches and stone walls. Meditating in the sanctuary, I recited occult prayers and invocations and performed an imagery ritual, in which I visualized the cathedral and all its daughter churches being filled with the “Christ light” channeled by the Hierarchy of Masters.

I made visits to several other great cathedrals. On each occasion, I spent time meditating and praying in the sanctuary, finishing the session with occult invocations and metaphysical imagery rituals.

Vatican City of the New Age movement. This is how Findhorn has been described. Upon arrival, I was absolutely overwhelmed by the community of almost 400 people, located in a beautiful part of the Scottish High lands. Here, Satan has built a paradise for his New Age followers.

The inner voice of meditation told me to visit this New Age mecca about six months after my arrival in England. I had only a vague recollection that Findhorn was some kind of small Christian retreat center located in northern Scotland. Muriel had channeled that I would visit Findhorn, but I had actually forgotten all about her prophecy since leaving the United States.

Packing my bags, I drove all the way up to the northern part of Scotland, where I had located the village of Findhorn on a map. I anticipated staying at Findhorn for perhaps a couple of days. The Masters had other plans.

This New Age Vatican City began in 1962 as a small vacation trailer housing three adults and three children. From this humble beginning, Satan worked a miracle in building up his prime New Age educational institution.

The commune now comprises a large mobile home and trailer park with extensive gardens and community buildings, an eighty-seven room hotel that looks like a beautiful castle, a gorgeous auditorium with facilities for performing arts classes, a publishing house with printing shop, and several stately mansions complete with extensive gardens. The community has hosted international conferences, and many thousands of visitors have poured through its doors to attend its residential educational programs.

This community is not a bunch of hippies. Most of the people I met were university-educated professionals. During my stay, I made friends with a former Jesuit priest, a seminary professor, and several psychologists, to list but a few.

The main tenet of Findhorn's philosophy is the idea that a  “Christ energy” or “Christ-consciousness” resides within each person. If people meditate, they can have access to this infinite source of “wisdom” inside themselves known as the “Christ-self”, or higher self. The goal of Findhorn's teachings is to train people to attune to the “Christ” within and use it to guide their lives.

What I originally thought was going to be a two-day visit soon became a two month venture with no sign that I should leave. My meditation “guidance” kept telling me to stay at the community and participate in the long-term guest programs. These involved working for departments within the community.

For most of the time, I worked for the publications department, helping to publish and manufacture the various New Age books, magazines, and brochures printed by the Findhorn Press. These included such books as David Spangler's Reflections Upon the Christ and Donald Keys's Earth at Omega, a book advocating the idea of a single world government as the means of transforming the world and solving the critical problems it faces. Keys is the founder of Planetary Citizens, a worldwide New Age organization seeking change through political action. He has been a longtime consultant to the United Nations.

The supervisor of guest workers in publications was a charming elderly woman who had been living at Findhorn for many years. She once confided to me that she was a Christian and regarded Jesus Christ as her master. I became acquainted with other community members who had at one time been Bible teachers; one of them was a former priest. Apparently, somewhere along their Christian path they took a wrong turn.

As part of a two-month-long orientation program designed to integrate people into full membership of the commune, I was required to have an interview with two members of the community's personnel department. This was to help them decide if I could be accepted as a full member. After I had explained my situation and answered their questions, the three of us did a group meditation. During the meditation, an intense, bright light shone in my forehead. The energy was so strong that the couch I sat on seemed to vibrate. This gave me confidence that my application to become a full member was in “divine” order.

Jay, a bearded Canadian of slim build, was the head of the personnel department. He started to speak during the meditation. “In the best interest of Will's higher self, what advice can be given?” He seemed to be asking the spirit world for guidance.

A further period of silence followed. In my own mind I heard the words, “Yes, it is in divine order to join”.

Jay closed the meditation and confirmed that he received a positive sense that it was God's will for me to become a member.

I began to see my role in life as becoming a type of priest. I rejected my past aspirations - professional success, financial comfort, and social standing - and accepted a new image of humbly working for God in the role of a New Age monk, living a life of simplicity and doing good deeds. I pledged myself to work for the uplifting of humanity through selfless service.

I was allowed to join the publications staff as a full member of the community. I was very happy to be a member of the world's foremost New Age organization and looked forward to the wonderful opportunity of working for the masters.

Excruciating despair swept over me.

I had just awakened in the morning and mysteriously “knew” I had to leave Findhorn and return to Los Angeles. The sudden, totally unexpected news devastated me. I had been a full member of the community for only one week.

Don't ask me how I knew, but it was clear to me that my time at Findhorn was over and that the masters wanted me to return to the Lighted Way. It was as if the idea to leave had been implanted in my brain while I was asleep.

I recalled reading that the masters have the ability to plant “thoughtforms” into the mind of a disciple during sleep. When the disciple awakens, these thoughtforms, manifested as powerful ideas, demand attention and action. I reasoned that a thoughtform must have been implanted in my mind that night.

I had come to appreciate living at Findhorn. I had made many friends and did not want to leave such a paradise. After living in the beautiful Scottish Highlands for six months, I dreaded returning to smoggy, congested Los Angeles and its rat race.

Eventually pulling myself out of bed, I dressed and headed for the sanctuary. A lot of meditating needed to be done before I was willing to give up my beloved home.

Over the next few days, I spent hours and hours in the sanctuary in silent contemplation. For some reason, I felt nauseated with worry and apprehension at the prospect of returning to Los Angeles. But the inner voice of meditation continually confirmed the need to move. I finally reasoned that if I wanted to continue serving my beloved master, then I had no choice but to obey the direction given.

What will Jay in personnel think? I wondered. I had just given him a commitment to stay at Findhorn for at least a year. Because the inner voice of my higher self would not allow me to tell people that I was a personal disciple of Djwhal Khul, I had to come up with a plausible explanation for my abrupt change of plan.

I approached Jay with embarrassment as he stood in line for communal dinner. “Jay, I have some bad news for you. I have to leave the community”.

Jay replied, “Oh. Well, I'm not surprised really. Why don't you come and see me tomorrow?”

Fortunately, he understood my predicament of having received unexpected guidance from “God”. I was able to leave with integrity intact and an open door to return in the future. 

Two years later I did return for a visit - as an unusual born-again Christian with a gospel message of salvation through Jesus.

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Chapter 7