WlTH COMMENTARIES BY
         WALTER LANG


LONDON
NEVILLE SPEARMAN
First published in Great Britain
by Neville Spearman Ltd
Whitfield Street, London, W.l

(c) 1968 by Wellesley Tudor Pole
Foreword
Introduction

by the same author

The Silent Road
Man See Afar
Private Dowding


CONTENTS
Foreward                                         7
Introduction                                     9

Part One

1.  Jesus Writes                                 21
2.  "And as Jesus Passed By . . ."               33
3.  At Supper                                    40
4.  The Word                                     62
5.  The Problem of Prophecy                      74

Part Two

6.  Some Links                                    87
7.  The Archangelic Hierarchy                     90
8.  The Michael Tor, Glastonbury                  97
9.  The Closing Days of Atlantis                 101
10. Does History Repeat Itself?                  105
11. Prophecy in Relation to the Day of the Lord  109
12. Chivalry                                     114
13. Questionnaire                                118
I4. "And With No Language But a Cry"             129

Part Three

15. The Bahá'í Faith                             135
16. Personal Recollections                       140
    (Abdu'l Bahá Abbas)
17. "Ye are all the Fruits of One Tree"          145
18. The Fall of Haifa                            152
    (The Safeguarding of Abdu'l Bahá and
     His Family)
19. The Master as a Seer                         156
20. The Prison House at St. Jean D'Acre          160
    (Extract from a letter written in
     November I9I8)
21. Vision on the Mount                          166

Epilogue

FOREWORD

Is life extinguished by death or does it continue beyond
the grave? The very act of living poses this question and
the answer we arrive at--consciously or unconsciously--
influences our every thought and every action throughout
our lives.
  In this book, as in other books by Tudor Pole, this
question is neither posed nor answered explicitly. The
reason, it seems tO me, is that for him the question is
irrelevant because the answer to it is an ever present
reality, so obvious, so much a part of his life that it is
simply taken for granted.
  His whole philosophy is a gentle, insistent assertion that
the life we know is only a minute part of a greater con-
tinuum, existing far back and far ahead.
  Tudor Pole's ability to scan this continuum brings
glimpses that are denied to most of us. Through this
facility or power of access and by the faculties incidental
to it, he lifts a curtain on parts of the New Testament story
long obscured. The process throws up ideas at once old
and new, at once strange and yet familiar: ideas that have
a haunting nostalgia suggesting that they are related to
something we have always known--perhaps without
realising that we knew.
  As we read we begin to sense that realities beyond our
ordinary horizons are taking shape, and if through T.P.'s
writing one can begin to glimpse the outline of the idea
behind his words, then one begins to enter with him a
dimension where there are no horizons at all and where
the very act of entry is found to involve a new kind of
experience.
  Entry to these new realms is sometimes gentle, some-
times explosive. But whatever the mode of entry, one
finds that the view is unexpectedly familiar and that its
strange perspectives bring the eternal questions into a new
and revealing focus.
  I have known T.P. all my life and over the past twenty
years or more have been privileged to exchange with him
an almost daily correspondence in continuation of my
father's more than thirty years of similar interchange
with him. Perhaps became of this I have an advantage:
some of the new horizons are already half familiar.
  Of two things I am completely certain. One is that what
he presents is given in absolute sincerity. The other is that
if his writing opens up these far horizons for you as it has
done for me, your efforts in studying what he says will
be amply rewarded.
                         D. F. O. RUSSELL

INTRODUCTION


Before reading a book like this it is essential to know some-
thing about how it came to be written and about the man
who is responsible for writing it.
  Wellesley Tudor Pole is an elderly man of affairs now
living in semi-retirement. He is, however, still active in
many fields, keenly interested in the international scene
and in the welfare of his fellows.
  This is the impression he makes on his neighbours, but
it is by no means the whole picture. Among his activities,
he is Chairman of the Big Ben Council, London, and of
the Chalice Well Trust, Glastonbury. He is also engaged
in correspondence with various sections of the Press over-
seas and with societies working for brotherhood and
understanding between all nations; and he still retains a
number of industrial interests.
  To his many associates in commerce he is a thoroughly
practical business man with a specialised knowledge of the
Near and Middle East. There appears to be nothing unusual
about him.
  They would tllerefore probably be startled to discover
that he has quite a different side to his life. This might be
called his invisible reputation, and it is ver,v far indeed
from being ordinary.
  Many people--and they are scattered all over the world
--believe that he is a seer, an example of a rare type of
individual well known in pre-Classical times; recognised
and accepted as a phenomenon in the Middle Ages; but
strangely without place or even adequate description in the
modern world.
  The idea of the man who sees differently from other
men is best placed in a context which is well known in
certain circles but is surprisingly unfamiliar elsewhere.
  The idea, in its essentials, is that certain expanded levels
of consciousness, certain modes of cognition beyond the
ordinary are included as possibilities in every human being.
But in almost all of us they are only potential--like a baby's
ability to ride a bicycle.
  Sometimes such possibilities become actual in certain
individuals; and the life of such a man foreshadows a
situation which, for the commonality, lies far ahead in the
evolution of the race.
  Is this a fantastic idea? It has some support at physical
level. The biologist looks at the record of evolution and
sees, time and time again, the emergence of some creature
endowed with wholly novel physical structure, apparently
useless and sometimes even preposterous in terms of its
place and time. Yet these novelties--the hint of a backbone
the first tentative prototype of a nervous system, the first
opposable thumb--can be seen in hindsight as feeble
gropings towards an unimaginable future.
  T.P. makes no claims of any kind and he firmly dis-
courages those who make them for him. Indeed, he
discourages all personal inquiry. At the same time, such
claims are implicit in all his writing and it is dishonesty to
attend to the one and pretend you havcn't noticed the
other.
  The clear conclusion for those who know him well--
and for many who have merely studied hls writing--is

INTRODUCTION

that Tudor Pole is able to live in two worlds and to pass
information about another world (to a limited and cautious
extent) to people in this.
  To avoid compromise with the terminology of science,
mysticism and religion, he refers to everything beyond the
register of the ordinary senses as the au~ela. Now this dual
passport, if it exists, should not be evaluated in terms of
spiritualistic trance or religious ecstasy. It is nothing like
that. It appears to be--and this is where it is so very rare--
the development of a faculty of mind which is able to
by-pass the infra-world of psychism and another area
where an interim reward of"beauty" and "ecstasy" may
be mistaken for the final goal.
  Whatever the faculty, it goes through, in simple con-
sciousness, to an au~eld where there is unity instead of
diversity, method instead of madness, order instead of
chaos; and where some unimaginable order of things
proceeds on a single fiat; love.
  For many years T.P. has been distributing spiritual gold,
generally by stealth. Sometimes glimpses of higher laws
are given to a correspondent (he has hundreds who have
never met him), in the context of some advice on a
personal problem.
  Often, higher insights are wrapped in an amusing
traveller's tale. Sometimes, as in his book The Silent Road
a great vista of cosmic purpose is skilfully embedded just
below the surface of some charming but trivial vignette.
  An outstanding example of his extemal activities was
the Silent Minute campaign. As with so many of T.P.'s
interests there was in this a strange quality suggesting that
he was in some way reconciling past and future through
an action m the present.

INTRODUCTION

  The idea began in 1917 when two British officers were
discussing the war and its probable aftermath.
  The conversation took place in a billet on the hillside
at the mouth of a cave in the Palestine hills, and on the
eve of a battle. One of the two, a man of unusual character
and vision, realising intuitively that his days on earth were
to be shortened, told his friend, who was Tudor Pole:
"I shan't come through this struggle and, like millions of
others, it will be my destiny to go on. You will survive
and live to see a greater and more vital Col~ict fought out
in every continent and ocean and in the air. When that
times comes, remember us. We shall long to play our part.
Give us the opportunity to do so, for that war will be a
righteous war. We shall not then fight with material
weapons, but we will be able to help you if you will let
us. We shall be an unseen but mighty army. You will still
have 'time' as your servant. Lend us a mome~lt of it each day
and through your silence give us our opportunity. The
power of silence is greater than you know. When those
tragic days arrive do not forget us."
  Next day the speaker was killed. W.T.P. was severely
wounded and left with the enemy, but managed to get
back to the British lines, with an inescapable sense of
miraculous deliverance.
  The idea of the Silent Minute was thus born in Palestine
in December I9I7. It came to external realisation in the
dark days of Dunkirk twenty-three years later when Britain
stood alone and unprotected against overwhelming forces
of evil. Men and women of goodwill in England and
throughout the Commonwealth and elsewhere were then
asked to devote one minute of their time at nine each
evening to a prayer ~or peace, and thus to create a channel

INTRODUCTION

between the visible and the invisible worlds. The move-
ment grew until unknown numbers were united in keeping
this evening tryst. This dedicated Minute received the
warm support of H.M. king George VI, Mr. Winston
Churchill, his Cabinet and many other leaders in Church
and State. The value was fully realised by the late President
Roosevelt and by our Allies from overseas. The Minute
was observed on land, air and sea, on the battlefields, in
air-raid shelters, hospitals and prison camps, and in the
homes of poor and rich alike.
  At T.P.'s request and with the Prime Minister's support,
the B.B.C. restored the voice of Big Ben to the air on
Remembrance Sunday, November Ioth, I940, as a signal
for the Silent Minute at nine each evening; and this became
accepted practice in the Home and Overseas Service for the
remainder of the war years and for some time after-
wards.
  According to the B.B.C. the number of those observing
it in Britain and Europe from I942 onwards ran into many
millions.
  Soon after the end of hostilities in Europe in I945 a
British Intelligence officer, interrogating high Nazi
officials, asked one of them why he thought Germany
had lost the war. This was the reply:
  "During the war you had a secret weapon for which
we could find no counter-measure and which we did not
understand, but it was very powerful. It was associated
with the striking of Big Ben each evening. I believe you
called it "the Silent Minute."
  Clearly the significance of the Silent Minute must be
assessed from a viewpoint far removed from ordinary
standards of judgement.

INTRODUCTION

  A second example of T.P.'s venture is Chalice Well, in
Glastonbury.
  In I904 he first saw the site of Chalice Well. It lies at
the foot of Glastonbury Tor, just off the main road
between Glastonbury and West Pennard. It was then part
of a property belonging to a Roman Catholic order. He
recognised tlle sanctity of the place and saw much else
concerlling it. He felt that a future purpose depended on
this site for its manifestation and he resolved to make every
e~ort to acquire it so soon as an opportunity occurred.
  He declared this intention to Cardinal Gasquet, who at
that time was Abbot President of the English Bene-
dictine Order, when he stayed with him at Tor House in
I907.
  In I909~ following the sale of the Glastonbury Abbey
ruins to the Church of England, the Chalice Well site
passed into private hands. Half a century later, T.P.'s aim
was finally realised. The property came on the market
and he was able to arrange for its purchase.
  Since then the place has become a focal point for
pilgrims from all over the world. There are no relics, no
rituals. The place simply inheres a purpose. There are
orchards and a garden, there is a spring of water and there
is an atmosphere. People sense it and feel no need for
explanation.

  Was it in this area that the first Christian church in the
world was built? Did Joseph of Arimathea come here
after the crucifixion? And if so, who came with him?
Why sllould tlle Grail legend focus so enduringly in this
district? And if it is all legend, all mumbo-jumbo, is it
not strange that in the conclaves of Rome before memory
was ousted by political pressure, precedence was given at

INTRODUCTION

Roman and other Christian councils to the delegate from
Britain before all others?
  Chalice Well itself derives from a spring of under-
ground water and is sited in an inspiring, flower-filled
garden. To normal vision it seems unimportant. But by
what standards do we judge importance? How many can
see what might be called noumenal meaning? Not many
saw much happening in A.D. 33.
  Could it be that at the present time--particularly at the
present time--there is a shifting of the moves which we
glimpse here below as trivial and disconnected, but which
from a higher viewpoint form part of a grander whole,
both coherent and imperative.
  In I96S in collaboration with his friend Rosamond
Lehmann he produced a book which is now a treasured
possession for many of us--A Man Seen Afar.*
  The material for this, though prepared for during many
years of mind training and discipline, was received, as he
says, "spontaneously and naturally" over a period of less
than three months.
  It amounts to a delineation of a small historical area of
space and time concerned with Jesw, his daily circum-
stances and his mission.
  It is a picture which in places amplifles and in places
contradicts the Gospel accounts. These insights produce, as
Rosamond Lehmanul said, a kind of shock, as of iluler
recognition, stilling attention without conscious e~ort, a
"touchstone" quality that made all question of evidence
or proof seem to her irrelevant. The "glimpses" do indeed
have this quality. Merely reading them produces a subtle

  * Published by Neville Spcarmm.

INTRODUCTION

change in our spiritual outlook. They may do more. They
lead to a qualitative change in our understanding.
  If they do, is there any background against which such
a realignment could be seen as significant?
  Is there perhaps some work-target of the epoch which
requires that the existing records should be adjusted? My
conclusion is that T.P. believes so. Were I to leap into
conjccture--but based almost entirely on what I hlve
learnt from T.P.--this is what I would deduce:
  We are moving out of one age and into another.
Energies beyond the frontiers of humall perception are
preparing to release into humanity a new impulse. This,
if rightly received, will be capable of transforming human
life on earth. But the impulse is unlikely to break through
unless certain conditions involving human co-operation
are made available.
  Without this adjustment, work on the Aquarian build-
ing site camlot be started, or if started, could only per-
petuate an existing distortion in the lower floors of the
Piscean building beneath.
  It would be simple, one might think, to show this in
terms of the sweeping cosmic insights which T.P. appears
to possess. Yet he chooses to do it--or is under orders to do
it--by certain alterations to our picture of the historical
Jesus.
  To outer understanding there would seem to be easier,
more factual ways of correcting historical errors. For
example, there is in existence (and kl]own to Tudor Pole)
a record of a certain scrics of events hitllerto unkllowll to
history. Data relevant to these events many centuries ago,
exist intact and await archaeological discovery. Yet T.P.
dismisses all suggestions tllat furtller in~omlatioll sllould be

INTRODUCTION

disclosed. The time, he says, is not yet. He chooses instead
to introduce gradually the correction--and perhaps the
erosion--which he believes to be necessary. The method,
for him right and lawful, is the publication of these
glimpses of the historical Jesus.
  My own feeling is that T.P.'s work is part, perhaps a
small part, of a world-wide operation at present being
mounted by the higher powers.
  Probably many people widely dispersed in the world,
some known, some unheard of, are engaged in it, each
discharging his OWIl fraction of a total mandate.
  The work is to rewind the spiritual transformer of the
planet in a different way, to prepare for a new flow of
current from a solar source. How we do this rewinding at
the present time will determine how the current will flow;
and the manner of its flowing will determine the resonant
frequency of humanity for the coming times.
  Few if any of those taking part will see the work in its
entirety. Some, perhaps, like T.P. will be fully aware of
their own role. Others, willing but less comprehellding,
will be drawn to play a part they only very dimly perceive.
  Round all these centres there will be a periphery of
ordinary people compelled by a simple urgency to con-
verge on a building site which they cannot see at all.
  So it probably was 2,000 years ago. It may even be that
units which worked together then are working together
now, meeting familiar fellows and forming nostalgically
familiar relationships, sensing it all fleetingly and dis-
jointedly like compollellts of a haunting dream.
  About such a concept there is much that is hopclessly
illogical. Even the building bricks of th~ rroject seem
illogical. For example not all of the material given out
INTRODUCTION

recently by T.P. seems concerned at all with the Jesus
glimpses which are his main preoccupation. Obliquely he
drops in other material which to the outward eye, seems
irrelevant. Yet it has been injected into the main stream
and we can only conjecture that it has a relevance, real
and immediate, in some context of which we are unaware.
  The belief that all of it inllolds some coherence at some
level, is, in cssence, an act of faith. But faith is evidence of
things unseen; and of things unseen in relation to T.P. we
have abundant evidence.
  Some time ago it became apparent that he proposed to
extend the glimpses given in A Man Seen Afar and to my
alarm insisted that I should collaborate.
  I have reservations alike about clairvoyance and about
mysticism. I have never talked to a departed relative, never
had a religious experience. From both the orthodox and
the heterodox aspects of the transcendental, it would be
difficult to find anyone more extensively unq~ali~ed to
work with Tudor Pole.
  Yet he insists that I should introduce these new glimpses,
edit them, collate them and comment on them. More, he
assumed that it was a foregone conclusion that I would
do so.
  In agrecing, I made the single condition that I would
do it according to my lights (if any) and tllis, so llc says, is
precisely what is wanted. I can only assume tllat tllis is an
example of what Huxley called "grace in queer places".

WALTER LANG

Part One
CHAPTER ONE


Jesus Writes


They said unto him Master, this woman was taken in
adultery, in the very act.
  Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should
be stoned: but what sayest thou
  This they said, tempting him, that they might have to
accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger
wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
  So when they continued asking him he lifted himself up
and said unto them, He that is without sin amt~nlJ v
let him first cast a stone at her.
John viii. 4, 5, 6, 7


And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
                            John viii. 8



W.T.P. The account given in St. John, Chapter viii,
of events surrounding the "Writing on the Ground" needs
elucidation. The writer of this Gospel condensed his
material to such an extent that he gave a very incorrect
picture of a series of events which covered a two-day
period, a Friday and a Saturday. Verses one to eleven deal
with happenings on the Friday. From verse twelve on-
war~lc the events recorded took place on thc Sabl,aLll. Sl.
John, Chapter ix, refers to incidents that occurred much
J~SUS WRITES

later and on quite a different occasion. They should not be
read as directly following on from the previous chapter,
although repetition of the words "passed by" tend to give
this impression.
  The narrator of the writing on the ground incident was
evidently relying on dubious hearsay "evidence". Certainly
Jesus did not stoop down in the Temple, as seems indicated
in verse two, and attempt to write on the marble slabs
which paved both the Temple itself, its corridors and the
adjoining courtyards. He wrote on virgin soil, in the open
air. The catapulting of many incidents into a single place
and at a particular time can but cause confusion and upset
important sequences.
  Perhaps it might be useful here if I gave an account of
Jesus' movement throughout that momentous Friday. I
make no claim to complete accuracy in every detail and
am quite prepared to face incredulity.
  Jesus and his disciples had reached Jerusalem at a period
when the city was already crowded for the approaching
Passover season. Unrest was in the air. Jesus went to the
town house of Joseph of Arimathea, with whom he had
often stayed, and fortunately found his uncle at home. The
latter was a kindly but forceful man, one who rarely
minced his words. He toldJesus that it would be dangerous
for him to be seen in and around the city, in company with
his immediate followers. He warned Jesus that the police,
both religious and secular, were on the alert and that the
movements of such a large group would attract hostile
attention and possible arrest.
  At the time the disciples' communal purse was almost
empty and whilst the Master willingly accepted his uncle's
hospitality for himself, he refused to burden him with the

JESUS WRITES

additional expense of housing and feeding more than two
of his disciples at a time. This was one of several occasions
when the unseen powers of negation tried to separate
Jesus from his disciples and to break up this small com-
munity once and for all. In fact, the only occasion when
they scored a temporary success took place at the time of
Jesus' arrest in the Garden, about a year later.
  Acting on Joseph's advice, Jesus advised ten of the
disciples to go their ways for the time being. Those who
had been fishermen returned to see their families in Galilee
and to earn a little money by fishing. Several of thc othcrs
left for Judea to work on the farms and estates belonging
toJoseph, as a temporary means of earning their livelihood.
Judas left for Beersheeba, to arrange the sale of a plot of
land which he had recently inherited from his father.
Altogether it was not a happy time for those concemed
and the future seemed to hold little but obscurity and
doubt.
  Early on the Friday morning Jesus left Joseph's home
and went alone to the Mount of Olives. He realised the
importance of the day and needed to prepare for it in
prayer, meditation and silence. Later that morning when
the sun was up, he retraced his footsteps and went into the
Temple and spoke at length to the thronging crowd. At
this point the sequence of events is recorded incorrectly
in the Gospel narratives. Towards midday Jesus left the
Temple and mingled with the crowd buying wares in
one of the courtyards.
  At a stall there he was offered a gourd of goat's milk
which he accepted gratefully, this being the only food he
had consumed that day_ Tn the e~rly aftemoon the Master,
wishing to be alone, shook o~ the crowd and found his
~ESUS W RITES

way into an open garden "court" and there he sat down
under a cedar tree and fell asleep for a while.
  Here is an impression of the scene as viewed by an
onlooker an hour before the great event of the Writing on
the Ground. The season was spring, mid aftemoon on a
warm mellow sunlit day. Unless calculation errs, these
happenings took place in the April of our modern calendar
and at the begilming of the third year of Jesus' public
Ministry. It would be misleading to describe the place as
if it were a formal Temple courtyard and in any case it was
situated bcyond the Tcmple's immediate envirolls, being
separated from them by the paved and partly covered
courts which surrounded the Temple's precincts. These
courts were nearly always crowded, and several of them
contained market stalls similar in appearance to the oriental
bazaars to be seen in any Arab town today. Fruit, vege-
tables and general merchandise were on sale there for six
days each week. The archways beneath the outer corridors
to the Temple itself were reserved for the use of the
"elite", namely the money changers and usurers who paid
heavy dues to the High Priest for their privileged position.
The sale of doves took place in the open air and in the area
between the Temple steps and these paved and walled
courtyards where the general traffickers plied their wares.
  The place which I have described as a "courtyard" was
situated near the outer perimeter of the Temple property
and was in fact no more than a rustic garden, very much
in fallow, low walled, its surface being natural ground,
sandy and without paving stones or similar adornments.
Beneath a wild pear tree in a corner of this "garden" could
be seen the wooden superstructure of a well. The spring
which fed it must have lain deep below the ground,

JESUS W RITES

because the pulleys of the well showed signs of being
worked by a donkey winch. In the shade of a nearby
olive tree stood a donkey, evidently tired by the labours
of the day.
  Under the shadow of the wall itself were to be seen a
row of large earthenware pitchers filled with water. Their
mouths were covered by the leaves of a wild vine which
climbed all along that section of the wall.
  A boy of about fifteen lay on the ground beside the
donkey, mounting guard over the pitchers and their
precious contents. When evening set in, Temple servants
would arrive to take the pitchers to the High Priest for
the blessing of the water they contained. This marked the
day as being almost certainly a Friday, when, towards
midnight, the ceremonial pre-Sabbatical ablutions would
take place according to the law.
  Near the centre of this wild garden courtyard stood a
venerable cedar, and beneath its friendly branches several
roughly hewn wooden seats had been rivetted into the
ground.
  At the time we are reviewing, Jesus sat on one of these,
alone and in deep meditation. How rarely was he able to
be alone! And this time not for long. Soon the noise of
distant tumult disturbed his peace. It was the duty of the
Temple guard on Fridays before dusk to round up and
disperse the beggars and mendicants who thronged the
sacred precincts throughout the week, but who were not
allowed this access during the Sabbath. A group of these
unfortunates found their way into the garden courtyard
where Jesus sat. He called them over to him and signalled
to the donkey boy to hring fr~~h v~ r from the well
This he shared with them whilst they knelt on the ground
JESUS WRITES

around hilll. What passed between them is unrecorded,
but its e~ect was evident in the joy on their faces as they
rose to go their ways out into the countryside stretching
beyond this garden in the direction of Mount Scopus.
(The Vale and Garden of Gethsemane lay well away to
the south-west, and beyond view.)
  Soon afterwards a group of Pharisees with, in their
midst, a woman, dragged reluctantly along, came hurrying
into this garden place, in search ofJesus. I believe her name
was Miriam. She was a comely woman of the people, not
a member of the "unfortunate class" but happily married
to a foreman baker of the city, her one lapse into unfaithful
ness giving the Pharisees just the opportunity they sought.
  "They said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in
adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law com-
manded us that such should be stoned; but what sayest
thou?"
  Unexpectedly to those around him, the Master fell
silent for a while. Then he stooped down and wrote with
his finger upon the ground. Then he rose up and gave the
Pharisees their answer. Once more he stooped down, and,
using his finger as a sword, wrote upon the ground for a
second time.
  After the Pharisees and the small crowd around them
had melted away, Jesus called to the donkey boy and told
him to escort the woman to her home. Meanwhile he
promised to look after the donkey and to feed and water

him.
  And so at dusk, the High Priests' servants, arriving to
transport the waterjars to the Temple, were amazed to
see a solitary figure talking to a donkey as if to a familiar
~riend.

JESUS WRITES

  About this time Joseph has become alarmed at the
Master's long all-day absence and sent two of his servants
to look for him. Darkness fell before they found him, and
meanwhile the boy had returned; and after thanking and
blessing him, Jesus allowed himself to be escorted back to
Joseph's home.
  This is as clear a picture as I can give of the happenings
on that momentous Friday; and my own view is that this
picture is more accurate in sequence and in detail than
that which is set forth in Gospel narratives.
  From the viewpoint of a lowly onlooker this was all
that happened. There was an "incident" in an open air
courtyard adjoining the Temple in Jerusalem; Jesus
wrote with his finger in the dust; some Pharisees
were discomfited; and a woman was saved from a brutal
death.
  A seer watching the same scene from a higher dimension
would have seen something quite different. He would have
seen a stupendous, a cosmic act.
  In my view Jesus was the instrument for fulfilling a
special act at a particular moment of "Time" which had
not been attempted in this Round by any of his pre-
decessors. There is a basic and master rhythm which
controls and infuses planetary life energies of every kind
and form. One could describe it as creating a central
vibratory keynote which vitalises and sustains the con-
tinued existence of the primary atom; from which atom
planetary life, however manifested, is derived and on which
it depends for its existence.
  Jesus' central task during this three years' Ministry was
to act as the medillm for "earthing a Cosmic 'current' "
(for want of a better description) in such a way as to
JESUS WRITES

heighten and quicken the vibratory rate and the rotation
of the rhythmic processes governing all planetary activities.
Jesus spoke of bringing a sword with him and this sword
(of the spirit) was the instrument he used for carrying out
the "earthing" process. He also spoke of bringing "Life"
with him, that is, a renewal of our planetary life destined
to be ushered in by a change of rhythm.
  All else was secondary; but the successful achievement
of his task produced such an overpowering efl~ect upon
him, that he was lifted above time and space and "saw"
the Coming of the Kingdom on earth. He saw it, howcver,
as if it were imminent and not a long term result of what
he had been allowed to do. The current of which I speak
passed through him and then into his sword and so into
the very living soil and structure of the planet. Whether
he was fully aware of the process "as a man" we do not
know, in the same way that it is uncertain whether he
always realised the full import of what was said through
him by the Christos.
  My surmise is that his accomplishment as outlined above
was unique in world history in method and operation up
to the point at which he appeared among us. What hap-
pened would have destroyed his human form, had it not
been that this form held in perfect balance and rapport
the masculine and feminine qualities and instincts inherent
in human nature. In other words, Jesus could act as a
perfect lightning conductor, without causing any damage
to his mind or body.
  "And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground".
It was on this second occasion that the impulse passed
through him which set in motion the rhythmic changes
in planetary llfe.

JESUS WRITES

  No fanfare oftrumpets, no sound ofthunder, no burning
bush marked the consummation of this stupendous act. A
seer watching from a higher dimension would have
observed the Master, standing erect, head held high, sword
grasped in both hands, the shining blade pointing down-
ward to the ground and to the living depths beneath.
  Two acts in one? Both ofthem were of great significance
but the second act was of import far beyond our compre-
hension. The combination of the two holds a meaning
which each one of us should work out for himselÏ
  Though the incident of the writing on the ground
earthed energies of a cosmic character to the planet,
another act by Jesus was necessary to ensure that they
would be retained.
  Jesus carried out this anchoring process during the time
he spent, after his Crucifixion in the Underworld (not
Hell). This means literally what it says, namely the under-
ground area of our planet, the depths of the earth. It was
here that the quickened Rhythm, which he had already
"earthed" was anchored in such a way as to ensure
permanency until the next change in the wavelength of
the Rhythm should become necessary (an event that is
likely to happen before the present century is out).
  I think Steiner speaks ofthe Christ Impulse impregnating
the earth during the three days which followed the
Crucifixion, but I have never seen the lecture in which he
is said to have made this statement. It certainly contains an
element of truth.



Lan~: The foregoing narrative raises lnany .creculations.
Could an event, significant not only for Christians, not
J~SUS WRITES                    I                      JESUS WRITES

only for humanity but for the whole rhythm of the
biosphere have gone almost unrecorded and certainly un-
interpreted for 2,000 years? If we accept T.P.'s insight
there is no escape from the answer. Yes. The truth for
T.P. appears to lie in a viewpoint which Christian theology
has always been reluctant to inspect; the viewpoint from
which the Christ is seen as infallible and omniscient, but
Jesus is seen as something at least a little short of a totally
perfect instrument.
  Here there is a con~ict in T.P. On the one hand he is
concerned lest anything that follows from his insights
should appear to support the slightest denigration of the
historicalJesus. His affection forJesus is profound to a point
which most of us can probably hardly imagine.
  After sending me one script he followed it with a letter
saying:

   I make insufl~lcient allowance for the immense pres-
  sures to which Jesus was subjected. Please modify or
  delete any seeming criticisms of Jesus' apparent short-
comings as viewed from the records available to us.

  On the other hand T.P.'s mandate appears to be the
correction of certain misconceptions in the historical
account. If this involves plain recognition that Jesus, as
distinct from the Christ evcrlighting him, was l~ot infallible,
what thell?
  Sometimes, perhaps daring more than we can know,
T.P. is obliged to come out unequivocally with an
assertion such as this:
  "Jesus as a man had no personal experience of the sexual
conflicts which have been humanity's common heritage
since the Fall when unity was replaced by duality. Perhaps
this lack of experience was the reason why he made no
attempt to deal with specifically sexual problems."
  The idea of the human fallibility of Jesus runs through
much that T.P. has seen and feels obliged to give out. It
is a matter to which we shall have to retum again, parti-
cularly in connection with the relationship ofJesus to the
prophetic tradition of Judaism.
  Then there is a very "leading" sentence which says,
"The narrator of the writing on the ground incident was
evidently relying on dubious hearsay evidence."
  No tendency here to regard the Gospels as accounts
divinely inspired, tailored in their final form and as Shaw
said, "delivered from Heaven in a plain van".
  There is the clear belief that they were by no means
infallible. Indeed in a letter T.P. declares his position
beyond any possibility of doubt. "ThatJohn of the Supper
did not write John's Gospel is in my view a self evident
certainty. I don't think any of the four except probably
Mark wrote their Gospels although they may have been
consulted as and when available."
  This does not however rule out the possibility of an
"autonomous" gospel. T.P. believes that John ("the only
disciple who really understood Jesus' teaching") in his old
age dictated to Polycarp his personal account of the life
and teaching of Jesus and that this first person account
exists to this day and may even be recovered before the
close of this century.
  It is interesting to note the points in the script where
there is a subtle erosion of accepted ideas. For instance "At
the time the disciples' communal purse was empty and
whilst the Master willingly accepted hi~ tmcle's hospitality
for himself he refused to burden him with the added
JBSUS WRITES

expense of housillg and feeding more thall two of his
disciples at a time." Here there is plain recognition of the
facts of everyday life, agreement that even men engaged
in a spiritual event of the highest magnitude were not
absolved from rendering unto Caesar.
  There is a welcome quality about this reassurance of
simple normality; an implied assertion that Christian living
is not necessarily sited in some etherialised region where
scrip and purse are unnecessary, but in Jerusalem or Rome
or on the M.I where they manifestly are.

CHAPTER TWO


"And as Jes~ls Passed By . . ."


W.T.P. The impression left on many who read the New
Testament accounts of Our Lord's wandering up and down
the countryside during his Ministry and for some years
previously is distorted and cntirely out of perspective.
  He is pictured as leading a nomadic existence, restless
and always on the move, passing through one village or
hamlet after another and never stopping anywhere for
long. According to this view Jesus and his immediate
followers spent the whole year, winter and summer, in an
almost endless series of tramps and pilgrimages, rarely
venturing beyond the frontiers of Palestine itself. The
impression given is that he and his devoted band lived like
mendicants, dependent for sustenance and shelter on the
alms and hospitality of village folk and of the common
people of the countryside, without a fixed abode, cease-
lessly leading a gypsy existence. How can we accept such
a concept as representing the facts? The historians who
based their Gospel narratives on rumour and hearsay
"evidence", even if the disciples themselves may have lent
their names to such "recollections", show by the contents
of their stories that these do not carry dle imprimatur to
be expcctcd from actual witnesses of the scencs dcscribcd.
What we fmd strangely lacking is the almost complete
absence of the personal touch.
  The writers or inspirers of the Gospels are supposed to
AND AS JESUS PASSED BY. . .

be men who had shared their daily lives with Jesus, day in,
day out over a period of several years. How is it that we
rarely if ever come across personal reminiscences of such
cvents recorded by these writers, said to have been on the
spot? We never read such passages as this: "I remember an
occasion whell we were staying for a few days in Bethany.
One evening our Master asked me to accompany him up
the hillside behind the house, in order to share the glories
of the sunset with him. He spoke to me about the true
sunshine of the heavenly realms, and later he gave me
some good advice about a personal problem, then causing
me such much anxiety."
  Naturally such reminiscences would have been worded
in the vemacular of the period but their complete absence
must leave us wondering whether the authors or compilers
of the Gospels were the same men who had been the
intimate and daily companions ofJesus?
  I believe that experts differ as to the identity of the
"John" who compiled the Gospel of that name. It is
difficult to believe that the disciple Jolm, closest confidant
of the Master's inner cirde, could have written this Gospel.
He took a prominent part in the sacrament of the sharing
of the bread and the wine, for it was he who handedJesus
first the bread and then the cup. John's Gospel does not
think that this momentous and unique event was even
worth mentioning in the course of his somewhat casual
reference to Supper!
  Luke is generally accepted as being the compiler of the
"Acts" but these contain nothing about the Last Supper.
  Retuming to the question as to whether Jesus led a life
of vagabondage durmg most of his mature years, surely

AND AS JESUS PASSED BY. . .

the time has come to end once and for all such distortions
of the facts?
  The daily life of Jesus and those around him followed
a far more normal and natural course than is inferred by
the Gospel writers. They certainly travelled a great deal
in fulfilling the Mission for which they had been brought
together, but they were not continually on the move.
  At the southem tip of the Sea of Galilee, in a sheltered
fold of the ground what might be described as a home
base had been set up early in the period of the three years'
Ministry. Good friends of the disciples had created here a
kind of homestead. Huts and tents were provided and
several caves in the vicinity had been rendered habitable
for use in inclement weather. A spring of fresh water
nearby bubbled forth into a small stream which ran down
into the Lake. This little valley, a small oasis, in fact,
contained several fig trees, palms and fruit-bearing bushes.
A goatherd and his wife lived further up the valley, acting
as caretakers of this modest settlement at all times. At
least twice a year, often for a month at a time, the "Jesus
Community" would live in this improviscd homcstead
and rest from their labours.
  Several of the disciples belonged to these parts and there
would be an interchange of visits with their relatives who
lived in villages around the lake. When a sudden call for
help was received, perhaps on behalf of a sick child or
because of the unexpected drying up of a village well,
Jesus would either interrupt his rest or send one of the
twelve, to bring whatever help was needed. Probably the
spring of which I speak is no longer there, or it may have
been converted into a stonelined well, of which many are
still extant in that area.
AND AS JESUS PASSED BY . . .        I               AND AS IESUS
PASSIlD BY . . .

  This was not the only resting place available toJesus and
his friends. On one of his Judean properties Joseph of
Arimathea had set aside a suitable site not far from one of
his farm houses, where hutments had been erected beneath
the shade of olives and wild oaks. ForJesus this was a very
favourite spot and he spent as much time as he could spare
in these healthy and friendly surroundings.
  I should not omit reference to another resting place
which was very dear to the Master's heart. By good fortune
close friends ofJohn owned a small farm oasis about a mile
inland from Akka. When pressures became great Joh
would take Jesus to this lovely semi-secluded spot, some-
times for a week or two in retreat and alone.
  I hope I have done something to bring a little true
perspective into the Gospel stories. We should dismiss
from our minds the notion that Our Lord was etemally
"passing by", a homeless, wanderingJew, scorned, rejected
and an outcast from the natural life of the country in
which he lived and taught. Enemies there were, especially
among the orthodox and wealthy. They reacted violently
not so much againstJesus' general outlook on life as to his
exhortations to the rich to share their bounty with the
sick and poor.
  However, it is wrong to believe that active persecution
continually interfered with our Lord's Ministry or upset
the serenity of his daily life. It was only during the last
few months of his sojourn among us that he and his
followers were subject to serious molestation and police
supervision.
  It was during this period that much of what he said in
public d~*ealc~l lu llle Jewish and Roman authorities to
contain political implications of a kind likely to disrupt
public order and security.
  Up to this timeJesus had enjoyed his life and to picture
him as a "Man of Sorrows" is very wide of the mark.
Naturally times of depression were not entirely absent
over the years, and even occasional periods of doubt and
frustration, but he was normally happy, a man of joy,
immensely cheered by the devoted love of the common
people and buoyed up by the everliving presence of
the Christ spirit within himself Above all his vision reached
heights from which could be clearly perceived the ultimate
triumph of his Father's plans for the Universe and all
creation.



Lang: Again the outstanding feature of this narrative is
its down-to-earth quality, the extent to which it fixed the
mission of Jesus firmly in the ever,vday world of ordinary
men.
  But here, also, perhaps for the first time ever, there is
a hint ofthe practical planning that must have accompanied
the mission. One can almost catch snatches of conversation
between them. "Would it not be better if we waited here
till....?" "If we went to Joseph's place now we could
. . ." and Jesus either nodding agreement or shaking his
head in veto, responding not to expediency but to the
imperious authority which his companions might sense
but could never hear.
  There is also an indication that Joseph must have been
well informed. He provides a retreat sufficiently near one
of his farms to give easy access to food and supplies but
~ND ~S JBSUS P~SSBD BY . . .

suf~iciently seduded in its olive grove to giveJesus and his
companions rest and tranquillity. Somehow this is not the
picture of a man indulging the whim of a wayward and
incomprehensible nephew. It seems more the concurring
action of a man who knew something of the drama that
had to be played and at least a little of his OWII role
in lt.
  One speculates upon the possibility that the whole
external organisation of the mission was the responsi-
bility of the Essene school at which Jesus had received
guidance.
  The goatherd and his wife further up the valley acted
as caretakers at one retreat. Could there be just a hint here
of something behind the scenes, a watching brief un-
suspected by a casual traveller in the area?
  The picture of Jesus at Akka is a new glimpse reinforcing
that aspect of Jesus's character on which T.P. insists
before all else--the exultant vibrant human being. The
"Man of Sorrows" was essentially a "Man of Joy",
radiant with physical as well as spiritual energy.
  At what point, one wonders, did the imitation depart
so dreadfully from the example as to become in fact its
polar opposite? Where in the life of this exultant vibrant
Jesus is the warrant for the Puritan, the Calvinist, the Wee
Free?
  Could it be that in this present sketch of the personal
nature of Jesus there lies the deepest, most qualitative
adjustment to be made in our attitude?
  win the new dispensation restore this factor of exultant
living, in which the whole of historical Christianity has
been so tragically defective? Are some ofthe present trends
towards "paganism" really imperfectly resolved effects of

AND AS JBSUS PASSBD BY. . .

this impulse already working as a leaven in our current
confmion?
  The Passing By glimpse is one of the shortest, the
simplest, perhaps the most matter of fact. Perhaps it is
also one of the most significant?
~T SUPP~R




CHAPTER THREE


At Sup~er


W.T.P. The Last Supper was by no means the strictly
formal occasion which the Gospel narratives seem to
suggest. It was not until the close of the meal that a cere-
monial element replaced what had been till then a friendly
gathering, similar to many over which Jesus had presided
during the three years of his Ministry. Before the meal
Jesus blessed the food and also those who were to serve it,
namely the good man and his wife and their kinsman,
the water carrier who had stayed on to help with the
serving, and later with the washing up.
  The disciples were weary and hungry after a long day's
tramp over dusty tracks from Bethally. Apart from goat's
milk they had not tasted food since the previous evening.
AlthoughJesus appeared to be in an unusually serious mood
when the meal began, those present seemed unaware of
the momentous and tragic events that were to follow.
Conversation was informal and centred on the happenings
of the day, praise of the excellent food provided and
speculations about the current unrest in the city, details of
which their host and the water carrier had been able to
give them.
  The disciples talked togcther in small groups and from
time to time went over to a serving table which stood near
the door to refill their plates and cups.
  A rigid vegetarian observing the scene would not have
been too happy, for the meal was by no means strictly this.
It included dried fish soaked in olive oil and served with
herb salad and lemonjuice. The main dish consisted of rice,
chicken, wild potatoes and a kind of mushroom, together
with a sauce containing mint and spices. The whole was
served from a large earthenware dish which stood, steam-
ing hot, on the side table; and with the exception ofJesus,
each took his platter and helped himselÏ The good man's
wife (the hostess) herself served Jesus.
  A chunk of unleavened bread (dipped first in salt water)
was eaten with this main dish, the bread often replacing a
fork. Wooden spoons, not knives, were used.
  Dessert consisted of dried figs, nuts, raisins and a kind of
guava, all served with moist goat's milk cheese. Wine and
cooled drinking water were on the table in smallish jars
and pitchers.
  After the ceremonial partaking of the bread and wine,
the cups were rinsed in water before further use. Hands
were washed in a large bowl before the meal and also
between courses and at the end.
  During the evening the good man's wife begged Jesus
for a remedy for her little gid who was in bed with a
feverish chill, and Jesus directed one of the twelve, who
had the hands of healing, to accompany her to the child's
bedroom on the ground floor.
  At the dose of the meal the gathering broke up tem-
porarily. Several of the disciples helped to dear the table,
others went downstairs and in twos and threes walked to
and fro in front of the house, discussing the future and
wondering what the Master's intentions for the morrow
were likely to be. Very soon all concerned were calltd
back into the Upper Room. Jesus then asked for a fresh
~T SUPPBR

supply of bread and wine to be placed on the table; but
before the ceremony of the Passover began, he had called
for a bowl of water and a dean towel, and the washing of
the feet took place.
  Peter had already divined Jesus' intention and insisted
that the disciples should go downstairs into the shed
behind the kitchen, for the purpose of cleaning their feet
and sandals.
  The actual "washing" by Jesus was full of symbolism
and he may well have been surprised to discover
that the feet he "washcd" werc alrcady morc thall usually
clean!
  During the bread and wine ceremony and the prophetic
utterances which accompanied and followed this rite, all
present stood in a cirde around the table; and having
partaken, each disciple knelt beside his stool and prayed in
silence. Then each one rose and sat down, filled with a
sense of stupefaction at what Jesus had said to Judas. Peter
asked John to beg the Master to explain the meaning of his
words and also to tell them whether he really expected to
be arrested that very night, but Jesus remained silent. To
raise tlleir spirits, however, he began to lead them in Songs
of Praise which continued from then onwards and later
all the way up into the Garden.



  I am often asked whether I have any reason for supposing
that my descriptions of Jesus and his times is anything more
than an imaginative reconstruction of what may have been
the actual facts.
  Why, it is asked, should credence be givell to these,
especially as what I write does not always conform with the

AT SUPPBR

Gospel narratives even if these themselves are often
contradictory in substance and in detail.
  These are very pertinent queries, and they deserve frank
answers. I can supply no tangible evidence in support of
my conviction that these "glimpses" are not the product of
imagination but are based on memory. I do not expect the
reader to share this conviction because no proofs of
accuracy are at present available, and also because in the
present stage of our knowledge, no clear line can be drawn
between the faculty of memory and the faculty of imagi-

nation.
  I have spent much of my life in studying and in training
to distinguish between these two faculties of the mind,
both of which are our common heritage. Recollection of
past events in human history is surely possible because we
are the inheritors of a form of racial memory, a reservoir
into which we can dip our minds from time to time. For
those who believe that we are here on earth only once in
our joumey across Eternity, the concept that we may be
able to recollect events and experiences from previous
mundane existences, is of course inadmissible.
  If, however, the possibility of recovering memories of
past events in human history is not ruled out in connec-
tion with these writings, it is important that a note of
caution should be sounded. I address this waming as much
to myself as to the reader.
  Ideas and the thought forms they create are the founda-
tion of every extemal experience or event. Ourselves and
everything we see around us could not have come into
manifestation unless preceded by an Idea or a series of
Ideas. The universe as a whole is founded on the principle.
~v~,~~s ~s sv~~v ~                  HS


(huMp~~~

(G~sr~~c ~ ~ 7
AT SUPPBR

Tllc Word (thc primal Idca) was pr
Creator and "There was Light".
  Past happenings in human history are transitory events
which come and go, leaving little or no permanent trace.
The glimpses offered here are not, however, based on the
recollection of such events themselves. They derive from
careful study of the Ideas which preceded and caused these
events to unroll in the human conditions of time and space.
  This thesis presupposes the belief that mental concepts
do not die and pass away, but are indelibly recorded in a
mamler which can bc "read" or rccollectcd, irrespcctive
of the time interval between the event and its recovery by
the trained mind of the recollector.
  There is good reason, I think, to accept this statement as
correct, but it should be added that whilst extemal events
happen transitorily and then pass out of existence, the
essence, the sum total e~ect of each event is absorbed back
into the original concept or Idea that was the primary cause
for bringing it into being. It is from a study of this
combination of pre and post etheric records that the person
recalling is able to reconstitute details of the events as
they happened--as if he had been a spectator.
  Accordingly it is immaterial whether or not he himself
in a past life was present in bodily form on any particular

occasion.
  All this may sound complicated and difficult to under-
stand, but in my view no other theory of the miracle of
memory is tenable. If we consider, for instance, the
possibility that the glimpses ofJesus and his times, as given
in these writings, were in fact based on memory, then it
is necessary to explain the source material utilised for the
purpose. This source material, as already stated, is not

oclaimcd by the

AT SUPPER

1~ascd on a rccollection of the external evcnts or cxpcricnces
described. It is based upon an interpretatioll of the Ideas
which brought such events or experiences into existence.
  The problem that faces the mind of the "recollector"
is how to interpret, and then to convert into modern
idiom, Ideas that were formulated say 2,000 years ago.
This process can well lead to error arising not so much
from faulty memory as from the misinterpretation of the
Ideas brought back into consciousness. It is important that
the significance of this warning should be fully appreciated
by those who rcad what I have written.
  I should like to say: You are endowed with the gifts
of reason, intuition and instinct. All three of these should
play their part in helping you to decide what is acceptable
as truth for you and what is false. What I suggest is that
you use these three faculties prayerfully and without bias,
in order to reach your own conclusions, whether it be
about what I write or about any problem or situation
facing you. Nothing should ever be accepted as "truth"
until you yourself secure its confirmation from within
yourself and in such a way as to convert belief into~
certainty.



Lang: Three things will chiefly strike the reader. The first
is the gentle "ordinariness" of the account. The second is
the apparently minor extent to which it diverges from
official versions. The third is T.P.'s concern that we read
it with certain reservations.
  First the ordinariness. In an important respect this could
be evidence in favour of its authenticity. There is, I believe,
a certain psychological technique of assessing evidence
AT SUPPER

about mattcrs which appcar to cxtend bcyond tlle fronticrs
of the five senses. It consists of a method of filtering out
data which, though possibly valid, could nevertheless
derive from a subconscious rearrangement of existing
material. On this basis trivial data (if relevant) may have
higher evidential value than data which conform to an
accepted overall pattern. So I think with the Supper script.
Both the incident of the child in bed with a cold and the
delightful affair of Peter's fastidiousness about the unwashed
feet seem to increase rather than to reduce credibility.
  Both are germane, but in a ccrtain sense irrelevant.
Against the magnitude of the event suggested by the Last
Supper they ring true precisely because they are not worth
the trouble of inventing.
  The second point is the marginal divergence from
o~lcial accounts. This would seem to be a further example
of an adjustment, barely significant at ordinary level but
essential (if there is anything to be said for our general
theory) at the level of a higher purpose which we do not
perceive. It may be that T.P. does not glimpse it either,
because in a letter on the subject he gives a clear impression
of being in possession of something less than full under-
standing of his reasons for writing it. He says:

  What IS the basis of my certitude that the compilers
of the Matthew and Mark gospels were wrong in
inferring that the bread and wine ceremonial took place
during the main meal? And that Luke was right in
saying that this ceremony followed tlle Supper and was
a separate event?
  And again, vide Luke that the Cup was offered first
as a preliminary gesture and only subsequently were the

~T 5 UPPI~R

bread and wine partaken. Does it mattcr? Are such
details important?

Lang: Here is no implicit daim to total comprehensioll.
On the contrary almost a cri du coeur for a wider glimpse
hlmself
  Perhaps more than anything hitherto, this, for me,
confirms the authenticity of his glimpses. An imaginative
witness tells a complete story. A witness to fact seldom
does. He is too bound by his service to the truth as he
has seen it.
  The third point is the nature of T.P.'s faculty, which,
to avoid compromise with the terminology of say,
Steiner, Blavatsky or Gurdjieff~ we might simply call
extended memory.
  T.P. is much concerned to point out that in his case
extended memory is fallible and should provide us with
no more than the basis of an attitude, pending the time
when we are able to verify it, or invalidate it, through our
OWIl exercise of the same faculty.
  Attempts to make him commit himself further are apt
to generate some heat. One such reaction by him is useful,
however, in providing an insight into the immense
difficulties inherent in the process of extended memory. It
may also provide a feeling of gratitude for what he has
been able to share with us.



W.T.P. "Whcn one rcaches up into the Sphercs ill order
to grasp a fistful of ideas the results can be unexpected.
One is not provided with a fluent stream of spiritualistic
'commumcations' but with an assortment of symbols and
AT SUPPEl~

hieroglyphics if you like, whicll at first glance mean notll-
ing. In any case they are 'negatives' which must first be
developed into three dimensional positives. Quite an
undertaking! Then comes the task of fmding words into
which the symbols can be clothed coherently. I envy those
who can climb a mount, converse with a teacher, take notes
and retum with a fully fledged essay on God, Man and the
sccrcts of the Universe. Even when the symbols are fully
interpreted in words a further problem arises because the
combinations of words to express ideas do not mean the
same to those who read them, eacll individual's mclltal
outlook being di~erent. So the ideas behind the words
receive varying ways of interpretation. Yes, and mis-
interpretation. I am interested in reaching the man in the
street, leaving occult students to fend for themselves.
Therefore the need arises to step down ideas to a point of
simplicity which, to some, may appear to approach
puerility. You pundits make scant allowance for the prob-
lems facing those to whom you direct your questions."



Lang: I have mentioned elsewhere the idea that T.P.'s
work may be concemed with linking the past and the
future by some sort of catalytic action in the present.
  This impression was strong in relation to the Chalice
Well project and just recently new developments there
have reinforced it.
  Adjoining the garden where the spring rises there is a
sixteenth century house called Little St. Michael. For the
past seven years it has been a guest house, meeting place
and centre for pilgrims and visitors from all parts of the
world.

AT SUPPBR

  Recelltly, the upper storey of this house was converted
into one large room. Gradually the purpose for this became
known, which is to create a replica, so far as this is possibIe,
of the Upper Room in which the Last Supper was held.
  I must confess that at first this plan seemed to carry a
suggestion of iconolatry which I fowld disconcerting.
However, the realisation of the project has totally dis-
pelled this impression.
  All areas of imagination and wishful thinking allowed
for, it seems clear that what has taken shape in the top
floor of Little St. Michacl rcprcscnts the extcmal ~spcct of
a spiritual energy so palpable that it registers (without
necessarily being recognised) on quite ordinary people,
even when they are unaware of what might be called the
background of the situation.
  Believing that the purpose of the Upper Room, what-
ever that purpose might be, could not be concemed solely
with providing a link--even a revitalised link--with the
impulse of a past or passing era I waited for an indication
of some new factor suggesting a transition from the old
to the forthcoming.
  In T.P.'s talk to Companions and friends of Chalice
Well in August I967, this expectation was realised. The
Upper Room, which at present represents a Supper, is
shortly to have added to it an element which will symbolise
a Breakfast. Here indeed is the bridging situation, the cata-
lysis of separates. In one room will be symbolised the al-
chemy whereby the Aquarian and the Piscean are recon-
ciled. Occasionally, just for an instant it IS possible to
glimpse something of the magnitude of what is here repre-
sented.
  Although I cannot pretend to llave foreseen it, when the
~T SUPP~R

plan was made public in the course of T.P.'s address there
was a strange shock of familiarity. Many of us felt that we
had known this all along--without realising that we knew.
Here is the relevant part of what Tudor Pole had to say.



W.T.P. "Under our guidance the whole of the top floor
of Little St. Michael has been converted into one large
room with the addition of several extra windows. There
is an atmosphere of quiet and enlightenment already
prescnt in this Upper Room which can be fclt almost
tangibly by those who spend a while silently 'up there'.
The Table and its thirteen stools will, we hope, be ready
before long for placing in their rightful positions and the
whole concept should be completed, furnishing and special
lighting included later in the year.
  "I have been asked to defme the objects for which this
'Upper Room' has been conceived and constituted. In my
view the majority of those who dwell for a time in this
unique and luminous place will need no explanation from
me as to the reasons for its creation. A healing Presence
dwells there which can be felt by those who know how to
be still and inwardly receptive, a Presence available for
bringing harmony and health to those in need.
  "For the rest it can be said that we have tried to create
a replica, in so far as this is possible, of that wonderful
Room on the outskirts of Jerusalem where Jesus met his
disciples in order to partake of the Last Supper and to
prepare them for the stupendous happcnings that were to
follow. A vivid recollection of these events in the quiet
of our Upper Room can help us to prepare for our own
upliftment in the sure recognition of the Master's promise

AT SUPP~R

that, 'I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto me' (St. John, xii, 32).
  "But there is more that can be said. The true value of
looking backward to the time when Christ's Message for
Eternity was first given to the world throughJesus, nearly
two thousand years ago, lies mainly in the incentive which
it inspires in us to look forward and to gird ourselves anew
and so to become warriors in His service this very day. A
new dawn is breaking and the sun will soon be rising on a
day when a breakfast meal will be prepared to which we
shall be invited, one and all.
  "When the darkness of the passing night is over, The
Christ will lay the table and we must be ready and
equipped to share breakfast with Him. The Upper Room
at Chalice Well will have its part to play, even if only as a
symbol of a great event in times which may be nearer
than we dare imagine.
  "When meditating, therefore, in the room that Chalice
Well has provided, whether there in person or in thought,
let your minds turn from the memory of the Last Supper
towards the Breakfast that is destined to follow in its wake.
In this way we shall be helped to prepare for future service
in the spirit of the prayer:

May Thy Will be done on earth,
Show me how to do my part.

  "In due course and as at present advised, a second table
will be laid for 'breakfast' at the end of the Upper Room,
facing the gardens and the orchards, with Michael's Tor
on the horizon; and it is across this scene that the rising
sun will cast its radiance."
AT S U PPER

Lang: Here then is a remarkable sequcllce of events.
Sixty-three years ago T.P. saw a few acres of land in
Somerset and realised that over and over again in past
history it had been concerned with what might be called
the Impulse of Renewal. Half a century later he was
instrumental in buying this property and securing it in
perpetual trust. To this place and the house associated with
it, people have been drawn from all over the world; and
now, gradually, further aspects of what appears to be a
master plan are falling into place. There is a finesse about
it, an cxpcrtise, as thougll parts of a jigsaw picture were
assuming their proper place each at its rightful position and
at exactly the moment allowed for.
  But it would be wrong to feel that all is predestined,
certain, free from contingency. It may be that if there is a
master plan, it exists in perfect entirety. But the task of
working out its external realisation is certainly not pre-
determined, at least not in the same way. The labour in the
field is all too subject to error, accident and disappoint-
ment.
  To correct any possible impression that the Chalice
Well Occasion (to use a Sufi term) is assured at some higher
level and needs only acceptance and approval here below
I should like to give one anecdote which clearly illustrates
the reverse. At ordinary level, the components of the
Occasion have to be assembled in very human conditions
of difficulty, frustration, and it may be, failure.
  As a preface to what follows it may be advisable to
prepare the reader for something a little out ofthe ordinary.
  Those who know Tudor Pole's book The Silent Road
will be familiar with the fact that he enjoys the periodic
attention of what in other days would probably have been

~T SUPPER

called a Good Fairy. The idea that a humall being can
communicate with a kind of being having a lesser degree
of materiality than ours and belonging to a different order
of evolution is securely authenticated by follclore. Since
the Middle Ages the reality (which was not uncommon
then and is not uncommon now) became gradually masked
in suggestive symbolism. At the present time there is no
way by which the fact--and it is a fact--can be conveyed
without affront to what we mistakenly regard as our
sophisticated scientific cosmology.
  Tudor Pole has got round this simply by being out and
out unabashed. He refers to "a little friendly genie" and
leaves you to smile condescendingly if you feel like it. If
what follows goes beyond modern boundaries of the
credible, then disregard it. Assume it is an aspect of human
imagination, but absorb the facts of the rest. For facts they
are.
  This is the story as he told it to me.



W.T.P. "I sought a table for our Upper Room which
would be as near as possible a replica. In the original, the
top was made of olive wood, finely fashioned and grained,
but the legs and supports came from the yew tree, olive
wood being too soft for this purpose. As you know, the
good man of the house was a master carpenter and expert
craftsman in wood and he knew how to select the best
materials for his purpose. Soon after he married, he made a
table specially designed and dedicated for ceremonial use
at the Passover and on one or two other Hebrew festival
anniversaries. Being an instinctive seer, he felt from the
first that the table he was making would be used one day
~T SUPPER

for a great purpose beyond his comprehension. For this
reason he chose the wood with immense care and put all
his loving reverence into the task of fashioning an object
of simple but perfect beauty.
  "Impossible therefore to do more than create a symbolical
replica under modem Western conditions. The original
table would seat thirteen and was about eight feet long by
three feet. On Passover occasions there were usually
gathered about a dozen of the good man's friends and
relatives including himself, his wife and an unmarried
sister of hers; later on his two childrcn, a boy and a girl.
The table came to fruition soon after his son and heir was
bom and the attic room was then redesigned to make it
fitting for use on special occasions (stools were used, but
only one was made with a back rest for use by the giver
of the feast. These seemed to be made of pear wood and
finely matched). Wondering how to proceed, my little
familiar 'genie' appeared on the scene. 'The nearest
approach to what you seek can be found in a cellar not
far distant from the London hotel you frequent . . .' (in
ideographs, not words).
  "And so I set out from the St. Ermin's Hotel to scour
side streets in the immediate neighbomhood. But how to
spot the cellar referred to seemed hopeless. Finally I came
across a furniture depository and in I went, to be met with:
'A table such as you describe is unobtainable; especially as
you rule out oak and mahogany. However, come in and
look around'; which I then did to no useful purpose.
'Have you a cellar?' 'We have an underground storage
department which was once a series of cellars and passages.
Come down if you like and look around.' Down we went
into a labyrinth of coiled stairways and cellar rooms, all
crammed with furniture and junk. Finally in a dark rccess
I spotted a lengthy shape which called out to me and I
asked for a light. And there was revealed the table of my
dreams or as near as makes no difference, simple in design
but superb in its aura. Dimensions eight feet by three feet
standing on simply carved legs of yew wood: The top
was certainly not made of olive wood but of a lovely
grained fruit wood, probably cherry. To my mind, and
as a lover of choice woods, something out of this world.
A dream come true.
  " 'How has this lovcly picce becn ovcrlookcd?' I askcd.
Commotion followed and several assistants were called
down to a conference carried on beyond my hearing.
Finally: 'Oh yes, we are able to offer you this table but
it is unique, or almost so, and by no means cheap.' (I
don't believe they knew it was there.) Further conferences,
then: 'This is early seventeenth century and of English
make, almost certainly, and we know of nothing else like
it. The price is ,~;675 !'
  "I sat down on a nearby stool and metaphorically wept.
Thcn in fury I turned on my genie saying in el~ct: 'What
oll earth was the use of your leading me here when you
must have known that my limit was ,~;250?' This testy
remark received the scathing reply, as fOllows: 'I have
succeeded in finding what you sought and money is no
concern of niine.' And off he went in a huÏ Naturally, I
was left in deep frustration.'



Lang: No clear assessment of this episode seems possible.
You take it or leave it. But it is not without interest that
in hi~ ne~ct letter he said: "One of the foremost wood
~T SUPPER

craftsmen in England has just telephoned unexpectedly
offering his services if I decide to have a table made."
  The focus of the ceremony that took place in the original
Upper Room was the Chalice or Cup. Possibly no other
object holds such significance in the entire body of
Christian belieÏ T.P. believes that this was not a cup as
normally understood, but a shallow vessel like a deep
saucer.
  He believes that this vessel was dipped into a large
Chalice containing the wine and was then passed round.
  When not in use it rested on a stand consisting of a
base and a stem so that when vessel and stand were nested
together the whole had dhe appearance of a goblet.
  What happened to this vessel after it had fulfilled its
sacred purpose? "Genuine relics" of Christian Events have
abounded through the ages and still do. "Fragments of
the true Cross" financed many a medieval monastery.
  In A Man Seen Afar, T.P. indicates that the Cross (and
the other two crosses) did not survive. He describes their
destruction by fire; and the subsequent vision vouchsafed
to Joseph of Arimathea.
  However, did any other article irradiated with the
vibrations of Jesus survive? Is it possible that the Cup of
dle Last Supper still exists? Has Tudor Pole been permitted
any insight in this connection? Attempts to extract a clear
declaration from him fail. It may be dlat he knows dhe
answer but is not perrnitted to reveal it. On the whole it is
perhaps safer to assume that he does not know beyond
doubt. But it is safe to assume that he has good reason to
suspect a link between the Cup of the Last Supper and an
object at present in his possession.
  I refer tO the Glastonbury Vess~ e ex;stence of which

~T SUPPER

is known to a small circle of people in Europe and America.
This object, a description of which follows in T.P.'s own
words, is one of dhe most mysterious ever to escape
widespread publicity.
  It was found in St. Bride's Well, at Glastonbury in
I906. It might be more accurate to say that it found itself,
because there is some suggestion that its presence was
revealed to T.P.'s clairvoyance. It was actually recovered
by his sister and two of her friends under T.P.'s directions.
  Its extemal mystery consists in dhis. Nothing comparable
to it is known in any museum in the world. Its type,
material and workmanship suggest that it was possibly
made by a glassworker in the region of Antioch very long
ago. However, if this were so its vitreous surface would
give certain indications recognisable to experts. These are
eidher absent or contradictory. On dle other hand, if its
manufacture were as recent as its surface texture suggests
under microscopic examination, there is no parallel for
the manufacture of an article of such workmanship in
modern times.
  So it ~IAS to be recent, but it isn't; and it MUST be old
but it can't be!
  Its inner mystery consists in dhe powerful effect which
it has on sensitives of all kinds. The glimpses of the life
and times of Jesus which T.P. published in A Man Seen
Afar were largely due to sensing dhe atmosphere which
surrounds dlis vessel.
  Nor is such an effect exclusive to him. One sensitive
knowing nothing whatever of this blue sapphire bowl
began to describe a scene in which thirteen figures sat at
a long table. She felt that she was witnessing a picture of
the Last Supper, but when, on a later occasion, she sa~~v
~T SUPPER

this bowl (whicll without her knowledge had in the mean-
time been turned half round), she stated that she perceived
the same scene but this time in profile.
  The vessel has been in Tudor Pole's possession since it
was brought to light sixty years ago.
  To "explain" it from any point of view seems hopeless.
He has never suggested that it is the Cup of the Last
Supper (which legend says was brought to Glastonbury by
Joseph of Arimathea). He has never explicitly said that it
is not. Could it have been dematerialised for centuries and
reconstituted when the occasion was right? Is this the
explanation of the fact that it is both very old and very
new?
  Such a speculation is made in modern times at the risk
of ridicule. Yet T.P. has had personal experience of such an
"impossibility" three times in his life, once involving a
ring, once a piece of jewellery and once involving himse~f.
  One day, after being near to the vessel for some time I
mentioned my surprise that such an object should exist in
a private house with no special precaution against theft.
  Another historical relic whicll possesses--or is believed to
possess--energies of a high order has been the object of
attention by certain individuals and groups on di~erent
occasions throughout the centuries.
  The relic to which I refer was the focus of a carefully
planned secret operation in the year 875 when it was
obtained by a trick from its rightful custodian and taken to
southem Sicily. Its employment to raise power unlawfully
was thwarted at the last momellt by thc sclf sacrifice of a
holy (and knowledgeable) person. This same relic was
stolen for the second time a thousand years later (on
March 13tl1, I938) and attempts made to use it to raise

~T SUPP]~R

power for a group working for the success of the Nazi
ideology.
  Its secretion in Nurenburg, its burial in a secret hiding
place and its recovery soon after the death of Hitler is one
of the strangest stories of World War Two.
  I had related this story to T.P. and implied concem that
the Glastonbury vessel might one day attract similar
attention. T.P. shook his head and said very firmly, "This
is one of the comparatively few objects which carries
perfect protection within itself"
  Here follows his own account of the Vessel and all he
apparently wishes to say about it.


TE~ CUP OP PEACE

  This is a small and fairly shallow blue sapphire bowl,
made from crystalline substance and containing floral
milleflori designs in blue, green and amber. The flower
pattern is interlined by silverleaf foil of perfcct lustre.
  A detailed description ofthis unique vessel's manufacture
was prepared by the late Sir William Crookes, F.R.S., the
famous chemist who was also a glass expert in his own
right. He gave it as his opinion, in conversation with
W.T.P. in I908 that this remarkable object was not of
modern construction, in spite of its comparatively good
state of preservation.
  Mr. J. Reed, the British Museum glass expert of that
time agreed with this view. Some other glass experts do
not share his opinion in this respect and believe that this
vessel is probably comparatively modern, despite certain
flaws and erosion which would suggest the contrary.
  No other glass object, similar or actually identical with
AT SUPP]~R
                                                     AT SUPPER

this one has ever bcen founcl, in spite of prolonged research
throughout the contents of the world's museums and
private collections.
  This "blue sapphire bowl" came to light under unusual
circumstances in I906, when it was discovered beneath flat
stones at the base of a water source then known as St.
Bride's Well, Glastonbury. This Well is no longer in
existence due to extensive irrigation works undertaken at
and around this spot some twenty-five years ago. This site
was situated about a mile west of the Abbey ruins on the
ilmer bank of the Bruc stream and was overshadowed, ~ultil
its destruction, by a wide spreading Thorn tree of COIl-
siderable age and beauty.
  In comparatively recent times an engraved stone w-as
erected not far from the spot where the Well once stood.
  No one knows for how long this vessel, thickly caked
with mud when found, had lain in St. Bride's Well prior

to I 906.
  OnJuly 3rd, I965~ a group of antiquarians and museum
experts met at Wells, Somerset, for the main purpose of
examining this vessel. Opinions as to its age and origin
were divided in view of the fact that none of those present
had ever seen a similar object with which this bowl could
be compared.
  Since its discovery in I906 this vessel has remained in the
possession of W.T.P., his sister, K.T.P., and two friends
who were connected with bringing it to light (the Misses
Janet and Christine Allen). Many remarkable healings and
visions have been associated with it and the atmosphere
around it appears tO be one of peace and sanctity of a
special character and to which many people have testified.
  A permanent resting place for this unique object has
been prepared in the Upper Room at Little St. Michael
Chalice Well.
  It is far from the intention of those concemed that this
vessel shall be placed on view as an object for veneration
or as a relic to be revered in its own right. On the other
halld it should be regarded as an important symbol of
unity and brotherhood, a reminder of the great purposes
to which the Master Jesus consecrated the Cup of the Last
Supper. It can and should also be regarded as the insignia
of the New Era now approaching, when the Cup will
replace the Cross as the sign manual of the single and
universal Faith destined to lead Humanity forward to-
ward the ultimate goal of the Golden Age.
THI~ WORD




 CHAPTER FOUR


   The Word


Lang: In an attempt to draw together all of the subject
matter I had received from T.P. I began to submit this
and that tentative conclusion and this and that leading
question to him.
  The results were always unexpected. Sometimes it was
correction that came; sometimes endorsement; sometimes
who]ly new material that often seemed irrelevant. What
did emerge was that specific ideas submitted to him pro-
duce specific responses which are on the whole "harder",
more unequivocal, than material which originates spon-
taneously from his own intention.
  Gradually a picture began to emerge which could l)e
seen as consisting of a number of sections: errors in
Cllristian belief that have grown up bccause of (and some-
times in spite of) the Gospels; the humanity of Jesus, as
distinct from the Christ spirit overshadowing him; the
effect ofthe Hebraic tradition of prophecy on the Christian
message; and lastly the nature of the Impulse of Renewal
which is now both imminent and actual.
  All reany converges on the last idea which conveys
the view that an immense flow of cosmic energy is now in
process of penetrating human consciousness to become
available for human enlightenment. This is not to be
regarded as an alle,~orical event, related to a distant,
possible future. It is actual, tangible and immediate. It is
happening in our lifetime, here and now. Everything that
T.P. has seen and handed on--however apparently oblique
and tangentialis in fact directly aligned on this. When
this new energy has suffused the planet we can expect a
transformation unimaginable in terms of all existing ideas.
Tllis is to come, yet it is also here and llOW. How to resolve
this paradox?
  If we look at the historical record, we can see, over and
over again, that each "month" of the great zodiacal year
has possessed its own distinctive character, a signature as it
were, for the fiat which authorises and inspircs a new phase
in the evolutionary process.
  We can look back to an era when men were impelled,
subtly but imperiously, to disperse and search. We can-- -
even more clearly--see the record of another era when men
were impelled to congregate, to concentrate their cultures,
to Build. We have seen the most recent era when man was
impelled to see himself as self sufficient and the centre of~
as much of the universe as he could discern with his
external senses.
  The arrival of each of these eras produced explosions
shattering the standards and acceptances of the existing
order. All of them in their initial stages must have been
violently uncomfortable. Yet all seem to have had a
beginning and an end. There is no seeming sanction for
the idea that an impulse of this kind can be both
potential and actual at the same time. Yet that, in connec-
tion with the Aquarian impulse is what T.P. appears to
be saying.
  Here is his explanation.
THE WORD                      I                     THE WORD

W.T.P. Jesus descended into the realms of human COIl-
sciousness over a period of nearly a century before he
appeared in bodily form. Seers within the ranks of the
Essenes were able during that prior period of approach
"to pick up" and inscribe on scrolls, fragments from the
message Jesus was destined to impart during his ministry
on earth.
  This fact explains the seeming mystery of how, for
instance, teaching to be given later on the Mount was
received and recorded many years before "A.D." dawned.
Esoteric rccords can show a similar proccdurc before the
physical birth of great Messengers from God throughout
the ages.
  It is my belief that the "Revealer of the Word" (the
"Christos") for the historic times in which we now live,
has already descended into the invisible spheres that
surround our planet and that those with eyes to see and
ears to hear, can begin to discern the Message he is bring-
ing, even if the Messenger may not be clothed in form or
outwardly discernible.
  Our Elder Brothers, carriers of the imprimatur of the
eternal Christ, usually come among us quietly and un-
announced. No glare of spiritual trumpets heralds their
arrival. We should not presume to predict the time or
circumstances of an event, which in any case is dependent
~on factors far beyond our comprehension; but each
awakening soul, according to his vision and capacity, can
~help to prepare the way.
  We can "look witlim and bring forth the Word, the
Christos, waiting to be awakened from within the citadel
of our own being.
  L)urmg the present century "Preparers of the Way"
have lived among us, sometimes quite unknown, some-
times the visible exponents of facets of truth, forerunners
of the Revealer of the Word. Their lives and actions have
created a leaven in human consciousness, a leaven tllat has
caused tumults and disturbances fostered by both human
karmic conditions and (to use a symbolic term) by the
"Energies of the Left". But the Light has pierced our dark-
ness and we can all help to reflect this Light in our own
lives and pass it on. By doing so, in however humble a
manner, we too can claim to be counted among the
Preparers of the Way.
  Whether the Revealer of the Word is alrcady embodied
in form (unrecognised) as some assert, is of secondary
importance. Whether such an Advent is near or to be
delayed or even to be postponed indefinitely is also of only

relative importance.
  What is supremely significant for us to realise is that
the Word itself is in our midst here and now, pote~ltialised
in such a way as to meet the needs of the present hour in
human destiny, available to you and to me and all mankind,
waiting to come into manifestation from within ourselves.
  The immediate imminence of this truth is for us to
grasp and utilise NOW.
  Expectation that we may be nearing a manifestation of
the divine purpose for our time and age is not confined to
Christians andlews, but is also prevalent among Moslems,
Hindus, Buddhists, and followers of many otller oriental
faitlls. This expectation may be partly aroused by the
widespread realisation tlut tllc usc of man's frccwill in
negative and destructive directions is bringil]g thc huma
race and all life on this planet to the edge of grave disaster.
T he cry goes up for "Help" !


~WOTG
THE WORD

  What can ordinary people like ourselves do in face of
such a situation? We can pray and we can tl~ink and act
constructively in our daily lives and we canl~earn how to
become spiritually perceptive. We can resist ~eing carried
away by the clamour of those who predict
trophe on the one hand or phenomellal appar
skies accompanied by cosmic fireworks on tl
those who give "dates" for and descriptions o~

  ~

either catas-
tions in the
!e other; or
.an Advent,

sucn aescnp~lons ~emg ~asea largely on psycmc lmagma-
tion( ~     c ~    F ~~' w ~     ~ vc.vT o ~ c
  St. Johll begins his Gospel with thc very cnigmatical
statement that "In the begimling was the Word and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God".
  To human sense a word is an external symbol for
expressing an idea. We can only suppose that the true
meaning of the Logos or Word can be interpreted as being
the embodiment or expression of Divinity in a supreme
Idea, contailling within itself the essence of all Wisdom, all
Love and all Life, just as the seed of an oak contains in
potency the whole tree. If this be correct then it would
follow that the whole of creation stemmed from a
Thought or an Idea in the Mind of the Creator. We can
only surmise that the gradual unfoldment of this central
Idea is embodied in what we caU evolution.
  Later in the same chapter St. John speaks of the Word
having bccomc flesh through thc mysterious event
associated with the overshadowing of Jesus by the Christ.
~This creative Word therefore is now enshrined in Man
 hilllself, whose task it is to bring it out into the light of
 day, through his every thought, word and deed.
  Soon llOW a realisation will dawn among us whicll will
enable it to be said witll knowledge and conviction that

THE WORD

"In the present is the Word and the Word is with Man
and the Word is Man". The~truth expressed in this state-
ment presages the ultimate transformation of mortal man
into divine man, made in the image and likeness of God.
  We do not know how this creative Word or Idea is
likely to be manifested in our time and age. Almost
certainly we can expect teaching that will give us fuller
understanding of the meaning of life, its origin and
purpose, the reasons for our presence here, where we have
come from and what our future is to be. Hitherto such
knowledge has never been disclosed to us authoritativcly
in such a way as to reach the understanding of the common
man. Now the time has come for such a revelation, one
that will do much to advance the spiritual and moral
progress of the race.
  We are told that "In the Begimling" God spoke, saying
"Let there be Light" and there was Light, this being the
first time that the creative Word was used. No human
terms are available in which to describe the mystery of
Creation, but it would seem evident that it was from
~,vithin this Light that Life itself first appeared. Life, being
eternal, had no beginning in terms of time and space, but
the utterance of the Word brought about the clothing of
Life in Light and then in form. The wes made by Life of
the many forms embodying it on every level of being
created the conditions through which Intelligence became
individualised and began its ever expanding development,
a process that will continue even when the need for bodily
form has disappeared.
  We should take courage from the realisation that we are
indeed children of the Light and owe our very existence
to that fact. We may use our energies in wrong directions
THE~ WORD

by plunging down into the darkncss, which the gift of
freewill enables us to do, but the Light within us can never
be extinguished and its ultimate triumph is assured beyond
the shadow of any doubt or seeming obstacle.
  It is my belief that the Revealer of the Word who now
approaches human levels, whether he is to be clothed in
visible form or not, will bring with him the inspiration
and the spiritual impetus we need in order to lift human
consciousness out of its present darkness into the Light of
new Day. One thing is certain. If we are to equip ourselves
to rcceive and undcrstalld thc Revcalcr, the colnillg
Messenger from God, we must arouse ourselves from
sleep and prepare ourselves for this arrival.
  We must become freed from dwelling blindly within
the confines of the immediate present, circumscribed and
to a large extent unaware of who we are and of the cosmic
purposes for our existence. No longer should the belief
persist that Life has either a begilming or an ending, or that
it can be destroyed. The word "death" is deadly in its
implications and the thraldom of belief in it must cease.
Life can change its forms a myriad times and in a myriad
ways, but it can never be extinguished. It is the exernal
gift of the Creator to us all and no power in heaven or on
earth can deprive us of it. May the Revealer of the Word
in his own time and his own way bring this Truth home
to us and so banish the fear of "death", that great illusion,
for ever from our minds, our hearts and our lives.



Lang: The statement that Jesus descendcd into human
spheres nearly a century before he appeared in bodily form
is an illumindt;ng one. H~r~ in a single sentence is the

THE ~VORD

explanation of the conflict that has so harassed Bible
scholars. They have held, very rightly, to the emotional--
conviction that the Advent and its message was unique in
all history. At the same time they were confronted with
documentary proof in so many manuscripts that it was
nothing of the kind. In their hearts the Bible scholars knew
that what Jesus brought was new. In their heads they had
to admit that it already existed before he arrived.
  At the level of logic the impasse is absolute. Yet by
raising consciousness one dimension the impossibles are
rcconcilcd--SCCII iil fact never to havc bcen in conflict. .
  One wonders how many tenets of Christian belief so
stubbornly and so long at issue with the facts of human
experience await a similar effortless resolution. So often~~
we are told that black and white, positive and negative, /
exclusive and inclusive seem irreconcilable only because
of our human polar thinking; that at a higher level
opposites are reconciled. But how very seldom do we
discover this truth in an actual tangible example. This
surely is one such and should be prized accordingly.
  It is clear from what T.P. says that the new Impulse is
already oxygenating the turgid waters of our twentieth-
century life, but he is less forthcoming on the question of
whether the Impulse will take embodiment soon, later
or at all.
  It is perhaps possible to glimpse something of the
transformation of human life which could result from the
new Impulse.



W.T.P. Almost certainly we can e~~reet te~ching that
will give us fuller understanding of the meaning of life,
                          THE WORD

its origin and purpose, the reasolls for our presellce here,
   where we have come from and what our future is to be.

THE~ ~1VORD





 Lang: In short a new Gnosis.
  It is clear from everyday experience that a large number
of ordinary people, essentially decent, benevolent and in
a real sense, good seed are indi~erent to Christianity
precisely because it has seemingly slight intellectual content.
They are willing to concede that its message is sublime but
thcy feel that its relevance is to a phasc in human develop-  _
 ment when emotion ruled and intellect was still, in the
 modem sense, unborn. However indignant the protests of
 good Christians, this is a proper complaint and it is often
 uttered with great humility and sincerity. Somehow there is
 a rightness about the idea that the nature of the new Impulse
 should match the nature of the humanity whi~ needs it.
     rry ~S S~-~~ Pl-lC ~        sO~~ ~~o~~L~
          S ~         t O ~1~ ~~S r ~cr

~
W.T.P. Hitherto such knowledge has not been dis-
closed to us authoritatively in such a way as to reach the
common man. Now the time has come for such a
Revelation....



Lang: Suppose that in some way, large numbers of people
could become aware of the reality of hi~her levels and
could, step by step, glimpse the laws that interpenetrate
thcse ~evels and ours. Ii ordinary people were increasingly
to fi~a such awareness in themselves would not a total
change in human life, qualitative and utterly fundamental
follow?

  Signs that this is actually happening are not lacking.
Alongside an enormously increased intellectual interest in
what used to be called ultimate questions, there is evidence
of increased sensitivity among ordinary people. Generally
this does not mvolve those who have been interested in
such matters all their lives and who have now begun to
experience the first flashes of awareness and insight. It is
something much more remarkable. It is the increasing
incidence of sensitivity--often alarming and bewildering
--among people who have never prospected in tllis
dircction at all and who have no background against whicl
to evaluate it.
  Suppose this were a mutation of the mind of humanity:
suppose it were the first tentative access on a large scale to
a wholly new function, whereby ordinary man is destined
to be simultaneously aware of another world while living
firmly in this one. There can be no statistical proof that
this is happening, but it has been rccorded with surprisc
by individuals and groups all over the world who llave
been led to expect such a phenomenon and who now can
hardly dare to believe that it is happening.
  It IS an intoxlcating prospect.
  If it took place over a wide enough section of the human
race would it not lead almost inevitably to a solution for
most human ills? Would it be possible for people having
access to higher levels of consciousness, and glimpsing
higher laws still to manifest as wilful and savage children?
It seems unlikely.
    c despcratc deadlock whicil exists in humall affairs
at the present time is due to the fact that human intellect
understands quite deady that it is helpless to solve the
problems of its own makin~.

                  ~,
THI~ WORD

  ~ut suppose that humall intellect could be irradiatcd
by spiritual energies. Would man not be impelled to direct
tllc powers of his mind to the new goals revealed by the
spirit? Would he not rush eagerly and willingly to the
task of putting the house of humanity in order?
  That the new Impulse should be concerned witll a new
Gnosis seems entirely to be expected. The prospect is that
it may be closer than we thillk.
  Can we discern anything else that will be incorporated
in the New Impulse? Almost certainly a bridge between
tl-c living and tlle afterlife statc.
  T.P. believes that for much of the material of his teach-
ing,Jesus drew almost exclusively on the Hebrew tradition;
and this was--considering its Eastern origins--quite re-
markably unilluminating about details of human survival.
One could of course argue thatJesus deliberately confined
himself, for reasons unknown to us, not to teaching about
survival but to demonstrating it in person. Or might it be
that such teaching as he did give has not come down to us?



W.T.P. Hebrew sources had, and have, little to tell us, for
instance, about the conditions surrounding the death of the
body and how to prepare for this all important experience.
The after life is pictured as falling into three compartments,
namely heaven, hell and some form of nothingness.
Jesus seems to have provided no information about the
conditions to be &ced when we pass hence, with the result
tllat the majority of hulllall beings arrivc "over there",
unequipped, uninformed, bewildered and usually deeply
distressed on finding themselves, not in "heaven" but in
a culldition of being in many ways little dlf~erent from

TH~ WORD

those they have just left. The reasons for this absence of
information oll a subject of such vital importance are
obscure. Jesus' hearers were simple folk, mainly peasants,
often illiterate, and who could only grasp the simplest
expositlon of the purpose and meaning of life, either here
or hereafter. One could argue that the time was not ripe
2,000 years ago for filling in the gaps in order to give the
intelligent man some clear idea of Whither? What? Jesus'
recorded references to Heaven and the after life were
nebulous, allegorical and obscure. More so in fact than tlle
teachillg provided by somc of his oricntal prcdcccssors.
  Now that the time has come for the Word to be pro-
claimed anew, we may expect dear revelations on the
problems of life and death. What an immense incentive to
human progress and enlightenment will result, if the gaps
in our information about these matters can be filled
authoritatively in reasonable detail and in ways that will
transform and illumine human thinking and human acting I
We are reaching another turning point in human and
planetary history, perhaps a still more important one than
any that has gone before, and almost certainly of greater
import even than the tuming point which resulted
from Jesus' use of his Sword of Light. Once more the
primary Rhythm is to be quickened and heightened, an
event gratefully to be welcomed, even if its primary e~ect
will be to shake our planet to its foundations.
THE PROBLEM OF PROPHECY



CHAPTER FIVE


The Problem of Prophecy



Lang: I have mentioned earlier my belief that T.P. has a
mission to effect certain adjustments in our picture of the
historical Jesus and also in thc attitudcs and 1~cliefs tllat
have followed in consequence. I have mentioned the
possibility that this cannot be done without a certain
erosion of beliefs long held perhaps as articles of faith in
the "common law" of Christianity, irrespective of
denomination.
  A distinction betweenJesus and the Christos which over-
lighted him; certain suggestions that the Christian mcssage
as it has come down to us is incomplete; certain remarks
about the dubious value of prophecy; all this leads on to
dangerous territory which used to be labelled heresy. It is,
however, territory which in the present context camlot in
l~onesty be left unexplored.



W.T.P. There were occasions when it appeared that
Jesus spoke from two separate levels of consciousness, his
own and that of the overshading Christos, leaving his
hearers to surmisc whicll was whicll. Hc himsclf ncvcr
proclaimed that he was the one and only SOIl of the Father
but insisted that we are all sons of God. Surely it was the
Christ speaking tllroughJesus who amlounced that "I and
the Father are one"? Jesus never indicated that his huma
birth differed from the natural one or that he--the man,
though perfect in his humallity--was the saviour of the
world with power to destroy all sin and evil. Doubtless it
was for the purpose of making converts that the doctrines
of the Virgin Birth and the idea thatJesus himself in human
form was God incarnate, omnipotent and supreme arose.



Lang: T.P.'s writings usually appear to me to be concerned
with the nced to cause no affront to accepted ideas, how-
ever much at variance these may be with what he himself
believes. But, asked bluntly about some specific question,
he seems willing to answer freely and incisively.
  I had detected a possibly heretical idea once or twice in
relation to his views on the nature of God and Jehovah.
  What emerges is thatJesus was in the habit of using the
terminology of the Hebrew tradition and, on occasion,
appeared to equate God the universal Father with the
Jewish Jehovah. Jesus did not seem to take adequate steps
to prevent misunderstandings arising in this respect.
  The equating of Jehovah with the Absolute is to T.P. a
grave error of interpretation and one which has troubled
the Christian stream for two thousand years. The un-
equivocal declaration that the Hebrew conception of
Jehovah is not a true picture of God the supreme Creator
of the universe, and the replacement of this misconception
by the truth as Jesus really taught it to his disciples, is
perhaps one of the conditions upon which the ground may
be prepared for the Aquarian seed to fructify.
  In T.P_'s treatment of this, an extremely important idcl
emerges. It is that when psychic mental energies are
TI~E PROBLEM OF PROPHECY

su~lciently concentrated, a delmive entity may be formu-
lated which can have endurance in time and which may
manifest as though it were actually alive. It becomes a
thought form with power to act, as if on its own volition.
Here is what T.P. says:



W.T.P. Jesus spoke of his Father in terms of omnipotent
love and wisdom yet he seems to have done little to divert
attention from the belief that the tribal god of the Jews
(a most unpleasant and bloodthirsty person) was the
supreme creator of the universe. The tribal god thesis,
held for several thousand years and to some extent still
current, has created a very dangerom situation. A thought
form of immense proportions has been built up on etheric
levels. The erroneous concepts of Deity held throughout
such a lengthy period of time have imbued this thought
form witll a life and activity of its OWIl.
  This man-made "God" appears capable of intervening
in planetary and human a~airs in ways that are distinctly
devolutionary. Inspired by Old Testament prophecies,
this embodiment of human concepts seems to possess the
power to intervene in the affairs of "the Chosen People"
and to bring about wars and revolutions for this purpose.
This embodiment appears able to create conditions favour-
able to the fulfilment of Old Testament predictions con-
cerning external events said to come into being at the
"end of the world" or at the close of the present age. The
dangcrs of tllis menacc are wcll knowll at cosmic levels
and a struggle to destroy this very powerful "thought-
form" or to transmute itc int~ n~ alries the strenuous
attention of our Elder Brothers. Complete success in this

THE PROBLEM OF PROPHECY

 field depends on our co-operation. The bubble mmt be
pricked, the concept of a tribal god imbued with his own
powers destroyed and man should free himself from a
dangeroUs entanglement once and for all. It is an entangle-
ment that has long delayed human progress and spiritual
unfoldment.



 Lang: Suppose for a moment that this idea is valid; that
an ancient eastem tribe, informed and expert in arcane
~hatters--perhaps from contact with the Secret Doctrine in
~Babylon--had created a thought form powerfully invested
~vith their own psychic energies. Presuming that this
'elemental" exists even now: is there any reason why such
image, graven in the racial mind, should have any
~ctual power in this modern nuclear age?
 - Assume that a nomadic nation had created for itself
a potent thought-form continually reinforced by devo-
tions and aspirations. Prophecy in this context would be
the wish fulfilment of a people, and not the realisation
of a spiritual impulse. Yet it was into such a climate of
traditional belief thatJesm appeared and in this context his
words were heard.
  Doubtless Jesus fully understood this, but apparently no
adequate steps were taken to prevent misunderstanding. Is
it possible that Jesm the man was at times una~le to
extricate himself wholly from his own racial background?
On some occasions did he take certain actions because he
fclt impclled to fulfilJcwish prophccy?
  Here is what T.P. has to say on tllc subjcct and on thc
question of prophecy in general.
THE PROBLEM OF PROPHECY

W.T.P. To me Jesus' attitude and actions appear some-
times to be di~lcult to understand. As a man his outlook
on the human scene was in a way provincial. He was
proud of hisJewish descent and made full use ofthe sayings
of the Hebrew prophets, to the point of regarding the
fulfilment of their predictions as being infallible. His
hearers seemed to have been given no glimpse, by quota-
tion or otherwise of ancient wisdom, or if that is too strong
a term, of the accumulated spiritual knowledge provided
by his predecessors, the Masters and sages of the past. It
might be argued that his teaching included in essence this
spiritual knowledge, but the records that have come down
to us make it permissible to infer that as a man, Jesus'
historic vision drew its inspiration principally from Hebrew
sources.
  Was it that a sense of partial failure made him deter-
mined at all costs to "fulfil prophecy", to bring about his
own death and so convert seeming failure into a measure of

achievement?
  Pilate was willing and ready to save him, but Jesus
prevented this, mainly by arousing the passions of the
Sanhedrin and the Jewish priests. Jesus appeared to be
deliberately provocative when referring to the Temple's
destruction and in his outspoken references to himself,
designed by him to ensure conviction. To the onlooker
there was something artificial about these methods which
is not easy to understand.
  It is a strange, sad fact that prophecy, often of a fatalistic
and sombrc charactcr has always l~CCI1 OllC of thc main
planks in thc platform of the Hebrew faith; sadder still
that use of prophecy as a metllod for trying to reform
Mankind seeped througll into the ~llrlstian ~ra and to

THE PROBLEM OF PROPHECY

some extent is still with us. Non-fulfilment in a literal
sense of confident forecasts timed to materialise before the
passing of a single generation created dissension, dis-
illusionment and despair among many of Jesus' early
followers. We should bear these facts in mind when trying
to assess the value of spectacular predictions in this field
which are receiving so much crcdence and publicity today.
The curious concept that salvation and destruction are
linked inevitably together, like two sides of the same coin,
appears to be a tenet of Hebrew theology, which is found
nowhere else in the world scriptures.
  There is no evidence from recorded history to suggest
t~at human nature can be bettered or reformed by threats
~f fire and brimstone, said to be awaiting most of us in
some future state of being. The ancient religions of the
~ar Orient rarely seem to have felt the need to include
Iprophecy in their philosophies or predictions concerning
future events on earth and in the heavens. In my view this
_-act deserves our serious consideration. Based largely on
carefully chosen utterances from the Old Testament, inter-
preted through psychic communications, some of our
modem soothsayers are predicting that the Age now
dosing is to be accompanied by disasters on such a global
scale that unless a higher Power directly intervenes, hope
of survival for the human race is remote. Cassandras are
engaged in creating sinister thought-forms in humall COIl-
sciousness of a kind that tend to prevent the flames of
truth from penetrating into the hearts and minds of men.
Do such pcoplc cvcr stop to realisc what dcadly harlll can
result from tlleir activities?
  Whetller they know it or not, they are playin~ the
Devil's game and if we are not careful both they and we
THE PROBLEM OF PROPHECY

shall necd to suffer serious consequences. Even if these
dreary prophets believe their own predictions, is it not
their duty, as it is ours, to put up a determined fight against
the fatalism that emanates from the dank vaults of darkness
and despair?
  A gentle old lady, "Christian" in outlook througll and
through, who would not harm a fly, assured me recently
that the "Coming of the Lord" would be preceded by
events of a horrifying charactcr. A vast earthquake would
engulf Palestine and its people, the "Egyptians" would be
destroyed and terrors unspeakable would stalk the earth.
(Here again emerges the totally mistaken belief that
destruction and salvation--the lost and the saved--are
processes destined to take place simultaneously, and at a
particular moment in human history.) I asked this good
lady whether under such circumstances it was not our
duty to supplicate the Deity to postpone the "Coming"
until better conditions could be arranged for Our Lorcl's
reception? This most reasonal~lc suggcstion was mct l)y a
stern rebuke and I was told that "God knows best",
which of course is true. This being so, what can we gain
by trying to interpret the intentions of Divinity or by
searching the skies for signs and omens of what our future
may hold in store? Is our faith so feeble that we can no
longer live the day to the best of our ability but needs
must try to anticipate tomorrow? It is useful to remind
those who scck for external signs and wondcrs tllat inter-
ventioll from spiritual sources in lluman a~airs never takes
the form of spcctacular apparitiolls, bl-t unfok~s naturally,
ceasclessly alld in hiddell ways. The secds containillg
fruitful promise for our cnliglltclmlellt are sown in the
soil of lluman consciousness in all ever extending sequencc

THE PROBLEM OF PROPHECY

and what I believe we are witnessing now is an acceleration
of this process. It is a process which calls for our active and
discerning co-operation because "salvation" by compul-
sion lies outside the orbit of the Divine plan and purpose.
  Life in time and form may come and go, and the misuse
of Man's free will can bring with it most unpleasant
consequences, but life itself is indestructible and what we
call "death" is a figment of the human imagination.
  Spiritual optimism is a gift from the Gods and we should
cherish tllis gift above pearls and with the conviction that
as children of the One Father we can go forward on our
ways cheerfully and without fear.
  After what I have been saying you will not expect me
to indulge in predictions about the future course of world
events. Take courage and consolation from the fact that
nfillity has no boundaries in "time" and "space". All
eternity is at man's disposal for fulfilment of the purposes
for which he was conceived and brought into being. If
we are now facing what seems to us to be a periodical
fluctuation in human progress, what of it? Over the
centuries the tides come in and out, but their ebb and
flow are an essential part of the cosmic plan and should
cause us no alarm. Storm clouds and tornadoes obscure the
sun from time to time but these, too, are divine agencies,
designed for our ultimate well being. Creation itself is an
ever expanding process. The Universe is not static. It
never ceases to unfold and we with it, and this contilluillg
unfoldment is what we call evolution.
  Thc crcativc Word, hcrald of a frcsll Dispcnsatioll,
forerumler to recognitioll of the Prescnce, is witl~ us

~lOtcJ. .
THE PROBLEM OF PROPHECY

Lang: From many scattered threads concerning tlle role of
prophecy, the Jewish Jehovic tradition and the life of
Jesus, it may be possible to draw some sort of tentative
pattern. First: Jesus appeared unable to clarify the distinc-
tion 1~etween himself and the overshadowing Principle of
the Christ sufficiently to influence the subsequent develop-
ments of theology. He appeared to make no adequate
distincting between Jehovah and God the Father. Thus a
series of mistaken beliefs have emerged, which have been
held as truth for over two thousand years.
  A radical change in outlook is now in progress. So far
it has been a relatively gentle process but its tempo is
increasing and at its climax it may be drastic. Here is
T.P.'s comment:



W.T.P. The crumbling away of crys~allised and insti-
tutional theology and dogma is a gradual process in order
to avoid the creation of a vacuum. The proccss is llOW
being accelerated in order that the tribal god myth may be
removed from the minds of men as a preliminary to
formulating in human consciousness a conception of Deity
clothed in the universality of the one, all pervading, all
powerful mind of the creative Principle.
  It is on this conception that the foundations can be laid
for a faith unsllackled to outworn formulae and outgrown
beliefs. The drawing together of the philosopllies of East
and West, freed from the man-made accretions of the
centuries can only come into its own as thc institutiollal
barricrs between the churclles, tcmples and synagogues dis-
appcar in the light of a new Dispensation, created to meet
tlle llceds of humallity at tllis turnillg poillt ill its llistory.

THE PROBLEM OF PROPHECY

  The process may involve the disappearance of denomina-
tional religion and the destruction of orthodox theology
but we can look to the utterance of the Word anew to
quicken the deansing process and so bring man out into
the sunlight once again.



Lang: The conclusion is scarcely to be avoided. Chris-
tianity in a certain sense failed in its purpose of reforming
the human race.
  But does this failure illustrate the idea that contingcncy
runs right through the universe; that even such an opera-
tion as launching the spiritual impulse of an evolutionary
period can be subject to accident? There is another
possibility--that failure was in some way intended. Was
t~ partial failure of Christianity sanctioned by the higher
Eowers to achieve a purpose which could not be achieved
i~ any other way?
  I found one very powerful fragment embcdded in a
l-tter from T.P. He was referring to a benign intervention
~vhich had been made in the everyday life of someone he
knows and in it he referred to the occasional necessity for
failure as an integral part of the evolutionary process.
  Quite simply he mentioned his belief thatfailure may
have a place on a cosmic scale no less than in the afJairs oSthe
humatt race.
  This is an extract:



W.T.P. Yes, of course I intervened, since when I have
been waiting for the response. The art of such intervention
consists in a process of not infringing any Karmic barriers,
THE PROBLEM OF PROPHECY

a lesson it takes a long time to master . . . On the success
or hilure of any particular spiritual exercise we should be
careful to distinguish between the Christos and the channels
through which its energies flow. The Christos is responsible
for providing the energy and the inspiring incentive but the
Christos is not responsible for choosing the chalmels.
Thcse are chosen by what might be called the Elder
Brothers of the human race. Sometimes they deliberately
sanction what we callfailurefor reasons well beyond our present
ken. There are certain seeds of success which can only
germinate in the womb of what we call failure and this is
true hoth cosmically and in relation to our individual lives.

Part Two
 CHAPTER SIX


 Some Links


Lang: What now follows is a series of scripts by T.P. not
apparently connected to the chief focus of his interest in
the last five years, namely the historical glimpses of
Jesus.
  Though they may seem at first glance to be far removed
from his main theme, they have been produced for
indusion in this book and it is to be presumed that they
~are relevant to a purpose of which, perhaps, the Jesus
glimpses form only a part.
  It may also be that the reader will find relevance and
I make comlections in proportion to his OWIl degree of

I understalldillg.
  In the case of the three scripts where specific historical
periods are involved, the reader will no doubt speculate
on the possibility that such periods are related by some
personal colmection with T.P. himselÏ
  This is not a speculation for which any evidence can be
expected but it is a speculation which I have some reason
to believe is warranted.
  The first script "The Archangelic Hierarchy" is based
on a recent talk to a private group and perhaps for this
reason he has added some explanatory material designed
to amplify it for general readership. It very clearly
illustrates the heights to which his seership can reach
and is perhaps more specific than the material which
SOME LINKS

he is usually prepared to make available for open reader-

sllip.
  The last script, "And With No Language But a
Cry", reveals in remarkably unguarded language his
personal participation in noumenal events at the present

time.
  I can only say that the "conference" described now
towards the close of his life matches a similar event in I9I7
in Palestine and a second similar "meeting" in the early
days of the second world war. The Silent Minute move-
ment was in fact endorsed on this second occasion and I
think we are entitled to conjecture that the third event now
revealed will initiate a further act of co-operation with
higher intention.
  There is some reason to believe that on the second
occasion, which took place in December I939 certain
assurances were given which resulted in the raising of a
cone of protection over these islands. There is also a hint
that the conf~ict was shortened by two years. The only
comment I can extract from T.P. about these matters is
this. "The complete story of why invasion never took
place has not yet been told. You can certainly say that it
involved an element of the miraculous."
  In I939 we were plunged into a struggle which to almost
all of those involved seemed entirely material, military
and national. In hindsight it is now seen to have involved
forces and powers on an enormously greater scale. Some
sort of hidden alliance existed--perhaps there were several
such--and the devoted service of a few provided the
fulcrum on which massive assistance from higher levels
could be exercised.
  T oday we are faced with a crisis on a still greater scale.

SOME LINKS

Again contact has been established between mundane and
supra-mundalle levels. Could it be that we are now offered
the chance once again to alter causality, to invalidate
"prophecy" and to influence the outcome of the Arma-
geddon "now raging in the Spheres and in the hearts and
minds of men" ?
THE ARCHANGBLIC HIE~RARCHY



CHAPTER SEVEN


The Archangelic Hierarchy


W.T.P. In attempting to deal with certain events now
taking place in regions beyond our ken it should be
remembered that there are no words in human language
capable of describing such evcllts adequately, if at all.
What follows therefore should be looked upon as belong-
ing to the realm of symbolism and allegory rather than as
embodying factual statements. By "factual" I mean state-
ments capable of proof through the use of reason within
the confines of the three dimensional conditions now
surroundlng us.
  Angels and Archallgels are not higllly evolved human
beings, but belong to a different order of creation. They
do not incarnate in a material sense on any of the planets
in our solar system, which are believed to contain life and
intelligellce clothed in form.
  For this reason, we cannot grasp or understand in full
either the appearance of these great Beings, or the role
they play in the divine drama of Creation. What follows,
thereforc, sllould be regarded ;1S a fragmentary and very
partial account of this immensely important hierarcllal
Order.
  Firstly, and to clcar the air, Ict it bc said th~ct we humalls,
no matter how advanced our spiritual status may become,
are never transformed or translated into "Angels" or
"Archangels". Our progress and development continue

into eternity, whereas Archangels and their Hosts belong
to an order of perfection which although by no means
static, does not involve what we understand by the wor1
  "evolution".                         ~Dr~
  Also it should be remembered that Nature Spirits and \
the Intelligences who direct, and contror the rllythmic
impulses within the Kingdoms of Nature are not "Angels".
They belong to an Order of their own which is subject
to its own laws of being and progression.           J
  We are dimly aware, mainly through tradition, of the
existence of seven Archangels, operating within our solar
system. It appears that for periods of unknown duration
and controlled by cosmic rotation, each of the seven takes
precedence in responsibility for the general oversight of
one planet at a time under the guidance of the Solar
Deity.
  Ar~l~angels rule over their own "Hosts of Angels", the
number of whom we are unable to compute. Their main
function is to infuse into all life processes operating within
ever~alm of being within our system, certain specific
"L~ht" radiations. These radiations so far as can be dis-
c~ned, emanate from seven Mother l~r 1\~ast~r Ravs.
  / Each of these Rays embodies (in the main) a specific
/quality or attribute. These might be summed up in a
general way under the headings: Wisdom, Love (tlle two
major Rays now in process of blending), Seership, Beauty,
Intuition, Joy and Incentive. We are now in deep water,
because our concepts of the meaning of these words vary
so widely. For this reason it is perhaps unwisc to use
words for the purpose of describing the qualities and
functions of these Rays.
  There is never ceasing interplay between these seven
TH]~ ARCIIANGELIC HIERARCHY

Rays and those who direct their activity, intensity, range
and operation.
  There is little we can know for certain about tllese
matters and in fact much of what we think we know is
little more than speculation.
  What we feel we can accept as accurate is the belief
that we are llOW entering a new chapter in human history;
and that it is the Archangel Michael whose turn it is to be
associated most closely with our planet and with all forms
of life upon it. Biblical and esoteric tradition can, I think,
throw some light upon this Archangel's significance and
status. There is a chapter in Michael: Prince of Heaven*
containing a list of the titles and qualities traditionally
associated with this Archangel. Here are some of tllem:

  I. "whO is like unto the Countellance of God."
  2. Recorder of the dceds of men in the heavenly books.
3. The Celestial medium through whom the Law was
     given.
4. Captain of the heavenly Hosts.
5. Slayer of the dragon of evil intention.
6. Guardian of the holy Sanctuaries.
7. Preparer of the Way before each Messenger from
    God.
8. Leader of the Church triumphant in Heaven ancl
    militant on earth.

  What interests us most is the age-old conception of
Michael as the Standard Bearer for the Christ and the
Preparer ofthe Way before the advent of God's Messengers
to man. It is in the above capacities that he and his mission
  # Published by the Chalict ~Vell Prc-~s, Glastonbury,
Somerset.

         TH]3 ARCHANGELIC HIERARCHY

should be considered of special importance to w at

present.

  The use of modern terms to describe Michael's principal
task may not be out of place. He is the chief engineer in
charge of the sluice gates which control and regulate the
release of the "Waters of the Spirit" into our midst.
The reservoirs behind these gates contain infinite supplies,
capable of serving human needs far into the future.
  Use here could be made of an analogy. Man employs
the movement and the pressure of water in order to
generate electricity. Michael and his co-workers use a
similar process for converting the "Waters of the Spirit"
into rays and radiations. The latter are stepped down to a
point where they can enter safely into the minds and the
lives of all forms of sentient and non-scntient life on earth.
This stepping down process is regulated in sudl a way as to
meet our present and progressive needs. Such a task is
beyond our power to visualise but it is as well that we
should be aware, however dimly, that it is going on.
  The first effect of a speeding up of these processes is to
shake the earth to its foundations, in the form of wars,
tribulations, racial disturbances and seismic upheavals. It
is true that our world has never been free from these
conditions, but when they become so widespread as they
are now, we can know that the end of an Age and the
birth of a new one are on our doorstep.
  rn a metaphysical sense, what I have been describing as
secmingly outward events is also taking place witllin you
and mc. We camlot cscapc from t]le battleficld, whicl
anllleapls that oufrlthougllts, prayerS, words and deeds can
--or the reverse--to Christ's Standard
Bearer.
THE ARCHANGELIC HIERARCHY

  The ways in which we co-operate can only be decided
individually but the value of collective and individual
prayer and meditation is immense and in these ways we
can certainly serve Michael and all who are co-operating
with him.
  There is also anotller method througll which wc can
make our inl~uence felt. All ovcr the world there are
islands, springs, hills and sanctuaries that have been long
associated with the name of Michael. Let beacons be
lighted upon them either in thought, in actual deed, or in
both. Gcographical ccntres of this killd can and do play
their part in the general plan llOW coming into active
bemg.



  During the next three centuries, in fact from the present
time onwards, Michael and his colleagues have been
entrusted with a special task. This is to brin~ down to
human levels a better understanding of the meaninsr and
importance of beauty. This word could be interpreted as
the blendin~of thou~ht, sound. sight and feeling into a
condition of harmonious accord with one another. There
is good reason why we should co-operate according
to our several abilities in helping to further this great
purpose.
  It is probable that this Michael Agc of ours will be
given until around A.D. 3500 in which to fulfil itself,
although as the texture of"Time" is subject to change, so
are human measurements of it.
  Michael directs his mission from his own solar dwelling
places. As Leader of the Arcllangelic Host, in a certain
scnsc hc combines within himself the qualities of his

THF. ARCHANGELIC HIERARCHY

colleagues as well as his own.
  Although not a member of the Archangelic Order, the
being known to us as Zoroaster has an important part to
play in these cosmic ventures.



Lang: In any attempt to discuss the Michael impulse llOW
enterlng humall consciousness it is inevitable that seeming
contradictions will arise in trying to describe an iulterplay
of actlon between a four dimensional state and our prescnt
tlucc dimcllsiollal conditioll.



W.T.P. We have spoken about the increase in human
enlightenment that will result from the acceptance by Man
of this new impulse, and as a result the impression is
inevitably given that the essence of this new enlightenment
is contained within the impulse itselÏ This is not the case.
The wave of cosmic energy is in itself neutral--that is to
say, although it emanates from a celestial source, its
content in the human sense is neither "good" nor "bad".
Pure Energy of this kind does not conform in its action to
human codes of morality or to our conceptions of "good"
and evil .
  All the illumination, knowledge, enlightenment needed
for human evolution during the present Round, is already
embedded within human consciousness, in essence and in
embryo. It always has been so because it is an integral
part of thc crcativc act.
  This new wave of energy will not bring with it the
enliglltcnnlcllt so sorely nccded at the present time. Thc
potency it contains will, liowever, bc capable orawake~
THE ARCHANGBLIC HIERARCHY

within man the vision and the knowledge which he
requires. This is already part of his heritage and his very
make up, lying secredy and in embr,vo in the sanctuary
of his soul. Thus the wave of energy is an awakener and
not an originator of something Man already owns.
  The measure of freewill we possess lcaves Man in a
position to use rightly, or to misuse, the knowledge of
spiritual verities, as this unfolds within him.

CHAPTER EIGHT


The Michael Tor, Glastonbllry


W.T.P. My findings so far are scrappy and incomplete.
And no wonder that tllis is so, for this mount was already
a cosmic centre in pre-Atlantean days.
  There are certain places around our planet which owe
their formation and destiny to heavenly influences and
this is one of them. This means that they still possess a
direct link with the energies emanating from the Arch-
angelic Hierarchy, and in the case of the Avalon Tor,
with Michael in particular.
  The "markings" on the ground of a giant Zodiac
around Avalon--a symbolic replica of planetary constel-
lations--now remain tlle only extemal link with celestial
Agencies.
  Within a thousand years or so of man emerging from
the animal state and becoming a human individual, the
Tor became one of the many global centres where the
worship of the Sun, representing its spiritual origin, Light,
was ptactised, Ligllt being tlle source of all manifestatiolls
of life and being.
  Tlle Fatherhood of the Creator was the central theme
in those very ancient days when both the mount itself and
the spring at its foot wcre enveloped in a sacred aura of
protection. Later, much later, when a change in dis-
pensation came about, .m ill~elr~~num occurred. ]~ur-
ing this the wllole planet passed through a period of
TIIE MICHAEI:. TOR~ GLASTONBURY

catastrophes, earthquakes and violent seismic disturbances.
Many areas of the globe became oceans where land had
previously stood and vice versa. Avalon Tor, although
shakcn and deprived of the forests whicll clothed it,
remained an upright land mark and a beacon for seafarers.
  Much latcr came a period durillg whicll prc-Osiric
inHuence held sway. Divine Motherhood replaced Father-
hood as the keynote of worship, with the moon as the
focus of veneration. The "Intention" appears to have been
that this cpoch should be followed by the merging of the
SunlMooll cras into a period during whicll the Fathcr/
Mother conception of creation should become the central
theme. Something went wrong. Was this perhaps the
event that has come down to us as the legend of the Fall?
Dark magic, sex as a sensual battling ground replaced the
purity of all previous spiritual exercises and the sacred
aura of protection was withdrawn.
  Meanwllile the Atlantean and Lcmurian cataclysms had
come and gone, bringing entirely new aspects to the
evolutionary life processes on our planet. Time passed
during which only the hidden seed of the cosmic energies
surrounding such centres as this Tor, survived. There
followed a period of wilderness in and about the Tor
and even a sense of utter desolation. The sun appeared to
be darkened in the heavells and the moon cast a disturbing
glow in its place. The seemingly sinister e~ects of the
"Fall" became only too apparent in the lives of men.
  Much later, worship of Divinity was replaced by the
worship of extemal nature. This involved reverence for
the elements, the building of templcs to the trees and
belief in springs as the symbolic source of life and being.
Time rolled on and on until a pre-Druid race emerged

THl~ MICHAEL TOR~ GLASTONBURY

through whose activities nature worship began to be
co-related to belief in the Spirit of the Spheres and when
Religion came to the forefront once more.
  Much latcr, groups of men (and women) more highly
evolved than the "savages" began to isolate themselves at
certain strategic points all ovcr the planct, inspired by thc
conception of a central Unity, the Overlord of all the
Gods.
  The time had now come when, if life on this earth was
to be preserved, Initiates from celestial realms were obliged
to dcscend into incamation; and in duc course thcir lcaven-
ing presence helped to prevent this planet from becoming
a lifeless moon before its time. One or more of these
Initiates took bodily form within the ranks of the Druidic
"priesthood", and sacred centres such as our Tor began
to be relighted. Preparations were made for the reception
of a "Saviour", who would embody the Christos principle
on earth. The Tor became an observatory, a centre for the
study of the stellar spheres, a place where rituals and rites
converged upon the conception of Ortelless throughout the
Universe, seen and unseen.
  Terraces still remain around the slopes of the Tor
which may well conceal labyrinthian passages beneath.
Aspirants for Initiation who found their way through and
up this maze emerged at the summit for illumination, but
many fell by the way.
  There was what one might call a "Turning in the
Heavens" and this began to be re~ected here and there on
earth.
  Cosmic revelation was at hand.
  Then, as was to be expected, the forces of the Left
mounted an attempt to obstruct evolution and to bring
THE MICHAEL TOI~, GLASTONBURY

devolution into action once more. One result, so far as
the Druid dispensation was concerned, was the transfor-
mation of spiritual practices into a debased form of ritual-
ism from which the spirit had departed. However, I am
convinced that a pure strain of Druidic lore persisted at
Avalon, thereby creating the right conditions for the
arrival of Joseph of Arimathea and his fellow pilgrims,
bringing with them the Message of the Christ.
  Following nearly 2,000 years of the era known as
"Christendom", the time is now come when such centres
as the Michael Tor and Chalice Well will cmerge into the
daylight once more and thereby fulfil a destiny prescribed
for them from the birth of time, and to the Glory of God.

CHAPTER NINE


rhe Closing Days Of Atlantis


W.T.P. Wars had developed between the people of the
Northern lands (or Islands) and the people of the South.
  There had always been friendly competition in achieve-
ment between the inhabitants of these two Atlantean areas,
and much friction that might have come about was
avoided by the fact that a fairly wide strip of ocean divided
the series of islands in the South from those belonging to
the Northern group.
  The latter were in closer touch with the mainlands
(the continent of Africa) where human and animal life at
that period in history was far lower in evolution and
intelligence than those present in the Atlantean civilisation.
  A Council of State ruled both the Northern and the
Southern lands, and its President was chosen from among
its members once in every nine year period. The Council
itself was what might be termed a religious/scientific body,
that is to say that its members were experts in the practice
of religious and esoteric rites and ceremonies, and also were
pioneers in scientific and astropsychical research.
  Usually, the President himself was one who had
advanced far along the pathway of esoteric knowledge, and
was in touch with the invisible worlds of life and being.
(These ideas came to the writer in his dream experience,
cluring which he found himself watching a particular
member of the Council, one of those representing the
TH]3 CLOSING DAYS OF ATL~NTIS

Southern lands, and with whom the writer felt himself to
be identified for the period of the dream.)
  A form of revolution gradually developed among the
people of the Northern lands, stimulated largely by unwise
association with "bad" inhabitants of the mainland, the
latter being outside the Atlantean Council's control.
Accusations were made against the Council to the effect
that its rulings had become autocratic and favoured the
people of the Southern lands too extensively. The trouble
was smoothed over during several generations but it fmally
developed into a condition of active conflict. The Council
itself (even that august body) became divided within its
own organisation, and a minority of its members sided
with the Northern group and left the capital (which was
on the largest of the Southern islands) in order to join and
lead the Northem land's revolt.
  The struggle seems to have lasted for many years and to
have grown graduany into a bitter and relentless effort to
bring about extermination. The Southern group, however,
remained the stronger and those who were Stin members
of its Council held deep scientific secrets unknown (in
detail) to those who were in control of the Northern
lands.
  It was apparently at this crucial period in this terrible
civil war that researchers attached to the Southern lands
Council discovered the means to harness supra-mundane
energy through the division of the atom. The substance
used for the purpose was not uranium as at present, but
was of a fluidic nature.
  Once harnessed, a way was devised for concentrating
this newly released energy in a dematerialised condition,
which could then be transmitted at will by the use of

THE CLOSING DAYS OE' ATLANTIS

etheric waves, and rematerialised and exploded in any
direction or place previously decided upon.
  When news of these discoveries was placed before the
Council (or all that was left of it), the views of its members
were divided as to the wisdom or otherwise of using this
terrible new weapon in the conflict still raging with the
dissentient Northem islanders.
  Time passed . . . and meanwhile the new weapon was
perfected and tried out in a small way over the ocean
wastes. It proved so successful that the temptation to use it
in actual warfare became too strong to be rcsistcd. And
so: "To save further useless bloodshed and suffering on
both sides", this new weapon, containing derivatives
of the universal creative power, was put into operation
against the Northern lands to reduce them to sub-
mission.
  "Success" was almost instantaneous, and the people of
the North (or the few that were left) capitulated and sucd
for peace.
  An armistice was arranged, the Council re-formed, and
it appeared that a new and better era was in sight.
  The new energy was then employed for "peaceful
purposes".
  Meanwhile, however, strange seismic and magnetic
disturbances developed throughout Atlantean areas. Earth-
quakes, violent storms, seaquakes, great tidal waves,
followed one upon another in increasing number and
intensity. The Council ordained that all further research
work and tests in connection with the harnessing of thc
new energy should cease and a week of mourning and
repentance was decreed in an effort to "restore the
balance of Nature's rhythm, which had been upset 1~y the
TEIE CLOSING DAYS OF ATl.ANTIS

prostitution of power of supernatural origin to bring about
destruction and death in human disputes".
  Apparently, this measure was introduced too late. In
any case, it was without appreciable ef~ect on the events
which followed.
  The poisonous radio-active current or element projected
into the ether and the material atmosphere of Atlantean
regions, as the result of the explosive use of the newly
released energy, seems to have dislocated the law govern-
ing terrestrial magnetism and gravitation. Tidal waves
and carthquakes and cpidcmics contillued to grow in
violence. Even vast areas of the mainlands were affected
by inundations and landslides. Several of the Atlantean
islands disappeared beneath the ocean, and the climate
surrounding those that remained became dense and humid.
The population rapidly declined in numbers. Fear and
distress replaced health and happiness.
  Finally, it would seem that a greater tidal wave thall
ever before witnessed, following a tremendous earthquake
on and below the bed of the ocean, wiped out what still
remained of the great Atlantean civilisation. The people
(except for a comparative few who escaped to high ground
on the Mainlands) disappeared into the immensities of the
ilmer worlds of life and being.
  Let us take heed before it is too late.

CHAPTER TEN


Does Historv
Repeat Itse?f ?


W.T.P. It is useful now and then to consider the extent
to which the study of past human history can prove of
benefit to us in what we call our "modem world".
  That similaritics can bc traccd bctwccn evcnts that have
happened, often many centuries apart from one another,
is an undoubted fact. However, so far as I am aware, no
serious study of this phenomenon has yet been undertaken
  It is probable also that truths, often of a cautionarv
character, are handed down from one generation to another
through the symbolical contents of legends, fables, tradi-
tions and (so called) fairy stories.
  Recently I was looking in to some of the historical and
legendary records that have come down to us (often in
mutilated form), from the time of the Pharaoh, Akenaton
(The Sun God), who reigned in Egypt some 3.S¿¿ years
ago during the XVIII Dynasty of the Royal Houses of
that strange and potent land.
  In so far as our historical records extend into the past,
it would seem right to infer that Akenaton was the first
great Ruler and Prophet known to us, who proclaimed
the Oneness of the Creator and the Unity of Mind.
  It is still natural for primative peoples to perceive Gods
in Nature and to worship those beings who appear to rule
the Elemen~s, as represented by the kingdoms of thc air,
the waters of the clouds of Heaven, and of the forests and
DOES HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF?

the great anilllals of the jungle. In Akenaton's time the
people of his realm were not primitive in this sense, yet
the multiplicity of the Gods they worshipped had al-
ready passed beyond the bounds of reason. It is evident
that the priestly class (a very tight and powerful clan)
encouraged and promoted the veneration and worship of
life through the creation of myths which depended for
their existence on belief in innumerable Gods, and also in
the divine attributes of the Pharaohs, as traced back and
back, from Dynasty to Dynasty, into the mists of time.
  Akenaton set himself the herculeall task of brcaking
this tradition.
  He proclaimed the Unity of the one God, a God of
Light, whose symbol was the Sun. In his time the priestly
clan had become corrupt, and true religion had departed
from the land.
  We know very few details of the struggle through which
Akenaton set himself to break the stranglehold of the
priests over the common people, and even over those wllo
were cultured and belonged to the aristocracy. Wllat a
formidable battle he must have waged !
  He himself was delicate from birth, the result, no doubt,
of centuries of inbreeding. It is believed that he was subject
throughout his short life to epileptic fits. Yet his energy
and vision were remarkable. Temporariliy he WOIl his
fight against the priests and curbed their power, and
cleansed the temples of much vice, ignorance and corrup-
tion.
  The supreme Creator of tl-c Univcrsc l~ccamc thc ONE
GOD to whom, through the Light of the Sun, all eyes and
hearts and minds must be directed.
  What an achievement this was indeed!

DOE~S HISTORY RE~PEAT ITSELP?

  His whole life was spent in countering intrigues against
his person and his rule. No wonder that he had little time
to devote to foreign affairs, with the result that his empire
shrank and his generals su~ered many defeats both within
the state and in foreign lands as well. Akenaton's great
legacy to destiny and to the future was in the propagation
of one Idea, the unity and omnipotence of the Godhead.
Even though, following his tragic death, the priests
regained control and the worship of many gods returned,
nothing could altogether obliterate the immense value of
the seed that he had sown.
  The popularity of Akenaton among the common
people, the fellaheen, was said to have been remarkable.
He was approachable in a way that no previous Pharaoh
had ever been. Also, he was credited with possession of the
"healing touch", both in regard to diseases and to sin.
  This royal and hereditary prerogativeissaid tohave been
also owned by the English Plantagenet and Tudor Kings
and to be traceable back to King David himselÏ Doubtless
this gift is still in the possession of our royal line. Perhaps
it will be brought into use again some day?
  History does not tell us clearly how Akenaton met his
earthly end. My own belief is that he was murdered at the
instigation of the High Priest of Upper Egypt whom he
had removed from power and office. A nest of scorpions
was inserted beneath the pinOwS of his couch and his death
came slowly but surely, following this dastardly act of
evil.
  It is no doubt true that history never repeats itself in
quite the same way. Jesus the Christ was not the ruler of
all earthly empire, although he came, in a hereditary and
bodily sense, of a royal line of leaders and of prophets.
DOES HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF?

  llc camc to proclaim the ONE GOD~ the Father of all
mell, and his Father, too. He met the fury of the priests,
far more deadly than the anger of the Roman rulers of the
time.
  He attempted to cleanse the Temple and to bring the
true spirit back into religion. And he met his earthly end
through the malice of the priestly class who, humanly
speaking, were not aliens but of the same ~ebrew stock as
himself
  What steps can be taken now and in our own age for
preventing the repetition of history, as outlined by the
earthly fate both of Akenaton and of Jesus? As we look
around, are we so certain that the fate of the next
Messenger from God will not be similar? During the
Christian dispensation is it not true to say that more wars
and cruelties have been inflicted in the name of religion,
than from any other single cause?
  Can humanity at long last begin to learn and profit
from the lessons of the religious history of past ages? If
so, there is hope for the destiny and welfare of those who
are to follow us. Otherwise there can be little.



  In comparing the fate of Jesus with that of Akenaton, it
must not be thought that I presume to place them on the
same spiritual level, or, in fact, to suggest that these two
beings were "equal" or to be regarded from the same
stance. Let tllis be made very clear; having said this, let
us seek to learn the important lesson that can come from
a study of how human history can repeat itself, even if
such repetitions are ncvcr complctcly idcntical, eithcr in
procedure or in outcome.

CHAPTER ELEVEN


Prophecy in Relation to the Day
of the Lord


There are a number of modern students of Biblical
prophecy who interpret the scriptures, both the New and
the Old Testament in an exdusively literal way. In con-
sidering the relation of current human events to the period
known as the "Latter Days" great care should be taken, I
think, to try to interpret prophecy in a symbolical and a
spiritual sense rather than in an entirely literal malmer.
  In order to illustrate what I mean, consider certain
prophecies about the "Day of the Lord" which have come
down to us from early times. Before doing so it is well
to remember that religious writers using Oriental tongues
were in the habit of expressing themselves in language
f~lled with picturesque and symbolic phraseology.
  When such writings are translated into our prosaic
English, the literal translations resulting can prove mis-
leading, especially if they are regarded as embodying
descriptions of actual historical events due to happen in
future times.
  As an example let us take one of thc most remarkablc
utterances in the New Testament as recorded in the
second Epistle of St. Peter, chapter iii, verse IO:

  "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the

IO9
PROPHECY IN RELATION To THE DAY 01~ THE LORD

nigllt; ill thc which the hcavclls shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall
be burned up."

  Here it is stated that the Day of the Lord, clsewhere
referred to as the Second Coming will arrive as "a thief
in the night", a strange phrase indeed in such a con-
text. Evidently the writer's intention was to make it
clear that the event in question is to come both suddenly
and unexpectedly. Furthcr, we can rcasonably infer that
this Coming will manifest itself in a totally unlooked for
1n(lnner a~tdfor~1t.
  It is not at all clear from the context, for instance, that
the Lord whose "Day" it is to be, will appear in a human
body and in one place at a time, or in some other manner
altogether.
  We will return to this when referring to anotller pro-
phecy; but mcanwllile there is the rest of this cxtraordinary
text to be considered. "In the which" (or during which)
Coming, both the heavens and the earth are to disappear
amid noise, tumult and fire. If we take this sinister forecast
literally, then the Day of the Lord would apparently end
in a vacuum, all forms of life on earth having ceased to
exist.
  Here we are faced by an enigma whicll is seemingly
impossible to unravel.
  Can the words "Heaven" and "Earth" be regarded as
symbols and not as tangible realities? Some commentators
interprct the terms "Heaven" and "Earth" as used in
prophecies of this kind, not as celestial and terrestrial
abodes but as states or conditions of consciousness. It i~

PROPHECY IN RELATION TO THE DAY OF THE LORD

conccivable that the appcarance of a spiritual leavcn within
the mind of man could result in such a transformation of
human consciousness as to bring about a "passing away"
of the old methods of thought altogether, to be replaced
by something entirely new. Such an event would naturally
cause so much confusion and alarm as to creatc a "great
noise~~, speaking symbolically.
  We are next told that following or during this dis-
appearance or transformation "the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat". Taken literally this is not a bad description
of what happclls during an atomic explosion. But in the
above context the word "elements" probably refers to
climate and atmospheric conditions around the earth.
"Fervent heat" could be interpreted as a purifying
agent.
  The physicist will not allow any connection to be made
between mind and matter where the elements of nature are
concerned. The metaphysician, however, would takc an-
other view. He would sanction the possibility that onc
result of the transformation of human consciousness could
well be that a similar phenomenon would take place in
climatic and atmospheric conditions, the elements of which
would also be transformed and purified to conform with
the change in humanity's mental outlook.
  Such a line of reasoning may seem far-fetched and an
unlikely solution of the problem. I have set down these
suggestions solely for the purpose of turning thought away
from dwelling too exclusively on the literal interpretation
of thc Scriptures in respcct of prophecy.
  In St. Matthew's Gospel (ch. xxiv, v. 27), Jesus is
reported as having used words which have come down to
us iul tlle following English form:
PROPHECY IN RELATION TO THE DAY OF THE LORD

For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth
even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son
of man be.



  Light~ g is a form of vcry rapid illumination. Tlle
implicatioll of this text may well be that the signal for the
Coming we are to expect in the Latter Days of our Age
will be either preceded or accompanied by a flash of
spiritual illumination or understanding which will shine
rigllt across tlle llorizons of hulllall consciouslless ''from
East to West" (i.e. from end to end). We should be wrong,
I think, to picture this event as if it referred to a metereo-
logical phenomenon in the skies above our heads.
  Jesus makes it very clear that the Coming is not to be
looked for in any one place, i.e. in the desert or in the
secret chamber (v. 26) but that it will be universal in its
manifestatioll. Tllis seems to rule out the advent of a
Divine Person in human form at any one place. In fact, the
"Son of Man" as here used, evidently refers to the coming
of an Illumination capable of transforming the minds and
hearts of mcn throughout the world. Such an interpretation
docs not invalidate the possibility, perhaps the certainty,
that a Messenger or Messengers from God may incarnate
in our midst in these Latter Days for the purpose of
"fulfilling the law and the prophets".
  When the great awakening or transformation takes
place then it will be possible to realise and recognise
universally the Prescnce of tlle Christ in the very midst of
human consciousness, the complete culmination of the
Coming we are told to hope for, prepare for and expect.
 St. Paul, in tlle Second Epistle of Timotlly (Cll. iii, v. I)~

PROPHECY IN RELATION TO THE DAY OF THE LORD

speaks of the perilous times that shall come in tlle "last
days", but here he may be referring exdusively to the last
days on earth of those to whom he was then writing.
  According to the words attributed by St. Matthew to
Our Lord (ch. xxiv, v. 29-3I) the "Sign of the Son of
Man" shall appear in heaven (in consciousness) immediatcly
after the tribulations of those days. This event is to be
preceded by the darkening of the sun, moon and stars,
which could well symbolise the almost universal material-
ism rampant at that time within the whole firmament of
man's mind, bclicfand action. (In other words thc "darkcn-
ing of the Spirit" by which we are surrounded almost
universally at present.)
  I have taken these Biblical quotations more or less at
random for the purpose of seeing to what extent it is
reasonable to interpret prophecies comlected with the
Latter Days in ways that make some sense to our present
understanding. The interpretations I have given may not
lead us to any definite or final conclusions concerning these
great mysteries. They are set down as food for thought, in
order that the reader may carry forward the line of research
I have indicated, and so be able to form his own con-

clusions.
  Whatever may be in store for the human race we can
rest assured that the Divine Laws of Love, Justice and
Grace (Mercy) WILL be fulfilled both now and throughout
Eternity.
CHIVALRY



CHAPTER TWELVE


Chivalry


W.T.P. I was once asked to talk to the pupils of a
co-educational school on the subject of chivalry and was
sitting in my study gathering my thoughts when I heard
a knock on the door, and an old man walked in whom I
had never seen before. He was not much to look at but
his eyes were kind and his long white beard flowed down
over the cloak he was wearing and it shone like a silver
stream in the moonlight. He looked as if he had lived a
very long time and he gave me the impression of being a
pilgrim who had come from a great distance and had
travelled in more worlds than one. He clearly understood
my thougllts and said: "If you will llave a little patience I
will give you a few ideas that may prove helpful.
  "Simply stated, to be chivalrous is to serve gallantly
and cheerfully those around you who are in need of help
and to do this without thought of recompense.
  "Each thought a person thinks releases energy of some
kind and this goes out in ever widening circles of activity
and influence. Some such thoughts become translated into
deeds and so fulfil their mission for good or ill in your
outer world. The majority of thoughts, however, remain
unexpressed in action but their influence remains none
the less.
  "A thought is a vibration and to mcn of vision every
sincere and good thought can be seen as a ray of light and

II4

colour flowing out from the thinker very much in the
way a wireless wave radiates from a transmitter.
  "Every thought you think is pooled and passes
into a reservoir which, being fed by each human mind,
becomes a latent or active in~uence for good--or the
reverse.
  "Everyone who fills his mind with thoughts of love and
hope and the will to serve becomes a torch bearer and sends
forth invisible rays of light and healing. On the other hand
every thought of anger, fear and selfishness adds to the
darkness and fog which have spread so dangerously around
your planet.
  "A mind that is filled with peace and the will to good
is like a beacon set on a hill, which spreads its radiance far
and wide and helps to light up the dark places in human
consciousness far beyond the immediate neighbourhood of
the thinker. 'Let your light so shine before men . . .' said
the great Master. He was referring to the light of the mind
and the spirit before which no darkness can prevail for
long.
  "There is another form of chivalry which is near to my
heart. It is the chivalry which consists of sparing a thought
for the Lord of your planet. He is responsible for controlling
life and action in the mineral and vegetable kingdoms. The
spirit of all natural things is under his direction, the
spirits of the trees and flowers of the mountains and the
valleys, the grass, the rivers and the seas and all that
grows both above and beneath the ground. Where I have
come from the Lord of the Planet is known as Sanyat
Kumara. You may know him as The Ancient of Days.
Think what difficulties he is enduring at the present
time !
CHlVALRY

r "The hand of man is bringing tragcdy and chaos to the
   world of nature by tearing minerals out of the ground and
   turning them into engines of war with which to destroy
   not only human life but all that is fair and beautiful on
   your planet. Trees are uprooted and the gifts of nature
   intended for the welfare of mankind are being converted
   into implements of death or devastation and rendered
   worse than useless.
  "The sounds of explosions which rock the earth spread
terror among the 'little people' who live upon the ground
and bcneatll it and who inhabit thc trees and rivers and the
air abovc your heads.
  "If men continue wilfully to misuse these natural gifts
in such a tragic way you must not be surprised if the green
fields and forests become deserts of sand and desolation and
if sptings and rivers dry up, if the oceans invade the land
and the earth quakes beneath your feet.
  "When you pray to God ask that you may be used to
help in spreading the Light of His Love so that the darkness
of ignorance and sin may disappear. And in your prayers,
remember the Lord of the Planet and all who work under
him in the kingdoms of nature. Ask that man may be
forgiven for the wrong he is doing to the 'little people' for
whom I plead. They wish to be your friends and helpers
and deserve better treatment at your hands than they are
rcceiving. Be chivalrous towards them in your thoughts
and actions, for they are helpless to defend themselves
against the evil that men do.
  "Howevcr, let there be no fear in your hearts, because
victory of light over darkness is assured. Remember the
great Master who said: 'I am the Light of the World.'
Follow in his footsteps and learn to draw upon his light so

II6

CHIVALRY

that you may become torchbearers in his service. Re-
member also that you are surrounded by invisible hosts of
those who are also in his service and who work under the
inspiration of the one infmite MIND.
"Their thoughts and prayers are with you."
My visitor then said goodbye and went away.
QUESTIONNAIRE



CHAPTER THIRTEEN


Questionnaire


Lang: T.P. insists that his purpose at the present time is
to release certain insights into ultimate questions for the
ordinary reader "whilst leaving occultists to fend for them-
selves". The deciding factor appears to be whether the
information has a practical, daily-life application or not.
It is, indeed, impossible to read much of this material
without being influenced in a practical everyday sense and
where this e~ect is obtained, it meets, I would guess, his
intentions.
  Yet there is a whole area of T.P.'s material which appears
to be theoretical in the highest degree; the Archangelic
Hierarchy is one example.
  There is in most of us a hunger to be told about the
worlds we believe to exist but which we lack the spiritual
organs to investigate for ourselves. Some such hunger was
regarded by Gurdjieff as one of the cosmic "sacred
impulses" which he defined as "the desire to know ever
more about the laws of world-creation and world-
maintenance". Mere curiosity was not, however, to be
confused with this cosmic striving and the merely curious
were subjected to devastating strictures.
  For those of us who fmd it very dif~cult indeed to
distinguish between a divine impulse and a personalit,v
hunger feeding on vanity, the only course would seem to
be to blunder on asking our questions and being slapped
down when necessary.
  With something of this in mind I put a number of
"ultimate" questions to T.P. Some he did not answer at
all. A few he answered as though I had asked something
quite different. A number he answered quite straight-
forwardly.
  In the belief that the average reader of this book will
have a roughly similar distillation of ultimate questions
hovering somewhere at the back of his mind, I have
illcludcd a fcw of my qucstiolls and T.P.'s replies. Hcrc
they are.



Lang: Is there a Divinity that oversees us?



W.T.P. If by "Divinity" is meant the first Came, the
primary Source of Creation and Life, the Supreme Mind,
then use of the word "oversees" in its literal sense is
inapplicable. If this word is replaced by the term "aware-
ness", then the answer would be YES. There is no kind or
form of life which does not contain within itself, to a
lesser or greater extent, an infusion of the infinite Mind
to which it owes its existence. What we mean by "over-
seeing" is embodied in the operation of primary law
instituted by the First Cause in an act promulgated before
life became embodied in form.
  My use of the word form includes qualities and attri-
butes which cannot be described in words.
  We do not know the lnlo~h~ni~~ or the methods by
which Cosmic Law is administered.
QUESTIONNAIRE

  We can only gucss at tllc way in which L)iVillC Agcncics,
Archangels, Hierarchies, Solar and Planetary "Rulers"
were conceived and constitutcd almost certainly long
before other forms of life (including the human species)
emerged.
  It can be said that in the administration of primary law
the Being who rules our planet and its interior counter-
parts does exercise "oversight" as well as awareness but he
does this in a sense which cannot be described in words.
If the Universe is governed by inviolate Law, how do we
account for the scemil~g lawlcssncss whicll to humall SCIlSC
surrounds us on every side? In what way can lawlessness
serve the requirements of primary Law? Here we are
beyond our depth, partly because we know so little about
that portion of Law dealing with cause and effect. Never-
theless, we can surmise that Law is the ultimate master even
within the illusory conditions of life in which we now find
ourselves.
  It is far beyond the comprehension of the human mind
as at present constituted to grasp what we call Absolute
Truth. For instance, we refer to the assertion that "God is
Love" as an absolute truth, but as we are unable to conceive
what the concepts "God" or "Love" embrace and signify
from the standpoint of pure reality, our speculations are
thus confmed within the limitations of a series of relative
truths, half truths and incorrect conceptions of what
"Truth" actually is.
  The human mind as at present constituted is capable only
of surveying and pursuing relative truths, whereas one
would need to stand at the point of absolute truth before
being able to analyse and value the qualities of the myriad

QUESTIONNAIRE

lcsscr "truths" set out in theology, occultism and thc
rest.
  We possess no concrete standard at present which would
give us the capacity to disentangle the countless forms of
relative truth and then discard them one by one till they
all disappear in the ocean of Truth itselÏ
  The approach of the mystic is to base his whole outlook
and with unshakeable faith on the primary concept of what
we dimly perceive as "goodness" based on law, this law
being infused with the qualities of omnipotence, omni-
science and omnipresence. If one tries to start from any
other foundation (however theoretical the above basis
m~y seem to be to finite understanding) then one can
wander endlessly in and out of the maze of relative truths
without any satisfaction and without getting anywhere
worth while.
  It is the "child" who gets into the Kingdom of Heaven
and all the wisdom of the intellectuals and the occultists
is incapable in itself of rising out of relativity into
"light".
  Anything I write, for instance, is subject inevitably to
"relative" considerations. What has been suggested as the
principal function of our planetary Ruler in relation to
Law can be said to apply in a far wider and more compre-
hensive sense to the cosmic Being in charge of the solar
system to which we belong. Any attempt to "look up
further" leads only to frustration. In my view the surmise
is fully warranted which implies that Life, both indivi-
dualised and in embryo manifesting throughout our solar
system is linked in its unfoldment and is interdependent in
its progrcss and ultimatc purpose.
  My thesis is that the First Cause, having established Law
QUESTIONNAIRE

to govem all Creation, docs not thcreafter interfere or
intervene in its operations. Awareness but not "oversight"
exercised through the Law, can be ascribed to "Deity",
but here again, such a statement can only express a
speculative point of view.



Lang: Is mankind oldcr than science thinks?



W.T.P. My OWIl bclicf is that races of me~ avc
inhabited this planet for a far longer period than can be
assessed by the discoveries of fossils and similar traces of
human habitation here. The original human species com-
pleted their cycles of existence on earth level many millions
of years ago, so far distant from us in "Time" that all
external traces of their presence have been obliterated,
even in fossilised or any other matcrial form.



Lang: What is the real constitutioll of Man?



W.T.P. This cannot be defined in words. Is the question
intended to be confined to the particular section of the
race who are in process of incamating and reincarnating
during the current Round of Evolution? Occultists speak
of each of these Rounds lasting for about 2s,ooo years of
tcrrestrial time but I would hcsitate to placc this limit on
the duration of a single Round. In considering the consti-
tution of Man it would be unwise to rule out the ~roup
soul tllesis as applied to a considerable portion of the

QUE~STIONNAIR]~

human species now among us. However, in my view such
a thesis does not indicate that the seeds, the potential of
individual identity are present in every unit within the
group soul formation, even if to a very embryonic degree.
  We speak of"man" possessing a body, a soul, a mind
and a spirit. These are only words and give no clear idea
what man actua]ly really is. To say that man is a spirit
tells us little for if we knew what spirit is we should know
what Deity is, and we do not possess this knowledge. All
one can hazard is that man, having emerged from group
soul limitations, is in himself an "I Am", an individualised
expression of life, who possesses intelligence, perception,
incentive and feeling.
  This I ~M is clothed in form, or rather in many forms
according to the particular level of his activity, within the
seven regions of being he inhabits in sequence.
  This sequence is not eternal and in due course gives way
to further and unfathomable sequences, of which we know
little. Clothing is not the man, although he cannot func-
tion without some kind of individualised form, whether
living on earth or elsewhere. Complete formlessness
belongs to a pre-Creation era about which we cannot even
speculate.
  The concept expressed by "without beginning or end-
ing" lies outside our comprehension. The physical or any
other "body" as indicated above is not the man; but the
qualities of mind, intelligence, consciousness, feeling and
incentivc are his inviolable possessions.



Lan~: Was the Incarnation ofJesus an uniquc evcnt in the
whole of human history?

IZ2                         1                         I23
QUESTIONNAIRE

W.T.P. In a certain SCIISC cach descellt of a Master or
Elder Brother into our midst is unique in its OWIl right and
in its own time.
  One cannot speak of the future but in my view Jesus
was the instrument for fulfilling a special act at a particular
moment of"time" which had not been attempted in this
Round bv any of his predecessors.
  There is a basic and master rhythm which controls and
infuses planetary life energies of every kind and form.
One could describe it as creating a central vibratory
keynote which vitalises and sustains the contillued existence
of the primary atom, from which all planetary life, how-
ever manifested, is derived, and on which it depends for
its existenc~ _
~esus' central task during his three years Ministry was
  to act as the medium for "earthing a cosmic 'current' "
  (for want of a better description) in such a way as to
  heightell and to speed up the vibratory rate and the
  rotation of the rythmic processes governing all planetary
  activities. Jesus spoke of bringing a sword with him and
  this sword was the instrument he used for carrying out
  the "earthing" process. He also spoke of bringing "Life"
  with him--that is, a renewal of our planetary life destined
  to be ushered in by a change of rhythm. All else was
  secondary but the succcssful achicvelllcllt of his task pro-
  duced such an overpowering effect upon him, that he was
  lifted above time and space and "saw" the Coming of the
  Kingdom on earth as if it were to be an imminent and not
  a long-term result of what hc had becn allowed to do.
  The current of which I speak passed through him and then
  into his sword and so into the very living soil and structure
  of the planet. Whether he was fully aware of the process

QUESTIONNAIRE

"as a man" we do not know, in the same way that it is
uncertain whether he always realised the full import of
what was said through him by the Christos.
  My surmise is therefore that his accomplishment as
I have outlined it was "unique" in method and operation
up to the point at whicll he appeared among us.



Lang: What is the Will of God for Man?



W.T.P. This should be worded di~erently. The Will
of God is concerned with life in all kingdoms and all
worlds, mankind being an infinitesimal portion of the
whole--certainly not the only portion imbued witll intel-
ligence and purpose. The Deific Will is embodied in the
primary Law established to supervise and govcrn life of
ever,v kind throughout the millions of universes llOW in
being. It is permissible to suggest that the Will of God
could be defined in part as the Divine Intention to express
Himself in ways that will ultimately provide Him with a
perfect reflection of HimselÏ
  In truth this query concerning the Will of God is
unanswerable save by HimselÏ



Lang: What can a man do to make himself sensitive to
higher influences?



W.T.P. Awareness of spiritual realitles through un-
foldment of man's perceptive faculty is a slow and arduous
QUESTIONNAIRE~

process. Books and teachers can help him along his way
provided that he learns how to select and evaluate for
himself what books and teachers try to convey. Man's
supreme Teacher in this field is to be found in the realm
of a complete stilling of the self, a conscious withdrawal
into the depths of silencc, rejcction of evcry preconceived
belief or speculation about the verities or what they are,
or from whence derived. We spend about one third of
our whole lives in sleep or in a state of comparative
quiescence. We can learn more of real value when sleeping
than when "awake" providing, by exercise of the praycr
of intention, we succeed in rousing the inner self from
sleeping too.
  Take a single problem or a single query to bed and
dwell upon it quietly and without anxiety. Then release it
from thought altogether, and pass forward into sleep in
the natural way. The response may come on awaken-
ing or it may unfold later, but if one's homework
has been well done, a response is certain and will prove
revealing.
  The stron~ desire to serve from exactly where one stands
in spiritual and other attaimnents will ensure a growing
measure of enli~htellment and vision, for in service to the
Law all things shall be added unto us.



Lang: Can you say anything about the after-death state
of the ordinary individual?



W_T.P. T ~m (-ft~n ~ckec~l t~ try t~ rl~in simply how
the change called "death" af~ects the individual. Scriptural

QUESTIONNAIRE

teachillg oll the subject is far too vague to prove of any
real service, indeed it can involve a disservice in creating
the belief that man goes straight to "Heaven" or to
"Hell", according to his deserts, so soon as he departs
this life.
  I calmot thillk of any simpler way for dealing witll this
question than by use of the following symbolism.
  On earth we are imprisoned within strong walls. These
contain narrow slits through which, by the use of our
five senses we can look out on a very restricted scene.
  At "death" these walls dissolve as the result of man's
entry into a new dimension. Imprisonment is replaced by
freedom and the five senses are absorbed into a new and
wider form of vision, action and perception.
  We take our minds and their associations with us and
therefore tend to surround ourselves for a time with
"pictures" from the past or with our preconceived ideas
about "Heavcn" and "Hell".
  Gradually the mists disperse, our new faculty of vision
and perception comes into play and we begin to realise
and enjoy our freedom and to continue our lives quite
naturally in the new state of being now surrounding us.
  Life goes forward sequentially not in a land of dreams
and shadows but in a realm more "solid", more real and
far more satisfying than we can ever experience on
earth.
  We continue to live our own lives both as individuals
and in communities, in "town" and "country" as well as
withill ourselves.
  Progress or retrogression, to use our human terms,
continues to operaLe v~ry much in the same way as is the
case whilst we are still earthbound.

I26                       1                       I27
QUESTIoNN~lRE

  In due course release from earth conditions brings a
sense of freedom and security, never experienced before,
which in itself is a joyful foretaste of Heaven. The realisa-
tion gradually dawns that Life is encompassed by Love and
the pilgrim is able to go forward cheerfully on his destined
way with deep thankfulness of spirit, milld and hcart.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN


"And With No Language But
a Cry"


W.T.P. On being summoned recently to attend a
Conference of my superiors, quite an exalted a~air in its
way, I was asked to outline what I felt to be the needs of
the hour, in special relation to the extension of human
knowledge. This request took me aback, for in comparison
with my questioner's comprehensive knowledge the value
of my views and feelings is modest indeed. I asked for the
question to be elucidated. Was it intended to refer to any
particular section of human activity: religion, politics,
social problems, metaphysics? I was told to choose which-
ever field I felt to be the most important at the present
time.
  kl the rarefied atmosphere which surrounded the
occasion, one thinks and "speaks" in a dimension beyond
our own. Therefore to translate my response into words
of any real meaning is almost impossible. The nearest I
can get to clarity is by trying to convey the essence of my
central thesis, for what it may be worth. Here it is:
  kl my view the enlightenment now so urgently needed
at human levels has nothing primarily to do with man's
external life and actions, whether in politics, theology,
economics, sociology, or ~ny other similar sphere.
  The need is for a spiritual revelation given from an

I29

~WOTG
AND WITH NO LANGUAGE BUT A CRY

authoritative source, dealing with those fundamental
questions which have remained unanswered satisfactorily,
so far as I am aware, during the whole of recorded human
history to date. These (I ventured to imply) could be
summed up as follows:

Where does man come from and where does he go from
   here?
What are the conditions and circumstances of his life both
   before his present birth on this planet and subsequent to
   his departure?
If it be true that we inhabit earth levels on more than one
   occasion, both before and after our present existence
   here, how often does this take place, from the basis of
   timelspace conditions?
How does the Law of Cause and Effect operate as applied
   to life on our planet as a whole, to nations and to
   individuals? To what extent are we each responsible
   for the whole?
If terrestrial events can be foreseen, and as predicted by the
   prophets of the past events ranging over periods running
   into thousands of years, are such events ''fixed'' and
   unalterable and beyond the influence of human action?
   If so how does the measure of man's free will which is
   said to exist, fit into the general plan?
Or in relation to such events is he merely a puppet, a
   helpless onlooker?
Is the sexual process to remain a permanent ingredient of
   human evolution?
Does the divine plan involve predestination and pre-
   determination exercised solely by the Creator?

I tried to make it clear that the average man, involved

~ND WITH NO L~NGU~~Gll BUT ~ CRY

as he is in the daily struggle for survival, rarely stops to
formulate such questions for himself. And that, in any
case, the general confusion prevalent and theoretical con-
troversies in the realms of religion and science, leave him
bewildered and depressed. I added, however, that, realised
consciously or not, man was hungering for enlightenment
in the fields of knowledge I have outlined, and without
which enlightenment human progress in an upward
direction would seem to be impossible. I spoke of the
various and conflicting answers given to these questions
hitherto by occultists and by leaders of Oriental societies
and groups, the total eff~ect of which only added to the
general confusion in men's minds. I went further, by
giving my considered view that unless authoritative en-
lightenment of the kind that I had referred to could be
provided soon, human progress would be replaced by a
period of retrogression and devolution.
  The basis of my outbursts could be summarised as
follows: "Surely the time has come in the history of the
human race when man could be helped to progress more
rapidly if provided with enlightenment on the vital and
fundamental questions which I have just placed before
you?" By this time I was alarmed at my temerity, yet
convinced that nothing but common sense underlay my
plea. Before I withdrew I was given certain reassurances
and a very gracious blessing, but on this occasion answers
to my questions were not forthcoming. I realised, of
course, that if and when such answers would become
available they would proceed from much higher sources
than those with whom I had been conferring. Whatever
the ultimate outcomc may 1,e, it seems to me that the dear
and definite voicing of our spiritual needs, at this critical
l~ND ~VITH NO L~NGUAGB BUT ~ CRY

moment, may serve a useful purpose, irrespective of the
modest status of the questioner.
  We are assured that l;b,e awakin~; soul can obtain the
spiritual knowle~ d:
within himself and in accordance with his individual nee~s.
This I believe, partly from personal experience, but the
call of the hour would seem to warrant the provision of
authoritative illumination, sufficiently tangible in expres-
sion to reach and be understood by humanity as a whole.
  We are surely entitled to insist that our knowledge of
Man's destiny and goal should now be extended to meet
our present urgencies and to help us to prepare for what-
ever Fate may hold in store? It has been customary to use
the prayer "Lighten our darkness O Lord" as a petition
only. The time has come to convert this petition into an
imperative call for enlightenment, a call to which we are
entitled to receive a speedy response.
  To dean the slate every IO~OOO years or so may serve
a Divine purpose, but as children of Divinity we surely
have the right to know at least something of the Father's
plans for His family, and how we can co-operate e~ectively
in the carrying out of these plans.

Part Three
(Servant of God)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN


The Bahá'í F~aith


Walter Lang Of all T.P.'s glimpses the most touching
and poignant for me is the story of the cloak. It is an
intensely human story and it bridges not only two thousand
years of time but it connects also many levels of a "some-
thing" of which time is, perhaps, only a part.
  Within this story there is a thread linking not only past
and present but linking also a whole continuum of ideas
which one can rarely if ever find exemplified in a tangible,
everyday aspect. The story was told in A Man Seen ASar.
In the second year of Jesus' ministry he had gone up into
the hills behind Capernaum to rescue a shepherd boy who
had lain for several days and nights after breaking a leg.
With four others Jesus reached the injured boy, who was
now only semi-conscious, but before attending to him in
any way, Jesm took off his own doak and wrapped the
injured lad in it.
  A miracle then occurred. The rough litter the others
had prepared was unnecessary. The boy stood up, quite
restored, his broken leg mended and straightened. After
arranging for one of those present to stay ~,vith the sheep,
Jesus blessed the boy and sent him home, still with Jesus'
own cloak around his shoulders. At this time the com-
munity purse was empty and Joseph of Arimathea was
abroad. That night, in bitter winter weather, Jesus was
without ~ cloak.

I 3 5
THB BAH~ I ~~ITH

  Mary Magdalene had been given a gold medallion as a
keepsake by the Roman officer with whom she was in love
and on hearing the story, Mary at once gave the medallion
to Judas asking him if he could fmd a purchaser and with
the money, buy Jesus another cloak. In ~n inn near
Capemaum, Judas met the man who appears as "I" in
A Man Seen ASar. Whether it is permissible to equate this
"I" with Tudor Pole or not is a matter that can only be
decided by a very careful and intuitive reading ofthe whole
book--and perhaps not even then. For present purposes I
refer to him simply as X, it being undcrstood that X was a
historical individual alive in Palestine at the time and on the
periphery of the Gospel events.
  Judas asked X if the medallion was marketable but X
informed him that it was not. It was a coin struck for
presentation to those receiving the Freedom of the city of
Rome and as such it could not under Roman law be sold or
bartered. X advisedJudas to return the medallion to Mary.
He then sent a servant to his Jerusalem home to fetch a
nearly new camel-hair cloak which had been given to X
by his father as a birthday present. This he gave to Judas,
suggesting that Judas should get Mary to alter it as
necessary and give it to Jesus. Some time later X saw
Jesus and noticed with great pleasure that he was wearing


  Nineteen hundred years later Tudor Pole, then a major
in the British Intelligence Service happened to be wallcing
on Mount Carmel with a very saintly man who is the
focus of this present section, Abdu'l Bahá Abbas. Noticing
that T.P. was shivering in the cold of the late autumn
evening, he removed his own camel-hair cloalc and put it

    1 ~ T~ ? 1 1 1
r~ullu l.r. s snowaers.

TH]~ BAH~ I ~AITH

  At that instant T.P. hears a whisper on the wind which
seemed to be saying: "Restitution after many days".
  It would be unwise to draw facile condusions from such
a story. But I thinlc it might also be a mistalce not to
draw any conclusions.
  The mechanism which connects our temporal existence
with a greater, timeless state is very rarely demonstrated
in an evidential way. Yet all of us at one time or another
have fleeting, half-remembered subjective experiences
which we know with great certainty belong to this
category. Very occasionally, however, do we meet an
experience told by someone else which we feel intuitively
possesses this same "touchstone" validity.
  For me this story of a cloak has this. It simply IS. It
could not have been invented. It stands outside evidence
or argument, yet strangely enough the story is not at odds
with logic if seen in terms of many of T.P.'s accounts of
what he calls the "au deld". He believes that highly-
developed souls--whom he refers to as Elder Brothers--
are responsible for arranging the genetic vehide of a
Messenger from God. (C. S. Lewis has this same idea and
presents it very simply in the dialogue of the Pendragon
in That Hideous Strength.)
  The Ruler of this planet arranges the mission of a
Messenger. Then, using a human vehicle moulded by the
loving care and perhaps generations-long guidance of
the Elder Brothers, the Ruler of the Planet asks the God-
head for the services of the Christos.
  The Ruler of the Planet is the chamlel through whom
the Christos flows to overshadow the Messenger.
  The Christos is a principle, an emanation of the God-
head. It is not subject to the experiences of the Messenger
TH]~ BAHA I FAITH

and it cannot suff~er and cannot in any way be subject to
the human situation. Thus a Messenger is overshadowed
(to a greater or lesser extent) by a divine principle for the
period of his mlssion.
  All Messengers are thus su~used with divinity either to
the extent of their capacity or to the degree required for
their mission. For T.P. this process has never taken place
more completely, with a greater surrender or effect than
in the case of Jesus. Adherents of some religions might
well accept such a thesis while reserving for their own
particular revelation thc distinctioll of havillg the most
perfect example. Islam clearly recognises a long series of
divine Messengers and accords a very high place to Jesus--
a catholicity which Christians appear unable to reciprocate.
I would think it unlikely that any ordinary individual is
qualified to arbitrate on levels of being so far above his
own. What does seem important at the present time is to
recognise that the spiritual fertilisation of humanity is a
continuous process, utilised time and time again by
Messengers from God, and while we may feel that Jesus
is the most perfect example of the process, we have surely
no right to deny that Deity enters human life at many
levels.
  To the several millions of adherents of the Bahá'í faith,
Bahá'u'lláh, a Persian nobleman who was born in Persia
ISO years ago, was a divine prophet and they believe
that he was the Messenger destined to proclaim the dawn
of a new age for the human race. For them, this Founder
was the Christ Messenger charged with the task of pro-
claiming the advent of a religious synthesis on earth.
  The Faith which he founded was regarded as heretical
by orthodox Muslims and Bahá'u'lláh and his family

TH~ BAHA I P~ITH

were exiled, first to Baghdad, later to Turkey and finally in
I868 to Akka in Palestine where he died in I892.
  For a period of forty years the family existed in condi-
tions of more or less dose imprisonment yet, in spite of
this fact, the Bahá'í Faith continued to spread. It was not
until the Young Turks Revolution of I908 that Abdu'l
Bahá Abbas, the son of the founder, and his family, were
finally freed. They then settled in Haifa. In the local
conditions existing towards the close of the First World
War, it became apparent that Abdu'l Bahá and his family
wcre in great danger. The Turkish Military commander
whose H.Q. was between Haifa and Beimt announced that
should he be compe]led by Allenby's advance to evacuate
Haifa, he would crucify the saintly Abdu'l Bahá and his
entire family on Mount Carmel.
  Tudor Pole was able to set in motion certain action
which resulted in the lives of Abdu'l Bahá and his family
being saved. He recounts the details himself in one of the
passages which follows.
  A relationship of a very intimate kind was established
between T.P. and Abdu'l Bahá. This has been referred tO
by T.P. in previous books.
  In consideration for the part which Tudor Pole played
in those days, and to meet many requests from Bahá'í
friends, T.P. has included in the present book the scripts
which now follow.





I38                        ~                        I39
CH~APTER SIXTEEN

Personal Recollections of Abdu'l
Bahá Abbas and the Bahá'í Outlook


It was at Constantinople in I908 that I first heard of a
group of Persians, known as Bahá'ís who were said to
be associated with a movement for the promotion of peace
and brotherhood among members of all religious faiths.
On further enquiry I discovered that their leader, known as
Abdu'l Bahá (Servant of God), son of the Founder of the
Movement, Bahá'u'lláh, had been a prisoner for nearly
forty years and was still confined with his family in the
fortress city of Akka in Palestine.
  A few months later news was received in London that
following the Young Turkish revolution, a general
amnesty for religious and political prisoners had been
granted and it was in this way that the head of the Bahá'í
Community regained his freedom.
  There can be few alive today who had personal con-
tact with Bahá'u'lláh, the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith;
and there can be very few Westerners Stin alive who knew
his son, Abdu'l Bahá.
  My only link with Bahá'u'lláh apart from Abdu'l Bahá
himself was the late Professor Browne, of Cambridge,
who has left a record of his meeting in the I880'S with
Bahá'u'lláh. who, after spending many years in Persim
and Turkish prisons, died in confinement at Akka in I89~.

P~RSON~L R~COLL~CTIONS OF ~BDU L BAH~ ABB~S

The impression left on Professor Browne was one of
surpassing spiritual majesty, accompanied by an aura of
holiness leaving no doubt that here one was in the presence
of a Messenger from God.
  The Coming of Bahá'u'lláh was heralded by a fore-
runner known as the Bab (The Gate), who predicted the
advent of a Prophet destined to bring fresh illumination to
the world. Bahá'u'lláh was born at Nur in Persia in I8I9.
  The primary mission of the Bahá'í Faith is to enable
every follower of earlier world beliefs to obtain a funer
understanding of the religion with which he already stands
identified and to acquire a dear apprehension of its purpose.
In modem times this will involve the emergence of a world-
wide community, a consciousness of universal citizenship
and the founding of an international language and culture.
  The Bahá'í credo is now increasingly demonstrating its
right to be recognised not as one more religious system
superimposed on the conflicting creeds which have divided
mankind for so long, but rather as a restatement of the
eternal verities underlying all religions. Its function would
seem to be that of a unifying force, instilling into the
followers of every Faith a spiritual vigour, infusing them
with a new hope and love for mankind, fixing them with
a new vision of fundamental unity and unfolding to their
eyes the noble destiny that awaits the human race.
  The basic principle enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh is that
religious truth is not absolute but relative, that~~ivine
~velation is a coptinuous and progre,ssive process, that all
the great"Faiths'are divine in origin, t~at their aims and
purposes are the same'~that their functions are comple-
mentary, and that their missions represent successive stages
m the ev~ tioll of ll~n~l societ~

                  I4I

t7 y ~ )4-r;Le ~ PDC,
P~RSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ABDU L BAHA ABBAS

  Although Abdu'l Bahá (who was always known to his
farnily, followers and friends in affectionate reverence as
"The Master") would often quote his father's sayings and
relate various incidents from his life, he never gave
descriptions of his personality, and we are told that the
pictures which have come down to us give a very poor
impression of his father's stature and dignity.
  He wished to be remembered not by his person or his
human frame, but by his teachings, and his actions. In
this respect, one is sure that Abdu'l Bahá, too, would not
wish his personality, his physical aspect, to obscure the
inspiration of his teachings and the example of his life.
I was in dose contact with him on many occasions, in
Palestine, Egypt, Paris, London and Bristol, and although
I retain a dear picture of his gracious and dignified
personality, it would not be easy to translate such a picture
into adequate words.
  The most abiding impression I received from intimate
contact with him was his immense breadth of outlook,
permeated with the spirit of deep and loving kindness.
Whatever the topic under discussion--ranging from
religion to the weather, &om sunsets to the flowers, from
ethics to personal behaviour, Abdu'l Bahá always struck
the universal note, the note of Oneness as between the
Creator and all His creation, great or small.
  There is a certain similarity between the origin of the
Christian Faith and this modem restatement of the same
eternal truths.
  As already mentioned, it was the Bab who acted as a
John the Baptist in heralding the advent of a great Teacher.
He and over 20,000 others were destined to be martyred
for their l~cliers.

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ABDU L B~~HA ABBAS

  The fundamental truths of life and conduct as pro-
claimed through Jesus have been reaffirmed in picturesque
language by the Bahá'í leaders, this reaffirmation being
worded to meet the needs of om complex modern
"civilisation". The Founders of both these Faiths possessed
outstanding powers of healing and seership. Here the
comparison ends, for Bahá'u'lláh was succeeded in his
Messianic role by his son, whereas Jesus left no single
successor behind him. The ultimate brotherhood of an
Mankind, the Oneness of Truth, the spiritual basis behind
all Religions, the appeal for the establishment of universal
peace--all these are ideals which had been proclaimcd by
previous Messengers from God.
  Like the Quakers, Bahá'ís renounce the use of force or
violence of any kind. So far as I know no attempt was
ever made to rescue their leaders from a period of
forty years of confinement in Turkish prisons. Bahá'ís
are as pacifist in outlook as the early Christians tried to
be.
  What is the special appeal voiced by Bahá'u'lláh and
his son, which has resulted in so many of their followers
the world over asserting that they are no longer Jews,
Christians, Moslems or Buddhists, as such but have become
Bahá'ís?
  The answer may well be that as each religious revelation
becomes crystallised, dogmatic and formal, the need arises
for Truth to be restated in terms that conform to the needs
of the new hour.
  This book so far as been mainly concerned with an
attempt to throw fresh light upon the life and times of
Jesus as the supreme pioneer and exponent of the Christian
ethic. This ethic has never yet been giv~n a rair llial, v~ilL
P~RSONAL RliCOLL]3CTIONS OP ABDU L BAHA ABBAS

the result that we now find ourselves in a dangerous and
parlous condition.
  To what extent can the Bahá'í and other spiritual
movements of modern times bring this ethic into practice?
It may be of some interest to set down my own frag-
mentary memories of the daily life and outlook of Abdu'l
Bahá, as I knew him, and as a man rather than as a Prophet,
not with the intention of making a comparison withJesus,
but in the hope of throwing some light upon the ways
through which important spiritual movements come into
being. Much of the material that follows is fragmentary
and may often seem trivial. Trivial incidents in a context
of this kind may, however, conceal significant lessons. I
should make it clear that, in my view, Jesus' advent in our
midst was and is a unique event in world history, an
event that is as real and availably present today as it ever
was. There can be no question of comparing the status of
the various Messengers who from time immemorial have
descended among us, each inspired by the Christ principle
in his own time and way.
  It is from this standpoint that my memories of Abdu'l
Bahá should be viewed. He was a man of great spiritual
stature and prophetic vision and I shall always cherish ~e
affection he bestowed upon me and the inspiration that
his life and example have given to me ever since he first
came into my life in I908.



  Footnote: In the East the title of "Master" is given to the
head of the family or the dan. It is also used to designate
the leaders of both secular and religious movements. It is
in this sense that I refcr to Al~du'l Bahá as the hlaster.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN


"Ye Are All the Fruits of One
rree, and the Leaves of One Branch"


In the early years of this century the problem of trans-
lation was a very difficult one, because no English linguists
were available, and the knowledge of English among those
of the Master's entourage was scanty to a degree. Only
rarely, as I have recorded elsewhere, was I privileged to
overcome this problem, when I spoke easily with the
Master in a language which surmounted the barriers of the
human tongue. I have known times when he realised
instinctively that he was being translated incorrectly and
then insisted on a fresh interpretation.
  There was an occasion in Rarnleh when one of his
Persian followers was being interviewed by newspaper
correspondents. The Master was in the next room but
within hearing distance. When asked about his Faith this
follower proudly prodaimed that he was a Bahá'í and
not a Christian. Abdu'l Bahá came into the room at this
juncture and naturally the Press reporters turned their
attention to him exclusively. One of them knew Arabic
well and was able to glean the substance of the Master's
discourse. To the surprise of most present, this consisted
of an exposition of the spiritual principles which formed
the basis for the teaching of"His Holiness the Christ".
  He made it clear that these great principles also formed
W]~ ARE ALL THE FRUITS OF ONE TREE

the foundations for the Message proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh,
but set forth in a manner most suitable for the needs of
humanity in the modern world.
  He insisted that his father had come to proclaim anew
the unity underlying all religions. He also spoke of the
danger of exclusiveness which could only lead to the
establishment of a new sect and an abandonment of all
that was best and true in Christianity and the ancient
world scriptures.
  Coffee was then served and to show his friendly
tolerance, Abdu'l Bahá accepted a cigarette from one of
the reporters, allowed it to be lighted, put it to his mouth,
and then laid it aside.
  Alas, that the full account of this very important
occasion has disappeared in the mists of time. Although of
a little less than medium height, Abdu'l Bahá made an
impression on all who met him by his dignity, friendliness,
and his aura of spiritual authority. His blue-grey eyes
radiated a luminosity of their own and his hands were
beautiful in their grace and healing magnetism. Even his
movements were infused with a kind of radiance.
  His compassion for the aged, for children and the down-
trodden knew no bounds. I remember once after he had
visited a Salvation Army refuge near the Embankment,
in London, tears came to his eyes. He could not under-
stand how a wealthy nation like Britain could allow such
poverty and loneliness in its midst. He spoke about this
to Archdeacon Wilberforce of Westminster Abbey and
to Dr. R. J. Campbell of the City Temple and he provided
a sum of money through London's Lord Mayor for the
succour of the poor and derelict, then so prominent a
feature of the London scene.

WE ARE ALL THE l~RUITS OE~ ONE TREE

  In speaking to me, he often referred to the need for
providing food and sustinence for those in want, as a
primary requisite to supplying moral and spiritual food
for the heart and for the mind.
  The famous declaration that we are all leaves of the same
Tree was a constant theme in his conversation. He would
dwell in this connection on the example of Jesus, the
over-whelming love and understanding of"His Holiness
the Christ".
  The Master's visit to America left him sad and be-
wildered. He made it clear to me that the opportunity
would be given to our Island and its people to lead the
world out of its present darkness into the light of a new
day.
  At that time, now over half a century ago, it did not
seem to me that Abdu'l Bahá envisaged the establishment
of a new and separate "Religion". All the stress of his
teaching was laid on the leavening effect of the Bahá'í
message on the religions already in existence and which
were themselves in such urgent need of spiritual regenera-
tion from within. The Master made it clear that to create
an entirely new and separate religious organisation at that
time should be resisted vigorously.
  It was on this occasion that I presented to the Master
gifts from his English friends. I had travelled from
Marseilles on a steamer called the Sphinx and intended to
return overland via. Damascm, Smyrna, Constantinople
and Vienna. My retum ticket and reservations for the
round trip were arrangcd before I left London. On arrival
at Alexandria I lost no time in visiting my revered friend
and m carrying out the commission with which I h~d
been entrusted. I speak no Persian and my knowledge of
WE ARE ALL THE FRUITS OF ONE TREE

Arabic is rudimentary, and so our conversation was
carried on through Abdu'l Bahá's grandson, acting as
interpreter. At one point the latter was called away, but
Abdu'l Bahá continued the conversation and I found
myself replying ! When the interpreter returned, my
ability to do so ceased. To make sure that I had understood
correctly, I asked for a translation of what Abdu'l Bahá
had been saying in his absence, and this confirmed the
fact that I had been able to understand and to reply
accurately in a language of which I was completely
ignorant. (This curious experience was repeated some
years later when visiting Abdu'l Bahá in Paris.)
  On returning the next day for another interview, I asked
the Master to give me his blessing for the journey that
lay ahead of me. This he did, adding casually that I should
be returning to Marseilles on the following day on the
same steamer from which I had so recently disembarked.
I then explained to the interpreter that I had made other
arrangements and that all my overland bookmgs had
been made. He replied to the effect that if the Master
said I had to return to Marseilles now, then that was what
would happen.
  I went back to my hotel in a state of considerable
annoyance because I saw no good reason for changing my
plans. During the night, a very restless one, I found myself
in two minds as to what I should do. Next morning, when
I went to say goodbye, and much to my own surprise,
I told Abdu'l Bahá that in fact I was leaving on the Sphinx
for MarseilIcs later on that same day. He took this for
granted and then requested me to carry out a commission
for him on reaching Paris. He said that there I should meet
a certain Persian student who was nearly blind, and he

WE ~RE ALL THE FRUITS OF ONE TREE

gave me ~~;IO in gold to pay his fare to Alexandria.
(Travelling was much cheaper in those days !) I was to tell
this young man, whose name was Tammadun ul Molk,
to lose no time and to present himself to his Master as
soon as he arrived. I accepted this commission with very
bad grace because it seemed a poor reason for upsetting
all my previous plans. When I asked for the student's
address in Paris I was told that this was unknown but
that a way would be found for bringmg me into contact
with him.
  On reaching Paris I went to the Persian Consulate, only
to fmd that Tammadun ul Molk was unknown to the
officials there. I then visited the student's quarter on the
left bank of the Seine and spent the whole day there and
elsewhere in a task that yielded no results whatever.
When one's mind is fearful or depressed, no interior
guidance can be expected. This I have found to be true
on many occasions throughout my life. In the present
instance I gave up the search and set out for the Gare du
Nord, where my luggage was already deposited in readi-
ness for the retum to England. En route I crossed the Seine
by the Pont Royal. Happening to look across the bridge
to the opposite pavement, I saw, among a crowd of
pedestrians, a young man, evidently of Eastem origin,
who was using a stick to tap his way along. I dodged
through the traffic and accosted him. In reply to my
question, he told me he was of Persian origin. I then
enquired whether by chance he knew a certain Tammadun
ul Molk. In surprise he replied "C'est moi", adding that
he had only arrived in Paris from Vienna that very
morning. Ln a Vienn~ clinic three ceriollc ~rer~tinnc ~ n
his eyes had been undertaken, but the results were negative

I49
WE ARE ALL THE FRUITS OP ONE TREE

and he had bcell told by thc surgcon that his sight could
not be saved.
  I then gave Abdu'l Bahá's message and the ÏIo for his
ticket to Alexandria. To watch the profound joy on his
face was more than sufficient reward for all my previous
disappointments, including the abandonment of my
European tour. Tammadun duly reached Alexandria and
visited his Master at once. Those present told me later
that Abdu'l Balla poured a few drops of attar of roses into
a glass of water. He then gave the youth his blessing whilst
anointing his eyes with the water in question. Immediately
full sight was restored, and when I met Tammadun some
years later he was still enjoying perfect vision.
  The further sequel was both significant and instructive.
I crossed to England late that night and, on reaching my
office the next day, discovered that I was only just in time
to avert a very serious crisis in my affairs. The change in
my plans had indeed tumed out to be a blessing in disguise.
  On many other occasions the prophetic insight of the
Bahá'í leader was made clear to me. As an instance of this,
I recall that when visiting him at Haifa, just after the
Armistice in November I9I8, I spoke of the thankfulness
we all must feel that the war "to end all wars" had been
fought and won. He laid his hand upon my shoulder and
told me that a still greater conflagration lay ahead of
humanity. "It will be largely fought out in the air, on all
continents, and on the sea. Victory will lie with no one.
You, my son, will still be alive to witness this tragedy
and to play your part. Beyond and following many
tribulations, and through the beneficence of the Supreme
One, the most great peace will dawn." He always em-
phasised the need for unity through love to bring about

     WE ARE ALL THE FRUITS OF ONE TREE

friendly understanding between followers of every creed,
irrespective of race, colour or social status. (Extract from
The Silent Road, Neville Spearman Ltd., London.)
THI~ P~LL OEI HAIP~




CHAPTER EIGHTEEN


The Fall of Ha~fa and the
Safeguarding of Abdu'l Bahá and

~
nts ramtly


k must have been in the early spring of I9I8 that I began
to feel acute anxiety for the safety of Abdu'l Bahá and his
family and followers in Haifa. I came out of the line in
December I9I7 during the attack onJerusalem, and being
temporarily incapacitated for active service, was trans-
ferred to Intelligence, first at Cairo and later at Ludd,
Ja~a and Jerusalem.
  Early in March I9I8 information reached me from our
own espionage service that the Turkish Commander-in-
Chief, whose headquarters was then between Haifa and
Beirut, had stated his definite intention to take the lives
of Abdu'l Bahá and those around him should the Turkish
Army be compelled to evacuate Haifa and retreat north.
  With an advance base in and around Jaffa, we were
beginning to prepare for a move towards Haifa at that
time. For several reasons, induding shortage of men and
munitions, our advance was to be delayed well into the
summer of I9I8. Meanwllile, tlle news reaclling me
personally concerning Abdu'l Bahá's imminent danger
became more and more alarming. I tried to arouse interest
in the matter among those who were responsible for
Intelligence activities (including General Clayton, Sir
Wyndham Deedes, and Sir Ronald Storrs--who had
recently been appointed Govemor ofJerusalem), and my
own chief, Major-General Sir Arthur Money (Chief
Administrator of Occupied Enemy Territory). None of
them knew anything about Abdu'l Bahá, nor could they
be made to realise the urgent need to ensure his safety.
  At this time chance brought me into touch with a
senior officer whose social and political connections were
strong. Through his courtesy and interest I was enabled
to get an urgent message through--uncensored--to the
British Foreign Office in London.
  Through friends associated with the Bahá's cause in
England, and an influential member of my own cirde,
an independent avenue of approach to the ruling powers
was discovered and utilised.
  By these means Lord Balfour, Lord Curzon, Lloyd
George, Lord Milner and others in the Cabinet were
warned of the critical situation at Haifa. Lord Lamington's
influence proved of special help at this time. The outcome
of these various activities bore good fruit, and a Cabinet
despatch was sent to General Allenby instructing him to
ensure the safety of Abdu'l Bahá and his family and
entourage so soon as the British Army captured Haifa.
  This despatch passed through my hands in Cauo en
route for Army H.Q. at Ludd and it was immediately
passed on to be dealt with by the Staff there. No one at
Headquarters had heard of Abdu'l Bahá or of the Bahá'í
Movement, and Intelligence officials at Cairo were re-
quested to make urgent enquiry. In due course this demand
for information reachf~l me and ultimately (when othcr
enquiries had proved fruitless) was passed to me for action.
THB P~LL OF H~IPA

  As a result, General Allenby was provided with full
particulars of Abdu'l Bahá's life and an account of the
movement of which he was the leader.
  Allenby then issued orders to the General in command
of the Haifa operations to the effect that immediately the
town was entered, a British guard should be posted around
Abdu'l Bahá's house, and a further guard placed at the
disposal of his family and followers. Meanwhile, we found
ways of making it known within the enemy lines that
stem retribution would follow any attempt to cause death
or injury to Abdu'l Bahá or to any of his household.
  I have no doubt that this warning played an important
part in averting tragedy. So soon as Haifa was captured,
the instmctions for posting a guard were immediately
carried out, and all danger to the lives of the Master and his
family was averted.
  It is not possible to say for certain whether disaster
would have resulted otherwise, but as the town was full
of Turkish spies for some time after its capture (many of
whom knew of the Turkish Commander-in-Chief's firm
intention to massacre Abdu'l Bahá and his family) action
with this end in view might have been successfully
attempted, were it not for the precautions which I have
described above.
  The honour and protection shown to the Bahá's leader
at that time were greatly appreciated by him, and this
gave considerabk help to British prestige in Persia and
elsewhere in the Middle East. He told me this himself.
  It was a wonderful experience in the midst of the chaos
of war to visit the Master at his Mount Carmel home,
which even at that time remained a haven of peace and
refreshment.

THB P~LL OP H~IP~

  I well remember him, majestic yet gentle, pacing up and
down the garden whilst he spoke to me about eternal
realities, at a time when the whole material world was
rocking on its foundations. The power of the spirit shone
through his presence, giving one the feeling that a great
prophet from Old Testament days had risen up in a war-
stricken world, to guide and inspire all who would listen
to hlm.
TH~ M~STI~R ~S ~ Sl~}~R



CHAPTER NINETEEN


rhe Master as a Seer


More than once in the presence of Abdu'l Bahá I was able
to glimpse the extent to which he could see the future--
not merely in the working of a single life but also in the
broad sweep of history.
  He not only predicted the outbreak of the first world
war to me in I9IO but, in fact, indicated the whole course
of the twentieth century. kl a letter which I sent from
Egypt at that time to a friend in Scotland I wrote as
follows:
  "The Master states definitely that regeneration and social
and moral progress will take place in Persia and that this
country will ultimately become a free and constitutionally
governed nation of considerable prestige. He told me that
Britain had done much of real value and importance for
the welfare of India and Egypt, but he anticipated never-
theless a world-wide upheaval, to be preceded by a
European war, probably within the next five years. This,
he said, nothing can avert.
  "It would appear that the seeds for this grave conflict
have already been sown in the Balkans. It is evident that
we are to expect in our own lifetime a lengthy period of
wars and revolutions embodying what could be inter-
preted as becoming the Armageddon prophesied to take
place at the end of this present age or dispensation.
  "Whilst the Master seems entirely confident that the

I S6

coming of'The Most Great Peace', accompanied by world-
wide brotherhood, is destined to come into being follow-
ing this long period of Armageddon, the date of such a
consummation cannot be foretold.
  "It was during this visit that the Master gave me his
blessing and allowed me to understand that the time would
come when I should be destined to play a particular role in
human affairs, without, however, specifying in detail the
direction in which my mission would lie . . ."
  While the I9I4I8 war was still being fought Abdu'l
Bahá was able on more than one occasion to reassure his
followers about the outcome of local events.
  During the British advance from the south in I9I8, field
batteries had been placed in position immediately to the
south east of Mount Carmel, the intention being to shell
Haifa at long range over the Mount itself. Some of the
Bahá'ís living on the Mount becommg agitated, went to
Abdu'l Bahá's home to express their alarm According to
an eye witness of this scene (from whom I obtained the
story when I reached Haifa), Abdu'l Bahá calmed all fears
and called his followers to prayer. Then he assured them
that all would be well, and that no British she]ls would
cause death or damage to Haifa itself or to those living
there. As a matter of historical fact, it turned out that the
range of the field batteries in question proved inaccurate,
the shells passing harmlessly over the town and falling into
the Bay of Akka beyond.
  Another incident of those times is worthy of record,
although I am not able to vouch for its accuracy at first
hand. I was told by a reliable witness that before the fall of
Haih, Abdu'l Bahá was discussing the British campaign
with those around him. He then predicted that, contrary to
THB MASTER AS A SBER                      I                     TH~
MAST~R AS A S~ER

the general expectation, the taking of Haifa and the walled
town of Akka would be achieved almost without blood-
shed. This prediction was borne out by events. He also
stated that the Turks would surrender the fortress town
of Akka (supposed to be impregnable) to two unarmed
British soldiers. The facts so far as I was able to gather
turned out to be as follows:
  After our entry into Haifa, the front line was pushed
forward halfway across the Bay of Akka, and outposts
were placed in position on the sands of the Bay some five
miles from Akka itself Akka was believed to be filled
with Turkish troops at this time.
  Very early next morning two British Army Service
men, who had lost their bearings in the night, found
themselves at the gates of Akka, believing erroneously that
the town was already in British hands. However, the
Turkish rearguard troops had been secretly evacuated some
hours earlier, and the Mayor of the town, seeing British
soldiers outside the gates, came down and presented them
with the keys of the town in token of surrender!
  It was at about this time that the Master and I talked
over the steps then being taken to prepare a home for the
whole kwish people in Palestine. Currently I was deeply
concemed about the probable fate of long existing
Christian settlements in Palestine.
  This concem was shared by the Master but he never
allowed himself to become involved in political issues.
The comment he made at the time, however, struck me
with great force, and it is a tragedy that his words went
unheeded both then and since. This is what he said: "The
wodd of humanity owes to theJews a homestead of their
CJWIL L~lnose WhO are respons~6Ie for kindling the flame
in this new hearth see to it that the heat warms and
does not scorch both friends and neighbours alike."
If such wisdom had been heeded we could have averted
the wars and persecutions that have proved so tragic a
feature of the birth and stormy history of the State of
Israel.
THE PRISON HOUS~ OF ST. Je~N D ~CRE




CHAPTER TWENIY


The Prison House of St. Jean
D'Acre
(extract from a letter written in November I9I8)


I have just visited the prison house of Bahá'u'llall and
spent some time in the company of Abdu'l Bahá and his
family.
  How often have I pictured myself in these surroundings.
I have longed to be here ever since those distant days in
I908 when I first heard of the Bahá'ís and their Master.
  A long stone stairway leads up to the living rooms in
this prison house where Bahá'u'lláh spent the last portion
of his life and where his son was confincd until his release
in I908. The stairway is worn thin by the feet of the
countless pilgrims who have passed up and down for so
many years.
  The Master was standing at the top waiting to greet me,
with that sweet smile and cheery welcome for which he
is famous. For the seventy-four years of his life Abdu'l
Bahá has lived in the midst of tragedy and hardship, yet
nothing affects his cheery optimism, spiritual insight and
keen sense of humour. He was looking a little older than
when I saw him seven years ago but certainly more
vigorous than when in England after his exhausting
Amencan tour.
  His voice is as strong as ever, hls eyes clear, his step
virile; his hair and beard are (ifpossible) more silvery white
than before. He is delighted to welcome the change of
regime, but I could detect a tragic note, for, if the British
occupation had happened earlier he would still have felt
young enough to travel throughout the Near and Middle
East spreading his hther's message. Bahá'í proselytising
has never been allowed (by A.B.) in the Turkish Empire
and now the Master is too old to stir far from his home on
Mount Carmel. He still spends a few weeks now and again
in the Akka prison house, that has recently become his
property.
  After lunch he drove me out to the garden tomb of
Bahá'u'lláh about two miles from the city. His loving
reverence for his father is unbounded. He approached the
tomb in complete silence, praying with bowed head, a
wonderfully venerable figure in his white turban and
flowing robe. On reaching the portal to the Tomb itself,
the Master prostrated himself at full length and kissed the
steps leading to the inner chamber. There was a majestic
humility about the action defying description. I, with my
Anglo-Saxon stolidity, could not fmd courage enough to
follow his example in front of the Persian believers stand-
mg by.
  We then took tea in the garden and A.B. told many
stories about Bahá'u'lláh--his superhuman endurance, his
courage and his noble teaching. When we returned to
Akka, the Persian colony, comisting of perhaps thirty-five
persom, had assembled and we sat round the room drink-
ing tea, whilst A.B. described his visit to my home in
Clifton and spoke of the people he had met there.
I then left to pay my respects to Major Beaumont, the
Military Governor, curious to discover what he knew

I60                         1                        I6I
6--WOT~
TH~ PRISON HOUSE OP ST. JEAN D ~CRE

of, and felt about the greatest religious personage in Asia
today.
  The Governor was much occupied with a demonstration
he was arranging for the morrow in celebration of world
peace. A band was coming, the notables of Akka were to
process round the town, and the Governor would then
acknowledge cheers and make a speech from the balcony
of the Town Hall. A notable occasion for Akka and its
people freed after so many hundreds of years from the
harsh Turkish yoke !
  I enquired whether Abdu'l Bahá had been invited to the
function. "Do you mean Abbas Effendi? Well, no, I don't
think we've asked him. Perhaps he should have an
invitation!"
  The man who has worked night and day for over fifty
years to propagate the ideals of world peace and brother-
hood, whose devoted followers number several million,
whose cause is doing so much to lessen rcligious discord
in the East--this man had not even received an invitation
to take part in the peace celebrations of his native town!
This is because (as it turned out) his name did not appear
on the list of local notables prepared by the municipal
authorities for the guidance of the Governor !
  "A prophet in his own country without honour" with
a vengeance! I expressed mild surprise (the shock had
driven indignation from me) and an invitation was duly
despatched. I then returned to the prison-house and spent
the evening with the Master, supping with him and
answering his questions about the new Palestine admini-
stration. I slept in the room next to A.B.'s (which had
been his hther's before him).
  These were simple attics with stone floors and practically

THE PRISON HOUSE OF ST. JEAN D ACRE

no furniture. A.B. still gives away all possessions and lives
the life of poverty himself Before breakfast the house was
filled with believers who had come to receive the morning
blessing. I had brought A.B. letters from many parts of
the world, and he spent the morning in dictating replies
for me to take away.
  At lunch we had another heart-to-heart talk during
which the Master referred to the truth that to human sense
a life of service and integrity should not end in sorrow and
distress, but it should merge naturally into to a wider
world with joy and thanksgiving. I think he was referring,
to a large extent, to those who, in doing their duty in
wars and revolutions, had seemingly left earth life before
their allotted span.
  He then spoke of the oneness of Life, the ultimate
victory over "death", that last enemy, which will be
defeated when mankind conquers sin, selfishness and fear,
and learns to reflect the light and love of the one Creator
of us all.
  The point of particular interest in connection with this
experience was this. I understand and speak no Persian,
and only a little Arabic. The Master spoke in Persian
and no interpreter was present. It was only later on,
when we were joined by others (one of whom spoke
English) that I realised with ama~ement that I had under-
stood all that he had been saying, and that it had seemed
quite natural to have done so.
  Soon after lunch came the leave taking and the Master's
blessing. He sent greetings by me to all his friends in
Egypt, Europe, England and America. As I drove off on
my return to Haifa, I caught a parting glimpse of him,
staffin hand, wending hi~ way througll ta~ le slullls on

I62                                                  I63
TH~ PRISON HOUS~ OF ST. JEAN D ACRE

his way to attend the local peace celebrations. Seen in his
own eastem surroundings, he stands out a majestic figure,
simple, wise beyond words, inspired--a fitting leader of
a movement destined to influence the religious future of
the world !
  And here I am again on Mount Carmel writing this
letter with the moonlit sea before me. I have paid my visit
to the Govemor of Haifa and tomorrow am free to explore
the Mount, to visit the Tomb of the Bab. A.B. himself will
not retum here for another week. He is helping to solve
religious problems that have arisen in tlle Akka area as the
result of the British occupation.
  Though by no means a fanatic, I am bound to say that
my visit to these places, sacred to Bahá'u'lláh and his son,
have deepened my conviction that the Bahá'í movement
has an important part to play in the religious regeneration
of the world, and especially the Eastem world.
  In Abdu'l Bahá's presence, one became aware--dimly
perhaps, but surely--of that serene security which comes
from an understanding that One Mind embraces the whole
universe, and that we are all brothers within this universe
and are etemally at one with the Mind which controls it.
Such a truth, familiar as it is to all religions, seems to be a
far cry from our daily experience, but this practice of the
Master to align all experience to a universal concept re-
mains with me as the keynote to his life and teaching. I
suppose it is inevitable that we should descend from the
heights of such a concept, and slip back into the confines
of sects, dogmas and conflicting organisations. As a result,
the universal note is lost, and the realisation of the Father-
hood of God and the Brotherhood of all men becomes dim
and mythlcal.

THE PRISON HOUS~ OF ST. J~AN D ACRE

  It is easier to become nearer to this truth in silence rather
than in speech. In the deeps of silence, we are all one, and
it is through interior stillness that knowledge of our
oneness with the Creator reaches us. It has been truly said
that the voice of silence carries infinitely farther than the
loudest cry. Such a union as this can never be ours except
in silence, and through stillness and deep prayer and
meditation we can begin to comprehend the meaning of
nfinity and of that one Mind in which we all live and
move and have our being.
  On looking back aftcr so many years havc passcd, to
those times when I was privileged to know Abdu'l Bahá
in bodily form, perhaps the most unfading memory left
can be summed up by these two words: Unity and Silence:
and it is not a far cry, in reality, to translate these two
words into Love and Wisdom--Unity the outcome of
Love and Wisdom the outcome of Silence.



  Footnote: Further information about the Bahá'í Teaching
can be obtained from the Bahá'í Trust, 27 Rutland Gate,
London, S.W.7.
VISION ON THE MOUNT




CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE


Vision on the Mount
(on the evcliing of I8th of November I9I8)


I was staying at the German Hospice on Mount Scopus
overlooking the Mount of Olives. The moon was nearly
full; a silvery grey mist crept up from the Jordan Valley,
hiding the Mountains of Moab and the Dead Sea. The air
seemed full of mystery. I retired early and sat out on my
balcony. For a time my mind was full of the problems up
for discussion that day; the political future of Damascus;
the attitude of Lebanese Druses; the ever-present Jewish
problems in Palestine; the situation at Beirut, and so on
indefinitcly. Soon all these thoughts vanislled and then,
as I gazed out upon the silver sea that surrounded the
Mount, I saw Jesus walking on the "waves". When is
vision actual? Who can tell? It was the Master of two
thousand years ago; his eyes were full of light and he
seemed to be watching, prophetically, the growth and
spread of the Illumination he had come into the world to
radiate . . . he seemed sad, yet full of hope and even fiery
optimism; the first page of the Christian era was opening.
And then the silvery mist rose around him and I saw no
more, but later, as I was going to bcd, Jesus stood upon
the Mount and wept. It was the same figure, yet not
the same, for two thousand years had nearly passed
away and the ~ook of the Christian Era was open in his
hands, open towards the last page. I cannot describe the
effect upon me of this vision of divine tragedy. The
pages of the Book seemed to turn before my eyes, back,
back through the centuries. And many pages were so
black and the Christ spirit seemed to become diim as the
pages turned, backward, forward, until again was shown
the terrible writing on the last pages. When it seemed as
if all were over and that a pit of darkness yawned before
his feet, suddenly a new divine radiance descended around
him and he was caught up in a cloud of flame that seemed
to bathe the whole world in the glorious hues of sunrise.
I wonder what it all meant; Is the new Era on its way?
Are there many Saviours coming to our rescue, or only
One?

167

EPILOGUE


God is Love?


Many good and thoughtful Christians earnestly desire to
believe in a God of infinite love, despite the apparent fact
that this all powerful Being appears to allow and to tolerate
pain, cruelty and injustice in human affairs. Theology does
not appear to have ever equipped itself to explain this age-
old conundrum, or to discover the key to its solution.
  "God" is depicted by so many of our teachers as a kind
of super human "man" who doles out His blessings to the
minority He favours, and subjects the rest of us to pain,
sorrow and despair.
  Finite understanding is incapable of equating this seem-
ing paradox, yet ~ believe that clues are available.
  Our quest for enlightenment is unlikely to make pro-
gress so long as we regard the creative Source of the
myriads of universes which are known to exist, as if He
were a person, a kind of gigantic individual, capable of
being everywhere at the same time. Even to our finite
understanding such a conception makes no sense. On the
other hand, if we try to define the supreme Creator as a
Principle, the principle underlying all Life, Love and
Wisdom, there is the danger that we may think of "God"
in terms of a machine rather than as a supreme, eternal and
omnipresent Mind. Whilst we shrink from the idea of
olIe~ g ollr love and our prayers to a machine, we can
perhaps grasp the conception of a universal Intelligence,
permeating the whole of Creation and through whom the
principles of Life, Love and Wisdom manifest unceasingly.
  Whilst this Intelligence can be conceived as a Father
figure, it is wise to remember that there is no manifestation
of life and mind which does not contain within itself the
Divine attributes of the Godhead.
  Should you agree with me so far, then you will probably
accept the thesis that God the supreme Principle has
provided Man with a certain measure of free will, and
access at all times to the ability to receive and utilise His
love to the full extent of our various capabilities and our
win to God.
  This Love, under human conditions, can only operate
through us as its channel of activity. This is my firm belieÏ
Used rightly it can ultimately solve all our human prob-
lems: destroy famine and wars, disease, injustice, sorrow,
pain and cruelty in every form. But only through us as its
medium of manifestation.
  "God" does not pour out His beneficence like rainfrom
the skies, intermittently, extemally and hapha~ardly. This
Beneficence can only operate THROUGH US, both as in-
dividuals and communities. There is enough of it and to
spare to solve all our problems, if we we the gift of free
will rightly.
  Surely it stands to reason that to the extent that the
creative Principle grants a measure of free will to His
"children" to the same extent does He limit the exercise
of His Omnipotence in their affairs? (An instance of trans-
fer of power from the Creator to the created.) To regain
absolute Omnipotence it would be necessary for God to
deprive man of his free will altogether. No doubt this could
happen should we abuse the power we possess beyond a

169

prescribed and fore-determined limit of divine toleration.
(A return to the stage of robots.?)
  It is not God who tolerates and condones this world's
woes but we ourselves, because we do not use the ever-
flowing bounty of Love in our own lives and actions.
  In this respect, God cannot operate behind our backs or
against the free will which is our heritage.
  For the reasons given above it is surely true to believe
that God cannot intervene over our heads and put the
world right INDEPENDENTLY of our willing co-operation?
  To take concrete examples.
  There is ample air, light and water ERI~ELY available to
us (subject to the adequate redistribution of the latter) to
enable man to convert all this planet's desert areas into
fruitful granaries. Even as matters stand today, given
proper and rapid distribution, there are enough foodstuf~s
available to banish famine everywhere. And in regard to
the population explosion, we have the power and the
means to bring this dangerous situation under control.
Indeed, if we do not do so, Nature will take a hand and
bring about decimation in her own, and in fact, seemingly
cruel way, mainly through the propagation of killing
diseases on a world-wide scale.
  In order to halt the crumbling of the moral standards
of om modern civilisation, a revision of priorities, long
overdue, is URGENT. It is estimated, for instance, that less
than half the money and energy spent on moon and spatial
probes would have proved sufficient to rid our planet of
famine altogether. The immense expenditure to date on
the stockpiling of nuclear weapons (many of them already
out of date), would have proved suffiaent, if used con-
structively, WITH SPIRITUAL INTENT, to have transformed

EPILOGUE

the world for the better, beyond our most optimistic
dreams. Here are instances where the choice has been ours
to make.
  Omnipotence? Yes, but (so far as our planet is con-
cemed) THROUGH the agency of human channels, aided
by those unseen Christ inspired Beings and Energies who
are always ready to hear and to respond to our call. Man
himself contains within himself the seeds of omnipotence
and salvation. To think otherwise is to refuse our birth-
right and to negative its very existence.

  The fundamental question that remains and to which we
humans can give no satisfying answer is this: How can a
"God", the Creator of perfection, visualise Life forms
which can become subject to imperfection?
  Inevitably we are now in the regions of surmise. At
some point in the very distant past it would seem that a
hitch took place in the orderly advance of the evolutionary
process. As a result, and probably for lengthy periods,
devolution stepped in. The seeds of evolution appear to
have been stamped underground, but their germinating
power, although stagnant during this very lengthy period,
has never become sterile.
  Human reasoning at its present stage of comprehension,
is bound to postulate the thesis that what we call the Fall
of Man into matter did actually take place. We cannot
prove this belief and it is useless to try to do so. What I
for one DO believe, however, is that we are now at a point
in human history where the devolutionary process is being
gradually halted, and is about to be turned in a progressive
direction once more.

Let us pray that this is so, and work for it . . .
  YES, GOD IS LOVB. And we can prove it--The more love
we reflect and share with one another, the greater will be
the supply available to us: a supply that is infinite, bound-
less, never failing and etemal.
  When the truth of this realisation is recognised and
utilised we shall be on the first lap of the road leading to
the arrival of "Heaven on Earth".
  May God speed the day !
  Since The Silent Road was written, it has been drawn to
my attention that certain Bahá'í Institutions were estab-
lished by Bahá'u'lláh in Persia during His lifetime, and
that the Master had prepared an outline of the world admin-
istrative order set forth in His written Testament. This is
not incompatible with what Abdu'l Bahá conveyed to me,
as Bahá'ís regard their Faith as the perennial Religion of
God in its latest form. The Faith had then reached the stage
similar to early Christianity, when the distinction between
Jewish and Christian organisation and adherents was not
yet apparent. The passing of Abdu'l Bahá ended the
"Heroic Age", and in this subsequent "Formative Age",
the distinction between those who adhere to this Faith and
those who do not, again becomes apparent, as those
institutions envisaged by Bahá'u'lláh and elaborated by the
Master are established, Bahá'ís believe that the Local and
National Assemblies, and the Universal House of Justice
now formed, is the divinely appointed framework for
building World Unity and peace, prophesied by Jesus,
The Christ, when He said, "and there shall be One Fold
and One Shepherd".

***


[DUST JACKET COMMENTS FROM
"WRITING ON THE GROUND"]

A Man Seen Afar
Wellesley Tudor Pole and Rosamond
Lehmann, with a Foreword by Sir George
Trevelyan, BA, MA
In this book Mr Wellesley Tudor
Pole (Author of The Silent Road)
submits what purports to be memories
of the life and times of Jesus the
Christ.
To quote from certain passages in Sir
George Trevelyan's foreword, when they
came they conveyed to Mr Tudor Pole
the conviction that they were true and
real; also that the unexpected sudden-
ness of their coming into his mind was an
indication that they came for a purpose
and should therefore be shared with
others. In doing so he takes the risk of
being regarded as a dreamer; but for
his part he believes, in all humility, that
these records and recollections are
emphatically not the product of delusive
fantasy, but of imagination in its true
sense: that is, an entry by pictorial
into a higher frequency--a
world of reality and Being beyond the
limitation of the five senses.
These memories are an example of
something developing today in human
consciousness. There is a new under-
standing of the truth that the spiritual
realms absolutely interpenetrate the
physical; or rather there is a re-discovery
of the Ancient Wisdom which was
taught to candidates for Initiation in the
Mystery Temples.
It is not of primary significance whether
the author is remembering his personal
experiences or 'reading' those of other
souls with whom he was connected in
time past. What matters is the possi-
bility that we are here given direct pictures
of the life of our Lord.
Rosamond Lehmann's function and
share in the preparation of this book is
explained in her introduction and else-
where. Taking her title from a line of a
poem by William Blake she says: 'Not
unlike William Blaket he combines
simplicity, warmth of nature and astrin-
gent humour with intellectual vigour;
his mysticism, like Blake's, is practical
and joyous'.
For our part, we say without hesitation
that this is our most remarkable and
important book in fifteen years of pub-
lishing experience         16s net

ALSO BY WELLESLEY TUDOR POLE

THE SILENT ROAD

IN THE LIGHT OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

'Some of the experiences are almost unbelievable . . . A most
interesting book that will do an enormous amount of good.'
Dr. Raynor Johnson

In this unusual, thought-provoking and, at times, controversial
book the author tells the reader in his foreword that it 'should
be read with a mind free from pre-
conceived ideas or set opinions'.
Major W. Tudor Pole certainly throws new light on a number of
important topics. Sex is discussed from a standpoint that may be
quite new to many people in this day and age. The hoary question
of God and Evil also comes under the spot
light and the author comes up with a controversial answer that will
rock orthodox beliefs, but certainly demands close attention and
unbiased thought.
The author's personal experiences described in these pages are
varied, illuminating and always intriguing. You will read about
. . . The doctor who left his body in Britain while he visited
Major Tudor Pole Iying ill in a houseboat on the Nile.
. . . How through the gift of 'prevision' the author was able to
change a certain verdict of 'guilty' to one of 'not guilty' in a
manslaughter case.

There is so much of absorbing interest. Each chapter is a little
gem in itself - a separate entity, dealing with some aspect of the
mind, be it clairvoyance, precognition, dreams, memory or
imagination. Nevertheless, all are connected for they
are different facets of the whole.
Second Impression. 16s. net


           PRIVATE DOWDiNG

'To me it seems a very wonderful thing that this book should have
come to birth at all. There is a breadth of vision in it worthy of
a great thinker, and a style which                               
stamps it as literature.' Max Pemberton  .
A plain record of the after-death experiences of a soldier killed
in battle and some questions on World issues answered by the
Messenger who taught him wider                                   
Truths.
Private Dowding was first published in 1917 and immediately ran
through four impressions. It was not reprinted again until 1943.
Here, now, is a new edition by the author of two remarkable later
books, The Silent Road, and A Man Seen Afar. 
12s. 6d. net

                                                                 
NEVILLE SPEARMAN LIMITED
112 Whitfield Street, London W.1 
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forthcoming titles


Also by W. Tudor Pole
Writing on the Ground                                           


In the opinion of many, the insights revealed by Wellesley Tudor
Pole in his previous books, The Silent Road and A Man Seen Afar
established him as a seer n~~
possessing capacities of an order altogether diflerent from what
is ordinarily understood by clairvoyance.                        

In this book he amplifies, again through the faculty of 'extended
memory', some of the glimpses of Jesus already given.
He believes that at certain moments of his life, Jesus, though
seemingly involved in ordinary everyday events, was in reality
acting as the instrument of cosmic forces. Though such events may
be recorded in the Gospels, their significance was unseen at the
time and has gone unrecognised for two thousand years.
One such event in particular, the "writing on the ground', involved
a cosmic decision that will aflect not only the possible future of
humanity but of life on this planet.                             

Tudor Pole believes that the impulse of spiritual renewal is not
a 'once and for all' event but is a continuous process, and he
suggests that in the life of Bahá'u'lláh,
founder of the Bahá'ís, and his son Abdu'l-Bahá, the continuity of
the process can be glimpsed.
Though such a noumenal process is forever beyond description in
three-dimensional terms, connections between the Gospel events, the
Bahá'í activity and our situation today are clearly suggested and
the discerning reader may well arrive at an understanding that goes
beyond what could be conveyed in words.
Tudor Pole believes that a new impulse of renewal is imminent and
that the energies associated with this event are already flowing
into human life. Such a flow of higher energies does not
automatically presage a golden age. Such energy is in a real sense
'neutral' and may be used by man for good or ill. We stand at a
moment of opportunity or disaster.                               
21s. net