Kazu Tanaka and Echan Deravy, colleagues of Yukinori Mutsuhito, our Cosolargy representative to Japan, visited the Community during the 2014 Annual Convocation of Cosolargy International. Mr. Tanaka is Chairman of the Kakuichi Corporation, and Mr. Deravy a Consultant to the President of that company. Both were here to participate in Convocation events, experience Sonatherapy at Steamboat Healing Center, and gather information and general understandings about vibrational healing technology.

Echan Deravy will be participating in Cosolargy International’s Conference on the Spiritual State of the World to be held in Japan during May 2015.

His impressions in regard to the October 12, 2014 Divine Service held at Red Rock Consecrated Sanctuary are described in a recent article posted at Japanthropolgist.com by Echan Deravy. Here is how it opens:

“This was an auspicious day beyond question. It was Sunday October 12th 2014 and somehow I was waking up at 04:50 in the most unlikely of places – a casino-cum-hotel in Reno, Nevada. It was clearly full of some of the strangest beings I have ever encountered. Now I say this without any tongue in cheek. I say this with fierce Celtic exactitude. The hotel was full of beings who appeared to be human but whose bodies and actions unfortunately suggested something else entirely. I had arrived perhaps in that Buddhist underworld called the ‘realm of hungry ghosts’..

“Their gargantuan forms lumbered from one noisy, toy-like structure to another where they seemed (to themselves) to be ‘having fun’. But in reality all I felt was the deep, abiding misery of a dispirited , materialistic civilization. It was one not at the proverbial edge any more, but one now clearly in free fall to God knows where. Here was the American dream in all its glittering obscenity, here was the end of the road weighing 300 pounds on motorized chairs – cruising along the side of the food bar, all before hitting the slot machines. Though a well seasoned world traveler this was about as bizarre as it gets.

“I share this with the reader not to simply criticize what is obviously only a small part of modern American society. I do so to highlight this bizarre cult of overeating and then dreaming of something better (a fast buck) as an unlikely backdrop to the entirely unexpected, wonderful morning I was about to have. It was an auspicious day because I would be transported from this Hieronymous Bosch nightmare to a place of transcendent beauty. Yes, it was to be a most auspicious day, the day I would meet my maker.”

< Click Here to read the entire article by Echan Deravy online at Japanthropologist.com. >

Snow White: The Opera
For Young People of All Ages

During the 1991–1992 school year, the Reverend Gary Buchanan, working with students at Jamilian Parochial School, composed a full, three-act opera as part of the school’s music curriculum: Snow White: The Opera, sub-titled For Young People of All Ages.

On Saturday evening, November 8, 2014, two scenes from that opera will be presented with the Reno Pops Orchestra conducted by Jane Brown. The concert will be at 7:00 p.m. at Nightingale Concert Hall, the University of Nevada, Reno. The soloists will be local Nevada Opera talents Steven Meyers (as the Huntsman) and Jennifer Probst Gourley (as the evil Queen of Fall). The concert, titled “Scoundrels, Villains & Knaves” is free to the public. (For more information, go to: www.renopops.org)

Following this concert, a full concert premiere of the work with orchestra, soloists, and chorus is anticipated for the spring of 2015 in Reno, depending on whether sufficient grants, donations, and other funding via New Music U.S.A. is received.

Snow White: The Opera is based directly on the Brothers Grimm version. As part of the parochial school project students from middle and high school reset the original story line in iambic meter to serve as a libretto. During each class students submitted melodic settings for the key arias and scenes. Those melodies were reviewed, sung, and voted on by the class. Many melodies were combined, modified, and improved upon and serve as leitmotifs for all other music composed by Rev. Buchanan in the score, such as the overture, scene preludes and changes, action sequences, transitions, and the like.

Each week Rev. Buchanan would sit at the piano and while teaching music theory and songwriting, “adjust” rhythms, harmonize the songs, compose additional materials, and lead the students in adapting the libretto, singing, and further developing the operatic and dramatic concepts needed. By the end of that school year an entire opera had been completed and was performed in class by the students accompanied by synthesized backgrounds. The new, full score for singers and orchestra was completed in 2014.

The model used for the opera was Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and students viewed and studied the 1975 Ingmar Bergman film of that opera’s Swedish production. The music of Snow White is clear and innocent singspiel, or “ur-song,” of young people in the Community of Light (Cosolargy International) and combines all major operatic styles, such as Ars Nova, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, Modern and Neo-Classical. Each scene is quite singable, memorable, and dramatically evocative—much in the style of Rev. Buchanan’s former teachers, opera composers all: Vittorio Giannini, Louis Mennini, Robert Ward, and William Bergsma. The work is highly “archetypal,” in the Jungian sense, and is not at all maudlin. Following is a précis of the opera’s story line and action:

Act I

Complete with a Narrator introducing many scenes, the story line begins with the King (Baritone) and Queen (Mezzo-Soprano) of Snow announcing to the People of the Shire (Chorus) a royal birth—that of Snow White.

Following the birth of Snow White (Lyric Soprano) the Queen of Snow dies. Several years later, the People of the Shire (Women’s Chorus) demand that the King remarry—which he does; this time to the vain and deceitful Queen of Fall (Contralto). Following the marriage, the King also dies by poisoning, leaving Snow White an orphan in the care of the evil Queen.

Immediately, the Queen of Fall is informed by her Magic Mirror on the Wall (Basso) that the fairest beauty in the Kingdom of Snow belongs, not to her, but to the innocent child, Snow White. Infuriated, the Queen calls upon her Huntsman (Baritone) to take the Princess into the wood, kill her, and bring back the girl’s heart to the Queen as proof of the deed.

In the wood the Huntsman finds that he cannot bring himself to kill Snow White and tells her to run away into the dark forest. Following her departure the Huntsman is at a loss as to what to do: The Queen expects him to return with Snow White’s heart! Suddenly, a wild board runs out of the forest in the direction of Snow White’s departure. The Huntsman rushes to throw himself upon the boar, cuts out its heart with his dagger, and sings that he now has a substitute heart to present to the evil Queen of Fall. Upon his return to the court he presents the heart to the Queen—and she eats it!

However, the Magic Mirror sings once again that Snow White is still the fairest in the land, revealing to the Queen that she was not killed after all but ran away into the forest. Once again the Queen goes into a rage. She calls for The Huntsman, questions him, mocks—and then stabs—him.

The end of Act I has Snow White in the dark forest singing her first aria, “I Am So Alone,” after which the curtain closes.

Act II

Snow White approaches a cottage in the forest—that of the Seven Dwarves (Seven-Voice Boys’ Choir). She enters to find the table set for the Dwarves’ dinner. She eats from each of their dishes of food, then tries out each of their beds for comfort, falling asleep on the seventh. Soon, the Dwarves return home from their hard day of work in the mine and discover Snow White asleep.

Significantly, each of the Dwarves wears one of the colors of the rainbow, and each has a name associated with the solfeggio tones of the musical scale. Douglas is “DO” = Red; Raymond is “RE” = Orange; Michael is “MI” = Yellow; Vaughan is “FA” = Green; Saul is “SOL” = Blue; Lawrence is “LA” = Indigo; and, Tyrol is “TI” = Violet. When each of the characters sings, he does so in the proper key: C, D, E, F, G, A, or B. The overall archetype presented is that the Dwarves represent the seven color Force Centers (Chakras) of the higher body fields, with Snow White as the “Crown” Center, which is the color White.

Snow White relates her history and circumstances with the evil Queen of Fall to the Dwarves, and they pledge to take care of the child and protect her.

The following scenes have the Queen conversing with her Mirror, assuming various disguises, and visiting Snow White at the cottage and making three attempts to kill her. Her first and second attempts fail, as the Dwarves are later able to revive Snow White; however, on the third visit the Queen has Snow White eat a poisoned apple, and the young girl succumbs to a deep, dark, death-like sleep.

Act II ends as the Dwarves return to discover Snow White’s crumpled form on the floor. They sing a lament as the curtain falls.

Act III

The curtain rises on Snow White lying in a crystal coffin on a hilltop while the Dwarves sit close by, weeping.

Then enters the Prince of Spring (Heroic Tenor) with his courtiers. He sings, asking who is this beauty in the coffin, and why are these little men weeping? The Dwarves answer him in detail concerning her passing at the hand of the evil Queen of Fall, and this is cause of their weeping. The scene turns into a highly dramatic “duet” between the Prince and the Dwarves.

Next the Prince tells the Dwarves that he is concerned that Snow White’s beauty may suffer with the onset of winter and that he would like to remove her to his Kingdom of Spring for safeguarding. The Dwarves, recognizing his sincerity and proper intentions, grant his request, and he takes her to his kingdom to preserve her body there.

The courtiers assist the Prince in removing the lid of the coffin wherein lies the beautiful Snow White. As he leans forward to lift the body, the Prince bestows a light kiss upon her cheek—causing Snow White to awaken!

He identifies himself, and Snow White is overjoyed to recognize him as the Prince she had dreamed of and sung about in her Act II aria, “The Land of Spring.” She takes the hand of the Prince, steps from the coffin, and the two perform a love duet in which the Prince asks for her hand in marriage. Snow White accepts his proposal, and the scene ends with a song of farewell by Snow White to the Dwarves.

The last scene of Act III is the royal wedding, taking place in the Kingdom of Spring. Assembled are the Minister, People of the Shire, the Prince of Spring, Snow White, Courtiers, and the Dwarves. The music bespeaks a royal—perhaps even “divine”— marriage. All are singing joyfully.

Then, from out of the dark emerges the Queen of Fall with a dagger in her hand. She makes her way across the stage toward Snow White and lunges at her. Observing the commotion, the Prince steps in front of Snow White, deflecting the dagger, so that the evil Queen stabs herself! As she falls to the ground, the Queen sings her song of death and admits that Snow White is, indeed, “the fairest of us all.”

The courtiers carry the Queen from the stage as the Chorus, Dwarves, and Prince sing a final joyful anthem—a “good night” to the audience—in rich trochaic meter and contrapuntal style. And the final curtain falls.
Once funds have been acquired to mount the spring 2015 premiere of the full opera, it is envisioned that a great many young people in the northern Nevada area, their parents and extended families, may wish to attend the performance. The fairytale is widely known and quite appealing, in its original form (due to its archetypal nature), to multiple cultures.

The fundamental archetypes of the opera should be recognized by most consociates of Cosolargy; for example, the higher symbology is of the sun’s journey through the seasons, Light and Darkness, the enlivening of the higher-dimensional Force Centers, the transition from Darkness of Ignorance to Christ Consciousness, and eventual return to the Worlds of Light as a fully restored Being of Light. All students participating in the opera project at Jamilian Parochial School in 1991–1992 were aware of these symbols and metaphorical allusions as they contributed their higher perceptions and inspired creativity to the drama.

Those wishing to support or who may be interested in attending a performance in the spring of 2015 should contact Rev. Buchanan at gbuchanan@communityofchrist.org.

The Reno Pops Orchestra is a wholly volunteer orchestra (www.renopops.org) supported by its member musicians, community foundations and supporters, the Nevada Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

—contributed by Gary Buchanan

In July, 2014, ICC Head Bishop Gene Savoy Jr. sat down with the editor of the Community Communiqué (CC) to discuss the ongoing efforts by the Church-retained attorney/lobbyist firm to persuade Nevada lawmakers to amend the tax exemption law to include The Church’s Red Rock Sanctuary, on which The Church must currently pay thousands of dollars in property taxes annually. Following is an edited transcript of that discussion:

CC: Maybe you could talk about what’s going on right now, and after that go back and tell a little of the history of it, how it came about that The Church ended up paying tax on the Sanctuary, and then what’s happened over the past twenty years with that.

GS: It might be better to switch that around, if that’s ok with you.

To do the background first?

Yes, because it’s a chronology.

OK.

In 1980, ’81, and ’82, The Church purchased what is now the North Sanctuary of Revelation. We purchased that first, and then the South Sanctuary of Prophecy, over a period of about two to three years. And in 1982, The Church applied for property tax exemption under the religious property-tax-exemption law here in Nevada. And we were initially granted a property tax exemption by the Washoe County assessor through the advice of the Washoe County district attorney.

In 1984, the district attorney changed; there was a new district attorney, and the decision was reversed. So The Church tried to negotiate with the county through letters and meetings, and eventually it was determined, later that year, that we would file a lawsuit against Washoe County. That lawsuit lasted until 1992. Initially, we were successful in the county district court. To make a long story short, The Church won the case. Washoe County then appealed to the Nevada State Supreme Court, and that decision was overturned. The Church then had to pay back taxes from the beginning of the purchase of the properties, including penalties and interest, which was a substantial amount of money. If my recollection serves me, it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000 to $150,000, through 1992.

We have been paying taxes on the Sanctuary since then. It’s a strange situation in that certain improvements are exempt, but nonimproved areas of the Sanctuary, which we would basically consider open space, are taxed. So every five years, the assessor comes out to our Sanctuary and assesses what improvements we’ve made, which become exempt, and then the rest of the property is taxed. So, to date, from the purchase of the Sanctuary in 1980 through 2014, we estimate that The Community has expended between $400,000 and $500,000 over thirty-five years in property taxes and assessments.

Our goal always was to remedy the situation, and there are two ways to go about that. Our first option would be to file another lawsuit against the county, which is a very laborious process involving local agencies. You have to go through the administrative process and hearings. If you are denied, then you appeal to a higher board. If that is denied then you can file a lawsuit in the county district court. You go through that legal process, and it is mostly likely that the loser will file again at the Nevada State Supreme Court. You have to go through this process before you can then file a federal lawsuit for religious discrimination or to charge that the law is unconstitutional; that is, that the law does not treat all religions in the state equally. That is probably a ten-year process which would cost additional hundreds of thousand of dollars for attorneys and so forth.

The second alternative is to have the current Nevada law changed. And that can only be done through the state legislature. So that always seemed like the better route. So it’s been a waiting game. We’ve been waiting since 1992. In 2012 I was introduced to a lobbyist from the firm Hillerby and Associates, and we began discussing the situation at the Red Rock Sanctuary, and he took an interest in our situation. During that time Hillerby and Associates merged with the law firm Kaempfer Crowell, one of the largest law firms in the state. They have offices in Reno, Carson City, and Las Vegas. The merger of the lobbyist organization, Hillerby and Associates, with the law firm, Kaempfer Crowell, made a very good combination in regard to our particular situation.

We had initial discussions with the new firm, Kaempfer Crowell, in January 2013, and they advised us to begin some initial discussions with some of the legislators. We began discussing some of the issues with legislators, but the legislative session had already begun. In Nevada we have a legislative session for 120 days every two years. While we had support, theoretically and conceptually, from several of these legislators, it was too late to introduce any bills into the legislature to amend the statute. We entered, then, into an agreement in March 2014 with Kaempfer Crowell with the idea of introducing a bill in the 2015 legislature—in fact, you have to submit the bill prior to the beginning of the legislative session in February 2015.

What has transpired is that the first meeting Kaempfer Crowell had was with the Washoe County Assessor’s Office . . .

On The Church’s behalf.

Yes, on The Church’s behalf. And the Washoe County Assessor’s Office determined that if it were The Church’s intention to have the law changed and to submit a bill into the legislature to that end, they would not oppose it. The next meeting was with the district attorney’s office, who also said they would not oppose it. So where we are at this point is discussing the same matter with the legislators themselves. We had to wait until the primary season, the primary elections in June, were over in order to determine who they were going to have to talk to. So at this point they have talked to two legislators, who in the initial discussions are in favor and on board, and we are now in discussion with three other legislators, all from Washoe County. Evidently, the way this works is you get your county delegation on board—since we’re in Washoe County, you get the legislators from Washoe County on board—and if they’re on board, either one or two people can sponsor the bill, or they can do it as a committee, as the delegation itself, which is more powerful, since every legislator from Washoe County has no problem with it.  So that’s where we’re at at this point in time.

Now, initially, the idea was to rewrite the existing law, but instead of that, I understand, the goal is to amend the law. Can you explain further?

That’s correct. The law is very broad, and what we decided—that is, the firm and The Church—is that we did not want to get into a huge “crusade” where we were changing the general property-tax- exemption law for the entire state, which would maybe cause county assessors statewide to oppose that; plus, we are not in the position to be the crusader for other religious organizations.

Nor do we need to be since they’re not doing what we’re doing.

Exactly. In the Nevada statutes there are almost thirty individual organizations—whether they’re fraternal, such as the Freemasons, or whether they are fraternities like at a university, or the Boy Scouts, for example—that are specifically named in the statutes as being exempt. So that is the route we have chosen to take, which is simply to name The Church, and specifically, the Sanctuary. The buildings that we own are already exempt under the existing law. It is only the raw land that is not. Because we are using the land for religious, educational, and wildlife purposes, we actually qualify for an exemption under those three statutes, and we will make that clear to the legislators. It seems that a simple naming of The Church and the Sanctuary for an exemption, as long as the property is not used for commercial purpose, is the way to approach the issue.

Now, just to clarify some pertinent points for those people who maybe haven’t been in The Community for very long or just aren’t familiar with this situation, how does the state view or categorize the Sanctuary lands?

Well, the purposes of the Sanctuary are threefold: worship for a religious purpose; educational, as it serves as the campus for the Jamilian University; and wildlife conservation, in as much as we have entered into agreements with the United States Department of Agriculture, some state organizations, the Division of Forestry, the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, and various other entities to protect the wildlife that exists there—and that seems also to be a great incentive for a lot of the younger legislators.

So, it’s been since last March that the law firm has been speaking to legislators. What has to be done now? What are the next steps, and if it is successful how long will it take?

My understanding is that once we get the verbal commitment of several legislators here in Washoe County, then the firm will draft legislation to be presented as a bill in the legislative session that begins in February. The final version of the bill has to be submitted sixty days before the commencement of the session. But prior to that, the draft is submitted to the Legislative Counsel Bureau in Carson City. They are the people that professionally review bills for language, to make sure that it fits into the language of the Nevada statutes. So the firm will draft it, send it to the Legislative Counsel Bureau in Carson City, who will review it. If they make any amendment, we will then alter the proposal, and then it has to be submitted sixty days before the session starts, which would be somewhere around the beginning of December, if not sooner.

Then once the legislative session opens, what happens then?

Well, it’s a long, drawn-out process that I’m not really educated on, but once the bill is proposed before a particular committee—this would probably be the taxation committee—it goes through a series of hearings and the lobbyist/law firm is present to make our presentation and our points, and hopefully, the committee passes it along to . . . and again, each house of the legislature has its own taxation committee so it has to be presented in each house, and hopefully, it moves along in each house and is then sent to a vote in each house, and then, if it passes, the governor signs it.

So sometime in May you should know whether it was successful or not? And if for any reason it might not be decided during that session does it carry over or . . . ?

It either goes forward or it dies. And then we’d have to try again in two years.

And I understand the law firm has been asking a certain fee from us over this time, and will they charge a different amount for the different processes, such as the drafting and submission, then the follow up would be another fee or . . . ?

Yes, I believe that’s basically correct. My understanding in my discussions with them is that for a fee—a very reasonable fee, I might add—of $10,000, they will have talked to the county, which they did; they will attempt to garner the support of the Washoe County delegation, which we are in the process of doing; they will draft the proposal, send it to the Legislative Counsel Bureau, submit it, and at that point, that’s as far as our agreement goes at this time. I think we would enter into a separate agreement for them to actually represent us when the session begins.

As lobbyists.

Exactly. And I don’t know what that agreement will be.

So that $10,000, we’re still paying it, or is it paid?

We’re still in the process of making those payments.

So further contributions would be welcome.

Contributions are always welcome!

And contributions for the upcoming session would, I imagine, be really helpful because it might be a little more active?

Yes, the law firm, at that point, would be actively lobbying legislators from other parts of the state on this particular point. Now, that probably would not be a long, drawn-out process, because we’re only talking about our little Sanctuary in Washoe County; it’s not affecting any other county or any other assessor or how they collect their taxes. So the idea is that if we can get the Washoe County delegation on board, then it should be a pretty simple process to let other people know, and most likely they would support it. But most of the time that our lobbyists would spend for us is in committee, being present at the committee meetings, making presentations to the committee on why they should approve the bill and pass it on to the full house for a vote.

OK. Any final comments?

Well, I have told the lobbyists that this is a very personal and emotional issue for the members of this Community, just solely based on the fact that in Washoe County, every religious organization is exempt from property taxes. Of course, the vast majority of those religious organizations merely have buildings, and that was what the law was designed to exempt when it was written in the 1800s. There are other organizations that have “vacant” or “open” lands that are exempt, but they have a little more clout than we do. So for us, as I mentioned to the firm, and will stress again, it’s a very personal and emotional issue and to be able to win this, it would put away a lot of hurt from the past, and I think, from a psychological point of view, would allow us to move forward in a different way as we continue in developing the Sanctuary.

 Great! Thank you!

The Pride Parade passes Ralston St. at First St.

The first annual Northern Nevada Gay Pride Parade and Festival on July 26, 2014, saw several churches supporting equality and acceptance of the LGBT community in the region. The various churches’ banners were proudly marched in the Pride Parade from Lundsford Park (Jones & Riverside) to the Arlington St. Bridge at Wingfield Park, where the festival took place.

Sean and Ronnie pose with the ICC banner.

While some churches had their own tents (such as Trinity Episcopal and Unitarian Universalists), The ICC participated in the Nevada Clergy Association’s “Faith Tent,” which included tables for  Sinai Temple (Reform Judaism), Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, The Children of Temple Earth (a Norse pagan community), First United Methodist Church, First Congregational United Church of Christ, and the ICC.  Food vendors, themed areas, entertainment, games, and exhibitions provided fun for all ages. The weather cooperated by being sunny and not too warm.

Rev. Harold Boulette shows off the ICC banner before the parade.

Representing the ICC in the parade were the Rt. Rev. Sean Savoy and Ronnie Peoples, along with the Rev. Harold Boulette. The three were joined in staffing the table in the Faith Tent by the Rev. Robert Anderson and Consociate Claudia Grady. The Church had several brochures to hand out as well as requests for more information about The Church/Cosolargy. The festival appeared to be a great success and the ICC’s presence and support was testimony to its commitment to spiritual equality for all.

Staffing the table are Rev. Robert Anderson (foreground) and (back, left to right) Rt. Rev. Sean Savoy, Claudia Grady, and Ronnie Peoples.

Gene Savoy Sr. in a crowd in Peru in the late 1990s PHOTO: Roger Weld

There are twenty-six Sayings recorded in volumes I–VI of The Image and The Word: The Secret Sayings of Jamil. The later Sayings were delivered either onboard the Feathered Serpent II, or during voyages that terminated in America or at the Sanctuary grounds. The object of the Sayings was to reveal to The Community what it must do in the world.

Volume VI, published in 1981, presents the Twenty-Second through Twenty-Fourth Sayings. It is in this volume that Reverend Ted Staver found a passage on Reverend Gene Sr’s life, described by himself, that seemed to fit the format of the “Path to Light” series. Ted suggested the passage to us, and we are posting it for you.

In the passage that follows, Bishop Savoy is presenting the story of his early life as an illustration in response to a question from one of the Companions of The Way regarding the means by which one comes to know who one really is.

“I was adopted when I was three. I lost my natural father and my mother remarried, so I was adopted. And I was raised with half-brothers and with a stepfather who fed me and took care of me and did the best he could as a father. I loved my father very, very dearly, and my brothers and my mother, of course. But my mother was the only person who really understood me. She had a kind of knowledge of me and gave me something that I needed that no one else in the world ever gave me, at least when I was a child. At the age of five I started going to church and by six years of age I was beginning to listen to sermons and getting involved in theology.

“My stepfather did not go to church. My mother was the granddaughter of a Baptist minister, and her father eventually became religious and became active in the Church, though in my own home there was no formal religion. But from the age of six on I went to various Churches: Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Pentecostal, Catholic. I had an urge to enter the ministry, an urge to be spiritual, without knowing why.

“I was different from my brothers and they never really understood me and my religious inclinations. Yet, I never understood the life that we led. Quite simply, I longed for the spiritual life even at that tender age. My mother’s sister influenced me greatly, for she was a Christian Scientist. But the motivation that drove me to worship was an inner compulsion, a driving force that no one understood, not even myself. I did not like school and formal education, not even in later years at business College and University. Like in my earlier home life, there was no spiritual environment. Even the orthodox Church environment was empty, yet it was better than nothing. Still, I longed for a spiritual life of a kind and order not known in the world. No one could instruct me in it. No one was knowledgeable in it. No one I talked to – clergy, teacher, priest, scholar – had the vaguest idea of what I was seeking. I was an alien in a hostile environment, alone, lost, empty.

“The same feeling continued as I got older – I never felt comfortable in the world or that I belonged in it. Though I continued to go to church, was baptized and planned on entering the ministry, I felt alien even to the Christian environment. Like so many, I became interested in Eastern teachings, but again I felt like an alien. I only began to feel comfortable when I discovered the beauty of the ancient religions such as Zoroastrianism and the ancient Egyptian teachings of Hermes Trismegistus. However, I did not become a great student of these religions as I continued to be more inclined toward Christianity.

“Basically, what I am trying to say is that with all my searching in the Christian Church and in the Eastern and Oriental religions, I never became comfortable with religion until I had experienced the visions, and then was able to endure the strong light of the sun. My eyes were no longer blind to the Light of Christ. The world was no longer Dark. For I saw within the light that illuminated the world a greater Light, the Light of God that illuminates the spirits of men, a Light more brilliant than the light of the stars and the moon and the sun combined. That efficacious Light put my heart and mind to rest. It taught me the meaning of religion in a flash, a rapture of spiritual joy. It instructed me in religion more than any rite or ritual, more than any book, more than any sermon. It was a living communion in which I was able to experience the divine Presence of God. I was reborn! Made spiritual, yet I was without instruction, an innocent child, a neophyte awaiting maturity as eagerly as a babe.

“I found the source of Righteousness. I had found the place where God resides, not by my own motivation, but by the vision of Light, and by the Presence within the Light. What clergyman, what Apostle, what biblical scholar had ever seen God face to face? God dwells in a place accessible only to those who are called to it by Him, it seems. And I knew that it was my destiny to serve God in the formation of this Church. I therefore awaited the birth of The Child from whom I would learn with trust, and hope and belief. I gave up all my human motivations of self; that is, pursuit of my human destiny. It was my destiny to serve God within the framework of the Church to come. God would be my Teacher and I would follow Him. My spiritual eye had been opened, and it saw a realm of spiritual beingness. Now that I had been led to it by revelation, I would devote my whole life to teaching it to others.

“Then I began to have recollections and remembrances. It did not all come at once, it came in stages. And as I had experiences and began teaching and moving about in the world, my remembrances increased by the act of working in the Church. Then, of course, when Jamil was teaching, just by looking at him I knew many things. He had the flashing eyes and the touch. He did not have to say much – all he had to do was make a gesture with His hands or look at me with a flash, and I knew. I learned from him by his presence and by looking at the sun, and by recalling and putting things together. And after a while I realized that although I was doing all the work, or so it appeared – writing, teaching, recording the words of Jamil, exploring and holding the Church together as best I could, and suffering, as it were, especially as people could not understand and were leaving – that there was a power over the Church that was outside of my control.”

—from The Image and the Word: the Secret Sayings of Jamil, Volume VI., by The Most Right Reverend Gene Savoy, pp.81-86

PHOTO: AscendedHealth.com

“The Living Light: Can biophotonic light emitted from trained probiotic microbes help balance the body?”
Presented by Compton Rom Bada at the Arizona Naturopathic Medical Association (AzNMA) Spring Conference, June 2-3, 2012.

Are humans really beings of light? Our cells release biophotons.

In the 1970’s, Dr. Fritz Albert Popp coined the term “Biophotons”, for the ultra weak photonic emissions given off by cells during reactions. This light is very weak – typically several million times as faint as the light from a firefly. He was able to confirm that living cells emit small bursts of light. He determined that cells do not just radiate light, they also absorb light. He later found out that DNA is a source of our inner light…

< Read or download the PDF of “The Living Light: Can biophotonic light emitted from trained probiotic microbes help balance the body?” >

links submitted by Robert Anderson

May 11, 2014
Jubilee Sunday

Since we have recently completed the Easter Season, and as we move on towards Pentecost, I feel it a good time to send you this message. You will see by looking at our Community Calendar that many dates this year align with Sundays (the 12^th day of Christmas on January 5^th; February 2^nd, the Birth of the Sun of Righteousness, which also was a Jubilee Sunday; the birth of The Child, Jamil, on March 16^th; and the birthday of The Man – today – on May 11^th, another Jubilee Sunday). As prophesied, 2014 is a very auspicious year, one that represents an important 52-year cycle which we have emphasized several times before.

You may know that some weeks ago, I journeyed to Mexico, the land of my birth, to contemplate and celebrate the birth of The Child, Jamil. The trip was divided into three parts. First, to meet with Consociates in northern Mexico who are in the process of translating our Cosolargy material into Spanish. The purpose of the meeting was to insure the continuation of those translations but also to work on establishing a legal structure for our Community in Latin America. In addition, a goal was set for the establishment of a satellite Community and retreat center somewhere near Puerto Vallarta. Having been born in Mexico and working with our Community members in that nation, there are several advantages we have, especially that of being able to own coastal property. Second, I went to the Yucatan, where my father and The Child lived for a period of time. I visited various Mayan sites and pyramids, including Chichen-Itza and Tulum, which I had not been to before. The city of Merida is beautiful and is referred to as the “Paris” of Mexico. (I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to visit that part of Mesoamerica). The third portion of the trip was on the Carribean and had more of a personal nature, which included contemplating how to better grow our Community, and provided some much-needed rest.

Before leaving to Mexico, I called a meeting of our Community family here in Reno. The purpose of the meeting was to reiterate the importance of this year, 2014, and to explain certain circumstances which The Community faces. It was a candid conversation unprecedented in our 55-year history. The first part of the meeting had to do with our financial situation as affected by the continued economic situation worldwide. I explained that the success of the Church has been due to (1) the paying off of debt incurred before the economic decline, (2) good management of finances, and (3) the ongoing support of dedicated Community members. However, in order to grow and continue, we must also take into consideration these factors: (1) continually enrolling new students in The Academy, (2) expanding various business ventures through the Community Guilds structure, and (3) people remembering The Community in their wills and trusts and also bequeathing or otherwise endowing The Community.

A report can be found at the Community Communique website which will give you more details about the meeting. I made a comparison between the Church’s financial position and that of the City of Reno. Fifteen years ago, in 1999, Reno’s debt was approximately $60 million. Today it is more than $560 million. Fifteen years ago, the Church’s debt was over $1 million. Today it is at about $400,000. So as Reno has increased its debt by over 400{1fa2ef75e2e78439128d99df03acfe1d8ee3047374abe3d4676fe3470ff8b909}, The Community has reduced its by 65{1fa2ef75e2e78439128d99df03acfe1d8ee3047374abe3d4676fe3470ff8b909}. In addition, operating expenses have decreased in the last two years by $50,000. This is something we should be proud of! We have many resources upon which to build: (1) real property holdings, (2) water, (3) intellectual property, and (4) most importantly, the creativity and knowledge of our people. We must be enterprising and use these assets to our advantage. We have made great strides in the past few years: accomplishments at the Sanctuary with regards to securing our water rights and the building of a new residence; the continued healing work at Steamboat Hot Springs, which is increasing its public image; the thriving of the Community in Japan; the possibility of a new Community Center in Mexico; our Project X seminars and tours, one of which will be held in Peru later this year; the possibility of a seminar/conference later this year in Australia and/or New Zealand. We are making progress. Let’s ensure that the trend continues!

One of the other topics I brought up at our Community family meeting had to do with our ongoing struggle for property tax exemption at the Red Rock Consecrated Sanctuary. You may recall that in the early 1980’s, when we purchased the Sanctuary, we were initially granted property tax exemption. Unfortunately, that was later revoked, and the Church sued Washoe County in district court. We were successful. However, the County appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court and the decision was reversed in 1990. So over the past 35 years, we have paid in excess of $400,000 in local property taxes and assessments. Perhaps this is not too much money for General Motors, but for us it is. So the good news is that a lobbying/law firm has taken interest in our case. They believe they can propose an amendment to the law that would grant us property tax exemption on the Sanctuary. This does not involve a lawsuit or the courts. It is simply talking to the powers that be and gaining their support. Two weeks ago, this firm, on our behalf, spoke with representatives of Washoe County advising them of our intent, i.e., to seek an amendment to the law which would grant our Sanctuary a tax exemption. The representatives of the county were supportive and said they would not oppose us making a change to the law. This is a major step forward! Our friends at the firm visited the Sanctuary for the first time earlier this week and were extremely impressed. They will now be making appointments to speak with legislators and the Governor’s office for the change to the law, which will be presented in the state legislature before the end of the year. But, of course, they do require some compensation. They have made us a bare-bones offer: $2500 per month for four months to set the stage – $10,000 all together. So I must ask you for your support, please! This is extremely important and an opportunity we have been awaiting for many decades. If we are able to secure an exemption for our Sanctuary, it will be a vindication of our long struggle for religious equality under the law.

Tomorrow, May 12, I journey with Companions of The Way to Japan. This is my annual sojourn to the Land of the Rising Sun. We will be visiting Hokkaido in the north, the place where the ancient Ainu people live – people who once were in contact with ancient Peru and who also have roots in ancient Israel. Among other things, I will be discussing with our bishop in Japan, Yukinori, the possibility of holding the Spiritual State of the World Conference in that nation next year in 2015. I believe we will be able to attract a large group from not only Japan but Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand as well.

Otherwise, my dear friend in the Light, things continue. We progress day-to-day, not only in this world but in our spiritual work. I know that you have not only communed with the Light but that you have been transported beyond the physical to the Divine. Our minds may sometimes not be able to comprehend, but that does not mean it isn’t so. Our work is unending, never ceasing. We continue with new outreach using the tools of social media. Soon, it will become evident as new people come to us. We will be publishing our material online, in e-books and other formats. We have started an important project for the older people in our Community – a place owned by the Church where our members may retire in peace and tranquility without losing their spiritual base. The enclosed form offers you the opportunity to be part of this wonderful project, the concept of which has already put many people’s minds at ease.

Finally, I remind you to keep The Community in your thoughts and prayers as you reflect each day. Remember to endow The Church in your wills and trusts. Upon my return from Japan, I will send another report to you. I am very excited about where we are going, what we have accomplished together these many years, and what the future holds for us. My personal blessing is with you.

In the name of The Child, I am always your servant in The Light,

* * *

EDITOR’S NOTE:
If you realize the importance of obtaining property tax exemption for our Sanctuary and would like to donate towards this cause, contact the Church Charisticary and pledge your contribution. (Remember, all contributions to the Red Rock Sanctuary fund are 100{1fa2ef75e2e78439128d99df03acfe1d8ee3047374abe3d4676fe3470ff8b909} tax deductible.)

If you would like to know more about The Community’s retirement home, or if you are interested in bequeathing and/or endowing The Community in your Will or Living Trust, contact someone on the Chancellery staff and let them know that you would like further information.

Nevada “Coming Together” Quilt PHOTO: Stephan Fuelling

 Members of 14 faith communities pooled their talents to produce a symbol of unity for Nevada’s 150th anniversary of statehood this year.

The Coming Together quilt is the product of members of the congregations involved in the Nevada Clergy Association. It was unveiled and presented on Tuesday at the association’s annual Nevada Prayer Breakfast at 7 a.m. at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa.

In October, Patricia Meidell, public relations adviser for the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, came up with the idea for the quilt as a way to show culture and diversity in the faith community, and to celebrate Nevada’s sesquicentennial (150th year).

Members of the Nevada Clergy Association were contacted, and 14 quilt blocks were assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, Meidell said. A 15th, center block, is dedicated to the state of Nevada and includes the state flag. Each quilt block represented a local religious organization.

< Click here to download a PDF reproduction of the quilt and to read about the makers of each of the individual quilt blocks. >

The quilt will be “traveling” to various churches in the community until the end of 2014 when it will be presented to the Governor’s Office to be permanently displayed at the Governor’s Mansion or the Nevada State Museum.

Follow this link to the Reno Gazette-Journal article “Multi-faith community members create Nevada quilt” posted online April28, 2014:

< http://www.rgj.com/story/life/2014/04/28/multi-faith-community-members-create-nevada-quilt/8111395/ >

Not quite sure where to start this story. It has been a very long journey—many lifetimes as far as I can tell. However, my memories of past lives are limited only to region and purpose. But none of that is really important. I do know that from the time I was born into this lifetime I have been searching for the Truth—which, in this dualistic world, appears to be quite elusive and abused.

 When I was young I knew that there was something wrong with this world. The wool had been pulled over our eyes. But, why was no one complaining?  Why was no one searching for truth as I was?  I would ask questions of the church I used to attend that would bring answers that made absolutely no sense to me. I knew that there was something out there to find—well beyond the church and well beyond this realm.

 But, finding it was quite a search. Obviously I stopped going to church as the people I met there could not answer my questions and appeared to be quite hypocritical. I searched religions other than Christianity. When in college, I minored in philosophy—learning about as many other religions as I could. The one that I would call closest to the Truth (Gnosis) was Buddhism. But there was still a gap.

 After college, I went on to try to live a “normal” life (LOL). But, the seed inside me kept pushing to find answers. I began reading hundreds of books just to get bits and pieces of clues (archaeology, religion, spirituality, new age, aliens—whatever subject would answer my latest question). Then, several major events occurred in my life. I lost someone dearly close to me; I had significant problems at work, and I had major surgery.

 These happened all in the middle of my seeking; however, in retrospect, they were all blessings. After my surgery, I had a lot of time off from work—all to myself, to search and read. I remember the exact day that it happened—the most life-changing event of all. A voice was speaking to me from another world. I did not believe it at first and thought maybe I was either dying or going crazy. The voice told me to write down our conversations so that I would realize this was true and really happening. I did, and I was led through the adventure of a lifetime—learning universal secrets, being in direct contact with God and the other side of the veil. It was like glimpsing or being born into an entirely new world yet being stuck between that world and this one. I barely spoke for six months because this entity was answering every question I had ever had and teaching me what I needed to know about the real spiritual truths of things so that I could continue along this path. My questions were either answered directly by voice or out of synchronicity I would be led to something (a book, a movie, a website) where I would inherently find the answer. It was a magical time. Everything was blessed, I could feel the presence of the Christ Energy in my life and being, and every day felt like a vacation. I now understood what it meant to be in this world but not of this world.

 I began to interact with others online that I felt were closest to finding the Truth; however, eventually there ended up being no one. Then I began to learn through enlightenment the unknown truth:  the closer one comes to God or the Truth, the more one attracts evil in this dualistic world. The onslaught of attacks on this being were unbelievable. My friends said that they had never seen anything like it. Everything in my life was turned upside down. My husband went insane (literally) and blamed it on my spirituality. He has been my bane ever since and is now completely disabled and under my and my friends’ care, although he still causes us a lot of problems.

After so much of this misery, I had become quite dismayed and pretty much hopeless. I could not see the next step on the spiritual journey and was almost starting to wonder if there even was one. Then I was led, as usual, to find an article on sun-gazing and Cosolargy. I eagerly read it, and things immediately became clearer. This explained the solar orientation of all the ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and Mayans!  And, it explained the activation of the pineal gland and the path to full enlightenment. I had not felt this much excitement (really, no excitement) in years. I continued searching the internet on this subject and found that there was actually an organization that taught and utilized these methods. The next step was finally clear, and shortly thereafter I joined The International Community of Christ.

 Initially, though, this did not deter the attacks. They were so intense that I should have died and probably would have, except that, fortunately, my spiritual Guardians found a way to remove me from the evil circumstances for a while—a temporary assignment in a foreign country for just a few months. And, here I am in Japan. I have been here for three months and am just starting to unwind enough to remember the path that I am on and not having to defend/protect myself at every second of every day. I am hoping that the last few years have been what St. John of the Cross calls the dark night of the soul. But, it matters not, because I know why I am here and, no matter what terrible things come my way, I will continue on this path to Light.

For the “Path to Light” series, Michael McIntyre conducts an interview for the Community Communique with a speaker who wishes to remain anonymous. This interview was conducted in February of 2014. You are reading Part 1 of 3.

MM: It is my understanding that you wish this interview to be anonymous?

XX:  That’s correct.

What led you to International Community of Christ?

Well, there were strong influences from the time I was three, a Rabbi, several Catholic priests, Buddhist monk, and a Hindu mystic. All these before my eighteenth birthday.

How did they influence you?

It was not so much that they changed my person, my core, but shifted my perspective. Actually a lot of what they passed on to me did not surface until after joining the Community. I was pretty hardheaded in my early years.

What do mean by “shifted your perspective”?

Umm, . . . One day this Buddhist monk, his name was Sahn, was explaining that it was important to not kill any living thing without warrant because it was possible that this ‘living thing’ could be the reborn life of a once-human being. He then went on to explain reincarnation, the best he could; I mean, I was just seven years old. This was all very peculiar to me. Fantasy. Like the Easter bunny, Santa Claus. Then a couple weeks later I was explaining the phenomenon of ‘snow’ to him. He was in utter disbelief. We were in the tropics at this time, where he had lived his whole life, and it never snowed in this part of the world. Few people had televisions, radio was a luxury, it was isolated.

Anyway, he kept shaking his head in disbelief and several times stated how such a thing was impossible. Finally I convinced him of the reality of ‘snow,’ and it came across in his face: he believed me. At that moment it occurred to me that reincarnation could be a real thing. Just because I had never seen or recognized reincarnation, just like Sahn had never seen snow, it didn’t mean that these things weren’t real.

So, then, you understood reincarnation? You believed in it.

No, not necessarily. But it opened me up. I realized I was conditioned by my upbringing and that it was shallow: to think that only one point of view or construct could be correct and that all others had to be excluded.

You’re seven. And you were thinking in these terms?

Maybe not in those exact words, but certainly those exact ideas.

So, this is when your—let’s say—the journey of your spirit began?

No, I was interested in basketball, chess, and girls, but these episodes with Sahn, and there were many, left me to be interested in other religions and a respect for those traditions. At the time, in the early sixties, this view was absent in American culture. The rule then was if you didn’t adhere to the Christian faction, you were doomed. I remember, and it was for a couple days, my father took us on a tour of the Buddhist temples in the area. It was a cultural thing; he loved history.

So we’re in the Temple of the Golden Buddha, which I found out was actually made of brass—the Buddha statue was really brass—all the monks were seated in their orange robes; incense was burning; people were bringing flowers for offering, and my sister was seated right next to me. She was eight at the time. The monks are softly chanting these little prayers, with their hands folded, while making repeated bowing gestures towards the Buddha icon. My sister, being the good little conformist, folds her hands and begins making the same bowing gestures just like monks. My mother was horrified, [and] promptly interrupts my sister’s display, and when leaving the temple remarks to her, “You can’t do those things, you’ll end up in hell.” My immediate response was, “That’s silly mom, she not going to hell for bowing in front of the Golden Buddha.” Nevertheless my mother was convinced, and she was an educated woman; she taught at universities. Even today some people still think like that.

Even though you were just in elementary school, your views were pretty progressive for the time. 

It wasn’t really me so much; it was Sahn. Sahn gave that to me. I still love the man. One day I meet him, and he’s carrying a small bundle of bamboo sticks in one of his hands [and says]: “Come with me. I want you to see this.” He brings me to a patioed area, like a big carport, and lays the sticks on an eating table that has newspaper, rice, and some twine. He snaps the sticks and twines them in the form of a cross.

“What are doing, Sahn?”

“You’ll see.”

He breaks and twines the remaining bamboo, puts it altogether in the form of a diamond and lays it on a piece of newspaper. “You’re making a kite! I love kites.” “That’s right.” He grabs the small bowl of rice, folds the newspaper edges and begins pasting them together with rice. “Is that rice really going to work, Sahn?”

“Always has. But it has to dry for a while”

Couple hours later we’re airborne. Follow me here, I’m going to tie it together with the next story.

A few months later my father takes us oceanside for a week. He has an extra boardinghouse, so he invites Sahn and a few other locals. Early one morning, Sahn and I awake before everyone else. He says, “Let’s go down to the beach.” We’re walking along, and he stops. ”See that temple house on the jungle cliff over there?”  “Yes. It’s big.” “That’s the King’s house. He stays there when he comes to the ocean.”  “Can we go?” Sahn laughed. “Well no, I don’t think they will let us in. He’s not there, anyway.” The tide had just receded; the sand was wet, and we stopped again “XX, see those little marks in the sand?” “Yes.” “Ok, follow them. See where they go. . .Right there!” Sahn kneels down where the markings end and gently starts digging. I have absolutely no idea what he is thinking. Thirty seconds later he lifts this crab up by one of its legs, holds it in front of my face and says “See? Now, let’s see if you can do the next one.” It reminded me of the kite. This man, this monk, had no tools, no weapons, no technology, just his head and two hands, and he did these things. At that point I realized knowledge was the most prized tool and that some things were secret from public knowledge: for that you needed the good fortune of a Teacher. A half-hour later we show up at the boarding house, where the locals were, and open this cloth bag filled with crabs. They all start whistling and clapping, cooked up the crabs along with rice, and invited me to sit down for breakfast. This was rare; they never did this with white people, nor did they speak English other than with Sahn.

Thinking back on it, I believe, in part, Sahn orchestrated the whole crab episode with premeditation in order to show these locals that white people aren’t just these strangers in our land, they are much like us. He was a very intelligent man.

< PART 2 >