An Esoteric 'Mystery School' of the 1990s

 
Attending the Sunday lecture series at the Philosophical Research Society provided many opportunities for me to learn about diverse spiritual/metaphysical orientations and affiliations.  There was interaction with many engaging people among lecturers, attendees and the staff.  I still have my handwritten lecture notes and microcassettes of my 'audio journal' recorded from late 1995 through 1998.  I also remember attending lectures on two Sundays in 2001 after having relocated my residence to the San Fernando Valley.

 
Situated in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, the PRS was founded by metaphysical author Manly Palmer Hall.  The president of the organization during the 1990s was Obadiah Harris, whose friendly wife Jeanne also was actively involved in events of the Society.  Beyond the lectures, the PRS Library and bookstore also became a useful resource for me.  Five dollars was the suggested donation at the door for each lecture. 

During this period, the PRS speakers whose oratory in some portion is included or mentioned among the transcripts in the free online edition of the case study book Testament are —

 
Obadiah Harris
Founder Manly P. Hall's successor as PRS President

Jeffrey Mishlove
author of The Roots of Consciousness

Pierre Grimes
The Noetic Society founder

Stephan Hoeller
Gnosticism author

Elmer Green
psychophysiologist and an originator of biofeedback

Bob Gale
Science of Mind CEO

Duane Cox
Science of Mind reverend

Dean Brown
physicist/philosopher/mathematician/poet

Shirley J. Nicholson
director of the Krotona School

Helping me prepare the book for publication, Jeanne referred me to the color lab used for PRS publications in San Gabriel, California.  The printing company I selected was located in nearby Glendale.  Testament was published on January 9, 1997 and the free Internet version of the book along with the first portion of the follow-up Internet book was published later the same year on July 20.  The cover design for the second book was designed by webmaster Lumir, who is also responsible for some of the elements of the website design at testament.org.  He has been the webmaster for the site all these years.  

   
Becoming familiar with some of Manly P. Hall's writings, I realized that my initiatory experiences were different than his.  In comparison to Manly who became a Mason, there was no need for me to join any secret society to expand my spiritual knowledge.  There should never be any secrecy in relation to spiritual knowledge. 

One name occasionally mentioned during PRS lectures was Sai Baba (1926-2011), the spiritual leader in India whose projects have included building hospitals.  Witnesses reported materializations and other amazing events occurring in his presence, providing an example of how individual people may find themselves a focus for patterns of phenomena that make possible metaphysical insights for everyone.  A noticeable reaction throughout diverse accounts of documented paranormal phenomena' is that what might look or sound unconvincing to a first-time evaluator actually may have substantive evidence of authenticity that correlates with other case chronologies. 

After listening to Dianne Skafte’s 1998 lecture on oracles at the PRS, I wrote in my journal for the day:

Today I enjoyed Dianne Skafte's lecture "Listening to the Oracle" — "The ancient oracles haven't stopped speaking, we have just forgotten how to listen" at the PRS.  She explained that an oracle could be a message, guidance, illumination, warning, information, glimpse into the future, remembrance about the past — any useful and concrete message that seems to come from a mysterious source beyond yourself. . . .

Or from within yourself for that matter, I might add.  Skafte brought with her a large pile of sealed envelopes stamped with an image of the Oracle at Delphi to be distributed to the audience.  Each envelope contained a different symbol and one of the attendees voluntarily handed out the envelopes, one row of seats at a time.  I was one of those whom upon opening my envelope spoke up to share the meanings found in the symbol received.  It was a purple/green stamped representation of a fish.  I explained that it looked similar to the one I received at a restaurant some time ago that motivated me to become a vegan instead of a vegetarian who sometimes ate fish.  Skafte then asked me what relevance the symbol had for me now and I said something along the line of: "Well the fish is also a symbol of the Christ so it's a very positive message."  When an acquaintance congratulated me for this occurrence of synchronicity, my response was that it had nothing to do with anything I'd done.  Dianne's book Listening To The Oracle (1997) is subtitled "The Ancient Art of Finding Guidance in the Signs and Symbols All Around Us."

Sheba Penner acquainted us with the book published posthumously that was written by her late husband, Rabbi Samuel Penner: The Four Dimensions of Paradise (1993).  The book mentions —

The essence of the intent in major religions appears to be the same, although they are verbalized differently.

 

THE GOLDEN RULE

Judaism: What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowmen.  That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.  

Talmud Shabbat, 31a

Christianity: All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew, 7, 12

Brahmanism: This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.

Mahabharata, 5, 1517

Confucianism: Surely it is the maxim of loving kindness: Do not unto others that you would not have them unto you.

Analects, 15, 23

Taoism: Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.     T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien.

Zoroastrianism: That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself.

Dadistan-i-dinik, 94, 5

Islám: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.

Sunnah

Among the books that I obtained from the PRS bookstore were The Bell Notes (1979) by Arthur M. Young, Teachings of Rumi (1979) translated and abridged by E.H. Whinfield, Mysteries of the Holy Grail (1973) by Corinne Heline, M.A., King Arthur: The True Story (1992) by Graham Phillips and Martin Keatman, and Meister Eckhart, from Whom God Hid Nothing (1996) edited by David O'Neal.

Books published by the PRS that I purchased are Symbolism Through The Ages (1988) by Kathryn Davis Henry, The Language of the Gods (1970) by Judith M. Tyberg, H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings Volume Five 1883 (1950), Laws of the Fraternity of the Rosie Crosse (Themis Aurea) [1656] by Michael Maier, and The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (1923; revised and enlarged edition 1976) by Manly P. Hall.  Upon reading the latter book, I was surprised to learn that Manly didn't himself become a member of the Masonic Order until 1954 and he was 21 years old when he wrote this book.

   

The Blessed Angels (1980) is among the short books or 'monographs' by Manly Palmer Hall.  The Introduction mentions: "Early Christian concepts of cosmology were based upon the universal scheme formulated by Claudius Ptolemy, an Egyptian astronomer who flourished in the second century A.D. . . . All physical things are manifestations of spiritual principles.  These are invisible but all-powerful and the kingdoms of the earth are all subservient to the kingdom of heaven."  Manly wrote about the blessed angels:
 

The word angel, from the Greek angelos, means "messenger," and the angelic orders of life inhabit qualitative distances between divinity and humanity.  Their equivalents must exist is every solar system, and beings of inconceivable splendor preside over cosmic systems and galaxies.


Most religions and philosophies have directly or indirectly sanctioned the reality of orders of invisible life assisting in the management of universal law.


In the Old Testament the Archangel Michael is the guardian of Israel, God's vice-regent, the heavenly high priest, and the keeper of the keys of heaven.  In Christianity he is patron saint of the Church on earth and judge of the souls of the dead.  As generalissimo of the armies of heaven, Michael was commissioned by the Lord to war against Lucifer and his rebel spirits.  In Revelation 12:7-10 the chief of the rebellious spirits is called the dragon, but in The Golden Legend it is stated that the dragon was Lucifer.  Michael is sometimes shown in Roman armor bearing a lance and carrying a balance of scales for the weighing of souls.


To the old pagans there were countless spirits, most of them friendly, which mingled invisibly with mortals and occasionally communicated with them.  There was no emptiness in space.  Everywhere there was life — conscious and intelligent, though unseen.


It was believed that when a body dies the guardian angel departs.  Socrates notes that shortly before his death his protecting spirit bade him farewell.


So long as science has no satisfactory explanation for the intelligence everywhere present in the natural world, it actually has no valid hypothesis with which to refute the Greek belief in hierarchies of ministering spirits regulating cosmic affairs.  A genuine vision by which a devout person becomes aware of a superphysical presence cannot be discredited simply because the majority of human beings has not had such experiences.

Looking through the assorted lecture notes of Manly P. Hall, I noticed that Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) had been a topic in 1967.

Psychic phenomena of one kind or another have actually been photographed.  There are huge files of pictures — photographs, paintings, sketches, drawings, precipitated [accomplished by unseen entities] documents and the like.  These are perfectly physical and entirely capable of examination.  There are many photographs of materializing entities in a seance . . .


In the last few years, we have become more and more concerned with the possibility of an extrasensory factor in the UFO problem.


. . . if we deny the intelligent universe; if we deny that the consciousness of the individual inhabits some condition, dimension, or region after the death of the body — if we deny all this, we naturally destroy most of the structure of psychic phenomena . . .


We will find that all these things are running into something that we do not understand, and yet against which we have raised an enormous structure of personal opinions.


The only consideration today is to extend resources, conquer regions, or in some way protect ourselves from the unknown.


Must we always reject evidence in order to make it fit into preconceptions?

Following my metaphysical initiation (1, 2, 3) and a few years after the publication of Testament, I decided to begin researching the gamut of paranormal cases and many articles at this blog offer profiles of some of this illuminating data.  As I've stated before — first and foremost, I've considered myself a journalist about my own experiences as well as when profiling for readers the variety of bona fide case histories.  
 
A PRS participant who had a NASA connection is J.C. High Eagle, whom had published poetry books about love and spirituality after a long career as a scientist, engineer and project manager.  

 
An author/poet who I learned about at the PRS bookstore is James Kavanaugh, who had left behind Catholic priesthood after his book A Modern Priest Looks At His Outdated Church (1967) became popular.  Titles of his books include Sunshine Days and Foggy Nights (1975), A Fable (1980), Quiet Water: The Inspirational Poems of James Kavanaugh (1991) and Mystic Fire: The Love Poems of James Kavanaugh (1991).  Other sources for introspection about love that I went on to explore were books presenting channeled perspectives (as indicated in blog articles about these cases).   
 
Among the lecturers with some 'Native American' ancestry was Cheewa James, author of a book of interviews with 'Native Americans.'  As she spoke, I remembered that my maternal great grandmother was Native American.  Cheewa spoke about such topics as the 'Indian Medicine Wheel' and the interrelationship of all living things.

  

Bighorn Medicine Wheel (Lovell, Wyoming)
  

  
On February 21, 1998, a 'PRS Special Event' was a channeling session by Kevin Ryerson.  (1, 2)  This event was my first time observing a well-known 'channeler' in person.  I would go on to become familiar with the annals of 'channeling' among other forms of modern transcendental communication such as Instrumental Transcommunication and Direct Voice phenomena.  After the channeling session, I was delighted to momentarily talk to Kevin and have a question answered.  Channeling cases show how the metaphysical perspectives shared can be noticed to elaborate upon many of the Mystery School teachings that originated and evolved throughout the ages.  
 

Among the recurring lecturers, Gnosticism author Stephan Hoeller's short book The Gnostic Catechism (1998) provides examples of how mythos teachings of a particular wisdom tradition derive from an effort to make sense of worldly conditions in relation to the 'Lord [God] of all.'

During the final moments of the 2001 lecture of Raymond A. Moody (author of Life After Life 1975), he mentioned his own transcendental experiences involving a communicator whom on the first occasion was identified to be 'Amenius.'  The initial interlude took place right after Raymond had completed his first year as a student at the University of Virginia with Raymond later finding the name 'Amenius' identified as being the teacher of the Greek philosopher Parmenides. 

An example of some of the amusing things that commonly happen in life is what happened one day in the PRS bookstore.  I noticed behind the counter an unusually sized book showing a man's face and asked about it.  One of the lovely counter ladies informed me that the book had strangely arrived although it had not been ordered.  I was happy to be able to purchase it — A Year with Swollen Appendices: Brian Eno's Diary (1996).  I had many of Brian's CDs at home and considered myself knowledgeable about U2 (for whom he'd been a record producer) after researching the rock group while writing the press kit production information for the documentary movie "U2 Rattle and Hum" during my past career as a Hollywood studio publicity writer.

 

The bookstore also had some used books on shelves in the corner of the larger room.  Among the books I obtained are: The Secret Path (1935) by Paul Brunton, Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching translated by D. C. Lau, an illustrated guide to The Traditional Arts of Japan (1964), a 1970 paperback edition of The War Prayer (1923 poem) by Mark Twain, Heaven and the Angels (1940) by H. A. Baker, and a poetry book that my father would've appreciated — Archy and Methitabel (1927) by Don Marquis. 

  
Glancing through my files of PRS lecture notes while writing this article, I noticed some of the brochures and information sheets provided to lecture attendees.  There are two undated booklets by Evarts G. Loomis, M.D: The Medicine of the Whole Man and The Spiritual Dimension of Personal Wholeness in the Practice of Medicine.  Some information pages provided by longtime PRS lecturer Basil W. R. Jenkins are about "Apocryphal Books" and a "Diagram of a Typical Orthodox Iconostasis."  Some astrological chart templates with notes were presented by Donna Eubank Hennen.  Elmer Green, Ph.D. offered his 1993 paper "Alpha-Theta Brainwave Training: Instrumental Vipassana?"

On April 24, 1998 I began keeping a written journal again and continued keeping notes through August 14, 1999.  This endeavor eventually resulted with my chronicling the reasons that resulted with my decision to stop attending the PRS.  I'd consistently given out free copies of my case study book Testament.  One afternoon I overheard Obadiah and his wife whispering about me in another room and this was unsettling as I certainly had never intended to be disruptive in any way.  On one occasion Jeanne made a remark that made me realize that Obadiah's personal 'status quo' seemed to have no room for inclusion for what might be deduced or learned from Testament. 

  

The other PRS lecturers I heard are: Ronald Alexander, Arabinda Basu, David E. Bresler, Don Campbell, Roberleigh Claigh, Lionel Corbett, Verlaine Crawford, Carol Ann Dreyer, Robert Ellwood, Marcia Emery, Bruce Fisher, Robert Frager, Amit Goswami, Saginaw M. Grant, Eleanor Griswell, Cathryn Hu, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Valerie Hunt, Karen King, Isabel Radow Kliegman, Victor Krauzlis, Little Crow (Carl Bryant), Fay Loomis, Daniel C. Matt, Joy Mills, Edgar Mitchell (astronaut), Caroline Myss, Culver H. Nelson, Judith Orloff, William Quinn, Martin L. Rossman, Lydia B. Sharp, Susan G. Shumsky, Huston Smith, Russell Targ, B. Alan Wallace, Adam Warcup, Karma Welsh, Fred Alan Wolf, Gary Zukav.