Our Beautiful Planet and the Power of Prayer

On Sunday—Summer Solstice day—around the world, White Eagle groups met to pray for our beautiful planet. We have designated the Sunday nearest the solstice as our worldwide ‘Earth Healing Day’. I believe that all prayer, all good thought, can have an effect, but the effect of many people praying together with one thought, one aim, is very powerful indeed.

It is a wonderful thing when those in the public eye, those in high profile positions, take a stand and lead public thought in ways that can really make a difference. I think it is brilliant timing that Pope Francis’ encyclical on global warming and climate change has been released at this spiritually powerful time of the solstice., The Pope, as a spiritual leader of many millions of people, can indeed make a difference—he can lead many people in prayer for the well-being of our planet. He is doing this, but he is also calling on leaders in the world to change. He says ‘What would induce anyone at this stage to hold onto power only to be remembered for their inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so?’

So here in our White Eagle community, I urge us all to hold in prayer and in the heart of the shining Star key public figures like Pope Francis, that their influence to bring about change and upliftment of our planet may be as effective as it possibly can be. Let us also hold the vision of a healthy, happy world with all people living in harmony with one another and with the animal kingdom and all nature.

On Sunday at the opening of our service in the New Lands Temple, I read Grace Cooke’s vision… a new day, a new world (published in the White Eagle book Earth Healer.  I share it with you here:

‘I had a strange vision. I saw a great golden sun in the heavens, and it seemed to shine down upon a city, and all the buildings in the city appeared to be made of ice. They seemed to flash all colours in the sunlight, and it all looked very hard and frozen. Then suddenly, when it was least expected, the whole thing collapsed—simply melted right away and there was a fresh new earth. There were men and women on the earth ploughing and sowing, and it was a lovely day. The birds were singing and there was a feeling of healthfulness and simplicity and cleanliness. A new day had begun with the promise of a new life.’

One of our books where White Eagle helps us hold on to the vision and work to bring balance

The Power of Anniversary Times - Remembering Our Loved Ones

I recently came across a teaching of White Eagle’s in which he talks of the power of anniversary times. We have just had our Anniversary Service in the Temple here at New Lands and I was very aware of a special blessing for everyone present. Also at this time, perhaps more than ever, I felt the interpenetration between the two worlds. The Temple is truly a ‘gateway into heaven’ which helps us feel the absolute reality of the inner world. The Temple was filled not only with angels of the light, but also so many now living in bodies of light who have worked in the Temple in this incarnation or in temples of the past.

One lady leaving the service told me how for her it was the anniversary of the passing of a loved one and the comfort of feeling their presence had touched her deeply. White Eagle says:‘The ancient Brothers never failed to hold their special group meetings and work their rituals on powerful anniversary dates. The date of birth or death is an important anniversary date in the life of every man, woman and child.’ In a way I think White Eagle is here encouraging us to remember our loved ones and their anniversary dates—whether it be their birthday into the physical world or their birthday into the heaven world. Think of your dear one with love and thankfulness for their life with you and they will indeed be able to cross the bridge and come to comfort and uplift your heart.

I am sometimes asked whether it is right to think of our loved ones in this way, or whether it holds them back. White Eagle assures us that it does not hold anyone back. It gives them great happiness to be able to help us experience the joy of inner communion and the realisation that life is eternal. Where there is love there need never be separation as he so often reminds us. So as we approach Father’s Day this Sunday it may be a time particularly for us all to remember our fathers and give thanks for their lives on earth and all they gave us. Or if we did not know our father or there is difficulty in remembering such a relationship, pray that this is a time and a day when new understanding may awaken in our hearts.

What is time? How can we live in the eternal now?

The other day I was watching a very moving film about the life of the amazing scientist Dr Stephen Hawking. When only still twenty-one years old and studying at Cambridge university, he was struck down with a crippling illness. He was told he had at the most two years to live, with ever increasing restriction and disability. The Academy award-winning film tells how even with terrible disability nothing deterred him as a physicist from his study of time, and the writing of his book: ‘The Theory of Everything’.

What is time? He knew it is an illusory concept. His life is a story of determination and not allowing a physical concept of time to defeat him.

Just after watching this film, by chance, I came across these words of White Eagle :

‘Do not count time. You all make the mistake of thinking in years instead of eternity. Live daily in the eternal now, and daily, whatever your need, seek the higher mind, the mind of Christ, and all the petty things of human life will dissolve just like mists with the sun pouring through them.’

In company with many wise teachers, White Eagle advises us to live in ‘the eternal now’, but it is very hard to do this. Our brains and thoughts have a habit of running here and there - thoughts of the past, worries about the future, this and that and the other, constantly affecting every part of our being, so that even if we are sitting still, there is racing-around going on inside. We have internal lists of things we have to do, wish we could do, or want to change. I think one of the challenges of the age in which we now live is to find peace in the midst of it all.

How can we do this? I don’t think the answer is to ignore time and worldly commitments, as part of the reason we chose to come back into physical incarnation is to learn to deal with physical conditions, not run away from them.

We know (according to what White Eagle tells us, and probably feel it intuitively anyway), that time is quite different in the heavenly life - it is very much a concept of the material world - that is why it is of such interest to scientists. It is such an elusive subject which is hard to ‘get hold of’. Although White Eagle tells us to live in ‘the eternal now’, he is also practical and understanding about how it actually is living in a physical body, so he has given us a structure for our spiritual practice (just as Mohammed did with his call to prayer at sunrise, midday, mid- afternoon, sunset and evening). White Eagle asks us to remember God and our work of sending out the light at 3,6,9 and 12. So in one way we are told to live in time, yet in another way, realise that time is not real - just a concept of the material world.

One way I have found I can live with greater peace and harmony in my life (as I am naturally someone who is very conscious of time, and never wanting to be late!) is to accept the way things are, in as peaceful a way as I can. I do my best within the seeming restrictions of earthly time, but I really do try to live as White Eagle says ‘in the mind of Christ’, within ‘the eternal now’. Actually I think this is one of the blessings of getting older! It is certainly a bit easier for me now I am in my sixties, than it was in my thirties! I also find using affirmations (and of course Star-breathing), really helpful, no matter what the outer problem is.

White Eagle tells us that ‘All the petty things of human life will dissolve just like the mists with the sun pouring through them.’ Yes. They do. I affirm: ‘I am filled with God`s light and peace...I am at peace with all life. I live in the eternal now.’ Try it!   

Let there be Light!

'God said, "Let there be Light", not "Let there be potatoes".' I loved this remark made by our visiting speaker, Grethe Fremming, the leader of White Eagle's work in Denmark. She was talking about the importance of keeping focused in our positive thoughts, and not getting so caught up in the busy thoughts of everyday life that we forget what our purpose in incarnation is! We are beings of light. We have been created by God to radiate light. The time is now to stand forth, stand firm in our affirmation of the light and play our part in lifting the thought atmosphere of the world into positive, uplifting ways of living.
Here in the UK, two events have been happening almost simultaneously-a general election and the commemoration of seventy years since VE day a d the end of the Second World War in Europe. During the run-up to the election the thought atmosphere around this country must have been very busy indeed! So many conflicting ideas, thoughts and emotions whirling around. Then thoughts of war and suffering, winning and losing, bring up mixed emotions for so many people.
I believe that at times like this we have a special opportunity to be strong, steady, clear channels for the light. 'Let there be light.' Let there be peace of mind and heart too. Let us hold steady in our thoughts the image of the shining six-pointed star, radiating it's light into the thought atmosphere of the whole world, uplifting every mind and heart. Best not to have any too set opinions in our own minds, just fill our thoughts with love and light and belief in positive outcomes according to God's perfect plan. As White Eagle says, quoted on the back cover of his book 'Practising Peace': 'The light of the spirit can shine from your heart, from your whole body. The heart centre can be like a lighted torch on a dark night, and can cast a beam into darkened highways. This is the very light of the universe, the true light of God, the dynamic force which can perform miracles.'

Earthquake in Nepal

 Nepal is a country which is very close to my heart. I have been fortunate to make a number of visits there to trek in the beautiful mountains and also on my way to Tibet in 2003. More recently, just last August, I had

the great joy of being welcomed back to Kathmandu by Krishna (our White Eagle leader there) and all our dear White Eagle family in Kathmandu.

I am sure we were all deeply shocked to hear the news on Saturday of the earthquake that has affected Kathmandu so badly. We have just heard that Krishna and his family are safe but many of the buildings are destroyed. When these happenings occur White Eagle always advises us to keep positive in our thoughts. This is very important, not to allow ourselves to be pulled down into negative thought, but immediately hold the whole situation in the light of the Star, trusting in God’s beautiful plan and care for every one of the family of human souls.

I am always comforted by the thought that there is something we can do, no matter what the seeming tragedy. So please join with me today in holding all in Nepal and the surrounding areas in the heart of the Star—everyone who has been affected by the earthquake and is now fearful for the future and what it might bring—and all those who are working to bring relief.

 ‘When you look on human suffering, whilst you give sympathy, kindness and understanding, do not be dragged down by it. Do not allow your emotions to sweep you along like a piece of straw on the winds. Be still and look into the heart of the blazing Star. From the centre of this Star, the light and the strength of God your heavenly Father flow into your heart and your whole being… Have no fear; place your whole confidence in God, your Father-Mother.’  (from The Still Voice)

Our Magnificent, Intelligent Cells

This week I have been leading a ‘Wisdom School Retreat’ in the Temple at New Lands for members of the Lodge. It began on Easter Day with our Festival Service. During my address I quoted from a fascinating article Lyn Edwards (co-leader of our work in Australasia) in our current April/May edition of Stella Polaris,  entitled ‘Our Magnificent Intelligent Cells’. She tells of the research a professor of biology, Bruce Lipton, has done about how the cells of our bodies work. Lyn wrote:  Through experimentation he has proven that the DNA within the cell is not the brain of the cell, as was previously thought. This means that DNA does not predetermine how we are going to think, act or feel.  So we are not predisposed to be of a certain disposition.  So what is the brain of our individual cells?  Again, through experimentation, Lipton has found that the membrane surrounding the cell, or the skin of the cell, holds the intelligence.  The skin of the cell is porous and allows information to flow into and out of the cell.  If you take the DNA out of the cell, the cell will still move towards the source of nutrition and away from perceived danger.  If you take the membrane away from the cell, the cell has no ability to process the information of nutrition or danger and consequently dies.  What this proves is that the cell receives information from outside itself and responds to the information.  Our thoughts, feelings, and emotions are vibrations, and these vibrations are the information the cell reads and consequently these affect the wellbeing of the cells of our bodies.  These vibrations either create a harmonious environment for our cells in which they can grow and flourish or they create a toxic environment, in which the cells struggle, and eventually disease (dis-ease) is created in the body.’

This links amazingly with what White Eagle has been teaching for many years.  Our thoughts affect our bodies, minds and emotions in so many ways, and if we can learn to control our thoughts and think positively, this will eventually have a profound effect on our overall wellbeing and physical health. We also read White Eagle’s words in The Light Bringer:  ‘Within you lies the power to change the very atoms of your body, for the physical atoms are the spiritual atoms. These tiny sparks of light are the power behind all visible form. These atoms can be changed by the command of God. The whole of life is under the direction and command of the Great White Light.  Healing is the intake into the body of the eternal sun, the light.  If you can call upon this light, breathe it in, if you can live consciously in this light, it will actually control the cells of the physical body.  The body is so heavy, material life is so strong—but do not forget the power of God to recreate the living cells of your body.’

We ended our meditations on our last day of retreat with re-affirming Jesus’ words about love and working at re-programming our minds and every cell of our bodies with love.  We affirmed: 

I AM (THE CHRIST IN ME) DIVINE LOVE. 

I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE.

I hope this will be helpful for you too.