Jeff wants his presentation to blossom forth without expectations on our part so he gives no hint on what it will be. It's a surprise voyage. It sounds appealing to me.
There were nine in attendance. Chairs arranged in a circle. In the warm and friendly living room that Glenn provided many have established familiar positions in the circle.
Jeff opened his presentation with some thought provoking exercises. "Close your eyes", he told us, " and imagine a green triangle. Open your eyes when you are finished."
When all eyes opened a bubble of enthusiasm exploded. We discovered that peoples' triangles differed! Some were green in outline - like a neon sign and others were solid green. All managed some triangle.
Jeff had a deeper intent.
"How did you do that?" he said. Silence. Rhetorical question?
"Put your arm out." We did. "How did you do that?" probed Jeff.
"Close your eyes and make yourself feel happy. Open them when you're finished."
Many not-happy eyes showed themselves when I opened my own. I couldn't 'make myself feel happy'. Nor could most others. We looked to Jeff. He pushed on.
"Close your eyes and make yourself warm. Open them when you're finished."
This also provoked a flurry of discussion but it dissipated rapidly as Jeff drew us inexorably to his point:
Raw will is the essence of things. It is a power rarely used. But there is magic in its use - real magic.
He took us on an excursion into Kabbala (also spelled Qaballah or Kabala or Cabala!), ancient Hebrew mystical writings. The Qaballah gives Jeff deeper insights into scripture.
A key concept in Jeff's exposition was "primal intent".
God worked by 'will'.
The parting of light from darkness, the fashioning of the universe were works of intent or will.
As God works by primal intent so may man (woman).
"We are all Gods", says Jeff. "Mind affects the physical world." That this is so is the 'Creative Law'.
The remainder of the session was devoted to studying the 'Creative Law'.
Jeff buttressed his instructions with a practical example. The practical example was to find coins - in particular quarters. We willed the finding of quarter dollar coins over the next few weeks. We'll check the results at our next meeting.
And we did it according to the principles outlined by Jeff in the 'Creative Law' flyer he distributed to us. (The Creative Law is at Jeff's web site.)
It was suggested that those who become adept may want to advance to finding parking spaces by willing them to appear. I have heard several people take pride in their aptitude for this.
The meeting adjourned in warmth and conviviality - as always.
The appeal is powerful and it is motivating.
But is the implied connection true?
Is the exercise of will a mystical event?
Even atheists know that the will to have something happen is the precursor to its occurence. Neither God nor Kabala is needed for that.
Could the desire to find coins not sensitize one to sparkling flashes from the ground? Flashes not heeded heretofore? Then, indeed, you'll find coins. Not for any mystical reason. You find them because you are effectively looking for them. You weren't before!
To many this portrayal is dry. It is without theater.
Consider Jeff's picture: In exercising the 'Creative Law' you are following God's example as implied by the Kabala.
It is very motivating. It has charm. It concentrates your attention. Far more so than some homely dictum like: A clearly expressed statement of what you want helps you get it.
Indeed, the voice of reason is dry and without theater.
But it is not without beauty.
The uncovering of natural process where mystery reigned before has a compelling beauty for some. How something works - understanding its natural process - produces elation in some. Boredom in others.
What is mystical, the stuff of magic, things forbidden to physical analysis - those have romantic appeal. But with the marvellous efficacy of myth in motivating people comes a certain poverty of thought, an emptiness of conceptual structure, a loss of the beauty of understanding.
Scripture is what is to be read in ancient rock formations, in fossil remains, in the chemical reactions that can occur and in those that can't, in the spray of elementary particles arising from collisions in particle accelerators, in the synaptic pathways of the brain. These are signatures of natural process. It seems to me that these are scripture, the writings of God - not the bible of western religion.
| 1. It was not suggested that "those who become adept may want
to advance to finding parking spaces." It was suggested we
initially test the process on finding a quarter or a
parking space just to demonstrate to ourselves that the
process works ( or doesn't). Adepts may want to use it to
help themselves and others in many ways from healing to world
peace. It is the occult method of prayer, active meditation and hermetic magic. It can help one become more creative in life from developing artistic skills to over coming the fears and bad habits we have in relating to others. |
| 2. The point is that each of us is already divine. We just have to discover that. One way is exercising our divinity by exercising our deepest spiritual intent. Not just selfishly but for others as well. We don't need to believe in the bible or anything else, we just need to learn the skills of becoming a conscious being. |
If anyone exemplifies the best in Jeff's teaching it is Jeff himself: the optimistic, warm, caring and fearless person I know him to be.
September 1996
Marvin Chester
e-mail: chester@physics.ucla.edu
© m chester 1996 Occidental CA