Mysterious But Eminently Practical

Mysterious but eminently practical

This is another in a series of posts containing my Amazon reviews of the books of the New Message from God. The books I have reviewed so far are:

The Great Waves of Change (Volume 5, Book 3)
Steps to Knowledge (Volume 3, Book 1)
Life in the Universe (Volume 5, Book 2)
God Has Spoken Again (Volume 1, Book 1)
The One God (Volume 1, Book 2)
The New Messenger (Volume 1, Book 3)

This is a review of the the book Wisdom from the Greater Community, Book One. It is now Volume 6, Book 1 of the New Message from God. I am adding commentary in brackets.

Mysterious but eminently practical

Wisdom from the Greater Community, Book One is the first book to be published of the teachings of Marshall Vian Summers. It is the first book of what would only much later come to be known as the New Message from God. In the late 1980’s, Marshall Summers traveled around the United States, channeling teachings with small groups of curious individuals. The enthusiasm of the response led to the publication of this book in the early 1990’s. It is as if the source of these teachings “wished” to establish a certain credibility, by addressing important aspects of the human experience.

[In the time period that these teachings emerged, one thing they were called is “The Greater Community Way of Knowledge.” The name “New Message from God” did not emerge until the mid 00’s. It is documented where each teaching emerged.]

There are 35 chapters in this book. None of them are particularly long. They don’t have to be read in chapter order to gain the benefit. This book takes something of an oblique approach, in that it speaks of the necessary aspects of some seemingly mysterious things, such as humanity’s emergence into a “Greater Community” of intelligent life. It addresses important subjects, but there is a connection with relatively unknown subjects, most notably the development of “Knowledge” in the individual. All of the chapters in this book were received before the book “Steps to Knowledge” in May-June 1989. These chapters could therefore be thought of as how Knowledge, the deeper spiritual intelligence that God has placed in every individual in every world, could be applied to the human experience. The reader has a good chance of reading things they have never read before. Therefore, it is important to approach this book with an open mind and heart, so that it can reveal its wisdom.

[Here are the chapters in this book

Chapter 1: The Greater Religion
Chapter 2: Relationships and Sexuality
Chapter 3: Greater Community
Chapter 4: Trust
Chapter 5: Marriage
Chapter 6: Health
Chapter 7: Freedom
Chapter 8: Preparing for the Future
Chapter 9: Spiritual Truths
Chapter 10: Service in the World
Chapter 11: Power and Responsibility
Chapter 12: Love
Chapter 13: Spiritual Community
Chapter 14: World Evolution
Chapter 15: Giving I
Chapter 16: Giving II
Chapter 17: Mastery
Chapter 18: Higher Education
Chapter 19: Fulfillment
Chapter 20: Inner Listening
Chapter 21: Enduring Happiness
Chapter 22: Escaping Suffering
Chapter 23: Forgiveness
Chapter 24: Happiness in the World
Chapter 25: Escaping Fear
Chapter 26: Stillness
Chapter 27: Disappointment
Chapter 28: Using Power for Good
Chapter 29: Faith and Fear
Chapter 30: Perception
Chapter 31: Healing
Chapter 32: Achievement
Chapter 33: Provoking Change
Chapter 34: Religion as Education
Chapter 35: Achieving Peace]

One minor technical note is that when the book was first published, it was called “Wisdom from the Greater Community, Volume 1.” In later publications, it will be known as “Wisdom from the Greater Community, Book 1” This is because this book is Book 1 of Volume 6 of the New Message from God, and it was awkward to use the word volume to refer to a book in a volume with multiple books.

[Mysterious but eminently practical. If you wished to investigate the New Message from God to see if it is something for you to follow, this would be an excellent book to read.]

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

A Witness Speaks Of Secret Plans In Play

A witness speaks of secret plans in play

There is plenty of material in the New Message from God regarding “the Greater Community.” Humanity stands on the threshold of interstellar space. The New Message from God includes “The Greater Community,” “Life in the Universe” and the recently released “Preparing for the Greater Community.”

I consider the New Message from God to be relatively rare among spiritual teachings. It mentions extraterrestrial presence and activity in the world at this moment. I realize that many people struggle with the very possibility of this idea. Therefore I wish to present the testimony of an individual with no association to the New Message from God. His name is David Jacobs.

A witness speaks of secret plans in play

David Jacobs recently retired as a professor of American history at Temple University in Philadelphia. But he is much more well-known as a researcher in the field of UFOs and alien abduction experiences. He has written three books and edited a book on the subject. His most recent book, “Walking Among Us,” was published in 2015. I recently read this book. I am sharing my Amazon review with additional commentary in brackets.

Humanity faces a challenge to its freedom

A witness speaks of secret plans in play

I consider David Jacobs to be a remarkable individual. He has made greater efforts in the unrecognized field of UFO research than most people. He has penetrated the human evaluation of impossibility and improbability. He has not been overcome by the terror of what he has discovered. It is as if he is a planetary Paul Revere, sounding an alarm that I hope and believe will be heard.

[There are many people who sincerely believe humanity is alone in the universe, or this corner of the universe. There are some people who consider extraterrestrial life from a purely human point of view. Paul Revere is known for his midnight ride to alert the colonial militia in April 1775 to the approach of British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord.]

The extraterrestrials described by Jacobs (insectalins, reptilians and grays) have superior technology. They have superior abilities at mental influence and control. They have no concept of privacy, individuality or freedom. And yet, they don’t seem to be able to live in our physical environment. As if H. G. Wells was right in The War of the Worlds. And yet, they don’t seem to be interested in direct conquest. As if Marshall Vian Summers was right in the Allies of Humanity books.

[The War of the Worlds was written in 1897, and has become a science fiction classic. The Allies of Humanity are not yet as well known. I have shared a review of one of the four Allies books here.]

Many different UFO writers have written of alien-human interbreeding programs, child presentations, and so forth. What is the purpose of all these hybrids? Jacobs writes that the purpose is inserting these hybrids (he uses the term hubrids) into human society. But for all their cleverness at genetic manipulation, they lack understanding of human culture. For example, they don’t know what time of day one should eat an orange. And somehow the internet is useless to them, as it doesn’t speak in their telepathic language. Therefore, they acquire data about human culture through abductees. This is something that I hadn’t considered until reading this book.

[ A witness speaks of secret plans in play. Budd Hopkins (1931-2011) and John Mack (1929-2004) are two authors on this subject. Secrecy is a crucial component of the project Jacobs describes. Therefore cultural mistakes must be eliminated. Hubrids must seem completely ordinary in their appearance and behavior.]

Jacobs suggests that there are many more abductions (instances of aliens controlling a human mind and body) than are recorded. I imagined that the first abduction of an individual is an “audition” of sorts, to see if that individual is neurologically compatible to be of use on many future occasions. During these abductions, abductees show hubrids of various ages things about human culture (dressing, eating, making conversation, watching television, and many other subjects). This is done through telepathic “question cascades.” Some of this is done on UFOs, and some of this is done on Earth. About two-thirds of the book is devoted to the various stages of this program.

[ A witness speaks of secret plans in play. Jacobs has conducted nearly 900 hypnotic regressions with over 140 abductees. He addresses the subject of the validity of this technique in the book. John Mack used a similar technique in his book Abduction. Many abductees experience “missing time,” time where they can’t remember where they were or what they were doing. The aliens seem to have a way of blocking the memory of abductees. But these memories are being recovered.]

Great effort is made to make these hubrids as inconspicuous as possible. A seemingly seamless plan is in place, and is being executed. What is the purpose? Jacobs suggests that it is a clandestine subjugation of Earth. Access to and control over Earth’s biological and mineral resources, rare and precious in this region of space. Jacobs confesses to not having an answer for this alien program, besides describing what he knows.

[ A witness speaks of secret plans in play. It is as if humanity is an adolescent race, squandering its great inheritance of the earth. Some promising adolescents fail to reach adulthood as free adults. Unscrupulous parties sometimes separate adolescents from great inheritances. The New Message from God calls this the Intervention. This is from the revelation “The Greater Community Presence in the World.” Marshall Vian Summers received this revelation in 1997.

“There are several allied races who are in the world today who are attempting to biologically and genetically bond with humanity in order to gain the adaptive ability to live and to function in this world. If they are able to do this effectively, then they will become the rulers of mankind.”

What are we to do about this? Secrecy is a crucial part of the enterprise. I therefore join with David Jacobs in his crying out to expose.]

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

The Messenger Is In The World

The Messenger is in the world
Penn’s Treaty with the Indians by Benjamin West, with the opening sentences from “The Will of Heaven,” Chapter 1 of “The New Messenger”

In October of 2016, I mentioned the publication of the book “The New Messenger,” a book of the New Message from God. I didn’t share too much of it at the time. This is another post in a series of Amazon reviews of the books of the New Message from God. I am adding additional material [in brackets]. I realize I hold a minority opinion, but I dare to declare that the Messenger is in the world.

The Messenger is in the world.

The Messenger is in the world
The opening sentence of the revelation “The Lineage of the Messenger,” Chapter 3 of the book “The New Messenger”

Marshall Vian Summers has been receiving material from 1983 to the present. This book is a collection of 13 revelations received between 2009 and 2014. Most of them were received in Colorado. One was received in Damascus, Syria, and one was received in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Messenger is in the world
The opening sentence of the revelation “The Story of the Messenger,” Chapter 4 of the book “The New Messenger”

[The New Messenger is Book 3 of Volume 1 of the New Message from God. There are currently six published books in Volume 1. Those books are God Has Spoken AgainThe One GodThe New MessengerThe Greater CommunityThe Power of Knowledge and The Journey To A New LifeThe New World and The Pure Religion are forthcoming books in Volume 1. I have written about God Has Spoken Again here. I have written about The One God here.]

The opening sentence of the revelation “The Requirements of the Messenger,” Chapter 5 in the book “The New Messenger”

This book paints a picture of God working in human history through sending Messages (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and what is now known as the New Message from God). These Messages are not merely bodies of information, but a new reality. A Message from God doesn’t arrive like a letter in the mail. A Messenger (Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Marshall Vian Summers) is selected to come into the world from the Angelic Assembly. For a certain amount of time, these Messengers seem like relatively ordinary people. But a certain unseen preparation is taking place.

The opening sentence of “The Veil of the Messenger,” Chapter 6 of the book “The New Messenger”

[The chapter “The Veil of the Messenger” speaks of the seemingly ordinary appearance of a Messenger. The chapter “The Requirements of the Messenger” speaks of the preparation given to Marshall Vian Summers in his childhood and early adult life.]

The opening sentence of the revelation “Facing the Light of Revelation,” Chapter 8 in the book “The New Messenger”

Then a moment of initiation takes place, and a new life begins. These Messengers have the task of receiving, demonstrating and proclaiming their Messages. Some people respond with rejection and ridicule, for various reasons. Others respond with interest and resonance. Eventually the Messenger leaves the world, and God waits until the next time a Message must be sent.

The opening sentence of the revelation “The Journey of the Messenger,” Chapter 9 of the book “The New Messenger”

What does this Messenger bring to you? A Message teaching to how to navigate difficult times ahead. A Message teaching how to serve a troubled, reckless, adolescent, destructive world. A Message teaching that humanity faces its greatest trial, and its greatest opportunity. A Message proclaiming purpose, meaning and direction for the individual. A Message speaking of humanity’s preparation for a future in a greater community of intelligent life. This Messenger brings his demonstration of his Message. He offers no miracles or dispensations besides his Message.

The opening sentence of the revelation “The Consequence of Revelation,” Chapter 11 of the book “The New Messenger”

What does this Messenger ask of you? He asks for your recognition and engagement with his Message. It is a large body of material. He asks for your recognition of him as the Messenger. He asks you not to ascribe miraculous powers to him. While he is in the world, he asks for your engagement with him, as part of his Message is his demonstration. He asks for you to hear and respond to his proclamation of his Message. He asks you to benefit from the wisdom he has to share.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

What Kind Of God Are We Talking About?

What kind of God are we talking about?
The first sentence of “Comprehending God,” Chapter 1 in the book “The One God”

In October of 2016, I mentioned the publication of the book “The One God,” a book of the New Message from God. I didn’t share too much of it at the time. This is another post in a series of Amazon reviews of the books of the New Message from God. I am adding additional material [in brackets].

The God of a billion, billion, billion races and more

The first sentence of “The New God Revelation,” Chapter 2 of the book “The One God”

The One God is a collection of revelations received by Marshall Vian Summers. These revelations were received between 2007 and 2015, in a number of different locations (Boulder, Colorado, USA, London, Tehran and Jerusalem). It is Book II, Volume 1 in a much larger body of material called the New Message from God.

What kind of God are we talking about?
The first sentence of “The Origin,” Chapter 3 of the book “The One God”

[What kind of God are we talking about? There are currently six published books in Volume 1 of the New Message from God. Those books are God Has Spoken Again, The One God, The New Messenger, The Greater Community, The Power of Knowledge and The Journey To A New Life. The New World and The Pure Religion are forthcoming books in Volume 1. I have written about God Has Spoken Again here.]

A patient father to the universe

The first sentence of “The Separation,” Chapter 4 in the book “The One God”

What kind of God is Marshall Vian Summers talking about? A God who is the Creator of all life. A God who responded to the choice of separation by creating the universe. A God of a billion billion billion races and more, in enormous variety. A God who delegates management of the universe to the laws of physics and biology, an Angelic Assembly over each of these many races, and a portion of himself in every individual, called Knowledge. A God with a plan to save every individual of every race in the universe.

The first sentence of “What Is Creation?” Chapter 5 of the book “The One God”

[What kind of God are we talking about? Has such a God ever been proclaimed before now? I don’t think so. Here and there, now and then, certain aspects of this God have been considered. It’s not just the Prodigal Son who is returning to his patient father, but a prodigal universe returning.]

You have important work to do

The first sentence of “God’s Plan Is To Save Everyone,” Chapter 11 of the book “The One God”

Why is this God being proclaimed now? This book does not “wish” to be considered as a book of theology. This book is telling you why you must undertake the effort to reclaim your deeper spiritual intelligence, so that you may be of service to a humanity facing the greatest challenges of its history. This book is providing a context for this in God’s greater work in the universe.

Do you dare to see a greater vision?

What kind of God are we talking about?
The first sentence of “The Heart of God,” Chapter 12 in the book “The One God”

I believe just about every reader will find some things they know to be confirmed by this book. I believe just about every reader will find some things they think they know to be challenged by this book. I believe just about every reader will find their mind and heart stretched and enlarged by reading this book.


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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

God Has Spoken Again

Cover of God Has Spoken Again

In the fall of 2015, I wrote about the publication of the book “God Has Spoken Again” by Marshall Vian Summers. This book is a milestone in the publication of the New Message from God. But I didn’t write much about the actual content of the book. I am now correcting that omission. This is another post in a series of Amazon reviews of the books of the New Message from God. I am adding additional material [in brackets].

God has spoken again
The first sentence from the revelation “The Proclamation,” Chapter 1 of God Has Spoken Again

Marshall Vian Summers has been receiving material on a variety of topics since 1983. His books include “Relationships and Higher Purpose,” “Wisdom from the Greater Community,” and “Steps to Knowledge.” But in 1999, it was revealed to him that the material he was receiving was a new message from God, and that he was to be its messenger.

[In January of 2019, Marshall shared this: “I knew it [the teachings he had received] was important. I knew it was a teaching. I knew it was big. I knew it was immense in its scope and what would be required to study it. Oh, yes, but it was not until 1999 that I was informed, on the verge of having a serious health problem, that this was a New Message from God and I was to be its Messenger. Eighteen years of receiving Revelation and at that point, it was made known to me what it was, what it was for, and what I would have to do.”]

This book, which is Book 1 of Volume 1 of the New Message from God, is a collection of 14 revelations received between 2006 and 2015. Most of them were received in 2011. Most of them were received in Colorado, but one was received in Istanbul, Turkey, and one was received in Alexandria, Egypt.

God has spoken again
The opening sentence of the revelation “The Seal of the Prophets,” Chapter 5 of God Has Spoken Again

When this book claims God has spoken again, it is claiming an event of similar magnitude to the teachings of Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed. Not a prophesy or a revitalization, but a new body of revelation. Many people might consider such an event to be impossible, but here it is.

[This book asserts that anyone who declares that God cannot or will not speak again is arrogantly presuming God to be smaller or less capable or less good than God really is. Who is anyone to tell God what God cannot or will not do? Readers from an Islamic background will take particular interest in the revelation “The Seal of the Prophets.”]

Many of the revelations examine various aspects of God speaking again. They basically say that a God who didn’t speak again when humanity needed to hear from God, wouldn’t be a good God.

God has spoken again
The opening sentence of the revelation “The Global Emergency”

Why is this new message here? Because we (and by “we” I mean “humanity”) are in trouble. Humanity faces unprecedented threats to its survival and freedom. Humanity faces an increasingly difficult world, a world of diminishing resources, affected climate, environmental degradation, and extraterrestrial intervention.

God has spoken again
The opening sentences of the revelation “The Mission of the Messenger,” Chapter 6 of God Has Spoken Again

How did this new message get here? Just as God has spoken through Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed in the past, he is speaking through a man in the present. That man is Marshall Vian Summers, who has received a vast body of revelation from 1983 to the present. This revelation can be both read and heard, as it was recorded when it was received.

[For example, the revelation “The Proclamation,” Chapter 1 in God Has Spoken Again, can be heard here.]

God has spoken again
The opening sentences of the revelation “God’s New Message for the World,” Chapter 11 in God Has Spoken Again

What does this new message want? This new message wants your engagement. This new message wants individuals to find a deeper spiritual intelligence called Knowledge, an intelligence that is wiser than ordinary intellect or cultural conditioning. It offers a pathway for finding this Knowledge. This new message wants nations and religions to cooperate for the welfare of humanity and the sake of human freedom.

God has spoken again
The opening sentences of the revelation “The Calling,” Chapter 14 in God Has Spoken Again

I understand that many people may find the very idea of God speaking again to be non-well-formed, gobbledygoop. But there are those who have cried out for God to help a struggling humanity. This may be the answer to your prayer.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

We Face A Challenge To Our Freedom

Cover of The Allies of Humanity Book One. We face a challenge to our freedom

And by “we,” I mean “the human race, the human family, my people.” From time to time, I have shared my Amazon reviews of the books of the New Message from God. In 2013, I shared a review of the book “The Great Waves of Change.” In 2014, I shared a review of the book “Steps to Knowledge.”. Also in 2014, I shared a review of the book “Life in the Universe.” I am now sharing my Amazon review of the book “The Allies of Humanity, Book One” with some images.

We face a challenge to our freedom

There are three books in the Allies of Humanity series. Books One and Two are available in paperback editions. Book Three is only available in electronic form.

First appearance of Uatu the Watcher. We face a challenge to our freedom

And by “we,” Marshall Vian Summers means “the crew of Spaceship Earth.” In this volume, Summers introduces humanity to a small group of individuals from multiple worlds, reporting their observations of events on and around our world. They are constrained from intervening, much like the character “The Watcher” in the Marvel Universe, but they are allowed to give a report.

Starship fleet. We face a challenge to our future.What is the problem? Intervention in human affairs by multiple “collectives,” multi-species, multi-planetary corporations which make McDonalds and Starbucks look like mom-and-pop grocery stores by comparison. The battle Jihad vs. McWorld is not only taking place in our world, but in space as well.

[We face a challenge to our freedom. How do we know these collectives exist? All we have is the testimony of the Allies of Humanity. How do we know the Allies of Humanity exist? We have the testimony of Marshall Vian Summers. Do you trust his testimony? I believe this Project Camelot video has helped a lot of people make up their minds.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2ww35AIYyE

Scene from "The Man Who Fell To Earth" We face a challenge to our freedom.

What is the goal of this Intervention? Access to/control of Earth’s precious biological and mineral resources. As I read this book, I recalled the books Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe and The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery. It should be noted that the collectives consider human beings to be just another biological resource, in the same way we think of domesticated animals.

[We face a challenge to our freedom. There was a time in human history when certain settlers and colonizers considered the indigenous peoples of certain regions to be a kind of intelligent animal whose labor could be exploited. Humanity is looked upon now by these collectives as a kind of intelligent animal.]

Manipulation puppetry. We face a challenge to our freedom.

How will the collectives achieve their goal? By manipulation of religious impulses, sowing the mental seeds of acquiescence, conformity, learned helplessness, waging a PR campaign that humanity is doomed without their help, engaging in an interbreeding program to more easily negotiate our environment.

[We face a challenge to our freedom. H. G. Wells was right when he wrote in “The War of the Worlds” how the Martians could not live in our environment. That is why an interbreeding program is underway.]

I wish to know my own strength. We face a challenge to our freedom

What can humanity do about this Intervention? Unite as a race, reverse environmental degredation, stop broadcasting everything about itself into outer space, develop greater resistance to persuasion and manipulation, take the Steps to Knowledge.

[We face a challenge to our freedom. I don’t know whether we will respond to the warning given by the Allies of Humanity. I hope we don’t find freedom to be too expensive.]

There are many more questions which could be asked, and they are asked and answered in a chapter near the end of the book.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Why? Why, To Give You A Taste Of Your Future

Conquest-is-not-allowed Why? Why, to give you a taste of your future.So far, I have shared my Amazon reviews of two of the eleven books of the New Message from God. Here is my review of The Great Waves of Change. Here is my review of Steps to Knowledge. I haven’t read all of the books of the New Message yet. I plan to do this in the near future. However, I have read the book Life in the Universe, published in 2012. Here is my review of that book.

Why? Why, to give you a taste of your future

The emergence of humanity into a Greater Community of intelligent life is a long-running theme in the writings of Marshall Summers. This book of channeled material expands on the themes introduced in books like Greater Community Spirituality: A New Revelation (New Knowledge Library) and The Great Waves Of Change: Navigating The Difficult Times Ahead, and offers a picture as to what life beyond our world is like, and how humanity might prepare for it.

As I read this book, I considered this sector of space to be a lot like the National Football League (NFL). In the NFL, while injuring the other players is forbidden, teams seek to identify and exploit the weaknesses of their opponents. In this sector of space, while outright war is forbidden (and bad for business, besides), spacefaring races go to great lengths (competition, espionage, seduction, persuasion, mental manipulation) to get other worlds over a barrel in trade relationships. As I read this, I recalled Trader To The Stars (Chronicles of the Polesotechnic League), where Poul Anderson’s Polesotechnic League had the motto “All the traffic will bear!”

People who appreciate advances in technology are going to find this book greatly challenging. It’s as if humanity is facing a choice between two futures. In one future, advancing technology not only makes us hit the wall of declining resources, but makes us more machine-like and less human. In another future, the road less traveled, humanity becomes one of the rarer freer worlds, emerging into space with its sovereignty and self-sufficiency intact.

What is on humanity’s to-do list to successfully arrive at the end of the road less traveled? Oh, nothing much. Unite as a species, arrive at a just way of sharing dwindling resources, develop skills used by spacefaring races in the mental environment (psychic and memetic warfare?), develop and enforce rules of engagement for visiting races, stop being a weak, divided, easily exploitable collection of warring tribes, reconsider the gods of its religions as parochial, tribal deities, keep its collective mouth shut and stop broadcasting every detail about itself into space.

Just as new professional football players recall their “Welcome to the NFL” moment, one day, humanity will look back and recall its “Welcome to the Greater Community” moment.

Why? Why, to give you a taste of your future.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

How Shall I Prepare To Serve A Troubled World?

Sha'ar Neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria. How shall I prepare to serve a troubled world?It seems to help to write Amazon reviews of the various texts of the New Message from God. It also seems to help to share those reviews here, with a little graphic embellishment. For example, here is my review of The Great Waves of Change. Between then and now, I completed the first time through the 365 steps of Steps to Knowledge. But I didn’t write a review right away. I wasn’t trying not to, it was just one of those things I didn’t get around to doing until now. Here is my Amazon review of Steps to Knowledge, with some additional commentary [in brackets].

How shall I prepare to serve a troubled world? This might help. A lot

I was one of the first students of Steps to Knowledge, receiving a copy shortly after it was received in May-June of 1989. Having studied A Course in Miracles (ACIM) in 1987, it was easy for me to think “Oh, this is like that” as Steps to Knowledge has 365 Steps, just as the Workbook for Students in ACIM has 365 lessons. Steps to Knowledge is therefore a book one practices, following the practice instructions, as opposed to a book one only reads.

[I have written a number of posts comparing and contrasting Steps to Knowledge with A Course in Miracles.]

Crystal Cave, Chihuahua, Mexico. How shall I prepare to serve a troubled world?

What is this “Knowledge” toward which we are taking steps? It is described as the great mystery of your life (Step 10). It is described as your true self, a self that is not apart from life. It is described as the love of God (Step 24).

[Step 10 “What is Knowledge?” offers a description, but Knowledge is observed from some angle in every step of Steps to Knowledge. While Step 24, “I am worthy of God’s love” doesn’t explicitly describe Knowledge as being the love of God, I am inferring that from Step 10 and the text of Step 24.]

What is the price of admission? How shall I prepare to serve a troubled world?

What kind of attitude does a person need to successfully study Steps to Knowledge? A beginner’s mind, and a hunger to fulfill the purpose for which you came to the world. The language is relatively prosaic, and the readability level is roughly that of a high school freshman.

[On further review, a couple of other things are also required. Steps to Knowledge requires a student to be able to receive assistance from sources they hadn’t previously considered. Steps to Knowledge teaches that it takes a certain self-esteem to approach the great mystery of one’s life. I wrote this post on the readability level of Steps to Knowledge using various metrics.]

Red wine grapes on the vine. How shall I prepare to serve a troubled world?

What kind of effect will practicing Steps to Knowledge have on a person? It will not necessarily make you rich or famous, but it might take the cravings for wealth and fame out of you. It will not get you the sexual encounter of your dreams, but it will prepare you to find the people you came into the world to find and bless. It will not necessarily put you into a position of influence, but it will definitely make you stronger, more focused, less ambivalent on the inside. Chances are good that Steps to Knowledge will suck a lot of the poison of judgment, blame and self-condemnation out of your soul. Chances are good that Steps to Knowledge will assist you in putting the events of your life in an empowering context. Chances are good that Steps to Knowledge will provide resources for serving a troubled world, while maintaining your own well-being.

[How shall I prepare to serve a troubled world? I’d like to think I’m doing so right now.]

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Difficult Times Ahead

Caution - Difficult times aheadI have been trying to write about the book The Great Waves of Change: Navigating the Difficult Times Ahead, by trying to compare it with other books written in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries, which predicted global catastrophic events.  While The Great Waves of Change has some similarities to these books, it has some crucial differences as well.  I believe a succinct way of describing this book would be to share my Amazon review, with some additional commentary [in brackets].

The Most Upbeat Book Of Impending Global Catastrophe You’ll Ever Read, November 12, 2010

Marshall Summers has been in the “channeled material” space long enough for it to be cool in the 80’s, out of favor in the 90’s and back in favor in the 00’s. So it would not be unreasonable to say this book is like The Secret in that both books are channeled material, and channeled material with which the authors are intimately familiar. This book isn’t like The Secret in that the subject matter is very different.
Fulfilling your desires will seem awfully shallow in the difficult times ahead
[The Secret has attained phenomenal cultural success by telling people how to get things they want by leveraging the law of attraction.  It’s going to seem very shallow to work on fulfilling your desires in the face of the difficult times ahead.]
This book predicts global, wrenching, catastrophic change that no one will be able to run away from or hide from. So it would not be unreasonable to say this book is like An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, only worse, because it predicts catastrophic global warming regardless of what measures are taken. Some people will read this book and believe it unquestionably endorses the idea of anthropogenic global warming, while others will read it and just see global warming without mentioning a specific cause. This book isn’t like An Inconvenient Truth in that it addresses other subjects as well.
Global warming, anthropogenic or not, is part of the difficult times ahead
This book predicts steep declines in the availability of resources we’ve taken for granted, and steep increases in the price of everything as a result. So it would not be unreasonable to say this book is like Hubbert’s Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage (New Edition) except that it not only talks about shortages of energy, but fresh water and arable land as well.
M. King Hubbert predicted declining oil production would lead to difficult times ahead
[I ask my children if they’ve heard of M. King Hubbert, and they say “Oh, he’s that guy who started Scientology, right?”  No, that’s L. Ron Hubbard.  M. King Hubbert (1903 – 1989) was a geologist who focused on the science related to the extraction of petroleum.  He was the first person to scientifically consider the possibility of a peak to global oil production.  Don’t answer this question now, but ask yourself “How will the price of a Big Mac change if the price of a barrel of oil were to, say, double?”]
This book predicts an attempt by extraterrestrials to secure control of our world’s resources by presenting themselves as noble saviors or ancestors of humankind. So it would not be unreasonable to say this book is like the television series Gene Roddenberry’s Earth: Final Conflict – Season 1 except that the Taelons aren’t gray with big black eyes, they don’t abduct people, and they’re not engaged in an interbreeding program.
Humanity will be visibly visited in the difficult times ahead
[I consider this part of the book to be the part with which people have the greatest difficulty.  But given the explosion of information regarding exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), is this idea as implausible as it once was?]
This book provides intermediate recommendations for lifestyle changes, but this book’s ultimate answer for everything is the cultivation of Knowledge, a central technical term for this book. It goes into great detail as to what Knowledge is and isn’t, and says something about Knowledge on just about every page. Knowledge in this book is a Big Deal, what Hindus might call the Self, what Christians might call the Mind of Christ. A promise is made that if you cultivate a vital relationship with Knowledge, you’ll be a much stronger, more self-sufficient, more magnanimous, more helpful person in the face of the abovementioned wrenching changes, which would be a very good thing indeed.
[This blog describes my engagement, and Alisa’s engagement, with Knowledge.  This blog describes what is happening as we study Steps to Knowledge.  There’s going to be a lot of judging, blame-shifting, recrimination, hand-wringing and finger-pointing in the difficult times ahead, none of which will be helpful.  Becoming a person who doesn’t indulge in these things is a definite upstat.]
While it seems like this book is full of gloom and doom, it actually projects a possible future for mankind where Earth is a member of the Greater Community of Worlds, a self-sufficient, sustainable race with its sovereignty intact. That’s why I gave the review this title. The worst possible outcome is that humanity ends up like the Jem’Hadar of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Complete Series, an enslaved client race of another world.
The Jem'Hadar is a possible future for humanity in the difficult times ahead
[Ok, ok, I’m not saying we’re going to get all scaly like this guy.  The Jem’Hadar of DS9 were genetically engineered to be addicted to a certain drug, and thus were controlled by the makers/providers of this drug.  Mock if you will, but is this all that different from the aboriginal north Americans who were encouraged to consume alcoholic beverages?]
My only complaint (and it is a small one) is that a cynical person might read this book and say “Whoa, this book is one big shameless plug for Steps to Knowledge: The Book of Inner Knowing : Spiritual Preparation for an Emerging World (New Knowledge Library), The Allies of Humanity: Book 1, and Marshall’s other books.” Somewhere it should be mentioned that multiple first chapters of Marshall’s books are available at his website, and that all of Steps to Knowledge is currently downloadable to head off that cynicism at the pass. I didn’t consider that a big enough complaint to withhold the fifth star.
[Between the time I wrote this review and now, the Society for the New Message from God started giving away e-versions of the Great Waves of Change, so it’s clearly not about making a buck.]
Are the predictions true? That’s hard to say, because there is very little timeline given. Multiple decades, less than a century. But the signs of difficult times to come are not too hard to see. “Become a better person for the hard times to come” is generally good advice. Will Knowledge deliver on the mighty promises Marshall Summers makes on its behalf? I suppose we’ll find out in the years to come.
[I consider the flooding in Queensland, Australia, the Fukushima earthquake/tsunami, the 500-year flooding in Europe, the recent flood in Colorado, and the recent flood in eastern Russia to be signs of the difficult times ahead.]

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.