THE LANTERN PRINCIPLE: INTERNAL ILLUMINATION BY THE SOURCE

By Joseph H. Bryan-Royster, Ph.D.

(Presented at the 2004 Convention of the International Metaphysical Ministry University System on June 15, 2004 at the Inn of Sedona in Sedona, Arizona. Introduction was given by Dr. Dick Caldwell, master of ceremonies.)

Joseph H. Bryan-Royster received his Doctoral degree in Metaphysical Science and also a Ph.D. in Metaphysics from the University of Metaphysics. His specialization is archetypal research, which examines symbolic imagery emanating from higher planes of existence and how it can affect the physical manifestation of events.

At the 2000 University of Metaphysics and International Metaphysical Ministry Convention in Las Vegas, Dr. Bryan-Royster presented Synchronicity and the Science of Parallels as his contribution to the pool of knowledge in the field. This time he sheds light on the primary importance of meditation as the access vehicle to unlimited spiritual power in his 2004 Convention presentation which is entitled The Lantern Principle: Internal Illumination by the Source.

THE LANTERN PRINCIPLE: INTERNAL ILLUMINATION BY THE SOURCE (Complete Text of this Presentation at the 2004 Convention)

I would like to thank Dr. Paul Leon Masters, Dr. Dick Caldwell, and the staff of the University System and welcome all graduates and students and guests here to this wonderful place... Sedona. Those red rocks are so inspiring. I just took a Vortex tour this morning and it was just - beyond what I could imagine. The energy is just... Whoosh!

Now, I am going to be presenting The Lantern Principle: Internal Illumination by the Source... and I am going to open with a parallel, which some people call a parable, of the Old Blind Fool lost in the Improvidence Zone.

("Dream On", by Aerosmith, is performed a capella)

Oh my God, I can't see. What's wrong? Oh, no - my lantern is out! Oh, I'm in trouble. I can't find the road. I don't know where I've been. I don't know where I'm going. There are ghosts behind me... Oh - and there's the top of the hill. Well, if I can't light the lantern I'll just keep walking. I'll just kind of grope my way. Ah, I finally found it - the City of Gold! Yes... What? The road keeps going! It goes down a precipice and I've got to climb down those rocks and I can't even see the river at the bottom, but I can hear it roaring. There isn't a bridge. What am I to do?

This is the Lantern Bearer: The perspective of carrying a lighted lantern through time and space in search of the future as defined by the past. The Fool wanders in innocence and ignorance, having no regard for consequences of his actions,. Living in the Past will propel him over the precipice he fails to see and into the abyss of chaos... oh my! Focus upon the Future through the glass of his own personal Past is a prescription for disaster. The Sage, with his experience of walking through the world, has withdrawn to the heights of a mountaintop where he meditates and shines his lantern of acquired wisdom for all true seekers. He has learned that one must live in the Present moment, as both the Past and Future are illusions of linear time and physical space. There is only Now...

Now I am going to read you a proverb of The Hermit. Cast a Fool through the fires of transformation, leaving him there until he has learned from his mistakes, and surely he shall emerge with the wisdom of a Sage. However, should the Sage looks back, seeking the future through the past, his lantern goes dark, and we just witnessed that, and he becomes the Old Blind Fool, who will have lost sight of the present moment - the Eternal Now.

So, in speaking of this, we are looking at two perspectives. This is the Lantern Bearer, and it shows carrying a lighted lantern through time and space in search of the future as defined by the past and failure to recognize that the goal is not the destination but rather the journey itself. Now, let's take a look at the Lantern Bearer again. You are walking the pathway of temporal life lost in the illusion of physical space and linear time. Upon your recognition of the possibility that spiritual life does exist, you find yourself carrying a candle lantern in your right hand which illuminates a portion of the path ahead of your feet. This is at the beginning of people's spiritual path. As long as you pursue this journey, with your eyes set upon seeking the future yet mind steeped in remembrance of the past, you will fail to understand that you are unable to reach your destination because you have forgotten what it is. What you are seeking is the present moment. It is time to enter the Now.

Now, we're going to change the perspective to being the Candle-Lantern itself, rather than the Lantern Bearer. We must understand that the ego must let go of attachment to the temporal concept of space and time, and recognize that the Source is accessed within ourselves through meditation. Now, I'm going to describe the Candle-Lantern. Imagine your physical body as that candle lantern which you thought that you had been carrying. Your eyes are the panes of the glass witnessing the external world. Your soul is the candle within the lantern. Your mind is the wick of the candle. The Universal Spirit is the flame that ignites the wick once your mind recognizes the primal Source dwelling within us all. When your lantern is lighted, the reflected images projected by the external world dissolve into this internal illumination. Physical and emotional attachments vanish into oneness. Your ego-mind no longer attempts to exercise its control over personal actions, thinking that they belong to a separate body lost in the darkness of a competitive world. Your mind steps aside to allow the Universal Spirit to reveal the truth that each created life form is a manifested aspect of the Source. We are all One Life. This is what Dr. Masters has been teaching us in the Ministerial lessons. Shine your lantern and spread the light of co-operation by sharing knowledge that the Source is accessed internally. Meditation is the key to kindling the flame on the wick of your candle. When you seek the Source, the Universal Spirit responds, and your lantern is lit.

(A brass candle-lantern is lighted with a match at the podium)

Voila! The Lord said there was Light, and lo and behold there was Light. I can see now! The path isn't so dark anymore.

The Candle-Lantern as a life metaphor... Imagine your body, soul, and spirit as this Candle-Lantern. Your temporal body is is the metal and glass frame of the lantern and your soul the candle, as I was saying, and mental concepts are based on external input. Now, we get to the meat of this whole thing. How do we light this candle within the lantern? Not with a match, just how I showed you, but the candle that's in here. (Pointing toward the fourth chakra; the heart center)

Your aspect of spirit remains dark until kindled by the Universal Source. At birth, your candle is dark. When individual human beings are born into the world, the lantern and its candle within it remain dark, unilluminated. It is not until awakening of the human spirit to the oneness of the Universal Spirit, emanating from the primal Source, that the flame is kindled and wisdom of higher consciousness is revealed.

We are all One Light at the Source Level. The distracting currents of business enterprise for personal gain draw humanity away from its prime directive. The true purpose of Life is to share and expand the unity of consciousness because all humankind is one at the Source level. We are all aspects of the One Light. There is no separation at the center of our individuated being, for it is one and the same as the center of all consciousness: The one and only Source. And the speaker before me showed a large circle and this point at the center, and all the points that are in this circle, which is all of everything, point to that center point which is within each of those points - the Source. Now, how do we get this?

Meditation is the Key to Internal Illumination. Meditation is the inward journey necessary for discovery of the spark which has the power to light your candle and enable your presence to shine as a Lighted Lantern.

The Light of the Fire lies within your Soul. The great religious teachings and traditions, in their mystic form, point to the light of the fire within the soul, which requires recognition in order for it to be kindled. Narrow interpretations of these teachings create division and discord. Instead of co-operative interchange of ideas there is competition and contention for temporal power. The lesson to be learned here is that the Source, no matter how we may perceive the primal first cause of existence, is One Light. There may be many names for this originator of Life, yet the many interpretations point to an initiatory creative energy manifesting the space-time continuum as we know it.

Now, I am going to speak to you a little bit about the difference between a mirror and a light. Mirrors relay secondhand light that is not experienced directly. So, the soul viewing these glass panes of the lantern, seeing and reacting to things going on outside and the mind interprets and questions and analyzes... That's what that means. Dependence upon the relayer, the person who delivered whatever message externally, if it doesn't plug into the Source it gets lost if the relayer is removed, like the person suddenly disappears and then the "lost sheep" is floundering and there is just no way to set up a conduit to the Source. Firsthand light, however, is experienced directly from the Source. Direct light is accessed internally through the practice of meditation. Reliance upon the Source strengthens the magnitude of this direct light. The key to sustained illumination internally is staying connected with the Source by the regular practice of meditation, which we all do here. And we teach that because that is the key.

Now, I'm going to give you a quote from The Inner Source: A Guide to Meditative Therapy by Michael L. Emmons:

"The Inner Source is our God-part, our direct link to God. Where else, but within our own person, does our divine nature commune with us? This position is not a new one. Our higher nature, whether called the Universal mind, the Bohdi, the Over-self, the Oversoul, the God-within, has been spoken of for centuries."

Now I am going to speak about the role of the Lamplighter. Shine your Light upon other Lanterns that are Dark. Once Illuminated, the lighted Lantern shines upon those lanterns that are still dark, and witnesses proof that the dormant wicks are able to be kindled so the Light of the Source, relayed via the Universal Spirit, may spread this illumination over the face of the Earth person-to-person. Internal illumination by the Source is a free gift available to all who are ready and willing to accept it. Share this Light! Once one’s candle has been kindled, and their being shines as a Lighted Lantern: a bright beacon piercing the veil of darkness, this light travels to where it needs to illuminate and is meant to be shared. Pass it on... Be a Lamplighter!

Now, I am going to close with a guided meditation exercise: the Candle-Lantern principle. Nancy is going to give me a little background music. So, would everybody please relax and remember the instant form of meditation so we can get there. Close your eyes and visualize a candle flame. And mentally repeat a word or a mantra as your focal point or just enter to the center. Go deep, go all the way. And as you go down to the center I am going to be presenting this guided imagery of the Candle-Lantern as a catalyst. Your physical body is the frame of this Candle-Lantern. Your eyes are the panes of glass which had been witnessing the external world, but now they are closed and they are now looking inward so - instead of looking through the panes of glass to the outside you are looking inward to the soul where the candle is located. And at the top of this candle is the wick, and you will notice that the wick, though it is covered with wax and is white at the bottom is blackened at the top - meaning that this wick has been illuminated before! This is nothing new, It just needs to be remembered. And as you focus on the end of that wick and go all the way to the center and enter into the Holy of Holies of our one true Source, there is a blinding flash of warmth and light and that flame comes to life and the rays go right through the panes of glass, outward into the room where there are many other lighted lanterns presently shining with it, and it goes beyond - out to the hotel, and into Sedona... and beyond, where there are some lighted lanterns and there are dark lanterns that need to be illuminated. And they will go toward the light and - curiosity. If they are open, the light will then kindle those flames and we will all as a web - a Network of Light - pass over the face of the Earth and transform this planet, like its never been transformed before. As above, so below... As is, so be it... And so it is!

Let us come out, back to the surface, and open our eyes... Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.

Link to Archetypal Research Metaphysics at Joseph H. Bryan-Royster, Ph.D. website:

https://sites.google.com/site/josephhbryanroyster/archetypal-research-metaphysics