| August 29-31, 2003 A Gift for our World Glimpses of the all school weekend through the eyes of videographer Terry Martin and many friends who gathered to prepare for October 11th. |  Terry (standing) camera ready! | | | | Friday August 1, 2003 Arrival
I traveled to the School of Metaphysics headquarters with Kathy Phillips, a student in Louisville and Tina Coleman, the new director for the Lexington center. I thought of my goal for coming for this weekend. I decided that I wanted to be connected with the whole, to have an overall perspective of everyone’s experience throughout this weekend. I wanted to be open, focused and receptive at the same time, so I transformed it to having an open mind and heart. I really appreciate, what we collectively are creating for the World. I appreciate the learning this experience is providing for everyone in the School of Metaphysics. The capacity to create an image in mind, to expand the vision, to decide specific details and bring it forth, knowing exactly where the thought is in mind and deciding what needs to occur for further movement is something I’m currently applying in my life and in the center. Dr. Barbara Condron has been a wonderful example of elevation, lifting up all minds and hearts, all ideas and dreams and bringing all together in a wave that is moving across the globe. This has been and is a wonderful example for any one of us to expand our area of influence be it in directing a center, or leading an expansion project in a class, or leading a community outreach project.
As people from all over the Midwest arrived at the School of Metaphysics headquarters there were hugs of greeting, "how’ve you been", "what’s been going on?" as friends reunited once again. The energy of excitement, anticipation, exhilaration and expectancy became focused toward food as everyone enjoyed a wonderful spaghetti dinner. | 
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Friday Night The evening begins with a spaghetti dinner prepared by Chris Madar, Linda Yeingst, Dr. Pam Blosser, and countless volunteers. Two dozen individuals proceed to the third floor chapel room for their first view of intuitive reports given in their presence. Three people from Indianapolis and three from Kansas City will receive their Past Life Profiles as part of their study in the first cycle of SOM lessons. The interest is high, attention keen, and what is learned, rich. These people will look at life differently from this moment on. At 8:30 p.m. we walked through the darkness to the lighted dome. It was very dark out, the sky was overcast, so there were no stars shining. It was the light coming from the dome that showed us the way. Once inside artistic renditions of lines from the Universal Peace Covenant lined the wall, viewed by all present. Then Dr. Daniel Condron led the group in a projection, directing everyone present to image their goal, purpose and activity and then leading everyone in a projection for the common goal of offering the Peace Dome to the World.
Dr. Barbara Condron shared with us the response from people all over the world, coming to love the Peace Dome and what it represents just as we do. She said, “Already, we’ve heard from six continents, all except for Antarctica.” As she said said this, I felt all minds reaching toward Antarctica, desiring to include people on the Southern most part of the globe. I felt a longing, drawing forth from all the people present and knew it would only be a matter of time before someone from Antarctica would contact us. She shared e-mails people recently sent in (click here to read the entire letter to SOMA members). “The day will be observed in Ghana”, “I will participate in the synchronized effort”, “I’m happy you summoned me to be part of this” were among the responses from around the globe. I could see the impact more clearly than I have ever before. An energy grid lighting up. The grid is in the ethers surrounding our planet. It lights up when people are united in an ideal of something greater than anyone of us. Lights are going on all over. The awareness among individuals and groups all over the planet is the grid. It truly touches the entire globe, and is part of the inner connectedness, a web of light being shared among many. The Peace Dome is providing this for intuitive man. I can see it in my mind, the planet is awakening in a way it has not before. Throughout the evening many people shared what was occurring; from the ringing of the World Peace Bell in Kentucky to the prayers for peace near the Peace Ball in Arkansas. Proclamations arrived from Mayors in cities from Independence, Missouri to Denver, Colorado, readings of Universal Peace Covenant will be occurring in cities throughout the world, and this is just the beginning. The outreach continues and it grows and grows and grows. Soon everyone joined their groups (established during our meeting a few weeks before) to further develop their vision and plans for the dedication day. Our productions crew shared visions of peace, reading from the papers written of our personal vision for peace. Then we planned for how we would capture the historical events of October 11th, participating along with a group touring the campus and peace dome, capturing the moments as if from the perspective of a visitor to our campus.
| | Saturday August 2, 2003
Morning Breakfast of eggs, pancakes and fruit is served buffet style. Rain-filled skies could not dampen the efforts of the individuals who have traveled hundreds of miles to give to the Peace Dome. The essence of the morning was cooperation and harmony. While nature was dampening the parched earth, resolute individuals set about fulfilling the goal for having come to headquarters this weekend. Rocks were gathered and given to the Bodhi Grove to build a retaining wall for the reflecting pool where the prayers for people on every continent will be said continuously from sunrise to sunset on October 11th. This, along with dirt transported by Tad Messenger and carefully placed by Teresa Padilla’s crew prepares the foundation for the pool.
Rocks and branches from forest trees are carefully cleared from the pathway leading to the future Octadome site. John Mestyanek responds to the need to get a very large pig (one of the husbandry animals on campus) back in its proper place. Firewood is stacked for future use and a fire is built to give warmth to all. Dr. Sheila’s paint crew was the only group that is unable to fulfill their mission of painting the beige barn white so and energies are redirected toward collating the mailing of a letter to groups and organizations about Peace Dome Dedication Day. Under Greg Brown's direction, beautification occurring near the gate where people will be entering is nearly completed, only requiring clay to fill in around the cattle guard.
In the Peace Dome Jay McCormick’s crew begin laying the outer mosaic tiles of the Peace Dome Mandala in preparation of the carpet that would soon be laid. He asks each person to share spiritual thoughts, impressing the tiles with this essence. As lunch draws near, people begin coming inside. In the spirit of friendship I am offered many wet hugs. And then we share a noontime meal. |  
| | | Saturday Afternoon
Immediately preparations begin for the evening meal which is to be a cookout over a roaring fire. For dessert, a delicious chocolate cake is in the works. Some of Dr. Sheila’s group help out with the Bodhi Grove reflecting pool. As it turns out, there is a need to resize the pool, so more dirt and sand is brought in by Tad Messenger and carefully placed by Natalie from Dallas, Jesse from OKC and Mari from Des Moines. Friendships across state lines is common in the School of Metaphysics. And now those friendships are crossing the world, daily. I then go to the dome. A dozen enthusiastic individuals wearing rubber gloves covered in cement greet me with upraised arms. Smiling and laughing, they are involved in placing white cement on the healing wall, outlining and refining the continents of the world. The healing wall truly is a healing presence apparent in the love and attention of the individuals giving to it.
As I go into the lower level of the dome Mark Starr greets me. Mark has been involved in working with students of the College of Metaphysics for 10 years. His expertise is found in many construction projects around campus, including the dome. We are happy that he has joined us on this Saturday, since he usually takes weekends off. "There were people I want to see," he says, talking about the many friends he has made over the years. In the center of the dome on the first floor focused students place tiles one by one, first preparing the floor with grout, a type of glue designed to hold the tiles in place. The tiles are about one inch square, so you can imagine the number of tiles that will be placed to complete a 9 foot diameter mandala. I’m looking forward to placing a tile, for this symbolizes the many parts coming together to form the whole. Every person visiting the dome on October 11th will have the opportunity to place a tile and be part of creating what will likely be honored by millions in the future.
I returned to the Bodhi Grove area where a tractor pulling a trailer is unloading rocks that will become part of the landscape surrounding the reflecting pool. It is a wonderful sight to see the cooperation of dozens of individuals transporting the stones, one to another and then being placed strategically to support the retaining wall. As one person passes a stone to the next, I image people all over the world working together, passing on the word about the Peace Dome, inviting friends, family and strangers to join together with One Voice at 1:00 p.m. CST on October 11th. This is how it is going to happen, people sharing with people and before you know it the entire world knows and can be part of it.
And now to the chapel. This issue of Thresholds Journal - a magazine with a 28 year history - tells the story of the dome through the eyes of people who’ve experienced it. These experiences give the dome life and as it takes hold in someone’s imagination it becomes even greater and it’s influence is more profound. Thresholds is one way the story of the dome is being told. It’s also being told by all of the people who’ve given to it, all of the people who give their love and who receive so much in return. It was alive in the chapel today as Dr. Laurel Clark taught people how to use the staplers with love and attention.
Tasha Randall from Oklahoma City says, "This weekend has been amazing. I’ve experienced things, that I have never experienced before.
This weekend I got a chance to work with Laurie, she is a student at the COM. I got a chance to work with her in the garden. While being in the garden, we picked tomatoes and spinach. My exsperience there was really fun because, I have never done that before. This weekend Ihad a really great time. | Saturday evening
For the cookout and the weather is clearing, well at least it has stopped raining. Matthew Marian has built the perfect fire for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. Everyone gathers around the fire, cooking their food and sharing their experiences of the day. As with everything in the School of Metaphysics, learning is the reason we’re all here. The groups preparing the campus throughout the day share much of what they’ve accomplished and some spoke of the lessons they’ve learned. There seems to be a great lesson in will power from moving rocks, highly symbolic of what is needed to build a strong foundation of mind. As the light of the day grows dim, faces fall into shadow, lit by the fire still burning brightly. In order to prepare for the day of dedication of the Peace Dome, Dr. Dan Condron (chancellor of the College of Metaphysics) and Dr. Barbara invite people to ask questions that would likely be asked of them by visitors to our campus on October 11th. “Who are ya’ll?” “Why a dome?” “What do you do here?” “Why October 11th?” were among questions asked. I am reminded of many discussions early in the planning as some of these questions are answered. There is a reason for October 11th, just as there is a reason for the Moment of Peace to be at 1:00 p.m. Everything we are doing has purpose and that is the open door to being. The discussion concludes about 10 p.m. with clean up still remaining. Everyone pitches in to help and we begin our meditation at 10:30 p.m. in the newly carpeted upper floor of the dome. Several people talked afterwards about how easy it is to astral project during meditations in the Peace Dome. Separating consciousness from the physical body seems spontaneous and sometimes unexpected to those who have recently begun meditating. "Over the course of the whole weekend I experienced a connection to energy I never knew I had. Before I came to the college I got on the average 8-9 hours of sleep a night. Over the course of this weekend I got 9 hours of sleep over the course of three nights. For the most part I didn’t experience sleepiness. I realized that the more I opened my self up to giving freely the more energy I could receive. This service also allowed me to connect with others in a way that was pure. There were no conditions to the giving, only experiences of the love that we share." ---Aaron Krieshok- | | Christine Madar on Satyagraha “I want to keep doing this again and again.” These were the words that rang through my head in the days following the Satyagraha performance at Peacemakers on Sunday morning. I have lived at the College of Metaphysics through the evolution of this performance. From the first time given in November of 2002, through The Invitation to this, where Nobel Peace Laureates and Ghandi meet face to face. Until now I’ve been a privileged witness to the ways these experiences have touched the performer's hearts as well as those who sit in the audience. I was honored when Dr. Barbara made a place for me in this weekend’s performance. I introduced Betty Williams (founder of Peace People in Northern Ireland) and Mother Teresa. I loved being part of giving this to those who attended Peacemakers. I felt completely fulfilled during the performance - calm, centered, complete. I saw how the people in attendance were touched by the tears in their eyes and felt the waves of emotion that rippled through the dome chamber. Throughout the afternoon I listened as many people talked about their experience. John Mestenyk said “When I saw Ghandi meeting these people it gave me a vision of greatness for myself.” As he and I talked he shared his vision for his life and he said this was the clearest picture he had ever received of his own potential. Terryll Nemeth (a black woman) was visibly moved when Ghandi and Martin Luther King came together. When I saw her after the performance I asked her what had touched her heart so deeply. She thought quite a while before words came to her. She said that she had realized how she was part of Martin Luther King’s legacy, that all the Nobel Laureates and Ghandi had a deep love for humanity and she had that as well. She felt the pain that each of these great leaders felt at the inhumanity that has and still does exist, and could see her part in that too. Then she smiled at me with the warmest eyes and I felt her soul was revealed to me in that moment. We hugged and I told her I loved her. The real, tangible, deep way this performance touches people is why I want to keep doing it over and over. | Sunday morning
Breakfast at 7:00 a.m. with a crew that went the extra mile for stragglers arriving after much of the food was eaten. At 7:30 a.m. nearly everyone departs for the barn to complete one remaining project for the weekend. Imagine around 40 people painting a barn, some with extensions that reach nearly to the top, others with brushes attached to very long handles in order to reach areas the rollers can't. Within a short time, the barn was painted with white paint and trimmed with green. Dr. Sheila Benjamin runs a great painting crew and this is another example of what can be accomplished when many people unite their efforts toward a common goal.
The weekend concludes with a heart warming presentation of Satyagraha in the dome. Mohandas K. Gandhi graced the dome with his presence along with many of the Nobel Peace Laureates who had been influenced by his leadership in nonviolent peace efforts. Many a tear was shed as people lived the life of Gandhi through his own words. One man does make a difference. Gandhi exemplified one who sought self awareness through his experiences which brought from within a sense of duty to uplift humanity. College student Chris Sheehan who was one of the peace disciples describes his experience: "This weekend I experienced a culmination within my consciousness. For the past month, my college classmates and I as well as several graduate teachers and senior college students had been preparing and practicing for Satyagraha, a multidimensional experience that tells the story of Ghandi. Added to this was the interaction with him and various Nobel Peace Laureates. A tribute to the greatest peacemaker of the 20th century. As a guide/disciple I had the honor of introducing Linus Pauling, an american scientist who’s work in chemistry and investigating the effects of nuclear testing earned him two Nobel prizes. "The first time we practiced I was a wreck, I did not think I belonged in the performance, I didn’t trust my self or the value of what I had to give. Throughout the month I practiced and made choices to give my best. I believed in myself and kept my purpose in mind. On Sunday I felt really excited, it was the culmination of my preparation and what we all were building together. When it was my turn to give I stood up and allowed myself the room to breathe with the experience. It felt so good. Things flowed and I felt connected. I realized my purpose and built a greater foundation of self trust. I am very grateful to have had that experience and to share it with all who were present." | Terry left early in the afternoon for Louisville. About twenty people stayed through to Monday since it was Labor Day which meant they weren't expected at work. Jen Childers from Springfield, Missoui was one of these people. Sunday evening "I came into this weekend with a strong desire to heal myself by choosing to look at my fears and limitations. I wanted to create a space for myself to receive what I have been avoiding for a very long time so, I talked to many individuals over and over again about what I have been experiencing for months. Dr. Barbara was reading Dr. Dan's new book The Tao Te Ching, Interpreted and Explained. The two chapters that she read at the table following dinner were amazing. One major part that stood out to me was about how serving is more than action. Dr. Dan gave a really great example on how you can dig thousands of ditches and not be enlightened or you can be an enlightened ditch digger. I choose to be an enlightened ditch digger. I find that service became mundane for me because I became lost in who I was doing it for and why. Talina Woods started to talk about this particular section in the book and all of a sudden I had a rush of heat flooding me waist up. I could feel a lot of energy being directed out of my crown chakra and then all of a sudden I thought that I was going to throw up. I started to get up from my chair with a fear of vomiting at my chair. I was almost completely vertical when I decided to still my mind and receive this energy. After, I sat down I could feel the energy vibrating in my body and all I could do is just breathe. After a few minutes of breathing and a choice of releasing my attachment to trying to identify what was happening to me I allowed myself to fully experience. When dinner was over I talked to Dr. Dan about my experience and he told me that I wasn’t ready to receive the truth that was given in those chapters. My conscious mind took a rollercoaster ride on this statement. I wanted to be ready, I wanted to change, I wanted to learn. So, I told myself that night that I will serve with purpose, that I will give with love and through this I believe that I will heal. Yea!!!!!!" -Jen Childers |  
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| "This weekend has been the most connected student weekend I have had yet. At the start of the weekend I experienced some pain of loss and sadness. My ideal was to come to a greater understanding of the complete law which is Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all else will be added unto you. My purpose was to build security. My activity was to connect with more people, with new people, and with all people in deeper ways than I had before. I was determined to give and receive completely. I was determined to expand my attention to others and to serve the needs of the whole. My experience was beyond what I had imagined. I connected and bonded with so many people it was wonderful. I kept my Self focused on my ideal, purpose, and activity by asking other people what their ideal and purpose was for the weekend. I even helped a number of people formulate a clear ideal and purpose. I shared my thoughts and emotions freely and encouraged other people to do the same. During the activities to prepare the land and the peace dome I imagined how what we were doing would impact people who came after us. I admitted that I have an influence and it was up to me to determine what that influence is each moment. I surrendered my ego by fully receiving and listening to each soul I encountered. Sometimes people would offer me advice or make suggestions and I allowed each one to enter my heart even in situations that I might have turned away from in the past. I initiated wholeness with a few people that I experienced disharmony with and harmony was improved or restored. I looked for ways to give that sometimes get overlooked such as keeping the dishes washed in the kitchen or aiding another creation crew with their needs. I kept my Self open to the possibility of fulfilling my ideal and purpose for the weekend. In a general way I knew I had fulfilled my ideal because I had connected with so many people in such sincere ways and I was fully ready to return to my next steps in Oklahoma City and Norman. I had fortunately made the choice to stay through until Monday and this was very wise. Sunday evening before meditating I talked with Laurie Biswell. At the conclusion of her conversation I admitted to her that the one thing I was still unresolved with was my comittment to the peace dome. She looked at me very sincerely and said, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told Shannon and Jesse. Make the Peace Dome your candle flame. Make it your point of focus and you will fill up classes and draw people to you and have everything you need.” What she said went all the way through me. It resounded and resonated in all levels of mind. I experienced immediately knowing what I was going to do to act on her advice and tears of joy welled up for all the gratitude that I experienced. I had fully received my next step in understanding the Complete Law. I had heard people say similar words throughout the weekend, yet I had not been able or willing to receive it in its totallity. My commitment to the ideal of the School of Metaphysics and to the dedication of the World’s First Peace Dome was strengthened many times over at the culmination of my weekend at the College of Metaphysics. I thank you all for helping to make it happen." –Damian Blair Nordmann - Oklahoma City, OK | | Memories from Dr. Daniel Condron, Chancellor of the College of Metaphysics...where the Peace Dome is being built..... "I experienced the beautiful misty warm rain washing over my face as most everyone present seemed to enjoy it. I experienced the joy of people who wanted to create together for a higher purpose. I experienced the joy and peace of sharing with others my awareness and insight of Superconscious Mind through explaining the Tao Te Ching. I experienced the fulfillmet of the fence west to include the octahedron that had been planted several months before. I experienced the happiness and beauty of the barn being painted a beautiful white with green trim. And I experienced the fulfillment of teaching and answering questions about teaching metaphysics by those teachers painting the barn. I experienced value in the service of preparing the Dome in advance of the morning presentation of the Peace Laureates. |  | Return to Index Copyright® 2004, School of Metaphysics | the | | | | | | |
