I expanded on this -- even read a poem! - on today's (Friday, September 8's) Message of the Day, which you can listen to by calling 641-751-3800, code 55310.
Here's the back story and an old article describing the vision of the Network of Light.
The Back Story
I was in New York City visiting an old and dear friend, the late Rachele Rhodes, who was in from California visiting her daughter and another friend. Rachele and I had Chinese at a restaurant overlooking Central Park and had such a good time together that we decided to extend our visit. So rather than put her on the train to her next destination of Philadelphia, I drove her halfway to the train station in Trenton.
During this drive, the idea for the Network of Light emerged.
You see Rachele had a particular challenge in the area of money. Although there was a time in her life when she was somewhat successful player in the human potential movement, she had developed a mysterious cancerous condition way before I met her in the acupuncture office of my friend Francis Mastrogiovanni in Osaka, Japan.
When I met her, I didn't know anything about her condition. I was just struck by what I perceived as her deep spirituality, and her ease at being in the world. Very quickly, we became fast friends. She was instrumental in helping me establish a Japanese satellite conference of the Boston-based Human Unity Conference, moving from Osaka to Tokyo to make this happen. She also was part of a network of people I knew who were associated with the Emissaries of Divine Light, a spiritual organization and the steward of that year's Human Unity Conference.
I later learned about Rachele's condition, for which she tried every conceivable form of treatment. She once told me she was the subject of a kind of panel, in which physicians gathered around a table in an auditorium and discussed her how best to treat her. She had consultations with some of the world's finest surgeons, had been to see the psychic surgeons of the Philippines, had done so many things in search of healing that she had compiled a thick file on conventional and alternative cancer therapies. She even counseled other individuals, including an ex-husband.
But neither her condition, nor her poverty seemed to trouble her much. I saw her as one who operated with a level of trust that was greater than anyone I'd ever met, (even though one of her two daughters basically saw her as a basket case, living on the kindness of friends).
But Rachele really wanted to work. She compiled a resume of the work she had done in the human potential movement, got counseling from career specialist, and kept inquiring. She'd get a little sick and then went at it again. It was heartbreaking having to watch her go through all this, but for her I guess it was just what she needed to be doing, nothing more or less.
This was pretty much were she was when I saw her in New York.
As we were driving to Trenton, suddenly the notion I'd been kicking around for some time hit me. It came to me -- this vision of the Network of Light -- out of left field.
You see, at the time I was establishing myself as a coach and consultant. As a one-man show, I had it in my mind to discuss with Rachele the possibility of hiring her to help with my business. After all, I knew that she had very competently performed that role for a number of individuals, some of whom were quite renown. Why not ask her to do the same for me?
But when I presented the idea to Rachele, her reaction surprised me. You know, she said, people always ask me to do things like this, like helping them get clients. She cited the times she did this, particularly for this nutritionist she knew. These helpers know I'm good at helping them -- in fact, it isn't unusual that it's me who ends up counseling the people I bring to the practitioner -- but being a helper like that just isn't what I want to do.
At that moment, I realized that I wasn't really looking for someone to work for me. I was looking for something more cooperative and collaborative, some form of relationship that involved mutual support. But not just a friendship, something deeper somehow. What I sensed was the possibility that a small group of people might establish themselves as a spiritually oriented mini support group. And that each members of THAT small group would also have membership in interconnected but separate small groups who were operating more or less the same way, but with a different intent. One might be a group that was focused on supporting their members entrepreneurial interests; another might be group studying medicine. All of these groups would support one another and comprise a network of mutually supporting groups.
I was then moved immediately to call my friend Jesse de la Rosa to put this plan into action. Jesse, Rachel and I became what we called a node of the Network of Light. We'd meet twice a month over the phone and share stories. It felt loving and supportive.
But our association didn't last particularly long, mostly because I -- the leader -- lost energy for it. My challenge had always been that I would often envision an exalted scenario of some sort or another, but then I would notice the holes in my pockets and realize that I needed money. That need would drive me away from that exalted scenario, and into doing temp work, leading the scenario to wither and die.
But I still persisted. I enlisted Martha Lasley of the consultancy, Leadership That Works, to the cause. Her father allowed us to use an office in a private Princeton club to do a presentation/workshop on the method. My friend Terry Lane designed a beautiful website on what we called NOL. You can probably find some images of it on the Wayback Machine, that site that preserves old websites.
I even noticed that there were others who were working on similar ideas around the world. One was a group in France that called itself the Network of Light, another was a couple of individuals involved in the legendary Findhorne Community.
But the idea proved to big for me to realize. So I let the ownerhsip of the www.networkoflight.com website lapse. I moved on. This was maybe 13 years ago.
To some extent I've abandoned this vision. I think in many respects I was trying to recreate artificially something that already existed.
Anyway, here's an FAQ I wrote back then.
What is the Network of Light?
"What is the Network of Light?
The Network of Light is our term for the web of interwoven relationships between inwardly directed, spiritually oriented individuals, groups, and organizations around the world. These entities are the organic cells or clusters of the larger Network of Light. They evolve, learn, and form relationships with other cells on the Network.
"What is the work of the Network of Light?"
The work of the Network of Light is to actively participate in the co-creation of the Divine Plan. “Members” of the Network of Light are Light Workers, the receptors who attune to the greater will and allow themselves to be used as instruments for the greater good.
"What is the vision for the organization, 'The Network of Light'?
The organization, the Network of Light, exists as a servant to the will of the actual Network of Light, which has always existed and will always exist. The organization’s role is to serve as facilitator, catalyst, and linkage agent. The organization aspires to make visible the nature and structure of the actual Network of Light and to serve the will of network members.
"What is the mission of the Network of Light organization? "
Our mission is threefold:
• To share new models and tools for helping individuals cope with the demands of the post-Millennium age
• To nurture, link and support inwardly-directed, spiritually-oriented individuals, small groups, and organizations around the world
• To support and nurture the creation of clusters or small groups of individuals who wish to align in the spirit of spiritual support.
"What is an example of a tool that might help individuals “cope with the demands of the post-Millennium age?”
One example is the cluster, or spiritual alignment group. On these pages are suggested strategies for forming your own clusters and using them as a means to enhance personal growth.
"I’d like to start a cluster. How do I get started?"
You can get started on your own by using the resources on this site. We hope eventually to have a cadre of mentors who will help anyone who wishes to start a spiritual alignment group.
"What do you mean by “inwardly-directed, spiritually-oriented individual, groups or organizations”?
We are drawing a distinction between those whose perspective is shaped and formed primarily by outward influences and those whose are directed more from within. An extreme example of an outwardly directed individual is one who professes blind obedience to a particular religious dogma. An extreme example of an inwardly directed individual is a mystic.
Conclusion: An imagination can be a dangerous thing.
Thoughts?
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