July 9-11, 2004 Lake Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, New York
Dr. Ken Harris — I remember meeting Bill thirty years ago. I was the instructor at the New York Chiropractic College, and I heard this fellow, Dr. Bahan, was coming to campus to speak—and I had heard of the Bahan family, and the legendary practice they had up there in Derry, New Hampshire, so out of curiosity I went to hear what he had to say. When I think back, I can honestly say that Bill was probably one of the most pivotal people I had ever met in my entire life. A pivotal person is someone whom you meet and after you meet them your life is forever changed—the course and destiny of your life is irresistibly and irrevocably changed—and that was my experience with Bill. I sat in a room with two hundred people and when we got finished there was only Bill and I, in my consciousness, who were still present, although the people were there. As the lecture went on I literally started to cry, for I had finally found someone who embodied everything I was looking for in my entire life. And the thing that I remember most about Bill is his sense of destiny, his sense of commission, his sense of largeness of purpose—and he had a great sense of humor as well—and he had a compassion and concern for the individual. Bill was the most encompassing person I ever met.
Dr. Lou Rotola — Bill had a presence of passion, which would be an understatement to make—anyone who was in his presence felt the essence and the inspiration of being who you are. You knew where he stood and you knew what his interest was; and his interest was you as a person. He had a great sense of humor and a laughter that was contagious. And he inspired other people, not to be like him, but to be who you are as a person, because we are all unique and different; and he espoused that so many times: one Bill Bahan was more than enough. We need you, you, you and you to continue the true healing of consciousness. You are divine being—and I can just hear him saying it with laughter and humor—and you have a body and mind and heart connection to express who you are—and the joy of expressing who you are. Well, I could go on more and more. He was afriend, and I miss him terribly, to say the least; but yet his spirit lives. His commission, definitely, was a life of service.
Dr. Bill Bahan — Just imagine the potential of the influence of one individual giving spiritual expression—truly. The first step, before one can be a person of true influence, of creative influence, the first step is to acknowledge the Lord.When the Lord is acknowledged, it naturally opens up that this person begins to be a person of influence—and you know what they begin to find? They begin to find this tremendous response all around them, that they weren’t able to see before because they hadn’t taken the first step—they hadn’t acknowledged the Lord. When we acknowledge the Lord we can be acknowledged by the Lord, and being acknowledged by the Lord, we begin to see this tremendous response around us everywhere, because in that acknowledgement we gain the vision to see what is actually with us.
Uranda June 9, 1953— I would like to meditate with you on operational factors of magic. The first one, and one that is of vital importance to all of you in your movement, could be classified as the factor of acknowledgment. To the degree that we begin to acknowledge God, God can begin to acknowledge us. Until we do acknowledge God, God's love for us is of small meaning in direct relationship—we keep everything of God in a sphere of small meaning. This principle of acknowledgment must extend on out until in the basic sense you have acknowledged God, so that He can begin to acknowledge you. You are not in position to begin to acknowledge the focalization factors of response which come within the sphere of your influence—they are overlooked, they are ignored, and you cannot very well acknowledge them. Once they are perceived, recognized, you can begin to acknowledge them within yourself; and once they are acknowledged in relationship to those whom you may influence, and you hold the pattern steady without violating the hedge, you begin to find that there are those who will begin to acknowledge you. Functional factors. You can see why I put acknowledgment first, because it is the manifestation in action, in function, of the One Law in relationship to yourself. The first part of the Two Great Commandments emphasizes acknowledgment of God with one's whole being, one's whole soul, body, mind and heart, and with all one's strength, a complete acknowledgment of God. Remember, this is a functional factor of magic. So we see in acknowledgment something that is active, not passive. We cannot acknowledge something merely by perceiving it—you have to say it. Your actions and your words must give evidence of your perception. You may see many things without acknowledging them. But if there is acknowledgment of that which you see, then there are words, there are feelings, there are thoughts, there are actions. We see acknowledgmentas afunctional factor. The acknowledgment of God permits this functional factor to begin to work in relationship to yourself, so that you begin to receive acknowledgment, you begin to be aware of that Divine acknowledgment of you. As long as you are not aware on a functional basis of the Divine acknowledgment of yourself you cannot very well function from the Divine standpoint—the pattern of relatednesshas not been established. So on a functional basis you begin to be aware, not fully yet, but you begin to be aware of the Divine acknowledgmentof you. With this cycle opening, you begin to have the ability to perceive the focalization factors of response, or potential response as the case may be, in those around you upon whom you may begin to exert influence. Unless you do exert influence that is received and acknowledged you are not going to be much of a server.
Uranda August 30, 1953— As I was preparing this morning to come here to the Chapel and acknowledge your presence, it occurred to me to wonder, how would it be if I were to walk into the Chapel and act as if I saw no one, act as if you were not here? How would it be if I were to come into your presence and fail, by my attitude and by my word, to acknowledge your presence. And I wondered how you would feel if, in such a pattern of ignoring your presence, I gave no heed to our agreement to serve together before our LORD and KING, to come here perhaps for a little time, maybe notice Martin and talk to him for a few minutes, wander about—and then wondered if perhaps he might ask me a question, “Do you not realize these people are here? These people are here; your congregation has gathered. Have you not noticed?” I wonder how you would have felt. I wonder, too, how God feels when sometimes you walk about without acknowledging His Presence. I wonder what happens in the vibrational realm of being when you act, thoughtlessly, as if God either did not exist or as if He were far away. To acknowledge the Presence of God!
Service of Thanksgiving for Bill Bahan
Martin Cecil July 16, 1983
There is a very familiar passage from the Book of Genesis, the 3rd chapter, the 9th verse and the beginning of the 10th verse, which I would like to read to you, paraphrasing the balance of the 10th verse: “And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” Perhaps for our own particular awareness now we might substitute the word Bill for Adam. “And the Lord God called unto Bill, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was filled with joy; and I said, Here I am!” I think this passage, changed a little, represents very accurately Bill’s attitude: “Here I am!” No longer, “I was afraid and hid myself because I was naked,” but delighted to be naked and unashamed, setting aside the filthy rags of the arrogant human mind and impure human heart, which maintain a state unrelated to the garden. Bill certainly broke this precedent, a precedent which is indulged in by virtually every human being who has been born on earth throughout all recorded history.
There have been one or two, just a few, who said during these millennia, when the question was asked, “Where art thou?”: “Here I am!” No dissembling, but a straightforward answer, this answer which is required of all of us, of every human being, each one gathered today, particularly in Green Pastures and here at 100 Mile House. “Where art thou?” “Here I am! I no longer need any of the self-righteous and arrogant concepts and beliefs of the human intellect, no longer any of the theories which have been proliferated over the millennia, but to be naked and unashamed, no longer trying to foist human ideas upon the Lord but willing to be present naked and unashamed.” As I say, Bill established a precedent in this regard in this generation during his time on earth. He offered that vision to all who would receive it. It was sensed by many, accepted by some, lived by a few. The only way to know the truth is to live it.
I personally have known Bill in person for about twenty-four years. He became very quickly my loyal and trusted friend. We shared vision and understanding in a mutual recognition of true purpose, which has nothing to do with the intellectual theories of men, even if those theories are called spiritual. It is a matter of being naked and unashamed. Then there is the beginning of wisdom.
Bill was wise and a friend to everyone whom he ever met, and also to vast numbers whom he never met. The question arises now, seeing that it is constantly being posed to each one of us: “Where art thou?” Hearing that question, even though it may be faint, are we filled with joy as Bill was in saying, not merely in words but in living, “Here I am”? If we love Bill and respect what he brought we will recognize the door which he opened wide and walk through it naked and unashamed, that we may be clothed, as indeed he was, with the garments of light, the garments of understanding, the garments of truth, letting the word of truth be spoken in our living always, and sounding the Tone of Life.
Grace Van Duzen — I speak for many in acknowledging the great spirit so freely shared by this beloved man. I give voice to the joy that filled countless hearts at the unbelievably soft touch of his hand, at the irresistible trumpet call through his word, at the invitation that shone from his eyes and his smile to share his heavenly secret, to come and worship his God in the glory of living. I speak of appreciation for his unwavering agreement with Martin, for his absolute devotion to him, and for his all-inclusive love for his fellow man. We have known a mighty angel who touched and uplifted the multitudes, and we continue in the expression of that one Spirit as we are about our Father's business in the earth.
Martin Cecil—We give thanks to the Lord for having had the privilege of knowing and serving with Bill all this time, and we continue on. That’s what we are here for, that's what he was here for, that all things may be caused to work together to perfection because there are those on earth who truly do love and serve the Lord.
Without Precedent
Martin Cecil August 4, 1983
It seems as though human beings have always required a kick in the pants, so to speak, to remind them of their responsibilities. It didn’t evidently come naturally to most. You may remember the 107th Psalm, where it is said that they wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way, they found no city to dwell in, and all sorts of miseries were being experienced, self-produced of course; until finally, because the disasters came so thick and fast, they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and He delivered them out of their distresses. But then the usual procedure was to start the whole process over again. Do we still need at any time self-produced disasters to remind us of what we should have been doing in the first place? It seems a rather futile business just to go around in this wheel of life and death, which is touted by some religions as being essential, this wheel which moves us from disaster to the point where we remember that there is a way, and turn momentarily toward it. Then, having been rescued, we immediately start to sow the same seeds again. Well I trust we don’t do that anymore. It seems as though there are a sufficient number who are emerging out of that futility so that there is the fact of a body in which the Spirit of Truth has called to remembrance what is needful for momentary living. When we allow that remembrance to be fresh in our consciousness at all times we find ourselves beginning to experience spiritual maturity, to be emissaries of divine light, emissaries of the King. There is no necessity to court disaster.
I think some may, momentarily at least, have looked upon the passing of Bill Bahan as disaster. Most have subsequently risen up, because they were reminded of something that before they hadn’t really acknowledged for themselves; that is, personal responsibility. Bill was a star in the heavens, therefore leave it to Bill. I think in certain measure all of us could take a good honest look at the extent to which we ourselves may have contributed to his passing. I think we are far enough away from it now to be able to do this. I did not say anything much about it closer to the event because there might have been the tendency for people to feel very badly. But perhaps now we can be honest enough to recognize that we ourselves produce our worlds. We heard that somewhere before! But of course, in a specific way, very often we say, "Well it didn’t really apply in this instance.” Oh yes it did! We have to take responsibility if, to whatever extent, we have been wandering in the wilderness in a solitary way. Then we produce whatever troubles put in an appearance in our worlds. And by the way, as Bill himself used to say, if you have trouble, you are the trouble. We have known all kinds of things, haven’t we? The Spirit of Truth has called to remembrance so much which we more or less take for granted that we somehow know. But we don’t,because we act, we speak, we think, without weighing what finds expression against the truth which we know. If we really did that, as I have suggested before, we wouldn’t talk so much and we would many times act quite differently, because we really do know, in the sense that we have the information. We have the information, but we don’t know in the sense that we have the experience, so often, because the information stays on the shelf and we tend to revert into the same old routine of our prior addictions.
But now here comes an event which carries considerable impact and significance to us, namely the passing of Bill Bahan. How responsible were we, by reason of our own attitudes, by reason of our own behavior, by reason of our own failure, for producing that event in our world? How much responsibility do we have for that specific event? In a general sense we say, “Oh yes, we are responsible for creating the world around us,” but when it comes down to specifics do we really look at that? What was it in me that brought forth this event? I am not saying that the event, seeing it was brought forth, cannot now be used to advantage. It surely can. We can all provide increased accommodation for the spirit which found focus in Bill, for instance—and there can be a vastly greater outpouring of spirit in consequence. But it is important that we should look at these things, because we are liable to do the same thing again if we don’t. What specifically was it in one’s own living that was responsible for this event appearing in our world? We need to be quite specific about these things and there is no better opportunity than when something appears that is quite, well I suppose, shattering to some, but seen as being of considerable importance. How was it that we allowed it to happen?
If we are considering what occurs in our own experience, in our own worlds, from the standpoint of personal responsibility, we are doing this consistently and adjusting in what we express accordingly. Then there would be no need—we would not have sown the seeds anyway—for some special disaster to remind us that we should be on the job. We generate our own disasters and they are useful. They come for our sake, that we might awaken to what we have been doing, how we have been functioning in a way which makes sure that something seemingly horrific occurs. Well we are not much use if that is all we do, generate something horrific every so often. Fortunately there are calmer periods in between when we may look very carefully at what we are doing, so that we do not find ourselves wandering in the wilderness in a solitary way—that is, all on our own, pouring out human desires of various sorts, likes, dislikes, all this—but are finding instead the glorious experience of moving with the creative spirit of the living God. This is fulfilment. Why would one settle for anything less? So perhaps it is well to be sobered a little with respect to occurrences, so that we don’t pass them by with a shrug of the shoulders and say, “Well that is part of the Divine Design.” It is included in the Divine Design; it happened, after all, in this instance; but things happen the way they happen within the range of our field of responsibility, within the range of our worlds, because of us.
We have recently given considerable thought to this matter of judgment, accusation. It is still indulged in and inevitably brings disaster of some sort. If you see something in your world that you think warrants your condemnation, then what should your attitude be? To go right ahead and condemn it? Or to say to yourself, “What is it in me that would cause me to find a situation in my world that warrants condemnation in my view?” If it warrants condemnation in your view there must be condemnation in your view. That’s the thing to look at, not the circumstance out there or the person out there doing his terrible things, but what in me is still present which would engender an attitude of condemnation? We are not washing our hands of whatever the situation is and saying, “Well let it rip!” We are just not in the business of condemnation, because we know that’s not the way to clear anything; it merely multiplies trouble. So what is it in oneself which generates the feeling or the idea or the thought that something over there—that thing—needs condemnation? There is no point in condemning it. I think we all clearly see that it doesn’t solve anything; it doesn’t produce anything creative or constructive. It merely adds to the trouble, so why do it? Well we do it because there is something in ourselves that still commands us to do it. And we meekly obey if we condemn something. This is a childish thing, isn’t it? It is part of the childish things that need to be put away. Children are always judging and condemning each other. But with children it usually passes pretty quickly and they are all friends again. With adults it is more persistent, isn’t it? They hold grudges. We know better. We know there are things in ourselves that need to be put away, childish things that need to be put away, that we may be mature. We can’t be until they are put away. So, always, if one has the feeling of need to enter into judgment and condemnation with respect to something in one’s own world—it is one’s own world, you know—then it may well be that one should stop and say, “What is this thing in me that makes it seem important that I should condemn?” Very often condemnation is there because the person is afraid that if this individual is allowed to continue to function in the way he is, worthy of condemnation, then disaster will strike, everything will fall apart. Do you really think so? Do you think the spirit of God is so puny that it is incapable of handling the way things are in this little pinpoint in the universe? How ridiculous. No. Here is the arrogant human mind imagining that if I don’t do something it is going to fall apart. Well, if the human mind does something it will fall apart. So we have the opportunity, as angels, of examining what is present in our own individual hearts and minds which produces the idea in heart and mind that judgment is justified, that condemnation is justified. That is the thing to look at, something in oneself. Let that clear in oneself and one’s world changes. And suddenly you know that person or that circumstance is quite all right, because there is nothing in you anymore that wants to judge it or condemn it. You know that the action of the spirit of God, which is not judgmental—it certainly is not the spirit of the accuser—will bring forth what is needful. Therefore what a wonderful opportunity we have of allowing a flood of that spirit to pour forth, and how quickly everything is changed—in a twinkling of an eye.
Let’s let our eyes twinkle!
A twinkling eye is not present in a person who is judging and accusing and condemning, is it? It doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing. But we find when we do this that there are others who are doing likewise. It is because of this, the extent that this has been discovered, that we have the beginnings at least of a body, a body for the accommodation of the creative spirit of the living God.
