I gave myself up—
loosening the bonds of my human form,
to become dancing, multi-hued particles …
a transformation outside myself,
as in a euphoric dream—
delighting in love,
and in that love I was loved.

Spiritual growth is usually unhurried—like a lily quietly unfolding its petals—while you ease into realizing the fresh, healing waters of Spirit within and without. At other times spiritual growth may thunder toward you with a sudden breakthrough into a higher consciousness.

I would have you know that today is Saturday. I woke up this morning and put a thought out into the universe that I wish today was Sat. instead of Sunday. So I am sure I manifested this wonderful Saturday day. I was spiffed up and ready for Sunday service, ready to go out the door. I hollered at Geo, into the garage where he was working, that we needed to be leaving for service. He came running and asked if I was Okay! Then he said it is Saturday. Thank the universe, I manifested another wonderful thing.

with Mary Ann Johnston and Sandi Jones
Oct. 29, 30, 31     Fee: Love Offering
Orientation: Friday 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.

“Every person needs a retreat, a ‘dynamo of silence’, where he may go for the exclusive purpose of being newly recharged by the Infinite.” —Paramahansa Yogananda

This Silent Retreat, located at Song of the Morning Retreat, is devoted to taking us out of our dependence on the world, then allowing God to fill us. Keeping silence will help you connect to your inner self, find peace within and experience the eternal present. The retreat will include yoga, readings from Yogananda’s writings, guided and silent meditation, nature walk, chanting, and as much time for personal inward reflection as you need.

Song of the Morning a Yoga retreat of excellence, is a slice of heaven, tucked into a secluded forest in northern, lower Michigan, east of Vanderbilt. In addition, this 800 acre retreat is nestled within hundreds of acres of pristine state forest.

When you leave on Sunday, you may find you are a different person than the one that arrived Friday. 

Mary Ann has given classes on spiritual living, breath work, and healing throughout Michigan and the Southwest.

Sandi Jones has taught hatha yoga and meditation in the Golden Lotus style for over 20 years and has a background in education and social work.

Mary Ann and Sandi will be available for individual healing energy sessions, or personal mentoring.

You are invited to come at any time during the week for extended personal reflection.

For Reservations and accommodations, contact: office@Goldenlotus.org
or phone: 989 983 9101. Hope to see you here.

 Blessings to all,  Mary Ann

Jesus, as he is revealed to us by enlightened sages and others who know him, is a mighty spirit, actively engaged in helping humanity. His awareness is unlimited, far greater than human thought and perception, yet he sometimes appears to sincere seekers, in visions, in a human form.

He is a teacher of infinite compassion, wisdom, love and patience, guiding us home, regardless of how long it takes. He speaks – from the other side of the veil but with intimate knowledge of us and our modern world – to those who commune with him, and gives them sacred teachings to guide and inspire us. He is one with God, yet “he” is our “brother”, and loves us no matter what we do.

To understand his teachings, they should be studied, contemplated, and lived. Not only the Bible, but also the profound messages he is giving us through others at this time, should be read, feeling the truth, power and love in his words. 

The teachings that we receive from Jesus today are expansive and include aspects of Eastern religion. But, just as when he lived and taught in a physical body, he still puts love first, exposes falsehood, and tells us how to attain salvation. Only, now, we have greater knowledge of this world and the afterlife, so he discusses matters we would not have understood two thousand years ago. He knows all about our material and spiritual needs, and tells us what we should do to have peace within ourselves and on earth, eliminate the causes of suffering, communicate with nature, and experience the divinity in everything. He discusses a wide range of topics, including: sin and karma, forgiveness, the soul and reincarnation, the illusions of the ego, love and oneness, qualities of a spiritual master, enlightenment, and the nature of God.

George Johnston

With love, Mary Ann Johnston

In the Beatitudes, Jesus spoke to a multitude . . . He didn’t speak to just the disciples or other important people. He spoke to people like you and me, there to hear His words.  Part of what He said was:

“You are the light of the world.”[1]  Isn’t that amazing. You and I are the ‘light of the world’. Just think of the moral role that puts upon us. The world is dependent upon us to shine our light with goodness and love. Let us not fail.

We see people full of love and compassion. They radiate and give off an energy of love and joy, so powerful, it touches us. This energy is the light. And, the more forgiving and loving you are, the more love and joy you have in your life, the more you shine, the more you will touch others.

Verses throughout the Bible speak of darkness and light. Here are a few:

“Be careful, lest the light in you be darkness.[2]

      For it is God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness.”[3]

I had often wondered that myself, until I realized that in God's infinite being, He is not only infinite but He is also infintesimal. God is in and between every tiny particle of creation. Thus we live with God in Oneness. —Mary Ann Johnston

Several years ago, I attended a church service for which Mary Ann had been invited to give a homily. As part of her talk, she read some of the inspiring messages she had received from Jesus for her book Messages from Jesus. Here is one of them: “My life and death – this sacrifice – offers perfection for all time, a release of all karmic debt, forgiveness of sin known and unknown, for those who listen to the truth and live in love.” (Third Edition, 2009, p. 177) After the service, one of the attendees, referring to what had been said about sin, told me that his church didn’t believe in sin. I assumed that he and other members of his church no longer accepted traditional attitudes about sin, overlaid with concepts of guilt, condemnation and vengeance, so I told him that in Mary Ann’s book Jesus gives the word “sin” a definite meaning, free of the judgmental concepts people often associate with it.

My comments did not seem to satisfy the man, who appeared to believe that sin doesn’t even exist and that the word should not be used. Much later, it occurred to me that perhaps he had studied A Course in Miracles, in which, from a higher perspective, evil, sin and guilt are seen as insubstantial – illusory and unreal. For, in the supreme state of consciousness that the Course and Messages from Jesus point us toward, all things are unified in the One, and the world that we perceive with our senses and mortal mind is but a dream.

In Messages from Jesus, Jesus clarifies the meaning of sin and other pivotal concepts found in religious and spiritual teachings. On page 175, Jesus says, “Sin is the human conception of the action and the result of wrongdoing. Karma is what you receive as a result of good or sinful action.”  Wrongdoing is generally thought of as action that violates spiritual or moral principles.

In Messages, Jesus does not judge anything as bad. He simply tells us what helps or hinders our spiritual growth. But humans often conceive of sin and sinners in judgmental, or even vengeful, ways. Many people regard sin as hateful and want to see sinners “pay” for their actions, perhaps even by suffering in hell. To think this way is unloving and unforgiving. Making no effort to free the mind from negative habits of thought that keep us from advancing to a higher level of awareness is, in itself, a sin.

Throughout Messages from Jesus, Jesus encourages us to live in oneness and love, without judgment. He helps us to understand that we should see everything from a higher perspective and learn to love all actions and all people. He says, “To find the divinity in all things as one, you must go beyond judgments and comparisons, and acknowledge the possibility that all is unified in love as one, even the perceived evil. And, in this spiritual growth, you will catch glimpses into the real world, where only ever-expanding love prevails.” (p. 125) Keep in mind that this does not translate into doing away with familial and legal restrictions on immoral or criminal behavior; it concerns our state of consciousness and attitudes.

In the chapter “War”, Jesus says, “Evil, as you understand it, is a term for mankind’s desecration of free will in your physical and creative faculties of thought, feeling and action.” (p. 122) Thus, the word “evil” applies to thoughts, feelings and actions that are immoral and unloving. But we should realize that some of the things we regard as evil because they cause pain and suffering, in the long run may be beneficial in unforeseen ways. For example, sometimes it takes overwhelming pain and misfortune for a person to give up an unhealthy or destructive way of living. If a smoker gets lung cancer, it would be a mistake to think of the illness as evil. Diseases and other misfortunes are often karmic, caused by wrong actions in this or a previous life, and as such, they eventually teach us to avoid the actions that bring them about. We shouldn’t think of them as evil, for they help us to change for the better.

Likewise, we misapply the term “evil” when we regard calamities that strike large numbers of people, such as earthquakes and natural disasters, as evil. In responding to a question about evil in relation to earth changes, Jesus said, “Do you remember, I told you what you perceive as evil is often not what you perceive it to be?” (p. 123) “All of creation is in cycles, including mankind and Mother Earth. The cycles are constantly cleansing and rebuilding, just like breathing out and breathing in is cleansing for your physical body. It is not evil. It is natural and full of God’s love.” (pp. 122-123)

Sin and evil should be avoided if we wish to be happy, because they afflict the body and mind, retard our spiritual growth and awareness and cut us off from the peace, love, and joy of Spirit. Moreover, loving people are spiritually sensitive, and feel the pangs of guilt and remorse if they act in a way their conscience tells them is wrong. Finally, consider the following: Unless we are able to forgive ourselves for wrong actions, we will have to experience in this or a future life the consequences of these actions or something similar. However, if we forgive ourselves for our sins and firmly resolve not to repeat the same actions again, the karmic link of cause and effect will be broken. Like poisonous seeds that have been roasted, our past wrong actions will no longer be able to sprout and produce painful karmic consequences. By living in love, we are able to forgive and thus gradually become free of self-condemnation and guilt. Otherwise, we judge ourselves in this life and after death. In Messages, Jesus says, “If people truly forgave their selves and others, they would be so full of light it would feel as if the weight of the world was lifted from them. They would simply sin no more.” (p. 39)                                       

 DEATH AND DYING

     Recently I received a phone call from a gentleman, who said, “I understand you are the person I am supposed to call!”  He went on to say his mother was very recently diagnosed with cancer and they were taking her to Grand Rapids for aggressive treatments, and would I come to see her for a healing session before they left.

  A few weeks lapsed and again he called me. He wanted me to come to the funeral home where his mother was. He said, “I want to thank you. You were such a big help to my mother.”

  On my way to the funeral home, I tried to go over in my mind what I might have said to her in that short hour, that was of such help.  I simply couldn't remember our conversation.

   Upon arrival at the funeral home, the son told me that I had talked to her about dying, and told her of my experiences of heaven when my heart quit during a heart attack. Thus she was unafraid of the process.  He also said, “No one else talked to her of dying! No one else had prepared her.”

  I wrote of several instances similar to this in my book, Messages from Jesus.  It is always a privilege to be a part such important moments in a persons life and to help ease their passing.

  —Mary Ann Johnston

About vegetables and plant life. I now realize that all of life, including vegetables, has auras and are distressed when cut or picked for harvest. There was a study done by Bose of India, where Bose used a crescograph and attached it to a plant and then it was cut. The plant reacted with distress. Then they hooked up the crescograph to several plants.  They cut one  that was not hooked up the crescograph and all the plants which were reacted distressed

 Another study done by Bose shows a mother plant separated from new growth and the new growth did quite well, but if the mother plant was destroyed the new growth did not fare well or died, (The secret life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird). Given this and knowing the suffering of animals during slaughter it would make one refrain from ever eating salad or meat again.

Any time I receive flowers, I thank them for making my life more beautiful and for sacrificing for me. Of course it didn’t have a choice, or did it? Surely God put both animals and plants on earth for our well being, whether as food or pleasure. Certainly we could believe what all past teachers have said one way or another.  But I think again, it is what fits for a person, and the person should be able to not have any guilt about it. Even being a vegan is not good for everyone.

I have had a lot of experience with responses from plants.  One Easter I bought my mother a beautiful pot of planted unopened tulips figuring it would give my mother pleasure to watch them open and we could plant them outside later.  Before I left her place I wanted to feel its beautiful aura and I channeled it some energy. Well,  mom called me the next morning very angry at me because the energy opened every last one of those tulips wide open and they were drooped over the top of the table.  Not leaving her much time for enjoyment.  She warned me not to mess with her plants again.  I always bless and am thankful for a plate of food before me whether it is meat or plant, for it had special meaning in this world of ours. 

—Mary Ann Johnston

I might go so far as to say I am not Christian, but an individualized product of Christianity. I believe there have been many Christ figures.  Most Christians would not believe that. I also believe in reincarnation.   

When I asked George to explain Channeling for me in my book Sustained by Faith, pp. 185-187, he wrote the following:

“The terms ‘channeling’ and ‘mediumship’ have almost the same meaning. In the past, people who contacted spirits, especially those of departed family members, were called mediums. Then, starting in the nineteen seventies, many books were written that contained information from beings in the spirit world about life after death, metaphysics, and prophesied events, such as earth changes. Psychics who received this information began to be called channelers, and the process of receiving it was called channeling.

“Usually a channeler either consciously communicates with a spirit being but is unable to see it, or becomes a passive vessel, often unconscious, so that a spirit can use their vocal cords to speak or their hands to record messages.

“In either case, some channeled messages are true and come from great spiritual beings, some contain lies and are intended to deceive, and many are from spirits who have access to certain kinds of knowledge but are not infallible. Unlike the process of receiving information from beings who appear in visions or supernatural visitations, in channeling, the source of the information is invisible to the channeler and it is often impossible to determine if it is really who it says it is, if it has a high, low, or ordinary degree of spiritual development, and if it can be trusted to tell the truth.

“Only through clear spiritual insight and sound reasoning can one discern the nature of an invisible being or the value of what it says. Also, while some messages are straightforward and fit in with the spiritual teachings of enlightened masters, others are difficult to evaluate because truth and fiction are mixed together and the fiction is presented with such skill that it looks like truth.

“For these reasons, channeled messages should be carefully considered before being integrated into one’s belief system, always keeping in mind that the most valuable and trustworthy information is that which is given in love and elevates one’s consciousness.”

I had not heard the term “channeling” until my later years and even then didn’t really know what channeling was nor pay it much mind, but when I learned more about it, I realized my communion with Jesus is not channeling. For when I communicate with Jesus, I see Him in ethereal human form or as light, and I am not unconscious, but rather in superconscious oneness with Him—in an expanded state of consciousness that is loving and blissful. Jesus does not take over my body or personality. Nor did He, until I reached the age of sixty-two, ever give me messages for others. It was simply a personal, loving relationship. --Mary Ann

TEN SIGNS YOU NEED A RETREAT

1. You don’t laugh as much as you used to.

2. It’s difficult for you to ask others for help.

3. You go to too many meetings.

4. Your heart feels closed.

5. You rush everywhere.

6. You know there’s more to life, but don’t know what

it is or what to do about it.

7. Your energy feels depleted.

8. You want to cry, but can’t.

9. You are easily angered, anxious and fearful.

10. You have no idea what you would do if you had a

whole day just for yourself.

For more info see the schedule in this web site for an upcoming silent retreat at Song of the Morning Yoga Retreat. -- Mary Ann Johnston

Sandi Jones and I, Mary Ann Johnston are giving a Silent Retreat at Song of the Morning, November 20-22.  For more information you can check the schedule on this web site.

Keeping Silence will help you connect to your Inner Self; to find peace within and experience the eternal present. This retreat will include readings from Paramahansa Yogananda’s writings, guided and silent meditation, nature walk, chanting, and as much time for inward reflection as you need. Silence will be held by ‘attendees, from Friday 8 p.m. through the Sunday Service, except for two sharing periods.

Mary Ann is a practicing healer/occupational therapist. She has given classes on spiritual living, breathwork,  and healing  throughout Michigan and the Southwest.  She authored Sustained by Faith & Messages from Jesus.

Sandi Jones has taught yoga and meditation in the Golden Lotus style for over 20 years and has a background in education and social work.

Hope to see you here, Love, Mary Ann

To download Sustained by Faith  FREE chapter click on: LetYourReligionbeLove

To download Messages from Jesus FREE chapter click on: WAR

Both of the above books, have their complete index at the end of the download. This would give you a better idea of what the books contain.

To download the Chakra Book three FREE pages, click on: Chakra Bk Free pp.

Love to all,  Mary Ann

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”  --Matthew 24:29-30

In his book The Second Coming of Christ, Paramahansa Yogananda interprets the above passage as referring to Jesus appearing to individuals in a spiritual form, not in a physical body (Volume II, pp. 1312-1314). However, he does not consider this to be “the Second Coming of Christ”. Yogananda regards the Second Coming of Christ as the awakening of each individual soul, in the course of its spiritual development, to unity with the Christ Consciousness – God as the omnipresent, guiding intelligence in creation. First, one experiences the Christ Consciousness; then one can merge with it. Thereafter, the soul is able to ascend to oneness with God as the Supreme Being, the ultimate Source of all that ever was and will be.

    In Messages from Jesus Mary Ann asks Jesus about his return, and he says, “I will come, in Christ Consciousness, for all people everywhere, with the glory of the heavens and earth, and all on earth shall know. There will be no doubt.”

    Mary Ann asks, “Will the kingdom of God be revealed to us?” Jesus replies:“Behold, the kingdom of God is within and in the midst of you. It is in every breath you take.” At this point, Mary Ann becomes filled with ecstasy from the divine energy flowing with every breath. (Third Edition, 2009, p. 47)

    The above words of Jesus indicate that the kingdom of God is a state of consciousness. If many of us begin to live in this blissful, loving state, new lifestyles will emerge, and cultures and institutions will change. Thus, the kingdom of God might also be manifested outwardly, but only in order to accommodate a change in consciousness. First and foremost, the kingdom of God is within us – though hidden – and we simply need to become consciously aware of it by loving God and each other in the ways that have been shown to us by Jesus and other great masters in their teachings – such as communing with God in prayer and meditation, yogic breathing techniques, chanting, worship, seeing the good in everyone – and by the example of their love of God and all of us. For every person – regardless of his or her actions – is, at the core of their being, a soul, a divine manifestation of God, and is worthy of our love.

    Pure, unconditional love enables us to feel the presence of God. By bringing us closer to God, it helps us to become one with God, to enter God’s kingdom of eternal bliss.

- George Johnston

   In Messages from Jesus by Mary Ann Johnston, Jesus says, “The term ‘Christ Consciousness’ is more recent than of old and yet is a good expression of the meaning of ‘the only begotten Son of God.’

   “The term ‘Christ’ goes back farther than biblical times. Krishna, as a Christ, lived three thousand of earth’s years before me. There were others before and since, all highly evolved, fully realized beings. Dogma has distorted the true meaning of Christ, limiting God, once again, to only one Christ. God cannot be limited.” (Third Edition, 2009, p. 33)

I asked Jesus, "What about those who commit suicide?"

Jesus replied, . . . "They reincarnate to work off that karma. All is not lost."

This has been good news for many people, thinking that their loved ones who chose suicide were going to go to hell.
I thought about suicide when I had my heart attack and visited heaven. Momentarily I thought it would take me back to God. I wanted desperately to return to Heaven. What stopped me was remembering Jesus' words that I would simply reincarnate and start over to work off that karma.  I surely did not want to start over.  I simply wanted to go back to God, never to return. It isn't that easy.  Starting over sounds very difficult.
Thus, I am still here doing what I am meant to do. Apparently I wasn't finished with the task, for God did not keep me.
—Mary Ann

—Mary Ann

One more mystic ramble . . .   No matter how well I can interpret and understand the global or individual reasons for suffering I still cannot remain a cool observer with a heart of ice, lost in my metaphysical heights and deaf to the cries of anguish reverberating from so many corners of our earth.  Much, too much, of the suffering is completely unnecessary.  We did not enter this physical experience to suffer but rather to expand in the joy and  creativity of all its endless possibilities.  But we individually and collectivey have make this part of reality what it is now.  The wars and all the world-wide suffering are but the outward expression of our inward fears and insecurities.  All the injustice, killing, and torture are manifestations of our own probing into the myriad possibilities of existence.  Not one soul participating in this maelstrom of global whirlwinds of ‘sufferance’ is here against his or her will.  We - our greater, inner, selves - have decided to experience this facet of reality as it is.  To learn and to GROW!  

We must do what we can to help our fellow man and to  increase the light on earth. Whatever you do, do it with love. —Mary Ann