xanadu

My first ministry with Unity was in Daytona Beach, FL. I lived out near the ocean, wasn't very sociable, and particularly avoided one young man in the congregation who seemed a little crazy, always talking about hearing a voice guiding him and doing as told.

One day this young man showed up at the back door of my house. I didn't invite him in, just wanted to get rid of him. But he handed me an 8 track tape player, the kind that played tapes over and over endlessly, and said, "I'm supposed to give you this. Certainly you can accept a gift."

A couple years later I was in my second ministry in Richmond, VA. I was still struggling with my resistance to certain congregation members who seemed particularly crazy, and one day was really judging myself for being unloving. I visited a chiropractor that day and he wouldn't let me off his chiropractic table until he could get me to laugh, which took him quite a while. When I finally laughed, he let me up and said, "Now.... Go make yourself a good day."

I saw an afternoon matinee advertised at a local theatre, a film starring Gene Kelly, who I had always liked. When I got to the theatre, I found I was the only one watching that movie that day. Like an explosion, Xanadu came on the screen with dazzling movement and colors and music. I was immediately yanked into amazement. I went gaga, so to speak.

You know the Xanadu story. Sonny is struggling in life. Kira shows up to guide him. She seductively sings, "I've always been in your mind. Know I will be kind. I'll be guiding you." Following her guidance, Sonny is able to find himself and successfully build a pleasure dome symbolic of heavenly bliss, after Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem fragment from a visionary dream: "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree, where Alph the sacred river ran through caverns measureless to man, down to a sunless sea."

Kundalini? Chakras? I didn't know about these things at the time. But the movie affected me so powerfully that I knew I had to find my own guide or guides. This started me on a quest to consciously try to hear an inner voice inside. Because I really liked the movie, and I had been given an 8 track tape player a couple years previously, I bought the Xanadu sound track on 8 track.

Soon I found a lady who offered to help me tune better to my inner voice. When I vistited her, she had me lay down on a couch and was talking me into a meditative state, not quite hypnosis, but different than normal. Strangely, I heard to go to the James River, walk out on the ice, and stick my head under the freezing water. The lady told me a really needed to follow instructions heard like that. So like the fool in the Tarot deck, I went to the river, out on the ice, and dunked my head.

A few days later I came down with pneumonia. I could barely get through an evening gathering at the church and almost crawled upstairs to my living area. I fell on the bed wanting only to die. A very clear voice inside said, "Get up and turn on the Xanadu tape." I resisted. The voice insisted. I fought. The voice persisted. Finally, I pushed myself up enough to reach over and hit the button starting the Xanadu soundtrack, then fell back onto the bed gone to the world.

Three days later I woke up feeling better. The Xanadu soundtrack was still playing. I marveled that I had been out for 3 days and that the Xanadu soundtrack must have played over and over a few hundred times.

When I later told the lady what had happened, she just smiled and said, "You've been programmed." I don't know what I was programmed for but it's true that I started seeing all kinds of spiritual symbolic messages in the Xanadu song lyrics. And it's true that I started to hear my inner voice ever more regularly and clearly, and have been conscious of loving guidance for years now. And it is true that I learned to "flash out" like Kira did at the end of the Xanadu movie ... and come back to earth like she did.

"Go Sit Under The Golden Gate Bridge"

"Go sit under the Golden Gate Bridge on July 6th."

I had heard these words quite a few times in March, April, May, maybe even June. At this stage in my development, I wasn't ready to trust what I was hearing and follow such seemingly preposterous guidance. After all, I was the minister at a Unity church in Virginia, practically 3,000 miles distant, hearing guidance in specific words and clear sentences was new to me, and I still hadn't abandoned the habit of preferring logical reasons for acting.

In retrospect, I can imagine angels saying, "That's alright. We'll find a way to get him out to California." It turns out during those four months a new acquaintance showed up in my life who gave me some literature regarding a spiritual movement which was gaining momentum in Marin County north of San Francisco, and I started feeling very attracted to the idea of visiting with the spiritual teacher and people involved. Forgetting about the bridge guidance, but enthused about meeting the spiritual group, I booked a flight and flew to the west coast for a vacation trip in early July.

It didn't take me long, one social call, to realize this particular spiritual group was not for me after all. False alarm, so to speak.  And I found myself sitting with no further plans in a little motel room a few miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge on the night of July 5th. That's when I remembered the original guidance. I imagine I said to myself something like: "Why not?"

Please forgive me if you think I was crazy, but I spent the entire next day sitting, standing, and pacing under the Golden Gate Bridge. Hour after hour went by. Nothing happened. No angels or anyone else appearing. No submarine surfacing. Nothing. Oh well!

Now it gets interesting. By this time it's early evening, I'm ready to give up under the bridge, and suddenly the thought popped into my mind to phone the San Francisco Unity church on the off chance that the minister might still be there (it was Sunday). I seem to remember reaching the minister just as she was about to leave on a trip, but she gave me the phone number of a couple who had only just received a letter of acceptance into the Unity ministerial school. When I phoned them, they were eager to have me come visit them.

It turns out this couple was beyond apprehensive, more like freaking out, about uprooting their lives, relocating half way across the country, and maybe not even making it through the ministerial program which they imagined to be an extremely challenging curriculum. I stayed with them for a couple days, answering questions, offering advice, and generally helping them release fears and establish confidence. They were extremely grateful.

About the time this couple was once again solidly grounded with thoughts of a bright future, they received a phone call from a previous acquaintance, a young man who had entered the ministerial program two years ago, was now a brand new graduate, and was about to assume control of the Unity church in Richmond, California, across the bay.  Like the first couple, this rookie minister and his wife were feeling pretty shaky. What would they face leading a church in a rough and tumble city? Would they be up to the challenge?

Perhaps like a modern-day midwife whose beeper goes off, I said my goodbyes to the first couple, started up my rental car, and drove across the Bay Bridge to Richmond. Now I spent a couple days with this second couple, discussing my own experiences as a minister, giving counsel, guidance, and suggestions, and assuring them they would do a great job. This second couple progressed from worry to great relief to enthusiastic excitement about new possibilities, and they also expressed to me happy gratitude.

Over several days I had served two couples in a very meaningful way ... and they in turn were destined to help many in the service of God. So that's the reason I had been told to go sit under the Golden Gate Bridge on July 6th, right?

Turns out that wasn't even the half of it. There were still days remaining on my vacation with much more to come ... which is yet another story.

"Now Ask Me!"

He wasn't the "miracle boy" when I first saw him and said one word to him. He was a rather scruffy-appearing motorcycle boyfriend of the daughter of a lady who was conducting a spiritual class in her home. The daughter and boyfriend had showed up in mid-class and were waiting by the door until the class finished to ask her mother for some money.

I didn't know the boy, the daughter, or the mother. I had attended the class because the mother had passed a message through a mutual friend that she would love to have me at her class for moral support, it being her first attempt at spiritual teaching. It was 1977 and I was minister of the Unity Church in Daytona Beach, Florida.

My plan was to stay silent and not insert myself during her class. But at a certain point during one of the class-ending discussions I felt compelled to speak up and say, "There are no accidents!"

After the class ended and I was heading out, the motorcycle boyfriend stopped me on the threshold and asked, "There are no accidents?" My one word reply to him as I passed was, "No."

A couple weeks later, my next door neighbor knocked and informed me someone was on her phone for me. I didn't have my own home phone because when I wasn't running on the beach or swimming in the surf early in the morning I was spending the entire remainder of my day at the church.

On my neighbor's phone was the voice of the lady who had conducted the class. "When you were at my house.... Do you remember my daughter and the boy she was with?" I told her I remembered them. "He was in a terrible crash with his motorcycle! He is in the hospital and the doctors say his leg is ruined beyond hope and needs to be amputated. He is extremely depressed and asked you to come."

Walking back to my house my mind was in turmoil. I desperately wanted to respond ... but I had no way to get there. That hospital, I knew, was many miles away. I didn't own a car. My bicycle served my daily needs, which were much shorter distances.

The voice of our holy spirit suddenly said, "Go get high!"

Huh?

I answered, "Go swimming in the surf?" That was my idea of getting high. The inner voice said, "No. Go meditate."

I went into my house, into the kitchen, and stood there for a while chanting and meditating. At a certain point I guess I was "high" enough because the voice said, "Now, go lay down."

I went and laid on the living room floor on the rug, still in a somewhat meditative state. The voice said, "Now ask me?"

Huh? Ask what? How was I to ask? What words to use? Finally I just said, "Father, do your thing!"

As I spoke those words, a bolt of lightening went through my body, lifted me off the floor, went right to the boy in the hospital, and set me back down again.

I jumped up totally startled. But as I was jumping up three certainties flashed in quick succession in my mind. I was certain I didn't have to physically go to the hospital after all, my part was done. I was certain he was healed. And I was certain he had created the accident for his spiritual growth.

In the ensuing few weeks, I literally forgot about the incident. But then the same lady called me and asked if she and a couple other ladies could come to my house for a visit. They wanted to talk about their desire to "graduate" from Alcoholics Anonymous.

They visited me, and after about an hour of discussion and our visit was about to be over, she turned to me and said, "I have a message for you from my daughter's boyfriend."

She painted a mental picture. "None of the doctors could explain it. They considered it medically impossible. But his leg began rapidly healing. He became known to all the doctors and nurses as 'the miracle boy.' And he asked me to bring to the hospital some spiritual books, which he's been devouring. He was very insistent that I tell you that he knows there are no accidents, that he created the crash for his spiritual growth."

"If She Offers $7"

Set for life? Not in the way the world usually uses that phrase. But I guarantee we are perfectly taken care of if we listen inside to the Voice of our Holy Spirit and do as told. This episode might not seem to be as miraculous as the yellow pages story. But then A Course in Miracles tells us all miracles are equal in magnitude.

It was the late 1990s and I needed a job so was interviewing around Salt Lake City for various jobs. I found myself at the Morris-Murdock travel building interviewing for a job as a telephone sales person for Vanguard Vacations, a little start-up operation loosely associated with Vanguard Airlines. When I was told the pay was $6 per hour, an amount I really couldn't have survived on at the time, I was disappointed. After I left the interview, I concluded I wasn't interested.

But about a week later while working at a temporary job, I was told there was a phone call for me from the lady at Vanguard Vacations. As I was on the way to answer the phone to tell her I didn't want the job after all, our Holy Spirit's Voice surprised me saying, "If she offers $7 per hour, take the job." I felt some resistance because even $7 didn't sound good to me. When I answered the phone, she immediately offered $7 if I would come to work for them. Since I always do as told when I hear the Voice, I accepted her offer, I'm sure with no great enthusiasm.

$7 an hour wasn't much but, since I helped build the operation, commissions and bonuses came my way. So it worked out.

Then after a couple years I saw an article in the Salt Lake Tribune that a new airline was starting up and was to be called JetBlue Airways. I immediately felt strongly that I was supposed to work for JetBlue. I even dug around and found a phone number to call. But when I dialed a gruff male voice said, "Just send a resume." I didn't like the tone of voice, so I delayed.

However, a year later I did apply to JetBlue and my experience at Vanguard Vacations easily opened the JetBlue door. I ended up working for JetBlue for nearly 13 years, and built a 401k savings which may go a long way toward providing nothing fancy, but maybe the basics for life. The habit of listening to the Voice and doing as told is a pretty good habit, wouldn't you say?

Interesting coincidence: One of our current Miracles session attendees, now a good friend, is a nephew of and lives in the house of June Morris who started and built Morris Travel. June had also been the mentor of David Neeleman, who started JetBlue Airways. June speaks very admirably of A Course in Miracles. I found out these connections just before I left JetBlue. Full circle?

By the way, you might ask why I have always worked at outside jobs instead of charging for helping people open spiritually. For some reason regarding my spiritual work, I especially enjoy obeying Jesus Christ: "Freely ye have received, freely give."

"Look in the Yellow Pages!"

It was the late 1980s. I was out of a job, living on savings and donations from students who attended my classes in A Course in Miracles. One Monday morning I began to think, "I'm going to need a job pretty soon."

My inner voice spoke up and said, "You'll be going down to the State Job Service on Friday!"

Immediately I got eager. ("eager" rhymes with "ego-er", doesn't it?) I said, "Why can't I go today?"

My inner voice felt insistent as it said, "No! Friday!"

So I gave up resisting, which is always a good idea when listening to one's inner voice. I went about my business that week playing and hiking in the mountains, eventually altogether forgetting about Friday.

On Friday morning I was enjoying being slow about getting breakfast and getting going when my inner voice began to tell me to sit down, get quiet, and listen inside carefully. I wanted to take my time and get breakfast, but the voice was insistent.

When I sat down, got quiet, and cleared out my mind, I heard clearly "Look in the Yellow Pages! Look up vending machine companies."

At first I resisted, as people often do when they hear something inside. But I finally got the Yellow Pages out and looked up vending machine companies. To my surprise, there were several in town.

My inner voice said, "Start calling them one by one. Ask if they need any help."

At this point, big resistance surfaced in me. I had been a Unity Minister for 12 years, a teacher of A Course in Miracles, and a sometimes computer programmer. No way was I going to go to work for a vending machine company!

My inner voice said with full authority, "Do it!"

"Okay...." I started calling vending machine companies.

The first one said, "No, we don't need any help." My resistance got stronger.

My inner voice said patiently, "Keep calling!"

The second company said, "No, we only use family members." My resistance kept getting even more firm, as if I was fighting being sent on a wild goose chase.

My inner voice said, "Keep calling!!"

I think it was the fourth company I called that said, "Yes, we are hiring right now. We have an opening. But we don't hire directly. You have to go down to the State Job Service."

Suddenly I remembered what I had been told Monday about going down to the State Job Service on Friday. My inner voice said, "Now ... get dressed ... quick ... and get down there!"

"Wait a minute! I wanted to have breakfast. And I wanted to do some Yoga exercises."

"Get dressed and get down there ... quickly!"

"Okay."

Normally the parking lot at the State Job service is overflowing and the lines are long. On this particular morning when I arrived the parking lot was near empty. I thought to myself, "Why is my inner voice sending me here when it is closed?"

You might imagine it wasn't closed after all. I walked in and there were no lines of job seekers. I walked up to the receptionist and told her the name of the agent I was assigned to. She said, "Well, it's not too light back there because the electricity is off, but he should be by his desk."

I went back and met the agent and he said, "Well, the computers are all down, so I don't know if I can help you." The rules were you had to interview for only the one or two types of jobs you were specified for in the computer. But I said to him, "I think I'm here for a job with a vending machine company." I was certainly not in the computer for such a job.

He said, "Let me go talk to one of the counselors on the other team."

When he returned, he said, "This other counselor has a job on his desk for a vending machine company. I'm going to take you over and introduce you to him."

The other counselor talked to me for a little while and finally said, "You know ... I'm not supposed to send you out for any jobs you are not specified for in the computer, but the computers are down ... and I like you ... so I'll send you to interview on this job."

So I got the job, true or false? Listen inside.

And it was a job in which I had an opportunity to learn the just perfect spiritual lessons, true or false? Listen inside.

So it pays to follow your inner voice, true or false?

"Pray for Sean to arrive!"

It was perhaps 1982. Bonnie Brightstar and myself were told by my inner voice to rent a white house with white walls in Eugene, Oregon and the work would begin. We didn't know what work. We found the house fairly quickly and started holding inner hearing practice sessions every morning. Before the first week was over, a single mom with two young children who lived next door began coming over and enthusiastically joining in our sessions. We all took turns listening inside and speaking aloud what we were hearing inside.

Within a couple of weeks we were told by our inner voice, "Go to the Unity Church this Sunday. A new student will show up." We did as told and sure enough a young woman approached us after the Unity service and asked us a few questions about what we were doing. Then she said, "You are the ones I've been looking for. I was involved in a fairly intense spiritual work in Tucson, Arizona and I heard guidance to relocate to Eugene. I was told by my inner voice I would find a small group to work with." This new student moved into the house with us within a week.

As you can imagine, more students came. It wasn't long before we had about 12 students sitting in a circle on the living room floor every morning at 10 a.m. doing inner hearing practice. They all began hearing more and more clearly with practice.

After a month or so one of the students heard inside, "Pray for Sean to arrive!"

I immediately went into great resistance. "Pray for Sean to arrive!" sounded to me like we were being asked to try to influence another person's thoughts and actions. But another one of the students heard inside, "Sean wants to be here, but he is in resistance. Pray for the release of his resistance and he will arrive."

Now that's something we could all surrender to praying for ... resistance release for someone. So picture 12 or so people sitting in a circle on the floor every morning praying for the release of resistance in a person we did not know named Sean ... so he could join our work. We naturally began to wonder who he was.

Anyway, a couple of months went by during which every one's inner hearing became more and more clear. We were even hearing all kinds of communication in number codes, which we were told was "star language." So much for normal human endeavor.

Meantime, the Unity Church in Eugene, Unity of the Valley, hired me as interim minister until they could find a permanent minister.

One Friday late afternoon I was in the minister's office at a time I normally wouldn't have been there. I could see the front door of the church from behind my desk in the office. The door opened and a young man walked in. I stood up from my desk and immediately knew it was the Sean we had been waiting for.

"Your name is Sean!" I yelled from the minister's office loud enough for him to hear me at the front door. "We've been waiting for you!"

He didn't faint or run away or anything, so I guess all was well. He simply came over and offered me a handshake and said, "How did you know my name?" It turns out all he was doing was driving around town delivering to churches fliers concerning a Quaker function. He had no reason to suspect anyone would know his name.

I told him to sit down and I would explain it to him. I told him about our intense inner hearing work and how we had been advised by our inner voice that someone named Sean would arrive. I told him the whole story.

He said, "Wow! That's amazing! I had a very clear dream a couple of months ago. In the dream there was a small group of people doing some kind of spiritual work. Their leader was a tall, thin man like yourself. I was supposed to join them."

Needless to say, Sean moved into the house with us also. The work continued for awhile longer with everyone releasing a great deal of fear and resistance by means of an exercise which the inner voice called the "Fear/Love Exercise." Everyone in the work developed quite clear inner hearing. But as the inner voice pushed the students for higher and higher levels of resistance release, one by one the students began dropping away.

Finally there were only Sean and myself living in the house. Even Bonnie Brightstar had temporarily moved elsewhere. We had been through so much growth and opening in the six months or so of this work! One morning I was in the kitchen and I heard my inner voice say, "Now ... go purchase A Course in Miracles and study it. Then you will understand what you have been through in this work." Not fifteen minutes later, Sean came into the kitchen from his bedroom and said, "I've been guided to go out and buy A Course in Miracles."

Until that point, like most Unity ministers in those days, I had been in resistance to A Course in Miracles. But due to these previous six months of intense work, I had learned to follow the instructions of the inner voice. So Sean and myself both bought ourselves copies of the Course.

You can imagine my surprise when I was looking through the first few pages of chapter 1 of the Course and there in black and white were some of the exact same words we had heard as inner hearing students in our work of practicing inner hearing. Needless to say. I decided then and there to release my resistance to A Course in Miracles.

"You'll be writing a book"

When I was a young boy, I thought I'd like to be a writer. When I was much older, whenever I felt a desire to write, my inner voice would say, "We'll do the writing! You're not enlightened yet. There are too many writers out there already who are only half-baked."

So I didn't get to write for a long time. I had to seek first the kingdom of heaven, if you will.

Recently my brother, Royle Eenigenburg Sr., called me and said, "You have to write a book." He insisted it be a biography. A few days later my inner voice said clearly in the middle of the night, "You'll be writing a book."

So I guess I have to write about my life and all its amazing experiences. Maybe someone will benefit.