I AM MOVEMENT & RELIGION
I AM movement, theosophical movement founded in Chicago in the early 1930s by Guy W. Ballard (1878–1939), a mining engineer, and his wife, Edna W. Ballard (1886–1971). The name of the movement is a reference to the Bible verse in which God replies to Moses, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). Despite legal and public relations difficulties, the movement thrived and inspired a number of subsequent movements based on its teachings.
Ballard claimed that in 1930 during a visit to Mount Shasta (a dormant volcano in northern California), he was contacted by St. Germain, one of the Ascended Masters of the Great White Brotherhood. Many occultists believe that this order of spiritual beings guides the overall destiny of humankind and speaks through human messengers. The first modern contact with the Masters was allegedly made in the 19th century by Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831–91), one of the founders of the Theosophical Society.
Writing under the name Godfrey Ray King, Ballard compiled his experiences in a book, Unveiled Mysteries, published in 1934, and he afterward claimed to receive regular messages, termed “discourses,” from St. Germain and other Masters. Because one of the Masters from whom Ballard received dictations was Jesus, members of the I AM movement consider themselves Christian. The Ballards claimed to have received more than 3,000 messages, which formed the body of the movement’s teachings.
The Ballards incorporated the I AM movement in 1932. Following Guy Ballard’s death, Edna Ballard became the movement’s leader and revealed the messages she had received from St. Germain. With her death in 1971, the Board of Directors, which had been established at the movement’s incorporation in 1932, took control of the movement. Since then, no further dictations from the Masters have been received, because no new messenger has been appointed to succeed the Ballards.
The Masters’ discourses emphasized ways for individuals to become aware of their “I AM,” or “God Presence,” which flows from God, the mighty Creative Fire at the centre of the universe. Ultimately, each person hopes to ascend into the divine realms, as the Ballards are believed to have done at the end of their lives. The reciting of decrees—invocations of the divine that call for the manifestation in the visible world of a desired condition or the removal of an undesirable one—is the primary devotional activity of members of the movement. Listening to the messages recorded by the Ballards is the central activity of I AM gatherings.
The I AM movement also promotes American patriotism. The messages received by Ballard suggested that the United States had a special role in the Masters’ world plan, and members of the movement believe that Ballard was a reincarnation of George Washington. The group sponsors special programs on patriotic holidays. The I AM movement is alive and well and has a yearly spiritual festival at Mount Shasta in northern California.
The growing movement was disrupted by Ballard’s sudden death in 1939. Soon afterward, several former members accused the Ballards of teaching a sham religion, which led to the indictment and conviction of Edna Ballard and other movement leaders for mail fraud. In 1946 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction.
As a result of the lengthy judicial process and the subsequent bad publicity, the movement assumed a very low profile in the 1950s, and many thought that it had died. During the second half of the 20th century it experienced steady growth, and in the early 21st century it reported more than 300 chartered I AM sanctuaries in the United States and around the world. The most prominent group inspired by the I AM movement was the Church Universal and Triumphant. Others, such as the Aetherius Society, pictured the Masters as officials of an extraterrestrial government who offer guidance from unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
The movement teaches that the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent creator God ('I AM' – Exodus 3:14) is in all of us as a spark from the Divine Flame, and that we can experience this presence, love, power and light – and its power of the Violet Consuming Flame of Divine Love – through quiet contemplation and by repeating 'affirmations' and 'decrees'. By affirming something one desires, one may cause it to happen.
The group teaches that the "Mighty I AM Presence" is God existing in and as each person's higher self, and that a light known as the "violet flame" is generated by the "I AM Presence" and may surround each person who calls forth the action of the holy spirit for expression of mercy or forgiveness. The group believes that by tapping into these internalized powers in accordance with the teachings of the ascended masters, one can use one's relationship to the "presence" to amplify the expressions of virtue such as justice, peace, harmony, and love; to displace or abate the expression of evil (relative absence of good) in the world; and to minimize personal difficulties in one's life.
The spiritual goal of the teachings is that, through a process of self-purification, the believer may attain the perfected condition of the saints, or become an ascended master when leaving their body, contrasted to common concepts of 'ordinary death'. The process of attaining these results includes one or another of interior practices to facilitate resonance and alignment with the "I AM Presence": self-assessment in light of saintly exemplars such as Jesus, care in the use of language, devotion (to the Divine), gratitude, meditation, invocations and affirmations; and external practices such as "decrees" (repeated prayers given aloud with conviction), all of which are said to amplify the energetic presence of the divine in one's experience, resulting in the desired positive changes. Members believe there is actual science behind decrees and affirmations and claim these practices are acknowledged by medicine as effective.
THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW:"I yam what I yam!" -The Christian Science Monitor: This is the law of God. When evil thoughts or disease would claim to control us, we can declare like a stalwart Popeye, "I am what God made me .
THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: Trips to quack Doctor's, eating poor nutrition, fast foods, surgary drinks and becoming a couch potato? Get your life in order by practicing meditation, spirituality, exercise and prevent hydration by drinking more water .....which will cure most diseases.
ZENTRAVELER SAYS: Whilst living in Florida at the Casadaga Spiritual Center. I was invited to I AM spiritual meeting. We ate homemade chicken soup and meditated for one hour in total silence in a special room with St. Germain large purple image on the wall. After about thirty minutes of meditation I witnessed a bright white light and then volet-purple light making me warm all over. My mentor shook her head like a bowl of jelly and told me I was on my way to the next level. Thank godness for spiritual friends. As we were leaving the prayer center she whispered that I had five American Indian spiritual leaders and I was to pay attention to them when they channeled in?
We are at a point in time where we are standing on the precipice of realising who we really are, where we really came from, and what our true potential is. The fact that certain institutes and such are trying so badly to suppress it, makes it more apparent that the truth is something far greater for THEM to fear. One thing I’ve realised through the extent of struggle and contrast in my life, is that those who suppress the truth fear the loss of power and control, so they create something to fear in order to trick the majority into handing over their power and autonomy. Imagine what a privilege it would be to witness our overcoming mass oppression and control, among other unnecessary things (war, famine, homelessness, life limiting illnesses & disease, etc), in our lifetime.
From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on. Follow the Zentraveler Newsletter often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a THREE IN ONE NEWSLETTER FOR THE PRICE OF FREE.
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