Introduction

The Story
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9

A Few Personal Stories
Francis
Faith
Anne
Silva

Once Upon a Time - Page 5

The Process Church

Paul and I were, again, the first to touch down in England. As we stepped down from the plane at London's Heathrow airport, there were cameras flashing everywhere. "We must have been on the plane with someone famous," I said to Paul. Then we both realized that the cameras were all pointing at us! We were whisked away to the V.I.P. lounge for an impromptu press conference. "Did you have orgies on the beach?" ... "Did you smoke peyote?" ... "What really happened?"

Of course, what really happened, while amazing, unforgettable, and life-changing for all of us, wasn't the kind of story that the tabloid press really wanted, so we were quickly forgotten.

Back in London, we toyed, for a couple of months, with becoming a political organization. We were drawn to some of the fringe groups - the equivalents of what might today include people like Ralph Nader or Ross Perot. We didn't mind which side they were on; they just seemed more honest and forthright, and not so beholden to what we termed the "gray middle path of mediocrity."

We hosted meetings for the general public at which Members of Parliament and some of the fringe groups could each present their views. Many of them, even though they were ostensibly from opposite ends of the political spectrum, were surprised to find how much they had in common.

But we weren't really interested in political issues. A true alternate lifestyle, we'd concluded, was a matter of the soul and the spirit, more than of political agendas. So we decided to start our own church-type organization.

Many of us had studied different religions, philosophies, and cultures, ancient and modern. And our discussions during the evenings at Xtul had focused on the basic things they shared in common: primarily the Golden Rule. We called it the Universal Law, and it was a central tenet of all the great teachers throughout history:

"As you give, so shall you receive.
"So do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Simple and straightforward. But which of the religions of today really practiced it?

The Golden Rule became the cornerstone of the organization we were now forming: The Process Church - a process of self-knowledge that would lead to transcending the twin evils, as we saw them, of blame and self-justification that fueled all human conflict. That would be a true alternate and exemplary lifestyle - maybe even a better world for those who wanted to be part of it.

One of the group, Robert de Grimston, who had a theological background, started writing extensively about this and related subjects. He developed the Golden Rule concept, as taught in the Gospels, along with Christ's teachings of unconditional love "But I say unto you that you should love your enemies, and do good to those who curse you."

This notion of unconditional love defined the kind of work that we would take on: finding the more loveless elements of society - drug addicts, convicts, and the generally down-and-out - and do what we could to help them. Among other things, we published a book on drug addiction, and worked with some of the most progressive doctors of the time, with some minor success. We set up soup kitchens, went to prisons, and put on courses, classes, and workshops that brought together people from opposite ends of the political, religious, and scientific spectrums.

Meanwhile, we developed a whole cosmology of our own, along with clothes and paraphernalia that expressed it all in true sixties style. For example, we dressed in black or white, with a purple cape, and our main insignia was a cross with a serpent coiled round it.

Meanwhile, some of the group were still in Mexico, taking care of the dogs, who couldn't come back to England without going into six months of quarantine. So we agreed that four of us would go to the United States. Faith could bring us the dogs there for the moment, and Faith and her group could go back to London.

Next page: The Process in America