Today was a great day….Several weeks ago I had been asked to report on the Graduation for the PTS Masters of Spiritual Sciences (MSS) and Doctors of Spiritual Science (DSS) classes. Our editor thought it would be a novel idea to report on the event from the view of someone who was graduating. Sounded like an okay idea to me from the moment I accepted the assignment right up to two hours before the event. That was when I got very internal and couldn’t have cared less about the details of what was going on.
Fortunately, in the DSS class we learn to access our intuition and I have completely recalled the event by consulting the Akashic Record. Or maybe it was that I have learned multi dimensional awareness, one of the focuses of the DSS class, and was really paying attention to what was taking place on all levels simultaneously. Though it’s more likely that my inner TiVo was turned on and this is just an instant replay. Regardless, this is the way it came down (at least in my reality).
Around 1:00pm the DSS grads — 17 this time, the largest doctoral graduating class PTS has fielded yet — gathered to don our academic robes and tams (the beanies with the tassels we use instead of the more familiar mortar boards. We are nothing if not stylish in PTS). It was pretty exciting and kind of fun to walk around in essentially Renaissance costumes for an hour.
Then the MSS & DSS grads gathered in the ballroom for a rehearsal. Though we are a pretty casual school and don’t go in much for pomp & circumstance, the DSS part of the graduation has some pretty nifty traditions — mostly surrounding the formal robes and the hooding ceremony, which involves receiving something of an intricate scarf with the school colors and other symbolism.
For me, there was something going on that was both joy-filled and emotional at the same time. I found myself having an experience kind of like being in the room physically and simultaneously on some other very interior level. I guess it was kind of meditative without losing track of the physical goings on.
At 3:00pm, with a very respectable crowd of graduates, family, friends, and other folks who had come to Conference and just wanted to participate in another Traveler event, the graduation began. It opened with the MSS grads already seated in their special area and a processional led by John-Roger & John Morton in their doctoral garb, followed by the PTS doctoral facilitating team and reading faculty members all in full doctoral garb, and ending with the soon to be DSS graduates. As often happens with MSIA/PTS events, the audience was hugely supportive, delivering enthusiastic applause throughout the entire entrance portion.
Once we were seated, PTS’s Elissa Giges introduced the Vice President of the seminary, Paul Kaye. He provided a warm welcome for grads and guests, then the actual graduation began with the MSS grads receiving their diplomas.
When that was complete, PTS Academic Dean, Liz Bixby, along with Dr. Pauli Sanderson, explained the symbolism of the caps, hoods, and robes and the DSS graduation ceremony began. Each of us was called to the stage, and as we knelt John Morton placed the hood over our shoulders. It was simple, yet profound at the same time. If you don’t really understand what that means, all I can suggest is that you take the MSS, then the DSS classes and get there yourself. Then you can know what I’m attempting to convey.
In addition to getting a hug from John Morton, each of us had a moment with our Liz Bixby — who had been instrumental throughout the DSS course, and along with Pauli Sanderson, had approved the 50 – 100 page paper, called a practical treatise (PT) we had each written to complete the doctoral degree. Then we each had a moment with John-Roger who was seated on the stage and gave his attention to each graduate. It was just a few words, but it was also timeless.
I had known it was likely J-R would be there. And I had such immense gratitude for his influence in and contribution to my life that I had been going over what I might say to him when I was up there. Just before the graduation began I became aware that if I had learned anything in my DSS studies it was that Spirit can’t really be anticipated and I could trust Spirit to provide the perfect words in the moment. So when I was before J-R on the stage, many things came to mind. And what I said was “Thank you.” I started to grope for something else, maybe a clever remark or something attempting to be profound. Yet looking at him in that eternal moment, feeling his hand in mine, I concluded with “Just thank you.” I can’t think of anything else that would have conveyed where I was at in that moment. I was content with my message. I think it was one of my most significant conversations I’ve ever had with J-R.
When each of us completed that phase of our journey, John Morton took over to present us his remarks. About a third of the way through his talk it dawned on me that if I was going to report on this event, this was probably what you folks reading the article want to know about. So I jotted down a few notes. And if I could read them, I’d tell you what they said.
Just kidding — I can read them. Here’s a very high level overview of what I took away from John’s remarks. He started by referencing J-R’s description of the “portable paradise” — that we have the ability to create a paradise wherever we are. He discussed that he discovered, after hearing about this portable paradise, that he still had disturbance in his life. So his solution was to make disturbance his friend, rather than an enemy to be resisted or hated.
He described how in PTS we test ourselves and we test the Spirit by seeking the truth through questioning and observing. We are indeed a school of practical spirituality.
In a very simple and concise way John outlined the essence of each level we work through as we progress through the process of initiation in MSIA. He started by discussing ambition, then devotion, then dedication, then consecration, then liberation — which is the nature of our Soul.
Somehow in just a few words John was able to cover the laws of Spirit: acceptance, cooperation, understanding, enthusiasm and empathy, and he spoke of how we chant the sacred names of God, starting with the Ani Hu. He noted that when we chant Ani Hu it sort of sounds like “and I, you… “which, chanted continuously with no beginning or end was also “you and I.”
He also remarked on how we become spiritual scientists, which can be tedious and repetitious sometimes. (And, from my own experience, this tediousness can pay off big time in getting to know the reality of God’s presence.)
John brought it all home by mentioning the ground rules of MSIA, which are:
