The call went out from Spirit and those who answered came forward to make the Premiere of the film Spiritual Warriors take place in London. I headed up the project with Gregory Parry the new boy in town. (Greg is relatively new to MSIA, and he is on his way to live at Prana in September).
As the project started it was very evident that it started gathering its own momentum. We were lining up with Spirit to follow a truly exciting adventure in discovering our own abilities to become Spiritual Warriors. Of course it was challenging, and included the usual course of human emotions, which almost paralysed me at one point. A telephone call with Jsu, who was not allowing me to get lost in my own doubts, pushed me forward into a space of determination to fulfil and complete the project. We also heard that John-Roger was planning to attend health and schedule permitting, although I must admit that I had an ulterior motive to get J-R over to London for the premiere.
Within a few weeks, donations came in to support the deposits for hiring the cinemas where the screenings would take place. 20,000 flyers were printed to distribute all over England to promote the film. I had flyers in my handbag, car, home and even joked with Jsu that they were in my nightdress. I dreamed about Jsu and J-R and ate, slept and drank Spiritual Warriors for the next ten weeks. Our guardian angel on the project was Zoe Golightly. She encouraged and supported us daily with her enthusiasm and positive focus. She is a precious gem, a loving heart, and plays a big part in the Spiritual Warriors project worldwide.
So the next quest was to deliver the flyers to those people who would be interested in attending the screenings of Spiritual Warriors. My prayer was to deliver the flyers to those people who were looking for the teachings, so that the work could be done quickly and effectively. During my spiritual exercises, and even when doing mundane tasks like blow-drying my hair, Spirit would be guiding me where to go to get the job done. Greg and I would discuss where, when and how at out local natural burger bar.
On the journey we had a lot of fun and our humour kept us going. Our first major port of call was at a group meeting called “Alternatives.” They gather regularly in London and have speakers deliver varied and interesting topics on spirituality. We phoned the organisers and asked permission to hand out flyers as people came in to the meeting. About 500 flyers were handed out that night. An Indian musical concert in Trafalgar Square was also another opportunity, we were amazed at how many people looked at the flyers and thought that Jsu was a Bollywood actor. I approached two young guys who were sitting on the ground and handed them a flyer, we got into an interesting chat about Spirit and the storyline of the film. There were many tales of how we were being led to individuals who were interested in what we were offering. Each time we felt blessed to be doing this work that had a divine intention.
One time travelling in my car Greg said stop and jumped out the car and approached a group in the park doing yoga. I sat there and burst out laughing, was there no end to this man’s determination. All over London and some areas of England the flyers were put out in libraries, health food stores, coffee shops, gyms, bookstores. At another large self development meeting, Greg and I accompanied by Sam Wigan and Rosemary Wallace handed out another huge pile of flyers. One lady recognised Jsu on the flyer and we were amazed at the response. We all left to have breakfast on a spiritual high.
More ideas for raising funds came forward like offering seats at the screenings next to J-R and John Morton, and taking donations for reserved seating. As the project progressed our brilliant MSIA Rep Carrie McHale was hard at work telling everyone who enrolled for the Spiritual Warrior Workshop about the film. People were coming from all over the world, to attend the workshop and the film premiere (Spain, France, Germany, Sweden, USA). The energy was amazing. However we still had more flyers to give out.
The weekend before the screening we still had 6,000 flyers. So off we went again to the Rolling Stones concert at the new 02 centres in Greenwich. In the next few days Carrie McHale had been talking with Simon Cook from the Yes group telling him about the film and the workshop. We asked if we could hand out flyers at the beginning of one the Yes group meetings. This was our last chance to give out the remaining flyers, but at the last minute we were told that they do not promote other people’s seminars and events. That night as I washing up the in the kitchen another idea surfaced. Ask Jsu if we could give out some Spiritual Warrior,The Art of Spiritual Living books at the Yes group event and we could put our flyers discreetly inside the front cover of the book He said “yes” to the Yes group, and the Yes group said “yes” to our offer. The end of the story was Simon Cook, one of the organisers, sent out e-mails to over 3,000 people.
Other obstacles surfaced the night before the screening. Owing to faulty equipment at one of the cinema’s, we needed a special cable. Jsu and the gang gathered at the cinema at 11.30pm. With Jsu’s determination to have the best quality for the sound and visuals for the film and with the aid of another projectionist, Romano from the Prince Charles Cinema, the problem got solved. At 3am we were able to catch a few hours sleep in order to be at the Curzon cinema for the first screening.
Sunday the 2nd of September the vision of our project was fulfilled as I saw J-R, Jsu, Nathaniel Sharratt and Michael Hayes crossing the road in a line like the old Beatles photo at Abbey Road. J-R greeted people at the door. The London premiere of Spiritual Warriors began with Jsu introducing us to John Morton, Leigh Taylor-Young, Rick Ojeda and a host of guests who had flown in especially from LA to support and fund the screening. He also thanked Carrie McHale (MSIA rep), Greg and I for all the work we had done. David Sand had also flown in to take pictures of the events. There were also many new people in attendance including our MSIA family. As I looked out over the audience, I was reminded again of the amazing grace of Spirit and how we all had achieved this wondrous event.
As the film started the energy of the Traveler filled the cinema. During the film I was aware of being on my own journey. Watching scenes from the movie evoked strong memories of things that had happened in the past. Everyone was having their own journey as the film progressed, as a host of Light bearers were in the audience holding the Light and asking for Spirit’s blessings to pour forth on the audience to clear and dissolve any negativity. The film ended to a rapturous applause. At the end of screening there was a Q&A with Jsu and Leigh Taylor-Young. We all left there Light hearted and feeling very joyful.
The next screening was even more amazing as the day the screening was being held there was an underground (tube strike) affecting London’s travel. “Would people come?” was the big question. With a calm resolve I put it all into God’s hands. We arrived to set up the table outside the cinema with books and t-shirts and at 6.15pm people started arriving. J-R and Jsu and all our international guests arrived and by the start of the screening over 280 people were seated in the cinema. The audience was comprised of many new people who had heard about the film through the flyers and e-mails that were sent out.
At the Q&A after the screening there were many people who voiced their appreciation for the film. Jsu was in great form as he answered the questions with great humour and sincerity of Spirit. Leigh Taylor-Young spoke about aspects of her own spiritual journey. One guy shared with the audience that the film had answered a lot of questions for him about his life.
My deepest thanks goes to John-Roger for coming to the UK and honouring us all with his presence and for writing this film with Jsu, which will be a great vehicle for the teachings to become more available to many people across the world. Love to Jsu for keeping us on track and doing what he does best, to act and make us laugh and be a Spiritual Warrior. Thanks to Zoe Golightly who was my guardian angel. Thanks to John Morton for being the Traveler. My appreciation goes to Gregory Parry for being my partner on the project, with all his enthusiasm and humour. Love to Carrie McHale for her work, dedication and unfailing support. Thank you to all those who gave donations towards the funding of the events, and travelling so far to be with us. A loud round of applause goes to all those who attended the screenings and the teams who did registration.
