A Historical Outline

(Revised and updated from a 1995 N.S. study guide)

The following list includes some of the locations where and dates when Lucille Cedercrans-Schaible (b. 4/4/21, d. 6/21/84) and others taught courses and established "seed groups" (which were to become etheric centers in the group life).^[1]

Lucille trained a number of individuals to do the same type of work that she did (called Communicating Stations) and also trained a number of supporting partners to Communicating Stations (called Power Stations). The details of this type of work are obscure (although Applied Wisdom will include some information). It is known that it was not a form of channeling or possession, as the Stations used their own alignment^[2] to interpret abstract ideas contained within the overshadowing New Though-form Presentation of the Wisdom.

Station work was considered a temporary, emergency measure by the Hierarchy. Eventually, groups of trained disciples would use their group alignment to contact and interpret the abstract ideas.

Apparently the original intent included training three Communicating Stations for each of the three rays (1, 2 & 7) at the heart of the Ashram. The three Stations on a ray would then check with each other before releasing what they brought through. However, this does not appear to have happened as only a handful of individuals seem to have completed enough of the training to begin practicing this type or work.

Some of these trained Communicating Stations went on to write courses and found groups of their own (other expressions of the Wisdom Group). The following list under-represents their efforts.

Unfortunately, it seems that few records were kept. The following is based on individual memories (which do not always agree on details), and is now quite dated. Thus, this list is incomplete, apocryphal, and the dates are tentative.

Boise, Idaho ( ?^[3] - 1949 or 1951): This period is very obscure. It has been said that Lucille taught something in Boise, and that she kept a journal recording the beginning of her inner work. I understand that Lucille's Power Station in Boise was a gentleman named Ward Fuller.^[4]

Spokane, Washington (1951 - 1953): Esoteric Throat Center Instruction (?)^[5]

Courses taught included:

The Younger Brother series, by Myrtle Morgan (reportedly a Hindu), who was receiving Station training from Lucille while writing this series. Myrtle moved from Spokane to the Los Angeles area around 1952.^[6]

Introduction to The Path of Initiation series,^[7] by Lucille, which included:

Corrective Thinking (short, 10 lesson version), 1951 (may have been written in Boise)

The Nature of The Soul (short, 8 lesson version), 1952

The Soul and Its Instrument (18 lessons), 1952^[8]

Teacher Training, 1952 (lost version, no known transcripts)^[9]

During this period the group was reportedly attacked by the Dark Forces, and many of the members left. Information on this attack is included in the transcript of a projection from 1953.

Valleyford, Washington (May, 1955): Lucille visited this center to bring through instructions.

Polarity and Station Training, and other instruction for the Throat Center.

Long Beach, California (1956 - 1960) Esoteric Heart Center Instruction. Initially, Walter Smith was Lucille's Power Station in Southern California.

Courses taught included:

The Soul and Its Instrument (?)

The Nature of The Soul (long version), 1957.^[10]

Corrective Thinking (long version), 1957^[11]

Instructions to Disciples, 1957^[12]

Teacher Training #1 (late 1950's ?)

Washington, D.C. [Bethesda, MD] (1957): Esoteric Head Center Instruction (?)^[13]

Southern California (1960 - Feb. 1961): More heart center work. Students were recruited from the Biometric Research Foundation in L.A. (Viola Pettit Neal, Ph.D., founder), whose "Ballancing Program" was apparently a prerequisite for N.S.^[14] Richard Schaible became Lucille's Power Station.

Courses included:

Corrective Thinking (long version)^[15]

The Nature of The Soul (long version)

Leadership Training (taught simultaneously with Teacher Training #2, on different nights of the week)

Etudes in Consciousness, by Margaret Buxton (the Communicating Station for the Esoteric Heart Center, until killed in a traffic accident in November, 1960).

Dark Forces, November 1960^[16]

Heart Center Instruction, 1960 (projected in 8 sessions).^[17]

Teacher Training #2, a.k.a. "Advanced Teacher Training" (2/20/60 - 1/7/61).^[18]

Disciple and Economy (Introductory lesson only)^[19]

Healing (5 lessons)

During this period, the group was subject to a cyclic series of attacks by the Dark Forces (as wielded by the Black Lodge). Information on this cyclic series of attacks is included in T.T.#2 - Lesson 25, in Leadership Training, and in Dark Forces). Apparently, part of the group response to that attack was to move to Estes Park, Colorado, to create a Synthetic Center.^[20]

Estes Park, Colorado (Feb. 1961 - Feb. 27, 1964) Synthetic Center^{:^[21]}

Nucleus Instruction (1963) (?)

Valleyford, Washington (August, 1961):

Subjects taught included:

Polarity (Communicating) and Power Station instruction,^[22] Code of Ethics; non-organized organization.

Valleyford, Washington (June 22, 1962 - Dec. 1, 1963): Instruction given to this center (?)

Ann Arbour, Michigan (1965 - 1972): behavioral science curriculum for children; study group in esoteric philosophy (1971)^[23]

Portland, Oregon (July, 1972 - 1973)

Boulder, Colorado [?] (Dec. 1975 - 1982) In 1975 Lucille moved to Boulder, Colorado and began working with Tibetan Buddhism (which she considered to be "The Wisdom" in an Eastern Form) This appears to have been part of an effort to help establish a planetary synthetic center in the Rocky Mountains. The groups Lucille established there included:

Nyingma Institute of Colorado (Dec. 25, 1975)

Udiyan Maitreya Kosha or U.M.K. [formerly Rocky Mountain Nyingma Meditation Center] (1978)

Additional organizations and activities that have grown from this work include:

Wisdom Research: Esoteric Throat Center. Portland and Dayton Oregon. Seven people in Spokane and Dayton who are the esoteric throat center of the Wisdom Group Life. Actually located in Valleyford where Pam Dunn Nissen and Curt Dunn (b. 7/26/16 d. 1/8/83) founded the throat center. Lois and Jack Maxwell were part of the throat center until they moved to Albuquerque, where Lois founded Wisdom Fellowship. The throat Center has been in existence since it was founded by Lucille, and has been very active subjectively for 45 years.

Wisdom Fellowship: Started informally in Spokane, Washington, in 1968, by Peter Harris and Lois Maxwell Harris, and formally organized in New Mexico in 1980, as a peripheral manifestation of the Synthetic Ashram. Lois received Station training from, and did the same kind of work as, Lucille (Lois was originally a Station for K.H., later a Station for HI).^[24]

Wisdom Impressions: The publisher of Lucille's works. 1992 -

Wisdom Newsletter: A quarterly newsletter of Wisdom Group events, classes and service activities. 1992 - 1995

Sunday Nite Group: A service workshop, 1979 - 1989

Over the years, students and teachers of The Wisdom have been inspired to initiate numerous service activities. These service activities have taken a variety of forms, including: political activism, education reform, group networking, magazine publishing, ecological activism, business transformation, alternative education, holistic healing, etc. Most of these service activities are designed to step-down some portion of The Wisdom (as grasped by the practitioner) and make it available to humanity. The subjective connection with The Wisdom Group is seldom recognized or acknowledged. These service activities are usually part of the aura of the periphery of the Synthetic Ashram. (see descriptions of offices in N.S., p. 276)

Additional courses whose history is even less clear (to us in Southern California) include:

Foundation of The Wisdom Principles #1, by Lois Harris (?)

Seven Basic Steps to Wisdom Meditation, by Lois Harris^[25]

Intermediate Steps to WisdomMeditation, by Lois Harris (?)

Wisdom Therapy

Other courses undoubtedly exist or existed, and additional courses were mentioned that were never written and (unless otherwise precipitated) remain overshadowing. Courses which are to be made available to humanity as a part of The New Thought-Form Presentation of The Wisdom that have not yet (so far as we know) made an appearance include:

Brotherhood, The Divine Order of Man: A course mentioned in C.T., Lesson 32.

Cosmic Law: An eight-volume series mentioned in the recovered portion of the D& E Introductory. Titles may include:

The Law of Economy: Mentioned in D& E Intro. Possibly related to The Disciple and Economy

The Law of Periodicity: Mentioned in D& E Intro.

The Law of Karma: A textbook mentioned in Healing, Lesson 3. Subjects may include The Cosmic Law of Economy, and the Law of Action and Re-action

Every Man A Christ: A course mentioned (in A.W. Publishing) but apparently never written.

The New Science of Mathematics: A course mentioned in N.S., on p. 453.

The New Science of Right Relationship: Another course mentioned in N.S. on p. 453 (and elsewhere as "The Science of Right Relationship").^[26]

The Petals: This is supposed to have been a post-T.T. course, or series of projections, on the petals of the egoic lotus. No firm info on whether or not any portion of it was ever written or projected, but see three addendums to A.W. listed below ("Petals x x 62" )

^[27]

The vast majority of The New Thought-form Presentation remains overshadowing (with no form of appearance).

There are other manifestations of the Synthetic Ashram. T.T.#2 refers to a group in Connecticut (which was led by Penelope Harris, mother of Peter Harris). This group had no direct outer connection with our portion of the group life, although there was some communication between Lucille and Penelope.

There has also been some contact with a group in England and another in British Columbia (apparently limited to awareness that they exist).

Lucille moved fairly often. She would live and teach in a locale (often establishing or revisiting a seed group) and then move on to the next location. It has been said that her usual practice when moving was to throw her things into suitcases, and leave, delegating someone to send on her files later. This practice was not designed to preserve her papers, and much of what she wrote may be missing or lost (creating an opportunity to englamorize the "lost" material).

Apparently, at each locale some of the instruction was designed for that seed group, and some was designed for The Wisdom Group as a whole. The goal appears to have been to create the etheric centers or chakras of The Wisdom Group, provide instruction specific to each center, instruction for the entire Wisdom Group, and curricula for a "School of The Wisdom".

Two of the Wisdom Group Centers were grounded in or near the related national centers of the United States. D. K. lists some of these national centers as follows:

"Nations, for instance, have seven centres, as have all forms of existence from the human and animal upwards, and it is an interesting study to discover these centres and note the type of energy which flows through them. In connection with the United States of America, Chicago is the solar plexus centre, whilst New York is the throat centre and Washington the head centre. The heart centre is Los Angeles." The Externalization of The Hierarchy, p. 85

Over the years, Lucille and her co-workers established at least four centers. These included:

Throat Center, in Spokane, Washington. "This center has been active since 1952. Its function has been to hold the overall group life (including each of the centers) in focus with the Hierarchy, the Thought-Form Presentation and the Synthetic Ashram, for the Divine Plan."

Head Center group, in Washington, D.C. [Bethesda, MD] We have not been able to locate any Wisdom Group activity in this center at this time.

Heart Center group, in Long Beach, California, (now encompassing all of Southern California). Most of the initial members of the Heart Center group went to Estes Park, and (with Lucille) held the focus there of the Heart Center, Head Center, and Synthetic Center. This apparently dissipated the Heart Center energy to some extent. The reasons for this dissipation are not clear. When asked about their time in Estes Park, however, individuals tend to speak of harsh winters and a lack of income opportunities. The Heart Center was later partly reinvigorated (in Southern California) following Richard Schaible's return in the late 1960's.

Synthetic Center, in Estes Park, Colorado. A few members of the Wisdom Group remained in this center and were actively involved in some kind of work.^[28]

The core personnel of several of the seed groups (especially the Heart Center) moved to Estes Park in 1961. Some indicate that the other centers continued to grow and develop (each within their own function). Others suggest that the Heart and Head centers declined, with the Heart eventually recovering (in part) while the Head became inactive.

The evidence suggests that none of the Esoteric Centers has been able to become fully functional in time and space. This is of course only an impression suggested by the meager evidence. We simply do not know enough about the other centers to form firm conclusions. However, we do have enough experience with the Heart Center to form good working theories.

Southern California developed an attitude of extreme isolation, and most of its new personnel had no idea that the other Centers existed. This seems incredible in this age of quick and easy communication. However, by the late 1970's and through the early 1990's, most of the students who studied this material did not know anything about the other centers. They understood that the classes taught in Southern California were all that there was to this group life.

It is difficult to determine why this Center became so isolated. The historical events are far from clear and the underlying causes were seldom discussed. This portion of the Study Guide attempts to break this pattern of isolation by providing a foundation of knowledge and understanding.

Many of the members of the Heart Center trace the Centers activities to Richard Schaible's return to California (from Michigan) in the mid-1960's. Richard was married to Lucille and was a graduate of T.T.#2. The Heart Center (or Southern California) seems to have been relatively inactive when he arrived. Richard began teaching The Nature of The Soul, and by the early 1970's was ready to teach a Teacher Training class (with Lucille's permission, from revised transcripts of T.T.#1).^[29]

This was a break from the original method of teaching Teacher Training. The earlier T.T. courses had been taught by a Communication Station, directly from the overshadowing Thought-Form. There was no text. At least two of the earlier T.T. courses were recorded, and transcribed. The T.T. "texts" of today are revised versions of those original transcripts.

Richard taught the T.T.#1 class again in the mid 1970's. These classes produced several teachers, but the most active were Richard Randall and Georgia Lambert Randall. In 1985 Richard Schaible gave his permission to teach Teacher Training (or publicly acknowledged that they could teach T.T.) to Richard Randall and Georgia Lambert.^[30] Richard S. later indicated that each teacher must use their own alignment to determine if and when to teach T.T..

Lucille also gave permission (to teach T.T.) to Gretchen Groth (one of her students at Udiyan Maitreya Kosha, in Colorado). Another of the U.M.K. students moved to Washington State (and taught there), and other U.M.K. students were active in various parts of the country at one time, but we have not heard anything from or about them since the early-mid 1990s.

Groups were also established, for some years, in:

Dayton, Oregon, (Wisdom Research, possibly part of the group Throat Center)

Denver, Colorado (U.M.K.)

Albuquerque, New Mexico (Wisdom Fellowship)

In Southern California, Teacher Training has been taught continuously since 1985, producing a new crop of potential teachers every year or two. Thus, while we have three main sources of N.S. teachers (Lucille, Richard Schaible, and Gretchen Groth), the vast majority of teachers and students of N.S. have resulted from the efforts of Richard Schaible and Georgia Lambert.

This was reflected in the January 1995 edition of the Wisdom Newsletter, which listed 34 teachers in 10 states teaching 49 courses (created by Lucille or her associates). 73.5% of these courses were being taught by Richard Schaible, Georgia Lambert, or their former students. This is as it should be, since teaching is the function of the Esoteric Heart Center.

Thus, we see that The Wisdom Group began as several groups or Centers, and that they appear separate in their focus and activities. However, this brings up the question of why the Wisdom Group has had so much trouble cooperating with itself and creating effective organizations.

^[1] See also: The Wisdom Group Vision http://www.gknape.com/articles/WisdomGroupVision.html , and The Magic of Consciousness - Workshops, by Glen Knape
^[2] Since they are using their own alignment the Communicating Stations remained conscious and in control of their own faculties. This is demonstrated quite well in the transcripts of T.T.#2, in which Lucille switches back and forth from projecting the higher alignment to asking questions and making comments as herself.
^[3] The earliest date I have heard mentioned for Lucille's group work in Boise was 1947. However, it has been said that earlier writings exist.
^[4] Ward is said to have been a minister, possibly of a Science of Mind church in Boise.
^[5] While it is likely that each group center received special instruction specific to that center, the only such instruction we have any record of is that of the Heart Center.
^[6] This is third hand information. We do not know if this work was ever actually used as a text for a class. The copy of The Younger Brother Series in our records does not include the author's name. However, the frequency is quite different from that of Lucille's work.
^[7] Published as The Path of Initiation, Volumes I and II (C.T. & N.S.) and Volume III (S.I.).
^[8] These three works, C.T., N.S., & S.I., are said to have been written by Lucille while she was pregnant with one of her children.
^[9] The evidence that this course ever occurred is vague at best.
^[10] Keep in mind that Lucille was able to rewrite this course, the way she was, because of the focus, quality and invocative strength of the group life.
At present, there appear to be at least five loose-leaf editions of this course and two bound editions. The first three loose-leaf editions were produced sometime between 1957 and the late 1970's. The fourth (produced in 1991) was based on the earlier three, but corrected numerous small errors.

The fifth was based on the "brown notebook", the faded student notebook of Richard Schaible. Apparently, when Lucille wanted to read N.S. she would grab whichever copy was handy. When Richard and Lucille were married, the handy copy was sometimes Richard's student copy. While reading it, Lucille sometimes added her own notes to the margins. The fifth edition includes these notes as corrections and additions to the text. Each of these editions included some errors, and there is some disagreement over which is the "correct" edition.
^[11] Although popular belief places this work before N.S., it appears that it was actually written after N.S. It seems that the student group was experiencing extreme persona difficulties after taking N.S., and C.T. was written to help them with those difficulties. On this basis, some suggest that C.T. is a post-N.S. course. However, it appears that it does not really matter whether C.T. is taken before or after N.S., so long as it is truly studied and experienced.
^[12] A single, two-page fragment of this (series?), dated November 3, 1957, was reprojected and distributed to the group by Billie Roberts in 1987.
^[13] The existence of instruction specific to this center is suggested by some passages in the post N.S. instruction projected to the Heart Center group in 1960 and 1961, in which the Head Center group presumed to offer guidance to the Heart Center group, and the Heart Center group did not question their right to offer the guidance.
^[14] When Viola died the Biometric Program was taken up by her associate, Shafica Karagulla, M.D. When Shafica was killed in an accident, the Program was apparently "inherited" by a former student of theirs living in or near San Diego. This woman in turn passed the Program (then known as the "Balancing Program" to Billie Roberts, a former student of both Viola and Lucille.
^[15] We do not know the exact order in which these courses were taught, nor even that all the courses listed for this period were taught within that period.
^[16] Each of the 18 pages of my original copy of this projection contains the number "3" in the upper-right corner, perhaps indicating that this is the third projection in a series. This work contains some interesting information on attacks on groups by the Dark Forces. It does not contain any mention of Margaret's accident, suggesting that it was projected earlier in the month.
^[17] This series was been lost to the Heart Center for 30 years. Fortunately, the Throat Center preserved a copy. The series was reprojected to Heart Center T.T. graduates in the Fall of '94.
^[18] Several comments in this class indicate that the Heart Center was in communication with the Head Center in Maryland.
^[19] According to Dark Forces, a projection by Lucille dated November, 1960, "The Disciple and Economy has been overshadowing, next to be brought into outer manifestation; from the time, with a brief cyclic interlude, that Lucille finished The Nature of The Soul Series. The Disciple and Economy, which deals with precisely the problems facing the group in your efforts to be of service to humanity..." Thus, we see that a course which may be essential to the group's ability to move into service has not been made available to the group.
^[20] Information in Dark Forces suggests that this Synthetic Group Center was previously part of Lucille's function. The information on the attacks by the Dark Forces suggests that the group was unable to hold it focus, and partly dissolved. This severely undermined both the invocative function of the early group and Lucille's function as the coordinating or synthesizing station.
^[21] Many of the group members from California moved to Estes Park. Some of the group members from the other centers may have moved there as well.
^[22] A single projection entitled Power Station Instruction, and including information on the function of a disciplic couple as Communicating and Power stations, was given on August 5, 1961. The transcript of this projection (with a few alterations) was projected to a group of Teacher Training graduates who had been studying the Heart Center Instructions in the Fall of 1994. It was very poorly received due to the "political incorrectness" of some of its points. However, Applied Wisdom includes this and additional projections that provide a larger context.
^[23] This appears to have been a hiatus in Lucille's esoteric work. When she returned to it, the emphasis had changed to esoteric (Nyingma) Buddhism.
^[24] HI is described as a Seventh Ray Master who became the head of the major Seventh Ray Ashram after Master R. became the Lord of Civilization and head of the Third Ray Ashram. See also: Applied Wisdom - Master H.I.
^[25] Apparently, Lois received training as a Communicating Station from Lucille, and began her station work in the early 1960's (shortly before Lucille began to lay down her own station work). Lois is reported to have written a number of courses, apparently including some kind of teaching instruction (which is said to be a required course for the teachers of her material).
^[26] According to the Dark Forces projection of November, 1960 This course deals primarily with the synthesis of 1st, 2nd, and 7th Rays. and This should have been given form by now. It should have been in manifestation.
^[27] A.k.a. The Science of Right Relationship. According to the Dark Forces projection of November, 1960 This course "deals primarily with the synthesis of 1st, 2nd, and 7th Rays." and "This should have been given form by now. It should have been in manifestation."
^[28] See also: Applied Wisdom - Centers
^[29] Graduates of this course included Richard Randall and Georgia Lambert who, with Richard Schaible, were the only active teachers in Southern California (and the only teachers most of their students knew about) by the late 1970's.
^[30] This occurred at a "pre-T.T." course, in which Richard S., Georgia Lambert, and Richard R. took turns projecting N.S. (with minimal comment, three lessons a night). Interpretations of Richard's comment vary. At the time it was believed that permission to teach T.T. was required, and that since Lucille was deceased Richard S. was the only one who could give permission. Richard S. has since denied that any such permission is or ever was required.