Radah opens Feast: We pay our salutations to the Divinity within you and welcome everyone to the Mission's 20th celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Let us take a moment together to pause, close our eyes, quiet our minds, become still, bring God to the Center and know He is the Greatest! Become One and become unified.

Sal-Om everyone.

For those of you who are joining us for the first time and may not be familiar with the Feast of Tabernacles as celebrated by the Mission of Maitreya, each year we focus on a different Seal or Message of God in The Greatest Sign. This year we will focus on the Sixth Seal, to be(come) a Paravipra, a Chosen One, an Elect.

There are seven Feasts during the year and according to the Calendar of God, the Feast of Tabernacles is the last one of the year, the seventh. The previous Feasts or Holy Days are usually quiet and sober. The Feast of Tabernacles, however, is a joyous celebration of the energy of God on earth at Its Greatest! The Messiah is here! Listen to Him and know His Message! No one goes to the Father, except through the Christ, and it is the Christ, as the Seventh Angel (Maitreya GIWH), who reveals everything to humanity. This is the salvation for humanity!

Every Feast of Tabernacles has been a celebration of God's Holy days according to the Will of God as you can read it in the Bible, Leviticus, chapter 23. If you want to know more about the Feasts, read THOTH, Essays 1, Tablet 14, FEASTS AND HOLY DAYS OF THE LORD (http://www.maitreya.org/FILES/THOTH/ESSAYS1.HTM/Essays1-14.html).

During these eight days, we focus on God and glorify Him. This year we will learn more about the Sixth Seal, the Paravipras. What does it mean to be a Paravipra?

A Paravipra is a person who follows the Eternal Divine Path.

A Paravipra is a person who differs in Spirit from other people.

A Paravipra is a person who is developed physically, mentally and spiritually.

A Paravipra is a person who has the Kingdom of Heaven within himself or herself.

A Paravipra is a person who directs all his/her energy to create the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

A Paravipra is a person who implements the Will of the Lord.

A Paravipra is fearless.

A Paravipra is a Light Worker.

A Paravipra is a person who has the qualities of all the active classes in society (workers, warriors, intellectuals, businessmen) but is himself classless.

A Paravipra is incorruptible.

A Paravipra is the real leader of society with no interest for selfish gain or desires.

A Paravipra is a facilitator to bring this new order of the ages.

And much more

A Paravipra has reached the Sixth Seal in The Greatest Sign. His spiritual forces are awakened, he participates in the creation of the Communities of Light, sacrifices all for his ideal, surrenders the results of his actions to God, and more than that, he is totally submissive to God, he has a universal point of view, that all the universe is God and we are united in Him, acting locally but with a universal vision. With all these understandings, a Paravipra will become a guiding light for others. Then, he will eventually reach the ultimate Goal, Pure Consciousness.

We will all carry these understandings beyond this short time we are together. Then each of us will become a center that the Communities of Light will manifest around. The more such centers we create, the more Communities of Light will be built. The faster we accomplish creating enough Communities of Light to bring the Kingdom Of Heaven On Earth, the sooner humanity will be guided into the Golden Age. Therefore, let us all understand these truths and become one with them. The sooner it is done, the better.

So, let us all understand the meaning of the Sixth Seal and apply it to our actions, thoughts, and speech for the duration of this Feast of Tabernacles. Indeed, we should carry this energy with us even after the Feast, and work toward the creation of the Communities of Light even after we leave the Feast.

We will be a Community of Light during that Feast of Tabernacles. We will celebrate one seal of The Greatest Sign each day. For example, we will celebrate the first seal Sunday, September 14^th, the second seal, Monday, September 15^th, and so on. The Seventh Seal, however, is always celebrated on Saturday.

We will perform spiritual practices such as meditation, chanting, dancing, doing The Reminder, prayer, study, etc. We are a community together and we will try to be a Community of Light, the Children of Light.

The schedules for this whole Feast are posted on our website (have a look at the menu Join Us and Feast of Tabernacles: 2008 daily schedule. Maitreya will be with us for some of the live noon to 2 PM MST sessions to answer your questions in an attempt to further clarify this new Revelation from God, on Sunday September 14th, Tuesday September 16^th, and Friday September 19th.

We ask that each of you prepare your questions and send them to: questions@maitreya.org (Note: please review our Questions Policy before sending questions, but also understand that these Feast sessions are an exception and Maitreya is more lenient about the questions He will answer in them).

On the evening of Friday, September 19th, we will have a live talent show at the beginning of the Paltalk session. Everyone is invited to share a talent. Let us know how you would like to participate.

Finally, why do we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles? Though this question has been answered in many ways over the years through our announcements (posted on our website), through the welcome talks that have been given, etc., again we will share here why we celebrate this Feast.

First it is the Seventh Feast in each year that God demanded to be kept forever (Leviticus, Chapter 23). It is the symbol of the end time (last Feast of the year) and the return of the Christ (The Messiah).

In earlier announcements for the Feasts of Tabernacles we could read: God clearly wants those who are The Children of Light (The Children of Israel) to follow these Feasts and Holy Days... Let us gather together to celebrate these most Holy days of the Lord, and let it be a sign that we are truly The Children of Light. The Mission of Maitreya is the fulfillment of many prayers and expectations. Through the truth that has been revealed to us, we will return to God's ways. The word "Tabernacle" means a place of worship such as a Temple. The Temple (Tabernacle) that Maitreya has revealed to be built is another sign of the Unity of All religions of the world. The time is right and the grapes are ripe. Come, join us and Maitreya in this dawn of the Golden Age that many have longed to be a part of for eons..!

We now invite you to share with others your testimonial about the Feast of Tabernacles or the Mission of Maitreya.

Ananda Ma: Sal-Om everyone. I found the Mission back in 1983. Maitreya announced to the world that THOTH was ready and was available for purchase in the spring of 1982. It was just a number of months after that, that one of my friends discovered Him there in New Mexico and let me know about it. So I have been with the Mission of Maitreya since that time.

I was looking for Maitreya. I knew He was in the world because of the prophecies. I was very much into prophecies, and I could see by the prophecies that the Christ was in the world.

In my time we had gone from travel by horse and buggy I used to travel on horse and buggy with my grandmother when I was little and in the 1960's we went to the moon. How could that kind of progress be possible if the Christ was not in the world? That was just one prophecy: Knowledge will increase.

There are many others that showed that He was in the world. It was just a matter of finding the right One, because as we had been warned in the Scriptures, Many will come in my name. But they do not fulfill prophecies. They do signs and lying wonders. And the Scriptures say, So much so that they might even deceive the Elects.

So I knew He was in the world and I was looking for Him. By The Grace of God and through my friend, David Bent, I found him.

So I got in touch with the Mission and had Maitreya come to Florida and give a talk there. And we have gone from there.

My life has been completely different since I have been in the Mission. Before this there were so many problems that could not be resolved. But with the Eternal Divine Path, problems can be resolved. But it takes time.

Thank you.

Unus: Sal-OM everyone. Anytime I give a testimonial on how I came to the Mission and how I got here, I remember different things; I remember different aspects of it.

First of all I should say a little bit about my background. I was born in Istanbul, Turkey and spent the first nineteen years here. Then after high school, I went to the United States for my college education, and spent around seven or eight years there in getting an education in business and biology, and eventually psychology. And I graduated with a degree in psychology.

After that, I stayed there for a couple more years and worked and did research, and all those things. Then somehow I ended up coming back here. It was not in my plans. I did not ever think I was going to come back here but just came back to help my family get through some things.

Then I just hit like the bottom of things in life, or everything, What was I supposed to do, where was I going? I was asking a lot of questions since I was born. Many questions. I was not satisfied with my parents, with the educational system, with the country. Eventually I found out that I was not satisfied with the world when I was in the States because I was in California, San Diego, and it was exciting the first couple of years, learning all new things, and realizing it is all the same, even there, and how things are man-made, things are not working. There is a lot of confusion in all those things. I was asking a lot of questions.

In fact, today I would like to share a vision of mine that inspired a lot of things and answered a lot of questions for me. It is a little bit different than what I usually tell about, when I give a testimonial about the Mission.

I used to surf a lot. I used to go in the morning. I would wake up really early and go surf a couple of hours, two or three hours. Then I would come back home and just relax for a little bit, like lay down and just enjoy that energy and relaxation.

One of these days I had a vision. It was kind of like a dream but I was awake, in a dream that I knew it was a dream and I could ask the questions I wanted, I could see things that I wanted, a few things that I wanted, or something like that.

So in that vision or dream, there was this old man standing on a beach, a beautiful beach, like an island, in front of the ocean. The ocean was pretty smooth and beautiful looking. It was probably like towards the end of the night, or as they say it was towards the early morning like 4 AM. But it was still dark and there were a lot of stars in the sky.

And this old man was meditating. He wore like a one piece garment, kind of like a dress, and all in white and had all white hair and beard and all these things.

Anyway, so he meditated there for a while and I just watched. After that, some voice said, Anu, which is supposed to be this man's name. Anu, which means I guess in Sanskrit, Adam or Atom, It is time. After a while the man opened his eyes and probably then he died or he left his body.

So just a little after, a young boy, like eleven or twelve years old, comes running towards this guy from behind. And there are maybe ten or eleven other people with him on the hill but they stand back on a sandhill and just look at the old person and the young boy.

The young boy comes in and says, Good morning, Anu. The old person says, Good morning, Eia. So apparently the boy's name was Eia.

The boy sat next to him and he looked like he was in kind of a meditative mood and he sat for a while. They just would stare at the ocean in peace.

After a while the boy first became very excited, smiling, and then he put a natural look on his face and looked very peaceful. Then he asked the old person, Could you tell me how it all started? It was very shocking to me at that point. I was like, What is he talking about? How did what start?

So I started asking the first question, What is going on? How did what start?

After that the old person said, Well, do not worry about it. You have a long life in front of you to figure out, to realize things, and all these things, and do not really get bogged down with what I say, or what he says, or what he says. Research, ask, study, and meditate, and go to the Ultimate.

So then I was again asking, The boy is not ready to know something but what is that? Who is this boy?

So after that the boy Eia says, Well, can I go in the ocean and surf a little bit?

But the waves are like kind of like high. So Anu says, Well, are you sure you can handle these?

And he said, Well, aren't we supposed to perfect ourselves in everything we do little by little and go to the Ultimate?

He gave a very wise answer back, they smiled, and he went in the ocean and he body-surfed. But he almost like surfed on his feet; it was beautiful, it looked almost impossible to do from the outside. And they could almost like communicate telepathically.

Of course this took a little time but he came out of the water, and they just smiled and shared some a little bit more conversation.

Then the other adults were watching from behind and they started walking toward them, and they all came together. There was up on the hills, on the island, like in a very beautiful forest or in a tropical view, you could see up on the hills there were some houses. But the houses looked so beautiful. They all somehow mixed with the nature so well. They looked like tree houses.

They circled around some centers and I asked, It looks so mystical and at the same time so technological? It was obvious that it was not something that I had seen in this world yet.

So I asked the other question, So what is this place? What is going on? Who are all these people and all these things? I asked all these questions. So they all, the group met up together and they walked up towards the houses up on the hills.

After I woke up and I remembered all the things very vividly, very clearly, and this inspired me to go and search a lot of things and find out about, like the Atlanteans, the flood and all of the history from there on and all those events, and many other things.

It even inspired me to write like scripts for movies. I even wanted to become a scriptwriter and move to LA. I was not aware of Maitreya's presence or the Mission yet.

But the thing is, I asked all those questions. Now all those questions are answered: The Communities of Light, Eternal Divine Path, the Mission, and God brought me, God gave me, all these answers.

It was a beautiful experience when I first came in contact with the Mission's website, because I had come in contact with Share International before, and I knew Maitreya was going to come. But I did not know He was already here, I was expecting just like everyone else. But I was really thinking things through, Well when He comes we will know more.

Then when I came back to Turkey and things just stopped, I had to ask more questions. I was ready; I was ready to find the Mission. I was very thirsty, very hungry.

And God one day just asked me, So how come you did not search the Internet for Maitreya? You searched everything and you did not search for Maitreya.

That was again a while kind of resting, relaxing after a long walk and thinking about what I should do, what was going on with my life, why am I here?

I went to my computer. I was so excited. And I typed Maitreya. The first thing that came up in Goggle was the Mission website. I went in, and it was beautiful. Everything made sense. It was just, what would you say, like a confirmation of all those things that I had come across and was finally realizing, Well yes, these are the answers I was looking for.

I came across, The Plan for the planet, for planet earth. Before this, I had contacted some groups. In fact, I had contacted Share International, or I was looking for where I belong or what I am supposed to do. But nothing was coming back to me. I was frustrated at this time.

But when I found the Mission I said, Well I am going to send an e-mail, and I do not care if this even responds back or not, I want to be part of it.

So then I sent an e-mail and just was in contact with the Mission. I became a contact person and started translating the teachings. I have been here ever since.

The Eternal Divine Path is great. I feel very Blessed by being in this Mission and with the teachings, feeling above the clouds. And it works perfectly. All thanks to God for that.

I am glad to be a part of it. So thanks God for everything, and Sal-OM everyone.

Shirin: That was a beautiful story. It is so inspiring to hear everyone's story. We can see a common thread that brings us all together. We want to say yes, that common thread is God and we know that. But how we come to it, is so fascinating. I think as more people do come, show up, move here, and become connected and dedicated to the Mission, their stories are going to be just as fascinating and just as enjoyable to listen to. It is very inspiring.

Mine is pretty short and sweet. I was not looking. Not at all. I was not looking. My husband and I had been traveling a lot for about ten years, maybe a little bit less. We inherited an old country farmhouse, something that we had always wanted. It is interesting how God gives you all these things that you think you want.

He had a business, and I had a business, and we were out in the country. Life was good. I was not looking for the Christ. I was not looking for Maitreya. Not at all. Nothing. It was not on my mind at all.

I did not even own a computer. My son built me a computer; he is a computer technician and brought it down to me and said, Here Mama. You will have fun with this. He downloaded the Paltalk program into the computer. He did not even tell me what it was. He said, Here, you will like this. Just go browse around the rooms and see what you find.

Well it was fun. I went to all the different kinds of rooms, the psychology rooms, and the music rooms, and all this stuff. I specifically avoided the religious rooms. I said, I know what is in there. And I knew from all of our travels, we had been exposed to many different religions and cultures, and I wanted nothing to do with the dogmatic approach to God. I knew that was not the answer.

I was so disgusted with what I was seeing in the rooms, people arguing and fighting and hitting each other over the head. It was just awful. I said, This cannot be Godly. This cannot be what I am looking for. After two weeks I was going to delete the program from my computer completely. I did not want anything to do with it.

My finger was actually poised, ready to hit delete, when this sense, not really a voice, this, this, this experience said, Check out the religious group at least before you do that.

I said, Well, OK.

So I went to the religious groups and there saw the name, Maitreya in the list. And I thought, well that should be interesting.

I knew the name Maitreya. I was not necessarily looking for Him, but I knew the name itself because back in 1983, around that time, I saw one of Benjamin Crme's ads at a health food store with an announcement about Maitreya is the Christ and he will be appearing in the world. I said, Well, that is just really cool.

Then later on a business partner of mine actually went to work for the Crme Organization. She was sold hook, line, and sinker that Maitreya is the one, and I kept hearing that from her. So I was a little prepared with the name, and even went to see Mr. Crme. I said, Uh umm, this is not the one, not at all. But I did not want to hurt her feelings. And she is still there.

So when I saw the name, Maitreya, in the group list there, All Religions Unified, I said, Well, this should be interesting.

The timing of God is so incredible. So the one point during the week that I entered this room was exactly the time that Ananda Ma had come to the microphone and was reading the introduction to Satsang with Maitreya. I thought, Well, this should really be interesting.

I could not move out of my seat for the next two hours. My eyes were glued to the screen. I do not know where my mind went. It was incredible.

I thought, This is it. There is no need to look. This makes so much sense. I immediately went to the website and started reading.

I could not read enough. I was just immersed in the teaching. Immediately I ordered THOTH. I could not get my head out of THOTH, still cannot [laughing]. It has just been wonderful. It has been the nectar that our Souls are looking for.

I wish so many more people could experience that, and come and create the communities, create the environment where we could help more people to experience that. But that is God's time, and we will be patient.

So I was not looking, but found it anyway. So there is a lot, there is an awful lot of hope for all those people out there that are in the same boat.

So that is my story. Pretty short and sweet.

Hosanna: Sal-OM everyone. How I found the Mission Well, I was a Christian with a lot of questions. I did a lot of searching and ended up in New Age stuff. But some of it was good. Some of it was ahhhh, I pretty much preferred to leave it behind. Actually most of it I chose to ignore. But it never answered my questions, and I kept searching. I met some interesting people along the way.

Actually it was one evening I went over to visit with friends. The wife was collecting any and all spiritual books that she could find to start up a lending library. It was her and another friend who were doing this. Anyway while I was there she grabbed, I do not know, about a dozen books or so that she wanted me to take home and read that she thought I would find some interest in.

Actually she pulled one book out and it was all white. THOTH was written on the cover of it. She said, I think you will find you will like this one really well.

So when I arrived home, that was the first one I started with. I read it that week. It answered every question that I had. It explained so much of what I was curious about, of what, I do not know how to put it. Even in reading it, more questions came. As I continued to read even those questions were answers. So I was elated to find this.

I did not bother reading the other books. I figured why? I found the one book that I had been searching for, that actually touched on the questions that I had.

So, I don't know, it was about a month, a month and a half later, that she started asking for her books back. So I had to give them back, of course. I started searching bookstores for this Book so I could have a copy of my own. It was oh maybe nine months later that I actually, I do not know why, but I finally did a search for Maitreya on the Internet.

Of course we all know where I ended up first, with Share. I contacted them but some of the things that they were talking about or precisely what others were talking about that I ended up getting in contact with where I was living at the time, did not sit right with what I remembered reading. And basically what that was, was people were saying, Oh, we can still do whatever we want. It was kind of like, No, that is not what was written in THOTH.

I knew clearly that is where humanity went astray in the first place. So after some more thinking about it and contemplation, I decided to send an e-mail back to Share. I asked them to find, or, because I searched through their website and my one question was, Where can I find THOTH so I can have a copy of my own?

I never heard back from them. Imagine that.

Anyway it was a couple of months later that I finally found the website. I started reading through it. Of course, I placed the order for THOTH immediately. But then that goes into another story, doesn't it?

Anyway that is how I finally found the Mission. And I feel truly blessed ever since then.

So I will go ahead and let go of the microphone. Sal-OM!

Sarah-Ji: I was thinking today that there is nothing in the Mission that I do not Love. And I know that is a double negative but I Love everything about the Mission. There is nothing in it, that is just not fantastic!

If you look at all the different parts of the Mission, of course, Maitreya-ji, and The Greatest Sign, and the Thirty-Three Virtues, and doing The Reminder, and the scientific explanation, and the reading of THOTH and the Satsangs, you can go on and on and on, and you can probably find as many elements as there are in the universe.

That makes sense since this is the way to create the Kingdom of God on earth and within, and there are all those elements in order to do that.

I was probably like everyone else, just kind of going through life, really not knowing what I was doing, not very happy, going through high school and doing very well in high school.

The pivotal point for me was when my sister was killed in a sudden motorcycle accident. When that happened, my life was totally turned around because any belief or faith that I had from my Catholic upbringing was out the window because there was no substance there, there was nothing to really answer my questions as really why one moment my sister was there and the next moment my sister was gone. So I totally lost any faith in any religion at that point because I could not understand what happened.

I spent the next four years in college. Towards the end of my college years I started going to the Far East Philosophies, studying about reincarnation and yoga and meditation because that seemed to make the most sense, especially with my kind of experience, losing somebody whom I had really loved.

After college I was thinking of going to medical school. But I came to the realization that any more education was not going to make me happy, it is not going to answer the questions that I have, and it is not the way to go.

At that point I knew I was looking for someone who knew. That is the only thing I could explain it as, someone who had that in their eyes or in their face that knew, they just knew what they were talking about. That is who I was looking for.

I signed up for a pottery class. And I was going to sign up for another class, a guitar class, and there was also this meditation class in the book. So I placed my check and my application for the guitar class in the envelope, and sealed it.

Then I thought, You know, probably I should take the meditation class. So I opened the envelope, and instead put in the application for the meditation class. That is where I learned how to meditate. It was an offshoot from the Divine Light Mission.

And I ended up moving into their Center. It was called the Self-RealizationCenter, not the one started by Yogananda but a very small one in Denver, Colorado.

A little while went by and I became very disillusioned with what they were teaching. They were teaching things like, Just forget about your mind. My thought was that if God made your mind, why should I just disregard my mind? So I could not accept that, and some things were happening in the center.

Then one night someone came in. And his name was Maitreya. We would have a Satsang a few nights a week. It was not really a Satsang. It was just a gathering where the teacher would just sit in front and talk.

As Maitreya was leaving that night, I knew that my day to cook was Thursday. I said to Him, Would you like to join us on Thursday for dinner? And so He did come that day.

We usually had a collective meditation first, before dinner. So as we were meditating, there was a tunnel of light between us. It was a room full of people meditating, and there was a tunnel of light between Maitreya-ji and I. I had never had an experience like that before.

And also other times during the next few weeks I would meditate and Maitreya-ji would be in my third eye.

I started praying earnestly, praying like I have never prayed in my life, God, God, what do You want me to do? Where do You want me to go? Please, I just want to serve You. What should I do?

One day Maitreya-ji said, Would you like to go for a ride? So he took me to a park and He showed me The Greatest Sign. He spent time explaining The Greatest Sign, and he said, I have a Mission in this life and I need someone to help me. And I guess you all know the story after that.

I said, Do I have any choice?

Maitreya-ji said, No.

And that was it. So I guess we can say that this Mission is a Mission for people who have no choice [laughing]. Thank heaven that we have no choice.

I guess the rest is pretty much history, how Maitreya-ji would write THOTH and we would be up in the mountains and I would be typing it. And THOTH was completed.

Many people came and went. Many Satsangs were given, and on and on.

So I thank God every day that finally I did find someone who knows and who does know, and I did find a reason for living. I understand now about life and death. I understand about my sister's death. I understand more than I have ever in my whole life; I am so thankful. And I am so happy.

So praise God. Thank you.

Tahirah: Sal-OM everyone. I would like to just give a small testimony.

I think we all share the same thing basically. We all have our little different backgrounds but we have come through something where our hearts have been fulfilled when we found this teaching. There is a part of us I think that seemed to be missing. When we found this teaching, it fulfilled that part of our heart.

For me, basically a part of everyone else's testimony is like this, being raised Catholic, leaving the church, seeking, going to meetings, having Bible studies, going to other churches, and just a continual seeking, and eventually ending up in Meditation Unlimited where I did learn to meditate.

That is where I eventually came to find Maitreya in Toronto when He first came out into the world. I believe that was 1982 or 1983. That was my first exposure to Him and His teachings. Ever since, that is where it is. That is the truth and there is no need to search elsewhere.

So thanks God again as for everyone here that we can share and continue to help others also to learn these teachings and to at least give them whatever we are given to share, whether it be a mantra, THOTH, anything and everything that we can share with anyone is the greatest Blessing in the world.

So again, all thanks to the Father. Sal-OM!

Radah: For my part I am in the east of Canada, in the French part of Canada. I wish I could speak English better than that to say what I want to say. It is not easy for me. I cannot say all what I want to say but I will try.

I met the Mission by, with a person, a woman who had just came in from New Mexico. It was in 1988. It was before the website. I had never heard about Maitreya. I did not know the name either. But when that woman gave that information, just in five minutes or ten minutes I thought, Oh, I think it is important and I want that information. So I asked her to give me the contact person in Canada.

Then I wrote to that person. I received a Golden Keys I and Golden Keys II written in booklets. After that I met that contact person, and I found what I was searching for, without knowing what I was searching for. But when I read those booklets, Golden Keys I and Golden Keys II, it was enough for me to say that is it, the answers are there.

So it is the same story as everyone. It seems it is by chance but I do not think so. It is God's Way, I think. So it is my story.

Now I want to thank everyone for those testimonials. They were very interesting, and it is a very nice beginning for the Feast this year. I will wish you a welcome and a good night, this first night of the Feast. We will see you tomorrow morning.

So have a good Feast and welcome everyone. Sal-OM!

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