Enter this holy place,
this stillness,
the sacred root
of all Creation.
Here, the soft candle
of love’s perfection
burns forever bright,
and you are home again.
Smear the oil of love
upon your brow.
Inhale the smoky scent of pine
that sanctifies the air.
Drink the liquid gold
from the crystal glass before you,
and you are now reborn.
The quiet air
begins to stir.
The wooden walls
are shaking.
Your living flesh
is transformed,
and a new life has begun.

It’s a very simple idea that the pattern of our life contains concentric circles that make up our personal world. The space that is closest to us is the most intimate space of our life. There is a warmth, and the light of understanding that is possible in that place. There is a wondrous generation, born of spiritual communion, that is possible there. It is the most holy place on earth for us.

There are many layers to the world in which we live. If you looked at a map of the world, you and I would each be a pinprick on that map. Copernicus discovered that Earth isn’t the center of the universe and that our planet spins around the sun and not the other way around. But from the standpoint of our own personal worlds and the sun that we are, in fact we are the center of our world—we are the center of our universe. And there’s something that’s meant to happen in that most inner space closest to us. Everything that happens further out depends upon what’s happening in the space closest to us.

There is an amazing communion with the animating spirit inside us and inside all things that is meant to transpire in that most intimate space. There’s something for us to know in communion with that spirit, and there’s something for us to share with other people who are sharing that space. There is a way that we fit together and relate with those who are vibrationally closest to us in that holy place, and there is communion. Out of that communion, Creation occurs. Ideas are born. There is love, the power of Creation, that emerges. There are new forms of life that are conceived in that place and which then manifest in the world in which we live. All that transpires in our life is according to what’s happening in that inmost space.

It’s a simple yet profound idea that the inmost space of our lives is important, and our care for that space determines what’s going to happen in the further reaches of our personal world.

I just came back from a magical, enchanted, creative trip to British Columbia, to a spiritual center in that province, Edenvale. And then I went on to an event that was a tribute to Barbara Marx Hubbard, in Berkeley, California, and had a chance, with Rachel Morrison, to spend time not only with Barbara but others who are very busy about co-creating together. It is interesting how, in both places, the importance of our inmost space came to light.

Barbara speaks about the Wheel of Co-Creation. In her vision of this wheel there are twelve spokes that address areas of human activity—education, the environment, governance, etc. She also speaks about the hub of the wheel, where it all comes together. And then she speaks about the heart of the hub of the wheel, all addressing the inmost space that has to be intact for the Wheel to function. I told Barbara that one of the great gifts she gives to the world is the way she allows people the gift of seeing the spokes of the wheel—all the fields of human endeavor—through her eyes, from the heart of the hub of the Wheel. From that perspective, the rest of the Wheel is full of opportunity, and you know how the world comes together.

Barbara has a remarkable ability to light people up, and it was so evident on Thursday night at the tribute in her honor. There was such excitement! There is something happening that is constellating around her as people are sharing her vision and seeing the world through her eyes. They are saying, Yes, I want to play. That’s a gift to give to the world. It’s a gift to give to ourselves, to be at the heart of the hub of the Wheel, where the circle of life makes sense. And if it’s not making sense, you may not be at the heart of the hub of the Wheel, in that holy place where Creation comes together.

Interestingly enough, in the board face-to-face session at Edenvale we shared the transcript of a talk given by Martin Cecil in 1967. It was chosen by Marilyn Manderson, the president of the board. Lo and behold, guess what the theme of the talk was? It was about the wheel of Creation and the spokes of the wheel, and what it meant to be at the hub of the wheel.

Martin was addressing how, if you’re out on a spoke, you’re really not seeing the whole wheel. You can imagine, if you were there on a spoke of the wheel and the wheel was turning, you would be having a dizzying experience, being flung around the center. If you could somehow manage to be stationary there, all the spokes would be flying by. Martin was saying that you only see the whole wheel by coming to the hub.

The heart of the hub of the Wheel is a place of stillness. It is a place of communion. It is a place of universal love, and that love is there to be shared with other people.

There certainly is an art in entering that space. You can’t be a bull in a china shop and have the holy place continue to be the holy place for yourself or for other people. There’s a discernment of what is called for from us in communion with others. There’s a sense of sacredness—not sanctimoniousness. It is the sacredness of life itself, of Being itself. There is a spirit of utmost respect and gratitude for those you find in that place with you.

Indeed, gratitude is the gate through which we enter that holy space in ourselves. Have you ever noticed that the old story we tell ourselves about our life is not a story of gratitude? When gratitude enters the picture, it ceases to be an old story. When gratitude enters the picture, we’re opening the gate into holy space and we’re telling a new story filled with life, the story of Creation.

Nancy Kline wrote a remarkable book called Time to Think, in which she shares her discovery that people think best together when there’s a spirit of gratitude in the room. It’s one of her “Ten Components of a Thinking Environment.” In our board face-to-face at Edenvale, we began our second day with an appreciative circle, based on Nancy Kline’s work. It was very simple. The first person turned to the person on their right and expressed their appreciation. And then that person did the same to the person on their right, until we went all around the circle.

It was an amazing experience. There was deep and profound love among us, many of whom have known each other for decades. And sometimes that deep and profound love, in the normal course of our human experience, goes unspoken. Do you ever find that? This was an occasion when that deep love came out. I know it came out for me. There was a bubble of amazing love that moved around our circle, until the whole circle was just charged with energy.

The person on my right was a man named Hugh Duff. It is hard to imagine a finer man. I’d been thinking about Hugh as my turn neared. What do I say to this man whom I’ve worked with for years and years? Strangely enough, a Bob Dylan song came to mind— “If Not For You.” What came to mind was that in that part of the world—Edenvale and Emissaries of Divine Light in British Columbia—what would have happened if Hugh wasn’t there? Or what wouldn’t have happened?

That is a deep question to ask regarding anyone who gives their gift to the world. Perhaps if that individual didn’t do what was theirs to do, somebody else would have come along and might have done what needed to be done, no doubt in a different way. But who knows?

I think of so many people in my life who are like that. There are so many people over the years, some of whom I’m not particularly close to now but who have played significant roles in my life personally. They have enriched my life and have been a support and a friend to me. And that’s not to be overlooked for a minute. There are so many people who have loved me, and whom I have loved.

Most importantly for me, there are those I think of as “Companions of the Round Table,” people who have been on a great mission with me and who have faced many challenges and overcome them; people who have locked arms with me and others; people who have been heart-to-heart in accomplishing something great and important and significant; my Companions of the Round Table, over years. And most especially now, because the present has a certain importance in our lives, doesn’t it? I can remember what it was and I can look forward to the future, but this is now. Shall I fail to appreciate and express gratitude for my Companions of my Round Table now? Some of those people are geographically close; some of those people are with me where I live at Sunrise Ranch. And then there are people like that in my life strewn around the world, in England and in South Africa and Canada, California, Australia, and elsewhere.

I invite you to think about people in your life, of whom you could well say, “If not for you…”

When we think those thoughts and allow our hearts to be opened up with gratitude, we are building the substance of this holy place. We are saying thank you for being in my life with heart presence, with creativity, with openness, in co-creation, knowing that we are conceiving of something great; we are giving birth to a new world, and we are holding each other in love in the process. We are communing in sacred space. We are sharing this holy place.