"Some men seek to preserve beauty in an external way, treasuring a vase from the Ming dynasty or an old Chinese print. Others seek to enshrine within the mind the wisdom of the ages gained from a perusal of the many manuscripts remaining upon earth and embodying much of the lore of man. Yet there is retained in the ethers themselves upon the priceless substance of akasha all of the knowledge and beauty which has ever been vouchsafed to man from the heart of the Creator. Every thought and word of God which has come forth from the beginning is there awaiting mankind’s acceptance of his unfailing blessing.

"It is most unfortunate, beloved ones, that whereas in dealing with physical manifestations of beauty, men are able to establish a criteria, a means of discriminatory judgment, whereby they place a value upon works of art which in their opinion have merit and grade them according to their best understanding, this is not so in matters of Spirit.

"Those privileged individuals who are truly able to penetrate the realm of akasha and to see accurately the recordings made there (men and women such as Madame Helena P. Blavatsky, Annie Besant, Edgar Cayce, and others) must, in many cases, be accepted on faith by the multitudes; for they themselves do not have the power of discernment, although they would often like to think they do. The very fact that this is so does make it possible for the charlatan, the pretender, and the self-deceived to say with considerable ease, 'We are also able to read the akashic records.'

"In reality, many of these so-called readings are but subconscious meanderings of the lower mental body, involving all of the unfortunate anomalies of the individual ego recorded in his own etheric body. Others who would act as mediums are often affinitized and attuned to nothing more than their own psychic rate which represents the sum of the individual’s total experience patterns and puts him in tune with other forcefields, discarnate and otherwise, having a similar vibration.

"Because of the great generalization of knowledge about religious matters and the potent radiation of the Christ, pur et simple, imitation of the real can often be factually accomplished and fostered upon an unsuspecting group of individuals who, in subsequent good faith, support by their energies those endeavors which have no eternal validity."

"Some people believe that Edgar Cayce condoned abortion because he said that the soul did not necessarily enter the body at conception.

"During a reading, when asked if the soul entered the child at conception or birth or in between, he replied: 'It may at the first moment of breath; it may some hours before birth; it may many hours after birth. That depends upon that condition, that environ surrounding the circumstance.'

"This does not mean Cayce thought it unnecessary to care for the body before the soul entered
it permanently. For in the very same reading, Cayce answered a question on whether one’s thoughts and impressions during pregnancy had an effect on the child. 'To be sure,' he said. 'Thus, if surrounded with beauty, the more beauty there may be.' Taken in the context of all Cayce’s teachings on karma, these statements on the soul cannot be seen as condoning abortion."

"Men may tamper with scripture. They may rewrite the codes of law to suit themselves and their lowered and lowering standards. But they may never change the records of akasha. In akasha —as the subtle energy and force that permeates the planet and your auras—you will find the record of all past incarnations of yourself, of all previous incarnations of masses of lifewaves who have come here from other planetary homes. You will find the records of civilizations.

"You will find that today those who write the stories of motion pictures and books—such as Taylor Caldwell, who wrote as a child of the story of Atlantis (Romance of Atlantis)—have been given the gift of tying into these akashic records. And they have sat down and written about subjects concerning which they knew nothing. And not only have they recorded for people all sorts of invaluable information that would give keys to the past and past glories of civilizations of great light and scientific achievement, such as in the Edgar Cayce readings—but they have also shown a teaching and a path and an understanding for each individual soul to find his true roots all the way back to the birth in the heart of the Great Central Sun and the descent to incarnation here."

"Edgar Cayce, the 'sleeping prophet,' was a devout Christian who came to believe in reincarnation and popularized it for millions of people. He started out as a psychic diagnostician who gave health readings while in a self-induced hypnotic sleep. Although Cayce had never studied medicine, his readings proved accurate and his remedies effective. The cures included everything from drugs and surgery to vitamins and massage.

"Cayce first mentioned reincarnation in a 1923 reading. Referring to the subject of the reading, Arthur Lammers, he said, 'He was once a monk.' Cayce never remembered what he said in his trances, so when his stenographer read those words back to him, they plunged him into turmoil. Didn't reincarnation conflict with scripture? he wondered.

"Cayce had accepted a literal interpretation of the Bible, which, by 1923, he had read once for each of his forty-six years. He knew about reincarnation but considered it a Hindu superstition. After the Lammers reading, Cayce read the Bible straight through again to see if it condemned the idea. He decided it didn't and continued his past-life readings. Ultimately he came to accept reincarnation and predicted his own reincarnation in twenty-second-century Nebraska. Cayce's work has influenced millions of Americans, many of whom will never go back to the orthodox Christian view of life."

There Is a River: The Story of Edgar Cayce by Thomas Sugrue.This book—which contains many photos of Edgar Cayce, his family, and close friends—is the complete, original biography of the best-documented psychic in America.

It tells the story of how he discovered his astounding psychic gifts and what led him to a life dedicated to helping others. Cayce's "readings," given in a trancelike state, ranged from phenomenal medical cures to advice on spiritual growth, psychology, and prophecy of world events.

A philosophy section covers our origin, purpose, and destinies on the earth, making this book a valuable resource.

Atlantis. The island continent that existed where the Atlantic Ocean now is and that sank in cataclysm (the Flood of Noah) approximately 11,600 years ago as calculated by James Churchward. Vividly depicted by Plato; ‘seen’ and described by Edgar Cayce in his readings; recalled in scenes from Taylor Caldwell’s Romance of Atlantis; scientifically explored and authenticated by the late German scientist Otto Muck, who fixed the time and date of her destruction (by an asteroid that plunged into the Bermuda Triangle with the force of 30,000 hydrogen bombs) at 8 p.m. June 5, 8498 b.c.! In his dialogues, Plato recounts that on “the island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire” that ruled Africa as far as Egypt, Europe as far as Italy, and “parts of the continent” (thought to be a reference to America, specifically Central America, Peru, and the Valley of the Mississippi). It has been postulated that Atlantis and the small islands to its east and west formed a continuous bridge of land from America to Europe and Africa.

Requirements for membership in the order of the Good Samaritan include the successful completion of the Red Cross Multimedia First Aid, Red Cross Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, and the Good Samaritan Foot Reflexology courses.

Those aspiring to be Good Samaritans also study the disciplines presented in Summit University Forum interviews with: preeminent homeopath Dr. Bill Gray; renowned Austrian herbalist Maria Treben; president of Wachters’ Organic Sea Products Corporation, Dr. Joseph Wachter, and
his wife, Ann Marie Wachter, specialist in sea-plant skin-care applications; Jess Stearn, author of Edgar Cayce—The Sleeping Prophet, with Drs. William and Gladys McGarey, noted authorities on the Edgar Cayce cures; Dr. and Mrs. Peter Theiss, experts in the therapeutic application of herbs and ancient herbal remedies; and Dr. Vasant Lad, foremost exponent of Ayurvedic (Hindu) medicine in the United States.

(The above interviews, conducted by Elizabeth Clare Prophet, are available on audio cassettes and Summit University Forum albums.) On December 10, 1984, 29 new members were initiated into the Order of the Good Samaritan at the conclusion of Fall Quarter of Summit University. During the seminar and Fall Quarter, an additional 248 students completed the Good Samaritan Foot Reflexology course.