- In My protracted efforts to understand
the workings of the Universe and to find my place in it, I came upon The
Kybalion containing the writings of Hermes Trismegistus with whom you are
possibly familiar as the father of Alchemy, Astrology, Medicine, etc..
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- From this book I learned of the 7 (immutable)
Principles or Universal Laws to which all else is subsumed. One of these,
The Law of Correspondence, is the basis of the proper understanding of
Astrology, to wit: "As Above - So Below" or the Heavens as a
reflection of activities on The Earth and vice versa.
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- If I were to try to summarize all that
I have learned during all or part of the past 8 decades that I have spent
on this Planet we call the Earth, it would be that I have begun to truly
understand the ONENESS of the Life Force and yet recognize the DIVERSITY
of this Energy - "E Puribus Unum."
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- Based on the Hermetic Principle above,
I now understand that EVERYTHING IS ALIVE and vibrating at different rates.
You might say that "GOD" is that Energy that vibrates the fastest.
Indeed the "Law of Correspondence" postulates that "God"
is reflected in everything which, in turn, vibrates at different rates.
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- On Earth, I now see that the four "races"
of Humankind, although they combine as ONE, are each very different rates
of vibration with different assets and different liabilities; each designed
to perform different functions.
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- In fact I see that the 4 Races of Humankind
correspond to the 4 seasons!
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- Spring or Aries corresponding to the
so-called "white" race; Summer or Cancer corresponding to the
so-called "black" race; Fall or Libra corresponding to the so-called
"yellow" race; and Winter or Capricorn corresponding to the so-called
"semitic" race.
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- Analyzing the elements of each of these
signs, rather accurately describes the nature and function of each of the
corresponding races:
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- Aries, fiery, pioneering and rational,
ruled by Mars; Cancer, watery, emotional and psychic, ruled by the Moon;
Libra, airy, artistic, ready for Peace or War, ruled by Venus; and Capricorn,
earthy, practical, and highly organized, ruled by Saturn.
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- In turn, each of these cardinal signs
when sub-divided yield the 12 Zodiacal signs which roughly correspond to
the various geographical or language groups:
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- Aries, the Aryan, (or Martian), Germanic,
Vikings; Taurus, the colonizing, steadfast "meat & potatoes"
(Venusian) British; Gemini, the super salesman, always-on-the-go (Mercurial)
North American - selling, advertising, ever calculating; Cancer, the tribal,
mothering, (Lunar) musical African; Leo, the expressive, (Sunny) operatic,
out-going Italian; Virgo, the Virgin Mary (Notre Dame), Mercurial gourmet
cooks of France - lovers of bread and vine; Libra, the artistic "Yin/Yang"
(Venusian) people of China; Scorpio, the Native American, (Plutonic) fearlessly
daring to outstare Death, knowing that "There is no Death - only a
change of worlds"; Sagittarius, the Psychic, (Jovial) fast talking,
dancing, musical Hispanic; Capricorn, the hardworking, practical (Saturnine)
"taking care of business" Jewish doctor/lawyer/entrepreneur;
Aquarius, the (Uranian) people of Russia with its 11 time zones and heavily
multi-racial population; and last but not least; Pisces, the Spiritual,
musical, religious, (Neptunian) "Saint or Sinner" African-American,
symbolized by the two fish, one headed "upstream" to Heaven,
the other headed "downstream" to Hell.
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- These are by no means mutually exclusive
designations and can be applied as well to the animal, vegetable and mineral
kingdoms. A deep analysis of the Piscean African-American is what led me
in 1969 to found "The Tree of Life Bookstore & Educational Center
of Harlem" which overwhelmingly demonstrates the path of transformation
from school dropout to scholar; from junkie to health guru and from "sinner"
to "Saint".
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- In many American cities, the Board of
Education is dominated by the thinking and planning of the "Winter"
consciousness. Which is like trying to teach "humming birds"
how to ice skate! Too many 'humming birds" drop out into prison and
early graves!
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- Using this insight, we have demonstrated
the multi-billion dollar bonanza for all society once these principles
are recognized. We truly need to franchise The Tree of Life nationally
and in the process create tens of thousands of entrepreneurs each having
discovered their Divinely ordained purpose for this present life.
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- I now issue a call for all who can understand
what I have rather imperfectly outlined above, to join together with me
and create a virtual Garden of Eden on the Planet Earth combining the best
qualities of each of us. A truly symbiotic relationship! This I predict
will be the lasting legacy of the still dawning "New Age of Aquarius".
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- In future writings we will spell out
the specific ways this insight will bring the Piscean African-American
to the Spiritual exaltation which we are destined to achieve. In the process
transforming the Harlems of America into The Spiritual Capitols of the
Western World working together with our brothers and sisters of the other
"Seasons" to create a virtual "Garden of Eden" on Planet
Earth!
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- No more drugs (of any kind), or crime
or violence or junk food. Only a rapid opening of our now mostly dormant
brain cells. This is the true Destiny of the rapidly dawning AGE OF AQUARIUS.
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- The Dream Takes Wing
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- Kanya's earliest childhood memories were
of having been born with a destiny; that a task, uniquely his own, awaited
him; that it was his duty to discover this task and strengthen himself
to best accomplish it. He explored numerous careers after his graduation
from college including real estate, radio advertising, auto sales, insurance,
investment banking, education and community development,
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- His years in the California elementary
school system as a teacher were of particular importance as they demonstrated
the futility of traditional (and failing) methods of education, and allowed
him to experiment with alternative and more effective techniques. He later
helped to develop the world's only Black founded mutual fund, THE EVERYMAN
FUND (1966), whose failure in the stock market crash of 1970 allowed him
the time and leisure to experiment with this old dream.
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- Since the age of 15, when he first read
"Light On The Path" and "The Prophet", Kanya had been
a serious student of the ancient wisdom contained in numerous books unavailable
in most bookstores. They were the only books he thoroughly loved. His textbooks
had meant nothing compared to the precious treasures within these books
which had so strongly influenced his life and shaped his character.
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- Having learned to his surprise that there
were virtually no metaphysical bookstore serving the Black community, he
gathered a number of books in a shopping bag and began looking for customers
in various locations around New York City. He also began teaching astrology
classes in his apartment, as well as running a small mail order book service.
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- In 1971, he came to the corner of 125th
Street and Lenox Avenue, where he leased a booth in the African Market
located in what came to be known as THE TREE OF LIFE BUILDING, (formerly
Howard's Clothing Store). Amid the noise and buzz of activity of the many
merchants sharing the Market, The Tree grew slowly but steadily, touching
lives and awakening minds. Seeking to reach more of the bookbuying members
of the Harlem community, Kanya set up his table on the sidewalk outside
the Market, where he was able to expose customers of Oscar Michaux's famous
AFRICAN NATIONAL MEMORIAL BOOKSTORE to the wisdom of the ancient Masters
contained in the books of THE TREE OF LIFE.
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- Day by day he stood on the corner, greeting
passers-by with his friendly smile and engaging conversation. And day by
day he realized that there was something very special happening to these
people. It was as if a hidden hunger in their lives was fed and nothing
could stop them from seeking to feed it once the barriers to its existence
were removed. Day by day, people would come back to ask for more of the
keys to unlocking the mysteries of their own Divine nature.
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- Thwarted in all the basic human drives
by a society in which he or she is a virtual stranger, a Black person is
driven deeper into him/herself more quickly than his white counterpart
in this culture. Kanya faound that an increased sensitivity existed among
the Black community, which, once opened by the secrets of diet, fasting,
meditation and yoga, led to rapid and deep spiritual unfoldment.
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- The experiment was working beyond even
his own initial hopes. Four years went by as if overnight, yet one doubts
if Kanya will ever forget those long Winter months, standing in the snow
with feet and fingers so cold that they have never fully recovered from
the exposure. And yet The Tree grew and grew.
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- In 1973, Kanya was joined in his efforts
by Dr. John E. Moore, an initiate of numerous traditions who had spent
years on the road, delving into Indian, Mexican and native Black herbal
lore with a clarity of mind and depth of Soul that has led him to become
one of the most advanced herbal doctors on this continent. The son of a
Baptist preacher, Dr. Moore is gifted with that charismatic energy of articulation
and inspiration that is the especial province of the Black ministry. He
is remembered by many as having drawn crowds of over a thousand people
in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village in New York with his Sunday
lectures on Herbology and Survival.
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- In a world strangling in its own filth
and the excretions of man's darkened struggle through the maddened world
of chemical additives and self-created poisoning, Dr. Moore spoke as a
voice in the wilderness, exhorting the American community to return to
its roots, to once again to learn to recognize Nature's bounty of healing
and nourishing medicines and foods within our own soil. He is known for
countless healings, many of which have been called miraculous. His ongoing
Friday night lectures on Herbology were open to the Public and began promptly
at 7:45 pm.
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- Now Kanya and Dr. Moore worked side by
side. The people came, and they learned, and more people came, and the
knowledge continued to spread. Also in that year, the roots of The Tree
embedded themselves more firmly in the consciousness of the larger Black
community. Civil Rights leader Dick Gregory joined forces with The Tree.
Perceiving its potential as an inspirational and healing force, Dick began
to spread its message in his own talks. Actress Ruby Dee, a student of
The Tree of Life, worked to publicize its activities. Word spread to Pete
Seeger, Sun Ra, Stevie Wonder, Rev. Kirkpatrick, Ramsey Lewis, Lonnie Liston
Smith, and Earth Wind & Fire.
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- International visitors of all races began
to visit The Tree of Life in increasing numbers, reporting to their respective
communities the efforts of a spiritual bookstore growing on the most important
corner in Harlem. For decades the corner of 125th and Lenox Avenue had
been the center of Black consciousness in the New World. W. E. B. Dubois,
Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had visited there,
carrying the message of the unique role of the Black race in the ever-emerging
world community. The corner was a focus point for the entire planet, and
its energy nourished the young Tree.
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- 1974 marked another major stage of development.
As the other merchants gradually began to leave The African Market, The
Tree continued to expand until it occupied the entire floor of the building
and the basement, a total of 12,000 square feet. A new phase in its growth
had come. More limbs sprouted and it grew taller. Classes began to be offered
more regularly now that more space was available.
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- Volunteer staff members began the laborious
project of beautification of this sturdy but neglected building. Those
early years were also times of cold winters, a barrel of charcoal burning
in the center of the store providing the only source of heat.
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- And yet the people continued to come
in increasing unumbers. Aware of the economic realities facing Harlem,
Kanya opened the AQUARIAN SCIENCE FREE READING ROOM. Here anyone could
come and read and study undisturbed 7 days a week. School children have
expressed the fact that their home environments were too chaotic to allow
them to do their homework, so that for them The Aquarian Science Free Reading
Room became an oasis of peace and quiet in which they could pursue their
school studies. Yet, it was by far the books that filled the tables and
shelves of The Tree of Life that were the main attractions of the Free
Reading Room.
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- What is it that these books say? What
is the knowledge "that we know, but do not know that we know?"
These books remind us of a heritage that stretches far back in the mists
of Time, aeons before human life existed on this planet. It is the heritage
that was taught in the Schools of Initiation of the ancient civilizations
of Lemuria (MU), Atlantis, Egypt and Africa, India, China, South America,
the Near East, the indigenous North America, the Greeks, the Mayans and
Celts, in fact, throughout the world. Though the outer symbols and words
differ from culture to culture and from time to time, the message is always
the same.
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- The knowledge affirms the omnipotence,
omnipresence and Oneness of God, first and foremost. It asserts that each
of us is a Ray of this Divine Consciousness, a vibrating radiation point
of The Divine, interchanging and exchanging in constant relationship to
Itself. THAT WE GAZE WITH THE EYES OF GOD INTO THE EYES OF GOD EACH MOMENT
OF OUR LIVES. THAT THE CONCEPT OF A FINAL DEATH OF THE SPIRIT IS INCONCEIVABLE
BECAUSE THAT SPIRIT IS TIMELESS AND WILL OCCUPY AN INFINITY OF BODIES IN
ITS TRAVELS THROUGHOUT ETERNITY.
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- That once one begins to understand this
consciously, there are methods and techniques that have been passed down
from time immemorial to awaken and stimulate this comprehension, to activate
the Divine Nature to increasingly greater proportions within one's daily
life. That as these practices continue, one begins to perceive through
the eyes of Eternity a natural evolution and destiny to which we are all
joinedl
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- THAT HUMANKIND IS BUT A PART OF A MUCH
LARGER INTEGRATED AND HARMONIOUS WHOLE THAT INCLUDES PLANTS, ANIMALS, ROCKS,
MINERALS, STARS AND SUNS, GALAXIES, MICROBES AND UNIVERSES. THAT ALL IS
ONE, THAT THERE IS NOTHING BUT GOD, AND THAT GOD, BE IT CALLED ALLAH, RA,
BRAHMAN, JEJOVAH OR BUDDHA, IS INFINITE!
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- The knowledge further teaches that as
one unfolds daily on the Path, one's relationship to all Life becomes increasingly
crucial. That each act and thought is the Cause of consequent Effects,
and that no Cause goes without an Effect. One learns that the nature of
God is Love. That each infraction of The Law of Love is punishable by a
sense of separation from The Source, which may manifest in countless ways.
That as one progresses and increasingly learns to radiate Love, amazing
Powers begin to manifest from the hidden realms of Mind.
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- The Tree of Life shares with the ancient
Centers of Light, the words, "Man, Know ThySelf!" written over
the doorway. For it is within the Self that this knowledge and these powers
reside. The Tree of Life is not a personality cult or an institution seeking
a following. It is instead an information center in which the keys to this
awareness are provided to each person that he or she may unlock the doors
of the godSelf within. The knowledge teaches us that it is the individual's
sacred duty to plumb the depths of the Soul in order to uncover the Pearl
of Great Worth buried deep within each of us, but that the quest is an
individual process. That while we are free to share our friendship and
information along the way, it is nonetheless an individual responsibility..
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- What are the keys contained with the
pages of the books at The Tree of Life? Primarily they are concerned with
Purification. Purification of the many veils obscuring the Light of the
True Self. The body is purified by conscious eating in which the fundamentals
of divine nutrition are recognized and stressed. Yoga is recommended to
properly exercise the body and harmonize its energy. The mind is purified
by meditation in which it learns to focus and concentrate itself from the
shackles of the personality and the madness of daily life.
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- The emotions are purified by an awareness
of the divine laws and an attempt to live by their light. The Soul is purified
by a recognition of the Divine purpose working through each person, giving
each person a task uniquely our own, allowing us to give and grow in harmony
with the Divine plan as it unfolds in creation.
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- One of the other key words of this knowledge
is RESPONSIBILITY. Imagine the dawning of this awareness in a drug addict,
stealing and hustling for his existence. Imagine the need for change waking
up in him , and providing him with the necessary keys from the books, and
the medicine of self-cure which he encounters at The Tree. In a supportive
environment filled with people who have come to these realizations independently
from places far and wide, he is guided through the dark beginnings into
emerging Freedom.
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- Consider the child, bored and plagued
by yesterday's obsolete educational philosophy, tormented by an awareness
of the wrongness of his people's lot, the wrongness of his own life. Here
again, the mind leaps at the opportunity to break out of the old mold,
and acquire the knowledge and strength of true life. Imagine the prisoner,
stuck for years without help or hope in a cell. Yet, imagine the availability
of time and conditions which force him deeper into himself. The hours open
for study and meditation, the contemplation of Destiny, the practice of
yoga, as well as correspondence with other seekers who are active in a
prison "pen-pal" system. These are only some of the uses of the
knowledge as it is applied in social context by The Tree of Life.
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- Files abound with letters from prisoners;
grateful, hope-filled letters from souls beginning to see the light. School
children, in the midst of their desperation, being freed by a ray of hope
emitted to them by The Tree of Life. Students, once illiterate, having
read their first book at The Tree, now engaged in competent intellectual
endeavors.
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- Ex-addicts radiating friendship and self
confidence in their newly found freedom. Addicts struggling with the phases
of their withdrawals with the guidance of Dr. Moore and the inspiration
of The Word. Women, learning their true heritage as guardians of the human
race. Blacks learning their African heritage as the birthplace and cradle
of Mankind. Whites freed from the shackles of their color, merging into
an evergrowing spiritual community in the heart of Harlem. Old and young
finding an atmosphere of joy and hope and commitment in the midst of an
urban chaos of alarming proportions.
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- Yet in spite of the overwhelming demonstration
of the value and validity of The Tree of Life Bookstore of Harlem, it has
been involved in a struggle for its existence from Day One. The situation
is as follows: The Tree of Life Building was situated on State owned land.
Since it is generally acknowledged that this is one of the busiest and
most important corners in Harlem, it has been sought after by various business
interests for a number of years.
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- In the late 1970's Congressman Charles
B. Rangel, (Dem. NY) had been granted money by President Carter for a feasibility
study on erecting a Trade Center/Luxury Hotel complex on this site in conjunction
with the Harlem Urban Development Corporation (HUDC). Proponents of these
ideas have been working for some time on the idea of demolishing The Tree
of Life Building in the "community interest".
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- However, in August of 1977, The Tree
of Life was voted a Mandate by Community Planning Board #10 to continue
its work on the corner of 125th & Lenox Avenue. Furthermore, the Board
demanded that The Tree of Life be given a 20 year lease on the building
at the rate of $1 per year, (the rent which is given to acknowledged cultural
institutions), as well as a guarantee of fund raising support to actualize
the plans for the continued development of an International Healing Center
on the present site.
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- However, due to political chicanery,
and in spite of the community expressed outrage, The Tree of Life Building
was torn down on September 17th, 1980 and in its place today stands a parking
lot! (Details of this outrage are available upon request).
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- Following 10 years of futile efforts
to relocate to other sections of New York, The Tree of Life finally pulled
up stakes in 1991 and moved south first to Florida, and since 1992 has
been located in Atlanta, Georgia. The concept of The Tree of Life is every
much as valid today as it was 30 years ago. With the oncoming challenge
of the Millennium Computer Crisis of January 1, 2000, The Tree of Life
is now deeply involved in Y2K consciousness and the examination of various
alternatives to a potential global disaster.
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- Kanya Vashon McGhee
- Tree of Life Bookstore & Education Center
- 1701 M.L.King Drive SW
- Atlanta, GA 30314-2227
- website:http://naturalusa.com/ads/treeoflife.html
- email:DrKanyaWebTV.Net
- Phone/Fax: (404) 753-5700
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