Sherifa Merrell-Wolff speaks to The Assembly of Man students of the great opportunity the Christmas season offers. She suggests that they link their consciousness with that of the Sun as it climbs upward and reflect that consciousness of love and light to all those who move within their environment. She continues to lead the discussion by retelling the group of a vision of the Christ she once experienced. Sherifa then asks each person present to offer a few words about what the Christmas season means to them. She comments on our unity with the cosmos and with each other, on the importance of purity of mind, heart and body, on the symbolism of the candle, and on the nature and need for joy and laughter in our lives. Franklin Merrell-Wolff encourages us to make altruism the basic motive of our life and to practice the surrender to the Divine at all times. Sherifa concludes the meeting by expressing her delight in the beauty of Sri Aurobindo’s epic poem Savitri and by urging us to polarize our consciousness to the supramental consciousness that is beginning to come into manifestation here on earth.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff and the students of the Assembly of Man express their love and offer words of gratitude to commemorate Sherifa’s life nearly one year after her death on February 23, 1959.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff commemorates the first anniversary of Sherifa’s passing and discusses the problems of reactivating the Assembly of Man. He then invites each of the Assembly members to contribute a few words in remembrance of Sherifa, and asks Fay Newman to sing Sherifa’s favorite song (“Maitreya”); the ceremony closes with all singing “The Love Divine.”

Franklin Merrell-Wolff discusses various subjects with Erma Pounds, including: the importance of the junior partner in tulku incarnation, the nature of Elementals and Elementaries, the personal implications of the series of tulku combinations involving Buddha, Shankara, and Christ, the offices of the different Tibetan Lamas, the role of esotericism and the doctrine of the open hand, and the nature of the after death experience as presented in The Path of the Masters written by Julian Johnson.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff discusses various subjects with Erma Pounds continuing with the nature of the after-death experience as presented in The Path of the Masters written by Julian Johnson.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff discusses with Erma Pounds and others the purifying force of transcendental consciousness and the fact that this force is needed to resolve the problems that confront humanity today. He suggests that this may require the assistance of those that are locked into the nirvanic state, and that it may well redeem those that practice “black magic.” He goes on to portray his work as the “planting of seeds” in the collective unconsciousness in the hope of effectuating “a massive effort at redemption.”

Franklin Merrell-Wolff discusses the meaning of Easter. He comments upon the non-Christian history of Easter and makes a distinction between the literal belief in the death and rebirth of Christ found in traditional Christianity and the symbolic interpretation of death and rebirth as an inversion of consciousness that takes place in the process of Mystical Awakening. He goes on to contrast the conception of sin and eternal damnation with the doctrine of karma and equilibrium. He then stresses the need for redemption from the suffering characteristic of our sangsaric phenomenal consciousness and the call for induction into the non-phenomenal nirvanic state of consciousness through the intervention of the Christs and the Buddhas of Compassion.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff discusses the upcoming publication of his manuscript The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object. He provides a brief summary of its major theses and makes a distinction between two senses of “consciousness” as defined in The Tibetan Book of the Dead; namely, self-existent, constitutive Consciousness (rig-pa) and consciousness that is aware of phenomena (shes-rig). He affirms the existence of a third order of cognition and describes the inversion from “point-I” to “Space-I” consciousness. He expresses his concern that the reader of his manuscript may not get the same meaning that he intended, but hopes that dwelling on the conceptual referents may arouse something of the Consciousness from which they came. He then takes part in the ensuing conversation on a variety of topics.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff continues the conversation by considering questions regarding the significance of mysticism in the lives of scientists, mathematicians, and physicists. He entertains a variety of topics including the value of creative fantasy, the nature of dreaming, the relativity of time and the akashic record, the principle of dualism and the limitations of conceptuality, the significance of the skeptical attitude, and the importance of a well-disciplined mind. He closes the conversation by returning to the publication of his manuscript The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object.

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Franklin Merrell-Wolff raises questions about the contract with Julian Press to republish Pathways Through to Space.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff objects to the suggestion by Mr. Ceppos to change the title of his work, “The Philosophy of Consciousness Without an Object” to “Consciousness Without an Object.” Wolff notes that this volume was written primarily for the philosophical community, and in particular, it was his intention to argue that there is a third organ of cognition that is a source of metaphysical knowledge.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff gives a eulogy for James A. Briggs, the son of his first wife, Sherifa.

Franklin Merrell-Wolff presides over a memorial service for James A. Briggs, the son of his first wife, Sherifa.

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Franklin Merrell-Wolff and Erma Pounds have a short conversation about the nearness and circumstances of Wolff’s own death, his ability to reach Gertrude, the support that Gertrude gave to Wolff and his need to carefully replace it, Dr. Brugh Joy, and the activation of Wolff’s “major dreams.”

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