Customer Reviews

All for the Love of God - Life with Mark Prophet, a Modern-Day Mystic

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Every great man nowadays has his disciples, and it is always Judas who writes the biography." Oscar Wilde.
Great quote. Stop and think about that for a moment. . . .
A strange phenomena isn't it? Thank God he is not entirely correct. Alex Reichardt has written the best biography of Mark Prophet we are likely to see and only he could have done it. No one got to see Mark in unguarded, vulnerable moments as much as Alex. When the obtrusive unseen forces of the world managed to worm their way into Mr. Prophet's life, we are able to catch a glimpse of what it means to be a mystic. With a humbleness that belied his mastery, Mark Prophet met every challenge. Lesser men would have wilted under the psychic barrage he had to endure. Alex, as Mark's personal assistant from 1965 to 1973, witnessed these acts of spiritual mastery on a daily basis. It filled him with awe. Me too, just reading about it. I love inspiring books. There is hardly a page that's not inspiring. This comes across in Alex's narrative style as well. As the author would say, "All glory to God." Everytime I picked up the book and read just a few pages, I came away wanting to be a better person. There is no higher compliment I can give. This is a book for all seekers on the Path not just those who were in the Summit Lighthouse at one time or another. As Sir Francis Bacon (when he penned the Shakespearean plays) said: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." And there are more things to the spiritual path than most of us are aware. For all those who wish to reach the pinnacle of their being and overcome the hidden obstacles on the way, Mark Prophet has 'been there and done that.' William House, Reverse Spins.com

Beautiful, unique stories that demonstrate the personal and loving relationship between a spiritual teacher and his disciples or students. The devotion of a man of God to the tutoring of the souls who seek truth is inspiring and touching. This is a modern-day mystic and the revelation of a modern-day Mystery School which continues to bring soul freedom through the teachings of the ascended masters through their anointed messengers to the earth.

Alex and Margaret Reichardt have produced, in this book, a timeless treasure chest of spiritual jewels, full and overflowing for each new reader. A very substantive and profound addition to Ascended Master and Golden Age literature for all time. To know Mark L. Prophet, as this book gives each of us the opportunity to do, is to be in contact with the overflowing headwaters of spiritual abundance which tumble down like so many crystal rivers from the highest peaks of universal truth from whence all true aspirations for the victory of the Aquarian Age derive their nourishment. The Hosts of Heaven throughout all the vast regions of cosmos applaud this truly sacred labor made manifest.

This is a wonderful book for anyone who would like to have a first hand glimpse of the messengers Mark and Elizabeth Prophet as they were during the early days of the Summit Lighthouse. Any detractors of these adepts might consider the profound teachings they gave. The sheer volume of dictations and lectures is amazing and truly helpful for those who wish to be on the spiritual path. Disciplines described may sound strange without a knowledge of the past karma of each lifestream and what each person could learn as self-knowledge in order to avoid the pitfalls of making worse decisions in the future. The unascended master Babaji was said to have picked up a coal from a fire and burned a disciple's shoulder, then explained that the man's entire karma would have been worse if it had come down entirely, so his act was an act of love, releasing enough of the karma to satisfy the law in order to save the man's life. Mark Prophet was doing the same thing.

Those who have experienced the light and love of the messengers and the ascended masters they have represented know in their hearts that their own experiences are real. Members have entered by free will and may leave by free will. Those who have embraced these teachings have such loyalty to Mark and Elizabeth founded on the certainty that their teachings are Real, and many have experienced the enlightened aspects of the inner walk with God as a result. I give this book four stars and thank Alex and Margaret for this work, for this reader came away feeling closer to the ascended Mark, his wisdom, his faith, his humour, his compassion and his humility as he sacrificed himself to be a representative of the Will of God, and I am grateful.

Readings of a Saint
All for the Love of God; Life with Mark Prophet a Modern-Day Mystic by Alex and Margaret Reichardt and other disciples of Mark, is a biography of a modern day Christian saint. The beautifully written account should be printed in The Golden Legend; Readings on the Saints, by Jacobus de Voragine (1229 - 1298). As I read Mark's story it drew the joy of my soul into my heart, body and mind. I could feel the flame of the Holy Spirit raining down upon me from this beloved saint in heaven. While reading this saintly book , you will receive the love that Mark wished to spread over the whole world. Mark did this person by person and you will meet many of these people and read their stories as you read this sacred book. I believe that this book will convey to the reader that saints still walk the earth in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as they have for the last two thousand years. The blessings of all blessing is to meet one of these holy persons, as I was so fortunate to do when I met Mark Prophet. It changed my life, and reading this book may well changes.

It's obvious. Alex and Margaret's book was a labor of love. For me, it was a trip down a wonderful memory lane. It was kind of them to include me by name considering the chasm that now exists between us. There was a time when Alex wouldn't have to ask; he would tell me he needed an inspiring story about Mark Prophet. Without thinking twice, I would do it. I could still do it. That's how in-tune and harmonious our mindsets were. We were like brothers.

Mark Prophet knew more about religion than anyone I ever knew. The man had assimilated a reservoir of knowledge and was able to articulate it better than anyone I ever heard. He was a natural. Some of his quotations still resonate within me, such as Jesus' "Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God (Mark 10:18)."

A staff-favorite movie was Lost Horizon starring Ronald Colman. The last scene has his friends in London discussing his return to Shangri-La. Regarding its existence, a friend states, "I believe it because I want to believe it." I'm afraid that after many years, the supernatural image of Mark Prophet has also given Alex, Margaret, and many old friends, the same perspective as Ronald Colman's colleague.

At first, I didn't want to write this review. I felt like Scrooge telling children there was no Santa Claus. Like it or not, however, when family and friends are deceived, one must make a statement.

For me, the knock on the door came many times. I finally had to open it. The abuses and indiscretions of Elizabeth Prophet that confronted me and my family were many. When I got to the bottom of her masquerade, the house of cards collapsed - all the way back to Mark Prophet and day one of the Summit Lighthouse.

I laugh when I remember. Alex is one of the most resourceful people I have ever known. If he and Margaret want to know the truth, they will find it.

"Today it feels important to tell you that I bless the day we met, and will continue to do so until I've taken my last breath. Your endless gifts to me bespoke a generosity of spirit that I'd never before been confronted with, and will be surprised to encounter ever again. Quite simply, you are the kindest man I have ever known. As I review my life, our time together was a landmark event for me...life changing. I knew at the time, and I know it still. I will never be the same."

The above quote is not, as one would surmise, from "All for the Love of God." It is written by an actual slave (to his master) and quoted from p. 141 of a book called "Slavecraft: Roadmaps for Erotic Servitude" by Guy Baldwin. I cite it here to demonstrate the close similarities between so-called 'chelaship' as recounted by Alex Reichardt, and masochistic submission as exemplified by people in the BDSM community who are involved in 24/7 consensual master/slave relationships. But BDSM participants are clear about their contract, and it is not maintained through intimidation, or threats of spiritual damnation. And that's exactly what held Reichardt in thrall to Mark Prophet.

Reichardt, p.29 "I saw his great love for people, his honesty and how down to earth he really was. There was nothing phony about Mark. He met each person where they were and treated everyone like his best friend. A very generous-hearted person, he was humble before God and man, always willing to give the other person the benefit of the doubt...He was as joyful as a child. Before long we were like the best of friends, and I viewed him as the caring father I had always wanted."

The similarity of these two quotes is striking. Sadly, Reichardt's feelings of friendship and loyalty toward my father were not reciprocated.

Consider the following. As a child of perhaps six or eight, I remember my father referring repeatedly to Alex Reichardt as an "idiot," and "nincompoop." My sister Becky remembers dad saying again and again, "Alex, you twerp!" At the time, I actually felt sorry for Alex. I listened to my father saying these things, and wondered what in the world Alex could have done to deserve such enduring scorn. Realize that this was a man who basically gave up his life for my parents. He waited on my dad hand and foot, rode around with him in the car, massaged his feet on a regular basis, (to help Mark Prophet carry "world karma" of course) and did whatever he was asked, at any hour of the day or night.

I remember specifically one incident when dad berated Alex behind his back because Alex hung his pants up crooked on a wire hanger. I never heard my dad remark even once how grateful he was to Alex for his service, only how clumsy he was. Another running joke with dad was how Alex had fallen asleep and forgot which of my dad's feet he'd been rubbing. "Which one?" dad would tell the story, mimicking Alex and curling his lip derisively, then he would guffaw. He blamed Alex for leaning the wrong way and causing a motorcycle accident where dad had been driving. (p.131) Both of them got pretty banged up. I was there when they came home and saw their torn clothes and bloody knees. A caring master who had Alex' best interests at heart would have humbly apologized.

Alex is a man who gave my dad total loyalty, even to the point of signing over his unemployment checks to help dad pay the bills when money was tight. Yet a short few years later when Alex forgot to pack my dad's shoes for a trip, Alex had to replace them at a cost of $15. Monthly staff salaries were coincidentally also $15.

It didn't end there. Alex was fined $45 (a whopping three month's salary) for letting someone into a service with liquor on their breath, chastised for picking onions off a sandwich, and blamed for his "doubts" supposedly preventing my dad from lifting the fog on one occasion. (Yes, you heard that right--dad claimed to be able to control the weather.) Alex was fined the total cost of postage when he sent a mailing out first class instead of air mail. His crime? He had sent the mailing as per standard procedure and not asked beforehand. Alex was told he'd made a "week's worth of karma" because he spoke louder than a whisper in the unoccupied chapel. He'd "disturbed the forcefield."

Dad mocked Alex by "knighting" him Sir Bernard, quipping that if he worked really hard he could become "Saint Bernard," implying that he was loyal to a fault, like a dog. (p.115)

Yet when things went wrong, Mark Prophet was quick to blame Alex. On p.143 Alex describes how he and Ruth Farnam were constantly singled out as examples of bad behavior. Alex excuses this public shaming as essential to the process of instilling humility. Again, humiliation is a staple of BDSM, and the more I read of this book, the more I realized how deeply this metaphor holds. And therein lies the problem.

It is important to understand that "All for the Love of God" is really two books. It is a book documenting the life of the author, and certain events which took place on staff of "The Summit Lighthouse" mostly in the late 1960's and early 1970's in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This section of the book is factual, and according to my recollection, highly accurate.

But there is a second book without which the first makes no sense. That second book involves flights of fancy so extreme and outlandish as to defy description. Only "in a world" of invisible (but real) masters, angels and past lives does the concept of spiritual training involving real-world humiliation make sense. Strangely, Alex recites his justifications without a trace of irony or acknowledgement of their absurdity (which is plainly apparent to anyone else).

The first and second books are thoroughly intertwined and inseparable. Alex describes past lives of the "messengers" and staff as if he were talking about well-established historical facts. He provides only self-referential evidence for any of the spiritual teachings. The book contains an appendix of "dispensations" of angels that he claims form some sort of spiritual "posse" around each person. To get an idea of just how ridiculous this is, on p.299, he tallies up the "posse:" "15 Seraphim, 4 Cherubim, 10 angel groups, 22 specific angels, 13 elementals, 1 Terton (whatever that is), 1 Ascended Master, plus your guardian angel." That's substantially north of 100 angels per person.

I'm sorry, even by the standards of garden variety religious hyperbole, this is over-the-top. This level of disconnection from reality would normally get a person institutionalized. We're expected to believe that these wild stories he presents are objective realities? It strains every fiber of credibility to the breaking point.

So how to analyze this book? It's utterly incomprehensible without the spiritual component. Otherwise it reads like the narrative of a non-consensual slave, and comes off painful and pathetic. It's surprising how similar "All for the Love of God" actually is to "Mark Prophet: The Man and the Myth." (Available at the Black Sun Journal site) Both recount nearly identical events. Peter Arnone rejects the supernatural component, and Alex embraces it. Peter's account makes much more sense. I'm sorry to say that it portrays Mark Prophet as a very ordinary weak, self-centered and manipulative human being.

But Alex seemed determined to reframe Mark Prophet's legacy in loftier terms. I only wish I could concur with him. But I cannot. In places, Reichardt even lets his exasperation show. But then he quickly self-justifies to let Mark Prophet off the hook and give him the benefit of the doubt--which is more than Alex ever got. Alex writes most credibly in this voice of the true and loyal slave.

Not satisfied with his own account, Reichardt bolstered it with no fewer than 16 co-authors. A lot of these people were my friends and mentors (or at least acquaintances). I grew up with many of them, and once looked up to many of them. These include Svend Andersen, Merle Bouma, Terry Canady, Timothy Connor, John Fox, Dorothy Lee Fulton, Donald Galvin, Alexandro Genis, Joseph Genito, Philip Hoag, Michael Kinchloe, Kenneth McNeel, Celeste Miller, Tom Miller, Paul Quintero, and Alex' wife Margaret. Regardless of how I may feel personally about these people, arguments from popularity don't really hold water. What's important is to be objective, and that would involve at least the examination of this entire story in more human terms.

As people arguing for a more realistic portrayal of Mark Prophet I can offer myself and my three sisters, Mark's five children from his first family, Peter Arnone (author of Mark Prophet, the Man and the Myth), John Pietrangelo (author of Lambs to the Slaughter), Randall King (my mother's third husband, who knew Mark very well in the years before his death). There are no doubt others. But that's beside the point.

Mark Prophet was neither a god nor a monster. He was a human being with typical desires and drives. He had the gift of gab, a thirst for personal power, and more than ordinary insecurities.

As a young man, he felt he had been unrecognized for his spiritual gifts, and had limited material success for the first 40 years of his life. But then he had hit upon a winning formula: by becoming a "messenger" he could express his spiritual beliefs and be materially rewarded at the same time. He finally managed to put together the support base and recognition he had been looking for. He left his first wife and five children and married my mom, who was twenty years younger. In essence, he did what anyone in his position would have done: he went all-out.

As his supporters grew and contributed more money, he began to feel beyond reproach. He began to believe his own press. He eventually became almost completely disconnected from what composed his real power base--the loyal members and staff. He could abuse them, he could treat them like slaves and damn if they didn't come back for more!

The more cruel and insensitive he and Elizabeth became over the years, the more the staff worshiped them. What human beings could handle that kind of positive feedback without becoming corrupted?

This book fails to address that question. As a historical record, I'm glad Reichardt wrote it. He has an excellent memory, and these events need to be documented. I'm glad to have it for my family history if nothing else. So I give it four stars. But that's where my praise ends. The flamboyantly fictional embellishments of supernatural fantasy take this book into another realm--that of a Paul-Bunyanesque spiritual tall tale which nonetheless reeks of abuse and dupery. The coup de'grace in that department was the account on p.178 where Alex was serving my dad breakfast in his bedroom. Dad thought that Alex looked a little nervous, so he threw the tray of food at him, saying "Forget about yourself and just serve!"

Any man who wasn't wearing an imaginary dog-collar would have quit on the spot. Alex justified the act as something he needed for his growth. This is the mentality of a slave.

I'm all for consensual slavery if that's what someone really wants. I've known several people in that situation. Some people thrive on surrender and self-effacement. They find a form of freedom there. I do think that under the right conditions with the right master, it's a viable container for psychological growth, but it's fraught with perils: In order for the slave to consent, s/he needs to first have full self-awareness and the absolute strongest grounding in objective reality.

As for the master: upon acceptance of the slave's submission, he becomes fully responsible for the slave's well-being. If he is a benign master, he will only give the slave tasks and correction designed to help him, rather than further debase him. It has to be a relationship based on true love and humility, not self-interest. The master should treat their slave as they would their own child--lifting the slave up, to add to the slaves esteem, rather than break it down. It's a rare human being who has the developed psyche to pull that off, which is why healthy submission remains so rare. In my view, my father was either not up to the task, or for some sadistic reason singled out Alex for his very special and extreme mockery and mistreatment. It takes a lot to shock me these days, but reading this book I was repeatedly shocked by Reichardt's justifications of my dad's bad behavior. Even if he's cool with it, I'm ashamed.

Because of his preoccupation with the (imaginary) spiritual pantheon of the Summit Lighthouse, in my view Reichardt lacked the self-awareness to evaluate his position. His narrative proceeds with one foot in the spirit world and he sees everything through that lens. No matter how bad it got, he held Mark Prophet as an unimpeachable guru in the spiritual "tradition of the eastern adepts." But unless you're a true believer and share that view (placing Mark Prophet in the company of the Dalai Lama), his story comes off as a caricature. I'm sorry, but you'd never see the Dalai Lama throwing a tray of food at one of his monks, nor making a fool of himself by engaging in any other of my dad's far-from-humble shenanigans. Epic fail in guruland!

It's a pity, because Alex is a man who really could use a dose of good news after the merciless pummeling he received from both my parents for most of his adult life. Instead, he compounded the error by writing a book turning it around. He recasts the humiliation as a badge of honor. This unfortunately leaves the entire episode glorified and therefore more likely to be repeated by other would-be gurus in the future.

To Alex: I know you're a good man and I know you have the best of intentions. Anytime you want to talk to me about what really happened, I'm there for you, and I'm truly sorry for the way my parents treated you. As Peter Arnone said, I know you are capable of figuring this out if you are so inclined.

This is a book for devotees of Mark Prophet (1918-1973) specifically and possibly for students of the Great White Brotherhood who do not follow opposing groups or cults. Followers of opposing groups tend to view Mark Prophet as a false Messenger. Besides the author and his wife, there are fifteen other contributors who each add a short chapter based on personal experiences with Mark Prophet. For people unfamiliar with Mark Prophet, he founded a New Age religion called Lighthouse of Freedom, later Summit Lighthouse, around 1958 in eastern America. It eventually grew to a large sect as Church Universal and Triumphant with over 20,000 followers. Prophet based his movement primarily on the earlier "I AM" Activity embellished with occultism, neo-paganism, Theosophy, Agni Yoga, Christian Science and fundamentalist Christianity. Mark Prophet assumed the role of Messenger or a channel for a host of "I AM" and other Ascended Masters. He was succeeded as leader of the group by his second wife, Elizabeth Clare (who is the same Elizabeth Prophet that her daughter Erin wrote about in "Prophet's Daughter"). Mark was Erin Prophet's father.

The Reichardts' book is more a testimonial by fawning devotees than a biography or assessment. There is almost innocence in Alex Reichardt's approach to Mark and his religion. No matter what Mark did or said, Alex and company justify and rationalize everything. The non-devoted reader will easily recognize Alex's high degree of narcissism and suggestibility in Mark's presence. On page 19 Alex just began his journey with Mark around 1966 and says, "I was beginning to feel supercharged by the light I felt in this place." Another devotee, Timothy, gives a similar example: "I had various experiences that proved to me that the teachings were real. As I reflect back, some were frankly astonishing." (280)

The sense of the miraculous pervades the narrative as every "chela" recounts magical events that convinced them they must be on the right path with the right guru. A glossary will help those unfamiliar with Summit Lighthouse teachings to grasp the group jargon about 'Fohat, decree, four lower bodies, the Presence, Ruby Ray, Violet Flame, and Watchers,' for example. Other terms peculiar to the group interpretation not in the glossary may be troublesome: 'sex cones (206), inner levels, mystery school (207).'

Mark Prophet and company warned repeatedly about "astral plane" forces that can deceive and infect a seeker. By Summit Lighthouse's definition on line, Astral Plane is: "A frequency of time and space beyond the physical, yet below the mental, corresponding to the emotional body of man and the collective unconscious of the race; the repository of mankind's thoughts and feelings, conscious and unconscious. Because the astral plane has been muddied by impure human thought and feeling, the term "astral" is often used in a negative context to refer to that which is impure or psychic."

Astral Plane activity is a good metaphor for events described in this book. To me it is riddled with examples of seekers caught up in sympathetic magic, coincidence wrongly interpreted as divine direction, and psychic events.

At the end, the book offers a list of videos, books, and other paraphernalia just in case you wish to follow the authors down this path.