Niscience

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Niscience

The Ann Ree Colton Foundation of Niscience, Inc., is a spiritual and educational foundation, headquartered in Glendale, California. It was founded in 1953 by Ann Ree Colton and Jonathan Murro. There is much information about this subject in the article about Ann Ree Colton, but Niscience deserves its own article.

Niscience is among a number of independent spiritual paths and schools started in the 20th century. It appealed—and appeals—to persons seeking a structured approach to spirituality, authentic enlightened spiritual leadership, and a relationship to the Lord Christ Jesus. Many "baby boomers" found a spiritual home there; they may have been involved in Buddhism or some form of Hinduism, but they sought a connection with Jesus, one that their childhood experiences did not fulfill.

Niscience, the system, may be characterized in several ways: by Ann Ree Colton's writings, recorded talks, remembered comments to her students, practices that evolved during her lifetime, and commentaries by those who are judged to have authentically achieved results by application of all the preceding. From a purely academic standpoint, of course, the latter are likely more open to discussion and question.

The Niscience Foundation is a somewhat separate subject from the Niscience system, though entwined with it through history and praxis.

Contents 1 Philosophy 2 Practices 3 Structure of the Foundation 4 History

[edit] Philosophy

Niscience is an inclusive Christian initiatory school. This means that the students are meant to become initiates, being initiated ever more deeply into spiritual mysteries, and into higher states of consciousness. It is about spiritual healing—being healed oneself, as an initiate, and working mediatively to heal others, impersonally. This spiritual healing is to heal the individual and the world of the greatest woe of all: spiritual ignorance. Spiritual ignorance exists when one is not in a state of virtue. Jesus said, “For there went virtue out of him and healed them all.” (St. Luke 6:19; KJV) Jesus is seen as the world Messiah, and still a Presence that is available through meditation, dreams, and so forth. Jonathan addressed this effectively in his masterful work The Path of Virtue. To effect this healing, the members of Niscience are taught several spiritual tools, some of which are meditation, prayers, fasting, giving (most particularly, tithing), pilgrimage, attending meetings, writing talks, recording and learning from their dreams, and creativity.

Reincarnation is a strong part of the teaching and it is believed that during Jesus’ time, reincarnation was clearly understood and taken into account. Connected with this is the Law of Karma, or the Law of Sowing and Reaping. One works to be healed of his/her own karmic debts and tendencies, and those of one’s ancestors, and the world’s. It is a mediative ministry, not one working through political alliances and controversies, although the necessity for involvement in the world is equally emphasized. It is not believed that humans have ever been animals, in evolvement physically or in other lives. Animals do not have the same “atoms” or etheric centers that humans do. Animals do reincarnate, too, but always as the same species, and sometimes they come back to their owners, even in the same lifetime. (As sometimes also do humans who die as children come back to their families.)

There is also much respect for the Lord Buddha; there is a statue of Buddha on the headquarter grounds, and there is a festival around the time of Wesak, the first full Moon in the sign of Taurus, which marks Buddha’s birthday—Buddha is seen as working in a very important way with Jesus at all times, but especially at Wesak.

Niscience is a path to self-, soul-, and God-realization. While physical teachers are always revered and constantly studied, one can also contact an inner teacher through the practices and mediative helps of his physical teacher. Ann Ree and Jonathan took on their students’ karmas while they were in the world; they continue to work with their students on the other side of the veil. They both said, “I can help you more after I am gone.”

Astrology is part of the teachings. The planets and the signs of the zodiac are seen as significant, so much so that a calendar is sent to all students each month listing the moon signs, and also the lunar events—full, new, eclipses, perigees, apogees, and the 10th day after the new Moon. Each person is expected to know at least their Sun sign and to study the teachings about each sign; this ties in with the many teachings on the virtues, some of which are especially connected to each sign.

There is also much to learn about the chakras, the energy fields in the energy-body (called the etheric body). They are connected to specific planets, according to Ann Ree, and they are called “the power-stations of [the] soul”. (Galaxy Gate II, p. 270)

Niscience is called “The new-era Dharma,” and also, “Christ for this age”. One of its purposes is to combine philosophy, religion (particularly in the form of devotional worship), science, and the creative arts. It tends to attract creative persons.

Ann Ree Colton experienced revelation, a Third-Heaven form of enlightenment, and much knowledge was given to her regarding the forming of this solar system, and others in the Universe. As souls go through many bodies in the life of a particular solar system, so also do we leave a system when it dies and move to a forming system. Different things are learned and mastered in each system, each thing bringing us closer to realizing and using the divinity at our core. Ann Ree taught that this system is known as a pain system, and that each soul who came here, from other systems, knew exactly what the experiences would be like, and agreed to be here. Some could not handle it and were taken out and will not reincarnate in this system again (Adolf Hitler is one such soul). This can be tremendously comforting and encouraging, to know that inwardly one has the strength to carry out what s/he has signed up for.

Another of the teachings is about what Ann Ree called the genesis-levels of consciousness. Humankind has experienced tribal-, family-, and self-genesis; a very few have reached cosmos-genesis. This explains a lot of the differences in perception that so shape the decisions we make and our behavior. For example, in the Islamic fundamentalist Middle East, there is still a lot of tribal-genesis; naturally they can’t really understand the hugely self-genesis United States of America, a holy nation; freedom is very important for the human spirit.

There is a line from one of Paul’s epistles that Ann Ree quoted often: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (I Thessalonians 5:21; KJV) Ann Ree never encouraged her students to take what she said at face value; rather, they were (and are) to prove the teachings in the laboratories of their own soul processes. She did this perhaps because she was aware of the impact she had, as a spiritually powerful and utterly trustworthy person, on her students. She encouraged her students to think for themselves, and to disagree with what she said, even while she also encouraged her students to give the system—including the teachings—time to prove itself.

[edit] Practices

Niscience is a complete system, applied to daily, weekly, and yearly life. It begins with the monthly lessons, which contain instruction and spiritual practices. For example, there are mantrams (mantramic prayers, not syllables in Sanskrit) for meditation. Meditation is practiced at the four spiritual tides of the day: on awakening, noon, dusk, and before sleep. Prayer is encouraged, at any time, but especially before meditation. Fasting for a 24-hour period—from evening meal to evening meal—can be undertaken either one day a week or on the lunar event days (full, new, and 10th day after the new Moon). One is encouraged to consult one’s physician if there might be any problem; for example, someone with hypoglycemia should not fast from food, but can fast in other ways—from speaking, from certain kinds of food, from a favorite activity like TV. Tithing is strongly encouraged as a way of bringing one’s finances into order and prosperity, and is seen as a mark of a self-responsible member. Attending Sunday worship is important, as are attending other meetings, a once-a-week study, seasonal days of group fasts (observing the solstices and equinoxes), and observing holy days in the Christian calendar—Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. Recording and studying one’s dreams is particularly emphasized; there is much teaching about dreams; one of Ann Ree’s most important books is Watch Your Dreams, in which she goes into great detail about sleep and its many little-understood purposes.

Members are taught to do mandalas regularly as part of the process of becoming more conscious. Other forms of creativity include, but are not limited to: a special form of dance (called pleasance); writing songs and other music; writing original talks to be given on Sundays or at the weekly study meetings; and any kind of art form which members may be interested in or good at.

In addition, Ann Ree Colton’s revelatory gifts included understanding almost any part of human life and endeavor; therefore, she was considered highly qualified by her students to give counsel regarding all areas of life. These included food, the raising of children, sex, one’s career, creative outlets, beneficial spiritual practices, one’s relationship with one’s parents. (This was especially important in the 1970s, when many young adults entered Niscience, and its non-mainstream approach put off many of the parents of these fledglings.) One of Ann Ree’s gifts, passed on to each subsequent administrator, was what is called in Niscience the gift of sacred nomenclature. Since reincarnation has a large place in the teachings, and since Ann Ree could also read a student’s past life records, she would see a name from a past life that, if used in the present life, would strengthen the student spiritually. These names are known as grace names. Ann Ree was very ethical about revealing past life information, as she saw that, when that information comes to the student, he/she must unite with the karma of that life in this life. Students were discouraged from bragging about or even discussing specific lives with each other; when they did this, it seemed to complicate matters. Students are encouraged to use their grace names within the group and sometimes in other parts of their lives. They do this, even when (as often happens) their parents or siblings contest this.

Not that members are discouraged from having close relationships with their families; Ann Ree said that she adored families and was close to her daughters and their families. However, even in secular psychology it is understood that, no matter how old we are, being with our birth families can unconsciously trigger emotions that put us into the family script, and this is not conducive to spiritual progress. These triggers can, through applying the Niscience teachings and practices, be dismantled, but it takes time and awareness. Some students come to this teaching with rose-colored glasses about their families of origin, and this is unrealistic and ungrounded, if nothing else; for no one but Jesus is yet perfected. What we don’t see or understand can hurt us.

A very important practice was and still is pilgrimage. These started in the 1960s with one yearly conference; this has expanded to three in the present time. At times, many people from the foundation in California (and from elsewhere, if desired) have traveled to the cities where there are smaller groups, to give them support and to increase the sense of community. See more about this in the section entitled History, below. Anyone can make a pilgrimage at any time; if a member at a distance attends the headquarters events at, for example, Easter, this is considered a holy pilgrimage. Or, one might visit holy sites in India, or Rome, or the Holy Land. Or, one might make pilgrimage to a place that is specifically meaningful for him/her.

[edit] Structure of the Foundation

Being a path of enlightenment under a Master Teacher (Ann Ree Colton said she was “a teacher of teachers”), the Niscience foundation is not egalitarian, it is not a democracy. When one comes to such a teacher, s/he is acknowledging his/her lack of understanding of spiritual matters and is seeking instruction, much like going to college. When Ann Ree Colton was alive, she was the sole teacher for a long time, and then Jonathan Murro attained his own enlightenment and co-taught with Ann Ree until her death. He, then, was the sole teacher, although he was grooming his second wife, Shonne Maria, for some form of leadership. However, when Jonathan died, and Shonne Maria was chosen by the group as administrator, she did not take on the title of teacher, although she had received much of Ann Ree’s and Jonathan’s mantles, and was qualified, through her own enlightenment that Jonathan recognized when he was alive, to be called a teacher. She preferred to not take that title, even while she did a great deal of teaching, bringing in new understanding and new ideas. (cf. History, below). Even while Ann Ree was alive, however, there were others who had positions of trust and responsibility. There was always a Board of Directors, elected by the group. There were and are persons ordained as Elders, and others ordained as Ministers. The Elders can serve the Sacrament of Communion and officiate at formal memorials for the dead; the Ministers can baptize and officiate at weddings, as well as performing the same functions as Elders. Students always called Ann Ree and Jonathan by their first names.

Niscience is headquartered in Glendale, California, with small groups, called Units, in other places. Each Unit has a senior moderator, an established and trusted member who oversees the Unit and often holds meetings in her/his home. Many senior moderators are Elders, and some are Ministers. Because they live at a distance, they do not hold positions on the Board.

The real heart of the ministry is in the weekly study group meeting, which is also called a Unit Meeting, even at the foundation headquarters. Niscience is a distributed ministry; all are encouraged to aspire to appointment as Elders and Ministers. Thus, there is training from the beginning. Any member in good standing (which includes tithing) can chair the Unit Meetings, and any member in good standing can serve at sabbath services, as well. There are two distinct forms of these. Every other Sunday there is a Family Chapel service, at which an ordained Minister always speaks, and another member, at whatever level, also speaks, on subjects of their choice, which must be run by the administrator. The serving on the altar is taken very seriously, and it is important not to offend the altar ethic through, for example, publicly attacking another member, which has been done. Sometimes the administrator does not prevent such a talk from being given, but leaves it up to God to correct the erring member. The other form of sabbath service is called a Devotional, and this always means reading specific material; three members, of any level, serve. There are other events held during the year, and they have their own formats.

There is also a daily-life structure: prayer and meditation four times a day, including a contemplation at the noon hour, a dusk meditation at that time, and other ways of meditating on arising and before sleep. Persons are encouraged to do this as single individuals if they are unmarried, as couples or as families otherwise. Thus, the children are given a deep spiritual grounding right away, but they are not pressured to take part if they don’t want to. Members are strongly encouraged to attend study and worship meetings, as well as other kinds of meetings from time to time. They are so encouraged because receiving of the support of their fellow disciples is an important part of moving forward on the path.

[edit] History

The Founder of Niscience, Ann Ree Colton, was born in 1898 in Georgia. She had a ministry in St. Petersburg, Florida, and ministered to thousands of persons. Eventually, not only was this ministry draining and unfulfilling, but also it was not her destiny to stay on the East Coast, but to go to California, where she would meet what the Ascended Masters called "the golden horde." In 1951, she met Jonathan Murro, who was 24 at the time, and was the first person to truly seek to serve her and her calling, as one of his ways of seeking to serve God. Ann Ree had been married before, and had two wonderful daughters, but Jonathan Murro was to remain her most loyal companion for the rest of her life, and, under her tutelage and mentorship, to become an enlightened spiritual teacher in his own right. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1927, to Jewish parents (“Murro” was not his birth name, it was a grace name, given to him by Ann Ree). He was a very gifted athlete, and was a professional ball player until an injury forced him to seek another life path. Since at core he was more a spiritual adept than an athlete, this fork in the road was fortuitous. As with many sincere spiritual seekers, he came to his teacher in great emotional distress. Ann Ree was ill during their initial meeting, but she graciously agreed to see this distraught young man, as she had been told by her spiritual guides to be alert to “one JM,” who was to play a significant part in her life.

Ann Ree and Jonathan made their way to California and were led by their spiritual guides to establish this initiatory school in Glendale, in Southern California. At first, it was rough going; sometimes Ann Ree became a little discouraged, but Jonathan was indefatigable in his encouragement and support. She would say, "What if there is no one there?", and Jonathan would answer, "I'll be there." And he was, making sure that Ann Ree was comfortable, setting up chairs, and preparing the recording devices so as not to lose a single golden word. Even when they just had meditations alone, he realized that Ann Ree was always teaching, and teaching new and exciting things, and that these words needed to be saved for future students of the work, and for posterity.

The first serious students were mostly women, many born in the 1920s or slightly earlier, and many had backgrounds in metaphysics or other unusual spiritual approaches. In Ann Ree they found someone they completely trusted. Ann Ree was a person of great love, the kind of love that few of us have ever experienced in another human being, such was her degree of enlightenment, evolvement, and virtue. She was fully enlightened, a recipient of revelation.

The system of Niscience was new. It was Ann Ree's responsibility to make sure that it was firmly rooted, and to this end she had guidelines in those days regarding the talks that the students would write and present at meetings--the quotations were to be from the Bible, or her writings. (Jonathan had not yet begun his own writing ministry.) This was to change later, as Niscience was meant to be a living, growing dharma. In the 1970s, Niscience received an influx of "baby boomers," young adults, mostly single, who may have tried out other paths or methods but found them wanting. They were looking for a serious path to enlightenment, one that put Jesus at its head.

By the 1980s many of the baby boomer students had married and started families. This was very important because Niscience was meant to be: a ministry training school; a Christ-centered ministry; a distributed ministry; and a spiritual community of householders. As such, it was really breaking new ground, because, although such a thing as a householder-disciple exists in India, there really has not been such a thing in the materialistic, agnostic West. There was much to learn and experience; for the students were called to a total dedication to their Path, the kind that is usually seen in monasteries or ashrams; while at the same time, they were encouraged to marry and to have children. They were encouraged in this because the next generation would benefit from being raised from birth in a Christ Dharma community.

Jonathan received what he sometimes called “the slap of enlightenment” in 1972; he graciously wrote about his experiences in his book God Realization Journal. By the time Ann Ree died in 1984, having suffered a stroke, at almost 86 years of age, Jonathan was well-established as a teacher to be respected, loved, and followed.

Several significant things happened at this time. Ann Ree and Jonathan had very different personalities and personal styles. They also emphasized different things in their teachings. Some of the older members, who had been with Ann Ree for a long time, were not happy with Jonathan’s leadership, for whatever reasons, and they left the work. Most of the young adults felt very loyal to Jonathan and felt especially supportive of him in light of his having lost Ann Ree, who was his wife as well as his teacher.

The size of the ministry was such that the buildings had become too small, and there was a need for a venue for various kinds of meetings and performances—the Niscience dance called pleasance, music programs, and so forth. Solely through the members’ offerings, without going into debt, a new building was financed, and this included the buying of more land as well. Jonathan did not live to see this building finished.

The spiritual practice of pilgrimage had always been a very important part of this ministry. The structure of Niscience started with a strong physical presence in the world through the foundation headquarters in Glendale, California, including a small church building, called The Chapel of the Jesus Ethic, a parsonage (a very small house for most of Ann Ree’s time there; later the students worked together to helped build a larger house, one that could also be used for various events), an office, and other buildings. In addition, there were and are smaller groups in the United States and abroad, most of whom hold weekly meetings in homes. Much of the pilgrimage activity under Jonathan’s leadership was to support members at a distance from the foundation, and everyone was encouraged to participate as much as possible in this. Members were to put a high priority on this, financially and in terms of their time.

In March of 1990, Jonathan Murro had a powerful dream about Mary, the mother of Jesus. In the dream he was levitating and she came to him and kissed his cheeks and forehead several times. This dream blessed the ministry so much that Jonathan and others started making pilgrimages to various Marian apparition sites, including: Lourdes; Garabandal, Spain; Knock, Ireland; Medjugorje, Bosnia; and others.

The most significant pilgrimage of all happened in autumn of 1997; many of the members made pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Egypt (including climbing Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments). Jonathan had set this in motion twelve years previously, but as with his other great accomplishment, the new building, he did not live to go on this journey.

In summer of 1985, a year after Ann Ree’s death, a woman moved to Glendale who had been a member at a distance for a year; Jonathan gave her the name Shonne Maria. She and Jonathan fell in love and married; she was in the Mary’s Kisses dream, as it came to be known, and, of course, she accompanied Jonathan on all of the pilgrimages.

Jonathan was very concerned about the American spiritual disease of incurring high levels of debt, and he saw this disease in his students. Where Ann Ree had regarded as investments three things—namely, buying a car, buying a house, and paying for an education—Jonathan felt that it was more a matter of faith in God’s ability and willingness to provide for our every need. Therefore, he taught his students not to go into debt for these things. This also included advising home-owning students to sell their homes unless they owned them outright. Some students decided that they didn’t like this teaching and left.

Starting in summer of 1990, a significant change occurred. A few students became unhappy and traveled some 400 miles to meet with an Eastern-philosophy teacher. Jonathan saw this as a breach of the student-teacher ethic, and became concerned about what it portended. These few students broke openly with the ministry in September of 1990, and from there they did their best to influence other students to leave, to denounce Jonathan (and Ann Ree), and to proclaim Niscience as a destructive cult. Many students left at this time.

Niscience has never appealed to the masses of people and has never regarded itself as needing validation through a large membership. It is an initiatory school, and does not attract people who are looking for an easy path. Ann Ree often used the phrase, “handful of God,” and she was happy with quality, not quantity. In addition, she and Jonathan took personal responsibility for their students’ karmas, which meant not taking on a large number of students.

Yet at this time the numbers decreased significantly. And Jonathan’s health suffered as well. In summer 1991 he began to suffer from debilitating back pain. He also suffered psychologically. In autumn 1991 he passed from this world, at the age of 64, apparently by his own hand, although there was and is controversy within the group about this. Many students at this time had very powerful dreams and meditation experiences that showed that this apparent suicide was not seen as such in the heaven worlds, but was seen as a martyrdom, an act of intentional suffering, a selfless act to bless the ministry and the world. Ann Ree often taught that the Jesus path was a path of intentional suffering, not often resulting in a martyr death, but some strong souls might take this on.

Immediately after Jonathan’s death, his widow, Shonne Maria, was formally ordained as a minister and took on the administration of Niscience.

Under Shonne Maria’s leadership, new ideas were brought in. She was very concerned with matters of social injustice, oppression, and the condition of the planet, and encouraged the students to do spiritual work for these problems. She did not take on the title of teacher. She encouraged the other members to grow and become empowered in an ethical way. She encouraged creativity and marital and family relationships by cutting down on the numbers of meetings held each week The practice of pilgrimage was not so much in the fore, although attending various kinds of workshops and seminars was encouraged by example. (These were workshops and seminars not connected with Niscience, but she saw their teachings as compatible and complementary.)

In September 1999, Shonne Maria resigned as administrator and moved to the Pacific Northwest. A long-time member and ordained minister, Enys Miller, was chosen by the group to be the new administrator and remains so to the present time (early 2007). The group is very happy with her leadership and is very harmonious. She came into Niscience at approximately age 20 and immediately impressed everyone; two years later she gave a well-received talk at the annual conference. She was ordained a minister in 1985, along with her husband, Gillian Miller, who has often been elected to positions of leadership on his own. They have two grown children, one of whom is a member in her own right.

A note about this. One of the things about understanding the genesis-levels of human consciousness and reincarnation is a deep acceptance of one’s children as souls with their own soul-covenants. It may not be in their soul-agreements to be part of this teaching; thus, there is a great deal of detachment about whether or not a child born into Niscience will choose to be there as an adult. The children born into the group are greatly loved and are always welcomed back with open hearts and arms.