Thanks. This is beautiful. I admire the guy a lot too. It's way utopian and incredibly virtuous what he is doing. -Doug in FF
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer" <r...@...> wrote: > > This letter was read out by a young Australian sidha on the occasion of > Howard Settle's birthday. He and his father recently came to Fairfield to > join the Invincible America Course for 6 months. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Letter To Howard Settle > My name is Jamie and I've been here on the IA course for 2 weeks with my dad > Geoff, and while it's Maharishi's birthday today I would like to pay a > little tribute to Howard Settle, also on his birthday > What you have done to promote rising world consciousness is probably without > parallel in modern times. But I would like to put a personal face to the > sponsorship you provide on the IA course. > Our family lives on the Gold Coast - the tourism capital of the Australia. > Mum and Dad have been sidhas for over 30 years and I learnt about 3 years > ago, and my sister Penny learnt a little over a year ago. She saw such > changes in me that she fast tracked plans to do the CIC course herself. A > few months, after having learnt, Penny took advantage of your generous and > insightful offer of sponsorship for the IA course. She resigned from work > and signed on for 3 months of the course. > After settling in, she began to have some lovely experiences both in and out > of programme, and was truly inspired by the quality of the people her own > age that she met here. They seemed generally happy and friendly; there was a > calmness and integrity about them. > She loved being at MUM, with out a doubt it was the best time of her life, > and at the end of the 3 months she didn't want to leave. On one occasion she > emailed home a quote from Maharishi that went something like "all your > parents really want to know is that you are happy" and Penny added, "mum and > dad - I am happy!" > The other major development for Penny whilst at MUM and after being exposed > to Maharishi's knowledge was that for the first time in her life she knew > exactly what she wanted to do. She always wanted to help people at the grass > roots level, and becoming a TM teacher just clearly stood out as the path > she wanted to follow. > While at MUM, Penny frequently tried to inspire us to come over.and I was > the first to respond. For 9 years I had worked at Billabong, the world's > biggest and most successful surf-wear company. I managed product design > there for the men's accessories ranges. There was a lot of interstate and > overseas travel, range releases, PR work and long hours involved in the job. > There was no doubt I had a rosy career ahead of me, but I wanted more from > life than work alone could offer. > I had experienced Guru Purnima in Vlodrop, July 2008, which I found > unforgettable. But the thing that really clinched it for me were these > words from Penny, "Jamie, if you come over here - you will never want to > leave." So I resigned from work, staying long enough to train a successor, > and signed on for 6 months of the IA course. Just to put that decision into > perspective, I was the type of person who put his heart and soul into his > job, but on a fateful drive down to Byron with my girlfriend Gab, it was > like when Maharishi was explaining his announcement to start the global > Spiritual Regeneration Movement.the idea just 'popped into his head'. It > was like God sent down a lightning bolt saying 'now is the time for change", > and I just blurted out mid sentence that I was going to do this course at > the end of the year.and we both spontaneously started crying with joy. It > was one of those days you never forget. > After the IA course, Penny spent 3 months working on Mother Divine in > Vlodrop and then returned home. When Penny arrived back in Australia, we all > noticed what a life changing experience she had been through. She was > stronger, more one pointed and self-sufficient, yet relaxed and laughed > freely. We found ourselves going to her for advice quite often. She > continued working on Mum and Dad to go to MUM. > One of their responsibilities was caring for dad's 96 year old grandmother > who, incidentally, does TM. They had ruled out MUM so long as she was alive, > but Penny offered to move in and help look after Gran so dad could come over > and do the IA course with me, then after 3 months, all going well, Mum and > Dad would swap places. Mum would join me for 3 months and Penny would help > Dad hold down the fort back home. Eventually, after Mum and I return, Penny > will come back over to do TTC. > On a personal note.I don't know why but I've always felt that I was going to > be and do something great in the world, and while at this exact point in > time I don't know exactly what that is, I do know that this next 6 months on > the inward stroke on the IA course will be the perfect springboard back into > dynamism into the relative world. > So, Howard, as you can see your generous sponsorship has triggered massive > changes in our family, and I'm sure this is not an isolated case. > Thanks to you, Howard, we are now all unemployed.but happy.with a big > underline under happy. > So, from the Knapp family, we are proud to be able to wish you a truly > 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' to a man whose birth was a great blessing to all mankind. > Jai Guru Dev, > Jamie Knapp >
