Theatre of the Mind Podcast Episodes

Kelly Howell: Welcome to Theater of the Mind. Your host Kelly Howell. In a few minutes we are going to hear from Richard Lawrence. He has been a psychic healer and teacher for over 25 years. And we will be talking about his book, 'Realize Your Inner Potential', which has exercises to change your karma, cultivate kundalini, and techniques for increasing personal magnetism.

In the show, he is going to guide us through the Practice of the Presence, which is actually a wonderful technique for cleansing and replenishing your energy field. And speaking of kundalini, we are getting great reports on my "Awakening Kundalini" program. If you are interested in exploring it more in your meditation practice, I have a CD to download that you can get at www.brainsync.com. Here we go with the interview.

Welcome to the show, Richard. I am really happy that you are able to be here today.
Richard Lawrence: It is a real pleasure to be here, Kelly.
Kelly: So I thought we could start with you talking a little bit about yourself and what you do. I am very curious about George King and your relationship with him too.
Richard: Well, George King was a truly remarkable man. Obviously he is still very much alive, but he passed on physically in 1997. I had the privilege to come across him when I was at University, over 30 years ago, and study under him. He was a real genuine master of yoga, many branches of yoga actually, including kundalini yoga, and raja yoga. And he taught me. He was also a channel for communications from other planets. He was a genuine transmission channel, using a state called 'samadhi'.

I could talk about him for ever, Kelly, there is no begining, no end. But he was a most wonderful man, and I had the privilege to coauthor his two last books, 'Contacts of the Gods from Space', and 'Realize Your Inner Potential'.
Kelly: Are you still in contact with him now?
Richard: I am not receiving messages from him, but I and others are very much aware of his presence, particularly his presence around the Aetherius Society, which is the organization he founded.
Kelly: So you studied with him for how many years?
Richard: Well I studied with him from personally I got to know him and started working professionally for him in 1978. So it was almost 30 years up to his passing, that I was actually working for him. Then we became very close friends, though he was always the master and I was always a student.
Kelly: Well I read in the preface of the book, where there is little section where he wrote about his early youth, how he started healing people at the age of 10, and he did 10 hours a day of yoga practices. He had also talked about astral projection, he did that. He sounded like a real, true mystic.
Richard: He was, and he was doing it at a time when it was not fashionable. It was very controversial, especially in England, in the 1940s and 1950s, very conservative over here. He came from a family, his mother was psychic, his grandmother was a medium. He had that background.

He took out, as you rightly say, the practice of yoga of course yoga is misunderstood today, because most people think it is just about keeping fit. But the other branches of yoga, nali yoga, raja yoga, bhakti yoga, karma yoga above all. He practiced these, as you rightly say, about eight hours a day for 10 years. He did achieve a very elevated state of consciousness. Hence, he could be used as a channel for cosmic intelligence. These wonderful beings, beings like the Master Jesus, and others.
Kelly: The book that 'Realize Your Inner Potential' offers techniques that he transmitted to you or his students.
Richard: That's right. It is a collection of over 30 exercises. Some of them very simple, like to help you with eating, with traveling, with drinking, all the way through to, what I regard, as the most advanced spiritual exercises you could get anywhere, namely, kundalini visualizations. Kundalini is something, nowadays, that many people talk about, but it has to be carefully understood and safely practiced.
Kelly: So do you offer kundalini exercises in that book?
Richard: We do. We offer kundalini visualizations. We don't offer any exercises that support the kundalini, because that could be very dangerous. There are a lot of teachers over here, I don't know over there, Kelly, whether the same is true or not. There are teachers here, very well meaning ones, who are not fully qualified, really to be honest, to be putting out some of these practices, because they can be dangerous if they are not done correctly.

But on the other hand the exercises in 'Realize Your Inner Potential' are completely safe. That is the key thing, to follow the guidelines. It is not for everyone, but if you decide to go down that road, it is also included in the book. But also, I want to stress, there are some very simple things that everyone can do, to help them in their daily life, to have a more positive outlook, have greater inner peace, to serve others through spending energy, through prayers and so forth.
Kelly: It is a beautiful book. I like a lot of the practices that you are having there. I was hoping that at the end of the show, you could actually guide us through one of them.
Richard: I would love to do that.
Kelly: Great! So in the book, you cover a lot of different areas. What jumped out at me was, personal magnetism. But I would like to hear what your definition of it is, and the techniques that you suggest to develop it.
Richard: I think that one of the sort of themes that I would like to stress, that is running all the way through the book, and through all the teachings actually, that Dr King does, is the importance of service. Whether it be in psychic development, whether it be in personal magnetism, or anything else, if it is done for the motive of serving others, then it is a good thing. If you just set out to develop your personal magnetism or your charisma, to have control over other people, or to serve your own interest, of course, or even if you develop psychic powers for your gain and benefit, it wouldn't be a good thing.

So the motive is crucial. But personal magnetism is a wonderful thing actually, something we can all develop. It doesn't mean that you got to change your personality at all. You might be a quiet person, you might be very calm person. You can still have immense charisma. A lot of personal magnetism of a certain kind when a person is in your presence. And of course, this helps everybody and everything, all life, animals included, all plant life that you come in contact with. The greater your personal magnetism, but providing your motive is one of love and service, the greater for all life.
Kelly: And you offer techniques to develop them.
Richard: Absolutely. The core techniques that we would recommend and we teach, and these are taught not just here in this country. They are taught in America, in California, in Michigan, in New Zealand and Australia, and Africa and other parts of Europe. The core principles for enhancing personal magnetism would be breathing exercises. which is known as pranayama, in yoga, very powerful and very good for you. Extremely beneficial for you in your concentration and in many other ways.

And also mantra, we strongly recommend mantra, and give several or five mantras, actually, are given in that book. By the way there is a DVD to go with that book as well. People prefer to view it and see the exercises demonstrated, and they can get the DVD, either in this country or in America or in another country.
Kelly: I really liked what you said in beginning of the book. So often you measure consciousness by what we think and feel. But ultimately it really is about what we are doing, the actions that we take. There's so many amazing tools and techniques and practices available to us now. You need to practice them.
Richard: It is so true. And so many people feel disempowered, they feel they can't do much to make a difference. Everyone can make a difference. Everyone can heal. Everyone can pray. Everyone can send energy over a distance, and it will effect others. You just don't know how much you might be doing. And of course, karma, being what it is, what goes around, comes around. So it is going to be very, very good for you too.
Kelly: Yes, I think that probably is one of the greatest hurdles for people. So often we have to wait until something terrible happens, and we are absolutely desperate to take up a meditation practice or to just practicing these things.
Richard: You are so right there, Kelly. I have run a lot of workshops and retreats and so on. Quite a few people who come to them, not all by any means, but quite a few people who come on them, have discovered the path to enlightenment through suffering. It is not necessary to do it through suffering. I want to stress this. It is not essential at all.

But often people go on through life until... I have lost count of the number of people who have told me that their illness was a turning point for them. By being put in that position, they were forced to stop, forced to think, forced to reflect. Then their life took on a whole new direction which brought them great joy and meaning.
Kelly: Uhhuh. Yes, I got into the work that I do after a series of crises. So you offer a lot of techniques that are, what, take 15 minutes a day?
Richard: Yes, if you can spend 15 minutes a day, it would be a good minimum. Then you get great benefit. It does vary, somebody might only want to spend 15 minutes twice a week, others might spend an hour a day. What I would say is, try and make it a regular part of your life.

There is absolutely no validity to say, I haven't got time. Because if you do these practices, and I am sure you will agree, Kelly, you will save time. Because your intuition will become more developed, your decisionmaking will become better, you will waste far less time on superfluous activities. You will realize there is various other things you don't need to be doing. Your life will be directed from within.
Kelly: You increase your magnetism, so you draw things to you that you need. And yes, saves a lot of time, right?
Richard: Absolutely. You know people better. You will be able to make better judgments about people, and who to spend time with, and where you are going, and how genuine people are being with you.
Kelly: So let's switch gears here a little bit. You have written a book about having to do with UFOs.
Richard: That's right. The book that I wrote, coauthored there with George King. It was called 'Contacts with the Gods from Space'. That describes the fact that, through history, there have been contacts with alien beings, with godlike beings, and these have been quite well recorded. I mean, the Bible is a very good source, the Hindu scriptures are a very good source, the Greek legends. There is nothing new in this.

But Dr. George King, himself, from 1954 to 1997, received hundreds of communications, some of which are published in the book, which are very practical and very, very life affirming and will help people to really make a difference in the world. That book is the one I am the most proud of all, I thing.
Kelly: Is the Aetherius one of these beings?
Richard: The Master Aetherius, as we call him, is certainly one of them. Aetherius is not his real name, it is a pseudonym, it is one who travels through the ether of space. But he, we believe, comes from Venus. The planets within our Solar System are inhabitable.

I actually gave an interview over here, with our chief scientist in this country, and he agreed with me actually. I shouldn't say our chief scientist, I should say our chief astronomer, he is know here as the Astronomer Royal. We have a royal family here, as you know.

He actually agreed with me. We must open our minds now to the possibility of life on Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn. Planets, just because they cannot sustain life as we know it, because we can't live there, it doesn't mean there aren't higher beings inhabiting those planets. That's not a new idea. That was in Theosophy, Madame Blavatsky..
Kelly: Well there is so much in Physics, they talk about all the different dimensions, and parallel universes and just because with our eyes we see a barren planet, maybe in another dimension, it would be a lush, very inhabitable place.
Richard: Thank you, you put it better than I did. The Aetherius is actually from Venus, and he has given some wonderful practices and teachings actually.
Kelly: Can you share with us some of the practices.
Richard: Oh yes, I can share one secret practice which he introduced, which is called the Practice of the Presence. I think people can join us. Would that be the best way to do it, Kelly, as I speak?
Kelly: That would be wonderful, yes.
Richard: If you wish to join in with this practice, the Practice of the Presence. Be seated on a hardbacked chair. Make sure you are not driving a car or doing anything dangerous.

Just place your left hand above the navel and your right hand on top. So you are now covering the solar plexus center with the palms of your hands. And then visualize a white light coming down. Imagine a white light coming down now from above your head, through your head, through the neck, the shoulders, and then take it a few inches in front of the point opposite where the breastbone meets, which is the heart chakra.

Now, visualize from beneath your feet, a violet colored flame, the color of a violet flower, and bring this flame up, it isn't burning, but it's gentle caressing energy that comes through and around you and often into your heart's center. So you have the white light and the violet flames now, joined together in the heart center, or heart chakra.

Now, visualize just above your head, a golden sphere like a miniature sun. Take the white light, and the violet flames together, upwards, through the head, and above the head, and into this golden sphere. Now, finally bring down from the golden sphere like gentle rain, a golden ray of light through and around the whole of your body, and your aura several inches around you.

You are bathed in this golden light, just for a few moments. And that is a Practice of the Presence and you can do that regularly. It will cleanse you, it will protect you. You can use it, when you feel you have been in a difficult situation, perhaps, or on a busy day, you want to replenish yourself or even at the end of a meditation.

It is a wonderful practice and it will certainly enhance the vibrations in your aura. Don't forget this heart center is a few inches opposite the point where the breastbones meet.
Kelly: So it is in front of your body, out from your body?
Richard: It's in front of the body, in the aura, actually. About six inches in front of the body.
Kelly: OK. Oh, I like that.
Richard: It is a wonderful practice, Kelly.
Kelly: You kind of went away for a minute there. So, yes, it is a great practice.
Richard: I really recommend that. It is one I personally use, pretty well every day, very regularly, sometimes more than every day.
Kelly: It is called the?
Richard: Practice of the Presence.
Kelly: Beautiful!
Richard: If people want to get more information about the Master Aetherius, and the Aetherius Society, there is a website, www.aetherius.org. Sorry, I wasn't meant to give that now, but since we were talking about Aetherius.
Kelly: Oh no. Sure it is great to give it.
Richard: That website will tell you and there's also phone numbers there as well.
Kelly: That's great. Do you have practices on the website too?
Richard: There are exercises on the website, and different teachings. They are not actually up on the website at the moment. You can be directed to places where you can find them.
Kelly: Richard, is anybody teaching astral projection?
Richard: I am sure there are people teaching astral projection. I don't know such a teacher at the moment. It's something I wouldn't particularly recommend. I have done it myself. Have you done it, Kelly?
Kelly: [laughs] I was experimenting with it, and I had a very weird experience. I wasn't really ready, I was just reading about it, and I felt the presence of a guide. Do you remember, I don't know if you have read Paul Twitchell and the Eckankar. Did you read anything about Eckankar? Anyway I was reading one of those books.
Richard: He wrote a lot about astral projections.
Kelly: Right. He was talking about Rebazar Tarzs, spirit guide, and I was reading and I just kind of felt his presence in the room. I must have been about 16 or 17, something like that. And then suddenly I felt myself being pulled out of my body, and it scared me. So I never really went back there, I had to hang on to the bed. I was holding on really hard.
Richard: I think that it is not a game. Again, it is an area that can be quite irresponsible. In a couple of my books, I have mentioned astral projection, or outofbody experiences, because they happen naturally to people, and I had some fantastic experiences, outofbody, I must say. Although, it is not a very easy things to do. One of the most difficult things, possibly the most difficult thing I have ever done, get out of the body, when I wanted to. So I wouldn't particularly recommend it, because people could panic and so forth.

What may happen and in fact, does happen to millions of people, is you go to bed at night, and you suddenly see yourself floating out of your body. You look down and you can see your body in the bed. If you can remain in a very alert, meditative or concentrated state, at that point, instead of just drifting off to sleep, then you can fly, and you might be able to determine your destination.

Or you might, as in your case, and it is certainly true of me too, be with a guide. For example, on the occasions I don't want to give the impression I have done this hundreds of times, because I haven't, but I have done it on a few occasions. Certainly when there is a guide, they might take somewhere where you can help others on the other realms. So that happened to me several times.
Kelly: So it isn't easy to do. Because later on, I went back and tried to do it, and had the discipline and I was practicing, but I think I had so much fear from the original experience, [laughs] that I just didn't do it.
Richard: It is quite common, you know. People go out of body and think, will I ever get back in again. So you want to be very careful with it and it is not something, rather like the kundalini, it is an area you got to really understand it properly and know what you are doing. And I would rather recommend to people to go with the flow, if it starts to happen to you.

If you take up a serious program of spiritual development, then it will just naturally start to happen. You will become more aware of your dreams, and there can be an overlap between what appears to be a dream and what is actually an outofbody experience.

Sometimes you had a dream, which wasn't a dream, it was a real experience. You met someone, a loved one, perhaps, who had died, in your dream. And it wasn't a dream at all, and information is exchange, absolutely patanjali. You know patanjali, you can always meditate in your dream. Even as you enter other states of consciousness, if you can remain focused. Whereas, when you go to sleep, so often you lose that focus, that is the problem.
Kelly: Well Richard, how can people get in touch with you? Tell us about your websites, and your workshops, and you got a center in London.
Richard: Yes, if they go to my website, they want to get in touch with me, I would be happy to answer any questions anyone has. It is very simple, it's just www.richardlawrence.co.uk. They can get in touch, if they live in America, we have a free phone number, that's the Aetherius Society over there which publishes these books, that's 18008001354.

And if you phone that, just mention my name, they will know me there, and they will be very happy to talk to you on that phone number which is based in Los Angeles. And indeed you will be very welcome to contact us here in London as well.

We have yet another website over here, which is www.innerpotential.org. And I run retreats as well over here. We have people flying in actually next week from America and from other countries as well, for these retreats. We run them in a beautiful old stately home in the UK.

So if you are interested in a retreat for several days, also give us a call, or contact us through my website and we would be very happy to talk to you. If you are in England, of course our number is 02077364187. I should have said that, Britain, not England.
Kelly: Well, Richard, thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Richard: Oh, it has been a real pleasure, Kelly.
Kelly: Theater of the Mind will be going live on Voice of America Internet Radio starting in October. Don't worry, we will still be posting podcasts at kellyhowell.com. I will keep you posted on the broadcast times as we get closer, and during shows you will be able to call an 800 number and speak with our guest and me directly.

So this is really exciting news and don't forget, if you have any suggestions for show topics or guests that you would like to speak with, we are here. Email me at, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . [laughs]

Until next time, be well.

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