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Here is the result of thorough investigation into the persona of James
Tyman. The first part is a message from David Sunfellow at www.nhne.com
and the second part is the actual investigative report, taken from the
URL to sources.
Be informed.
Jimmy
Twyman, Emissary of What?
Jimmy Twyman, author of Emissary of Light, is once again inserting himself
into international politics. This time, his efforts revolve around creating
an online petition to encourage the Pope, the Dalai Lama, and other spiritual
leaders to go to Baghdad as human shields. According to a letter from
Twyman that is currently making the rounds on the Internet, 100,000 people
have been contacted in the hopes of producing a million petition signatures
by March 18th. Twyman promises to forward the names his website collects
to the Pope, the Dalai Lama, and George Bush every day. He also intends
to deliver the petition in person.
While I think efforts to get world leaders, especially spiritual leaders
like the Pope and Dalai Lama, to descend on Baghdad as human shields,
are truly inspired, I need to issue a word of caution with respect to
Jimmy Twyman.
If you are not aware of anything negative about who Jimmy Twyman is, or
what he has said and done in the past, we published a Special Report on
him several years ago:
Emissary of Light: http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/sremissary.html
Twyman, to cut to the chase, has a long history of using international
crises to promote some far-fetched claims and self-serving agendas --
chief among them, that he is the handpicked "emissary" of a
group of 13 ascended masters who chose him and then left the Earth.
In 1997, I reported how Sun Myung Moon used a similar method to promote
himself and his teachings. One of Moon's publication houses, Paragon House,
published a book called World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred
Texts. Moon attempted to present himself as a Messiah and give his movement
and spiritual teachings greater credibility (and visibility) by including
them in an authoritative volume that gathered together the world's great
religions. I thought this was particularly underhanded:
MORE ABOUT REVEREND MOON.
http://www.nhne.com/smorgasbord/smorgasbord0004.html
In Twyman's case, I think it is important to know that his efforts to
encourage spiritual leaders to go to Baghdad (and to thrust himself in
the middle of this effort as a representative of millions of people who
may not know anything about him) did not arise out of thin air. They are,
instead, a part of a much larger drama that continually casts and recasts
Twyman in the central role of a divinely-chosen messenger.
While I personally feel Jimmy Twyman has every right to promote his work,
claims, and philosophies to draw people to his brand of spiritual development,
I feel obligated to warn those who may hear about Twyman's current effort.
They can support the movement to get authentic spiritual leaders to Baghdad
without lending credibility to Twyman -- or worse, threatening the credibility
of the movement as a whole by choosing a fellow like Jimmy Twyman to be
their spokesperson.
How?
Since the idea originated with two other people, Dr. Helen Caldicott and
Deepak Chopra, why not keep the focus on them, and encourage folks to
contact the Pope and Dalai Lama directly?
TO CONTACT THE POPE:
Contact Vatican via email: <accreditamenti@pressva.va>
Phone from USA: 011-39-06-69-82 Phone from other countries: 011-39-06-69-82.
Replace the 011 prefix with your appropriate international prefix. Fax
from USA: 011-39-06698-85378
Fax from other countries: 011-39-06698-85378. Replace the 011 prefix with
your appropriate international prefix.
..........
TO CONTACT THE DALAI LAMA:
The Office of Tibet
Tibet House, 1 Culworth Street
London NW8 7AF
Email:<info@tibet.com>
Phone: 0044-20-7722 5378 Fax: 0044-20-7722 0362
(Following is an excerpt of the report on the investigation taken from
this website.)
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/sremissary.html
Special thanks to NHNE SwiftWing Reporter Sherry Stultz for help researching
this report, James Gregory, D. Patrick Miller, Robert Perry, Adam Furst
and Val Scott for providing valuable contacts, information and feedback,
Hagit Raanan for serving as a bridge between Twyman and myself while Twyman
was in Israel, and to Twyman's editor, Colleen Kapklein, for managing
to get all my/our letters to Twyman, who does not yet have direct personal
access to the Internet. The perspectives presented in this special report
are my own and may or may not be shared by the people listed above.
Patterns of Deception
Emissary of Light, a book by James F. Twyman, arrived in our mailbox in
November of 1997. A letter from Colleen Kapklein, Twyman's editor, introduced
the book. According to Kapklein, "of all the books I've edited, none
has had a more profound impact on me personally." Kapklein mentioned
that the author of the book had faced harrowing adventures in the war
zone of Bosnia and Croatia and that the book itself contained a message
"that the world desperately needs to hear."
The jacket of the book was more direct, "James Twyman, a traveling
troubadour, would risk his life to sing prayers of peace. But with the
violence of Bosnia raging all around him, he made a journey to a secluded
mountainous area. There he met a mystical community known as the Emissaries
of Light, a secret society said to have existed for thousands of years,
dedicated to the eternal flame of peace and the banishment of fear and
mistrust from the world."
Over the years, I have encountered numerous authors, spiritual teachers
and supposed masters who presented tales similar to Twyman's. Typically,
the person in question meets a highly-evolved group of spiritual masters,
or a representative of such a group. It is a secret society/brotherhood
that the public at large knows nothing about. The initial encounter is
unexpected and there are usually no witnesses. After this first meeting,
a process of initiation begins and the person is taught the secret teachings
of the brotherhood, which the brotherhood has practiced and safeguarded
for ages. To bolster its claim of spiritual mastership, the brotherhood
often demonstrates various powers and passes at least some of these powers
on to their new student. Often, the training takes place over weeks, months,
years, at the group's home base which is located in a remote, inaccessible
location that cannot be seen, detected, or located by non-group members.
At some point during the initiation process, the new initiate is told
that they have been chosen for a special mission: to learn the ways of
the secret brotherhood and then share these great teachings with the world.
Usually, these stories also include dire warnings: humanity is on the
verge of annihilation and if we do not change our ways and learn to live
as the secret brotherhood teaches, we are lost. Finally, after receiving
his/her training and passing various tests, the newly-appointed initiate
emerges. Having been handpicked out of all the other souls on the planet,
the new initiate begins telling others about their adventure, coveted
knowledge and special calling. A devout circle of believers/followers
hears the initiate, and responds to his/her call. Empowered and emboldened
by the support of others, the messenger and his group now begins a concerted
effort to change the world by spreading and practicing the messenger's
teaching.
To date, not one story like this I have ever heard has turned out to be
true, nor have the champions of such stories been able to prove themselves
authentic messengers of God. If the story itself is not proven false which
is often difficult to do since physical evidence is usually absent), then
the prophetic messenger eventually succumbs to the kind of character flaws
that spawned the story in the first place -- lies, abuse of power, sexual
indiscretions, underhanded financial dealings, slight-of-hand with respect
to supposed powers, plagiarism, and other moral failures. The darker aspects
of these self-appointed prophets, in other words, eventually catch up
with them -- even though it may take years, sometimes decades or even
centuries for this information to become public knowledge. Character flaws,
of course, are not limited to deluded seekers. But whereas authentic spiritual
figures wrestle with these flaws in the open, admitting their weaknesses
and striving to overcome them, their misguided counterparts go to great
lengths to hide their flaws behind carefully crafted spiritual personas.
It is also important to note that NONE of humanity's authentic religious
leaders ever claimed to be representatives of a secret society or brotherhood.
The Jesus, Buddha, St. Francis, Joan of Arc, Dalai Lama's of history all
lived their lives in the open, drawing their message and support from
the religious traditions of their day and their inner connection with
the divine, rather than claiming to be representatives of a secret brotherhood
that none of their contemporaries knew anything about.
Twyman's story matches the bogus archetype outlined above: The Emissaries
of Light he encounters are composed of six men, six women, and a central "Teacher" figure. They are unknown to the world at large and
cannot be visited unless you have been mysteriously drawn to them. They
are guardians of the race, who have a special message that the world is
on the verge of a major awakening. That special message is passed on to
Twyman, who has been hand-picked, out of all the people on planet Earth,
to represent them and share their message with humanity. They have incredible
powers, and not only demonstrate their powers in Twyman's book, but also
teach Twyman how to access some of them Twyman is able to effortlessly
meditate 12 hours a day, see colors and energy fields, experience mystical
states of consciousness, and read minds). The Emissaries of Light are
so advanced, in fact, that all 13 of them are able to physically move
in and out of this dimension, at will -- which they do in Twyman's story,
after he has been anointed as their chosen messenger. This last talent,
of course, is unparalleled in human history. Not even Jesus Christ and
his twelve disciples were able to accomplish a similar feat -- Christ
reportedly mastered this talent, but his disciples did not.
According to numerous passages in Twyman's book, his story is a true story.
It is not an allegorical tale like the Celestine Prophecy, not a novel,
not a fictional account. It is, as Twyman himself writes, "the true
story of an incredible adventure." Indeed, the book repeatedly dwells
on this point, discussing Twyman's fear and confusion at being chosen
as the Emissaries messenger and reassuring the reader, through various
comments, that Twyman wouldn't lie, or make up such a story.
Anyone who has studied human history knows that "true stories" have far more power to motivate people than fantasies. While people love
and appreciate novels, fairy tales, and allegories, they don't believe
fairy god mothers are going to turn mice into horses and pumpkins into
coaches. They understand that not all aspects of a fictional story can
be literally applied in the real world. But true stories are another matter.
True stories, by definition, mean that the events, the philosophies, the
practices that are presented have been applied in the real world. Because
they have been applied in the world by the characters in the story, they
can also be applied by us with similar results. And Twyman's story, presented
as a true account, says that personal and planetary transformation can
be achieved by adopting the philosophy and practicing the techniques taught
by his high-powered society of adepts.
Significantly, Twyman admits in his book that his success as a musician
and author, as well as his appearances before large crowds, was very limited
before Emissary of Light was written. But now, using his book and self-proclaimed
status as a messenger of a secret society to bolster his status and spread
his particular version of spiritual truth and enlightenment, all aspects
of Twyman's work are in overdrive: concerts, interviews, workshops, prayer
vigils, movie possibilities, even opportunities to play politics in the
real world.
Twyman gives credit for his success to the Emissaries. "Humanity
is ready for this message," Twyman is told by "Teacher",
the leader of the Emissaries, who also happens to be his mentor. "They
will believe you, I assure you. They want to believe in the Emissaries
of Light."
And believe him they have. Not only was Twyman able to find an editor
and publisher who believed his story enough to publish it, but Twyman
also says thousands of people from all over the world have read his book
and written appreciative letters. "The book helped them to identify
what was resonating inside them already," reports Twyman. "My
attempt with this has not been to present something that is new... but
to bring out the truth that is already there."
But is any of this real?
Visions of Grandeur
As soon as Twyman's book arrived, I contacted a few well-connected people
involved in A Course in Miracles. "The Course", as it is called,
is a three-volume set of books that claims to have been authored by Jesus
Christ through a Jewish psychologist named Helen Schucman. It is also
the primary spiritual teaching which Twyman mentions in his book, and
which The Emissary's philosophy is suspiciously similar to. I asked these
people to pass on any information they might have concerning Twyman and
his extraordinary claims. And then I put it all on the back burner. I
hoped the book wouldn't catch on and Twyman wouldn't generate enough public
interest to warrant any attention from us.
Then the US/Iraq crisis developed and Twyman emerged in the middle of
it claiming that he had been personally invited to Iraq by Saddam Hussein
and that his efforts had helped end the crisis. A news release that was
widely circulated on the Internet boldly declared:
"Twyman, who was invited to Iraq by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein,
performed three Peace Concerts in Baghdad, during which he sang the Peace
Prayers of the world's twelve major religions to music he composed. Twyman
was notified by a top government official that Hussein stopped what he
was doing on Thursday, February 19th to watch and pray with a re-broadcast
of one of the Peace Concerts which was aired at the same time that people
all over the world were praying for peace."
In yet another press release, Twyman added:
"I was being used by the Iraqi government... But we had the same
goal: to avoid this terrible war. I was given permission to sing the Muslim
prayer for peace to Saddam Hussein and I wanted the world to join us in
this prayer. Hundreds of thousands of people over the world participated,
and when it was complete, I felt a profound shift in the energy of that
whole region. Three days later, a peace agreement was signed, something
which seemed impossible before the prayer vigil began."
Although Twyman's claims were becoming increasingly grand, I still hesitated
to pursue this story. And then he launched The Great Experiment, which
not only sought to change the world overnight through the power of collective
prayer, but also wed his claims of being a hand-picked messenger of the
Emissaries with his efforts to help shift human consciousness. Claiming
to be in personal contact with the central figure of his story, "Teacher",
Twyman issued the following press release: Welcome to "The Great
Experiment"
In the summer of 1995 I discovered an amazing secret in the mountains
along the border of Bosnia and Croatia. The Emissaries of Light had a
message for the world, a message they had been waiting to give us for
a very long time. These messengers of peace, lightworkers of the highest
order, were holding a vision of humanity that we were afraid to look at
ourselves. Until now!
They told me to tell the world that the time has come to remember who
we are -- how holy we are, and that we have within us the power to create
any experience or world that we want to create. The world of fear is the
result of a world that is afraid to remember that holiness. But now, something
new is being born. Love itself! A world is ready to be born that reflects
the truth of our nature, not the illusion. The message of the Emissaries
was simple, and as I sat with them in the mountains of Bosnia I was told
to proclaim it to the world.
"Just tell them they're ready," Teacher said.
"Ready for what?"
"Humanity is ready to remember the truth -- that each on of us had
the power to create a world based on the laws of love. You have been afraid
to face that power for a very long time. But everything has changed now.
You're ready to accept the holiness and the power that defines who you
are. If enough people join together in that strength then the world will
never be the same. It can happen in an instant. In fact, that's the only
way it can happen. The instant of humanities awakening to the light is
now! That's what we want you tot tell the world."
The book "Emissary of Light" describes the journey into the
mountains of Bosnia to receive this message. But the story is not complete
until we act upon it. We are not finished until we accept our readiness
and step into the world we were meant to experience. Ancient cultures
have pointed to this moment in history as the "great time of awakening." This is the moment we say yes to truth, to live and to holiness itself.
Hence: "The Great Experiment." It is time we stand together
and accept what the saints and sages have always told us. And science
stands with us, for we are one in this venture. On April 23rd the world
will shift and we will accept what has always been true -- that our holiness
has never been compromised by this silly dream of separation. This is
the moment you have been waiting for. This is the time of the return.
Tell everyone you know. Pass this message around in every way possible.
We must stand together in this venture if it is to have the impact we
desire. What do we desire? We want nothing less than to change the world
in an instant. Is this possible? I believe it's inevitable, but only if
we accept our readiness, and accept it NOW!
Participate in "The Great Experiment."
In Light and Holiness, James F. Twyman April 8, 1998
Did the world "shift" on April 23rd as Twyman predicted; did
humanity awaken in an instant? Unfortunately, no. But Twyman did manage
to expose himself and his message to thousands of people all over the
world through the power of the Internet. It also became obvious that Twyman
wasn't going to fade away. Indeed, not only was he actively seeking to
interject himself and his message into the real world, but a growing number
of people were beginning to believe his Emissary of Light story and regard
him as the divine messenger he claimed to be. Unable to ignore Twyman
anymore, and receiving an increasing number of letters from people who
wanted to know what we thought of him and why we hadn't been more supportive
of his efforts, we launched an investigation.
The Real Story
We contacted the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, D.C., the Iraqi Mission
at the United Nations, Twyman's editor, people who attended Twyman's UN-related
Great Experiment Peace Concert/Meditation, more Course people, and people
who knew Twyman personally, including an old acquaintance who had read
an early version of Twyman's book. We also set things in motion to speak
to Twyman himself. What emerges from all of these communications (many
of which are included in the second part of this report) seriously challenges
the most important aspects of Twyman's Emissary of Light story. It also
calls into question Twyman's dramatic claims concerning global politics.
Twyman was first introduced to A Course In Miracles through a controversial
community called ENDEAVOR ACADEMY. He refers to this community in his
book, but, significantly, does not mention it by name. Started by Chuck
Anderson, a former real estate broker and recovered alcoholic, ENDEAVOR
ACADEMY is widely regarded as a full-fledged cult in most Course circles.
Among other things, ENDEAVOR ACADEMY, about 200 people strong at their
headquarters in Wisconsin, regard Anderson as a fully-realized being.
Referred to as "The Master Teacher" or "MT", Anderson
exerts god-like powers over his followers, many of whom have given up
everything they own to the community. Members are expected to obey MT
without question and there are numerous reports of physical violence being
perpetrated on members -- mostly by the Master Teacher himself. ENDEAVOR
ACADEMY is also well-known for several other characteristics: a strong
evangelical approach to spreading their message and drawing in new converts
which includes disrupting the workshops, gatherings and lectures of other
Course organizations); a belief that MT will enlighten everyone who follows
him; a belief that this enlightenment can take place instantly, now, without
having to plod along overcoming personal imperfections and/or mastering
various aspects of life; and all ENDEAVOR members, with the help of MT
and his fully-realized inside circle, will "flash out" or ascend
like Jesus did when the time is right. Indeed, The Master Teacher claims
to have already ascended himself and has returned to help others do the
same. While Twyman himself is no longer a member of ENDEAVOR ACADEMY and
publicly disavows many of their beliefs and practices, the following similarities
between his book and work, and ENDEAVOR, are worth noting:
-- ENDEAVOR ACADEMY uses A Course In Miracles as their primary spiritual
path and philosophy just as Twyman does with his book, and work.
-- The central figure of ENDEAVOR ACADEMY is "The Master Teacher,"
who seeks to surround himself with 12 "fully illumined" disciples.
The central figure on Twyman's book is "Teacher," who is surrounded
by 12 people who are also spiritual adepts of the highest order.
-- The Master Teacher claims to have resurrected and returned to Earth,
as do the Twyman's Emissaries who reportedly have the ability to pass
back and forth between this world and others at will.
-- Both ENDEAVOR ACADEMY and Twyman present ascending as a state of being
that is a realistic, even imminent goal for many people to attain this
lifetime. In Twyman's book, he is told by Teacher that "Thousands
of people just like you will take this step and become examples for the
world."
-- Both ENDEAVOR ACADEMY and Twyman advocate a fast-track to enlightenment,
complete with instant awakenings on both the personal and collective level.
-- Twyman, like ENDEAVOR, has an evangelical posture towards the world
at large and seeks to encourage others to adopt his particular version
of spirituality. If the reports we have heard concerning Twyman's United
Nations-related appearance are accurate, Twyman also shares the tendency
to inappropriately interject himself and his message into events that
have been organized by others, for other purposes.
-- "The Great Experiment", a term that reportedly appeared in
ENDEAVOR publications, ended up being used by Twyman as the title of his
global meditation.
While many of the central elements of Twyman's story may have come from
and/or been strongly influenced by ENDEAVOR, the name of the Emissaries
themselves may have been lifted from another group. Twyman mentions this
other group, "Emissaries of Divine Light," in his book, but
acts as if he has just been introduced to them. What he fails to mention,
and what former associates of his have told us, is that Twyman also spent
some time with them, apparently while writing his book. If this is true,
there is very little about Twyman's book that is original: It draws its
philosophy from A Course in Miracles, it mission, enlightened-group metaphor,
and evangelical approaches from ENDEAVOR, and its name from the Emissaries
of Divine Light.
These are the behind-the-scenes connections we are aware of that helped
shape Twyman's book. Twyman's claims and activities in the real world
are equally disconcerting.
Twyman claimed he was personally invited to Iraq by Saddam Hussein, but
later admitted that he never met, spoke, or sang for Hussein in person
and has no way of knowing whether, in fact, Hussein knew about him or
extended a personal invitation. Instead, Twyman says that Iraqi officials
in London that told him that his invitation to Iraq would not have been
approved without Hussein's personal knowledge. Twyman also says that Iraqi
officials told him that a personal meeting with Hussein had been arranged,
even though none took place. While admitting that he simply doesn't know
whether Hussein invited him personally or not, Twyman claims that he never
would have gone to Iraq if he did not believe he had been personally invited
by Hussein and that some kind of personal meeting was possible. Since
Twyman knew all of this BEFORE his press releases went out to the world
claiming that he had been personally invited by Hussein,
why not say so? Why mislead others to believe that he had been personally
invited by Hussein when, in fact, he wasn't sure if he had been and no
personal meeting of any kind ever took place?
Twyman's Saddam Hussein invitation was followed by another high-level
invitation. This one, according to press releases issued prior to The
Great Experiment, came from the government of Northern Ireland. Wrote
Twyman, "A week later, I was invited by the government of Northern
Ireland to sing at Stormont Castle in Belfast in the building where the
peace talks were being held." Did the government of Northern Ireland
really extend a personal invitation to Twyman? It turns out that Twyman's
appearance was handled by an official working with the peace talks who's
name and official title Twyman couldn't recall. And how did Twyman make
the leap from being invited by an official who's name and title he couldn't
remember to being personally invited by the government of Northern Ireland?
Says Twyman, "It is hard to imagine how I would have been permitted
to stage a concert in a highly-secured area without official sanction."
After Iraq and Northern Ireland, Twyman made his way to New York where
he reportedly received yet another remarkable invitation: this time to
sing at the United Nations. "James Twyman," a Great Experiment
press release declared, "has been invited to sing the peace prayers
from the twelve major religions at the United Nations building in New
York on April 23rd." In addition, the press release implied that
the UN invitation had grown out of his successful appearances in Iraq
and Northern Ireland. In fact, Twyman had been invited to play music at
a UN-related event long before visiting Iraq and Northern Ireland. And
the UN-related event he was invited to, which was held in a church across
the street from the UN, not the UN itself, was a reception that had been
scheduled to honor ambassadors, not promote Twyman or his Great Experiment.
According to people who participated in this event, Twyman's decision
to use the reception to promote The Great Experiment disrupted the gathering
and caused problems for the group that organized the event. Along with
being inundated with email queries about The Great Experiment -- which
was something they knew nothing about and had nothing to do with -- the
organizers were also placed in the uncomfortable position of having to
diplomatically redirect the focus of the reception away from Twyman back
to the UN ambassadors.
And finally, there is the matter of the Emissaries themselves: Are they
real, or not?
In order to get to the bottom of this issue, and many of the other controversies
mentioned above, we put together a list of questions for Twyman to answer
and forwarded them to him through his editor, friends and online associates.
After initially refusing to answer our questions, Twyman finally responded
with a four-page fax, and later spent about 20 minutes on the phone with
me answering questions. Twyman admits that his story is not completely
true and regrets that it was written and published as if it were. He doesn't
know how his publisher will decide to deal with future editions of his
book, other than labeling it as "New Age". Colleen Kapklein,
Twyman's editor, also failed to address this issue. Echoing Twyman, all
she would say was this:
"Just for the record, the only time this book was published as a
'true story' was in the original edition from a small press. No Warner
edition uses that description. Also for the record, we are not publishing
the paperback as 'allegorical nonfiction.' It will say 'New Age' on the
spine as the category."
Obviously, listing a book as "New Age" that presents itself
-- on its jacket, in its introduction, and numerous times in the body
of the book itself -- as a true story does not deal with this concern.
Kapklein also failed to answer concerns about why Warner would publish
a book that made the kind of dramatic claims Twyman's did, without investigating
them. She also refused to comment about whether Warner planned to offer
a public apology for publishing a book that presented itself as a true
story when, in fact, it was a mixture of fact and fantasy.
Twyman, meanwhile, continues to insist that the 13 Emissaries he says
he met in Bosnia are real people, with fleshly bodies like the rest of
us, and that they are no longer on this physical plane. Twyman also says
that the people he mentions in the book who met the Emissaries with him
are real people. He said one of these people, Snjezana, had agreed to
be interviewed in the fall issue of HOLISTIC HEALTH JOURNAL, but refused
to tell us how we might contact Snjezana or any of the other people in
his story to verify his claims.
Where does all of this leave us?
We have an incredible story that perfectly fits a bogus archetype that
has been perpetuated, repeatedly, by dubious spiritual seekers of the
past. We can see striking similarities between Twyman's story and his
familiarity with A Course In Miracles, and his associations with ENDEAVOR
ACADEMY and The Emissaries of Divine Light. We have several events in
the real world that Twyman embellished, misrepresented, and spin-doctored
to serve his own interests. And we have Twyman, continuing to claim his
emissaries are real, but providing no way to contact the other people
who reportedly shared the experience with him.
Unless we are able to meet Twyman's Emissaries ourselves and/or track
down Snjezana and some of the other people Twyman claims met the Emissaries
with him, we may never be able to prove, one way or another, whether Twyman
actually met 13 ascended masters (and continues to communicate with their
central leader, Teacher). We can, however, say this:
In order to believe Twyman's Emissaries are real, we must believe that
they are a group of the most advanced human beings ever to walk the Earth
and that he, as their chief spokesperson, is one of the greatest spiritual
figures the world has ever known. Is this possible? Considering what has
been presented here, the possibility seems slim indeed.
Which brings us to the most ironic part of this whole episode:
Twyman has repeatedly said that he felt "the message" of his
story was more important than the story itself. But by presenting Emissary
of Light as a true story, Twyman has effectively shifted the focus of
his story away from its message, to himself and his emissaries: Are they
real? Is he as spiritually advanced as he presents himself to be? Wherever
he goes, whatever he does, Twyman will be haunted by people wanting to
know the truth -- and watching him to see if he can live up to the heavy
spiritual mantel he has placed on his own shoulders. Worse, since the
philosophy Twyman advocates in his book is the same philosophy that has
allowed him to engage in the dubious activites itemized above, one must
also question the validity of the spiritual philosophy he advocates.
In the end, this report isn't going to force Twyman to admit that his
Emissaries aren't real. It isn't going to convince those who really want
to believe Twyman's story to doubt it. Nor will it prevent others from
producing and believing in similar stories in the future. What it will
do, I hope, is provide those of us who are interested with a few more
tools to discern what is true, and what isn't, in our search for the truth.
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