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Hail, Keepers of the Flame of Life on earth!
I, Michael, come to you in these Twin Cities. I come with legions of Light, and we do not expect to leave you or these cities as we have found you tonight! [31-second standing ovation]
We come, then, in the hour of the Divine Mother. We come, therefore, that you might know the Divine Mother. Do know that millions suffer in the earth out of loneliness because they do not know the Divine Mother.
O beloved hearts, when the soul has not been truly nurtured here on earth and the soul does not remember the heavenly nurturing, then it is difficult for the soul to embrace God - to embrace God as Mother or Father and to enter the Path. Therefore we come to nurture. We come to unveil to your inner sight the beautiful image of the Divine Madonna, who does care for you, does caress you. And in her presence you know no loneliness at all.
Be seated, then, in the warmth of the Cosmic Virgin, even the Mother Omega. For, blessed hearts, the one true God is the Father-Mother God. So we who are the angels who enter the battles and defend life, we come in her name. We go forth from the altar of the Great Central Sun having received her benediction.
So know, beloved, this is the hour to increase and tend the flame of the Mother in your own heart. I counsel you to use the rosaries that the blessed Queen of Angels has given to the Messenger for you. For this sense of mothering all life, whether you be male or female, and the sense of being mothered is what is most needed in this hour. [And you can achieve this sense through the daily rosary.]
In the security of the arms of the Divine Mother, we can go forth, we can take on the enemy, we can charge into the darkness of the fallen ones across the galaxies; for we are secure in that flame, that maternal flame of eternal Life.
Let your heart open, then, to be the chalice of the Mother! For all avatars who have gone before you have become the incarnation of the Word. And the Word who was with God in the Beginning with Brahman is the Divine Mother.
Therefore know the tenderness, the compassion, the warmth and the teaching of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Though they be masculine in Spirit (and perhaps even in gender in their final embodiments), these have sought and found and passed through the initiations of Lord Maitreya, the initiations of the Divine Mother.
The very mastery of the sacred fire does come forth out of the raising up of the Mother Light in your temple. How may I speak through the Messenger except the Messenger's Light of Mother be raised up and a Mother's heart be open to me in her and, therefore, [because it is so] you may feel the ultimate love of God and all of the legions of angels who descend from the throne of grace?
This my scepter this day is known to you as the scepter of the Lord Christ. I come as shepherd in his name. I come as shepherd to guard the sheep from the wolves. [I come to guard you] from all that would defile you and dethrone you from that place of oneness centered in the heart.
I come shepherding the millions of Lightbearers across the galaxies, and legions of Light join me. And we see those of you who have ties to others that crisscross the centuries and span the heavens that are far remote from here. The universes are vast. All of cosmos is still the chalice of the Mind of God, and the Mind of God is held in the chalice of the Divine Mother.
Learn your lessons well. Learn the lessons of the great teachers of the ages. Learn the lessons of the Path. Do not forget the lessons learned from mistakes, costly mistakes, costly to you and to us.
Do not neglect studying and restudying, for in the day and the hour of your victory, when you must come forth with only one answer, the right answer, you must know the [texts of the] Law and the ancient scriptures. And some of these you will find only in our retreats in the heaven-world, for they have been removed from the libraries of the world by rebel angels who would not tolerate your knowing [what Jesus knew]: "the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in you bodily"1 - knowing that this is your lawful right as a son or daughter of God.
Well, we will tell you in this hour that we have launched many a star from among earth's evolutions who began in a lowly place, in a humble place, and did make his way/her way up the golden stairway, up that spiral staircase, winding up the pole of being, mastering each of the chakras on the way, being filled with Light.
And after all of this is through, beloved, what?
I will tell you what. It is love in your heart, love of the Divine Mother that is merciful, that is just, that is kind - it is love that will win the day! And see that you ensconce that love in the tomes of the Law, the law of the will of God and the law of wisdom's might [and that with God you write it in your inward parts].2
Yes, beloved, without Love nothing is possible to you. With Love all things are possible to you! Love, then, is that which would heal all the cracks, all the cracks in the structure of being.
Only Love can put Humpty-Dumpty back together again. Only Love can reassemble the elements of your own psyche that you might look in the mirror and see not the cracked image but wholeness once again.
Love is the medium of wholeness. Love is the light of the star of Venus. Love is the light of the grandest sphere of your Causal Body. So increase it.
So know that it is an hour to consider the ultimate prayer of forgiveness. Truly it is an hour to let go! It is an hour to forgive the worst enemy and the best friend. It is an hour to bring to one's pillar of fire in the center, in the midst of the temple of being, all that must pass [into the flame] for transmutation.
Because the hours are timed and the Cosmic Clock bears witness. And as the days and hours move on, you will need, you will require, beloved, truly the gift of forgiveness as never before. Forgiveness shall liberate you. It shall separate you from those with whom you ought to have no further part.
Yes, beloved, forgiveness is a letting go. It is a blessing of all life. It is a letting of God - [yes, let him] enter in and guide you each step of the way! The straight path is the straight and narrow way,3 but you yet have treacherous paths of your own [circuitous] karma that you must walk. And because it is your karma, some of you must walk alone for a time.
I bid you hasten your return to the straight and narrow way of your original convictions in God, truly the path of the initiate.
You deserve to be the initiate, and yet what is lacking?
Is it an oversight that you have yet lingering in the folds of your garments - perhaps an anger that flashes forth, perhaps a pride that can yet be tempted, perhaps a rebellion that you have not silenced?
Yes, beloved, all these things may you see as I place before you the starry night and the stars of the Milky Way as points [of reference]. Imagine them to be Causal Bodies of Light, each and every star and star system - Causal Bodies of sons and daughters of God who reign in the heavens and do not allow to trespass there those who follow the way of the angry generation.
Come back to the Path! Come back and know, as you have been told a number of times, it is a moment, a moment of opportunity for resolution within.
Go for that resolution, beloved, for if you are unresolved when the ultimate war or the ultimate enemy descends upon you, how will you meet it?
You must be whole. The Divine Mother comes to assist you to become whole. The Messenger comes to assist you. Angels come, adoring ones who worship the Light of God in the heart of all whom God has made.
Yes, beloved, it is a vast and starry universe. The night is midnight blue but the stars are shining. I would like to say that I can count each and every one of you as one of those stars; but some of you have chosen not to launch your star just yet, preferring rather to carry on in this dimension as though there were no tomorrow, as though there were no prophecies, as though karma should not descend and the Nature kingdom respond.
All these things shall come to pass unless [you allow] the great intercessor, who is the Divine Mother acting and working and moving and praying through you [who are the very extension, the very embodiment of herself], to establish the inner discipline within your heart that will enable you to stand, to still stand, to have the power of the Word of God vested in you that you might say to the mountain:
Be thou removed! O mountain of human karma, O mountain of karma of humankind, be thou removed and cast into the sacred fire this night!4
I, Michael, declare it! I, Michael, send forth the fiat. So let the violet fire come forth! I also multiply that flame of the Seventh Ray by my Causal Body. So I say what you must one day say:
O mountain of human-adversity/perversity consciousness, be gone! Be thou removed and cast into the sacred fire! For I know that I am a son, a daughter of God and I walk the Homeward path. You shall no longer stand in my way, for I am in the heart of Michael Archangel and Michael Archangel is in the heart of me!
Therefore I pronounce the word of the Lord Christ: "If thou hast the faith, the faith as a grain of the mustard seed, thou shalt speak to the mountain and thou shalt say: `Remove hence to yonder place,' and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you."5
Remember I have taught you, remember I have told you that if you do not think you can move mountains that assail the planet and the children and the people, call to us! We the cosmic seven, we come, we conquer and we obey the command of the Universal Christ.
And insofar as that Universal Christ does dwell in you, then we say to the force of Antichrist dwelling in you:
Be bound this day, you force of Antichrist!
Be bound, you dweller-on-the-threshold!
For we come authorized by the Christ of your being to seize and bind, therefore, that force [within you] which remains in opposition to that Christ.
Abroad in the earth this day there are many [evil ones] who will have nothing whatsoever to do with angels or with God. Well, I tell you something: God and we have something to do with them and something to say to them! And we shall surely say it in the hour appointed by the Son of God and by the Holy Spirit. We shall say: Let them be bound, O God, for yet a little while, until the children and the servants of God should receive their reward and should now grow in grace and in strength and in the confidence of their [Christed] authority in the presence of the angels.
Sin not, compromise yourself not, and see how you may walk with us and talk with us and even be empowered by us when you pass your tests in our retreats.
There are many things that are subject to change in this hour, many I say. Where you see a problem in the earth, send forth a ray of light and the call. Remember the call to the Holy Kumaras, to Sanat Kumara to send the legions who await your command. Remember this mighty gift given on October 11 of this past year.6
Remember the mighty action and the mighty gift, beloved. Send the legions of Light to do the bidding of the Lord Christ, and we shall! And we shall not fail and day by day you will see the mitigation of certain conditions in the earth.
Others, beloved, are sorely entrenched, sorely entrenched. For these you must invoke the Elohim Astrea. You must invoke the mighty Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. You must invoke even the Ruby Ray.
There is a decree and a fiat and a call and a sacred ritual for every possible situation. Therefore come and learn what is the antidote for each specific situation you face in life.
God is a wondrous God! God dwells amongst and in his people. God is in the earth unrecognized. God is indeed everywhere, yet God is personified in the Atman within you.
So you see, beloved, there is no time and space. There is no distance [between worlds]. Heaven is here on earth, for you have wooed heaven to this place by your love and songs, by your prayers and decrees and by your listening ear inclined to the teachings of the Archangels. It takes but the prayer of a little child to draw us to the earth. We will not leave one of these little ones.
[By sending our angels to your side - in answer to your call.]
We shall not leave you who have been steadfast in the cause of Light for many lifetimes and in many embodiments. We shall not leave you, beloved, especially if you do not leave off giving your calls to the Light.
Now, beloved, I speak to you of the seriousness of the hour. As others have spoken to you of the children, the blessed children, [so I also speak of them]. They must have the true and correct [spiritual as well as practical] instruction that they might grow up to know that God lives within them, that they might have their skills down pat and therefore enter institutions of higher learning, the marts of commerce and the arts, government and law, [science and health,] every area of human life and be there the presence of the living Christ.
What will you do to rescue [the children] from a consciousness that is permeating the land as a stench? This consciousness is the consciousness of fallen angels who move against the youth of the world to defile their minds and hearts and souls and [bodies] to take from them the Light that is in them.
O beloved hearts of living fire, be still now!
Still yourself! Be still. Still your physical body, for I bring you the Light that is the antidote - I bring you the Light that is the antidote for all of these problems. But mark you well, there must be a continuity of the path of Light in the earth.
Therefore pray for the youth, ere you yourself move on to other octaves and find that an entire generation is ultimately unprepared to take up the cause of Light in the earth. So it is true. So it goes back to the resolution within you of the living flame of the Divine Mother. The presence of the Mother in the earth is a necessity. I say to you, go and mother all life free!
My angels stand before you now, so desirous to transfer to you that strengthening of the sword of blue flame, that action of the sacred fire whereby you can leave the stamp upon this civilization of the higher calling of the Lord and outsmart the fallen ones who have come as pied pipers to lead away the children into the darkness of Death and Hell through their foul music and other [misuses of] sound, [energy and consciousness].
Yes, beloved, receive my angels now. Receive them who stand before you, for they impart an inner knowing, an inner plan, the art of love and the design for victory. These go into your heart of hearts under the careful keeping of your Holy Christ Self.
And as you meet and determine what shall be done, as you take counsel together and counsel with the angels and the Ascended Masters, so know that by and by you shall also be enlightened and empowered, within and without, to pursue this course, to make things right, to right the lives of millions because you have discovered the key whereby you may contact them and bring them back to the golden sphere of Light.
That golden sphere of Light was part of a monument on Atlantis. All who embodied on Atlantis - and this includes most of those in North America today and many from all parts of the world - all remember the golden sphere of Light as a landmark and as something extraordinary, not of technology but almost as the [tangible] presence of the Light of the Son of God.
Think upon that golden sphere of Light and go back to it, for it is a point of reference. And by that point of reference, you can also access your own Higher Mind and your momentums of achievement and of success in dealing with such conditions as you face today regarding the youth of the world.
So, beloved, this is, after all, your world. It is your time and space. It is your one day with the Lord on the stage of life. I say, make the most of it! For only you can be seen, touched, felt. You are the ones who can love and caress. You are the ones who can care.
I, Michael, charge one and all to offer prayers for the protection of this and every nation, for its government and people, for [divine direction for] a leadership ill-equipped to guide the destinies of nations in this decade and into the next. We already have our work cut out for us, beloved, for we know that unless we are there and unless you invoke us, the leadership will not be able to deliver in the face of the crises that shall yet come upon the earth.
So know that we have appeared to many that in that hour when the people recognize that their leadership is incompetent, that their leadership will once again fail them for simply not having the vision or the Light or the ability to deal with the great Darkness, the people will turn in confidence to the angels of Light and hosts of the Lord, who even in those hours will become more visible that mankind might retain hope.
Hope, then, is the sign of the year and the hour. Hope thou in him, your Lord and Saviour! Hope thou in your God Presence and holy angels, and be at peace.
I AM Michael. Remember, I AM the mountain mover! I move mountains with you. Call to me and see what mountain we together shall remove each day.
Let's do it, beloved, now! We are ready. Angels are ready. Now they touch the crown and the point of the brow and you are sealed.
Thus, I take my leave, for many crises call me hither and yon. Yet, when you call, wherever I am I flash forth the ray [of blue/white light] that you might have that immediate reassurance that I AM Michael, Prince of the Archangels, servant of God and his Christ in ye all! [33-second standing ovation]
This dictation by Archangel Michael with Angels of Protection and Faith attending was delivered by the Messenger of the Great White Brotherhood Elizabeth Clare Prophet on Sunday, February 21, 1993, during a weekend seminar, How to Contact Angels - Your Guides, Guardians and Friends Part 1, held at the Park Inn International in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The dictation followed the Messenger's lecture "How Angels Help You to Protect Yourself and Those You Love." [N.B. In this Pearl, bracketed material denotes words unspoken yet implicit in the dictation, added by the Messenger under the direction of Archangel Michael for clarity in the written word.]
THE TIMES OF INDIA JANUARY 31, 1993
The internationally-renowned Russian painter, Dr. Svetoslav Roerich, who had made the city his home for the last several decades, died after a prolonged illness here today.
Dr. Roerich, son of the world-famous master painter, Mr. Nicholas Roerich, was 89. He was born at St. Petersburg in 1904.
He had worked under his father and later studied in Europe and America. While he studied in England for two years during 1918-20, he joined the Columbia University in USA to study art and later graduated at the School of Architecture at Harvard University. He migrated to India along with his father and had settled in the Kulu Valley. He moved to Bangalore and established a farmhouse, the Tataguni Estate, in the city outskirts on the Bangalore-Kanakaputs Road.
The Russian painter married Mrs. Devika Rani, the grand-niece of poet laureate Dr. Rabindranath Tagore and the first lady of the Indian silverscreen during the silent movie era, in 1935. He is famous the world over for his landscapes and portraits. His paintings have been displayed at leading art galleries, museums and private collections throughout the world.
His first art exhibition was held in USA in 1923 and was followed by several others in different parts of the world. In 1926, at the young age of 21, he was awarded the medal of "Sesquicentennial" composition at Philadelphia for his oriental compositions. In India, Dr. Roerich held his first exhibition at Lucknow in 1936.
Dr. Roerich was conferred the Padmabhushan award in 1961. He was also honoured with the fellowship of the Central Lalithakala Academy and art academies of Bulgaria and Russia.
Dr. Roerich's paintings titled 'Lush Valley of Kulu,' 'Lofty Himalayas,' and portraits of Mahatma Gandhi. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, besides those of his father and wife, have been acclaimed internationally. Several of his art works have been displayed in the Parliament and even the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
Despite their international fame, the Roerich couple, who have been staying in a five-star hotel for the last two years due to illness, had been keeping a very low profile in recent years. The previous Bangarappa regime's move to acquire the over-45 acre Tataguni Estate and the paintings and artefacts by promulgating an ordinance hit media headlines and became a veritable controversy. The Central government is yet to clear the draft ordinance sent by the Bangarappa ministry for approval. The Roerich couple had formed a trust to preserve Roerichs' works in a bid to outsmart the Bangarappa ministry's move to acquire their property through an ordinance. The trust has 15 members, notable among them being the President, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, and the Russian President Mr. Boris Yeltsin.
Dr. Roerich, who had contributed a lot in enlivening artistic activities in the city, had been made a lifetime trustee of the Karnataks Chitrakala Parishath's trust. He was instrumental in founding the College of Fine Arts here.
The chief minister, Mr. M. Veerappa Moily, has, in a condolence message, said Dr. Roerich's paintings had made a priceless contribution in the consolidation of friendship and the development of cultural ties between the people of India and Russia. "In his death, the world and India in general and Karnataka, where he had been living for years, lost an excellent artist, humanitarian and a citizen of the world," he said.
The deputy chief minister, Mr. S. M. Krishna, described Dr. Roerich as a prominent artist of this century who had settled in India despite his birth in Russia and said both India and Russia have suffered an irreparable loss in Dr. Roerich's death.
The Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath president, Mrs. K. S. Nagarathnamma, has mourned the death of Dr. Roerich and said the art and cultural world, especially Karnataka, have become poorer in losing Dr. Roerich.
Dr. Jeevaraj Alva, former minister and Janata Dal leader, who had been associated as one of the members of the Roerich Trust, said Dr. Roerich's death had created a void which could not be filled up.
"Dr. Roerich was the gifted son of a great father, the legendary Nicholas Roerich, who painted the Himalayas as only a seer and a poet could have done. Dr. Roerich carried on his father's art in a bolder and bigger format, adding his own special touch to what he inherited," Mr. T. P. Issar, former state chief secretary and a long-time trustee of Karnataka Chitrakala Parrishath, said, suggesting that a suitable home for the great legacy of works of both Dr. Roerich and his father should be created in the city.
NEW DELHI (PTI): The Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rat, today expressed his profound shock and grief over the death of an internationally famous Russian painter, Dr. Syvatoslav Roerich, who made India his home.
In a condolence message, Mr. Rao said in his death, India had lost a good friend and a great artist of the world.
Spiritual insight shaped his genius
Decades ago when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was asked what thoughts crossed his mind during the landmark space flight, he replied: "I was reminded of Svetoslav's paintings." His works are endowed with the beauty of the cosmos, Gagarin had added. These words formed the greatest tribute one could pay to Svetoslav Roerich's spiritual insight and creative canvas.
Even in demeanour - with his Hemingway beard, the visage of a saint and the build of an army general - Roerich radiated the ascetic calmness of a pilgrim on a journey to Plato's concept of absolute beauty. Like it is true of any artist, his motto was to be Nature's disciple. His home, too, was nestled in the outskirts of Bangalore, which "was not contaminated by the brush of civilisation."
Art, however, ran in the blood. Though he was no visionary like his illustrious father, Nicholas Svetoslav followed in the senior's footsteps, by making a deep study of Oriental and Occidental philosophy. If his father's canvases were populated by the mystic figures of sadhus and Tibetan lamas, Svetoslav's works focused on common or popular Indians, and landscapes. His Shangri-la was his immediate natural surroundings. As he put it in an interview to this paper, some years ago: "Nothing can supplant nature. In following nature, one copes with the element of change-the sweep of evolution. Nature is always trying to find perfect combinations, better combinations. This can be the basis for regeneration."
Another underlying factor in his approach was his staunch faith in the Christian idea of love. If his "Angels will sing again" reinforced the saying 'Love thy neighhour as yourself,' 'Triumph of Love' depicted the theme of sin in a new light.
In keeping with his worldview, bolstered by the synthesis of Eastern and Western philosophy, Svetoaslav's paintings tended to exaggerate elements conveying ecstasy. His palette was intensely bright, his light effects almost expressionistic, but his thoughts were always simple but concrete. Dr. H. Goetze, in his assessment of Roerich, once wrote: "Normally he tries to convey his ideas by purely pictorial means, by a structure imperceptively evoking symbols, by a musical rhythm, by a colour not only intense, but appealing to emotions." His famous portrait of dancer Roshan Vajifdar in flaming scarlet and hard skin tones evoked a distinct sensuousness. So also his "Tribal Girl" in dark brown, set against a light green backdrop, effused dewfresh innocence.
"There is no colour bright enough for me," Roerich would declare. "Colour is an important medium of portraying an idea. The more bright a colour is, the more effectively the idea can be put across."
His works have been classified into many sections - landscapes, imaginative paintings, biblical and other compositions and portraits, but the last mentioned category has by far been the most avidly admired. Among those who were the subjects of his art included his father, wife Devika Rani, the first lady of the Indian screen, Jawahafial Nehru and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. Portraiture, he believed, was a religious art.
Composition, for him was best transmitted through human figures. He felt they animated the landscape, conveyed messages and imparted a sense of meaning and purpose to a work of art. Accordingly, human figures occupied the foreground in most of his other works as well.
Even as connoisseurs valued his contribution to the field of art, they treasured his humanist attitudes to life. Roerich, who wrote widely on culture, was deemed to be the best ambassador of the erstwhile Soviet Union. On May 14, 1987, when the Roerichs met the Gorbachevs in Moscow, Pravda quoted the then Soviet leader as saying, "This meeting is our very old wish. If one returns to the beginning of Soviet-Indian relations, then the first flowering of friendship between these two countries is closely connected with the Roerich family."
Though inactive as a painter in the dusk of his life, he retained the vitality of his vision. In that he echoed the words of his father: "The pledge of happiness for humanity lies in beauty. Hence, we assert art to be the highest stimulus for the regeneration of spirit. We consider art to be immortal and boundless." Today, after his passing away, his art will bear the torch of that belief.
THE TIMES OF INDIA FEBRUARY 1,1993
Roerich to be laid to rest in Tataguni
The mortal remains of the internationally-renowned Russian painter, Dr. Svetoslav Roerich, who died after a prolonged illness at a private hospital here on Saturday, will be laid to rest in the Roerich couple's vast Tataguni estate, in the city outskirts along the BangaloreKanakapura highway, tomorrow.
Though there was uncertainty as to whether the body of the 89-year-old world famous portrait and landscape painter will be flown to Delhi en route to Russia for funeral in his birthplace of St. Petersburg or taken to the Tataguni estate for burial for whole of today, it was decided finally a little past midnight that the funeral will be held in Bangalore itself.
The body, presently kept in the Manipal hospital here, will be brought to the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (with which Dr. Roerich was closely associated during his lifetime and had served as its life trustee since his decision to settle down in Bangalore along with his wife, Mrs. Devika Rani, first lady of the Indian silver screen since the silent movie era) around 9 am and kept there till about 2 pm to enable his vast multitude of friends and admirers to pay their last respects. It will be later taken to the Tataguni estate and accorded a formal burial around 4.30 pm, sources close to Mrs. Devika Rani said.
According to sources close to Mrs. Roerich, who herself is keeping poor health, a final decision on taking the body to Russia had not been taken as she was not in a position to travel the distance on account of her delicate physical condition. Doctors attending on her are believed to have cautioned against taking Ms. Roerich to Russia in view of her frail health, especially because of the sub-zero temperature in St. Petersburg, which is said to be in the region of minus 15 to 20 degrees C.
Though Dr. Roerich, who had made India his home for well over half a century and had taken Indian citizenship despite being born in Russia, had reportedly expressed the desire when he was alive that he should be buried in his native St. Petersburg in the event of his death, there is a move to bury the body in the family's Tataguni estate, the sources said.
The decision to have the burial in the Tataguni estate was taken in "accordance with madame's wishes." "Her decision is final and we have to abide by it. Madame is not in a position to fly to Russia and withstand the biting winter cold," the sources said.
A high-level delegation of Russian diplomats, led by Mr. Alexander M. Kadakin, first minister and deputy chief of the Russian Embassy in Delhi, comprising among others Mr. Vladimir L. Sokolov, consul general of the Russian Federation in Madras, and Ms. Ludmila V. Shaposhnikova, vice president of International Centre of the Roerichs, Moscow, has arrived in the city this afternoon to make arrangements to take Dr. Roerich's body to Russia via Delhi.
"Dr. Roerich is an eminent Russian. He is widely regarded and respected in Russia as in India and other countries. He had clearly expressed the desire to be buried in his birthplace of St. Petersburg at the St. Vladimir Cathedral in accordance with the Greek Orthodox Christian rites in the event of his death and we are keen to honour his wishes. We have made the necessary arrangements to take the body to Russia in close coordination with the Indian government," Mr. Kadakin told The Times of India.
Mr. Kadakin, who has been recently appointed as the Russian Ambassador to Nepal and is due to take charge of his new post in April, said the Russian Embassy was acting in complete coordination with the highest authority in the Indian government. "We have been assured the complete and fullest support by the Prime Minister's Office and the External Affairs Ministry. We are not interested in acting against the Indian or international laws," he said, pointing out that the Russian President, Mr. Boris Yeltsin, was personally interested in ensuring that Dr. Roerich's body was brought to St. Petersburg in accordance with the latter's wishes.
"We are not interested in grabbing the vast property belonging to Dr. Roerich or his wife. Our intention is to honour the wishes of Dr. Roerich and help his wife and the only surviving Roerich, Mrs. Devika Rani, whom we treat as equal to Svetoslav. We are keen to preserve the Roerich heritage, his valuable paintings, archives and rare collection of books. It is not our intention to take them to Moscow. We will fully abide by Dr. Roerich's wishes as expressed in his last will with the full consent of Mrs. Devika Rani," he asserted.
The Russian diplomats have approached the chief minister, Mr. M. Veerappa Molly, to help them in carrying out the wishes of Dr. Roerich to have his burial in his birthplace and have informed him that a special plane was being flown from Russia to take the body. "We have spoken to Mrs. Devika Roni and have explained the position to her. We are waiting for the final decision from her side. The arrival of the special plane is confirmed. In the meanwhile, we have contacted our Embassy in Delhi as also Moscow," Mr. Kadakin said, when contacted over the phone late in the night.
Meanwhile, Mr. Moily made it clear that the government would extend its full cooperation in fulfilling the last wishes of Dr. Roerich. "Mrs. Devika Rani and her secretary had told me that they wanted to take the body to Russia. I believe the same had been conveyed to the Centre and the Russian Embassy in Delhi. l am not aware of any change in the plans. We would like to go by the last wishes of Dr. Roerich, which had been confirmed by Mrs. Devika Roni when I spoke to her," he said.
It is learnt that top bureaucrats and police officers had met Mrs. Roerich in the night to ascertain her wishes. Mrs. Roerich is also believed to be under pressure to accede to the demands of the Russian Embassy and indirectly the desire of the Russian President, Mr. Boris feltsin. "No firm decis[on has been taken yet. It will be decided tomorrow," said a senior police official after his meeting with Mrs. Roerich. But according to sources close to Mrs. Roerich, the plans for having the burial at Tataguni Estate were still valid. "We cannot allow Mrs. Roerich to suffer the ordeal of the arduous travel and the biting Russian winter cold," the sources added.
Mr. Kadakin, when contacted by The Times of India over the phone after midnight, confirmed that they have been informed of Mrs. Devika Rani's wishes. "Yes we have been informed about the burial being held in Bangalore itself contrary to Dr. Roerich's express wishes. We will respect her decision. What can we do? We will pay our last respects to Dr. Roerich," he said.
Mrs. Mary Joyce Poonacha, private secretary to Mrs. Roerich and the Roerich couple's general power of attorney holder, admitted that plans had been made to take the body to Russia for burial at St. Petersburg until yesterday. "But we were not aware of the climatic conditions there. After being informed about the winter climatic conditions, we cannot afford to risk madame's life. She herself decided that the burial should be held in the family Estate. After all, Dr. Roerich's father, the great master painter, Mr. Nicholas Roerich, was cremated at Kulu in India. Moreover, Dr. Roerich is an Indian citizen and it is natural that his mortal remains should remain in the land which he loved and where he lived for the better part of his life," she added.
THE TIMES OF INDIA FEBRUARY 2, 1993
Roerich laid to rest with state honours
The world famous Russian painter, Dr. Svetoslav Roerich, who died on Saturday after a prolonged illness, was buried with full state honours at the Tataguni farm estate established by him along with his wife, Mrs. Devika Rani, in the city outskirts on the BangaloreKanakapura highway today.
The embalmed body of the master painter, who had won international acclaim for his portrait and landscape paintings, was kept at a flower-decked platform in front of a picture of Jesus Christ at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath for public darshan and homage for over four hours this morning. Hundreds of people, young and old, including the chief minister, Mr. Veerappa Moily, the chief secretary, Mr. J. C. Lynn, and several top dignitaries lined past the body and offered their floral tributes to the departed doyen of art.
Dr. Roerich, who had taken Indian citizenship and had made Bangalore his home for well over half a century, was honoured with a traditional Mysore peta on his body as a befitting tribute to the renowned artist's love for Karnataka's art, culture and people.
The Russian ambassador, Mr. Anatoly Drukov, who flew to the city from Delhi this afternoon following the change in plans of taking the mortal remains of Dr. Roerich to Russia for the funeral rites at his birthplace of St. Petersburg in view of the frail health condition of the 86-year-old Mrs. Devika Rani, offered a floral tribute to the artist on behalf of the Russian government. Mr. Drukov's deputy, Mr. Alexander M. Kadakin, the first minister in the Russian embassy in Delhi, who was closely associated with the Roerich couple, Mr. Vladimir L. Sokolov, Russian consul general at Madras, and Mrs. Ludmila V. Shaposhnikova, vice president of the International Centre of Roerichs and the director of Roerich Museum at Moscow, who had come to take Dr. Roerich's body to St. Petersburg, also placed wreaths and paid their tribute to their countryman.
Wreaths were also placed on behalf of the President, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, the Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, and the governor.
The hearse carrying the body was taken to the St. Gregorius Orthodox Church on the Hosur Road from the Chitrakala Parishath around 2.30 pm for a religious prayer service. Rev. Dr. K. C. Joseph and Rev. Dr. V. C. Samuel, the pastors of the church, conducted the prayer service in Malayalain. The artist's ailing wife, Mrs. Devika Rani, the first lady of the Indian silver screen since the silent movie era, who has been generally confined to her five-star hotel room in the city since the last two years, was present at the church for the prayer service. The Russian ambassador and other diplomats as well as several other dignitaries participated in the prayer service.
The body was taken to the Tataguni estate from the church and kept in the Roerich couple's vast farm house for about half-an-hour to enable the local people and employees of the estate to pay their homage to the departed.
The Russian ambassador eulogised the contribution of Dr. Roerich before the burial, which was preceded by a full guard of honour from policemen. Mrs. Devika Rani bade her farewell to her loving husband before the coffin was placed in the ground around 5.30 pm. Mr. Perikal Mallappa, minister for tourism, placed a wreath on behalf of the state government. The city police commissioner, Mr. C. Lal, and Mr. T. Jayaprakash, Bangalore rural district superintendent of police, who were present at the spot, supervised the arrangements.
Remember to Call to Angels of the Word
Well, angels are in the news! And I would like to testify to the improvement in my day when I call to the angels to attend me. I have a regular list each day: Angels of Victory, Healing, Rejuvenation, Regeneration, Coordination, Ingenuity - Angels of the Resurrection, Angels of the Transfiguration. One can think of many more. And when I remember to call to Angels of the Word to work through decree leaders and the congregation, is it only my imagination that there is a sudden upsurge of energy in the decree session? I think not.
Praise God for the presence of the angels in our midstl But to get their full benefit we must call to them to help us. I always remember beloved Portia's September 3, 1972 dictation in which she said:
Millions of angels stand ready to be invoked! Do you know, dear hearts, they are so anxious to assist you, to assist all mankind! But some among these angels have stood with their armour, their shield, their swords of flaming fire, waiting upon the hillsides of the world; and some have stood for a thousand years waiting to enter into the fray - simply because no one upon earth has invited them to join in the battle .... Send them! For they speak this day with a loud cry and they say to each one of you: "Send us! Send us! Send us! For we will to go forth to challenge injustice everywhere in the name of the Christ within each one of you."
Let us remember to call to them for help in our lives and for the saving of the planet. And most especially let us make use of the recent dispensation to call to Sanat Kumara to send forth the Archangels of the seven rays, the Archangels of the five secret rays and Uzziel and their legions for the binding of all Evll opposing our youth and children and for the binding of the cause and core of Evil on the planetary body.
I write this because I think that we cannot be reminded enough to do this. And let us make sure that all Lightbearers come to know of these wonderful dispensations.