Dominick
And there, you're unmuted, Lemuel. Okay, this is Wednesday, July 17th. We've scheduled not a light line, but an interview for the archives of one of our semi-retired transmitters, Lemuel, who's typically taken the Wednesday light line. Welcome, Lemuel. How are you?
Lemuel
I'm well considering Dominick, thank you.
Dominick
Sure. Incidentally, Lemuel, you just joined us and there's actually several people on the call.
Lemuel
All right.
Dominick
I speak for all of them just because they're on mute. That they send their prayers and condolences.
Lemuel
Okay, thank you.
Dominick
That you're listening. Yeah, that can do it.
Lemuel
Thank you. Okay, thank you. Thank you for that. Okay, so they will all be listening?
Dominick
Yes. And if anybody wants to say anything, press 5 star, right? And we'll see that the hand is raised. Okay? So, Lemuel, I just want to ask you a few things. And you're free to relate all these things to your personal religious experience. So I just want to maybe start with growing up and your parents, your schooling and friends, and then your own family, your job, career, your travels and adventures, and your transmitting service. I don't know how you wanna call that, whether it's a career or a service, but why don't we just start with...
Lemuel
All right, I can, instead of you asking specific questions, I can start from the beginning and see how it goes.
Dominick
Okay.
Lemuel
All right. Well, of course, I will be brief. I mean, I'll just put/give the bare bones, so to speak, because it would be too long and I think probably too boring. All right. I was born on the 8th of September, 1939 in a small mining town in South Wales, the UK, called Tredegar.
And of course, you will all know that that was the beginning of the Second World War. Well, my father was a miner, but he left the coal mine because in fact, he couldn't stand the work any longer. So as soon as he left working for the mines, he was taken into the army, of course, for the war. And my mother didn't see him for the next five years because he served abroad in the Burma campaign fighting the Japanese. My father was in a regiment called the South Wales Borderers, in fact, which was the same regiment that fought in Africa at Rock's Drift. And it was the sixth battalion of the South Wales borderers and the only regiment that was posted abroad during the Second World War and my father, as I say, fought against the Japanese in the Burma campaign. And it was Lord Mountbatten, who was the chief of the, not of the forces exactly, but he was the chief representing the monarchy at that moment in time during the Burma campaign. Anyway, so I grew up, I had a very happy childhood as I remember. I remember episodes during the war of course, I remember the blackout and nobody was allowed to put curtains up on the windows because, you know, to avoid being bombed, so to speak. And I have very fond memories of my early childhood living with my grandparents for the time during the war. Then after the war, I remember my father coming home in 1946.
Dominick
May I ask you a question?
Lemuel
Yes, please.
Dominick
What was it like? Do you remember the feeling? I've never had a parent go off to war. I've never had anyone I know actually go off to war. What did that feel like? You say it so matter-of-factly. I'm sure it wasn't...
Lemuel
Well, in fact, it was because you must remember I was a baby when he left to go to the war, I wouldn't have been two years old. So I practically have no memory of my father. But when he came home, of course I could, well, I accepted the fact immediately that he was my father and that was it. So the earliest memory that I have of my father is him coming home from the war. And so I hope that answers your question, Dominick. But that's just the truth of the matter.
Dominick
Yeah, thank you. Continue.
Lemuel
And continuing from that, I had a sister, an older sister, Maureen. She was two years older than myself. And we went to the same school, infant school in Tredegar. And I enjoyed my early school years because we were taught to sing and to read music and to recite poetry. I was always very good at that. Then I left at 11 years of age. We all had to sit an exam and it was called the 11 plus exam for us to go to the grammar school. Those who passed the exam would go to the grammar school and those who failed would go to another secondary school. I went to the grammar school. But in fact it served me no purpose because I was not, never was and never will be academic but I did enjoy music and sport. I was very good at sport. I left school at the age of fifteen on Friday the 4th of February 1955, and on the Monday the 7th of February 1955, I started work in a local shop which before supermarkets, it was an old-fashioned shop where everybody queued up to be waited on and I remember the rationing had only just finished but people had books to have a certain amount of basic food allowance and that sort of thing. I remember that.
Anyway, I worked in this shop for just a year and then I thought it was a good idea and so did my parents, advised me to take a career with the English Electric Company which is a very prestigious company then, but it still is but it has changed its name. I think now it's called British Electric. Anyway, to serve a five-year apprenticeship as a fitter and turner. Well, that was from the April of (19)56 until the November (19)56 because in fact I hated it. I really hated it. It just wasn't my cup of tea at all. And also another problem was that I was in love or thought I was in love at the time with a local girl in Tredegar. We were together so I met her in the shop that I worked in, in the previous year and we started going out together and we were in love with each other in our fashion at the age of 16. And so yes, I missed her terribly when I was away because this factory was in Rugby in England in the Midlands. I missed her terribly.
Dominick
Is she the reason you know those dates so well? You seem to know those dates perfectly down to the day.
Lemuel
Well, yes, I've got a memory for dates, I must admit. I have a little memory, I have a memory like a mosquito for other things, but I have a memory for dates. Yes, I know exactly where I was at a certain date because there is always an association with that, you know, and I will speak more of these things in the future. Okay, so I went back to Tredegar, gave up my job, and my parents were very upset about it, of course, because in fact I gave up, which promised to be a very good career. Anyway, close to the next village or the nearest village or the nearest town rather to Tredegar was a town called Ebbw Vale, and they had a steelworks, British Thomas, the steelworks. And so I worked in the steelworks in Ebbw Vale from I think it was the January of 1957 until I left to join the army in 1958. There were problems at home between my parents and myself because I wanted to be with Pam and we went out dancing three nights a week and coming home late and all that sort of thing. I really was a rebel as a teenager. I couldn't stand to be told what to do and that sort of thing, which is normal, I suppose, for a rebellious teenager. I really was a pain in the ass for my parents, I admit it. And, well, there you are. Anyway, between one thing and another, my girlfriend, she was called Pam, Pamela, we decided, well, the best thing we could do to be together permanently is for me to join the army and live in army quarters, married quarters. That was the idea.
So, I joined the Army, I signed on as a professional at that time, which was a minimum for six years. In fact, I would have been called up for national service just about six months later, but I decided to sign on as a professional anyway and to have a higher pay and to qualify for married quarters, although I wasn't at that time yet married. So, I joined the Army. This was in June, I think it was June the 23rd of 1958. And did the basic training, et cetera, et cetera. And on my birthday, the 8th of September of that year, 1958, I did not get a birthday card from Pam. A few days later, I had what everybody knows is called a Dear John. So, I had a Dear John which meant goodbye from Pam. Of course I was heartbroken, but I was stuck in the army for six years and I could do nothing about it. Anyway, so that was in the September of 1958. It also coincided with my entrance into a test to join the Airborne Forces. I'm not going into detail about that, but you can imagine some of the things I had to do. It was very hard endurance and fitness and spending time, a tremendous amount of time in the gymnasium and doing all sorts of martial arts and combat and stuff and all that sort of thing. Anyway, I qualified and I did my parachuting and then that finished in the October of 58. So, then I was 19.
So, by the time I was 19, I was a parachutist in the Airborne Forces and posted to a depot in Aldershot. Aldershot, in fact, was a Garrick town that is say, it was full of soldiers, well it was at that time. Okay, so I'm in the Army and I'm in the Airborne Forces. So, I'll stop now for a pause and ask you, Dominick, if there is any questions from anybody before I continue. Is that all right?
Dominick
Totally all right. Press five star, if you have a question. We have none right now, but I do, while we're waiting, I'd like to ask you, I mean, paratrooping, those are the earliest days of paratrooping? And how dangerous was it compared to, say, today? By today's day?
Lemuel
No, the earliest days of paratrooping, ooh, they go back, way back. But it was Winston Churchill who wanted an airborne force with parachuting and that took place of course training before in fact the second world war there was parachuting of course during the second world war and as a result of the grand success of the way the parachuting forces worked and operated after the war it was Churchill's decision to form what became known as the SAS, the Special Air Service, and that is well known around the world as the elite of the elite. Anyway, so yes, the parachuting was around a long time before I came on the scene. It was no, it wasn't dangerous. When you were trained, and there's a tremendous amount of training of course, before you were allowed to jump out of an aeroplane. By the time you do it, you are fully trained, you know exactly what to do, but of course you are still nervous and you have butterflies in your stomach and all that sort of thing. That's natural. But then when you're actually in the air, your training takes over and kicks in, as they say, and you just get on with it. In fact, it's very enjoyable.
I got to the stage where I took many photos when I was descending. And at one time, I had a, believe it or not, I had a little mascot, which was a tortoise. And I painted a red cross on this tortoise. And I put it on my chest, on top of my reserve parachute. And I took photos coming down. And the photos were later were used in magazines because they were such good photos. I had a black and white Kodak. I really enjoyed my parachuting. I can't remember what happened to the tortoise, but he survived the jump. It was a pet for the regiment, you know really.
Dominick
You're saying tortoise, like turtle?
Lemuel
No, a tortoise, yes.
Dominick
And that's a word I'm not familiar with. It means turtle?
Lemuel
Well, a turtle, a turtle we know is a turtle that lives in the water. This is not a water turtle. This is a land tortoise.
Dominick
Okay.
Lemuel
Okay?
Dominick
Yeah.
Lemuel
All right. There's something I should mention and that is my spiritual life, well, to cut a long story short, I have always been aware from an earliest age that, how shall I say, that I was not alone. I mean, from the earliest age, three or four years of age, I would escape from home and go up close behind the house, we called it up the mountain. It wasn't a mountain, it was a hill or a colina, a very small hill, but we used to call it the mountain. And I would go up on my own and on the way up to this hill, there was a little pigsty and I used to talk to the pigs. And I loved the smell of pigs, I still do. And so I used to talk to the pigs. And I would talk to the sheep, I would talk to anything. And I was never afraid, never. My mother was aghast at all my escaping all the time, but well, that was it. I was always escaping from the household and never afraid and always been aware of something with me. Later on, of course, I must say that my parents were Christians. They were Church of England and they were practitioners and they used to go to church regularly every Sunday. They enrolled me in the church choir at the age of eight and in fact I was a boy soprano and I had a very good voice. If things had been different and if my parents had money, I'd say I could have been a professional singer but it just didn't happen that way. But I enjoyed my years so much in the choir, singing the hymns and it meant so much to me.
And then when 12 years of age when I was confirmed, after my confirmation, I was made an altar boy, which meant that I helped the Curet or the Vectus, serve communion at the altar and that sort of thing. And I did that for years until I was about 15 when I left school. So that was always important for me. And my feelings and emotions were very sincere. And at the age of 13, I remember the Vicar taking us on a cycling tour to go down to Cerne Abbas, which was a kind of monastery for some Franciscans monks. We stayed there for a few days and I was so moved by that experience. I remember buying from their gift shop a crucifix with Jesus on the cross illuminated and I remember I had it for years and I stuck it on the wall in my bedroom so that I could see Jesus every night and pray to Him and thank Him and that sort of thing. I remember these things very, very clearly. And this feeling was with me all the time and even in my early years in the military, I was reading spiritual books with raised eyebrows from my friends, but it didn't matter. They would be reading Ghillie books and all that sort of thing, and I would be reading religious books or philosophy and that sort of thing.
Dominick
What did they give you a nickname for that?
Lemuel
Well, a nickname was taff. All people in Wales were called Taff. I was Taff Chamberlain because my surname, as you all know, is Chamberlain. I was referred to as Taff Chamberlain. And why the word Taf? T-A-F-F, Taff, there is a river Taff in Wales. So, anybody in the army that comes from Wales is automatically referred to as a Taff, T-A-F. So, I was Taff Chamberlain, yes. So where am I? Yes, well I stayed in the Airborne Forces for about 11 years I think, yes from 1958 until 1969.
In the meantime, this is going to take a long time to explain. That's not necessary. Well, I suppose it is necessary because people need to know. Yes, when did that take place? 1958 to 1962, the end of 1962. Well, let me just say that a friend, one of my dear friends, colleagues in the Army, we are, yes, this is important. Okay, so hold on. We used to go dancing in those days, I mean ballroom dancing. I loved ballroom dancing and so did my friend. We were both airborne, serving in airborne forces, but we loved to dance. We used to go to a town hall in the village of Farnborough, close to Aldershot, every Saturday night at the Farnborough town hall. We called it the FTH, the Farnborough town hall. And there on the night of October the 1st, 1960, he and my friend Jack met Teresa, his future wife, and I met Lucina, my future wife, and they were best friends. And Jack and I were best friends. So, we have a situation where two best friends married two best friends. So, this was in October of 1960. But I didn't get married until July of 1964, but Jack married Theresa in 1962, just two years earlier. Anyway, so that was important. But then in 1962, Jack had another friend called John Lewis and he was in a band. Well, I didn't know that there were such things as military bands, but I soon found out. And of course, this hooked up my interest because of my interest in music. And I thought, wow, is it possible to transfer into the band? And there was an airport, I'm sorry, airborne division, which included a band. So, it meant I was still in airborne forces, but I could serve in an airborne forces band. Well, to cut a long story short, I had an interview with the bandmaster. He asked me what instruments I could play. I said a piano. Well, he said, we cannot take a piano on a parade ground. You have to go away and learn an instrument. Come back and see me again when you can play the clarinet. Well, let me tell you something. This was in the October of 1962.
In January the 6th of 1963, I entered the band. Previously, I had an audition with the bandmaster. I had learned to play the clarinet, all the scales, major, the minor scales, the dims and the doms and the arpeggios, et cetera, et cetera, and he accepted me into the band. Fast forward from 1963 to 1969, I served in the band. Then in 69, I went to the School of Music to become a bandmaster, which I did. I qualified as a bandmaster, a Warrant Officer First Class Bandmaster in January 1972. In fact, it was a record for anyone to be a bandsman from a bandsman to a bandmaster in less than nine years.
And I served in a Scottish regiment wearing the kilt, really, all the regalia of the Highland Regiment called the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. But it was a disaster in the sense that I was becoming more and more spiritually influenced and after two years I just couldn't stand it anymore. I could not for one day more put on that uniform and pretend to be something that I was no longer. This was a difficult period because by that time I was married of course and I had six children, four girls and two boys. And we were stationed in a small town outside of Edinburgh called Kirk Newton. Well, to cut a long story short, my feelings were so strong I refused to soldier and I stayed at home. Well, obviously, I was called before my superiors to explain my position, which I did. And then later on, I was told, well, I had to see a psychiatrist, which I did. And I was told then I had to see the big chief of all the regiments in Scotland, which I did. And through this procedure, I was accompanied by a higher force that helped me negotiate the situation that I was in with a final that I actually left the army on the 12th of April, 1974.
Dominick
Will you describe that feeling a little bit to us in the audience, that would equate with maybe your first transmitting type of experience.
Lemuel
No, no, no, no, no. That came with an initiation which I haven't spoken to yet, which took place in 1967. So let me back up a little. Well, no, first of all, there came the moment – oh, this is difficult, it's been a long time – I don't know that it's necessary. Well, it is necessary, of course it is. I want you to understand that –
Yes, I'm sorry, I need to back up. Yes, all right. Well, I had a terrible car accident in 1960. January 26th, 1960, coming home from a weekend with a friend in Kent, he was driving my car and he lost control because there was black ice. It was January, there was black ice on the road. He lost control of the car. And the last thing I remember seeing in the headlights was a tree. The next thing I knew, I was out of my body and looking down from not a great height, looking down at the car, what was left of the car and my friend in the road calling my name, he was perfectly all right but I was in a ditch and it was an unforgettable experience of course. And then I remember the noise of the accident awoken some people in a bungalow very close by and obviously they called the police or they called an ambulance. And I remember the ambulance arriving and they're looking for me with a torch because in fact the first, they couldn't find me. They eventually found me and then the moment that one of these ambulance people touched me, I entered my body. And I remember feeling so cold, so bitterly cold, and I had the taste of blood in my mouth. And well, that was it. The next thing I knew, I was in hospital in the operating theater, and I was up to my body again, just looking down what they were doing. And that was fine. And of course, I remember being in the bed in the ward and that was it. What happened was I lost half of my little pinky on the left hand finger and then I had a subluxation in the 3, 4 and 5th cervical and that was very painful and I was inverted for days with weights on my head.
Then I was sent to an army rehabilitation center in Chester for four months. This is in 1960. I was downgraded medically. I couldn't do my parachute any longer. I was downgraded for a year, in fact. When I left rehabilitation and posted back to my unit, the unit changed from one place to another, but still within the town on the outskirts of Farnborough. They didn't really know what to do with me. I was downgraded but what in fact they did, and I was so grateful for it, to look after a military vehicle park 12 hours a day from Monday to Friday from six in the morning to six in the evening, and at six in the evening the night guard took over. Well, I did this from about the month of April of 1960 to January to January 1961. This was an extremely important several months for me because it gave me the opportunity to read everything I could get my hands on. And I read so many books, philosophical and religious.
And then in 1967 I was led into a library in Aldershot, just looking for a score because at that time I was learning to become a conductor. This was before I became a bandmaster. I hope you can still keep track on all this. So, I entered this library and went to a philosophical or religious section and I remember seeing this book, a sleeve, just a sleeve of a book, you know what I mean by the sleeve, and there was a symbol, just a symbol of seven circles divided by seven. All in gold and the book was entitled Concerning Subud by John J. Berndt. I was attracted to the symbol. I can't remember the name. Anyway, I opened the book and started to read the inside about what the book was about. And immediately, I had what felt like a punch right in the middle of my forehead in the third eye area and I literally saw stars and I was almost flattened out to the floor but I didn't entirely lose my balance but I really felt this punch and I really saw sparks and I thought to myself, my God. When after a few moments when I recovered myself, obviously I took this book home and I read it from cover to cover and I just couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe it. It dealt with an initiation. It dealt with a contact. It dealt with a receiving and I just couldn't wait to get into this movement, this spiritual movement called Subud, founded by a man in Indonesia that everyone referred to as Bapak, which is really a father in Indonesian, spelled B-A-P-A-K, Bapak. Well, there was a three-month probation waiting period before you could be initiated in the Subud because it was so important the individual who had interest really was sincere in his request, in his desire to enter and also to find out as much as possible what it was, what Subud was all about. Yes, okay.
Dominick
Could you explain the difference between that type of initiation versus say like a secret? It doesn’t sound like it is necessarily a secret initiation where you have to learn secrets, but it's a process?
Lemuel
No, no, no, no, not at all. No, no, no, no. Subud is really a receiving, and what one receives is, well, they termed it as a spiritual exercise. They use those words for people to try to understand what takes place. And they refer to it as the Latihan. Subud is based on people experiencing what they refer to as the Latihan, L-A-T-I-H-A-N. Latihan Kejiwaan in Indonesia means literally spiritual exercise. Well, my opening after three months, so my initiation after three months, which I used to go twice a week to talk to them who were there to practice the Latihans, to talk to them about their experiences, etc., and to read the very little that was available at that time because it was the early days of Subud. And anyway, to cut a long story short, I couldn't wait. I couldn't wait for my initiation. And the initiation into this spiritual brotherhood called Subud consists of being in a room with three other men. The men were always separate from the women, of course. I will explain that later if it's necessary. But the initiation consists of being in a room with three men who are already experienced and are referred to as helpers. And they have the authority from BAPA to open, they refer to the initiation as opening. These men have the authority to open other members during this ceremony of initiation. So, I stood in front of three…Can you still hear me?
Dominick
Yes, no worries.
Lemuel
Ah, I'm sorry, I hear the noise. I'm standing in front of three men, and I'm having doubts, of course, because it's so unusual, but I had the faith strong enough to realize, well, if I'm here in sincerity, asking God for a loaf of bread, so to speak, is not going to give me a stone. The man in front of me read a short script which is read before everyone who wants to receive this contact. And it was a few words to say, for example, we are here, they, the helpers are there to witness my desire to, I think, to worship the one Almighty God and we hope that your wish is based on sincerity, etc. etc. And that was it, just a few lines. And then he said the word, begin.
Well, almost immediately, on hearing this word begin, I felt a presence in my chest. I did feel it before on a previous occasion, but in my head, but this was in my chest. And it was like I was injected with a vapor and it spread, permeated all my chest area and it began to rise up into my neck. And I knew immediately that if it gets into my head, well, I'm gone. And in fact, that's what happened. Because the next thing I knew, I heard a loud bang. And it was me hitting the deck. I was literally poleaxed. Never felt a thing. I just heard this noise. But it was me hitting the deck. Well, that was my initiation into Subud. And I stayed there for about a half an hour. And other members came in, and they did their Latihan. And that was the end of it. Well, I was a practicing member of SUBUD from 1976.
I'm sorry, from 1967, I do break it down. Now it was the 20th of July, almost to the day. Now it is the 17th of July, 57 years ago. 57 years ago, I received this, what they refer to as the opening, to receive this contract. And they also explained in a very simple way, it is like a candle being able to light another candle. So, these three men, if you like, were three candles, and their candles were lit. My candle was unlit, but through this contact, my candle became lit, and I have been a lighted candle ever since. I know that is a very simplistic way of explaining it. But at the same time, well, this is it. I mean, I felt that presence. I really did. And I had that knock in my forehead three months previously in the April in the library. I really felt that that almost knocked me out. And so, this was my opening. And as I say, I was practicing Subud until around about 1983.
This coincided with problems with family, that is to say a separation and later on a divorce. And so, from 1983 until 1989, I was living alone but working professionally as a pianist in a hotel until I went to Egypt. But before I went to Egypt, I was given, I went with a friend to a bookshop and apparently this book fell off the shelf in front of this friend of mine, a lady friend, her name was Rose, and she bent down to pick up this book and she said Lemuel, this book is not for me, this book is for you. And I looked at the title of this book and it was A Course in Miracles. Now the lady friend I was with, her name was Rose, she was in fact psychic, and her mother was psychic, and she had a certain gift of seeing things and that sort of thing. And this is why she said, emphatically, this is not for me, Lemuel, this book is for you. And it was A Course in Miracles. So, I had this book with me when I went to Egypt. I went to Egypt because this lady friend and I, we had, we left, we were together, we never lived together but we were very close friends and we went to Cyprus and we stayed in Paphos in Cyprus. Whilst I was there, I decided I want to take a holiday myself alone and I went to a tour agency in Paphos and I asked about a holiday and they said, well, you know, Israel is very close, you know, the Holy Land and Egypt. And whilst she went to get some information leaflets, there was a girl sitting down there, a young lady sitting down there and she said, I can't help overhearing your situation, your question. My father, in fact, is Egyptian and he has this hotel in downtown Zamalek. So, to cut a long story short, because of that, I mean, I saw that as an omen, of course, that was a sign. So, I went to Egypt for a holiday and I stayed at this hotel. And in the hotel, they had information about the boats that sailed up and down the Nile. And I thought, oh, that's very nice. And so I went on the boat, I played piano. They found out I was a professional pianist and they offered me a job. Well, after two weeks on the Nile, on the boats going up and down the Nile, I mean, I really wasn't interested in temples and that sort of thing. I really am not.
So, I went back and I thanked them very much, but I'm really not interested. So, they were disappointed. So, I went back to Cyprus. And then in September, I had to leave Cyprus and I went back to England. Now I'm going to stop there. Now this is September of 1989. There is something I forgot to tell you. Just before I left the army in the April of 1974, I had nowhere to live. I had a wife, six children and a car. The plans that I had previously to move to a house in Sidmouth in Devon with a friend who was in Subud, his plans were put on the back boiler for six months. So, I could not immediately move from Scotland to Devon because this friend of mine was still there with his children. Well, I had gutted my bridges by then. I could not do anything else. He stayed where he was in this house in Sidmouth and Devon, and I had to leave Scotland. I already purchased my discharge by purchase, which is called. I had my purchase from the Army. What's the word discharge? Yes, I'm sorry. I couldn't find the word. I bought my discharge, my honorable discharge from the army and I had to leave. But I say I had a wife, six children and a car and nothing else. So where do I go? Well luckily at that time the parents of my wife, they were still in situ in Aldershot and the sister of my wife had her sister luckily in Aldershot, living in a married quarter with a soldier. And so, I had to go home to my parents with my two sons. So, we were split in three different ways. Leaving Scotland, going directly to the home of the parents of my wife and depositing two of my youngest daughters with her and two of the oldest daughters with my wife, Lucina's sister and I with my two sons at my parents' home. As you can well imagine, I was not very popular with my parents. They could see that I threw up a brilliant career that I worked for to become a Band Master Director of Orchestra. And I gave that up for what?
That’s something that they just could not understand. Because to them I saw the light, supposedly. Well, they just freaked out, of course. They just couldn't understand. But I had no option. I had to go and be with them, with two children, my two sons.
Dominick
If I could ask Lemuel,
Lemuel
Yes, please.
Dominick
Did you grow apart with your spiritual growth? Did your wife grow apart from you with that development?
Lemuel
No, no, no, no, no, no, she remained in Subud and I remained, no, not at all. This only strengthened my faith. It's just that we parted our ways because of other reasons, incompatible, that in no way diluted my spiritual life or hers for that matter. I'm happy to say. So, as I say, living with my parents and they were devastated of course that I gave up my career. So, having the faith to, well, I had no option. As I say, I left Scotland with a car, a wife and six children and split up in three different positions, three different ways. And this just two weeks later, the miracle happened. Now, you're not gonna believe, well, I could hardly believe it myself at the time. I found out that there was a group of Subud members living in a small community just five miles away on a farm, just five miles away from Tredegar, my hometown. I just couldn't believe it.
So, I jumped in the car and I had the address and I went to see these people. Which is true, they were in Subud, they were living as a small community on a rented farm and they had room for me and my two boys but they didn't have any other room for my wife and four other children until later on in the year because one of the families who was resident there at the moment, they were leaving in July. So, I said goodbye to my mum and dad and they were thankful to get rid of me, I suppose, but also glad that I found a place to be with Subud people just five miles away from Tredegar. It was really a miracle. So that's what I did. I moved in there with my two sons and then later on when this family moved out in July, my wife and my other four girls, four children came and we all lived together on this farm in Wales, just five miles from Tredegar. And we were so happy. We passed six months, wonderful months on this farm in Wales in 1974. Well, I make another pause. Any questions or any comments?
Dominick
I don't see anything on the dashboard. If anyone's listening, it's five o'clock.
Lemuel
They must be bored stiff. They must be bored stiff. I'm sorry. Well, okay. So, let me continue. So, where are we? Yes. Okay. So, in the October of 1974, we were able to move into Sidmouth in Devon, in the county of Devon, which is in the southwest of England. And because this friend moved out, he went to move to another place and lived on a boathouse. So, I was able to move into his house that had six bedrooms. And we lived there for a year before we moved into another house. But then so yes, I am backtracked because all that took place in the year of 63. You must be as confused as I am at the moment. What am I talking about? I was talking about the...
Dominick
You had the miracle?
Lemuel
Yes, that's right. That was 74. Yes, after leaving Lucina in the home in Exmouth, I moved into Exeter and I was there living on my own from the April of 63 until the December of 69 when I went to Egypt. Yeah.
Dominick
How was fatherhood in your experience?
Lemuel
How was what?
Dominick
How was being a father for you? What was that like?
Lemuel
Well, I think, well, I really enjoyed it. I mean we did plan to have children. Lucina was from a big family, and so all my children were planned and it is wonderful for the first few years. They all had spiritual names because I was given the name of Lemuel on my initiation. A year after my initiation, I was given the name Lemuel and then later on all my children were given spiritual names. But then the situation between Lucina and I changed for all sorts of reasons, mainly because I had become so, I don't want to use the word entrenched, but my spiritual life became of course so important to me that I forsake other things. I mean, I know Lucina and I didn't have any relations for three years for whatever reason. I still don't understand, but we just didn't and of course she was desperately unhappy about that situation, understandably, but there it was.
So finally, we separated and I left in April of that year of 1983. I lived in Exeter for those years on my own but I did later on have a lady friend, Rose. In fact, it was she as I said earlier that she found this book fell off the shelf in the bookshop and she gave it to me saying this book is for you and that was A Course in Miracles. So then yes, we moved to Paphos in Cyprus and whilst I was in Cyprus, I had the opportunity to have this holiday in Egypt and I found out about the boats and that sort of thing. So, I did the Course of Miracles in Egypt religiously every day. It is a course for a year as you probably know and I loved this book, The Course of Miracles. I really loved it. The problem was then of course that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and we are at the beginning of what became known as the war in the Gulf. I was in Egypt and Egypt was one of the countries that were at war.
And so, all the tourists and the holidaymakers, they were advised to leave Egypt. And so, the tour operators closed down and they didn't have anybody else. They stopped people going to Egypt. Well, I wasn't a tourist, but I was working with a company and I also was advised to leave. But it was almost too late because they closed the airports down and I was stuck in Cairo, not on the boat because there was no tourists any longer, so I wasn't playing piano in the boats any longer. I was living in an unbelievably flat in Cairo, absolutely festooned with millions of cockroaches, not been lived in before for years, but it was the cheapest thing that I could find anyway. And it was next door to a circus and I could hear, well, it's not necessary to talk about that, they used to give certain food to the tiger every year which included the occasional donkey and the smell was atrocious and I was living right next door to this place. I see, happy days. So yes, where am I? I'm in Cairo and finished the book of A Course in Miracles and I had to leave Cairo, but the airports were closed down and I was stuck. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't do anything.
Well, I forgot to mention, of course, that during my time as pianist on the boats cruising up and down the Nile, one day on a Monday, the 14th of May, 1989, a group of Spanish people came onto the boat. Every week, the boat was filled with different groups – Spanish, German, French, British, etc. and I remember sitting on a chair on the top of some steps where everybody had to come up and enter into the reception room, which was an enormous bar and a dance floor. I remember seeing this group coming up towards me of Spanish groups and there was this lady with a straw hat with cherries and wearing yellow plimsolls and she was extremely attractive. She passed me and that was it. And then I must tell you that being a member of the boat staff as I was, being a pianist, we sat with all the staff members, which included the tour guides, the tour leaders. The Spanish tour leader was a young girl, a very, very beautiful girl called Gemma and I asked her, she spoke perfect English thankfully, I asked her, who was this woman with a straw hat with cherries and yellow shoes? And she said, oh, that’s Dolly. Her name was Dolly. And I said, why is she so sad?
Now the reason I said that is because I observed her. At sundown, everybody at sundown or just before sundown, they go to see the sunset and it is a sight to behold in Egypt. Now just imagine you’re on a boat cruising up and down the Nile. It is so romantic. Everybody is waiting for the sunset and people are there with their memories, thinking of all sorts of things I suppose. And this lady, which I can tell her name, was Dolly. She was there and she had such an expression of sadness on her face and it really touched me. It really impacted me and that is why I asked and whilst we were sitting down to eat one evening on the boat and I asked her, why is this lady so sad? And she said, well I don't know that she is sad, why do you ask? And I told her. Anyway, so she obviously told Dolly that this pianist was asking, wanted to know why you were so sad. Well, anyway.
What happened before was, I'm sitting playing the piano at tea time. I'm not in my tux. I used my tux later on for the formal dinner time. So, I'm sitting in normal clothing and she had a recorder and she's going around the room recording everything and she came closer to me with her camera as I was playing the piano and I remember her saying, you are a tourist, you play piano, but you're a tourist. I said, no, in fact, I'm not a tourist. I said, I am the pianist, I am playing the piano for you. Oh, she said. Oh, and well, she said, I hope you don't mind me, me filming, I said, not at all, just carry on. Anyway, she fell in love with me at first sight. Her words, not mine.
And then later I had to leave Egypt as you know and then she left the boat. She was on the boat for a week from the 14th of May to the 21st of May of that year, 1990. And then when I had to leave, I sent her a text, what do you call it, an email, not in …, what do you call it? I sent her a message. Well, where do I go now? Because she invited me for two weeks in July, she was on holiday, and I spent two weeks, wonderful weeks with Dolly in Catalonia here on the Costa Brava in Girona. And then I went back because I worked for three months and I had a month's vacation. Three months and a month vacation. And so, I came and spent two weeks here with Dolly. Then I went to Cyprus, then I went to New York. I had friends in New York, in Brooklyn. Well, that was my life that year. I had a wonderful year because I was well-paid in Egypt. I had enough money to…
Dominick
Incidentally, right, just for context, you live in Catalonia today and that's your …?
Lemuel
Yes, I've been here for 33 years now in Girona, yes. From the time that Dolly invited me here, I've lived here ever since. We got married, of course, we got married five years later. She died of cancer 13 years ago now. But I'm living here alone in Girona, yes.
Dominick
So, when did you start? Tell us about your journey and how you became a transmitter amongst us and for us?
Lemuel
Oh, yes. Well, leaving Egypt and coming to live here in 1991, at the end of the war, in the Gulf, January 1991. I have been living here permanently since January 1991, yes. In the following year, 1992, was the Olympics in Barcelona. We got married. In fact, Dolly had the Urantia book. A paperback version and she wasn't very familiar with it, she just dipped into it from time to time. But I hadn't heard of the Urantia book at that time, but I could see that it was an enormous book. And so, I started to look into it and I got grabbed with the cosmology.
And so, well, very soon after that, I mean, I bought the Urantia book for myself. And so now we are talking 91, 92, 93, that sort of epoch. And I'm reading the book of Urantia, you know? Now, to answer your question about transmitting, this is a difficult one because, in fact, I have been receiving and transmitting in a way all my life, but more especially since my initiation or since my opening in Subud. From that moment on, yes, I was receiving. I didn't know I wouldn't have put the term Thought Adjuster on that or a spark of God inside me, but I knew I had something inside me and that something had been accompanying me or I was aware of from my childhood. Well, the difference being that type of awareness and what happened at my initiation was just more of the same thing but much more, a tremendous boost in my ability to receive and to be awareness of this presence within and around me all the time. Now coming into the discussion forum which I think I joined in Oh, 10 or 11 years ago. I think. (2013-04-30 from the forum members list)
I think of this only because I think Ron had mentioned that we were short of transmitters and would I be interested in and of course I thought it was something different. I thought it was something that I had to learn, you know, and if I was experienced a bit of confusion that this is transmitting or this must be something different, you know. But of course it isn't. It isn't different. The thing that I had to learn was to try to differentiate between my thoughts and between what came out of the Pandora box, as I like to refer to my subconscious, which operates from the moment you wake until the moment you sleep sort of thing, to differentiate between these different thoughts.
And so, but I quickly became aware of that. The transmitting, as I referred to it, transmitting previously, were always, always, always of a spiritual nature. And I always felt positive and good about it all, you know. And many, many, many euphoric moments where I'm on my feet jumping up and down with my arms in the air like these teenagers at a rock concert, you know and this has been me for years. It's a good job nobody has seen me. Well, I don't know whether anybody has ever seen me when I was in this kind of ecstasy, jumping up and down for joy. So, yes. I don't know whether this answers your question, Dominick, but I was confused at the beginning, yes, thinking that this transmitting from Michael or Jesus or any of these others were anything different. Well, of course, there is a slight difference because it's more directed, more, yes, I think that is the word, opening myself up to receive directly from a member of our celestial family. So, in that sense, it is different. Without that, of course, then it's just me receiving, as always, from now what I know to be is termed as my Thought Adjuster, which in fact I've always had from my infancy, and I've always been aware of that presence, but of course I didn't know it was a fragment of God within me. So, there you are. I think I’ve told you the the gist of my life up to the present moment.
Dominick
Yeah, how many years have you transmitted and maybe how many transmissions have you taken and any advice for people who think...
Lemuel
Well, I mean, I've taught for years the spiritual matters. I mean, over the years, I mean, as you know, I had a teacher, I had Amadon for a while and then I had Calumnia and I did more than a hundred transmissions from him. I don't know where they are. I found some of them but a lot of them are missing. I don't know how many hundreds of audio transmissions are on tape. I don't know what happened to them. There must be well over a thousand in some place between my audio transmissions, the transmissions I had from Calumnia and from Amadon and my own teachings. Ron asked me to do some and called the Sower, which I did for a while. I don't know what happened to those transmissions, but they were basically teachings, you know. Where does one begin? You know, you begin with the ABC.
The ABC is the person that is standing in front of you, and they know nothing at all. So how do you teach? I have always said you don't start with God. God is X, Y, Z. You start with A, B, C, and the A, B, C is the person standing in front of you. And they know nothing about themselves, only know what they see in the mirror. And they regard life as the body. They know nothing whatsoever so you have to start from scratch with these people. And this is what I've been teaching for donkey's ears, you know, because I've always been aware that there is a body, there's a mind, and there is your soul. And even church people, they don't know, they haven't got a clue. You ask them, well, what is spirit? Well, what is your soul? Where is your soul? What is it for, etc. And they haven't got a clue. They don't know. So, there is a tremendous lack of spiritual knowledge, spiritual teaching in this world that has been lacking
since the rebellion. And I mean, you're all aware of that. So, in my way, I've been transmitting for many, many, many years, Dominick. Yes.
Dominick
Can you take a question from Valerie?
Lemuel
Yes, of course.
Dominick
Okay. Valerie, you're unmuted.
Valerie
Thank you. I just wanted to tell Lemuel that I do have his audio and his writings. I told him that before. I am not saying a thousand but hundreds of them, yes.
Lemuel
Yes, and I'm very grateful for that Valerie because I thought, well I just didn't know where they were so if you got some of them, well that's wonderful. If you were able to do anything with them, well of course that's wonderful.
Valerie
I am working on it and I will want to publish them for you. But they are wonderfully done and I have all that I could collect during the past five years since I know you.
Lemuel
Well, that's wonderful Valerie, thank you so much for that and maybe in the future that will form part of the archive. Speak with Dominick about that.
Valerie
Yeah, I didn't understand exactly what you said but I will. And I want to tell you I really enjoyed listening to you. I thank Dominick for this opportunity. I think it's very good to get to know each other more. And wish you the very best if you do have the surgery tomorrow, which I don't know.
Lemuel
Yes, tomorrow. Tomorrow.
Valerie
So, I did send a short message to God bless you and pray for you and we keep the faith that you will be okay. I’m glad to hear you actually. So, this was a wonderful occasion. All I can say.
Lemuel
Thank you, Valerie. Thank you so much. Thank you. Very kind. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Dominick. Thank you.
Dominick
Okay, I muted Valerie, hopefully not too soon. But as Lemuel, she said, we're all in agreement. It's destined for the archives, the library.
Lemuel
Oh, okay, that's wonderful. Okay. So now tomorrow I can depart this world in peace, yes?
Dominick
Absolutely. In chariots of fire.
Lemuel
It's part of the common prayer. There is a part of the service which says Lord, now let us bow thy servant, depart in peace. For I have seen the glory of one, whatever. So yes, I can depart in peace. Well, it's all in the hands of my beloved, of course. So, we shall see. I have my operation tomorrow evening. I enter the hospital at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. But I suppose I won't enter the operating theater till about 5 o'clock, I suppose, something like that. That's my time of course here in Catalonia, Spain.
Dominick
Well, wonderful. Well, you've been the easiest interviewer in the world. We just had a friend with that and you followed beautifully. Thank you.
Lemuel
Well, you're welcome and I don't think I've missed anything important. I think I have covered the important things. Anyway, it gives you quite an oversight of my life, the life of Lemuel from my birth in Tredegar in South Wales to here I am and the root that has brought me, the event that has brought me from Wales to spend the rest of my life here in Catalonia. So, thank you Dominick for giving me this opportunity. It's been a pleasure and I do really appreciate it. Thank you, Dominick. Thank you so much.
Dominick
You're welcome. And before I press stop on the recording, I'm going to open up a cacophony of noise by unmuting everybody. Okay.
Lemuel
Yeah, okay.
Participants, Host and Speaker
Thank you, Lemuel. Nice to hear from you. Thank you, Lemuel. Thank you. Thank you, Lemuel. It was great to be here. Thank you all very much. Thank you, Dominick. Thank you.
Thank you. Bye bye. Bye bye.
End
