There is quite a stir about whether or not Jon is someone predicted by Edgar Cayce, so we will attempt to answer a few things about that.  For those not familiar with Cayce, he was an American prophet who lived early in the 20th century, and spoke while in a trance state.  He almost always said it was his own higher being speaking, but this unique reading, the only one about J. Peniel out of thousands, ends with "I, Halaliel, have spoken".

Q. Is the author the John Peniel predicted by Edgar Cayce and others?
A. You need to decide for yourself.  Many people, including members of Cayce's A.R.E. (Association for Research & Enlightenment), insist he is.  But Jon doesn't lay claim to being the one Cayce predicted, not does he deny the possibility . He considers it irrelevant, and unimportant compared to spiritual truths that can help people, and the world.  Thus he asks people to judge only the value of the message and spiritual teachings he revealed to the world in our book, and not accept it or dismiss it based on whether or not he is the one Cayce said would come.

When the book was first published, we weren't even aware of the Cayce predictions. Jon was only aware of his monastic order's own predictions regarding Jon's future tasks (that were told to him by the monks who were his teachers).  These predictions did seem to coincide with Cayce's in many ways, especially in the sense that Jon's teachers told him to make the teachings public at this time. The book was originally going to be published anonymously, but the publisher's rep insisted it have his name, stating that certain major distributors and bookstore chains wouldn't carry it without the author's name. So Jon agreed for the sake of distributing the message. After publishing the book, we began hearing from ARE members, that the Edgar Cayce readings, and other sources, had predicted the arrival of a significant spiritual messenger/teacher by that name. We have since acquired the complete Cayce readings on CD ROM, and looked it up. Cayce said that Peniel would be bringing a message to the world, and that "they" would come and declare he was "giving to the world the new order of things", which is essentially what is happening through the book, the teachings, and the Golden Rule Organization. That reading was sent to us, and excerpts are written below. We only included the excerpts involving J.Peniel), because the reading jumps around, and after bringing up the coming of Peniel, goes into Earth Change predictions (for '36), and predictions regarding the "Second coming".   For anyone interested in the entire reading, it is reading #3976-15
 
 

Note:  "G.D. were the initials of Cayce's secretary, who transcribed the entranced Cayce's spoken words, into written words.  Where you see brackets - [  ], the words inside the brackets are hers, not Cayce's.  Cayce also did not spell words during this reading, nor say when to capitalize them, so such things are also GD's interpretation.  For instance, when she wrote the word "John" she assumed that was the spelling.  When she capitalizes words that indicate God, like "Him", "He", she is assuming that Cayce was referring to God.

                         R E A D I N G

           The reading was given Jan 19, 1934, between 11:40 to 12:40 A. M.

              4. Hence, in giving the interpretation, MANY are present;
              many of those whose names alone would bring to others awe -
              discredit, yet - even a wonderment.  For, not only then must
              the information be instructive but enlightening; yet it must
              also be so given that it may be a PRACTICAL thing in the
              experience of thine own self and in the experience of life of
              thine fellow man.  Not only must it be informative in nature,
              but it must also be that which is constructive; though
              [pause] that which is informative and that which may be
              enlightening and constructive must at times overlap one
              another.

           5. First, then:  There is soon to come into the world a body
              [See Par. 6 below]; one of our own number here that to many
              has been a representative of a sect, of a thought, of a
              philosophy, of a group, yet one beloved of all men in all
              places where the universality of God in the earth has been
              proclaimed, where the oneness of the Father as God is known
              and is consciously magnified in the activities of individuals
              that proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord.  Hence that one
              John, the beloved in the earth - his name shall be John, and
              also at the place where he met face to face [Peniel].
              [GD's note:  Could this mean that John, the beloved, had
              been Jacob?  See 3976-15, Par. R2.] * *attached below**

           6. When, where, is to be this one?  In the hearts and minds of
              those that have set themselves in that position that they
              become a channel through which spiritual, mental and material
              things become one in the purpose and desires of that physical
              body!  [GD's note:  Beginning of new age of spiritual
              awakening?  See 5749-5, Par. 5--7; 281-38, Par. 16.]
 
 

          10. Who shall proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord in him
              that has been born in the earth in America?  Those from that
              land where there has been the regeneration, not only of the
              body but the mind and the spirit of men, THEY shall come and
              declare that John Peniel is giving to the world the new ORDER
              of things.  Not that these that have been proclaimed have
              been refused, but that they are made PLAIN in the minds of
              men, that they may know the truth and the truth, the life,
              the light, will make them free.

          11. I have declared this, that has been delivered unto me to
              give unto you, ye that sit here and that hear and that see a
              light breaking in the east, and have heard, have seen thine
              weaknesses and thine faultfindings, and know that He will
              make thy paths straight if ye will but live that YE KNOW this
              day - then may the next step, the next word, be declared unto
              thee.  For ye in your weakness [pause] have known the way,
              through that as ye have made manifest of the SPIRIT of truth
              and light that has been proclaimed into this earth, that has
              been committed unto the keeping of Him that made of Himself
              no estate but who brought into being all that ye see manifest
              in the earth, and has declared this message unto thee:  "Love
              the Lord thy God with all thine heart," and the second is
              like unto it, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."  Who is thine
              neighbor?  Him that ye may aid in whatsoever way that he, thy
              neighbor, thy brother, has been troubled.  Help him to stand
              on his own feet.  For such may only know the acceptable way.
              The weakling, the unsteady, must enter into the crucible and
              become as naught, even as He, that they may know the way.  I,
              Halaliel, have spoken.
 
 

That particular reading, is the only Cayce reading that refers to Peniel by name.  Cayce (or should I say Halaliel) seemed to say that John Peniel would become known as the Earth changes were about to, or had begun on Earth. Considering all that is happening on the Earth as far as climate, volcanic/quake activity, extinction of species, new disease epidemics, and many other things, such changes have begun. Note also, the emphasis on the Golden Rule ("Love thy neighbor as thyself") in the last paragraph.

Q. Jon said he studied the Cayce readings when he was a teenager, yet says he wasn't aware of the prediction about Jon Peniel.  How could he have missed the obvious reference in these famous Cayce readings about Earth Changes?
A. Several ways.  All the Cayce books, like those Jon read, use excerpts from the readings, not the complete reading.  Even the special "Earth Changes" supplements that were compiled and released by the ARE, used excerpts from the very reading that mentions Peniel, but it cut out the Peniel parts of the reading.  I think one very recent book may have included the name, but that's it (and Jon hasn't read such books for many decades).  So in order to have come across that name in the past, Jon would have had to comb through entire whole set of readings, and stumbled on it.  And the entire set of readings was only recently made easily accessible and available, on CD rom.

Finally, the Peniel name was referred to only in this one reading - only once in something like ten thousand readings? (that's just a "guestimate" - but it's a lot of readings!)
 
 

Let us make it clear again that Jon is not claiming to be the one Cayce referred to (nor denying the possibility).  He doesn't believe that whether or not he is "the" Peniel predicted by Cayce is important or directly relevant to his mission, and feels that if he is, he is, and if he isn't, he isn't, and it makes no difference in regards to the teachings. Neither does it make any difference if someone "thinks" he is or isn't the person Cayce predicted.  People often miss the issue here - the only real issue with that it seems, is not whether he is or isn't the Peniel Cayce predicted, but whether or not this is a "hit" or miss for Cayce's powers of prophecy.  And Cayce's predictions are not Jon's focus, or any of his business.  He is primarily concerned with the predictions of his own order.   Also, the Cayce readings themselves say nothing about "the" Peniel's message having anything to do with getting any official validation, or recognition based on his name - only that he would be a messenger, with a VERY important MESSAGE for the world. Jon reminds us that this message is far more important than the messenger. You will have to decide for yourself, the importance and value of the ancient teachings Jon presents in this book, and manifests in his life, even if his name was Kilroy Magoo, not Jon Peniel.

As mentioned earlier, after reading the book, some ARE members, and Cayce study groups, have come to believe or even proclaim Jon is "the" Peniel they have been waiting for. On the flip side, some people (not Cayce study groups or ARE members to our knowledge), without even reading the book, have claimed that the author isn't "the" Jon Peniel. And they've done so quite vehemently, sometimes with hostility, rudeness and insults. In fact, in the ARE's own magazine, they printed a substantially negative "review" of "The Lost Teachings of Atlantis", in which they focused on his name, not the spiritual content that is the bulk of the book.  One must ask, why are they so threatened? If he isn't "the" Jon Peniel, his message of truth, kindness, caring, and unselfish love certainly isn't going to hurt anyone, only help. Even if they consider the message nothing new or "Earth shaking".  But the fact is, the message IS a threat to darkness, and selfishness, and the selfish, separate self. And that is the real reason for attacks, regardless of the claimed reason.

 We have every respect for Cayce, and feel he was truly unique. There have been a number of Cayce imitators and copycats, but none who we are aware of delivered the words that "rang the bells of truth" with our Inner Beings, as Cayce's readings did. It was the same message as that lived and given by Jesus (who was the founder and leader of the Children, throughout all his lifetimes),  the Children of the Law of One (which Cayce was part of even though he wasn't always conscious of that). But on occasion, sometimes even Cayce's predictions were "off" however, and he'd be the first to admit it. There can be many reasons for that. But Cayce was consistently "on" about what was most important.  He would frequently, and intensely, admonish people to change, to transcend the self (the source of all problems), to be self-sacrificing, to love selflessly, to live their lives and use their thoughts in such a way as to return to Oneness with God, and thus get in touch with the truth and source of all true knowledge directly. This again, is the same message repeated over and over in Jon's book, but with the addition of Jon giving detailed specific methods for accomplishing the transition from selfishness and separateness from the Universal Spirit/God, to Oneness with the Universal Spirit/God.  At this time in history, the world doesn't need another Cayce to provide us with more prophecy, but it does need real methods and true teachers who can help those seeking God, to attain their goal. According to Cayce's readings, now is a time for taking action, and the time for major earth shaking events.  It is the time of the return of the Christ, and anyone that wants to catch that train had better be ready to jump on.   It is the end of the world as we know it, and rather than finding and listening to another prophet, it is time now for all good people to make the internal changes necessary to return to Oneness with God, and manifest Christ Consciousness through Unselfish Love.  As Jesus' only commandment says - "Love one another as I have loved you.  By this, they will know you are my followers."

With all that in mind, we can examine the apparent contradictions raised by those who have an issue about who is or isn't "the" Jon Peniel (which again, Jon feels is irrelevant). The first, is that Jon's name is not spelled with an "h" (John). This difference in spelling between Jon and John, has been pointed out by some, as if it is relevant. But one must realize the name given by Cayce and others, was not spelled, it was spoken. It was thus naturally assumed by the American transcriber, to be spelled in the American way ("John"), rather than the more European version ("Jon"). Who really knows what Cayce intended?  The transcriber actually did this for a couple of reasons. Besides being the common American spelling, the transcriber assumed that Cayce/Halaliel was referring to the apostle John, and thus also used the modern English Biblical spelling.   It isn't really an issue, but for those who feel that it is, they should keep in mind that even the name "John" as was used in the Bible, is just a translation of a translation of a translation, etc.. The name/word "John" or "Jon", was not even part of Jesus' language, and many different languages have their own version of that name, even now.  The hebrew name for John is Johanan, meaning "Favored by Jehovah".  The absence or inclusion of the letter "h" is not an issue when it is translated from many languages, including the odd form of ancient Hebrew used by those of Jesus' parent sect.

Also, an unrelated interesting side-note, some people think J. Peniel is supposed to be the reincarnation of the apostle John the Beloved, based on the above reading saying Peniel would be beloved.  But in the complete Cayce readings on CD ROM, John the Beloved is referred to 12 times, always exactly in that way ("John the Beloved"). Nowhere else in the entire readings, except for the above reading, is it said in the manner referring to J. Peniel in this reading: "...one beloved of all men in all places where the universality of God in the earth has been proclaimed..."; and ,  "...Hence that one John, the beloved in the earth - his name shall be John, and also at the place where he met face to face [Peniel]...."

 As to other sources of channeling, that use the "Cayce style", or other styles, we cannot verify the validity and/or accuracy of those sources and must remind people that many other "readings" have either been wrong, faked, or not relevant to anything provable one way or the other. At best, even good readings are subject to change, especially since some aspects of the future are not pre-determined, but rather subject to change depending on the use of free will, thus can flux in accuracy a great deal over time.  Such readings are only accurate a certain percentage of the time, thus, we think people should use their own intuition to determine such things (which is partly what the book is about - teaching you to become your own source of information from God, and not rely on others). In the old days, a false prophet didn't have a chance to make excuses, they were stoned to death. And a good prophet, an alive prophet, didn't make a prediction unless it was certain. Even Cayce would say that the time and places of many things could not be known, because of the free will factor.

 Some so-called prophets who did Cayce-like readings, even gave readings that defended their own inaccuracies, using excuse like people needed to be told false prophecy to get them to change. That kind of thing would have gotten you stoned to death for sure, and is a great catch-all excuse for a false prophet. How would YOU like to be told that your world was going to be destroyed on such and such a date, and you completely changed your life around it, only to find out many years later, nothing happened?! It seems to us that being prepared for the inevitable is good, prudent, and wise, but getting people to act on it by deception, rather than free will choice, is very wrong.

To summarize, regardless of whether or not the author is "the" John Peniel people have predicted, the information in the book could be the most important you have ever read, and should just be judged on its own merit. In our opinion, the name and predictions are irrelevant, and at best, far less important than the message and teachings. Decide for yourself. Don't let any one, or any thing, distract you from the truth, and what's really important.
 
 

COMMENTARY ON THE EXCERPTS FROM THE CAYCE READING ABOUT JOHN PENIEL (by an elder monk):

This whole reading about Peniel is unusual in that at the end of the reading, we find that it was not the inner being of the entranced Cayce speaking, as is usually the case. It is a being named "Halaliel" speaking. The reading in general is one of Cayce’s more confusing ones, but a number of things are indisputably clear, like the fact that the reading concludes by saying "I, Halaliel, have spoken". In our teachings, the hierarchy of the Children where the first to come to Earth attempting to rescue the "first wave" humanimals. The leader of that "rescue mission", was the being later to become known as Jesus. He was followed next by those closest to Him, those of the hier-arch-y of the Children who have been called "arch-angels" by some, and who we refer to now as "the old ones". Did you notice something in common with the names of well-known archangels, the being speaking through Cayce (a lesser known hierarchy "angel" according to our teachings), and Jon's name?  It’s the "el" at the end of their names, Rafa-el, Micha-el, Halali-el, etc. So keep that in mind when you read the "Peni-el" reading segment below:

"There is soon to come into the world a body; one of our own number here that to many has been a representative of a sect, of a thought, of a philosophy, of a group, yet one beloved in all places where the Universality of God in the earth has been proclaimed, where the oneness of the Father as God is known…"

Apparently, many "false Peniel" claimants have come from the ranks of the ARE or their hierarchy. In defense of their claims of being the fulfillment of "Cayce’s John Peniel" prophecy, many of them cited the beginning part of the above segment "There is soon to come into the world a body; one of our own number here". They said that "one of our own number here" meant that John Peniel would be an ARE member. It seems to me that besides "stretching" the interpretation of the reading because they wanted substantiation for claiming to be Cayce’s John Peniel, it was also a misinterpreted for other reasons. Since it wasn’t Cayce speaking, it wasn’t one of his own. So it wasn’t referring to the ARE. It was Halaliel speaking, so thus it would seem more accurate to conclude that it was "one of Halaliel’s own" who was being referred to. And there is another part of the reading segment that indicates that Peniel would not be of the ARE, but of Halaliel’s group. The rest of the phrase – "…that to many has been a representative of a sect, of a thought, of a philosophy, of a group, yet one beloved in all places where the Universality of God in the earth has been proclaimed, where the oneness of the Father as God is known…" First of all, the ARE was clearly not a sect in 1936 when this reading was done, nor is it now. I suppose it could be considered "a group", but it really isn’t, and doesn’t consider itself to be "a group". Thus a Peniel representing the ARE, couldn't be a representative of a sect or group as the reading states he would be..  So who would fit that phrase? See the next paragraph. Secondly, the reading is speaking of Peniel as being, "one beloved in all places where the Universality of God in the earth has been proclaimed, where the oneness of the Father as God is known…" That also doesn’t fit the ARE as far as I’m concerned, and wouldn’t have even applied to Cayce at the time. They are primarily focused on only spreading the word via Cayce readings, and only the spirituality expressed in the readings. That is not Universal, it is separatist. And anyone doing so would not be beloved in ALL places where the Universality of God has been proclaimed. Jesus would not be a member, nor would John the Beloved.  Thus the reading is referring to someone who would be beloved and embraced in that way, and it seems to infer, also has been in his past lives.  That would require Peniel to be a being who is focused on something that is truly Universal in all places where the Universality and oneness of God is proclaimed and known – the Golden Rule – Unselfish Love. Some version of The Golden Rule is something common to all religions recognizing the Oneness of God (regardless of the name they call God).  And the Golden Rule is the focus of the non-dogmatic teachings of the Children. So who they are referring to, would more likely be a spiritual teacher who also started movements and had followers in present and past lives, who lives a life of unselfish love (and teaches unselfish love, kindness, harmlessness), and who teaches the Oneness of the Universal Spirit/God, without any separatist qualifications or dogma. So let’s look at the reading segment again, with all the above in mind. I’ve placed the interpretations that make most sense to me, in brackets.

Again, remember it is not in doubt or question, even by the ARE, that the reading is referring to John Peniel:

"There is soon to come into the world a body; one of our own number here [one of Halaliel’s "own number" – one of the "old ones"] that to many has been a representative of a sect [the Children?], of a thought, of a philosophy [the "thought" and philosophy of the Children?], of a group [the Children?], yet one beloved in all places where the Universality of God in the earth has been proclaimed, where the oneness of the Father as God is known…"

That last part also describes the teachers of the Children perfectly. What other possible sects, or groups, could J. Peniel be a representative of, that fits such a description of being beloved in all places where the Universality of God in the earth has been proclaimed, where the oneness of the Father as God is known? It would have to be someone who’s philosophy was equally acceptable to true Christians, true Buddhists, true Jews, true Muslims, and anyone who believes in the universality and oneness of God. To my knowledge, only the lineage and teachings of the Children, would be universally acceptable to those from such varied groups as mentioned above (of course, even then they would have to be open minded true followers of their religion’s original prophets/founders). Thus, the reading indicates to me that Peniel would have to be a teacher of the Children of the Law of One, and an "old one" who has been beloved in many of his lifetimes, in many parts of the world, amongst those of many varied paths.

Another misinterpretation involving the "There is soon to come into the world a body" part of that reading, is that people mistakenly assume that meant Peniel would be born during the year of that reading, or thereabouts. But Cayce never said that, he said just "soon". Anyone who has really studied prophecy, also knows that "soon" can mean a week, a month, a year, 10 years, a hundred years, or even a couple of thousand years. Jesus was prophesied to return "soon", shortly after the crucifixion. That doesn’t mean there still won’t be a second coming, even though "soon" might mean 2000 years. Besides prophecy, even visionary or other statements work the same way.. Would a "visionary" in 1940 who said, "Soon, men will begin to travel into space", mean they were going to do so in 1940? Of course not. If the prophet Nostradamus predicted that centuries ago, would he have meant that it was going to happen in his lifetime even? Again, of course not. But you can understand how he could still make the statement, "Soon, men will begin to travel into space", and be right. Also, true prophecy is a tricky thing, and is for the most part, altered by free will, especially altered are time lines. The Cayce readings predicted the great earth changes in ’36, yet they didn’t come to pass (yet). Does that make him a false prophet, or was the timing just a "bit" off in the great scheme of things and the grand time line. Other times, when Cayce was asked such questions about when the earth changes would take place, he’d say essentially, "Only God knows". So what did "soon" mean to Halaliel? I personally think it was Jon's re-entry time, which was after that date.

I have heard from sources friendly to us within the ARE, that there has been much turmoil and reorganization within their hierarchy lately. Could this be the result of their anti-J. Peniel attitude and actions, falling off their path, and refusing to see that our work and teachings are those of the Universal Spirit/God working through us? Here’s an excerpt from the reading about Peniel:

"He comes as a messenger, not as a forerunnner…these are periods when mental, material, are to be so altered in the affairs of men as to be even bringing turmoil to those that have not seen that the Spirit is moving in His ways, to bring the knowledge of the Father in the hearts and lives of men."

That excerpt is referring to Peniel, yet Cayce’s secretary made the assumption that in the phrase, "that the Spirit is moving in His ways", referred to God, thus she capitalized the word "His". But Cayce didn’t spell it out, or say whether or not to capitalize that word. If you remove the capitalization, and assume the "he" Cayce is referring to, is Peniel (which was who the reading was about), it changes the meaning of the reading entirely, and drastically. Try re-reading the above excerpt, only "un-capitalize" the "His", and for a moment, consider it to be referring to Peniel.  It comes across very differently.

Consider the following interpretation as a possibility: Part of Peniel’s mission on Earth, could easily be said to "bring the knowledge of the Father in the hearts and lives of men." Also, it can easily be interpreted that after referring to the general problems of the time period, Cayce goes on to say that turmoil would come into the lives of anyone who doesn’t see/recognized that the Universal Spirit is moving in his (Peniel’s) ways, to bring the knowledge of the Father in the hearts and lives of men. You can interpret as you wish obviously, but to me, the above interpretation seems to make much more sense of that part of the reading. And I further think that the ARE’s declining membership, over-budgeting, being short millions of dollars for their budget (used for what anyway???) and the internal turmoil/removal & replacement of board members, etc., is all karma resulting from their refusal to deal with this John Peniel issue, and refusal to recognize that regardless of the name issue, the Spirit is moving in Jon's ways, to bring God to the hearts and lives of humanity. Again, Jon doesn't claim to be the "Cayce predicted" Peniel, and doesn’t care if he is or not. I do know however, that he has an important mission here, it is being done, it is being recognized, he is being declared by some (not us) as THE "John Peniel", and some pretty "weird" things are happening with it and around it. It could of course be all one grand coincidence. But you’ve got to admit, it would be VERY strange if that’s all it was, and the odds would be VERY much against it.  And we don't believe in coincidences.

Footnote: The Hebrew meaning of the name John, Jon (or Johanan), is "Jehovah has favored". The meaning of the name Peniel, is essentially "one who has seen God face to face".