by Guardian in Chief Richard A. London
Given in the Blue Star Memorial Temple
April 12, 2026
The purpose of the Temple can be summed up as five definite objectives:
First: To formulate spiritual truths as fundamental factors in human evolution. This does not mean the formulation of a creed, but rather the recognition of the spiritual instinct inherent in all human beings. Every religion that the world has known has been an attempt to interpret this primary impulse in human nature. To the extent that individuals are able to interpret this impulse wisely, humanity is able to understand what true religion is.
Second: To set forth a philosophy of life that is in harmony with Natural and Divine Law.
Third: To promote the study of the sciences and the fundamental facts and laws on which the sciences are based; to extend belief and knowledge from the known to the unknown, from the physical to the super-physical; and ultimately to reach an understanding of the spiritual teachings which have been given to humanity from time to time.
Fourth: To promote the study and practice of the Arts, showing that the Arts are in reality the application of knowledge to human good and welfare.
Fifth: The promotion of knowledge of a true social science based on immutable law, showing the relationship between all people, between each person and God, and between humanity and nature. Once these relationships are understood, humanity will instinctively formulate and follow the Law of true Brother/Sisterhood.
It is ignorance that perpetuates separateness. Once humanity can spiritually see the interrelationship and interdependence of all things, the Law of Unity begins to operate instantaneously.
Remember, the Temple of the People as a principle includes the whole world. Humanity will become a mighty power for good when it is universally attuned to the ideal of unselfish service, with each individual mind open and receptive to truth from every angle.
As a concrete Temple comes into manifestation, it also gives form to the spiritual forces and qualities that will become of priceless value for practical ends. The foundation stones of The Temple are RELIGION, SCIENCE and ECONOMICS. True religion must have a scientific basis, and a right economic system must have a foundation in a science that is religious and a religion that is scientific. Therefore, these three aspects are all important.
The keynote of effort for all humanity at this time is to re-temple the Earth with the fires of spiritual knowledge, wisdom and service to and for all; to unify the races of the Earth in bonds of Universal Brother/Sisterhood; and to find the practical applications of the great spiritual principles and truths imparted to humanity now and in past ages. When humanity evolves to harmony with this great keynote, all people will recognize the God within and live accordingly.
The Temple of the People has always recognized as privileged the value, importance, and self-responsibility of each individual, the main purpose of which is the daily application of the Golden Rule.
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I wanted to open this talk with this Declaration of Objectives, as they are foundational to the following Declaration of the Higher Purpose:
“You must never lose sight of one fact. The higher purpose, the aim of all those who are true Templars, was and still is the preparation of a place where it might become possible for the overshadowing Christ to enter and send forth the message which the world has waited for so long. It would be truly impossible for such an overshadowing of the spiritual forces to enter and dwell with a number of disaffected, treacherous, inhuman elements. It could not do the work for which it came, even if it were possible to come. Such a place requires quiet, concentration, aspiration, unified endeavor, and faith in each other and in the common purpose. These are essentials; all else is non-essential.”
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We find ourselves living during a unique cycle, when our local and global perspectives about the economic, religious, and scientific aspects of our lives appear to be significantly influenced by conflicting beliefs and behaviors. Opposing methods of action, which may have their roots firmly embedded in an ancient misunderstanding, are yet to be comprehended by those of us who guide the destiny of this planet.
While the constituent elements of air, fire, water, and earth find their order in a higher version of the Ten Laws of Discipleship, their atoms, molecules, and associated forces of attraction and repulsion find their appropriate cohesive capacities within the same realm of existence. This same holds true for Light.
From Do-Re-Mi to 1-2-3, our abilities as adults to comprehend the wisdom to be found and cherished within the basics of life have been severely compromised over the vastness of individual and collective years of Karma.
To that point, it seems far-fetched that a rainbow of colors camouflaged within the White Light would be instrumental in orchestrating a right economic system, a science that is religious, and a religion that is scientific.
Speaking of colors, I still treasure a distinct childhood dream about a yellow house surrounded by a white fence. Even now, the mere recollection of my dream continues to invoke a sense of tranquility. Looking back, I find this dream in profound contrast to my devoted great-grandparents having to prominently display a six-pointed yellow star on their clothing wherever they went. They were mandated to live like this until they were both forced to relocate from Berlin to Czechoslovakia before being murdered.
Having known for most of my life that the color yellow was used as a derogatory symbol for portraying the Jewish people as inferior, I now find the color white to be reflecting the potential interpretation of a derogatory symbol portraying one as arrogantly superior.
On August 8, 1994, during the annual Temple Convention, Eleanor L. Shumway began her fourth Report of the Guardian in Chief with the following:
Since the beginning of the Temple work in 1898, the Guardians in Chief of the Temple of the People have been designated by color. Francia A. La Due, the founder and first Guardian in Chief of the Temple, was called Blue Star. The co-founder and second Guardian in Chief was Dr. William H. Dower, also known as Red Star. The third Guardian in Chief, Pearl F. Dower, became Gold Star; and the fourth Guardian in Chief, Harold E. Forgostein, was Violet Star.
Each of the colors of our world is an aspect of the Synthetic White Light. Though each color has its own significance, and we can separate it from the White Light for study and understanding, we must always take the final step in returning each separate strand of color in our consciousness to the Matrix of the White Light.
The symbolic meaning of the different colors can be read on many levels and is an inexhaustible subject. I want to focus on the Blue, Red, Gold and Violet Stars, the functions symbolized by those colors in the creation, preservation and unfoldment of the Temple work, and to suggest how each one of these colors represents aspects of the work that were peculiarly suited to the consciousness of each of the Guardians in Chief. The information on color symbolism comes from Occultism for Beginners, chapters 36 through 44.
In Occultism for Beginners, Dr. Dower asks us to remember that each of the seven colors from red to violet corresponds to one of the Seven Great Cosmic Hierarchical Rays, which in their totality constitute the substance, force, and consciousness of the manifested universe. As these seven colors emanate from the Sun, so the seven great Hierarchical Rays emanate from the Central Sun of all Being.
The first color for the Temple is blue, which is a complex color in terms of symbols. It is the synthetic color of the Aura and is most sacred. From the point of view of the manifestation of the creative principles, the color blue symbolizes the feminine aspect, the brooding, nurturing ark of life in form. The Blue Ray is that Harmony of the Primal source reflected in its production of all nature. It is the perfect polarity of the Red Ray, its masculine counterpart. In terms of the establishment of the Temple on the physical plane, it is not mysterious why Francia LaDue was designated Blue Star, in polarity with Red Star. She provided the conscious means of nurturing the life of the Temple into form. Use of the name Blue Star protected Francia LaDue from attack by the forces of opposition trying to fracture the formation of the Temple. She often signed writings as Blue Star to indicate that the material was coming through her point. It was a designation of principle rather than of personality.
Red symbolizes love and creative energy organizing and throwing unformed elements into form in whatsoever field of life they are manifesting. Furthermore, once it has created form or organization, it acts as a protecting and preserving agent corresponding to the maternal instinct in nature. It is a color of strength and vitality. It was natural that Dr. Dower was designated Red Star. Within the perfect polarity with Blue Star, he was able to give strong direction to the organization of the Temple and was vigorous in his defense of the Master’s work.
To find the key for Gold Star, one can read both the functions of the Yellow Ray and the Orange Ray. Gold is composed of red and yellow, red being the form principle and yellow the Buddhic or sixth sense principle. Yellow allows the lower mind discriminating power, the power to put much light into the problems before it and to bring the consciousness of the lower mind into rapport with the Buddhic Consciousness. The Orange Ray centers on creating, building, and preserving forms of life. It is most intensely concentrated in the seed of all life, drawing the life force into itself and then allowing it to blossom out. Pearl Dower, as Gold Star, synthesized these functions and concentrated on the preservation of the work brought into form by Blue Star and Red Star.
The color Violet, the blending of the Red and Blue Rays, symbolizes the trinity of Father, Mother, Son. On a color wheel, the color violet is next to the color red. In the spectrum of light, the color violet is a faster or shorter wave length than red and represents a change or advance from the red (heat) and thus becomes the complement of itself on the next plane. It symbolizes the harmony of creation — its unity in diversity — the presence of divinity in human and atom. As such, the violet principle provides the patterns of growth of all the kingdoms of nature as represented on the physical plane. Through it, the Wisdom of the Divine Plan in the Mind of God is directed into the plane of dense matter through the principle of Form, the Red Ray. Harold Forgostein, Violet Star, used his unique strengths in the demonstration of the harmony of creation, as well as bringing into sharper focus the patterns of growth for the Temple.
Since assuming the point of the Guardian in Chief of the Temple of the People in 1990, I have been asked many times, “What Color are you?” My answer until now has been, “I simply do not know.” I do know that we are under the direction of Master Hilarion, Regent of the Red Ray. I do know that the synthesis of all the colors is the White Light. All of us work with the forces that flow through each of the colors in turn until we become self-conscious expressions of the White Light, as we evolve into Mastery.
During my tenure as Guardian in Chief, I will be working with the forces expressed by the color Green. Let us examine the qualities and functions of that color. In Occultism for Beginners, Dr. Dower tells us that green is the complementary color to red, both having to do with the Desire principle on the plane of manifestation. The Master H. told us at the inception of the Temple work that a great evolutionary force belonging to the Green Ray had entered into the Earth’s sphere. He said that it would cause great changes in and with the Earth and its humanity. This force is a connecting link between the upper and lower Manasic planes, and comes for the purpose of raising the lower Manas in mankind to higher vibrations so that humanity may be able to accept and put into practice the great spiritual truths that have so generously been poured out.
Green functions the selective power of outer nature because it has the power to assemble material for building. It has this power because of its inherent intelligence, or the light of discrimination, given it because it is ensouled by the rays of dark blue and yellow, the Manasic and Buddhic Higher Ego Rays. Red organizes the elements so selected into forms of life. Here on Earth, the green energy is universally and incessantly working to bring form to a higher expression. There is a close cooperation between the forces of the Green Ray and those of the Red, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Indigo, and Violet Rays. All work together in the evolution of consciousness.
What does this mean for the Temple, for you and for me? On the one hand, nothing different. We are still charged with the preparation of a place of Peace within each heart for the coming Avatar. We are still charged with the responsibility of being Warriors of Light. At the same time, there will be an inflow of forces that will help us bring the inner and outer forms of the Temple to a higher expression. In this respect, each of us is an important stone in the wall of the Temple. Our Unity comes through our Diversity.
As each of us in our own way, and in our own lives, responds to the forces pouring through this Center, expanding, unfolding and growing in consciousness, so will the Temple expand, unfold and grow. On inner planes, of course, the Temple is complete, perfect in every detail. It is crafted of Love, Light and Peace beyond measure, filled with the radiance of all colors. It is up to all of us to catch a glimpse of that Temple, our ideal, and to work to bring that perfection into manifestation on the physical plane.
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On January 1, 2023, during the Feast of Fulfillment Service when I became the 6th Guardian in Chief of the Temple of the People, I was initiated into the forces expressed through the color yellow.
While the color orange had also been alluring to me, it would seem that I had little choice but to accept the Yellow Star. I have come to find that the contrast between the outer and inner meanings of the color yellow are cause for even deeper introspection.
From its use as a symbol for labeling one as a coward or betrayer, or as a tool representing caution and safety, or its declaration for the shunning of a group of people, to the color yellow’s association with the bare requirement for the amount of faith that can be contained within a mustard seed, the color yellow covers much ground. Out of all of the colors, it is known to be the most visible to the human eye.
Through the Temple’s Table of Correspondences, we find a matrix of the Seven Principles along with their respective relationships to particular Tatwas (the building blocks of reality), States of Matter, Parts of the Body, Colors, Days of the Week, Musical Notes, Planets, and Metals.
Within the Higher Trinity of the Seven Principles — Atma, Buddhi, and Manas — the color Yellow is identified with Buddhi. It is related to the Tatwa Anupadaka, which means “having no material parent.” Its state of matter is the Spiritual Essence, the Christos. Its parts of the body are the Pineal Gland and the Heart. Yellow and Buddhi also correspond to Wednesday; the musical note Mi; the metal mercury; and the planet Mercury, which is closest to the Sun.
While all the colors contained within the White Light are subservient to the Creative Law, with each one being vital to our existence, I find the color yellow most strongly beckons me to “endeavor to realize the presence of the Avatar as a Living Power in my life.” Perhaps a correspondence for the timing of the Yellow Star is also reflected in the second of the 12 Steps: “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
Again, from Occultism for Beginners, Dr. Dower continues with the following:
The Yellow Ray is essentially spiritual in its functions. The color yellow contains more light than any other color of the spectrum. Yellow is the color of Primordial Matter, and is the first differentiation in the metaphysical sense from Atma or the White Light. Occultly, yellow is beneficent and protective because of the high spiritual grade of the elementals that inhabit it, so to speak, or that may be drawn into this aura of color.
Containing so much light, Yellow is the highest principle of Discrimination, and corresponds to the sixth sense and the Buddhic principle. Its organ in the brain is the Pineal gland.
In the last lesson it was shown that Blue and Yellow are the Father-Mother of the Green Ray, brought into being by its parent rays in order to work in matter and redeem Form Consciousness brought into being by the Red Ray. The Green Ray is the active principle of the lower mind. But Green is commingled of the essence of the Blue and Yellow — both high spiritual principles. Hence, in the manifestations of lower mental activity, the Yellow can be drawn upon because it is there for USE. This Yellow allows the lower mind discriminating power, the power to put much light into the problems before it, and to bring the consciousness of the lower mind in rapport with the Buddhic Consciousness, which is the sixth universal sense.
The Yellow Ray is the Path of Light leading from the lower mind to Cosmic Consciousness. He who would gain Cosmic Consciousness, therefore, must identify himself with the Yellow Ray or Light within his own mind. The Yellow Ray is “The Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Light).
In man are represented all the planes of the Cosmos. His seven principles are seven doors, each opening into one of the seven planes. Through his physical door he contacts the physical plane. Through his Buddhic or Yellow Ray door, he may contact the Cosmic or Universal Consciousness and gain illumination. To identify the consciousness with the Yellow Ray, meditate upon the qualities of that ray constantly. Feel those qualities, and act and think in accord with them. The qualities of the Yellow Ray are: unity, universality, impersonality, inseparableness, universal toleration, and compassion for all creatures; the quality that redeems and unifies all things, that synthesizes.
Earnest aspiration and meditation in accord with these qualities will in time unlock the Yellow door — the Gates of Gold — and permit the disciple to pass through and know his Universal Self — the Self of All.
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It is ironic, even paradoxical, that despite being the most visible color, yellow’s spiritual qualities appear to be rather difficult to discover and know. I see a correspondence between the yellow hue caused by failure of the human body to properly break down old red blood cells, and the historical depiction of Judas Iscariot wearing a yellow robe. Despite yellow bellies and yellow journalism, we live on the threshold of courage and truth.
I’ve heard that Timing is everything; some say Motive is everything. While we invest much time, study, and wonderment in using our Manas to understand Atma, the Unknowable, I look forward to the time when being strengthened by Courage and guided by Truth will be equated with “endeavoring to realize the Presence of the Avatar as a living Power in our lives.” Then, knowing the Seven Universal Principles are revealed through the Rainbow of Life — the White Light — will no longer be thought of as far-fetched.
Through the Temple Objectives and the Higher Purpose, we are offered the opportunity to come to realize, to know, to embrace that we are all Children of the Rainbow, and that all life comes from the same Rainbow: the White Light.
— Richard A. London, Sixth Guardian in Chief