The A.R.E. Library

OK, so there was no HLC version of A Course in Miracles at the A.R.E. Library. There were plenty of other things to do in and around the Association for Research and Enlightenment, particularly in the library.

The library at A.R.E. is said to be the second largest metaphysical library in the world. The largest, they tell us1, is in the Vatican. I thought it might be in Kansas City. I've been told that a sub-basement under the Kansas City Public Library holds a vast collection of metaphysical books. But I've also been told that a tunnel or cave under the Liberty Memorial monument (a 217 foot tall tower flanked by a pair of large, sphere-headed sphinxes) holds 40 tons of cheese held there by the U.S. government. The cheese may have been moved prior to 2006. According to Wikipedia, "a new, much larger museum opened in 2006 beneath the main memorial to form a huge museum complex." I have not investigated the veracity of these statements. End of humorous digression.

The library at the Association for Research and Enlightenment is not huge. It occupies approximately two-thirds of the second floor of the main A.R.E. building. There are three sections. A main section contains the stacks and shelves where there are many ancient volumes that would be difficult to find anywhere else. There are also many books published over the last several decades on psychology, parapsychology, and mind-body-spirit themes. Some of these I have in my own collection. Additions to this part of the library seemed to have ceased around 1990 however.

Another section of the library holds the files of Edgar Cayce's readings in three-ring binders, transcribed and photocopied and organized by topic. This is the other thing I came to A.R.E. to see.

(This is part of a series of posts about my visit to the Association for Research and Enlightenment in 2005. This is the third post in the series.)

ARE HLC ACIM Series

This is a series of posts about my visit to A.R.E.

1. ACIM, HLC, and A.R.E.
2. HLC and the A.R.E. Library
3. The A.R.E Library
4. Edgar Cayce, Sleeping Prophet
5. Edgar Cayce, the remedies
6. Edgar Cayce and Jesus
7. Jesus notes on Edgar Cayce
8. The Media Room at the A.R.E. Library
9. The A.R.E. Bookstore
10. Meditation at A.R.E.
11. ACIM Study Group at A.R.E.
12. Hurricane Katrina from V.B.
13. Ken Wapnick at A.R.E.
14. Planning the trip to the Gulf Coast

There are additional installments in this series and this list will be updated as they are posted.
Thanks for reading! Comments welcome.

1. 1. This is according to an introductory lecture offered at A.R.E. More about this in a later posting.