In early Spring, 1969, Carl Minton, and his wife, Fran, took the Silva Mind Control Course now known as the Silva Method. Carl’s commitment and enthusiasm for the course so impacted his mother, Charlotte, and her husband, Richard, that they enrolled in the program when it came to Houston. Employing relaxation exercises to quiet the brain and facilitate deep meditative states, Charlotte and Richard were able to achieve higher levels of consciousness and spiritual revelation.
Little would Carl have realized, that this course would launch Charlotte and Richard toward a vision that would radically transform the direction of their lives. They would build Carmel Temple. It would be many years later that Carl would help continue the vision for which he had been the initial catalyst. By 1970, Charlotte and Richard were experiencing these deeper levels of meditation wherein Richard learned to go back in time to the year 7 BC and talk to the Prophet of Mount Carmel. The Prophet was in charge of the main temple of the Essenes. Some years later, the Essenes, still in existence, would prepare for the birth of Jesus the Christ and would go on to preserve the Dead Sea Scrolls for modern times.
In daily meditation, Richard received detailed instructions about the building of a place of enlightenment, which became today’s Carmel Temple. On numerous occasions Richard was told, while in deep meditation, that this new Carmel Temple would draw together a new Essene community to help bring forward an awareness of the Christ consciousness available to all mankind.
After a period of prayerful reflection and assessing the enormity of this project, they elected to trust their inner guidance and proceeded to buy the building site for Carmel Temple. Although he had no architectural training, Richard drew the detailed plans that he had seen in his vision. Money was not available for such a large project, yet he and Charlotte took the “leap of faith” and began construction. Almost immediately, money became available, as orders began pouring into their business daily. Construction materials, supplies and labor appeared from unexpected sources. The building of Carmel Temple became a physical manifestation of co-creation between the physical and the spiritual realms. Richard and Charlotte became a living example what it means to follow one’s inner guidance based on deep personal and spiritual commitment.
That commitment was put in writing on December 19, 1971, when Richard and Charlotte signed “Our Pledge.” It was reaffirmed to Charlotte and Richard that when you commit so completely to a vision, the Universe will support that vision. From its beginning Carmel Temple has been a spiritual center that encourages all those who are guided there to follow their true life path. It is a place of love, peace, healing, study, teaching, meditation, community and spiritual revelation. In the years since its opening, thousands are led to Carmel Temple to attend a Healing Service, a Sunday Service, a weekend workshop, or to hear an inspirational speaker.
By 1995, Carl’s life experiences had awakened his Soul and strengthened his integrity. Now he was ready to commit himself to Carmel Temple. Richard’s transition in 1998 signaled to Carl it was time to assume a role alongside that of Charlotte’s. Since 1995, again following inner guidance, all events became available on a love basis. Now through the Internet, Carmel Temple has become available to many. The universality of its teachings attract individuals from countless countries who also experience its healing energy of peace.
Often referred to as “Houston’s best kept secret.” Carmel Temple is a quiet haven in South Houston far from the outer world. The majority of individuals who enter the sanctuary experience an almost overwhelming sense of peace. Richard, Charlotte, and now Carl have maintained that it is their job to hold the sacred space of peace at Carmel Temple. All would say that the peace experienced at Carmel Temple represents the cumulative effect of the loving vibrations of every person who has ever entered its sanctuary combined with the special spiritual vibration present from its beginning.
In truth, that peace can be found by each individual within themselves. One has only to be still and go within to experience it and find the answer to every question and the solution to every problem. Birthed in the stillness of deep meditation, the mission of Carmel Temple resonates throughout its sacred physical structure and connects to the inner temple of every attendants’s soul. Any further description of Carmel Temple would be incomplete. It simply must be experienced.