Lance Kelly is a spiritual teacher whose life for over twenty five years has been directed towards a deepening realisation of the mystery of existence. Born in West London in 1959, he left art school in 1977 and lived in Chelsea where his endeavour to set the art world ablaze failed to ignite! As a young man he had the opportunity to work at the most fashionable residential club in London. After three years, and many encounters with the rich and famous, it was time for him to move on from the glamorous lifestyle
There followed a radical change of circumstances which, for the next decade, involved the sweat and toil of hard manual labour in the capital city. This was a transformative period that eradicated much of the unconscious living that characterised the earlier years. From 1991 onwards an increasing inner compulsion to ‘enter the body’ became the main focus of the life. After a profound spiritual realisation that resulted in a major shift in consciousness, it was the end of all that had once been valued and the beginning of the new.
In 1993 he left England to travel to Australia for an international gathering with Barry Long, the Australian spiritual master whose teachings had penetrated him deeply. There were no plans to return to the UK since everything, including his home, had been lost. The idea was to travel on from Australia to India with no specific agenda but just being surrendered to the moment. However things turned out to be a little different.
Salvation came in the form of a woman who was to become Lance’s partner in an extraordinary romance and adventure. She too was undergoing a major spiritual transformation and preparing for a new phase of her life. What followed over the next ten years was a complete absorption of the truth with the master. They both travelled around the world for the privilege of being with Barry and his extraordinary teaching.
During the 90s, after an encounter with a ‘hermit’ in Cornwall, Lance discovered a flair for reading the tarot, which was to provide a living for the next couple of decades. He also became adept at reading palms and studied astrology with the support of his partner, herself a keen astrologer. In 1997 they moved north to the Lake District and lived in a cottage on the shores of Lake Ullswater for the next five years. Here they published the book ‘The Myth of the Tarot’ while all the time continuing the inner descent into love and the mystery behind existence.
The main focus throughout the whole period was to practice Barry’s profound spiritual teaching as a way of life. This one-pointed devotion to the truth and a deepening love of the master was putting an ever greater pressure on them both to surrender completely to the unknowable Source within. It was clear from an early stage that something extraordinary was happening which enabled Lance to speak of the idea behind existence with a depth and clarity that was far beyond the comprehension of the mind.
There comes a time in the spiritual process when the virtue of all that’s been gathered and absorbed as self-knowledge must be given back to those receptive to the truth. Lance Kelly has been well prepared for this role as a spiritual teacher of the times.