Bernard was the founder of the original Thought Bricks Teaching Centre and created all the courses, booklets, leaflets and the other material. He was otherwise a reclusive person, so there is not a lot known about him. (Interestingly, there are rumors that Bernard was actually a woman, but that is not certain and since Bernard used a “male” personification I will respect those wishes and stay with his chosen method for presenting the material).
Thought Bricks is a positive thinking course somewhat based on Christian teachings, plus the spiritual experiences of “Bernard” a Christian mystic and a metaphysical teacher. Bernard (sometimes known as M. E. Williams) died sometime around 1994. For some decades Bernard operated the Thought Bricks Teaching Centre as a correspondence school from Alternun, Launceston, England.
I believe that Bernard wished the material to be made available after his death, as long as it is not done for commercial purposes. In fact, I was told by someone who operated the Thought Bricks Teaching Centre, for a short time after Bernard past away, that it says this specifically in Bernard’s will.
Bernard never met with Students, and avoided in-person contact with them as he wanted to “work and walk in quietness and solitude”. All his interactions with students were via the teaching material, newsletters, and short hard-written notes (and sometimes printed facsimiles of answers to common questions) included in the correspondence with that student.
He emphasized his need for privacy in the “SUMMARY OF CONDITIONS OF ENROLLMENT” for Thought Bricks Course.
“I do not meet Students personally. My house and grounds must be my Retreat where I can work and walk in quietness and solitude. No exceptions whatever can be made to this rule as my Work for my huge, world-wide Student Family depends on quietness and seclusion.”
What we do know about him is that he was a Christian Mystic, or Initiate, and he ran the Thought Bricks Teaching Centre from the 1950’s until the 1990’s. As well as writing the many booklets, articles and course lessons, he organised the Centre and it’s administration.
What comes through in his writings is his deep love and genuine care for the Students, and that he actively prayed and invoked blessings upon those he sought to help. His deep caring about each Student and their progress comes across time and time again in his writings. He also encouraged Students to care about the progress of other Students, the details of which were included in reports in Bernard’s Weekly News (B.W.N.) his regular newsletter. This caring for the progress of others (“Rejoice with those who rejoice”, as the Master said) is encouraged as an essential part of the teachings as it is a sign of healthy development and the true realisation of ourselves as expressions of the Spirit of the Eternal. As that realisation grows we cannot help but grow in caring about the welfare of others.
Nevertheless Bernard was not averse to using what we would nowadays call Tough Love in his dealing with Students. He emphasized his clear role as a Teacher , “Each one who reads these words has enrolled as my Student; has, in fact, asked for my Teaching. Do not, then, take up time that I must give to the teaching of my Students, by sending me suggestions for further subjects for my writing, or for different ways of teaching; or suggestions about badges, prayer-circles, correspondence-clubs, &c….”
He also expected Students to communicate in a respectful manner. “A friendly, harmonious link between my Students and myself is essential, both for their own benefit and that of the Student Family as a whole. I therefore reserve the right, in the event of the severing of this link, to suspend any Student, either temporarily or permanently, making financial adjustments accordingly.”
Bernard had many ‘mystical’ experiences and he included details of these in his books “The Heaven Books” and other parts of his writings. The Heaven Books could be considered a remarkable series of of Near Death Experiences of a very in-depth and practical nature. He had a deep love, reverence and connection with Jesus who he referred to as “The Master” whom he often referred to in his books, leaflets and lessons.
In one of the Thought Bricks lessons, lesson 4 of the Foundation Course, Bernard specifically expressed his intention to continue to care for his Students from the Afterlife. “I pray for my Students every day, lifting them up to the realm of Divine Blessing, and I shall go on doing this, even when I have passed from this earthly plane into the wider plane Beyond”
You’ll find a list of the currently available Thought Bricks courses on this page.