Emin (esoteric movement)

Raymond Armin was born in London (1924) under the name Schirtenlieb, and did most of his schooling in London, living around the St. Johns Wood area. He started his working life as an apprentice tool maker at Borehamwood near London England. Armin did time in the R.A.F. as a quartermaster (His rank was staff sergeant). He married Violet Burton from Waterloo.

After the war Armin worked at various locations around the London areas, as manager of a furniture company based in Camden Town, London, and then as a market demonstrator. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, while still living in central London, he became father to four children, one of whom died soon after birth. He relocated in 1958 to Yorkshire to follow a new profession as a travelling salesman selling furniture polish, and then a few years later as an encyclopaedia salesman. In 1960 Armin moved to Nottingham, and moved back to London in 1965, where he worked as a civilian driver for the police and a guard for a security firm.

In 1971 Armin's son John met up with a group of people who were staying in London after travelling around the world 'looking for something'. John suggested they would be interested in meeting his dad. They formed into a group under the Armins' leadership, and all met regularly over the next two years, primarily at Leo's council flat in Hackney.

In 1972 the group began officially as 'The Emin Society' at which time Raymond Armin became known as 'Leo' and John as 'Orman' within the society. The society used many halls around the London areas, eventually occupying a small centre at Gospel Oak in London. Autumn of 1976 saw a relocation to a larger centre at Hotham Road, Putney, London..

At the end of the eighties Raymond Armin moved with his wife (Violet) to America, eventually both becoming American citizens. From 1995 until his death Armin lived in a waterfront retreat at Jensen Beach Florida.[5] Armin died in August 2002 from an aortic aneurysm. Violet Armin (Ruth) died in 2008 in her sleep.

The Emin was founded by members of the Armin family and a gathering of friends interested in Leo's work. Armin was born on 27 July 1924, and died in 2002.[6]

Armin has left numerous lectures, written and recorded on audio and video tape. These include writings on psychology and personal development, theology, cosmology, history, meditation, and various practical personal development and perception exercises. Most, but not all, of these writings were written by Raymond Armin.

The Template is a philosophical concept, introduced by Armin in 1992. It describes the spiritual development of the non-physical body through a hierarchically structured system of 16 spheres. Every sphere, with a symbolic name like amethyst or ruby, represents a level of consciousness.[7]

The Template Network is an affiliation of groups involved with the Emin philosophy.[8][9] It is an international network of independent groups, with interests including education, art, ecology, well-being, science and spirituality.[10] As of 2009 there were some 1700 people regularly engaged within these groups. There are groups in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and United States. In the UK some of the groups make use of buildings and facilities run by the Template Foundation. There are also several independent organisations and companies offering courses on a commercial basis, that draw on Emin concepts and practices. These include Blue Rose Wellness, an Emin/Template center of spiritual healing, located in Brier, Washington state, United States, and the Ruby Care Foundation, an Emin/Template charity group concerned with grief and loss management.

One premise held by Template Network groups is that creation is continuously evolving and that human life is part of that evolution. Another is that human life is an opportunity to consciously find one's own purpose within that evolution. Each individual is responsible for his or her own development and destiny.

In 1985, Emin established a centre in Leiden, Netherlands. In the 1990s it founded the Gemrod Foundation, which organized esoteric workshops, e.g. courses on clairvoyance and aura reading.

Various books have been published in limited editions. They include:

• The trilogy of Leo's writings:
  • Frownstrong ISBN 0-904486-02-8 (1974)
  • Gemrod ISBN 0-904486-04-4 (1976)
  • Dear Dragon ISBN 0-904486-01-X (1976)
• The Blue Book Writings (Leo's poetry)
• Sayings of Leo: Towards Yourself (Cobwebs Press, London 1978.)
• Cobwebs & Tears: A Study to Inform & Prepare ISBN 0-904486-12-5 (Regal Print Company, London 1982)
• Toir.
• The Tear by John Turner, Eminent Productions Limited 2003. ISBN 1-874717-06-0.
• The Beacon of Hope by Marion Verweij, Eminent Productions Limited 2002. ISBN 1-874717-05-2.
• A new Template of Human Qualities for the Future Bound Scientist by Anne Marmenout, Eminent Productions Limited. ISBN 1-874717-03-6.

• The Seven Steps of Spiritual Intelligence by Richard A. Bowell, Boston, Nicholas Brealey Publishing 2004 ISBN 1-85788-344-6. The back of the title page reads: This book has been derived from and inspired by the philosophical writings and researches of Leo Armin under the title of the "Template".

• Despair and Deliverance – private salvation in contemporary Israel by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, State University of New York 1992 ISBN 0-7914-1000-5. The book analyzes various religious groups in Israel from a psychological and sociological perspective, inside the contemporary Israeli context of the 1970's.