An Initiatory School on West Colorado Street
On a quiet block of West Colorado Street in downtown Glendale, California, the Ann Ree Colton Foundation of Niscience has held its headquarters since 1953. The foundation is a non-profit religious and educational organization that grew out of the lifelong work of two spiritual teachers, Ann Ree Colton and her husband and co-founder Jonathan Murro. In the decades since its founding, Niscience has grown into a publishing house, a chapel, a home-study school, and a worldwide circle of students who receive monthly lessons by mail, gather for chapel services in Glendale, and meet in scattered units across the United States.
The foundation's motto is "to inspire others, to create, and to serve God." Its principle is described as "the Ethic of Jesus," and its method is an initiatory system of study, worship, creativity, research, and healing that draws on the teachings of Jesus, the Bible, and the sacred scriptures of the East and the West. The word "Niscience" means knowing - a knowing beyond knowledge.
The Founders: Ann Ree Colton and Jonathan Murro
Ann Ree Colton was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on August 17, 1898. From early childhood she displayed unusual spiritual gifts, including clairvoyance and the capacity to interpret visions, symbols, and dreams. She began teaching the higher life in her twenties and continued for more than sixty years. Her gifts, as listed by the foundation, included prophetic insight, extraordinary clairvoyance, mediative healing, and creative artistry expressed in paintings, mandalas, mosaics, and songs. She wrote twenty-three books on spiritual subjects before her passing on June 28, 1984.
Jonathan Murro was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 31, 1927. In 1951, after a prayer to serve God, he met Ann Ree Colton and recognized the depth of her knowledge and communion with God. He committed himself to preserving and transcribing her lectures and inspirations. The two were married and together wrote nine books and countless lectures on spiritual subjects. After Ann Ree's death in 1984, Jonathan served as administrator of the Foundation for seven years until his own passing on November 9, 1991. Both were prolific artists, producing more than seven hundred works of art including paintings, mosaics, ceramics, mandalas, and sculpture. Their artwork is still housed at the Glendale headquarters and may be viewed by appointment.
The Niscience System of Study
Niscience is described as a creative and healing ministry that blends religion, philosophy, science, and the creative arts. The foundation offers a sequential course of study called the White Paper lessons, mailed once a month to subscribers. Each lesson includes daily reading assignments and practices covering meditation, contemplation, mantram speaking, ethical prayer formulas, the interpretation of dreams and visions, the science of spiritual ethics, the study of kundalini and the chakra system, the blending of Eastern and Western philosophy, and the research of the Old and New Testaments.
Included with each White Paper is the Agape magazine (pronounced AH-gah-pe), which contains articles by the founders and current Niscience members, photographs, and reports of recent ministry events and holy-day timings. Subscribers also receive the Initiate's Calendar, a tool introduced by Jonathan Murro for recording and correlating daily experiences and dream life with the cycles of the moon and the zodiacal signs.
Membership in Niscience is open to all who wish to devote themselves to a spiritual life established upon the pillars of practicality and ethic. The foundation is supported by offerings, tithes, and gifts from members and friends. There is no requirement to subscribe to the White Paper lessons to participate, but most active members do.
The Weekly Rhythm in Glendale
Worship and study at the Glendale headquarters follow a steady weekly pattern. Members and visitors gather for a Family Chapel on Sunday mornings at 11:00 a.m. in the Chapel. A Devotional Service is held on Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m. in the same space. On Thursdays at 8:00 p.m., a Unit Meeting gathers in Agape Hall, with occasional Thursday meetings held in the Chapel. On Friday evenings at 8:00 p.m., a Guild Meeting convenes in the Chapel.
The chapel services are conducted by members themselves, who form a Lay Ministry. The vitality of the Niscience Ministry, according to the foundation, is sustained by the theme of participation: each member is given the opportunity to qualify to become a Lay Minister, and the majority of members are active participants in the Lay Ministry. Services follow the rhythms of the liturgical and astrological calendar and incorporate teaching, meditation, prayer, and the celebration of holy days such as the festivals of Wesak, the Ann Ree Colton Birthday Festival of Art, and Easter observances.
Niscience units also meet outside of Glendale throughout the United States. Visitors are encouraged to contact the Foundation Headquarters to find out whether a Niscience unit exists in their area.
The Initiate's Calendar and Holy Days
One distinctive feature of Niscience practice is the Initiate's Calendar, a monthly tool that links spiritual practice with astronomical cycles. It is organized around the phases of the moon, the zodiacal signs, and key holy days, including the Apostle's Fast Day, the birthdays of the founders, and the major festivals of the Christian year.
Among the recurring annual observances are the Wesak festival, held on the first full moon in the sign of Taurus, when the rays of the Christ and of Buddha are said to be conjoined in the inner planes; the Birthday Festival of Art marking Ann Ree Colton's birth in mid-August; the Michael Festival during the autumnal equinox; and the observance of new moons, full moons, and eclipses through Unit Meetings and Devotional Services.
Annual Conclaves
In addition to the weekly rhythm in Glendale, Niscience holds annual conclaves at various locations throughout the year. These gatherings bring together members from across the country for several days of worship, teaching, meditation, and fellowship. Past conclaves have included the West Coast Conclave and Michael Festival held at locations such as Morro Bay, California. The schedule of upcoming events is published on the foundation's calendar page.
The Books: A Publishing Ministry
Publishing has been central to the Niscience work since its earliest days. The foundation operates a substantial bookstore carrying the complete writings of Ann Ree Colton and Jonathan Murro, available in hardcover, Nook, Kindle, and in some cases audiobook format. Titles include The Anointed, The Archetypal Kingdom, The Divine Image, Draughts of Remembrance, Ethical ESP, Galaxy Gate I and II, The God-Realization Journal, The Human Spirit, Islands of Light, The Jesus Story, The King, Kundalini West, The Lively Oracles, Men in White Apparel, My Son Ikhnaton, Owe No Man, The Path of Virtue, The Pelican and the Chela, Precepts for the Young, Prophet for the Archangels, The Soul and the Ethic, The Third Music, The Venerable One, Vision for the Future, and Watch Your Dreams. Two titles - Men in White Apparel and Watch Your Dreams - are also available in Spanish.
The subjects treated are unusually broad for a single spiritual school. Beyond standard works on the soul, meditation, and the inner life, the bookstore carries books on reincarnation and past-life memory (Draughts of Remembrance), dreams and dream interpretation (Watch Your Dreams), death and life after death (Men in White Apparel), the kundalini and chakras (Kundalini West), the cosmos and galaxies (Galaxy Gate I and II), the lost history of the Egyptian pharaoh Ikhnaton (My Son, Ikhnaton), ethical stewardship and prosperity (Owe No Man), and family worship for children (Precepts for the Young).
In addition to the books, the foundation sells DVDs and CDs of talks given by Ann Ree Colton and Jonathan Murro, as well as music CDs of Niscience songs, both by the founders and by current members. Photographs of the founders and their artwork are also available for purchase.
Talks, Music, and the Online Library
A large archive of recorded talks is available for purchase on DVD and CD. Talks by Ann Ree Colton include "Grace and Faith," "Visualization and Transenergization," "The Ego and the Self," "The Calling of Apostles," "To Be Karma-Free," "The Manifesting Power of Logos," "Makers and Creators," "Healing of the Mind," "Memory and Desire," "The Universe," "Three Initiatory Gates," and many others. Jonathan Murro's talks include "The Science of Declension: Sacred Numbers and Symbols," "Ministering," "Dream Discoveries," "Reincarnation Cycles: The Omnipresence of God in Action," "The Four Elements and the Initiate," "The Love Core and the True Self," and "After-Death Wills." A DVD titled "Walking with Jesus" presents the artwork of the founders related to the life and ministry of Jesus, accompanied by narration and passages from the Bible.
Music CDs include You Have to Hear the Music, The Music of Niscience, The Music of Ann Ree Colton and Jonathan Murro, Anthems for the Soul, The Name of Jesus, Love Is Calling, Early Easter Morn, Away Away O Bethlehem (Christmas songs), Candlelight Anthems and Contemplative Thoughts, and Piano Renditions of Niscience Songs.
A selection of videos by the founders and current members is also available online. Recent member talks include "True Ritual" by Orese Fahey (given on Maundy Thursday 2026), "Buddha Festival Talk" by Jairus Hihn, "Victory on the Cross" by Gillian Miller, "Sacramental Newness" by Reah Janise Kauffman, "Making the Divine Image Real" by Jairus Hihn, and "The One" by Hadan Kauffman.
The Mandala and Color Freshet Techniques
Creativity is woven into Niscience practice. Two techniques are taught to all students.
The Mandala Technique is a meditative art practice introduced in the early stages of study. The student draws a circle with a center point (the bindu) and works outward from that center with color, pencil, crayon, pastel, or paint, allowing shapes and hues to arise without intellectual planning. The mandala is not an art project; it is a way of drawing upon the subconscious and the higher unconscious for creation, peace, and prophetic insight. Continued practice is said to result in mind-strength, soul-poise, and the opening of spiritual gifts.
The Color Freshet technique (also called the Creative Imprint or Etheric Imprint) is introduced in the first month of spiritual instruction. Using soft pastels on a drawing tablet, the student begins with a prayer of dedication, lightly tints the paper with a chosen color, contemplates the effect, and then allows shapes and images to emerge. The Color Freshet is described as healing and revealing, opening new avenues of communion with the soul's treasures and sometimes revealing past lives.
Both practices are meant to remove obstructions in thought and to free grace, not to produce professional art.
The Glossary: A Vocabulary of the Inner Life
The foundation publishes an extensive glossary of terms used in Niscience teaching, available online in sections A through Z. This glossary, also published in the softcover edition of The Third Music by Ann Ree Colton, defines the technical vocabulary of the system. Some examples give a sense of its range.
The Archetypal Cord is described as a vibrational cord through which the Holy Spirit recharges the soul of man, containing the Sound Current or Audible Hum and the Holy Name of God. The Greater Archetypes are throbbing, humming vortices of intelligence in the Third Heaven, serving as the connecting link between the outer universe and the universe of man. The Indestructible Atom is a bija point in the center of the forehead, connected with the recovery of akasic (past-life) records and opened for mankind by Jesus at His ascension.
The glossary also defines a long list of spiritual beings: the four great Archangels (Gabriel, Michael, Uriel, and Raphael), each linked to a cardinal direction and a season; the Cosmos Disciples, thirty-three sacred persons upon whose shoulders rests the responsibility of telepathic coordination among the higher initiates; the Great Immortals or Masters (including Master M, Master K.H., Master Hilarion, Master R, and Master Serapis); the Bodhisattvas; the White Brothers who aid the dead in their transition; and the personal angels assigned to each soul, including the Guardian Angel, Recording Angel, Luminosity Angel, Angel of Pure Desiring, and Niscience Angel.
The teaching draws together vocabulary from Christian scripture, Sanskrit tradition, and Theosophical and esoteric sources. Jesus is described as the Sovereign Mediator between the world of man and the World of God and the Regent of this eternity system. The Buddha is described as the one who gave mankind the Eightfold Path and Mind-Realization, while Jesus gave mankind God-Realization. Niscience presents itself as a school in which the teachings of East and West are reconciled in Christ.
The Mediative Healing Ministry
Healing has been part of Niscience practice from the beginning. The foundation describes its work as a "mediative healing ministry in which all members take part," a "concerted blessing, producing miracles through prayer and healing helps." Members are trained in specific mediative healing techniques and mantrams, taught to serve as channels for the Light without taking on the karma of those whom they would help, and instructed to make no claim on the healing that comes through them. The book Ethical ESP addresses the blessings and dangers of psychic energies and the essential ethics needed to govern their use.
Family Worship and Children
The foundation has long given attention to the spiritual education of children. The book Precepts for the Young, written by Ann Ree Colton, provides a simple procedure for family worship, with precepts and mantrams that children can speak each day at dusk or before sleep. The foundation teaches that when parents observe prayer-reverence in the home, their children throughout life will seek to know more of God and to become more Godlike.
Sunday morning Family Chapel services are a regular part of the weekly rhythm at the Glendale headquarters, offering a setting where children and parents can worship together.
What to Expect When Visiting
Visitors are welcome at the Glendale headquarters. The address is 336 West Colorado Street, Glendale, California 91204, and the phone number for inquiries is 818-244-0113. The mailing address for orders, donations, and correspondence is P.O. Box 2057, Glendale, CA 91209.
The Sunday morning Family Chapel at 11:00 a.m. and the Sunday evening Devotional Service at 7:30 p.m. are the most accessible points of entry for newcomers. The Unit Meeting on Thursday evenings at 8:00 p.m. and the Guild Meeting on Friday evenings at 8:00 p.m. offer a more intimate setting for ongoing study and fellowship. Members and visitors who travel to Glendale from outside the area may wish to arrange a tour of the founders' artwork by calling the Foundation in advance.
White Paper lessons may be ordered by phone, by mail, or online. The cost is $5.00 per month, with no tax or shipping fee; subscriptions are available for one month, three months, six months, or one year. The Agape magazine alone, without the full lessons, is available for $3.00. Donations to the Foundation are accepted through the giving page on the website.
A Legacy Continuing Through the Membership
More than seventy years after its founding, the Ann Ree Colton Foundation of Niscience continues to operate from its Glendale headquarters under the direction of its members. The Lay Ministry, the home-study program, the bookstore, the chapel services, the conclaves, and the ongoing publication of the Agape magazine and the Initiate's Calendar all carry forward the work begun by Ann Ree Colton and Jonathan Murro in 1953. The credo - "to inspire others, to create, and to serve God" - remains the center of Niscience life, supported, in the words of Ann Ree Colton, by "love energy and ethic."