Derek studied exclusively under this man for seven years. Thane had been a student of the famed Fourth Way teacher, G. I. Gurdjieff as well as Emma Curtis Hopkins, Walter Lanyon, Lillian De Waters, Father Divine, Manly P. Hall, and others. The result of this indepth study for Derek Lamar included a lifetime of knowledge which included everything from Ontology to Fourth Way Training, self-hypnosis, extensive psychological therapies, culminating in the transmission, participation & understanding of the mystical power of Baraka.

Derek received his Bachelors and Master's degree in Metaphysics at the University of Metaphysics International in California. During that time, Derek was also ordained as a minister in the International Metaphysical Ministry, and is a registered Spiritual Practitioner. He then went on to finish the University program and he received his Doctoral Degree in Metaphysics from U.M.I. where he is currently a University Research Associate specializing in Ontology and Quantum Metaphysics. In 2006 Derek received a Ph.D. from the University of Sedona for Pastoral Counseling Psychology.

An artist in various mediums from graphic design to musical composition, Derek has utilized his creative talents to unfold an amazing "closed class" experience. These carefully constructed seminars, which he began giving in Los Angeles at the Thomas Institute of Metaphysics, have been designed to fit the needs of today's individual who is pressured by the fast paced world of what is now the 21st century. In 1986 Dr. Lamar opened The Ontological Learning Center in Bakersfield, California. From there he continued his studies and wrote several books and then entered the online adventures of the World Wide Web in 1997 with Absolute Research Technology. From there he refined his classes and developed an eclectic amalgam of esoteric ideas into what he calls Quantum Metaphysics. And then Quantum Metaphysics Institute was born in 2001. He is able to capture the ear and the soul of students in such a way as to bring about changes in consciousness even before the student prepares to do his own work. This is the spiritual science now operating on this planet revealing the 21st Century Mind. The utilization of one's own Divinity is now within reach. Ready for new thinkers of tomorrow today.

Derek Lamar is not confined by the outlines of a class however. Each is custom-made for everyone involved. By tapping into the collective unconscious and beyond, he has found it possible to step aside and allow the class to give itself, thus drawing directly upon the needs individually as well as collectively. This creates a bond among those in class that goes beyond words. Personal contact with a Fourth Way teacher has always been touted as something unusual: his ability to see beneath the surface of superficial role playing. At times this is intimidating to some, but Derek finds that it works to accelerate the necessary student/teacher relationship. He also finds that humor plays a vital role in learning. Humor in life and in truth, not jokes outside the "work", but within the "work" itself because as he says: "Life is a joke and that's a very serious thing to discover."

The tradition of the Melchizedek priesthood may appear aprocryphal on the surface, but it is a path beyond human institutions which have done nothing but breed ignorance and complacency. Discover the real path and the golden thread which weaves its way through mankind's unfoldment using invisible connections which make the goal of knowledge almost a game. But this game has its reward... insight. This journey surely leads one to resolve: whether it be to gain or to let go. Fulfillment waits to be revealed. The discovery of the path which leads to the doorway of a Mystery School is different for every student, but there is no argument that it is a journey of a thousand lifetimes and a love affair with the Infinite.

Derek Lamar is author of several books including: Man Is Dead (The Emergence of 21st Century Mind) and Gurdjieff, Fourth Way & Esoteric Teaching and The I AM Connection (Journey Into The Template of Infinity.

Thane (Kenneth) Walker, sometimes known as Thane of Hawaii said "My flaming spirit must be given to the flame, all else is consumed. Knowing this I still find that my on-going is not the casting off of a garment, but that it is a skin that I am tearing with my own hands. The impersonal is upon me. Ready am I to come in with eagerness waiting for the spirit to catch my wings and lift me along. - "The awakening which thou has known does not come through the intellect, but rather, in the fullest measure, from the lips of the wise." - The Upanishads