• by Sandy Anderson •Divine love is the mother of all virtue. That is where it all starts. Love is the root and the source of compassion. Love makes our hearts beat. It makes our blood flow. It makes the sun shine inside us, and it brings us to understanding and compassion for our fellow beings. Our hearts can include them all.
We are all beings of divine light, of love, from the same Being whom we call God. Our greatest fulfillment is to celebrate our Creator, to embrace him and her, to live a life acknowledging the Divine Being day to day. And to know this being lives in each of us.
As parents, we wish to nurture our children with true unconditional love, total forgiveness, complete embracing, moment by moment. How could you ever reject your own child? That is how Spirit feels towards us. Each of us is their child, and we are each other’s children. I am so grateful to be a part of the human family.
In the vibration of Leo, celebrating compassion, we come to the heart, to living love, to forgiving, to holding the hands of the people next to us, rising above judgment. We all know self-righteousness is not really righteous. Understanding and compassion are righteous.
Visitors to Sunburst sometimes ask, “How do you do it? How do you get along with each other, with so many different personalities?” Living compassion, understanding, living love is the essence, the answer.
Many times, if I have a conflict with someone, I’ll say my prayers and let it float, praying for resolution. As time goes by, I will find myself in meditation with that person, and somehow their feeling is made known to me. A door opens in my heart bringing understanding, and I feel for them. Forgiveness comes spontaneously. I love that. God unites us and brings healing love as a balm, as the comforter of all hearts, solver of all problems, as the joy that we live.
by Michele Pike•Some years ago, I had an experience that profoundly changed my life for the better. I was living on a kibbutz of about 100 people. A good friend and I were about to harvest ripe tomatoes from a small organic garden we tended together. It was early morning in a desert valley on the border of Israel and Jordan.
Alon, my friend, suggested that we meditate together to thank the tomatoes for giving us their fruit. Having no idea of any technique for meditation, I just sat quietly in between the rows of plants with my eyes closed. I tried to think of nothing. The sun was just peeking over the red Jordanian hills and shining warmly on my eyelids.
All of a sudden, I heard and felt something completely out of the ordinary. The garden was singing! Each individual plant has its own unique voice and together they held the same angelic-sounding note in a chorus of praise to the rising sun. Their song was one of immense joy and gratitude to the sun and for the opportunity of being alive.
I was awestruck for a brief moment, then flooded with that same ecstasy and gratitude. I felt so much a part of that choir, so full of love and a desire to give with joy. Then, just as suddenly, it was over and I was left with a curiosity about what had happened.
by Paramahansa Yogananda•Indifference is the worst of all moods. Remind yourself that you are not your own creator; God created you, and He is running this universe for you. Whatever your work, do it enthusiastically for Him. Busy yourself in creative activities for He has given you infinite power.
Free yourself from moodiness! It is the brakes on the wheels of your progress.
Every morning, remind yourself that you are God’s child, and that no matter what the difficulties, you have the power to overcome them. Heir to the cosmic power of Spirit, you are more dangerous than danger!
Paramahansa Yogananda: Don’t depend on death to liberate you from your imperfections. You are exactly the same after death as you were before. Nothing changes; you only give up the body. If you are a thief or a liar or a cheater before death, you don’t become an angel merely by dying. If such were possible, then let us all go and jump in the ocean now and become angels at once! Whatever you have made of yourself thus far, so will you be hereafter. And when you reincarnate, you will bring that same nature with you. To change, you have to make the effort. This world is the place to do it.
Norman Paulsen:Self-discipline arises from commitment to the vision you seek: knowing what you want and dedicating your life to bringing it forth into being. To walk the spiritual path, the utmost discipline is required. Threefold development must be pursued: physical, mental, and spiritual. Through the attainment of virtue, the ego-centered consciousness must abdicate the throne to the pure Self. This is the crowning achievement of the spiritual athlete. Helping you to achieve this goal of virtue is Spirit, I Am That I Am, existing within your soul. Yes, we all have this energy nearby, and centered deep within.
It has to be identified and brought forth. Meditation alone will not take you home. Without practicing virtue and walking the a balanced path, you may see the goal, but you will not be able to hold onto it. By attempting to live the virtue every day, whether you succeed or not, you plant positive seeds in the field of power. The law of cause and effect has no choice but to return these efforts toward virtue to you.
Swami Guru-Bhaktananda: All beings are manifestations of God alone. This is the vision of the great Indian scriptures, the Vedas. The worship mentioned is also unusual. God in the form of each being is worshipping God in the universal form! Life takes on a completely new meaning when lived in accordance to what this verse implies. This vision creates the right feeling in us in all our daily activities. Every act becomes an act of worship. The fact that we do not feel in this way is due only to one single factor: Our Ego steps in between and tries to snatch away all the glory for itself!
by Jonathan King•One of my assignments, as a freshman in college, was to read The Confessions of St. Augustine. At the time I wondered, “Why on Earth am I reading this?” But I gave it my best. Very late at night, all was quiet and I read about St. Augustine’s life as a student. He used to go out with his buddies to hang out and carouse.
That really shocked me. At the time, I was doing the same thing quite a bit, just as he did, but I didn’t feel that good about it. I was trying to resolve my behavior and think about how I wanted to be as I moved into manhood.
As I continued to read, I started to think, “Wow! This is a dilemma.” I was reaching out to Spirit for a solution. All of a sudden the air in the room became electric. This may have lasted for a minute, but it seemed like a really long time. The room was filled with the presence of Spirit. It was so strong, I felt that it grabbed me by the heart and stopped me right in my tracks.
There wasn’t any question at that moment: “Does God exist?” The internal humming spoke: “I Am” That vibration filled everything, and it stayed. It was incredible!
Later, I thought about it until I inwardly fell to my knees saying, “My God, how could I have ever doubted you? Thank you!”
What I realize now is that I was being called. We all have the experience of being called at some time. It’s an archetypal experience which is custom tailored for each one of us. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, we know we are being asked to change — to change in a way that will give us ultimate freedom, and entrance into a realm of feelings and vibrations we could not attain any other way.
Making a commitment to live your life every minute dedicated to finding Spirit within opens up so much joy, so much meaning and satisfaction. Even after a short while, you realize there really isn’t any other meaningful choice. I hope you will remember the times you have been visited by Spirit. If you haven’t had an experience like this, you will!
What you sow you will reap. This is the law of cause and effect. It actually exists in order to multiply our joy, our bliss. God waits for us to call, so he can respond.
Listen to the voice within you; it is the voice of your pure Self. Listen to it well. Has it not been waiting for you since the beginning of your existence? – Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder
by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder•Someone once asked me, “Why is God so hard on me? I never hear his voice or see his light.”
Responding, I said, “Do you hear that creek running? Do you hear those waters rushing down the mountain on their way to the sea? Listen to them! Meditate upon nature. You didn’t create it; God did. It is the visible body of Spirit, the voice crying in the wilderness.
The wind in the trees! What a sound—the elements of air pressing against the elements of the earth. Listen and hear God’s voice in nature, and in the creatures of the earth.” Once understanding this communion, God speaks to you in a voice from all space, calling you by name and giving you love and direction in your life.
Recreate with God’s creative life force. Read words or watch movies of inspiration. Write and play music expressing mankind’s glories. Play games that encourage one another to be strong and live virtue. Develop spiritual willpower through the discipline of physical exercise. This is recreation and regeneration for body, mind and spirit.
Allow your heart to commune with God in nature. Find a pristine environment that makes your heart swell with joy and love. Embrace the solitude. The pure Self within you will come forward through your senses to commune with you in nature.
The word recreation means to co-create with God; this is the purpose of the divine creation. Yes, knowing one’s own pure Self within is real re-creation. Living upon the earth as Spirit intended humankind to live, God fully conscious in human beings, brings heaven on earth again!
