•by Trish Dunham•Millions of people all over the world have had experiences with the Light in the form of near-death experiences, due to serious illness or accident. Often the person sees and enters a tunnel, leading to a brilliant Being of Light, who loves them unconditionally. An intensely personal encounter with divinity ensues, and then, the patient finds himself back in the hospital room, or at the scene of the accident.
We all long for that kind of love. We unconsciously long to reunite with the most brilliant, radiant Light, personal and sweet. You can have this experience without the pain and trauma of nearly dying.
I had an experience of the inner-dimensional tunnel without going through near-death. I was meditating while facing the morning sun, sitting above a gently gurgling creek. After some time, I blasted myself with effort and briefly lost normal consciousness.
My head seemed transparent, not there. Where it should have been, there was a glowing sun. I watched it in awe. The cells of my body began rising into the sun. In pairs they came to the center line of my body and rose upward in the joy of expectation. Although it sounds odd, they were gaily shouting and laughing their extreme joy at making this journey at last, of going home, of regaining that which they had lost—their brightness, their birthright. Like children in line, they were ribbing each other, carousing in playful delight.
Shortly after I had this experience, I found myself gazing at a painting done by the late Hopi chief, White Bear. It was the Hopi symbol for the sun. My eye was attracted to small black lines, like dashes, that ran up the center line of the painting. With a jolt, I understood what they meant. They are the cells moving up the center of the being. How many times had I heard Sunburst’s founder Norm say, “The spine is like a hollow tube.…Inner-dimensionally, it’s the tunnel seen in near-death experiences.”
It’s one big hologram! Seek and you shall find. You can fly through the tunnel to eternity by your own effort, and to the eternal delight of the universe of yourself.
Has this experience somehow miraculously transformed me into a perfect vessel of virtue? Far from it. It gave me hope. It told me my path is a true one. It refreshed my soul.
•by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder•I Am That I Am, Mother-Father Divine, will create us anew while yet we live, if we will allow, if we will remain steadfast, if we seek. The ego is afraid to let go of its grasp, but in seeing through the eyes of Spirit, you become fearless; in dying to the ego, you become immortal. This gift is what we seek; this is the gift to be administered.
Speak God’s name; chant it. Think of your Divine Mother-Father the livelong day. One drop of that Light will change your life forever. The great bliss and ecstasy is here before you! He alights on your head. He walks with you; he makes the air to move. He touches the secret places in you—the body starts. At his touch, one dies to ego and is reborn free.
To gaze upon the past is to look upon shadows. One thinks of reincarnation; it is comforting that another chance might be given. But reincarnation is itself an illusion. If one can see, feel, and taste immortality, one does not need reincarnation. If one dreams of other lifetimes, are we sure that they are true? Can we prove it?
All those who have seen I Am That I Am stress the fact that this very moment and this very life of which you have possession should be deemed extraordinary. It’s extraordinary to be alive here and now, in these wonderful bodies; it’s more extraordinary to become aware of eternal life, and the fact that it can be attained.
Earthly life is short. Having gained all you may desire in this world, it will not fulfill you. It will never fill the great emptiness that can only be occupied by I Am That I Am, that one most sought after by all beings, whose face blazes forth as the eternal Sun. One feels transformed by a mere glance at it. Do we dare to look upon his face? We dare if we seek our true home. She is the wellspring of all worlds, all images; each one of us is the inmost Self of I Am That I Am. Seek it diligently.
• Patricia Paulsen • There are many spiritual traditions that exhort you to: “Hurry and finish up your karma so you can leave this planet and go to a more heavenly realm.” The beauty of Sunburst’s teachings is that we’re not in a hurry to get out of here and never come back. We are to fully enjoy the amazing miracle of this life, the sacredness of our Mother Earth, and all life here. That’s what Sunburst is about.
You and I are not this body, not this mind; we are immortal souls, each one of us. And that immortal soul has been given free will to love the Infinite Being, or not. That’s a really powerful gift.
When we live in alignment with divine will, we can move through this life experiencing ever-new joy, love and peace. Even in the midst of life’s storms, there’s a place in you that is Peace, but you must discover this and cultivate it. You can feel at one with the immortal soul that you are.
You hear of “mindfulness, mindful living”—what does this mean? It means being present and centered in awareness, noticing the rising of your thoughts, without reaction. This requires a certain amount of mental discipline and effort. I love our brother Norman’s statements on mindful living:
Mental discipline arises from commitment to the vision you seek— knowing what you want and dedicating your life to bringing it forth into being. It is foolish for anyone to think that they can attain any true level of realization without a life of self-discipline. True discipline is never a restriction; it is liberation!
Meditation is a practice that helps us clear out subconscious habits and conditioning that are no longer of service to us. Discipline of the mind opens a whole canvas onto which you can project and receive. It’s not empty space; it’s full of Presence, life, love, our true nature, who we really are. We were made in the image and likeness of our creator Mother and Father. That’s powerful.
Where do we start? How can you be mindful about your activities in life—what you’re doing with your life force—if you’re not aware of your conduct? Consciousness is with you all the time. You have to become aware of it and focus it to make good decisions. This effort of focus will allow virtue, your divine nature, to come forth through mindful living, making the right choices in life. How often do we act unconsciously and make decisions?
Asking ourselves to be self-disciplined and control our thoughts may seem an overwhelming task. But if you guide your awareness to watch your breath, and feel at home in your body, you gain confidence: “I think I can do that.” You’ll realize that the more you practice conscious breathing with a full in-breath and full out-breath, you begin to calm your heart. By doing so you begin to calm your mind, your thoughts. This is a simple way to calm mental restlessness.
Be kind to yourself; have compassion, not judging when your thoughts keep moving all over the place. Come back to your center of “being here now” and say, “I will keep returning again and again to this present moment, this next breath.” Through such a simple practice, you’ll begin to discover that prana, the life force of Spirit itself, rides on your breath.
Spirit is always trying to help us find our way back home to peace, equanimity and joy, for this is our true nature. Our Creator doesn’t want to see us suffer. We’ve been given tools so that we have a way to return home right within us. The kingdom of heaven is not somewhere else. It is within us, and when we find it within, we find it everywhere around us. We simply have to do the inner work first.
Our dynamic will and conscious awareness is the seat of virtue. It can help us create the future we want to see—not by grasping, but by willingly allowing ourselves to be an instrument for this Presence to work through for the betterment of the whole. Conscious conduct is the wellspring of mindful living. It brings joy to our lives.
Sunburst residents and visitors enjoyed a joyous, and relaxing weekend celebrating Music and Nature. It was fueled throughout by wonderful organic vegetarian meals. Events included devotional music in the Temple, a group hike through the woods to a vista, fireside sing-along, labyrinth walk, group meditation, and a Medicine Wheel ceremony. Enjoy the photos.
• by Dawn King • We have each been given an amazing physical vehicle through which to operate in this dimension—in this life. How little thought and care we each give to our body. Yet it continues to serve us as best it can every day.
No matter how educated we are, you and I don’t totally understand how this body works, or how the cells communicate and function. If we contemplate it at all, we realize what a miracle it is. We have senses that put us in touch with our surroundings, including other humans. We have organs that keep the body functioning, and we have a brain that allows us to be conscious of all of this.
Unless I am a professional athlete, or dealing with extreme disease or disability, I have little conscious input into what my body is doing every moment; yet I know my thoughts and emotions affect it. Science tells me this, as well as the value of meditation for promoting the good health of my body and mind.
Science is also finding that the basic building blocks of life (of DNA and RNA) are found in comets, and thus throughout the universe. On a microbiological level, we have explored only about 1% of the viruses that exist.
“Viruses are the most numerous organisms on earth. While we are thought to have roughly the same number of bacterial cells as human cells in our body (around 37 trillion), we probably have at least 10 times as many virus particles again. Many of these viruses are involved in essential bodily processes, forming part of our inner ecosystem. It’s probably safe to say we couldn’t survive for long if they all disappeared.” – Tom Oliver, “Science Focus”
Recently, it dawned on me that I needed to be more appreciative of every cell in my physical body. I am blessed with good health; all my bodily cells seem to be humming along in harmony, despite my lack of attention, and even my dumb abuse. I took a few moments to try to thank each bodily cell for the great job it is doing. It felt good, a psychic hug of love and thanks.
Even if you’re not well, I think this would be a good practice, and could improve your health. Our cells work hard every moment trying to maintain normalcy. And how wonderful that most of us have a collection of bodily cells that is trying to work together for the good of the whole—not at odds with each other. Let’s stop and give our body, and each of its cells a mental hug, a conscious deep appreciation.
Meanwhile, we are challenged to realize that our true Self is Spirit, beyond body and mind. In deep meditation and near-death experiences, one comes to this understanding: the immortality of the soul, and the Love which created it and the whole of creation. It’s all amazing!
