By using our willpower we can tune into divine grace and accept the opportunities it provides us. This is not an instant thing. We have to persevere and have patience. It’s a lifelong pursuit, much like the following story in which Tibetan monks meditate as they build a monastery floor.
[Excerpt from the book “Tibetan Voices”] We built the floors of the monastery from scratch. Since there was no cement in Tibet, we used a material called arka, which is similar to crushed stone or gravel. It made very beautiful floors. We pounded this material with a tool consisting of a long pole and a heavy stone attached to the bottom end. The monks would form a line and sing as they pummeled the many stones into a solid floor, working to the rhythm of the song.
This was hard work; the big stones were broken up to make smaller ones, and then layers of these stones were pounded into the floor, slowly going from bigger stones to smaller and smaller. Remaining holes were filled by pounding in the finest material. Then a powdery form of the stone was put on top and this was also hammered into the floor, using water to help the binding.
Once the floor was pounded so it was smooth and level, we would get down on our knees and use big flat slabs of stone to polish the surface. Water was sprinkled onto the floor as we polished and worked our way from one end of the room to the other. The muddy result of all this effort was wiped away with cloths. Slowly, the beauty of the floor would begin to come out. Finally, a mixture of boiled oil and tree resin, the type used in making incense offerings, was applied. Cement was never used in the construction of Tibetan monasteries, and the finished quality of the buildings was far superior to any that could have been made of cement.
Slowly, the beauty of the Pure Self, the Christ light within each of us can shine forth, after lifetimes of desire and effort. This is the power of patience.
by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder•Beloved Mother, we dedicate each day to honoring your beautiful Earth, your garden floating in infinity. What a jewel it is! We dedicate our energy and our lives to helping preserve your earthly garden for your children, now and in the future.
It’s a blessing to be a caretaker of your Earth, so full of your Spirit. We love you Divine Father, Divine Mother! Enjoy your creation through us! Let us all become warriors of light and truth, that we may go forth in your will and your guidance to help your world and your children.
When we can perceive the center of our own consciousness, that smallest of all places within us, we can perceive God. What a wondrous thing it is that we have the ability within us to communicate with our Creator. So few really practice it! Nothing on Earth is more important. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God; …the kingdom of God is within you.”
How can we find it within us? We find it through true prayer and meditation, by opening the door at the crown of our heads and asking the Light of Christ consciousness to enter. How long has the Divine watched and waited for us to open our hearts and souls and receive this blessing!
Divine Spirit is reaching out to us every moment to give us healing. When we offer to God all those things inside us that we don’t like, that don’t reflect our true nature, we are healing ourselves. We are cleansing our light bodies—that which we really are—of debris we collect with thoughts and actions that weigh us down and make us miserable. Offer all of it up to God this moment that you may be free; that you may be that immaculate spirit, clear as crystal, shining like the sun.
In our self-conscious state of mind, we often think God is so far away, someplace other than the very life within us. We think maybe God is out there in space, or on a mountaintop. But God’s consciousness inhabits the space between each atom, between each subatomic particle in our bodies. Meditation is so important to each of us. In the silence of our beings we can find this space where God is. Just sit and be still. Pray that God will reveal himself/herself to you.
Each time that we meditate and pray, the imprint of our heart’s love leaves an eternal picture in the mind of our Creator. We are all children of our Mother-Father God. We are part of immortal life, and here in this world for such a short time. Pray to your Divine Parents that you might find out who you really are before you leave. Pray that they heal you, and enliven your heart and mind. We were each created perfect in the beginning. Let us strive to regain our perfection.
• by Paramahansa Yogananda • There is a distinguishing difference of meaning between Jesus and Christ. His given name was Jesus; his honorific title was “Christ.” In his little human body called Jesus was born the vast Christ consciousness, the omniscient intelligence of God omnipresent in every part and particle of creation. This consciousness is the “only begotten Son of God” so designated because it is the sole perfect reflection in creation of the transcendental Absolute, Sprit or God the Father.
It was of that infinite consciousness, replete with the love and bliss of God, that Saint John spoke when he said: “As many as received him (the Christ consciousness), to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Thus according to Jesus’ own teaching as recorded by his most highly advanced apostle, John, all souls who become united with Christ consciousness by intuitive Self-realization are rightly called sons of God.”
A small cup cannot hold an ocean within itself. Likewise, the cup of human consciousness, limited by the physical and mental instrumentalities of material perceptions, cannot grasp the universal Christ consciousness, no matter how desirous one may be of doing so. By the definite science of meditation known for millenniums to the yogis and sages of India, and to Jesus, any seeker of God can enlarge the caliber of his consciousness to omniscience—to receive within himself the Universal Intelligence of God.
Christ did not go through the sublime drama of his life merely to provide sermon material for generations of preachers and their Sunday audiences, He lived, died, and was gloriously resurrected as an inspiration to others to live a divine life and attain in themselves his experiences of God and the afterlife. …My aim in offering to the world this spiritual interpretation of his words is to show how the Christ consciousness of Jesus can be brought back a second time into the souls of all who make the effort to receive it.
– Paramahansa Yogananda, “The Second Coming of Christ”
• by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder • I said: Lord, speak to me of rebirth. Tell me of its meaning. What takes place within me? Why is it necessary? Where did I come from? Where shall I go? Have I always been, and shall I always be? Will you be near or far from me? At times I see you, and at times I don’t. Come closer, Lord, converse with me. Whisper to me of immortal life; I see surely that it was for all of us.
We feel your presence as the wind through a tree; softly, Lord, you’re caressing me. I believe, and I see, it’s you in all, and all in thee. One we are, and one we be, all together now eternally.
Most sweet God, let me drink from the eternal spring. Let me not wither and die. Let me feel as it was before. Mother divine, you comfort me. From your womb I came into this world to be. Mother divine, I love thee! I know you, Mother and Father, are both present now in every face. I see you now. Our toil and our tears are not in vain; you know our plight. With all my might I reach for thee, with all my will. Oh strengthen me, that I may stand forth as a son to thee a daughter there, as we used to be.
I Am That I Am, the name of the most high, Mother-Father Creator, the godhead, the two in one, made one in three. From all the rest came you and me. I Am That I Am is your shield and your strength. Call on his name. I Am That I Am are the magical words all the spirits in eternity heard. All kneel down, pause and listen; whenever I Am has come, they listen. He dwells in us; She dwells in us. The two together conceive the child, the true you, the true me, the true image. It’s immortal.
Seek it diligently. The most prized possession in all the creation, the thing most sought after by all beings is the reflected image of I Am That I Am, whose face blazes forth like the eternal Sun; his visage so brilliant, one feels consumed at a mere glance of it. Do we dare to look upon his face? we dare if we seek his place, our true home, I Am That I Am. He and She bring forth the worlds and all images; each one of us is a part of I Am That I Am.
Father, Mother, we feel your presence alighting on the crowns of our heads like the soft touch of a dove’s wing. Move into our tree of life, Mother-Father; nourish us. Lead us to our rebirth and our growth, and the vision of the eternal heavens, the abode of all your children, sons and daughters, immortal ones filled with love, divine ecstasy, joy, security.
Exhilaration for every moment that moves in eternity, we ride on waves of your consciousness, the eternal cosmic sea. Grant us the vision of your immortal spiritual Sun, your first born, the Light of creation. Once seen, we are baptized in the fire of your life, your presence. Amen.
•by Greg Anderson•Paramahansa Yogananda said a day will come when all humans on Earth will be Christ-conscious. How do we get it? What exactly is it? How does it change us?
In 2013, I had an experience in meditation. I started doing Kriya circulations, and several events occurred. The final thing that happened is that I was allowed to see myself in meditation. As I inhaled, my chakras lit up like someone was blowing on the hot coals of a fire. As I exhaled, I could see the same thing happen from above, moving downward.
I realized that brother Norm was right, the heart chakra was gold, it was very visible. I also realized, there were two shafts of light coming down through my astral spine, and they were almost connected. While I was watching this, I realized: “This is my divine feminine and my divine masculine. They’re about to meet for the first time in power, in my heart chakra.” When they did, there was an immediate expansion of my heart chakra. The light was gold and emanating in all directions, and I felt bliss at that moment: “Don’t let this ever end!”
Christ consciousness ignites in that divine embryo in each of us. It grows in our heart chakra, and enables us to begin the journey all the way to cosmic consciousness.
So, what changed in me? After that experience, my body didn’t feel the same. My mind was expanded. Service to others became very important to me. My connection to nature became different. I’d never been a tree-hugger but, I found myself actually saying to my wife that one of the plants in our yard looked happy after the rain. I would never have said that before 2013.
I have more empathy for people. too. I feel connected to people that I’ve never met—you and I are one in that we’re all connected to the same Creator. After my experience, I really felt like I was now “Greg 2.0,” a different me. My perspective was changing. A new being had occurred.
Those are the kind of changes that I felt. I know Divine Spirit wants each of us to experience this. I know that it may never have happened in my life had I not come to Sunburst on a weekend when a training in Kriya meditation was offered.
It’s, by far, one of the greatest gifts that I have received in this lifetime. Take advantage of Kriya meditation training, if you haven’t done so yet.
I don’t think any of these steps forward in consciousness that we make happen suddenly. They happen over a long period of time, and maybe over many lifetimes. Be patient; it may not be for you exactly as I described my experience. However, if you practice Kriya meditation, you will experience Christ consciousness. That spiritual embryo will begin to grow and mature, others became very important to me.
