Light on Sunburst Sanctuary – Stand Unshaken•Master Yogananda has told us: “You must learn to stand unshaken amidst the crash of breaking worlds.” In that spirit we carry on at Sunburst Sanctuary. In fact, we are making the best of it, letting “breaking worlds” send us deeper into oneness with Spirit. [Opening image above: Al King hiking at Sunburst Sanctuary.
Meanwhile, we’ve certainly had our share of breaking equipment this winter. But our guys, sometimes with a bit of outside help, get it up and running again.
And who could be unhappy amidst the beauty of Sunburst Sanctuary? Here are some photos taken right before and right after morning group meditation.
Then there’s the bounty of the land. We’re still enjoying persimmons and a late crop of potatoes and strawberries from some personal gardens.
Plenty of great activities keep us busy: Around the Temple, Curtis was weeding; Craig was cleaning and fixing the rain gutters.
Heiko was working the organic fertilizer spreader. Haley was turning compost rows.
[Below] Al & Anna (visiting) gathered wild mushrooms. On a recent morning after meditation, we saw the horses waiting for fresh hay. So much to see and do at Sunburst Sanctuary. You can visit, explore, retreat.
•by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder • As you walk through this life, you begin to realize how short it really is. When we’re young, we think life is forever, and no matter what we do we are somehow going to get out of it. As we grow older, and we’ve seen the consequences of our actions, we realize how our actions can imprison us, or can set us free.
Life is short here—not even a moment in eternity, hardly. The experience of the soul’s immortality must be gained, must be tasted. It is an ecstasy beyond description. Once tasting it, you can never fail. You will always return to that which is sweetest, which tastes the best. That’s why we have to make the effort.
Don’t count your failures. They don’t exist unless you count them. When you count them, you replant them. Every day you are reborn anew. Dismiss the past. Throw it into the field of power around you, and plant your consciousness with divine Light that will consume whatever is negative, whatever is no longer helpful in your life.
Today you are reborn in Spirit if you believe it, if you receive it. The failures of the past no longer exist if you cast them out. You are free!
By attempting to live in compassion and virtue every day, whether you succeed or fail, just by attempting it you plant positive seeds in the field of power around you. The law of cause and effect has no choice but to return those virtues to you. Therefore, the more you attempt, the more you reap. The more you reap, the stronger you get. The stronger you get, the more determined you become. The more determined you become, the greater the Light within you.
Once seeing the Light, once experiencing the bliss and peace of meditation, you know it’s real. You will not need to be convinced anymore. You have gained a foothold and a handhold to scale the mountain. You become a force to help our brothers and sisters toward their freedom.
It’s not only important for each one of us to attain the final evolution for our own salvation, it’s infinitely more important for us to do so that we may become a Light. And in becoming a Light, not to hide that light—to have guts enough to stand forth and use that Light. Yes, become divine warriors, because that is what is needed here.
by Catherine Mauron • Norman Paulsen (founder of Sunburst) has told us: You are a reflection of the whole creation. As the light of God rises within your soul, so does it occur for the whole planet and everyone on it in the coming Golden Age. I like to reflect on these words by Brother Norman and restore my hope as to what I, a little bubble in the vast ocean of life, can do to help our beautiful planet.
Sometimes we feel trapped in this world that seems to go all wrong. We seem to be somehow powerless when we look around at all the misery happening everywhere (floods, famines, wars, climate change, etc.). But we are more powerful than we know.
As the little “i” becomes the big “I” in deep meditation, the little bubble of me becomes the cosmic sea, and is permeated with joy. Thus the Light arises in all, through my efforts. I then interact with the world creatively expressing that divine joy and purpose.
We can quicken this unfolding beauty, in ourselves, around us, and everywhere! The fire kindled in a tiny being can eventually light the whole creation. Be strong in your meditation, for the light you generate in your own soul sparks the wider generator of the Universe.
A Blessing by John O’Donohue, from Eternal Echoes
May you awaken to the mystery of being here, and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
May you respond to the call of your gift, and find the courage to follow its path.
May you take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
•by Norman Paulsen, Founder of Sunburst•There is but one force manifesting throughout the universe. That force is I Am That I Am. Its nature is dual, masculine and feminine. Its existence is absolute ecstasy, continuous and ever new. Once tasting this ecstasy, nothing can ever take its place.
God can be seen visibly within as the great Light of inner space. God is seen outwardly in the billions and billions of star systems throughout all dimensions.
Spirit is felt as ecstasy; it is heard and known as sound. The movement of the cosmic forces in creation, all vibrating and radiating on different frequencies, compose and play the great cosmic symphony. One sits in awe and listens to the sounds, as waves upon waves roll in from the cosmic sea, breaking and roaring through the center of your being. Sometimes one feels as though every hair is standing at attention as the Great Spirit, which you have become one with, moves through the frail body of flesh and bone.
From the great cosmic forces in eternity we have all come forth. Miraculously we are visible to each other. Each one of us has been given a special beauty, wisdom and love. Each spirit is endowed with a different face. What a miracle it is to look at each other.
Our Divine Mother and Father have never conceived two things exactly identical; they reflect infinite variety in duality. Each soul is fashioned with uniquely reflecting facets, like the finest jewel. Each soul spreads divine light in variations that are different from those who came before, or those who follow after.
The Divine Playwright, Mother-Father God, marches on through eternities in the great halls of creations, images infinitely abounding, love transcending, in waves of color and sound—this is the cosmic sea. One sees it, and one knows it. Our soul ships sail forth immortal.
Imagine an experience of immortal ecstasy! You can experience this while conscious and alive in the body. For each one of you who remains steadfast on the path, with heart’s devotion set true upon the Godhead, Mother-Father Creator, you will taste that ecstasy and see that Light, and sail on that eternal sea.
Pray! Pray to your Mother and your Father who reside within your body. They are your constant companions. If they were not, you would cease to exist. Therefore, know that God, our Father and our Mother, are right within you and around you. Pray sincerely and unceasingly that you might feel and see their presence. It is through the devotion and love of your deepest heart that they reveal themselves to you.
•by Emily Wirtz• Paramahansa Yogananda used to talk about how a wave is the same as the ocean, but it is not the whole ocean, just as we are each a wave of creation in the eternal ocean of Spirit. The ocean can exist without the waves, but the waves cannot exist without the ocean. There’s a still, deep part of the ocean, which is the substance of our very existence in this ocean of Spirit. You can call it whatever you want: God, Source, or any other name.
What happens for me is the thought that I’m separate from other people. I’m thinking I’m separate from those trees over there and I’m separate from other people. We forget that we are all connected and come from the same Source. And, as human beings, we get to choose whether to listen to the voice of Spirit, the voice of oursoul, or to listen to the ego voice that thinks we’re separate from each other.
When I went to college, it was about seven hours from home. I didn’t know anyone there, and had the sense that I was going to try to get life figured out. I wanted to find out who I really was, what I wanted to do, and to expand my horizons.
I took lots of different classes, some philosophy and religion courses, and there were a lot of ideas going around in my head. But I noticed that none of the things I read or learned about were helping me figure out what to think about my future.
I didn’t find the answer right away. In fact, I didn’t find the answer in college, although I really enjoyed all the ideas I learned about. It wasn’t until many years later when I learned to meditate that I discovered that there’s a space beyond thought. This helped me to feel that there’s something greater than the thoughts we’re thinking, symbolized in that image of the wave and the ocean.
So if my mind is the wave, calculating things and examining how the past went and how the future might go, and doing it’s best to be helpful, the most satisfying thing to me is knowing that there’s something beyond that, knowing that this ocean of Spirit is my very nature, is all of our very nature.
Where is that ocean of Spirit? What is that ocean of Spirit? Who am I beyond the personality that I know? It’s only as far away as our breath, and an open heart, and a practice of being present so that awareness can fill us.
Now when I walk around, I still think of the past, I still think of the future, I still think of ideas, I still make judgements about myself or other people. But now I know there’s more to life than that. I can turn to my breath, and to the present moment. To open up to an awareness of Spirit, to learn from direct experience with that Presence, is a practice. Keep practicing it and over time it will develop, and help you immensely.
There’s a beautiful word that’s used a lot. It’s an ancient word: Namaste. It roughly translates to: “The Divine in me bows to the Divine in you.” It’s a remembering that our substance is that divine Source, and remembering that who we’re interacting with is that source also.
If we’re walking around in nature, the substance of nature is divine also. Even when we’re in something that we consider “manmade” like our cars, there’s nothing that isn’t made up of that Source, made up of God. So as we go through our days, may we each remember that idea in our hearts: the Divine in us recognizing the Divine outside of us, and in each other. Namaste!
