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!
• by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst’s founder • As little children, we are each born with imagination. When I was a child, my imagination created playmates for me! I made them so real that when the game was over, they were still there. They sometimes came home to supper with me, or were waiting the next day. I lived in the world of imagination as a boy. The world of imagination is the house of God.
Each one of us has this as a child, but most of us lose it by the thoughts we collect, perceived through the five senses. The accumulation of this data builds up a nucleus called the ego, which says: “I know because I saw, heard, felt or tasted. I know that I am because I see that I am.” The world of imagination flees from these reflections recorded in the ego-mind.
But if you seek to find your true nature, you discover that this nucleus of ego cannot truly tell you who you are, where you came from, or where you’re going. Following the interior command instilled in you by your true Self, you search here and there, until you find what you think is Truth. If it brings you to the experience of light, peace and bliss, then you have found a path of liberation, a way to regain your true spiritual nature, your divine heritage.
Upon the sensing of inner light, ego may become excited and now desire to use this experience to gain more power for itself, declaring, “I’ve seen what no one else has seen, therefore I must be something better.” Thus springs forth a spiritual ego, a stumbling block. By refusing the spiritual ego, and living in virtue as the ancients have counseled, we continue our path toward the light.
By offering selfless service every day, and desiring to know Truth, we eventually come to that place on the path where the light is within our reach. On that day, ego is put to the test: is it willing to give all it has and enter what it doesn’t yet know? Could this be its annihilation? On that day, if you are able to give an answer that is unselfish and full of service, faith, and love, you enter that light of truth and put on immortality. You meet the true Reality, the infinite Holy One on his own threshold, the sea of eternity. You experience love indescribable and ever-new—not a love that reaches a pinnacle and descends, but is forever reaching higher pinnacles.
Thus man and woman can ascend together, hand in hand, and put on their true spiritual selves. Once doing this, the false self, the ego, has lost its argument. Now you are actively reflecting your true nature, your true home. When you have a world in which everyone has reached this state, consider the power, the peace, the grace! This is what Jesus wanted to see, for surely mountains will move, but more important than moving mountains, spirits can be led to eternal light.
• by Dawn King • The divine dream of Sunburst is a world as it should be. The igniting energy of Sunburst is a consciousness that welcomes everyone who is willing to try living it, free from judgment. Sunburst is a place (Sunburst Sanctuary) and a people, holding the seed of this energy and journeying together while awakening into this consciousness. Sunburst draws us all towards our best behavior, and the courage to live without fear. The aura of Sunburst embraces us with unconditional love and acceptance through sincere caring and guidance for living.
Here we find inner strength and abilities we didn’t know we had. Sunburst, the Sanctuary and the consciousness, offers us an uplifting opportunity to reach for our very best self, our pure Self, the divine part of us that gives good guidance, joy, and a satisfying fulfillment to our days.
Spirit is alive in us, and this life is ever-changing. Thus, Sunburst is a fast spinning vortex. Over time, we each find personal tests pushing us to our limits. Sunburst founder, Norman Paulsen often said that we have to run to keep up with Spirit.
Visiting Sunburst Sanctuary can be a retreat from worldly goals; however, long term living at Sunburst’s Sanctuary only works for those who can put the small self aside for a life of service. Those who’ve resided with Sunburst for decades have the foremost goal of 1. developing spiritually; 2 supporting the mission and message of our founder and line of teachers; 3. supporting the work of Sunburst through daily group meditations and other activities.
Founder of Sunburst, Norman Paulsen tells us:
“As each and every one of us moves toward heaven, toward the blessed experience of immortality, we will begin to feel God’s power in us, more and more. He tests each one of us to see how much we can take, like thrusting steel into the fire again and again to increase its temper. At times, you may cry to God, ‘Why am I so mistreated? O God, is your hand so set against me?’
“If you listen to the silence, you will hear God saying, ‘I want you so strong for future work that no matter what happens, you will never break.’ God cannot pour down his life and light, power and wisdom unless he is sure that the vessel is prepared to hold it. That is why the path to heaven is difficult, and described as a razor’s edge.”
Over fifty years of many people’s desires for realizing the Divine within, and those same individual’s selfless service have helped shape what Sunburst can offer today. Some of those people came and left; some are still residing at the Sanctuary. Meanwhile, the divine dream that is Sunburst, as projected by Paramahansa Yogananda and Norman Paulsen, lives on and is a blessing for all.
Paramahansa Yogananda wrote: 
“The greatest influence in your life, stronger even than your willpower, is your environment. When you are having difficulty in trying to change for the better, spiritual company and good environment are essential.”
• by Craig Hanson • Sunburst’s Founder, my spiritual teacher Norman Paulsen when he was a young man, lived at the Mount Washington monastery with his spiritual teacher Paramahansa Yogananda. During the final year of Yogananda’s life, he invited Norm out to a desert retreat where he’d been writing. There, one early evening, they walked around the property. This was a special time because it was an extended goodbye from Yogananda to Norm. He would be leaving his body soon, and Norm held his arm as they walked, because Yogananda was having difficulty walking.
Yogananda turned to Norm, “Promise me that no matter what happens to you in this life, you will never give up seeking God. If you get knocked down, get right back up…and keep walking. Will you promise me that?”
Norm replied, “Yes sir, I will.”
“That’s good. Good.”
How many times in our own lives have we been challenged, faced what seemed like insurmountable obstacles. Yet we found a strength from within, a power beyond ourselves? A series of coincidences, it seems, may get us through this difficulty and on to the next challenge. I was recently remembering my own challenge.
The third day after coming to the Sunburst community, I was called upon to spend the day in San Bernardino loading a flatbed trailer with heavy produce gondolas and equipment for a new Sunburst store in Santa Barbara. On the way back that night, when we got to Carpinteria, in the distance I could see a column of flames leaping up the side of the mountain, above Santa Barbara. I thought, “Oh no, what’s happening?” I thought Sunburst farm may have been burning.
We were pretty exhausted, having been working so hard, and this was my only third day in this group. But here we were on Mountain Drive going into this fire zone about ten o’clock at night. I spent the whole night working on the fire line in a dream-like state, beyond exhaustion.
In the morning at the top of the hill, I collapsed with a group of other brothers. We could hear the helicopters swirling overhead and the relief crew coming, the hotshots from the Chumash Native Americans.
While going down the hill to the high school where we got breakfast, I asked one of the elder brothers, “Is this how it is every day in Sunburst?”
He smiled and said, “Oh, sure, yeah!”
I thought, “Oh boy, I’m finished…I can’t do this…Oh boy!” And on the fourth day, I packed up all my belongings and was walking down Gibraltar Road in the fog thinking, “I can’t be here anymore. But,” my mind went on, “what am I running to?”
I started walking back up the hill, and got above the fog line. In a minute I turned around and started back down the hill. Yet again I stopped and started walking back up. Finally, I sat down and said to myself, “Wait. Where are you running to? Where are you going? Just open your heart. Open yourself.”
So I walked back up the hill to be with my spiritual teacher, and through the many joys and many trials since then, I’m still trying to live what my teacher taught me. The same message so long ago that Yogananda told Norm, “Never give up!” That was something Norm exemplified, and instilled in me and others. It’s a wonderful quality because it takes us out of limited selves and into the pure light.