by Heiko Wirtz •Many people think about developing positive habits that will help them build a strong spiritual practice. When I think about that, I realize that it really starts with devotion and inward connection.
When I was younger, I read in “The Autobiography of a Yogi” about a time when Paramahansa Yogananda first had a glimpse, a vision, of the presence of the inner Sun. Reading this stirred something within me; I wanted to know God, too. I wanted to have that connection.
How could I get my focus and my love to come to that point where I was so open, that I could receive the Divine? Everywhere I looked—in the sunshine, in the glistening waters, in the trees—I could feel the vibration of God. Every cell of my body was created by God. But why did I have a consciousness that felt separate? These thoughts were beginning to deepen my spiritual quest.
This is a good time to consider your own beginnings of connection, of search. How did that evolve into your present moment? How close is Spirit? Each of us has to learn how to go within to answer that question. You have to unlock the doors inside, the chakras of your inner-dimensional spine. You have to become strong.
God will guide you every moment, but you have to trust, and inwardly believe you are on your path, and you are walking it. Then no matter where you go, you have that connection. You have that inner goal, and it is calling you. Every time you make space and remember what really lies just next to your thoughts, you connect. You make the Light notice you, and you honor it.
In your deep meditation, feel your energy moving inward, naturally pulling away from your outer limbs, your hands, your arms, inward to the center, to the core of your being. Your body is just there, but your consciousness resides deeper than that. With every breath it becomes more concentrated. Bring your energy up to the seat of your soul, to the third eye, and send out to the Divine your love, all that you are, as an offering. Then feel the divine blessing that offering. Feel it cocoon you with energy radiating from the crown of your head. You can send that energy to those you love, to all that you know, and to the world. Align your will with Spirit’s will. “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Strength lies in this connection, and the connection will show you how to live your life. It will show you when you need to sit down in your closet and practice your meditations. All you need to do is create a space in yourself where it can reside and teach you.
Let your consciousness remember the Divine always. Remember your journey. Remember to go within when it calls you. May we all connect to that light in greater abundance, and share all that we have learned with the rest of this planet. Send out your love!
Letting your eyelids gently close,
look to that place in front of you,
the screen upon which the inner-dimensional
tunnel and star of Christ first appears.
As you become conscious of your breathing,
become conscious of your thoughts
slowing and becoming deeper.
Imagine you are diving deep into a beautiful ocean,
looking intently to find
that precious pearl that lies at the bottom.
The more quiet your thoughts become,
the deeper you can dive.
That precious pearl, that star of light,
is your true Self.
This body that you live in, this personality
with all its thoughts, emotions, and desires,
is simply the clothing that you wear.
It is not your true being.
Who are we?
Who is I Am That I Am?
Who is the I Am that exists at the very root,
the very core of our being?
This is what our meditation is for:
to rediscover who I Am really is.
by Sunburst Friend and Vedic Astrologer James Kelleher•Helping people is a good thing to do, but it can be complicated. Sometimes the person doesn’t want the help you want to give. Sometimes they are even literally unable to accept help. Other times, you think that you can help, but find out that you have overestimated your ability to help them.
When he was alive, my teacher, Sadguru Sivananda Murthy and I had a conversation in which I asked him, “It seems to me that giving to other people doesn’t really help them most of the time. If you see a guy on the street who looks like a drug addict and he is asking for money for food, you get the impression that he is not going to use the money for food. He will probably use if for drugs or alcohol. Should you give the man money?”
Sivananda Murthy said, “Yes, just give him something. It doesn’t matter what he is going to do with the money. Besides, you don’t know, he might actually buy food with it. It’s not your job to control what he does with your gift. Give him the money because it is good for you. The gift of money will most likely not help him, but the compassion you feel when you give it will help definitely help you.
The motivation for helping someone can be complicated. Why do you actually want to help? Most people help others out of a belief or story about themselves. The logic goes like this. “I learned from my parents that good people help others. I am a good person. Therefore, I am the sort of person who helps others.” When the person finds an opportunity to help someone, they do it, at least in part because it confirms their story about themselves. It makes them feel good about themselves. There’s nothing wrong with this type of giving. We all have stories about ourselves. It’s a lot better to see yourself as a good person than to see yourself as a dirty rotten scoundrel. But that type of giving takes place in your head. It’s not a spontaneous thing, and it is rooted in the ego.
Some people take if further by then telling their friends about their act of charity. They may not actually be bragging, but just sharing something they enjoyed doing. When other people acknowledge their generous act, that reinforces their story about being a good person even more deeply. I don’t want to sound religious here, but in his Sermon on the Mount, Christ said, “When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”. Most Christian clergy interpret this to mean that you shouldn’t brag about it when you do good. The Vedic interpretation of this is that you shouldn’t even take ownership of the action. The action should be spontaneous and so intensely present that you don’t even see yourself as the doer. That way, there is no sense of a story to reinforce. From the Vedic perspective, true virtue is the natural spontaneous expression of a truly silent mind.
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krisna advises Arjuna to do his duty as a warrior and to protect the innocent, after first immersing himself in meditation. He tells him, “Established in Being, perform action.” Real virtue comes out of a silent mind. A silent mind has no agenda and is devoid of stories. Acting from a platform of silence, the mind doesn’t audit your action. There is no thought of yourself as a doer of good.
Unfortunately, most of us have minds that are constantly filled with an endless stream of thoughts, beliefs and stories. Does that mean that we should give up on trying to do good? Of course not. Just go for it and do your best. Actually, doing good, even if you are validating a story about being a good person, helps to quiet the mind. Virtue is simple. Like meditation, it brings greater silence to the mind.
It’s just cause and effect, like in physics. According to Newton’s third law, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. What goes around comes around. As you sow, so shall you reap! That’s the simplified, but very true statement about karma. It’s just physics. Albert Einstein said that, “Compounding interest is one of the greatest miracles known to man.” I would add that the habit of doing good, is like putting money in a bank account that has compounding interest. The Vedic tradition holds that the law of Karma is the most relentless force in the Universe.
For more from James, see: https://jameskelleher.com/
•by Jonathan King•The Sunburst congregation is such an intimate group of people who I love so much. We’ve been together for so long and we help each other so much. I want to acknowledge how blessed we are to have each other, that Spirit has brought us together, has answered our prayers.
Before joining Sunburst, I was asking Spirit, “Help me find someone that has met you face to face.” I read Yogananda extensively but he was no longer here physically. Then Spirit brought me to Sunburst and allowed me to get to know Brother Norm. This answered my prayer.
In Sunburst, Spirit gave me a family of brothers and sisters who reflect the living presence of God to me every day, and give me the opportunity to reflect it back. Norm’s Sunburst teaching is so precious and comprehensive, so all encompassing.
Here, we learn to combine all of these wonderful elements: striving every day to live a virtuous life, practicing conscious living, and the eight paths. We’ve been given a tool of meditation that teaches us so many things, and brings us to a place where we can say, “Dear Spirit, what is it you would have me do? Not my will, but your will be done.” Every day we can practice; every day we can feel an incredible consciousness growing within us.
Yet sometimes, in a dry spell, we might feel we’re not that devotional. No matter what our predispositions are, everything can go better with a little more devotion. Love is the key and each one of us has a heart full of love. When we are blessed by a visitation of living Spirit, we find our heart is so full of devotion we can barely contain it.
I was reflecting on this recently and remembered a story Norm used to tell about another brother at Yogananda’s who said he really wanted illumination. This person always pestered Yogananda to give him a little thump on the chest and grant him an experience. This monk would come to Norm and say “I’m meditating day and night, but I’m not getting any results. Nothing is happening.”
I remember hearing that story and being able to identify a little bit with it. I would ask Spirit, “Fill every meditation with unconditional intense love for you. May my heart be open, pulsing with devotion, and may I offer it to you.”
Little by little, as I expressed that love to Spirit, I started to feel it returning back to me. And I wanted more. Not for myself, but when I would feel the presence of God, I wanted to give of myself without any regard for what would come in return. This felt so good.
I continued my practice, and asked Norm questions, and asked Spirit questions. I realized in practicing our Kriya meditation technique that light is always reigning down on us just like the picture of Kir Paul Sing (above).That light is coming down all the time, full of divine consciousness and full of love and devotion for us.
by Barbara McCaughey • An idea from Helen Keller’s autobiography popped into my head as I pumped gas into my car. She said that if we made it a habit to notice what we’re grateful for, there wouldn’t be enough moments in a day to acknowledge each blessing. This was a memorable statement coming from someone who could not see or hear.
I was on my way home from work and had about a half hour’s drive ahead of me. Looking up into the beautifully clouded sky, there was a small, but bright patch of blue peeking through. It had been raining off and on all day and the hillsides and air seemed so fresh and clean. I decided to use my entire drive home to notice the magnificent and varied palette of scenery.
The cares of the day melted away with these uplifting thoughts. I reached the front gate of my home refreshed and ready to enjoy the remaining daylight. Sitting in the living room talking to my husband I looked over his shoulder out the front window.
“Oh my goodness!” came tumbling out of my mouth when I spotted the most brilliant, shimmering double rainbow I had ever seen! It arced across the entire valley where we live and remained for us to stare at in wonder for about twenty minutes.
It seemed that Mother Nature was smiling back at me, loving me as I had been loving her, rewarding me with one of her most awesome images. There before us, divine Spirit’s life was represented in all the dimensions of creation in scintillating, jewel-like colors.
In moments such as these, when we choose to be part of the joy of life and turn our gaze away from less inspiring images, it seems that angels lift us on their wings and commune with us. There is a feeling that we are not alone, but an intimate part of an eternal cosmic dream.
