• by Heiko Wirtz • When I took a Permaculture Design Course, I hoped to better understand how the principles of natural patterns might apply to our lives. Often, I have felt that when studying nature, one can understand many things about becoming good stewards of the land. It has been an eye opener for me to realize that the foundational concepts of permaculture like Care of the Earth, Care of the People and Fair Share can easily be applied to efforts of becoming more in tune with natural and spiritual laws. Concepts, like understanding water flow and reading the environment around you go hand in hand with understanding Spirit’s play in all we see.
How can we step lightly and heal our relationship with the Earth without conscious communication with Spirit? We must be open conduits for Spirit.
My own journey into permaculture is motivated by the hope of better understanding the interdependence between our natural environment and our soul’s connection with Spirit.The success of our connection can be measured by the health of the environments we caretake. Applying permaculture at Sunburst Sanctuary gives us a framework for understanding how to interact well with nature in this place, as it can for anyone wherever they find themselves.
Our plan for land stewardship wis multifaceted, including such aspects as retaining rainwater in our soils, mitigating erosion, bringing the land into greater productivity, and more. These efforts increase our inner connections with Spirit, increase the communication through our hearts that we have with our environment, and build cooperation among like-minded souls, as well as opening opportunities for selfless service. As Michael Leunig wrote:
God help us to live slowly,
to move simply, to look softly,
to allow emptiness,
to let the heart create for us.
Amen
• by Norman Paulsen • We have all asked ourselves where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going when we leave. Are there any real answers to these questions? We can read, we can hear, and we can try to believe. But we are the ones, right now at this moment, who are faced with ourselves and what we are doing with our lives up to the time when we are most assuredly going to leave.
We want to believe that God is alive, that God hears our prayers, that God is somehow going to attend to us when we take our last breath here. But what is really going to happen on that moment when we leave here to face the great beyond, of which we know so little?
We spend our lives pursuing self-conscious desires, growing up, raising our families. But is it possible to see and meet and know, personally, this Divine Being, this intelligence who has fashioned the world that we are riding upon, this very body that we sit in? Is it possible to see and know God?
Records state that some men and women have seen and known God. But for each one of us, records and statements are not enough to convince us or give us the experience. We need to have it happen for us personally. I believe in a meditation tool that will give each individual the ability, according to their own will and desire, to go within and meet the Divine face to face. Yes, a simple meditation tool, if practiced faithfully, with love you can grow to feel for God—whatever your own image of God is—will lead you to the Divine. What a wonderful thing! This has been my experience, and this is the experience for each one who cares to pursue it.
This is not a new religion. This is never going to be an “ism” of any sort. It is going to be people who know within themselves, who are guided within themselves, each one guided by that same light, that same divine intelligence, that same wisdom. We, as a human race, now stand upon the threshold of a quantum leap into a dimension of consciousness we have only dreamed of, a state of consciousness wherein we begin to experience God, I Am That I Am, existing everywhere.
God is love. God is that love that each one of us feels for another, for many. We all have attributes of the Divine. We now need this consciousness, this vision that enables us to see into the interior of all created images, to see God in everything. God is life! God fills the molecules of air that separate our bodies, one from another…the space between the atoms is filled with God.
You have the equipment atomically, molecularly, cellularly, right in your own body now at this very moment to totally experience Cosmic consciousness, divine illumination, oneness with God. You don’t have to go anywhere, it is all right within you, the whole creation is right within you. How can you see it? Meditate on it.
• Dawn King • Sunburst’s Founder, Norman Paulsen writes:
“The practice of meditation and contemplation interiorizes the five senses, which begins to develop one’s intuitive all-seeing eye.…Each one of us has this spiritual vision, this ability to see into the fabric and heart of creation through all the dimensions of consciousness. This all-seeing eye allows us to see the tunnel of light, and the great brilliance at the end, surrounded by the gates of heaven.
Through a spiritual practice and meditation, the transmutation of life force begins….The outer senses and the flow of energies, highly intelligent life particles, reverse their course and begin their journey inward to expanded states of consciousness. The rainbow path becomes illuminated as the light and life particles move inward and upward toward the heart center.
It is very difficult to describe higher states of consciousness to those who have never experienced such a state. It is like trying to describe the sense of sight to someone who is blind.
In our age, many know this [heightened sense]…only as an enlightened hunch, an intuition occurring for a moment. Through your meditations, you begin to feel the peace and love of our Creator. You also become aware of the fact that you have senses existing inwardly, as well as outwardly.”
Yes, we have senses beyond the five physical senses that we usually take for granted—sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell. Not only should we appreciate these senses and how they enrich our experience of life, but we should be aware of our more subtle senses. We are capable of experiencing finer dimensions of sense stimuli, and may do so inadvertently. Being aware means we are prepared and not frightened.
This article is meant simply to remind or awaken us to such possibilities. At this cosmic juncture in time, many people are awakening spiritually and could be finding they are having some of these kinds of experiences, which can be startling. Just as our physical senses can entrap us, so too, it may be best not to seek more sense stimuli, no matter how subtle. It can be distracting while we’re trying to function during our daily activities. Norm himself shared that he had to block out his hearing of everyone’s thoughts. How disturbing that could be! Meanwhile, we also need to realize that having these experiences, or at-will abilities, does not make us superior to others. The ego welcomes any sense of “power”; so beware.
Subtle or psychic sight is called clairvoyance. You may see someone who has left the physical realm, but who wants to let you know you are loved. Sometimes we have an experience of seeing light that is beyond physical realms. It may blot out your normal vision, in which case it’s best to take deep breaths, relax, and realize you are enjoying a special moment.
Psychic hearing is called clairaudience. You may hear your name called when no earthly voice speaks it. You may hear a brief personal message or warning; these can be very helpful, and an opportunity for spiritual growth. Note that clairaudience never gives one the experience of a threatening, commanding, nonsensical, or conversational voice, as would be heard in schizophrenia.
Subtle touch (clairsentience) is not uncommon when in meditation one is focused on the Divine. You may feel as though warm oil is dripped on your head, or feel a tingling on the top of your head. Say, “thank you!” and realize you are a spiritual being.
Besides physical sensations, clairsentience can manifest as being empathic, or feeling others emotions as they experience them. It may also give us an instant feeling or assessment about a place or situation—one that has nothing to do with rational thinking.
Psychic taste is rare, but one may have the sensation of a sweet or delicious flavor, when no physical reason is present.
Subtle smell comes unexpectedly—the scent of roses, or of a loved one who has passed. Realize you are loved when you experience this.
Do not pursue having these experiences because they can be a distraction. But recognize and acknowledge them, should they occur. Be thankful every day that you are growing in spirit and that, at any time, only those spiritual experiences which are appropriate for you are entering your awareness.
• Diane Hope • The holidays often bring joy—but they can also stir the ache of absence. At Sunburst Sanctuary, we understand grief not as something to fix, but as a guide. It points us inward, asking us to feel, reflect, and connect with the love that endures beyond presence.
Grief is a teacher. It reminds us that the bonds we hold in our hearts never truly break. When we allow ourselves to sit with our feelings, we cultivate awareness and compassion—for ourselves, for others, and for life itself.
Sunburst teachings invite us to lean into this inner presence. By acknowledging loss, we awaken clarity, resilience, and a deeper capacity for love. The people we’ve lost continue to shape our lives through the love we carry, the choices we make, and the way we engage with the world.
This season, grief and love can exist together. One does not diminish the other. Honoring those we’ve lost means feeling their impact fully—welcoming the lessons of absence, embracing the growth it inspires, and trusting the enduring connection of the heart. May this season bring presence, compassion, and the quiet strength of love that never fades.
What we have once enjoyed, we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes part of us. – Helen Keller
• Diane Hope • photo at Sunburst 11/14 • There’s something deeply humbling about the feeling of mud between your toes. It’s soft yet firm, cool yet alive — a reminder that no matter how far we drift into the speed and noise of modern life, the earth is always there beneath us, waiting for our return. Grounding isn’t about stability as much as it is about relationship — a remembering of where we come from, what we’re made of, and how deeply we are held by something larger than ourselves.
We spend much of our lives hovering — in thought, in worry, in what’s next. But the moment our feet meet the ground, something shifts. The stories quiet. The breath deepens. The heart softens. Mud doesn’t care who you are or what you’ve done; it simply receives you. There’s no separation between the soil that nourishes a tree and the soil that welcomes your feet. It’s the same living matter that holds the seeds of growth, decay, and renewal — the full rhythm of existence.
When we allow ourselves to truly feel the ground — not as a surface we walk on, but as a living being we’re in relationship with — something ancient awakens. We begin to sense that grounding isn’t just a human need; it’s a universal language. Every creature, every root, every raindrop is part of the same pulse, the same quiet heartbeat of the earth.
And in that remembrance comes tenderness. The kind that doesn’t need to fix or strive, but simply to be. When we reconnect with the ground, empathy naturally follows — not as an idea, but as an embodied truth. We remember that what supports us also supports everything else. That the same mud we stand in holds the worms that aerate the soil, the water that nourishes crops, the minerals that become food. Our belonging isn’t personal — it’s shared.
So this November, as the light fades and the air turns inward, take a moment to pause and feel the weight of your own feet. Imagine the roots beneath them, the layers of life below the surface — ancient, unseen, but always present. Let the mud remind you that you don’t have to reach for belonging. You’ve been home all along.
• Paramahansa Yogananda • Peace is the altar of Heaven. When peace comes to you, you are one with God. Peace is not something passive or negative. It stabs the heart of worries. One can kill worries by cultivating peace rather than by becoming angry at one’s lot.
You are swimming in an ocean of peace. Just as blood goes through every tissue, so peace flows through every cell of the body. When you are peaceful, everything is beautiful. When you lose your peace, your whole mental life becomes poisoned. Peace and divine love are much stronger than anger.
Learn to give love and calmness, and continuous understanding. When you wear the crown of peace, you will have everything. Everything you do should be done with peace. That is the best medicine for your body, mind, and soul. It is the most wonderful way to live. Cultivate peace!
• Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder • In the light of true discernment past judgments may be found to be incorrect. When equanimity is practiced, we can look at circumstances around us and apply reason and virtue to our thoughts and actions.
Existing within each one of us is the exact center of the first light of creation; it is the point of concentration in meditation. From this center of divine consciousness, we learn how to balance the dual forces within us, and live in harmony with the law of cause and effect. We are now able to choose the correct thoughts and expressions to use in our everyday living.
Though we are in the storm of life’s experiences, let us take the time to sit down within our soul—our center of consciousness—and really weigh and balance our course of action. We can choose between the forces of positive and negative options surrounding us, and sail our soul ship of life within the eye of the storm. We will continue on course until the storm abates and equanimity reveals the shining brilliance of the inner omniscient sun, the only port of refuge!
