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.
by Norman Paulsen•The wonderful experiences that I have been blessed with were given to me for one reason only. Through all my trials, my heart never desisted from loving and seeking my divine Mother-Father. No matter what I was doing, good or bad, I could never quit loving God. If I made a mistake, I always asked forgiveness and started again.
By our love and devotion to Spirit, we begin to taste immortality. It can be seen; it can be heard; it can be felt. It is the most incredible experience. Yes, touching the hem of the divine garment.
As each and every one of us moves toward heaven within, we begin to feel God’s power in us. We are each tested to see how much we can take, like steel is thrust into the fire again and again to increase its temper. At times, you may cry to God: “Why am I so mistreated? 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.” Our Creator cannot pour into you tremendous life and light, power and wisdom unless you, the vessel, is prepared to hold it. That is why the path to illumination is difficult, and described as a razor’s edge.
I bear witness today to the heaven we can experience within, and to the immortality of each spirit. If we persevere, each and every one of us can gain that experience, to see and know, and understand our Creator, Divine Mother-Father-God.
Oh Divine Comforter, no matter how difficult the path,
I know You have blessed me with the faculties
by which I am able to bear what comes to pass.
As I journey homeward, please hear my soul calling. I will pursue you every moment of my conscious life. I will forever persevere, Oh Spirit Divine,
to develop the willpower to never give up! I must meet you face to face. I must hold you in my arms, if you will allow.
You are my Father; you are my Birth Mother, the Creator of my soul. From you have I come forth into this world, into this sea of faces. I look for you in every face, Oh Beloved. Will you please come forth and reveal yourself to me
somehow, somewhere, someday?
I will continue to pursue you in every image and in every place,
until I find you hiding in the mirror image of my own face.
by David Adolphsen • Sometimes when we reflect upon ourselves sitting on this small planet revolving around the sun, within a solar system within a galaxy, within a universe full of galaxies, we can feel rather insignificant. We can wonder to ourselves, “How can my efforts be of any real importance in the big picture?”
Those souls who have come before us and attained spiritual mastery have all sought to inspire us towards our full potential as spiritual beings. Their message has been that our planetary consciousness is evolving and that each one of our contributions while here on Earth is invaluable in the evolution of consciousness. They have had different names for this consciousness. Siddhartha called it Nirvana; Paramahansa Yogananda called it Self-realization. It has been referred to as Christ or Cosmic consciousness, and Jesus referred to this state of consciousness as the Kingdom of Heaven.
Over the centuries, the interpretation of the Kingdom of Heaven has become a place to go to after this earthly visit. In reality, the Kingdom of Heaven is a state of consciousness that Jesus encouraged the men and women of his time to seek and attain while still in their earthly bodies. He was very specific that those things which he was able to do, each of them (us) could do also, and even greater things!
It is through our awakening to the full awareness and consciousness of Divine Spirit within us that we are able to become like Jesus and many others who have visited this Earth and reached true spiritual awakening. It has been said that we are never closer to God than at this very moment. Through using the tool of meditation and practicing the presence of God daily, we are able to fully realize that the Kingdom of Heaven is here right now within us and all around us.
It is humbling to realize that each of us is the key to the evolution of not only our own consciousness, but also the planet at large. Divine Spirit is waiting for each of us to turn our attention and awareness toward the light and truth which wants so much to inhabit us. We have been created with the ability to evolve these animal bodies into spiritual vehicles which can reflect the highest potential of divine consciousness on this planet.
We are the gateways for Spirit to come into this world and experience the creation through us, to feel the wind upon our faces and hear the water rushing down a mountain stream. We are not only the gateways, but we are also the gate keepers. It is our great opportunity to invite Spirit through the gate and into this world as much as we can remember to do so, and to let that beautiful Being enjoy this creation through us, as it is meant to be. So once again we are humbled, but not by our smallness and insignificance, rather through the knowledge that we are the gateways to the evolution of consciousness on this planet.
