by Sibylle Custer • Sometimes, after a fun recreation time with friends, I ask myself: “Why can I not live all my life like that?” We make a distinction between recreation and work. We attach different emotions to each of them. Recreation feels carefree, light and joyful. Work wears heavier on your mind.
Reading something that Gandhi said changed my perception, my attitude. At a time when Gandhi was at the peak of his public work for his country—working from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day—a reporter asked him: “You are such a busy man, when will you take a vacation?”
“I am always on vacation!” he responded.
His answer startled me. I had to put the book down and think about it. What if I lived my life as though I was always on an inner vacation, always recreating? I wondered: What causes the joyfulness and light-fullness of recreation?
Then I learned about people with microscopic vision, who can perceive the tiniest particles of matter. At the most infinitesimal level they find tiny dancing suns, each with threads of light swirling around its axis, threads of energy spiraling into it and around it—spinning it into existence.
All matter around us and within us, though seemingly solid and separate, consists of billions of these “sunny” particles. And we too, are kept in existence by light energy that swirls in two spirals down through the top of our heads, feeding us with life. God’s energy recreates us every microsecond. Let’s contemplate this awesome fact. Let us sit in meditation full of love and joy.
Gandhi meditated every night for three to four hours, and when the new day began he could go forth and re-create his world. We too can recreate our world, even if it’s in a smaller way. We can recreate our bodies by regular exercise for instance. We can recreate our schedules so they are less stressful. We can recreate the company we keep. Let us go forward performing all our activities with renewed and joyful life force, and a thankful heart.
by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder • Millenniums ago there were societies on the planet in which the peoples possessed what we call cosmic consciousness. Every individual knew God face to face. They knew the mechanics of how creation began, and the laws that were programmed into it to keep it in harmony. They were indeed the divine caretakers of this planet. They received the will of the Divine and they created beauty in structures, arts, and sciences.
In our time, we see a world in chaos. We see one religious faction fighting another, one ideology fighting another. Many religions state that their way is the only way, therefore the others must be destroyed. But the fact remains that the divine Intelligence inspired the founders of all major religions with cosmic consciousness, with Christ consciousness. Each of these founders saw the divine Brilliance, the face of God. They received guidance, inspiration, and the will to go forth and help others seek God face to face. There is only one God; there is only one Light that inspired them all in the beginning.
The people of this world must realize this, and learn to be caretakers of this beautiful base station in space, where travelers come and go. This is why we meditate—to open ourselves up to that Light; to learn to sit quietly in devotion and open the tunnel to eternity, visible right before our faces.
Every one of us is connected to this tunnel, to the very center of creation where the first creation of Light occurred in deep space billions of years ago. Yes, we are all connected to the heart of creation, the heart of the divine Being, the very hub upon which all the wheels and spheres of creation turn.
We all have so many unanswered questions; if only we could get our hands upon God to understand why we are here, and what we can do to help this suffering world. I Am That I Am, this divine, intelligent, and very, very conscious Being who exists in and around us knows everything we think, everything we desire, and everything we do. God will respond so strongly to our heart’s true desire to know Him and Her.
Spirit asks each one of us to make an everyday endeavor of turning the wheel of meditation. One of those times you will sit for those few minutes and find that hours have gone by. You will be in the presence of incredible brilliance, and you will hear a voice coming from all space, the voice of God. “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from, or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) Thus is the Divine.
by Dawn King • Sometimes I’ve felt very isolated. At others I’ve experienced spiritual drought. That’s when I just have to keep on keeping on, one foot in front of the other. Showing up is 99% of success—I must show up every day for meditation, that communion with God. It’s important throughout my day to remember that Spirit is in everything, and everyone, offering assistance and helpful messages. It’s up to me to recognize and accept them.
It’s encouraging to recognize the endless bounty of blessings we have, including our Creator’s unconditional love. Many great souls have gone beyond this life, but they’re still with us in spirit, always rooting for us and trying to remind us to do the right thing. They’re with us energetically, countless helpful spirits, if we invite them.
No one is really ever alone, and spiritual drought is a mental illusion. Let these thoughts be replaced by an attitude of expecting a miracle, because that’s what life is, every moment.
“The dignity of each soul is so great that from its birth it is given its own angel.” – Saint Jerome
Note: Sunburst Community continues to offer a Zoom connection to weekday group meditations.
Join the UP-wising — Wake UP, Wise UP, Grow UP, Show UP
by Swami Beyondananda • Now as you know, there are two kinds of mystics in the world: the optimystics and the pessimystics. The pessimystics tell us “the sky is falling!” The optimystics say, “No… it only looks that way, because we are ascending.”
Personally, I am an optimystic realist. While many look at the world situation and declare the glass 95 percent empty, I take the opposite position. To me, it’s 5 percent full!
There are those who say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, while others swear by the 12-step. So here’s a compromise — four simple steps to make sure we step out in the right direction, mathematically guaranteed to work three times faster than 12-step.
These four steps that will take us from children of God to adults of God are… Wake Up… Wise Up… Grow Up… Show Up.
First step, Wake Up Laughing. As the ancient Foo Ling Masters who achieved Cosmic Comic Consciousness came to realize, life is a joke… but God is laughing with us, not at us. The Creator is watching the Comedy Channel, and we are what’s on. Yes, the world is in serious condition – largely because of our conditioning to be serious. So instead of having gravity bring us down, we can choose to have levity lift us up. Hearty laughter makes us go completely out of our head, and puts us right in the heart. And that brings us to Step Two.
Second step, Wise Up Loving. To counterbalance all the challenges of being human, we were given the power of love, the universal solvent. You have a problem? Dissolve it in a warm solution of love. Through the power of love, we can metabolize the BS (Belief Systems) we mistake for reality. And the good news is, love is more powerful than fear. How do I know? You ever hear anyone singing, All You Need Is Fear?
Third step, Grow Up Giving. Each of us has been given a special gift just for entering — so you are already a winner! We are the Creator’s creation created to create, so what are we waiting for? The more of our gifts we give, the more we grow upward. I suggest making a “bucket list” of all the undertakings you wish to undertake before being overtaken by the undertaker. And then undertake… and over-give, and you can’t grow wrong.
And finally, Show Up Living. Show up for the Greatest Show On Earth… it’s better than reality TV… it’s reality! A once-in-a-lifetime world win adventure show, where the whole world can win. It’s the Hero’s Journey with One Big Hero…the Human Race.
I’ve said it before, and it certainly applies now. If you don’t like the current programming, turn off your TV and tell-a-vision instead. So, I will tell my vision. I see it now. The Timeless Times headline that reads: “How Did The Human Race Turn Out? They won. They Achieved Oneness and Won.”
Look for Swami Beyondananda online at www.wakeuplaughing.com
by Catherine Mauron
“God has complete freedom, so He made mortals…and endowed them with partial freedom and choice. Man has limited freedom and choice because he is a part of God and has to develop himself before he can reflect Spirit completely. God is absolute; man is relative, like the ocean and the wave. The ocean is the whole, the wave, being a part, is limited. So the wave, which aspires to be like the ocean, must lose its boundaries of form. The form-freed wave becomes the ocean. So also man, the partial reflection of God, must demolish the self-imposed boundaries of selfishness, ignorance and delusion before he can expand himself and merge into God.”
These words by Paramahansa Yogananda reflect a recent Sunday topic: opening the door of our heart in order to receive a visitation from Spirit. While I was meditating, it seemed to me that the door represented the boundaries of the ego-self. Solid doors built through many lifetimes.
How do we open the door then? By dropping all desires, all expectations, all searches. By being here now. By listening. Listen to God, for he alone has the key. There is no need to do anything, just sit quietly, and Spirit will open the door when we are ready.
In sitting, meditating, working, reading, talking, and walking, it is all the same: be quiet inside. Let the world turn at the crazy speed it is turning, and be quiet inside. Sit back and watch life’s play, so different every day, ever-new and fantastic.
Mother Theresa said, “There are no great things to do, only little things done with great love.” Whether in times of meditation or in times of action, let the door of your heart be open. Let the healthy ego do its little things in the world, while you are silent inside of you, awaiting Spirit’s visit. “Be still and know that I am God,” in action and in non-action. Whenever we lose our peace, our joy, our love, we close the door of our heart; we lose our connection with the Universe. We stop the flow of energy that connects us to the whole.
By the grace of God and our self-effort, salvation will come by being in joy and in love at every moment. This is our free choice on the spiritual path. When we feel love, we feel God. Let us try to feel God all the time! Whatever our circumstances might be, let us never lose sight of this ocean of peace inside of us. Let us live in harmony with the Great Spirit that runs through all things, knowing that all is well, that every moment is a divine creation, a divine jewel for us to enjoy. By permeating the atmosphere with vibrations of love, peace, and joy we will bring about the miracles so needed for our dear blue planet.
Align yourself with God.
Find his frequency like you tune a radio.
Align yourself under His beam of light,
So to become He and He becomes you.
So to become She and She becomes you.
