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.”
“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.
excerpted from “The New Path”, by Swami Kriyananda
Paramahansa Yogananda often spoke of America’s high spiritual destiny. When first I heard him do so, I marveled. America? All that I knew of this country was its materialism, its competitive drive, its smug, “no-nonsense” attitude toward anything too subtle to be measured with scientific instruments. But in time that great teacher made me aware of another aspect, an undercurrent of divine yearning—not in our intellectuals, perhaps, our self-styled cultural representatives, but in the hearts of the common people.
Americans’ love of freedom, after all, began in the quest, centuries ago, for religious freedom. Their historic emphasis on equality and on voluntary cooperation with one another reflects principles that are taught in the Bible. American’s pioneering spirit is rooted in these principles. And when no frontiers remained to our people on the continent, and they began exporting their pioneering energies abroad, again it was with the spirit of freedom and willing cooperation that they carried with them, setting a new example for mankind everywhere. In these twin principles Paramahansa Yogananda saw the key to mankind’s next upward step in evolution.
The vision of the future he presented to us was of a state of world brotherhood in which all men would live together in harmony and freedom. As a step toward this universal fulfillment, he urged those people who were free to do so to band together into what he called “world brotherhood colonies”: little, spiritual communities [including meditation groups that gather regularly] where people, living and working together with others of like mind, would develop an awareness of the true kinship of all men as sons and daughters of the same, one God. …
Because the pioneering spirit is rooted in principles that are essentially spiritual—implying the perennial quest for a higher as well as a better way of life—that spirit has not only expanded men’s frontiers outwardly: in recent decades, especially, it has begun to interiorize them, to expand the inward boundaries of human consciousness, and to awaken in people the desire to harmonize their lives with truth, and with God.
It was to the divine aspirations of these pioneers of the spirit that Paramahansa Yogananda was responding by coming to America. Americans, he said, were ready to learn meditation and God-communion through the practice of the ancient science of yoga—meaning…Self-integration…conscious union with the Infinite Spirit, God. …A practitioner of the yoga science, acquires outwardly also a vision of the underlying unity of all life.
Valerie King • In Sunburst’s teachings, twelve aspects of spiritual energy (virtues) are identified, corresponding to the purest energy of the 12 astrological signs. As the year progresses, and the Sun moves through each sign, you may feel the 12 energies. You may also feel that you are being tested by that energy (virtue) of the current astrological month. The sign of Cancer, whose virtue is Perseverance, tells us, “Never give up!”
The spiritual path is a purification of our habits—thought, emotion, and action habits. Little by little, we chip away like a sculptor chips away at a great stone, and reveals a beautiful piece of art. That’s perseverance. Here’s a little story.
I joined Sunburst when I was 18, and soon after took karate, aspiring to earn a black belt. My teacher was wonderful, and I really enjoyed it. Karate was fun. I worked out really hard, and this was perfect for a young person.
After a few years, I’d gotten to brown belt. Then my regular day-to-day work became very intense with lots of long hours. I was getting really tired. On top of working at Sunburst’s warehouse, I was driving the employees’ bus (an old school bus) to and from work. That made my day even longer. Still, I was practicing karate three times a week.
One night at the end of driving the bus home to Sunburst’s property, I was thinking how tired I was. My thoughts were: “Maybe brown belt is good enough. I’ve gone pretty far, and gotten a lot out of it. Maybe that’s fine. I’m just so tired. I feel like I need some kind of break here.”
I brought the bus to a stop, and pulled the lever to open the door. Who was standing right there outside the door, but Norm (Sunburst’s Founder). His face was animated, saying, “Valerie, I am so happy you’re going to be a black belt. You’ll be the first black belt woman in Sunburst, and this is such a good energy….”
I just had to chuckle to myself. Norm was such an open channel for Spirit; it came right through. Spirit was saying, “Finish this. You set a goal; finish it!”
While growing up, I’d often gotten really excited about starting something, but never quite finished it. So I needed to learn how to finish things. Perseverance was important for my spiritual growth.
Sometimes someone’s words really resonate in you, and you know it’s right from Spirit. That’s how they were to me from Norm, and what made him a teacher for me—words that strike me to the bottom of my soul.
Yet, at times we are persevering in manifesting our dreams in a way that’s no longer useful. The cycle is over; it’s time to let that go, and move on.
From almost the time Sunburst started, we had a “common fund” economic system in which we pooled our money; if we needed a coat or shoes, we talked to whoever was administrating the money. This worked pretty well, as long as we were young and didn’t have children. But once people married and had children, it became very difficult; expenses outgrew income. We tried all kinds of different ways to make it work, but were just getting farther and farther into debt.
At that time, my husband and I were in charge of administrating the funds. We would have a certain amount of money we could allot each week, and then a BIG list of requests. “What are we going to cut here?” we’d ask ourselves. It was very difficult, but Jonathan and I were hanging onto this system; we felt it was really important.
Finally, one day Norm came and sat down with us. He said, “You know, I think it’s time to let go of this financial system.”
It was then we realized that the dream we didn’t want to give up on was the dream of keeping Sunburst alive and thriving. But, Sunburst wasn’t ever a financial system, or a social system. It’s a community that came together to build Spiritual consciousness individually and collectively so that the energy would reverberate through the world. I realized I’d been holding onto
an outer thing, when it was really the inner thing that needed to be maintained.
Each sign with its virtue, has a corresponding virtue and sign across the zodiac; they balance each other. The virtue of perseverance (in Cancer) faces the opposite virtue, temperance (in Capricorn). It’s wise to temper our perseverance.
“What are we really holding onto? What is the real dream, and is this the best way to accomplish it?”
O 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, O 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, O 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 Jake Collier•When we contemplate honesty, we might think of George Washington telling the truth. “Oh yes, I chopped down that cherry tree.”
Deeper levels of honesty, being honest with ourselves, have been documented through interviews with people who’ve had near death experiences. Many of them share a common occurrence: entering a tunnel, and seeing at the end of the tunnel a wondrous white light, which was a living being radiating infinite love and grace. They found themselves being drawn to the Light.
In the tunnel they encountered relatives, and pets, and reviewed experiences of the past. Each received a life review before the Light. There was no judgment, no right or wrong; it was simply a review of their life.
When I meditate on honesty, I reflect on: Am I achieving goals that I have set? If my goal is to meditate for twenty minutes, Did I do that? And if I did, Did I set a new goal of twenty-five minutes?Was I able to focus, to concentrate and see the tunnel in my meditation? Did I try to be a better person, to help somebody? Do I see God’s face behind each of the faces that I encounter—even faces that show anger or resentment towards me?
We all need honest reflection on thoughts we just had, the action we did yesterday that we can’t undo. Through the fires of meditation, we burn up seeds of karma from past deeds, and past thoughts. And while doing so, we seed the future with positive images, positive thoughts, positive actions. Then, as we walk into that future, we want to be honest with ourselves. Did I do what I projected that I would do? Did I achieve what I projected I would achieve?
Imagine being in a room filled with people, and you are the only one who has ever tasted an orange. You have to describe to the other people what an orange tastes like. That is what it’s like to be an enlightened being on this Earth. You can talk about how it’s sweet and wet, and everybody says, “Okay, I know what that is.”But the taste is nothing that you can convey.
Being a good teacher, you come with boxes of orange seedlings, and you pass them out with instructions: How to water, care for, and fertilize your orange tree. Your parting words are, “Be diligent with these instructions and you, too, will taste an orange.”
If we could watch, we’d find that some of these people neglect the fertilizer, some neglect the watering. Only a few would end up with the sweetest, luscious, and most delicious oranges—grown by them. The successful ones can now experience the taste of an orange, and be able to share that with others. They can grow more seedlings, and pass on the sweetness.
So through meditation and virtuous living, we are watering and fertilizing the seed of sweet God-realization within us, that it may grow and overwhelm us, opening us to new understandings, true happiness and contentment, true joy and love.
I Am That I Am, you are our Mother and our Father, and you sustain us every second. We are so thankful that we can feel you today, moving within us and all around us. Strengthen our bodies and focus our minds, that we may keep our feet on the path home to you. Amen
