Light on Sunburst Sanctuary – Today • Notice the fresh green leaves popping out on trees behind the Sunburst mailbox and sign on Highway 1. Springtime is progressing at Sunburst Sanctuary, though spring doesn’t officially start for a few more days.
Below the entrance road, ignoring the frost, early morning wild turkeys are cleaning up the horses’ hay from yesterday.
The main area is still lovely with its gardens, water features, and wild birds, including Anna’s hummingbirds.
Inside the temple – above. Heiko feeds the horse – below.
Everyone very much looks forward to the day it’s safe for us all to return to Sunday services, and group events. That day will come! Meanwhile stay safe and stay well, to live and love another day.
by Valerie King • If you sit down and are still, you start hearing the thoughts moving across your mind, like a river – an endless river. Thoughts, feelings, emotions, pains from the past and worries of the future. But is this really who you are? These are like clouds that are going by in front of the sun of consciousness that you are.
Recently, I had the great blessing to be invited to the labor and the birth of a new child. When you’re in this situation and you see the mother working so hard, this incredible, transformative act, and you see this lump inside the mother moving and moving, and all of a sudden, that lump is not just a lump. It has a face, and it is a new being.
We all went through this miracle of life. We have come out of infinity, and shortly we will go back. But the great divine consciousness, the Divine One that brought us all forth, wants to be fully awake, and fully alive in us, while we walk here upon this beautiful earth. It wants to awaken and recognize itself looking out through our eyes, working through our hands, loving through our hearts, creating through our minds and our bodies.
How can we accomplish this? How can we awaken to what’s truly inside of us? Eons ago, the ancients brought forth meditation techniques to help open the way, to help us still our minds long enough that we can begin to see the space between the thoughts where Spirit shines forth eternally. It is a work, meditation. We have to work with the life force and light we are given to create a light body that this seed can reside in, this seed of God, so that it can awaken and grow into a new being. It is our self, but our Self as we are truly meant to be—our pure Self.
We all have inklings of this pure Self in our lives. It is the power of love, wisdom, unspeakable joy. It says, “I Am.”— the answer to the question “Who am I?” The work is becoming aware of our own consciousness, and by becoming aware of it, we still the thoughts. We are not so attached to the emotions that carry us, like waves, on the ocean. We sit in the observer’s seat, where we are given the gift of immortality, infinity, infinite love, and we find out this is who we really are.
Divine consciousness lives in each one of us, and we know it as intuition and the voice of conscience. Our job is to listen ever closer to this divine consciousness, to let it heal and transform us, and bring that healing all around us.
In the gospel of Thomas, which is one of the Gnostic gospels, Jesus said, “If you have everything, but you do not know yourself, you have lost everything.” So this is the challenge for each one of us, the adventure of life. It is never too late to start the journey. Start it in this moment. Find out who you are. It is a question that can only be found by each one of us, can only be answered by each one in our own inner discoveries.
I want to end with a quote from Norman Paulsen, who is Sunburst’s founder, when he was speaking about this gift of the meditation tools:
A good meditation technique is the most important thing you could ever have in your life. If you don’t have a technique to get in there and find out what’s going on within you, how are you ever going to know?
The meditation tool is the gift from the gods, the angels of divine consciousness, for our future. They are saying, “Here is your way. You’ve got to go unlock the doors. You’ve got to do the work. You’ve got to climb the mountain.”
They are not going to carry you, but here is the key. Go unlock the door; go climb the mountain. It’s all inside of you.
As we awaken to the divine consciousness within us, we will be able to look out, all the more, and see heaven as it exists on earth in this moment. As the poet William Blake said, “To see the world in a grain of sand, and heaven in a wild flower… to hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour.”
by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder • The birthplace of angels, called the first dimension of consciousness, surrounds the Great Central Sun of God, the Christ, like the corona we observe around our physical sun. Here the brilliance is shaded with a violet-rose light of indescribable beauty and vibration. This is the energy of ecstatic awareness. This is the place where, from out of eternity, individual souls come into being, appearing as spheres of incandescent light, suns of God.
When we first acquired Sunburst Farm years ago, while meditating deeply I observed with closed eyes the astral panorama surrounding my physical body. I could clearly see objects in the physical world—some moving, some stationary. The landscape was clearly visible in a veil of penetrating light.
Toward the east, I observed an orb of brilliant white light rapidly approaching. To my delight, it came directly to me and hovered at eye level. A voice came floating upon the ethereal atmospheres, “I am the one they call Babaji.” I remembered well Yogananda’s description of an ever-youthful figure called Babaji, meaning “holy father.” Babaji was the spiritual guide of Lahiri Mahasaya, Yogananda’s teacher’s teacher.
In my meditation, I watched as Babaji, in the form of the orb of white light, transited the full length of my inner-dimensional spine, emerging from the crown of my head. Hovering again before me, he silently projected in thought forms his pleasure at finding the way open through all the spinal centers. Babaji offered support for the endeavors I had undertaken. He left as he had come, toward the east and his favorite haunts in the high Himalayas.
I am constantly reminded of the appearance of Jesus of Nazareth to Paul of Tarsus. At the time, Paul was traveling to raise support to persecute the growing “cult” of Jesus followers. Jesus appeared before Paul’s vision as a sphere of incandescent light, brighter than our physical sun.
Paul was converted then and there, as he recognized Jesus—whom he had never before met—within that light. Jesus appeared to Paul with the power and brilliance of the Cosmic Christ, the Inner Sun, to baptize and illuminate Paul of Tarsus. Paul was to become one of the greatest advocates and messengers of Christ.
I believe that we human beings are surrounded at all times by angels. Surely we are watched constantly by them. The brilliant flashes of violet-rose and blue-white light seen before our eyes while working, exercising, or meditating, reveal their presence. They can be as big as they like, or as small as they like. They have access to Infinity. They are the projectors and initiators of the divine drama of creation and its evolution.
Many souls on Earth today are evolving inward toward their own spherical bodies of light. In this life, we seemingly find ourselves surrounded by a never-ending obstacle course of events. We must remember the words of Revelations 21:7, “The one who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be their God and they shall be my offspring, my heir.” We must overcome the negativity that surrounds us. With the help of angels, and by living virtue, we finally attain Christ Consciousness, and we truly see what a wondrous creation surrounds us.
Your own divine soul, the image of God within you, is a brilliant sphere of light. It is waiting to direct your physical body from the center of Christ Consciousness, the inner-dimensional throne of God within you. Ask and it shall be opened; seek and ye shall find. Meditate and live virtue, and you will be surrounded with the company of angels. Look to the inner light, brilliant like the sun, and know that you are looking at beings from the first dimension, the angels of the Cosmic Sun, I Am That I Am.
Light on Sunburst Sanctuary – Spring Takes Flight
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” – Maya Angelou
A recent hike through one of Sunburst Sanctuary’s deep canyon oak forests proved to be a magical wonderland. Hundreds of butterflies cavorted pell-mell through filtered sunlight, creating a fairy-like landscape. Some were white, some blue, some had orange wing tips. There were also Mourning Cloak butterflies, and Western Tiger Swallowtails (shown above), even a Monarch or two.
Above, left to right: Cabbage White, Sara Orangetip, Clouded Sulphur. Row 2: Echo Azure, Monarch, Mourning Cloak.
Flowering plants and butterflies go together, and both bring us joy. Butterflies are also seen as a symbol of the soul and transformation, of renewal, hope, and courage. Each of these is associated with the “fire of life,” and the act of surrender, sacrifice, or resignation that is required to make a change, just as the butterfly goes through three stages of development before getting its wings.
At least one Native American tribe believes the butterfly will deliver a prayer to the Great Spirit. You may unconsciously associate butterflies with being lighthearted and free. Some people ascribe different personal meanings to the different colors of butterflies that they may encounter. Whenever you see a butterfly, enjoy the beauty and appreciate whatever personal message you receive. These lovely creations definitely brighten our days.
“Happiness is a like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
by Dawn King • It was early morning and I was about to crack an egg into the frying pan when my husband startled me, and I jumped. The egg flew from my hand onto the top edge of the dishwasher door, which was slightly ajar. Next it careened onto the laminate floor.
I’ve dropped eggs a few times over the years, each time resulting in an eggy, gooey mess. But this time a miracle—the egg was intact. Though the shell was cracked, it still clung to the egg. The membrane inside was unbroken, so nothing leaked out. “Whew!” I exhaled.
Instantly a Divine message entered my consciousness. “I AM taking care of you, just like this egg.”
“Wow!” a feeling of relief came over me. Like so many of us since Covid arrived, my whole life has been in tumult for a number of months. Various circumstances have compounded upon the situation, leaving us in a state of worry and uncertainty about the future.
Ideally, we would live in the present, unconcerned about tomorrow. But even the birds outside my window prepare for tomorrow. If they’re acorn woodpeckers, they gather acorns and stash them. And all birds make nests in preparation for the coming of a new brood.
Humans not only want to prepare for tomorrow, but want to feel that there’s safety in the future. This is hard when life throws you a sudden, unexpected challenge. It can be hard even when you see the challenge imminently bearing down on you. What to do?
Sunburst’s founder Norm Paulsen seemed to advise meditation as the solution for everything. The longer I live, the more I learn how effective regular meditation, and devotion to Spirit is. Through meditation we learn to realize and reflect on the many gifts of Spirit in our lives. This leads us to love the Divine, and want to be closer to, and more in harmony with our Creator.
Norm once said: “Each time that we meditate, the imprint of our heart’s love leaves an eternal picture in the mind of our Creator.…We are part of immortal life, here in this world for such a short time.…We were each created perfect in the beginning. Let us strive to regain our perfection.”
From the Divine Heart of Love, we have each come. Divine Love is the Seed within each of us. When we connect with that Seed and nourish it, in turn it nourishes our spirits. If the ability to meditate eludes us, we can still reflect on the blessings of each day, and develop love by loving those around us, realizing they too are divinely created and sustained, just like us.
Love inspires Faith in us that helps us hear and know the truth of its message: “All is well; I Am taking care of you. Seek me and listen.”
Light on Sunburst Sanctuary – Springing Forward • Despite very cool mornings, Nature is springing forward at Sunburst Sanctuary. An opening double-photo shows the King’s almond tree at the start of February with buds on bare branches (left side) and, at the end of the same month, fully opened almond blossoms (right side). Deer are enjoying fresh green shoots in the main field (below).
Farther up the canyon, a field Sean disked and sewed with hay seed (1st photo below), is now green with new growth (2nd photo below).
To prevent insects larvae from boring into dormant spring peach tree buds, Al sprayed mineral oil on them.
A Pueblo Blessing:
Hold onto what is good, even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold onto what you believe, even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold onto what you must do, even if it is a long way from here.
Hold onto life, even when it is easier letting go.
Hold onto my hand, even when I have gone away from you.
