When the Creator set out to make this creation, divine Mother and Father filled it with beautiful sustaining law, the law of love and virtue. This virtue, or Life itself, has twelve universal facets. One of those virtues, continence, has many meanings, but one of them can be described as self-control. Paramahansa Yogananda once said, “Self-control is the key to a happy life.”
Sometimes self-control can bring to mind holding tight, but that’s not really what it means. Meditating more deeply upon it, I found that it means growing a finer and finer awareness of the energies that we exist in.
We each come forth from the one Pure Self, pure consciousness, existence, and pure joy. In venturing into this creation, we have been given a soul with an ego, a mind, a body, and a personality. Norm Paulsen, founder of Sunburst, used to liken these aspects of ourselves to having a horse that we need to learn how to ride, and hopefully not have it riding us.
There’s a word in Sanskrit, pranayama, that means life force control; or caring for life force. Our life force constantly flows outward through the five senses. Continence is our ability to become aware of that outward flow of our precious natural energy and then begin to conserve it.We begin by offering it up to the Divine for the purpose of our soul illumination, and awakening into divine consciousness.
Pranayama, in yoga, is often referred to as working with our breath. There is a simple exercise of paying attention to your breath without trying to change it in any way, to just notice what it’s doing for a moment. The magic of paying attention to it, of putting our consciousness on it, is that it changes.
Scientists of quantum physics discovered several decades ago that subatomic particles change if someone is looking at them. The same thing occurs when we observe our breath. We notice that the quality of it also changes. So conscious awareness is the key to awakening, to transformation. Consciousness is the Divine within us.
We can apply consciousness to our actions, our speech, emotions, our thoughts. Simply by becoming aware, we begin taking care of our energy. This is continence, true self-control. The more we apply it, the greater the space we find in between stimulus and our response. If some energy comes at us that’s hard, we can take a moment and observe it. And by that very observation, we transform the energy.
Norm Paulsen, in his book “Life, Love, God,” said that eventually we come to realize that continence is the caretaker of all the other virtues in creation. Continence, the simple act of paying attention, is the gift of life force riding upon the breath. From this practice, we gain great treasures which we can then bring out into our daily life—great treasures of love and peace, unutterable joy, and happiness.
O Great Spirit, You who shines forth from the very center of every particle of creation, You who shines forth from the endless sea of eternity, Filled with thy light, pouring into creation, Pouring into our bodies, minds and souls at this very moment, We offer our life force, our love, our desire, back to you, back to the source of all life. Touching you, we find the power of love; we find the power of virtue. We find the power of joy unending, and we bring it back to spread it across the Earth, To transform the Earth in the way that you created it to be in this very moment.
God consciousness has been the essence of Sunburst’s and my studies for many years. I’ve been so very grateful for the chance to read the words of illumined masters and beautiful poets like Yogananda who wrote fabulous, inspirational works. Here is a beautiful description of Yogananda’s experience with God-illumination. It portrays his absolute awe of Divine Spirit:
ˆ“With open eyes I behold myself as the little body. With closed eyes, I perceive myself as the cosmic center around which revolves the spheres of eternity, the sphere of bliss, the sphere of omniscient living space. I feel the Lord like a gentle breath of bliss, breathing in my body of universes. I perceive him shining through the bright twinkles of all luminosity and through the waves of cosmic consciousness. I behold Him as the light of solar inspiration, holding the luminaries of my thoughts and the rhythms of balance. “I feel Him as a bursting voice, leading, guiding, teaching secretly in the soul temples of all men and women. He is the fountain of wisdom and a radiant inspiration, flowing through all souls. He is the fragrance from the incense vase of all hearts. He is a garden of celestial blossoms and bright thought-flowers. He is the love that inspires our dreams. I feel Him percolating through my heart, as through all hearts, through the pores of the earth, through the sky, through all created things. He is the eternal motion of joy. He is the mirror of silence in which all creation is reflected.”
The greatest joy, for me and for so many, has been to go beyond reading the words that others have written, into the experience of God itself. His joy, His incredible love, and that amazing fulfillment that you feel from His presence and His blessing is beyond the realization of any other desire. It fulfills every cell of one’s body and every cell of one’s being. That fulfillment is beyond reading or talking or listening to others. It is direct inspiration and direct communion with the living Spirit…and that’s why we meditate. God illumination is the greatest ecstasy that there is, and therefore the greatest goal of our lives.
Divine Spirit, We are so grateful for your loving presence. You bring the love that heals and nurtures us, that enlightens and inspires us. For you are Father and Mother, and the Sacred Child that lives within each of us. Thank you for blessing us, for shining your light, for inspiring us, and for giving us life. Amen
I love the equinoxes and solstices, time posts of the Earth’s sacred cycles. The equinoxes bring us equal days and nights, reminding us to strive for balance in our lives, and reminding us of the cosmic forces always at work. We especially see this in nature, as Mother Earth strives to keep her elements in check, trying to balance the actions of mankind. Equinoxes are also a signpost of change ahead, leading to either an expansion or a contraction of light and warmth. It gives us time to prepare both physically and emotionally for a shift whether we are conscious of it or not.
These ancient cycles are no longer honored outwardly for their gifts and importance in our lives, but their messaging to our subtle bodies still affects us. If we slow down our frenetic pace we can glimpse something very sweet as the seasons change and bring us a gift. Fall brings us the brilliant colors before the leaves fall from the trees and the abundance of the late harvest. Spring brings us the birds returning to build their nests and the bright colors of early flowers.
Humans have been given the responsibility of balancing their desires with their awe of and gratitude for the natural world, as well as a responsibility to help maintain its delicate balance. We have been named caretakers of the world we live in, including finding balance in our bodies, our homes, and in the communities we build. As we celebrate the changing of the season, let us reflect on the current balance of our lives and adjust accordingly.
by Jake Collier • Our founder and teacher, Norm Paulsen, used to refer to everyone as soul travelers. Truly we are spiritual beings traveling at this point in time, in these bodies, at this place. How precious is this process of spiritual evolvement. We must try to live our lives in a way that creates an environment around us which stimulates our higher selves, a way that motivates us to continue with our inward journey of discovery.
Years ago, in the late 70s, I was working at Sunburst’s organic wholesale produce warehouse in Los Angeles. One of the guys there had season tickets to the Dodger’s Stadium. I’m not that into baseball, but in the midst of L.A. and far away from the rural lifestyle I was used to, it sounded like fun, so I went with a good friend.
One of the first things we noticed was that we were surrounded by very boisterous people. But while looking out at all the thousands upon thousands of people in that stadium, I found myself talking to Spirit, saying, “Wouldn’t this be incredible if all these people had a common focus on you? What if all these people were chanting AUM together, if they were all meditating at this moment? How powerful that would be!”
It will happen. There will come a time when the majority of the brothers and sisters walking this earth will know God, and will realize that God is alive in them. We all hope that we are there to experience it, to feel it, to be a part of it.
As we do our spiritual work each morning and evening, as we sit down and meditate, we create future opportunities for more meditations, for more spiritual understanding. We take that vibration with us. When we look into someone’s eyes, or we hug someone, we pass on a little bit of that vibration, that awareness. Hopefully it falls on fertile soil and others will begin to awaken and begin the process of peeling back the petals, so that we may all find out who we really are, why we are here, and where we are going when we leave.
I Am That I Am
Please help us on our journey here,
That we may discover our true selves In our relationship with you,
That we may walk this Earth With you living through us,
You experiencing this life
And all that you have created.
You are our divine companion,
Our true friend,
And we love you.
Amen
The self-conscious mammalian brain has developed over the millenniums, and today, on this planet we are expressing it in its full potential. Why meditate? Meditation leads us within where we gain freedom from our limited ego consciousness and realize Divine Consciousness, and our immortality.
Human’s higher brain structure has the ability to create all of the abstract images its imagination can produce. We see around us every face is different. What a fantastic thing this is, this divine consciousness which is all of us! This consciousness is the point from which all things came forth; and it is contained in each one of us right now. It can be directly perceived through meditation.
We suffer, we are sad, only because we do not know who we really are within. Cosmic consciousness is for each and every human being. It is only when we begin to inhabit our higher brain structure that we begin to understand our relationship to the world and all life forms. Then we truly begin to caretake all the images that the Creator, I Am That I Am, as created—including our own bodies.
Scientists studying subatomic particles find they have mysterious abilities. For understanding, the science of the future will be investigated within man and woman in solitude and meditation, within the great higher brain. Subatomic energy is I Am That I Am. It fills the space between the atomic structure of our bodies. Remove the space between the electrons and protons of your body right now and you couldn’t be seen. We are looking at space when we look at each other.
Our bodies are a mass of particles of light that represent the physical. It is an illusion that each of us has a personality with a name, likes, dislikes and desires. We think that we have limitations. We think that we are suffering or are weak. We think we have desires unfulfilled. It is an illusion. For all is this one Divine Consciousness momentarily conceding to be each one of us until we wake up and realize that each one of us is it. We are actually the wealth of the whole creation, the instrument that I Am That I Am created so that it could enjoy the creation.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all things will be added unto you.” Why was that said? Because it’s a fact. What is heaven? It’s all space and eternity. It’s the creation and Divine Consciousness everywhere and in everything. Oh, what a miracle to be alive—a glorious thing!
Remember the great gift of this body is to investigate it and to use its powers that you might, from this vantage point on this planet, perceive the whole universe. It’s a great blessing to be alive. The lesson for every individual is to learn through consciousness and thought to move life force and control light. This you can do. This is why meditation. Let’s meditate.
OM…Mighty Spirit, we love you. Mighty Spirit, we love you; you love us.
We love the world. We are one with all images.
All images are me.
OM
Mother Father God, I Am That I Am, All these names are You. It is the longing of our hearts that inspires us To sit with You and feel Your energy. We invite all enlightened beings—past, present and future to be here now. May we feel Your spirit hand upon us this day. Amen
As we look around us at the world we live in today we ask ourselves, “What can I do to help? What difference can I make?”
We can make this world a better place by connecting to the source of love within us. This source is at the center of our being, the center of our soul.
When we become aware of this source, we can tap into it, increasing the amount of love we hold and radiate. We can become powerful transmitters of this love, and as it permeates our being, our expression becomes one of love.
Love is the most powerful force in the Universe, and as it grows within us, it has a positive effect around us, and throughout the world.
We can discover this source of love by practicing meditation. As we spend time in meditation, we begin to pull our energy within, away from the outer senses. As our mind starts to calm, we begin to feel our joy and love increasing. By continued practice, this source of love grows within us.
We are here to help each other, to care for each other, to understand, forgive and serve one another. We are here to have love for every person born on Earth. Each spirit has the capacity to be filled with love and eternal energy. As more and more people receive this energy, we will see positive changes in this world.
This world sorely needs to be transformed, for a higher consciousness to reign here, so that we can make it a garden once again, filled with love. As our love grows within us, it spreads; it radiates out transforming us, those around us, and our world.
by Norman Paulsen
