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 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.
by Dawn King•Perhaps you are like me, finding yourself trying to sort out the true from the untrue. Each day we are presented with a barrage of information and influencers, as well as personal decisions large and small that require knowing the truth. We each want to successfully guide our life, making the best choices for ourselves and our families.
Sometimes our choices affect the community around us, for instance voting. We are all more connected than we realize. I recently listened to a person’s near-death experience explaining that a living thread connects each of us to every other living person. The founder of Sunburst, Norman Paulsen has explained that every choice we make affects the present and future of humanity. For example, when we choose to overcome a bad habit, it helps everyone move in that direction.
It’s sobering to realize that we are each a powerful “Influencer” and that our thoughts and actions have a lasting effect on everyone else. So where do we turn for guidance when we are unsure of what to think and how to act about certain topics, or we need advice on a decision? And perhaps we should make it a point to pause and reflect before we make a judgement or action, to be certain we are assessing things correctly. It’s very easy for the ego to think it knows everything.
Paramahansa Yogananda advises: Every morning and night go into silence or deep meditation. Meditation is the only way to discriminate between truth and error. God is the whisperer in the temple of your conscience. And He is the light of intuition. You know when you are doing wrong. Your whole being tells you. And that feeling is God’s voice. If you don’t listen to Him, He becomes quiet. But when you wake up from your delusion and want to do right, He will guide you. Thoughts and sensations are like searchlights: they throw their rays in front on material objects; they do not reveal the soul behind them. Intuition is like a spherical light, with rays on all sides, revealing the soul and also its outward projections of thoughts and sensations connected with the ego. Intuition is the bridge between the soul and the ego’s thoughts and sensations. If one can for a sufficient length of time remain unidentified with thoughts and sensations, and without being unconscious, he will know through the development of intuition the nature of the soul. When one is thus perfectly calm, neither thinking or sentient, nor unconscious, yet knowing he exists—a keenness of joyful being in which the thinking, thought, and thinker have become one therein is the soul’s consciousness.
by Michele Pike•Some years ago, I had an experience that profoundly changed my life for the better. I was living on a kibbutz of about 100 people. A good friend and I were about to harvest ripe tomatoes from a small organic garden we tended together. It was early morning in a desert valley on the border of Israel and Jordan.
Alon, my friend, suggested that we meditate together to thank the tomatoes for giving us their fruit. Having no idea of any technique for meditation, I just sat quietly in between the rows of plants with my eyes closed. I tried to think of nothing. The sun was just peeking over the red Jordanian hills and shining warmly on my eyelids.
All of a sudden, I heard and felt something completely out of the ordinary. The garden was singing! Each individual plant has its own unique voice and together they held the same angelic-sounding note in a chorus of praise to the rising sun. Their song was one of immense joy and gratitude to the sun and for the opportunity of being alive.
I was awestruck for a brief moment, then flooded with that same ecstasy and gratitude. I felt so much a part of that choir, so full of love and a desire to give with joy. Then, just as suddenly, it was over and I was left with a curiosity about what had happened.
by Paramahansa Yogananda•Indifference is the worst of all moods. Remind yourself that you are not your own creator; God created you, and He is running this universe for you. Whatever your work, do it enthusiastically for Him. Busy yourself in creative activities for He has given you infinite power.
Free yourself from moodiness! It is the brakes on the wheels of your progress.
Every morning, remind yourself that you are God’s child, and that no matter what the difficulties, you have the power to overcome them. Heir to the cosmic power of Spirit, you are more dangerous than danger!
Paramahansa Yogananda: Don’t depend on death to liberate you from your imperfections. You are exactly the same after death as you were before. Nothing changes; you only give up the body. If you are a thief or a liar or a cheater before death, you don’t become an angel merely by dying. If such were possible, then let us all go and jump in the ocean now and become angels at once! Whatever you have made of yourself thus far, so will you be hereafter. And when you reincarnate, you will bring that same nature with you. To change, you have to make the effort. This world is the place to do it.
Norman Paulsen:Self-discipline arises from commitment to the vision you seek: knowing what you want and dedicating your life to bringing it forth into being. To walk the spiritual path, the utmost discipline is required. Threefold development must be pursued: physical, mental, and spiritual. Through the attainment of virtue, the ego-centered consciousness must abdicate the throne to the pure Self. This is the crowning achievement of the spiritual athlete. Helping you to achieve this goal of virtue is Spirit, I Am That I Am, existing within your soul. Yes, we all have this energy nearby, and centered deep within.
It has to be identified and brought forth. Meditation alone will not take you home. Without practicing virtue and walking the a balanced path, you may see the goal, but you will not be able to hold onto it. By attempting to live the virtue every day, whether you succeed or not, you plant positive seeds in the field of power. The law of cause and effect has no choice but to return these efforts toward virtue to you.
Swami Guru-Bhaktananda: All beings are manifestations of God alone. This is the vision of the great Indian scriptures, the Vedas. The worship mentioned is also unusual. God in the form of each being is worshipping God in the universal form! Life takes on a completely new meaning when lived in accordance to what this verse implies. This vision creates the right feeling in us in all our daily activities. Every act becomes an act of worship. The fact that we do not feel in this way is due only to one single factor: Our Ego steps in between and tries to snatch away all the glory for itself!
by Dawn King•We are always delighted to learn about the life of another great, illumined person from earlier times. Today I’m writing about Guru Nanak who became a spiritual teacher (“guru”) during his extraordinary life. With deep devotion (bhakti) to Truth, he equated God with the ultimate Truth, and he saw all people as bearers of Divine Light.
Born in what we call Pakistan today—but in the 1400s and 1500s—Nanak refused to favor a sex (male or female), religion (Hindu or Muslim), or one caste over another. Women were not given equal status with men at this time. His attitudes shocked his contemporaries also because competing religions and the caste system were firmly established in that era. Followers of Hindu and Muslim faiths were in constant conflict; something Nanak continually tried somewhat to reconcile.
Stories of Nanak’s early childhood state that as a sleeping child he was shaded from the hot sun by a venomous cobra’s hood, or a magically moving tree. While 7 years of age, upon learning the first letter of the alphabet, he associated it with the number “one”, and described it as a symbol of unity and the one God within all. Like Jesus, at a young age the precocious Nanak debated with both Hindu and Muslim religious scholars about the nature of God.
He is quoted as saying: “There is but One God. His name is Truth. He is the Creator. He fears none; he is without hate, He never dies. He is beyond the cycle of births and death. He is self illuminated.… He was True in the beginning…. He is also True now.”
Another saying attributed to him: “Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God.” He was attributed as hearing the “word” of God, a divine guiding sound.
Revelations from God inspired Nanaks’ teachings. Popular tradition offers ways in which his teaching may be practiced: 1. Be of service to others. [“Share with others, help those who are in need, so you may eat together.”] 2. Earn an honest living, without exploitation or fraud. Daily life offers opportunities to serve. 3. Meditate on God’s name, in order to feel His presence, and to control the five vices or thieves of the human personality. The “thieves” steal one’s common sense: lust, wrath, greed, attachment and excessive pride, or ego. 4. Maintain connection to the Divine in your heart with every breath.
Nanak travelled extensively during his life, exploring religious practices in many areas far from his home, and offering his own views on the Truth. Consequently, he made an impression, and is celebrated in Sri Lanka, Tibet, Nepal, Iraq, Russia, and China.
My favorite story about Guru Nanak is that about his passing from this world. Both Hindus and Muslims wanted to claim him as their saint. When representatives of both religions showed up to claim his body, the shroud was removed to reveal a heap of flowers. Each group was able to take flowers and treat them as they would their revered saint’s body.
Today we have the Sikh faith, all followers of their original saint, Guru Nanak. Sikh means “seeker of truth,” meaning the divine Truth within.
