•by Barbara McCaughey•I awoke on a Saturday morning just after sunrise and sat up to meditate. I could see the light of the morning sun peeking over the hills to the east. After a quiet time, I began a prayer for an experience of the uninterrupted purity of God, unencumbered by my own desires. My thoughts turned to Divine Spirit as beauty, simplicity, skill, focus, enthusiasm and joy.
When I opened my eyes, they fell on the leaves of the tree a few feet from my house. I was admiring their form and the glint of the sun upon them. Just beyond the tree it seemed there was an ongoing conference. Repeatedly, small birds flew in from various directions, lit in close proximity, chattered, then flew off.
While I was staring at this scene, out of nowhere a bird flew into view of my window, but just a few inches away. It hovered before my gaze for awhile, showing me its brilliant orange head above a dark band of feathers around its neck. This exquisite burst of color left me in awe, and a flood of tears spontaneously ran down my cheeks. It seemed that I had “tuned in,” with greater concentration than usual, to Nature’s own discovery show.
Finally I arose, filled with a quiet appreciation for the miracle I had just observed, each leaf and creature expressing pure life and joy in its unique way. To witness it was an answer to my prayer. The free, exultant expression of life in its myriad forms is the purity of God. Each individual offering, in harmony with the whole creation, seemed to sing a sweet song. I felt inspired to again read my favorite chapter in the book Cosmic Consciousness by R. Maurice Bucke. Here’s a quote:
“I left my friend and was walking slowly homeward, enjoying the calm beauty of the evening, when I became conscious of an unutterable stillness, and simultaneously every object about me became bathed in a soft light, clearer and more ethereal than I had ever before seen. “Then a voice whispered in my soul: ‘God is all. He is not far away in the heavens; He is here. This grass under your feet is He, this bountiful harvest, that blue sky, those roses in your hand—you yourself—are all one with him. All is well forever and ever, for there is no place or time where God is not.’ Then the earth and sky thrilled and vibrated to one song, and the burden of it was, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’”
As I finish this writing, a hummingbird is sucking the nectar from a jasmine flower by the porch. I watch with fascination and pleasure. The harmonic song of praise goes on.
God says, “It is a pure heart I look for; that is the place in which I rest.” – Thomas a Kempis
•by Dawn King•During this festive to frantic time of the year, we are especially challenged to maintain an even keel of mental and emotional calmness. Current planetary alignments reflect the fact that this will continue to be particularly challenging right through the end of the year. Keeping the following affirmations and quotes at hand in memory, or as a physical cue, can help us survive gracefully.
Daily meditation is the key to stilling the mind.
To control the breath is to control the mind.
Affirmation: I take a deep breath and realize this moment is a fleeting scene in a cosmic play. I remember that I am a divine spark of God manifesting in this physical body. A detached enjoyment of life helps me maintain my spiritual awareness.
Affirmation:I relax and cast aside all mental burdens, allowing God to express through me perfect love, peace, and wisdom.
Sibylle Custer: This world we live in has been compared to a web. If you touch a spider web in one place, the whole web quivers. Our vibrations, our thoughts, what we do, all send a quiver through the web of this planet. May the vibrations that we each send out this moment, this day, be for the healing and comfort and upliftment of all.
Paramahansa Yogananda: God has given us one tremendous instrument of protection—more powerful than machine guns, electricity, poison gas, or any medic—the mind. It is the mind that must be strengthened. An important part of the adventure of life is to get hold of the mind and to keep that controlled mind constantly attuned to the Lord. This is the secret of a happy, successful existence. It comes by exercising mind power and by attuning the mind to God through meditation. Be in constant attunement with God. Talking with Arjuna, in the Bhagavad Gita God says: “The state of constant calmness (neutralization of restless thoughts) is attained by the continuous practice of meditation and by keeping the attention fixed at the point between the eyebrows. In this state of calmness, man witnesses the thoughts and emotions and their workings without being disturbed at all, reflecting in his consciousness only the unchangeable image of Spirit.
•by Patricia Paulsen•Norman Vincent Peale, a contemporary of Paramahansa Yogananda, was born in 1898. Living in New York, he reached out to inspire people through his ministry and writing. In 1952, his book The Power of Positive Thinking was reviewed by mental healthprofessionals who claimed his “radical” ideas were going to mislead people. He lost friends and got bad publicity, but his controversial book became a best seller that endures today. It was written with the sole objective of helping people achieve a happy, satisfying and worthwhile life.
Dr. Peale’s main point was that positive thinking is the foundation of happiness. His principles are used today in most self-help groups, life coaching, motivational speeches, and in spiritual practices. He wrote: Pray a great deal, and let your prayer take the form of thanksgiving. Cast out those old, dead, unhealthy thoughts; substitute for them new vital dynamic thoughts. You can depend upon it: an inflow of creative healthy thoughts will remake you and your life. Negative thoughts may vie for your attention, but the new and healthy thoughts will now be stronger and better fortified and therefore able to replace them.
How can we train our minds to think positively? Today science tells us:“While we appreciate positive experiences, we are much more finely attuned and give much greater weight to negative experiences like fear, threats, or even just bad news.” (Jeff Haden, “Psychology Today”)
Negative experiences are quickly imprinted in our longterm memory. However, positive experiences and thoughts require that we hold onto them for twelve seconds (or longer) in order to create a longterm memory. Neuropsychologist Rich Hanson says “The brain is like velcro to negative experiences and Teflon to positive ones.” That being the case, we have to consciously apply ourselves, focusing on the good to stay in a positive healthy frame of mind.
Try it! Catch the good moments, and hold onto them. When something positive comes your way, hold that thought for at least 12 seconds. Plant positive seeds in your memory and watch your life transform.
This is a life process; it’s going to take time to create a new habit of thinking more positively. Believe in yourself! Have faith and confidence in your abilities! Catch the moment before moving into gossip, snippy remarks that are not necessary or
kind. Forgive yourself and others. Start filling your mind with creative healthy thoughts. Replace the weeds of negative thoughts with positive thought seeds and enjoy the peace of mind this brings. Thoughts only stay alive by the energy you give them.
Meditation trains the mind to slip into a calm peace, the wellspring of positive creative thinking. Here we have the power to plant seeds in the living field of consciousness within and around us. What a gift!
•by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst’s founder•In the beginning was the great ignition and explosion of light and life force. Everything that exists originated at that point in deep space: spinning galaxies, star systems, planets, and all life forms including these bodies that we find ourselves encompassed in today.
Each of us is directly connected to the Source, the first ignition, through an inner-dimensional tunnel of light. This tunnel can be seen in deep meditation by the grace of Spirit, and sometimes through accident or illness. Every human being is connected. This means every human being can see God face to face—can see the center of creation, the light where it all began.
The experience is of seeing the impossible being possible; this incredible vision staggers the self-conscious mind. It goes reeling away with all its former concepts of what the world is, what God is, and what life’s about. All concepts are being destroyed in the immensity of the stupendous reality of this experience.
The self-conscious mind wants to believe that God is alive, but it has no proof. We want to believe we are immortal and we’re going to gain a heavenly place, but we don’t have any proof. This event is more than the proof; it’s the direct experience of immortality. In that moment, looking into that Light and Presence, the most wondrous thing is that it is personal!
Yes, the light you see at the end of the tunnel, appearing brighter than our physical sun, begins to speak through audible thought transference. You hear a voice that is seemingly coming from all space, but it’s directed to you personally through inner space.
There’s a personal relationship just for you with the Divine, like a son or daughter to a father or mother. That relationship is such that you always wanted to believe it was possible, and suddenly, here it is. You are in it; you are experiencing it. It’s true, and it’s staggering. There are no words to describe it.
•collage art and story by Dawn King• Happy Halloween and All Saints Day!•
This world is a multi-faceted stage where many stories are unfolding simultaneously. They may be dramas, comedies or intrigues. We are the authors and actors who are co-creating these plays. Our daily script reflects our consciousness. Is our glass half empty or half full? It is up to us to determine this.
Once upon a time there was a pickle that was immersed in brine with the rest of its kind. This very special pickle realized it had free will and the ability to conceptualize. Unaware, however, of its inherently perfect state, it decided to get out of the brine and go it alone. But since pickles have not much going for them on their own, it found that lying around outside of the brine simply led to drying out and feeling lonely. It was not a healthy state.
My fickle pickle years came in my late teens. As a child, I had known my origins and close connection with God, my Creator. Still, when I went away to college at seventeen, I felt isolated, alone and lost. This didn’t last long since, even as a child, my main direction in life was toward serving Spirit, and finding Spirit in myself and others.The longer I’ve lived, the more joy and rewards I’ve found while drawing closer and closer to Spirit.
Each of us is somewhat like the lonely pickle. Unknown to our rational minds, we are part of the perfect bliss of our Creator—we’re droplets of wind-blown spray on the timeless sea of life. Our minds tell us we have free will and the ability to go and do what we want. That is true within the parameters of our reality, our consciousness. If we can awaken to experience our Source, and thus, our oneness with all life, we may be able to keep that focus throughout the rest of our days. This would help us avoid feelings of loneliness and unhappiness.
Remembrance of those who have departed brings us varied thoughts and feelings. How grateful we should be for all they endured in order to learn lessons which may come easier to us as a result. Our very DNA has been altered by their skills and experiences.
With renewed zeal we are encouraged to dive into life while we have that privilege. We are each actors in life, challenged to do our best, and embrace the energy of love that created us.
A star who has sparked our imaginations is Frida Kahlo. Her self-portrait (altered here) is the centerpiece and focus of this collage. She represents the immortal soul freedom each of us has in reality. [This image and “Remembrance” messageis available as a greeting card, as are many others at and through Sunburst.org.]
•by Norm Paulsen, Sunburst Founder•[photo: horses at Sunburst Sanctuary] •Pure consciousness is ecstasy. It is living with a deep appreciation for every microsecond of time. It is being alive, and being involved in life. That is pure consciousness, and I’m sure dolphins have it, along with many others in the animal kingdom. Dolphins swim playfully, talk to each other, and have regard for humans, even as humankind’s actions are destroying them and their habitat. Some consider dolphins to be less conscious than humans because they can’t build skyscrapers or send a rocket to the Moon. But these actions don’t portray pure consciousness.
Many years ago I had the good fortune to become close to a horse named Jato and discovered that horses have expanded consciousness. Animals live in greater regard for nature’s laws than many human beings do. If people enjoyed the level of consciousness that most animals have, they would not pollute the Earth and destroy each other needlessly.
In my relationship with Jato, whom I loved very much, I gradually discovered that thoughtforms in the form of mental images were a way to communicate with him. As we were together more, our communication evolved beyond thoughtforms and mental images. It became a voice contact on the spiritual plane, an audible thought transference.
One day I came into the field where Jato was dozing in the sun. He was standing all the way at the other end of the pasture with his tail toward me. Wild oats growing in the field were about three or four feet high. I got down low in the oats and decided to test his ability. In thought I yelled loudly, “Jato! Jato!” Peeking through the grass, I saw his head jerk up. He turned, looking over his back at the field behind him. All of a sudden he spun around and came galloping very fast through the oats toward me.
I thought, “Jato, if you don’t see me, you’re going to run right over me!” There wasn’t even time to jump up before he arrived. Of course, he didn’t run over me. I stood up as he ran around me kicking and whinnying.
Mentally he projected, “Who do you think you’re talking to?Do you think because I’m a horse that I don’t have the ability to know where you are if I want to?”
I salute you,” I said inwardly as he came close to greet me. I learned a lot from Jato! I saw how much I had to learn, and how much the animal kingdom really does know. Having thought I was somewhat developed at the time, I was astonished to discover my ignorance.
Jato told me that all horses are like him and don’t bother with humans who think horses are dumb beasts, because those humans wouldn’t be able to hear them even if the horses did try to communicate. I’m sure dolphins and other animals are the same way. Birds, cats, all talk in mental images. Everything in nature will talk to you telepathically, if you believe that you have the ability to converse and give it an opportunity.
Humankind has a chance to survive on this world, if we listen. We need to deeply listen and continue to practice what’s right, to persevere until we attain illumination. Then we will begin to understand how to live in harmony with nature, our Earth, and the animal kingdom.
