•by Dawn King•Our world is changing so fast around us. Today, a child in Africa, India or Siberia with a smartphone has access to more information than the leaders of the world had not so long ago. It’s an exciting time to live in, one in which the future is hard to predict, and it seems our actions have greater consequences.
It’s becoming evident that preserving and nurturing our planet Earth is more important than ever. We don’t have another place immediately available on which to live out our lives. Meanwhile through the Internet, we’re all connected like a hive of buzzing bees. We can express ourselves, see others, and experience a oneness with rest of humanity. How can we best utilize this connection?
The things we can do with life—have relationships, be creative, create knowledge—are what give life meaning. Human ideas can change the world, and you can overcome any obstacle with the right idea. – Ray Kurzweil, inventor & futurist
We are each blessed with and can develop tremendous innate, creative powers beyond what we might normally consider. What powers are these, and how can we use them?
We each have the ability to imagine, to use willpower, and to be creative. Our thoughts and active willpower constantly recreate us and our environment. Through experience, we find that if we dwell on a thought of being sick, or in pain, we “own” that thought and magnify it. Likewise, if you consistently think “My life is wonderful!” life will reflect positive feedback to you.
Imagination and willpower go hand in hand with creativity. Your thoughts and willpower are creating your life. The more persistent and detailed your thoughts are about something, the greater its ability to manifest. This is how Cosmic Intelligence created everything we perceive.
How do we make our muscles stronger? We imagine that we can do it. Then we use our willpower to exercise and grow stronger. It’s the same with developing our spiritual nature. Let yourself imagine what it would be like to feel the ecstasy of Spirit living within you every moment, and enjoying your life to the fullest. The more you can imagine this, the more you will manifest it by your thinking and your actions.
Our very DNA evolves and is reprogramed through our life choices, our meditation, and our direct connection with the Divine. The Creator wants to dance, sing, and enjoy this creation through each of us. We are sparks of that Creator. Just like a drop of water in the ocean, each of us IS the ocean. It is only for us to realize our oneness with the ocean, our oneness with living Spirit.
The divine joy and ecstasy of life is contagious. I truly believe it’s spreading through humankind today. Amidst all its trials, humanity is evolving, growing into cosmic/Christ consciousness. In fact, trials increase our desire for and appreciation of divine Light and Life.
Like yeast raising dough, we each can help consciously raise the vibration of humanity to one of greater divine love and peace. This is our inherent nature, our birthright. We are offspring of the first Light, children of the one Source of All. Let us embrace the gift of Life, to dance, sing, and run with it!
“We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves.” – Alice Bloch
•by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder • As you walk through this life, you begin to realize how short it really is. When we’re young, we think life is forever, and no matter what we do we are somehow going to get out of it. As we grow older, and we’ve seen the consequences of our actions, we realize how our actions can imprison us, or can set us free.
Life is short here—not even a moment in eternity, hardly. The experience of the soul’s immortality must be gained, must be tasted. It is an ecstasy beyond description. Once tasting it, you can never fail. You will always return to that which is sweetest, which tastes the best. That’s why we have to make the effort.
Don’t count your failures. They don’t exist unless you count them. When you count them, you replant them. Every day you are reborn anew. Dismiss the past. Throw it into the field of power around you, and plant your consciousness with divine Light that will consume whatever is negative, whatever is no longer helpful in your life.
Today you are reborn in Spirit if you believe it, if you receive it. The failures of the past no longer exist if you cast them out. You are free!
By attempting to live in compassion and virtue every day, whether you succeed or fail, just by attempting it you plant positive seeds in the field of power around you. The law of cause and effect has no choice but to return those virtues to you. Therefore, the more you attempt, the more you reap. The more you reap, the stronger you get. The stronger you get, the more determined you become. The more determined you become, the greater the Light within you.
Once seeing the Light, once experiencing the bliss and peace of meditation, you know it’s real. You will not need to be convinced anymore. You have gained a foothold and a handhold to scale the mountain. You become a force to help our brothers and sisters toward their freedom.
It’s not only important for each one of us to attain the final evolution for our own salvation, it’s infinitely more important for us to do so that we may become a Light. And in becoming a Light, not to hide that light—to have guts enough to stand forth and use that Light. Yes, become divine warriors, because that is what is needed here.
by Catherine Mauron • Norman Paulsen (founder of Sunburst) has told us: You are a reflection of the whole creation. As the light of God rises within your soul, so does it occur for the whole planet and everyone on it in the coming Golden Age. I like to reflect on these words by Brother Norman and restore my hope as to what I, a little bubble in the vast ocean of life, can do to help our beautiful planet.
Sometimes we feel trapped in this world that seems to go all wrong. We seem to be somehow powerless when we look around at all the misery happening everywhere (floods, famines, wars, climate change, etc.). But we are more powerful than we know.
As the little “i” becomes the big “I” in deep meditation, the little bubble of me becomes the cosmic sea, and is permeated with joy. Thus the Light arises in all, through my efforts. I then interact with the world creatively expressing that divine joy and purpose.
We can quicken this unfolding beauty, in ourselves, around us, and everywhere! The fire kindled in a tiny being can eventually light the whole creation. Be strong in your meditation, for the light you generate in your own soul sparks the wider generator of the Universe.
A Blessing by John O’Donohue, from Eternal Echoes
May you awaken to the mystery of being here, and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
May you respond to the call of your gift, and find the courage to follow its path.
May you take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
•by Norman Paulsen, Founder of Sunburst•There is but one force manifesting throughout the universe. That force is I Am That I Am. Its nature is dual, masculine and feminine. Its existence is absolute ecstasy, continuous and ever new. Once tasting this ecstasy, nothing can ever take its place.
God can be seen visibly within as the great Light of inner space. God is seen outwardly in the billions and billions of star systems throughout all dimensions.
Spirit is felt as ecstasy; it is heard and known as sound. The movement of the cosmic forces in creation, all vibrating and radiating on different frequencies, compose and play the great cosmic symphony. One sits in awe and listens to the sounds, as waves upon waves roll in from the cosmic sea, breaking and roaring through the center of your being. Sometimes one feels as though every hair is standing at attention as the Great Spirit, which you have become one with, moves through the frail body of flesh and bone.
From the great cosmic forces in eternity we have all come forth. Miraculously we are visible to each other. Each one of us has been given a special beauty, wisdom and love. Each spirit is endowed with a different face. What a miracle it is to look at each other.
Our Divine Mother and Father have never conceived two things exactly identical; they reflect infinite variety in duality. Each soul is fashioned with uniquely reflecting facets, like the finest jewel. Each soul spreads divine light in variations that are different from those who came before, or those who follow after.
The Divine Playwright, Mother-Father God, marches on through eternities in the great halls of creations, images infinitely abounding, love transcending, in waves of color and sound—this is the cosmic sea. One sees it, and one knows it. Our soul ships sail forth immortal.
Imagine an experience of immortal ecstasy! You can experience this while conscious and alive in the body. For each one of you who remains steadfast on the path, with heart’s devotion set true upon the Godhead, Mother-Father Creator, you will taste that ecstasy and see that Light, and sail on that eternal sea.
Pray! Pray to your Mother and your Father who reside within your body. They are your constant companions. If they were not, you would cease to exist. Therefore, know that God, our Father and our Mother, are right within you and around you. Pray sincerely and unceasingly that you might feel and see their presence. It is through the devotion and love of your deepest heart that they reveal themselves to you.
• by Dawn King • Each morning we face a new day with excitement or dread, or some feeling in between. Whatever our thinking and feeling, let’s check in and realize it is creating the day we will encounter. Our attitudes and thoughts effect our experiences more than we realize. They can “make or break” our happiness and enjoyment in life.
The title of this article is lyrics from a beautiful Sunburst song. Waking up with an inspired song on your mind is a great way to start the day. I know because it often happens to me. But I find life exciting and fun each day. I make a point of embracing this experience because life is NOW, and it is in my power to make the best of it, whatever it brings.
My mother told me that when she was growing up, at one point she thought life was kind of boring. We’ve all probably been there at some point, thinking it was pretty routine and less than exciting, especially when we were growing up. I certainly did.
So Mom, as a child wished for some excitement. The next thing she knew, her youngest brother fell out the upstairs window and broke his leg. To her this was a tragedy. Life became exciting, but not in a good way. She learned to be careful what she wished for, and to appreciate things being “normal.”
Normal is good in so many ways. When we keep a gratitude journal, or somehow reflect on the goodness we experience in a normal day, we realize what a blessing it is. The sun comes up. We are able to function. There are things to do; we have purpose in our day.
Ever since a bad fall and concussion experienced in June while backpacking, I am thankful that I can walk, talk, think straight, type this story, etc. Things could have been so much worse.
How often do we each come through a day physically unharmed and think nothing of it. We take it for granted that we’ll be able to function just as well tomorrow. When we age (as I am), we start to realize tomorrow may not find us functioning as perfectly as the day before. It’s best to be thankful for what you’ve got; use it and hope to improve it; and embrace the moment, the NOW. This is your life.
Yesterday I was reflecting on how we are each victims, but should not have victim mentality. Yes, we are victims of our own thoughts and attitudes. Yet, we can change them and make them serve us better. Our bodies respond to our thoughts, especially habitual ones. We should always be looking for the positive side of every situation, what benefits might be found in it.
Tonight the United States will see the longest eclipse in almost 1000 years cross its land from east to west. For over six hours the full moon will be darkened, appearing red at its fullest eclipse around 1 p.m. PST. Some people are saying it portends coming earthquakes or other natural Earth changes, maybe weather phenomena. Others say eclipses are symbolic of human transformation. Let’s celebrate spiritual transformation and the ways we can lift our own spirits. Likewise, we can celebrate whatever changes our planet Earth will bring to uplift the consciousness of humanity. Pause in the NOW, and be grateful.
“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky,white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”–Thich Nhat Hanh
•by Barbara McCaughey & Dawn King•Around the end of October, ancient Celts celebrated summer’s end, and the start of a new year. This time was also a window into the spirit world, a time when departed souls could visit Earth again. Afraid, some people began a practice of dressing up in scary costumes to frighten disembodied souls away. In essence, they wanted to be more scary than what they were scared of.
Trying to meet fear with more fear doesn’t work. We all have tried it. A common practice is to worry and fret, thinking that if we just try hard enough, or think hard enough, we’ll come up with a way to push away whatever fear seems to threaten us.
The only thing that really works for moving through and actually dissolving fear is cultivation of a deep and abiding relationship with the pure Spirit within us. This is what everyone wants, even though people search for it in so many different ways. We all want to feel loved, to have a sense of belonging and purpose, and a sense of peace. These naturally give us courage and help us make right choices.
I read a story about a woman who was driving her car on a back road in New York State. She wasn’t feeling very well, and was uncertain whether she should keep going or turn around. While indecision wracked her mind, she felt worse and worse.
Then in the distance she saw a billboard. She read it: “Please, God.” Then she said to herself, “Yes, yes, please, God, please, please; what shall I do?” But as she drove closer to the sign, she noticed that there was no comma after the word “please”. It actually said “Please God!”
She took a moment to calm dawn and contemplate those words. She was no longer calling on a Being who was far away, outside of herself. She realized she was the empowered doer. She continued her journey, and felt better.
When we begin to feel that joy of being one with Spirit, then we want to experience it all the time. The unconditional love and joy of Spirit can work and play in us, as much as we invite it.
So, “Please God!” What is pleasing to the divine lIfe force with us? We can be pleasing, and find more enjoyment of life by taking time to develop our love and appreciation for all we’ve been given. This we do through contemplation, and meditation, listening for that still small voice within.
We must follow our soul’s conscience; our heart knows the way. When we stick to that way, our life can gracefully unfold in an unending prayer of devotion and thankfulness. And thus we find courage, peace, joy, and the knowledge that we are supremely supported by Source, our ever-well-wisher. With spiritual courage, we discover everything we need to meet the challenges of each day.
