by Dawn King•Isn’t it amazing that humans have so many different ways of calculating and celebrating new beginnings. New Year on the Islamic calendar falls on August 10th this year. Historical calculations of New Year depended on the sighting of the New Moon. Today, astronomical calculations usually determine the Islamic calendar and the setting of its holy days.
The Islamic calendar starts at sunset on the evening it commemorates Muhammad’s first exodus with his followers, i.e. the beginning of Islam. Many Islamic observances celebrate incidents in the life of Moses and the lives of others who are revered by Christians and Jews, as well. Three of the world’s major religions have the same roots.
As the leader of a new “nation” Muhammad created a constitution with laws that encouraged tolerance and compassion. For instance one law states, “And the believers shall not leave any one, hard-pressed with debts, without affording him some relief, in order that the dealings between the believers be in accordance with the principles of goodness and justice.”
As a part of Cosmic consciousness Sunburst recognizes twelve virtues, one of which is emphasized each month of the year. The virtue of Compassion is currently prominent during the astrological month of Leo (July 23 to August 22). But each virtue is complimented by virtue opposite it—in the opposite zodiac sign. For Compassion that is Charity (Aquarius); Compassion is an act of charity, giving of ourselves.
Compassion is something we feel for another, having also endured their situation, or realizing how easily we could be in their plight. “But for the grace of God, there go I.” This is a paraphrase of Paul of Tarsus (Saint Paul the Apostle) in 1 Corinthians (15: 8-10) “ But by the grace of God I am what I am…” We are reminded to be grateful for our own blessings every day.
Recently I was hiking and had a bad fall. Realizing how much worse the outcome could have been, I found myself being more grateful for those things I normally took for granted. When I walk, I say, “I am grateful that my legs and feet are working so well.” I’d badly twisted my ankle. in my meditations I say, “I am thankful for my good health and for a sound mind.” In falling, I’d hit my head resulting in a concussion that lasted for several weeks.
Compassion for others can remind us to be grateful for the things that are right in our lives. It can also move us to do something to assist those we see as being in some way less fortunate. Perhaps your compassion leads you to donate for victims of fire, flood, famine, disease, etc. Perhaps you volunteer at a local food bank or shelter of some sort.
Our children can learn compassion by observing our example. Compassion starts with empathy, or understanding another’s feelings, and may come naturally to a child. Even a 2-year-old might try to comfort another child who is crying. Four-year-olds might apologize when they hurt another’s feelings. At 5 or 6 children learn to take turns and can think of ways to help others.
We can grow in compassion and kindness, and help our children grow in that way also:
1. Imagine yourself in the other person’s position. Their facial expression might help you realize how they feel.
2. Recognize rudeness; don’t respond in kind, but realize it may be the result of some unseen situation.
3. Notice, and acknowledge it when someone is kind to you.
4. Avoid copying bad behavior you might see around you, on TV, movies, or the Internet. It’s NOT okay!
5. Name calling (even insinuation) is not acceptable; it’s hurtful.
6. Competition is usually contrary to the idea of working together, and gives us the idea that others stand in the way of our success. The only healthy competition is found in overcoming our own limitations.
Our ability to act with compassion and kindness is challenged during a lifetime of human interactions. And it’s through the school of human interactions that we have our greatest opportunity for spiritual growth. Reflection and meditation then help us gain an objective view of our interactions with others. Meditation can open us to insights into others’ motives and the past experiences which have shaped them. A gift of insight like this is truly invaluable, and humbling.
We realize that everyone is coming from different circumstances and background experiences. And each person is trying to do the best they can in the midst of life’s many challenges. Let’s each celebrate the start of a new year of more conscious Compassion.
by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder • Millenniums ago there were societies on the planet in which the peoples possessed what we call cosmic consciousness. Every individual knew God face to face. They knew the mechanics of how creation began, and the laws that were programmed into it to keep it in harmony. They were indeed the divine caretakers of this planet. They received the will of the Divine and they created beauty in structures, arts, and sciences.
In our time, we see a world in chaos. We see one religious faction fighting another, one ideology fighting another. Many religions state that their way is the only way, therefore the others must be destroyed. But the fact remains that the divine Intelligence inspired the founders of all major religions with cosmic consciousness, with Christ consciousness. Each of these founders saw the divine Brilliance, the face of God. They received guidance, inspiration, and the will to go forth and help others seek God face to face. There is only one God; there is only one Light that inspired them all in the beginning.
The people of this world must realize this, and learn to be caretakers of this beautiful base station in space, where travelers come and go. This is why we meditate—to open ourselves up to that Light; to learn to sit quietly in devotion and open the tunnel to eternity, visible right before our faces.
Every one of us is connected to this tunnel, to the very center of creation where the first creation of Light occurred in deep space billions of years ago. Yes, we are all connected to the heart of creation, the heart of the divine Being, the very hub upon which all the wheels and spheres of creation turn.
We all have so many unanswered questions; if only we could get our hands upon God to understand why we are here, and what we can do to help this suffering world. I Am That I Am, this divine, intelligent, and very, very conscious Being who exists in and around us knows everything we think, everything we desire, and everything we do. God will respond so strongly to our heart’s true desire to know Him and Her.
Spirit asks each one of us to make an everyday endeavor of turning the wheel of meditation. One of those times you will sit for those few minutes and find that hours have gone by. You will be in the presence of incredible brilliance, and you will hear a voice coming from all space, the voice of God. “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from, or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) Thus is the Divine.
“God has complete freedom, so He made mortals…and endowed them with partial freedom and choice. Man has limited freedom and choice because he is a part of God and has to develop himself before he can reflect Spirit completely. God is absolute; man is relative, like the ocean and the wave. The ocean is the whole, the wave, being a part, is limited. So the wave, which aspires to be like the ocean, must lose its boundaries of form. The form-freed wave becomes the ocean. So also man, the partial reflection of God, must demolish the self-imposed boundaries of selfishness, ignorance and delusion before he can expand himself and merge into God.”
These words by Paramahansa Yogananda reflect a recent Sunday topic: opening the door of our heart in order to receive a visitation from Spirit. While I was meditating, it seemed to me that the door represented the boundaries of the ego-self. Solid doors built through many lifetimes.
How do we open the door then? By dropping all desires, all expectations, all searches. By being here now. By listening. Listen to God, for he alone has the key. There is no need to do anything, just sit quietly, and Spirit will open the door when we are ready.
In sitting, meditating, working, reading, talking, and walking, it is all the same: be quiet inside. Let the world turn at the crazy speed it is turning, and be quiet inside. Sit back and watch life’s play, so different every day, ever-new and fantastic.
Mother Theresa said, “There are no great things to do, only little things done with great love.” Whether in times of meditation or in times of action, let the door of your heart be open. Let the healthy ego do its little things in the world, while you are silent inside of you, awaiting Spirit’s visit. “Be still and know that I am God,” in action and in non-action. Whenever we lose our peace, our joy, our love, we close the door of our heart; we lose our connection with the Universe. We stop the flow of energy that connects us to the whole.
By the grace of God and our self-effort, salvation will come by being in joy and in love at every moment. This is our free choice on the spiritual path. When we feel love, we feel God. Let us try to feel God all the time! Whatever our circumstances might be, let us never lose sight of this ocean of peace inside of us. Let us live in harmony with the Great Spirit that runs through all things, knowing that all is well, that every moment is a divine creation, a divine jewel for us to enjoy. By permeating the atmosphere with vibrations of love, peace, and joy we will bring about the miracles so needed for our dear blue planet.
Align yourself with God. Find his frequency like you tune a radio. Align yourself under His beam of light, So to become He and He becomes you. So to become She and She becomes you.
Valerie King • In Sunburst’s teachings, twelve aspects of spiritual energy (virtues) are identified, corresponding to the purest energy of the 12 astrological signs. As the year progresses, and the Sun moves through each sign, you may feel the 12 energies. You may also feel that you are being tested by that energy (virtue) of the current astrological month. The sign of Cancer, whose virtue is Perseverance, tells us, “Never give up!”
The spiritual path is a purification of our habits—thought, emotion, and action habits. Little by little, we chip away like a sculptor chips away at a great stone, and reveals a beautiful piece of art. That’s perseverance. Here’s a little story.
I joined Sunburst when I was 18, and soon after took karate, aspiring to earn a black belt. My teacher was wonderful, and I really enjoyed it. Karate was fun. I worked out really hard, and this was perfect for a young person.
After a few years, I’d gotten to brown belt. Then my regular day-to-day work became very intense with lots of long hours. I was getting really tired. On top of working at Sunburst’s warehouse, I was driving the employees’ bus (an old school bus) to and from work. That made my day even longer. Still, I was practicing karate three times a week.
One night at the end of driving the bus home to Sunburst’s property, I was thinking how tired I was. My thoughts were: “Maybe brown belt is good enough. I’ve gone pretty far, and gotten a lot out of it. Maybe that’s fine. I’m just so tired. I feel like I need some kind of break here.”
I brought the bus to a stop, and pulled the lever to open the door. Who was standing right there outside the door, but Norm (Sunburst’s Founder). His face was animated, saying, “Valerie, I am so happy you’re going to be a black belt. You’ll be the first black belt woman in Sunburst, and this is such a good energy….”
I just had to chuckle to myself. Norm was such an open channel for Spirit; it came right through. Spirit was saying, “Finish this. You set a goal; finish it!”
While growing up, I’d often gotten really excited about starting something, but never quite finished it. So I needed to learn how to finish things. Perseverance was important for my spiritual growth.
Sometimes someone’s words really resonate in you, and you know it’s right from Spirit. That’s how they were to me from Norm, and what made him a teacher for me—words that strike me to the bottom of my soul.
Yet, at times we are persevering in manifesting our dreams in a way that’s no longer useful. The cycle is over; it’s time to let that go, and move on.
From almost the time Sunburst started, we had a “common fund” economic system in which we pooled our money; if we needed a coat or shoes, we talked to whoever was administrating the money. This worked pretty well, as long as we were young and didn’t have children. But once people married and had children, it became very difficult; expenses outgrew income. We tried all kinds of different ways to make it work, but were just getting farther and farther into debt.
At that time, my husband and I were in charge of administrating the funds. We would have a certain amount of money we could allot each week, and then a BIG list of requests. “What are we going to cut here?” we’d ask ourselves. It was very difficult, but Jonathan and I were hanging onto this system; we felt it was really important.
Finally, one day Norm came and sat down with us. He said, “You know, I think it’s time to let go of this financial system.”
It was then we realized that the dream we didn’t want to give up on was the dream of keeping Sunburst alive and thriving. But, Sunburst wasn’t ever a financial system, or a social system. It’s a community that came together to build Spiritual consciousness individually and collectively so that the energy would reverberate through the world. I realized I’d been holding onto
an outer thing, when it was really the inner thing that needed to be maintained.
Each sign with its virtue, has a corresponding virtue and sign across the zodiac; they balance each other. The virtue of perseverance (in Cancer) faces the opposite virtue, temperance (in Capricorn). It’s wise to temper our perseverance.
“What are we really holding onto? What is the real dream, and is this the best way to accomplish it?”
by Jake Collier•When we contemplate honesty, we might think of George Washington telling the truth. “Oh yes, I chopped down that cherry tree.”
Deeper levels of honesty, being honest with ourselves, have been documented through interviews with people who’ve had near death experiences. Many of them share a common occurrence: entering a tunnel, and seeing at the end of the tunnel a wondrous white light, which was a living being radiating infinite love and grace. They found themselves being drawn to the Light.
In the tunnel they encountered relatives, and pets, and reviewed experiences of the past. Each received a life review before the Light. There was no judgment, no right or wrong; it was simply a review of their life.
When I meditate on honesty, I reflect on: Am I achieving goals that I have set? If my goal is to meditate for twenty minutes, Did I do that? And if I did, Did I set a new goal of twenty-five minutes?Was I able to focus, to concentrate and see the tunnel in my meditation? Did I try to be a better person, to help somebody? Do I see God’s face behind each of the faces that I encounter—even faces that show anger or resentment towards me?
We all need honest reflection on thoughts we just had, the action we did yesterday that we can’t undo. Through the fires of meditation, we burn up seeds of karma from past deeds, and past thoughts. And while doing so, we seed the future with positive images, positive thoughts, positive actions. Then, as we walk into that future, we want to be honest with ourselves. Did I do what I projected that I would do? Did I achieve what I projected I would achieve?
Imagine being in a room filled with people, and you are the only one who has ever tasted an orange. You have to describe to the other people what an orange tastes like. That is what it’s like to be an enlightened being on this Earth. You can talk about how it’s sweet and wet, and everybody says, “Okay, I know what that is.”But the taste is nothing that you can convey.
Being a good teacher, you come with boxes of orange seedlings, and you pass them out with instructions: How to water, care for, and fertilize your orange tree. Your parting words are, “Be diligent with these instructions and you, too, will taste an orange.”
If we could watch, we’d find that some of these people neglect the fertilizer, some neglect the watering. Only a few would end up with the sweetest, luscious, and most delicious oranges—grown by them. The successful ones can now experience the taste of an orange, and be able to share that with others. They can grow more seedlings, and pass on the sweetness.
So through meditation and virtuous living, we are watering and fertilizing the seed of sweet God-realization within us, that it may grow and overwhelm us, opening us to new understandings, true happiness and contentment, true joy and love.
I Am That I Am, you are our Mother and our Father, and you sustain us every second. We are so thankful that we can feel you today, moving within us and all around us. Strengthen our bodies and focus our minds, that we may keep our feet on the path home to you. Amen
by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder • Your true Self exists beyond the images of creation, in the pure consciousness of your Spirit Mother and Father. To experience who you really are, the false ego-self has to abdicate the throne; then divine consciousness will reign supreme. You, as a living spirit, will rule the forces of the ego. How is this possible?
Through cultivating devotion, through practicing selfless service in whatever way you are guided, and by using the key of Kriya meditation, circulating the breath through your body, you can gain mastery of your own life force. It becomes your magic carpet. By learning to unite the life force in your physical body with the divine cosmic forces, you become one with the sea of life that fills all infinity. Your life force travels in spirit form into the arms of a living Mother-Father Creator. You are translated wherever you desire to go, or wherever God desires to put you. You become a true caretaker of the garden universe.
As you circulate the breath of life and gain mastery, you will gain more life force. Christ promised: I come to bring you life, and bring it more abundantly. You will find that you can use this life force to accomplish whatever task you have before you, be it physical, mental or spiritual. You will be able to help your brothers and sisters, to heal them, to console them. This life is your love. You can put it all in your heart and experience ecstasy.
You, the infinite soul, the awakened son or daughter of God, will have all the forces of the creation behind you. As long as you use this force for good, you will be happy. If you use this life for selfish purposes, it will bring unhappiness, for this destroys the garden of creation. Practice your meditation diligently, and your heart will overflow with love. Perfect peace, and contentment will come.
Circulate the force of life twice a day, in the morning before sunrise, and in the evening after sunset. Practice with all the power of your concentration. The ego mind, your soul’s enemy, is not going to want to do it; but if the soul, your true Self, demands its life away from the ego, then ego has to abdicate.
The restless mind which has been going to and fro on the earth, searching for something new to do, will be conquered and made a servant. The soul, working through the mind, now controls the body and gains mastery over the forces of the air, the earth, the fires, and the waters. You learn how to communicate with and care for all life-forms. You realize that a life of virtue, of giving, brings the greatest joy beyond description. You become free. This is your destiny!
Paramahansa Yogananda: Through use of the Kriya [meditation] key, persons who cannot bring themselves to believe in the divinity of any man will behold at last the full divinity of their own selves.
