One of the saving graces of this quarantine time is finding joy in Mother Nature.
A simple walk can bring a smile to your face, taking time to notice how green the hills are, how many birds are singing, and how the clouds move across the sky.
If you happen to live in a place where you find yourself housebound, then it becomes a matter of spending time on your deck, in your garden, or even at a sunny window—wherever nature can greet you.
Even though we humans are struggling, Mother Nature continues with her work, bringing beauty and joy to the world!
Divine Spirit, Mother and Father, We sit, immersed in your divine presence. You fill us with such joy, knowing your eternal wisdom shines upon us.
It’s brilliant light washes away all thoughts, all desires, save one,
the desire to love you with all our hearts, minds, and souls.
We know that all our actions, all our thoughts,
can bring us to the face-to-face encounter with you, our Beloved.
Amen.
As we look into the beauty of nature with our five senses, we can behold the perfect symmetry and beauty that surrounds us. It gives us inspiration, love, and guidance.
The value of meditation can be expressed in one word: peace. Peace is the absence of all thoughts. As we look upon the face of another in peace, no thoughts, no judgment, we can then behold God’s face shining back at us and realize it is our face.
The sun we see outside today winking at us through the clouds, is an expression of that same inner sun, our divine companion, that likes to play with us, hiding in and beyond the creation, playing with us, enjoying life. I’ll share a story that I feel captures the mystery and playfulness of divine Spirit.
Many years ago, I was living in a little place called Oasis, Nevada, just off Interstate-80 where I worked in the truck-stop. It was 150 miles from the nearest city and 30 miles from the nearest small town—so in the middle of nowhere—yet some amazing experiences took place for me there.
The front door had a little bell that rang when someone came into the store with its café. There we had an old cassette player, and I would play music for the customers. It was part of a game I played, imagining what kind of music a person would like when I saw them come in.
One day, around two or three in the afternoon, an incredibly beautiful woman came into the store. I had a sudden inspiration to play Jean-Pierre Rampal, classical flute music. She would really appreciate that, I thought, because she seemed very refined and also spoke French. She sat down in the café.
Having put the music on, I started to stock the shelves. The bell rang again, pretty hard this time, and I heard heavy footsteps come in the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a huge man. He had earrings and big patriotic tattoos. He must have weighed 270 pounds and been about 6 foot 7.
He was looking straight at me, and I suddenly thought he was going to do some damage. He walked right up to me with what seemed to me to be a menacing stare. My first thought was that I’d better turn the music off because he’s not liking that music.
When he got about three feet from me, in a surprisingly gentle voice he said, “My wife is a flutist for the Houston symphony orchestra, and she loves Jean Rampal!” His voice was so soft, and he had tears in his eyes. “Thank you so much for playing this music! You made my day, and it is nice meeting you.”
Then he turned around, and walked to the restroom. My jaw dropped, and I realized how much divine Spirit likes to play with us. That experience will always be with me. It shows that we are each created so differently, and yet are each so much a part of divine Spirit. So my prayer today is to see the divine beauty in everyone, and remember divine Spirit is always looking at us, and playing with us.
Oh divine Spirit, Mother, Father, we pray to you, that all your wonderful projections for this world will come about. We will be your hands, your minds, and your spirits, as we play and create a heaven upon this earth. So let it be done. Amen
Question: Is it possible to attain full God-realization through following the classical Christian beliefs, simply by studying the Bible and by prayer?
Norman Paulsen answers: Jesus said, “These things I do, you can do also.” It doesn’t mean that everyone who goes to church and says, “Jesus is my savior,” will find total God-realization. You have to live it every day. You have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk—seven days a week, not just Sundays. You have to walk the same walk Jesus did, taking on his virtues, his works. That takes a lot of spiritual work. Surely some devout Christians accomplish this. They go into their closets to pray, as Jesus said. This is the form of meditation that we are talking about in Sunburst’s Kriya Yoga Meditation.
St. John lived a life of abstinence and deep prayer in the caves of Patmos, where he wrote Revelations. He wrote of seeing the rainbow round about the throne of God. What does this mean? St. John was experiencing the masculine and feminine currents (called “ida and pingala” by yogis) arching up over the crown of his head, and reuniting with the Christ light as it reentered the body at his crown center. He knew through deep prayer that the throne of God existed within him. St. John was a great yogi—as great as any of the yogis in India.
Those who sit down and sincerely pray for others, for the world and for themselves, perform a meditation of great magnitude. Souls who combine this practice with living a life that exemplifies Jesus’ teachings live a life of great spiritual merit, and can attain true God-realization by their own efforts and by Christ’s blessing.
Prayer is meditation when it’s done with an open heart, expressing one hundred percent of your love. Love is the key to God-realization. If we don’t have love for God, we have to find it. Love delivers us to God’s heart, to His face, to His presence. That’s why Yogananda was always saying to us monks, “Get devotion—get love—you’ve got to get devotion for God!”
Intellect keeps analyzing and trying to work concepts down to where there is only one concept, and still most don’t see God when they get there. This practice of seeking God through knowledge is called jnana yoga, and it’s a very difficult path to follow. It takes a long time to finally arrive at the original concept, which is the reality of God existing in the Light.
We are joined together with God when the love of the heart opens up like a flower to receive the light. Meditation develops love for God. That’s why meditation is so important—to be practiced alone, as well as in a group. That is why Jesus said, “Go into your closet and pray.” Go to a quiet place where you and God are alone—when you awaken in the morning, and before you go to sleep at night. It’s a great and wondrous mystery, and the more we meditate, the more it unfolds for us.
If you mentally chant to God long and hard enough, you will begin to hear your voice resounding within. Sometimes, you will be able to chant from the highest to the lowest note—soprano to baritone. When you can really feel and hear your own voice ringing in inner space, then you’re going to start hearing God talking to you, saying, “Keep it up; don’t stop; I love you.” You hear His voice the same way you are beginning to hear your own, as you attempt to project it within. It’s an absolute fact that you can accomplish this in your meditations.
God is going to start talking to you, giving you encouragement, messages, direction, and love. It’s wondrous. That’s true prayer, true conversation with God. That’s real meditation. Again, that is why meditation is so important. For the early Christians, the time that they spent sitting alone, opening their hearts to Christ, reflecting with great love upon the life and teachings of Jesus, led them into that closeness and illumination, that Christ consciousness.
We are pleased to present our new video series:
Sunburst’s Greg Anderson presents a video series providing insights into “Life-Love-God: the Story of a Soul Traveler”, written by Sunburst founder Norman Paulsen, who was a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda.
