•by Dawn King• Saint Patrick’s Day (March 17th) is celebrated in many parts of the world. Lesser known is his contemporary, Ireland’s patroness, Saint Brigid of Kildare, also known as Bridget of Ireland. These two figures of renown lived around the year five hundred.
Brigid’s father was a Druid chieftain; her Portuguese mother had been captured and transported to Ireland by pirates. Brigid was named after the Druid goddess of fire, whose manifestations were song, craftsmanship and poetry. In that era, wisdom was shared through poetry, mostly sung; therefore poetry was considered to be the flame of knowledge.
Brigid the Druid goddess and Brigid the Irish saint share February 1 as their feast day. A simple form of woven cross is attributed to her. When attached to the ceiling (above the hearth) it was credited with preventing the home from catching fire; Irish homes had thatched roofs which burned readily.
Famous for her common sense and goodness, Brigid was honored for her compassion and generosity toward those in need. As a young girl, her only wish was to devote her life to God. Women had little opportunity to exert self-will, and her father forbade her aspirations.
Undaunted, she gave away the household bounty to others. Her father decided to let her become a nun after she gave his jewel-encrusted sword to a leper. She later established a convent for women and a number of charitable foundations.
One story is associated with the official blessing Brigid received to acknowledge her as Abbess of Kildare Abbey. This famous monastery accommodated both nuns and monks. During the ceremony, the elderly Bishop inadvertently read the wrong rites and consecrated her as a Bishop. At the time, this could not be rescinded under any circumstances. The Abbess position retained such power until the Synod of Kells in 1152.
During her own lifetime, Brigid was considered to be a saint. She is known today throughout Ireland, sometimes as “Mary of the Gael” (Mary of the Irish). An excerpted translation of the oldest account of Brigid follows:
Saint Brigid was not given to sleep, nor was she intermittent about God’s love; Not merely that she did not buy, she did not seek for The wealth of this world below the Holy One.
• by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder•Look beyond the narrow confines of your body and this world; look into space and all eternity. Realize that our lives here are but for a moment. They can be lives of bitterness, selfishness, and deprivation, or they can be lives that open like flowers, petals receiving God’s light, and expressing it actively from the beginning to the end. Each soul has its witness, and as we live so our future unfolds.
So it is; realize that the bitterness of today will open up in joy tomorrow if you persist in virtue. One cannot create virtue, one can only receive it; it comes by grace. It comes by the return of our life to Christ. Virtue, in the form of Christ’s life force and self-control descends upon us like a silken garment. One day you are without it, the next you have it. One day insurmountable problems exist, and the next day they are gone. So it is with the kingdom of heaven, with the divine presence of Mother-Father-God.
Each soul is tested to its full endurance. The more tests you receive, the further you grow. God still tests me every day. Just when I think I’m ready to drop from exhaustion, God says, “Here’s a little more life, you can go a little further now.” When you feel you can’t go on any longer, then comes the joy, the rapture of God. If you study the lives of saints, you will find that God never came easily to them. The One who is constantly at work in all creatures, in all elements throughout infinity, never rests. And yet, It rests all the time.
God wants and expects you to be a god, in your true image, as She created you. This was God’s intention, that we dwell here in these bodies, that we enjoy life and each other in full consciousness, knowing eternity. How can we accomplish this? Every moment we must ask, “God, God, God-Mother-Father come to me, dwell in me!” The fruit of heaven is so luxurious and so ecstatic—one taste, and you will give all that you have for more. God hears our every thought, our every desire. As we think and desire, and desire and think, our future is written and our past is erased—karmas overcome.
Remember, God wants you to be an irresistible force. The vessel of your soul must contain the wisdom of heaven, the power of God. God must be sure that your vessel will not crack. Therefore, accept those tests in life that come upon you, and realize that if you persevere, it is God who is building that vessel of you that will contain Him. No matter how much our cup might want to hold the wisdom of the sea of eternity, it can only hold a cupful. It is by expanding our cup that we can contain more of that wisdom, that strength. One must be patient with God; have faith in God, whose time is eternity. We get in too big of a hurry sometimes. All will take place in God’s time if we will allow it.
•by Barbara McCaughey•Sunburst teachings provide a framework of “right activity” for me. Cooking is sort of a combination of the Sunburst spiritual Paths of Work and Recreation, and an activity that needs to be done in my family, but one that I also enjoy. I made the decision many years ago to keep my kitchen free of many of the time saving gadgets available to help us “whip up a meal” in no time, instead preferring simple basic tools that would allow me to slow down and infuse the food with the one ingredient that works for every recipe—love.
A couple of years ago, I awoke on a Sunday morning a few hours before I was to prepare and serve the brunch that follows our Sunday group meditation. As soon as I opened my eyes, for some strange reason, I was straining to remember the name of a comic actor. Even though his name was familiar to me, I just couldn’t jog it free from my memory banks. Although this was a pesky little thought that bothered me a bit, it was too insignificant to wake anybody so I just tried to put it out of my mind.
I started preparing the food and time seemed to go by very quickly. When there was less than one hour left before it needed to be delivered, I was disappointed with how some of the dishes were coming out, even though I had expected a good result. The time began to weigh on me a bit, and I started to speed up and try different spices and ingredients to improve the flavor.
Realizing that I was losing my center, I stopped for a moment and said, “Divine Mother, you’re the cook.” I was going to continue: “Please work through my hands,” but before I finished the word “cook,” the name “Jim Carrey” seemed to fly through all of creation and crash land in my brain!
I started laughing. I felt as though Spirit’s sense of humor was communicating approval of my stopping to remember where my life and abilities come from. One silly little desire was fulfilled in that moment of quiet reflection, but of course our greatest desire is fulfilled there as well.
One translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls includes these words: I will bless the Creator’s name in all I do. Before I move hand or foot, whenever I go out or come in, when I sit down and when I rise, even when lying on my bed I will chant in praise. My lips shall praise the Divine as I sit at the table which is set for all, and before I lift my hand to partake of any nourishment from the delicious fruits of the earth. When fear and terror come, and there is only anguish and distress, I will still bless and thank the Creator for all their wondrous deeds, and meditate upon their power, and lean upon their mercies all day long. For I know that in their hand is justice for all that live, and all their works are true. So when trouble comes, or salvation, I praise God all the same.
•by Paramahansa Yogananda•“Emphasize the light, and darkness will be no more.”[We offer these words of wisdom from Paramahansa Yogananda in honor of his birthday on January 5th.]
The initiative to undertake your most important duty in life is often buried beneath the accumulated debris of human habits. You must free yourself from their stultifying influence and start to sow the seeds of the success that you desire. Life is worthwhile when you are accomplishing the most essential work, which is to find out the meaning and true values of your existence.
Man should be instructed by this cosmic motion picture of life. It is not being shown without a reason. Each day we behold different scenes, and each day has a lesson to teach. You are meant to learn the lesson by concentrating on the supreme purpose of human existence: to know Who is behind your life.
By evading self-analysis, people go on being robots, conditioned by their environment. True self-analysis is the greatest art of progress. Everyone should learn to analyze himself dispassionately. Write down your thoughts and aspirations daily. Find out what you are—not what you imagine you are!—because you want to make yourself what you ought to be. Most people don’t change because they don’t see their own faults.
…Most of the world is like a mental hospital. Some people are sick with jealousy, others with anger, hatred, passion. They are victims of their habits and emotions. But you can make your home a place of peace. Analyze yourself. All emotions are reflected in the body and mind. Envy and fear cause the face to pale, and love makes it glow. Learn to be calm and you will always be happy. Analyze your true nature and develop its best qualities.
Learn to carry all the conditions of happiness within yourself by meditating and attuning your consciousness to the ever-existing ever-conscious, ever-new Joy which is God. Your happiness should never be subject to any outside influence.
Don’t keep your mind engaged in too many activities. Analyze what you get from them, and see if they are really important. Don’t waste your time. Always point the needle of your attention toward the North Pole of spiritual joy.
You yourself made your habits, and you can change them. Make up your mind to be with good company, and to study and meditate.
There is already too much evil in the world. Don’t talk of evil, don’t think of evil, and don’t do evil. Be like a rose, wafting to all the sweet fragrance of soul goodness. Emphasize the light, and darkness will be no more. Study, meditate, and do good to others.
There are so many inspiring things to know, and yet man spends his time foolishly. Don’t waste time, constantly seeking new excitement. [Above text excerpted from “Man’s Eternal Quest” by Paramahansa Yogananda]
by Heiko Wirtz •Many people think about developing positive habits that will help them build a strong spiritual practice. When I think about that, I realize that it really starts with devotion and inward connection.
When I was younger, I read in “The Autobiography of a Yogi” about a time when Paramahansa Yogananda first had a glimpse, a vision, of the presence of the inner Sun. Reading this stirred something within me; I wanted to know God, too. I wanted to have that connection.
How could I get my focus and my love to come to that point where I was so open, that I could receive the Divine? Everywhere I looked—in the sunshine, in the glistening waters, in the trees—I could feel the vibration of God. Every cell of my body was created by God. But why did I have a consciousness that felt separate? These thoughts were beginning to deepen my spiritual quest.
This is a good time to consider your own beginnings of connection, of search. How did that evolve into your present moment? How close is Spirit? Each of us has to learn how to go within to answer that question. You have to unlock the doors inside, the chakras of your inner-dimensional spine. You have to become strong.
God will guide you every moment, but you have to trust, and inwardly believe you are on your path, and you are walking it. Then no matter where you go, you have that connection. You have that inner goal, and it is calling you. Every time you make space and remember what really lies just next to your thoughts, you connect. You make the Light notice you, and you honor it.
In your deep meditation, feel your energy moving inward, naturally pulling away from your outer limbs, your hands, your arms, inward to the center, to the core of your being. Your body is just there, but your consciousness resides deeper than that. With every breath it becomes more concentrated. Bring your energy up to the seat of your soul, to the third eye, and send out to the Divine your love, all that you are, as an offering. Then feel the divine blessing that offering. Feel it cocoon you with energy radiating from the crown of your head. You can send that energy to those you love, to all that you know, and to the world. Align your will with Spirit’s will. “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Strength lies in this connection, and the connection will show you how to live your life. It will show you when you need to sit down in your closet and practice your meditations. All you need to do is create a space in yourself where it can reside and teach you.
Let your consciousness remember the Divine always. Remember your journey. Remember to go within when it calls you. May we all connect to that light in greater abundance, and share all that we have learned with the rest of this planet. Send out your love!
Letting your eyelids gently close,
look to that place in front of you,
the screen upon which the inner-dimensional
tunnel and star of Christ first appears.
As you become conscious of your breathing,
become conscious of your thoughts
slowing and becoming deeper.
Imagine you are diving deep into a beautiful ocean,
looking intently to find
that precious pearl that lies at the bottom.
The more quiet your thoughts become,
the deeper you can dive.
That precious pearl, that star of light,
is your true Self.
This body that you live in, this personality
with all its thoughts, emotions, and desires,
is simply the clothing that you wear.
It is not your true being.
Who are we?
Who is I Am That I Am?
Who is the I Am that exists at the very root,
the very core of our being?
This is what our meditation is for:
to rediscover who I Am really is.
