by Jacob Collier • Many of us have been affected in one way or another, by the horrific events that take place in this country and around the world—fires, floods, famines, etc. We wonder what we can do to help, what we can do as individuals to make a difference. At other times we wonder: How can we stand up for what is right rather than getting rolled along with a more prevalent energy that is not healthy? How can we help change the tide of energy from a negative one to a positive one? How can we replace fear with faith and courage?
Turning to prayer and meditation is even more important during times when we feel fearful or anxious. When we are successful in shutting down the senses and going within, we truly become a conduit of light.
As Spirit enters the tops of our heads, it not only energizes us but it passes on through our bodies and into the center of the Earth positively energizing our planet and all of its inhabitants. Deep meditation is truly one of the ways that we can help in the healing and evolution of the planet.
Another way we can help is with sincere prayer from our hearts to our Creator. Pray for the Earth, and for the expansion of peace, harmony, and non-violence for all of humanity.
Meditation helps us arrive at and maintain an objective viewpoint. From this observer’s seat we can watch the emotional highs and lows of others and ourselves. We gain greater spiritual insight and self-control. When we feel God’s light and unconditional love flowing within us, we help shift and uplift humanity simply by our presence.
I Am that I Am, our Creator, we love you so much and we are so thankful for the sacred teachings of divine illumination. They are a part of the great healing and future unfolding of life on this Earth. May your will be done. Amen
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 Dawn King • Sometimes I’ve felt very isolated. At others I’ve experienced spiritual drought. That’s when I just have to keep on keeping on, one foot in front of the other. Showing up is 99% of success—I must show up every day for meditation, that communion with God. It’s important throughout my day to remember that Spirit is in everything, and everyone, offering assistance and helpful messages. It’s up to me to recognize and accept them.
It’s encouraging to recognize the endless bounty of blessings we have, including our Creator’s unconditional love. Many great souls have gone beyond this life, but they’re still with us in spirit, always rooting for us and trying to remind us to do the right thing. They’re with us energetically, countless helpful spirits, if we invite them.
No one is really ever alone, and spiritual drought is a mental illusion. Let these thoughts be replaced by an attitude of expecting a miracle, because that’s what life is, every moment.
“The dignity of each soul is so great that from its birth it is given its own angel.” – Saint Jerome
Note: Sunburst Community continues to offer a Zoom connection to weekday group meditations.
“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.
excerpted from “The New Path”, by Swami Kriyananda
Paramahansa Yogananda often spoke of America’s high spiritual destiny. When first I heard him do so, I marveled. America? All that I knew of this country was its materialism, its competitive drive, its smug, “no-nonsense” attitude toward anything too subtle to be measured with scientific instruments. But in time that great teacher made me aware of another aspect, an undercurrent of divine yearning—not in our intellectuals, perhaps, our self-styled cultural representatives, but in the hearts of the common people.
Americans’ love of freedom, after all, began in the quest, centuries ago, for religious freedom. Their historic emphasis on equality and on voluntary cooperation with one another reflects principles that are taught in the Bible. American’s pioneering spirit is rooted in these principles. And when no frontiers remained to our people on the continent, and they began exporting their pioneering energies abroad, again it was with the spirit of freedom and willing cooperation that they carried with them, setting a new example for mankind everywhere. In these twin principles Paramahansa Yogananda saw the key to mankind’s next upward step in evolution.
The vision of the future he presented to us was of a state of world brotherhood in which all men would live together in harmony and freedom. As a step toward this universal fulfillment, he urged those people who were free to do so to band together into what he called “world brotherhood colonies”: little, spiritual communities [including meditation groups that gather regularly] where people, living and working together with others of like mind, would develop an awareness of the true kinship of all men as sons and daughters of the same, one God. …
Because the pioneering spirit is rooted in principles that are essentially spiritual—implying the perennial quest for a higher as well as a better way of life—that spirit has not only expanded men’s frontiers outwardly: in recent decades, especially, it has begun to interiorize them, to expand the inward boundaries of human consciousness, and to awaken in people the desire to harmonize their lives with truth, and with God.
It was to the divine aspirations of these pioneers of the spirit that Paramahansa Yogananda was responding by coming to America. Americans, he said, were ready to learn meditation and God-communion through the practice of the ancient science of yoga—meaning…Self-integration…conscious union with the Infinite Spirit, God. …A practitioner of the yoga science, acquires outwardly also a vision of the underlying unity of all life.
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
