•by Dawn King•[Photo: an Asian Autumn Festival] •On September 22, in the Northern Hemisphere we will be starting the season of Fall. What difference does that make in our daily lives? Most noticeably since mid June 21, days are getting shorter and nights longer. In fact September 22 gives us equal days and nights, which is why that date is called the Autumnal Equinox. Some cultures start their calendar year with this celestial phenomena. Some of the Earth-orbiting satellites will experience repeated interruptions of operations for a few days during and around the equinox due to the Earth’s shadow preventing continuous communications.
What you and I need with our own divine selves are “continuous communications.” Although it may be a very busy time with calls for parties and shopping (think Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas), Fall leads us toward the more introspective months of Winter. It’s a time when we especially need to be mindful of staying centered…maintaining a consciousness of Spirit here and now.
Each day when we meditate (hopefully morning and evening if only for 5 minutes each time) we are focused on what is most important—taking care of ourselves. Maybe we focus on breathing and find stress dissolving. Perhaps we feel gratitude while reflecting on the positives in our life. In this quiet space we can distance ourselves from difficulties, and strengthen ourselves with affirmations. And when we meditate deeply we find a healing peace and joy fills us.
Let’s not feel obligated to participate in activities that don’t serve us. You have choices! As Fall begins, set parameters for yourself on what you want this season to look and feel like for you. Choose wisely what you do, and what you offer to do for others. Keep long-term effects and outcomes in mind. Uplifting thoughts and actions will elevate the holidays, and beyond. Letting go of annoyances and ignoring obstacles will help you stay centered.
“Taking life seriously does not mean spending our whole lives meditating in a cave. In the modern world we have to work and earn our living, but we need not live without any view of the deeper meaning of life. Our task is to strike a balance, to find a middle way, to learn not to overstretch ourselves with extraneous activities and preoccupations, but to simplify our lives. In Buddhism, discipline is to do what is appropriate or just. The key to finding a happy balance is simplicity. It is one thing to set out on the spiritual journey. It’s quite another to find the patience and endurance, the wisdom, courage, and humility to follow it to the end.” – Sogyal Rinpoche
by Sharon Ray •Often great patience and perseverance is required on our journey toward God-realization. We are wanting to experience the Divine in a way that can be felt and remembered. Our Creator is our greatest example of patience! Desiring us to enjoy an expanded state of consciousness, the Divine yet waits…lifetimes for us to turn our hearts homeward to embrace Divine consciousness.
The Lord is a great fisherman! We are on God’s line, but she does not yank us in. The Beloved of Patience lets us run the line way out into the ocean! We swim out there and get our hearts broken making all kinds of mistakes we don’t know how to get out of. Then, the Lord of Love begins to slowly reel us in, and how willingly we come back! Given the example of God’s patience with us, we become inspired to be patient with others, as well as ourselves.
The great good news is that Spirit can be experienced right now as the consciousness that enlivens us. Our Creator is the inner silent witness to all that takes place. This is the open awareness in us that has always been there and has never changed: “Permanent, unmoving, the everlasting Seer of All,” is how Yogananda described it.
The Divine is the part of us that is conscious even when we’re not thinking. This awareness has been always with us, is with us now, and will always be with us. The silent witness in us is our direct and immediate communion with God. When we are silent and awake, we are one with the Divine consciousness that lives in us and is always connected to the vast great central Sun of I Am That I Am. The Beloved is not far away somewhere else, but closer than our minds—a more real part of us than our breath.
Let’s close our eyes and pay attention to that breath. Can you feel the witness who is paying attention to this moment? God is our conscious awareness that witnesses everything. Breathing, we invite the Light of I Am That I Am to fully illuminate our minds, our hearts, and every bit of our being.
•by Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder•To have God present in our lives every day, we tune in before we go outward to do our work. To meditate in the morning with the rising sun is to bring the sweetness of God’s presence into our life for the whole day; to receive instruction mentally and visually. We arrive at the right time and the right place for the right thing to happen for us, not too early or too late, missing the great benefits. When we are on God’s time, patiently meditating and praying every morning, wondrous things begin to happen in our lives. We see God fulfilling our selfless desires, and freeing us up for the journey ahead.
To spend half an hour, or even fifteen minutes with God in the morning every day before work, and again before you go to sleep at night, even if you have to miss some sleep, is to receive angelic, illumined beings who desire to help you on your journey. This is why I meditate, and why I encourage others to do so. It is your birthright to see and know God as your best friend. Your Divine Father-Mother exists in this immensity, even as your earthly father and mother exist.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” saith the Christ, who is ever patiently waiting. We have to open the door on the crown of our head and invite Christ, I Am That I Am, into our temple. The right and left hands of God, moving in dual vortexes, descend as softly as a dove and land on the crown of our heads. This is the anointment, the baptism of divine fire, which you can see and feel with the love and presence of Christ within.
• by Dawn King • One of the qualities that I believe is intrinsic to Capricorn and Sunburst’s virtue of Temperance (or moderation) is self-discipline. As you read this, we may not be experiencing the Sun rising in Capricorn each morning, yet mindfulness about self-discipline is part of the spiritual path.
Telecasts in February of Carnival (ending with Mardi Gras) brought this to mind for me. Mardi Gras is a festival of indulgence in excess, sometimes called “enjoying life,” because the revelers think they will soon be deprived of some enjoyment until Spring. In earlier times, the remaining winter stores of lard and butter, or meats, were consumed then. Perhaps it was just before they all went bad due to lack of refrigeration. After this consumption, “fasting” began.
We’ve heard it said: “A sad saint is a sad saint indeed.” Enjoying life is our birthright, but overindulgence in just about anything is unhealthy. Mira Alfassa tells us: “Spiritual life does not mean contempt for matter, but its divinization. We do not want to reject the body, but to transform it. For this purpose physical training is one of the means most directly effective. I invite you to train with enthusiasm and discipline.”
Physical training for any type of sport or recreation also improves our emotional and mental fortitude. Kriya Yoga is an “action” yoga (Kriya means “action”), but with the right intention and direction. “Yogic action has three components—discipline, self-study, and orientation toward the ideal of pure awareness.” – Patanjali, “Yoga Sutras,” [translation by Chip Hartranft, in “The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali”]
Mardi Gras inspired me to choose a new action that I could mindfully engage in daily until Spring (Easter). I knew that it would help me develop self-discipline. As Norman Paulsen, Sunburst’s founder, has said: “True discipline is never a restriction; it is a liberation!”
by Norman Paulsen•[photo: Paramahansa Yogananda instructing Norman Paulsen in a yoga technique]To walk the spiritual path, the utmost discipline is required. Threefold development must be pursued: physical, mental, and spiritual. Many begin, but fail to make the continuous effort. The attainment of a virtuous life is the crowning achievement to be realized by the spiritual athlete.
Helping you to achieve this goal of virtue is Spirit, I Am That I Am, the pure Self existing within your soul. Yes, we all have this divine energy centered deep within. It has to be identified and brought forth.
If the beginning seeker or practiced adept is to make any progress at all, it is an absolute requirement to walk the paths of right living in this life while practicing virtue. By actively practicing virtue every day, and beginning to walk the path of service, you bring forth the pure Self within, Christ consciousness. This is Self-realization as described by my teacher, Paramahansa Yogananda.
Realization of the pure Self within your soul eliminates the functions of the false self, the selfish self. The awakening soul takes on its true image of discerning, joy filled Christ consciousness. The ego-centered consciousness must abdicate the throne to the Christ, the now illumined soul within you.
No matter how many times we stumble and fall, God is always there with us, and we have to get up and keep going. That’s what our Creator wants to see, the will to never give up. It takes discipline. God does require discipline from us, but discipline, we find, is salvation.
Disciplining our lives, meditating when we don’t feel like it, serving and helping others when we’re tired and worn out, we do these things because the heart of God beats within each one of us. The soul of God is in each of us right now, blessing each one of us right now. God is here with us.
Mental discipline arises from commitment to the vision you seek: knowing what you want and dedicating your life to bringing it forth into being. It is unwise for anyone to think that they can attain any true level of realization without a life of self-discipline. True discipline is never a restriction. It’s a liberation!
•by Norman Paulsen• The life of service and self-sacrifice Jesus of Nazareth lived and gave for all of us is unparalleled on this Earth. “Not my will, but Thine be done,” he offered. Humility in action is the virtue that he personified. By his example must we all learn obedience. We must overcome the false one, the selfish ego, by living the Twelve Virtues and walking the Eightfold Path.
The virtue of Humility arises from the Divine, I Am That I Am as the pure Self within you setting aside the emotions and desires of the self-conscious mind. If called upon, the pure Self will produce reason. Reason reflects upon the paths and the virtues, and considers the options. Divine will moves the adept to make wise decisions in the practice of humility. That wisdom springs forth from the voice of illumination, Christ consciousness speaking within you.
At all times, the soul traveler who seeks illumination must remember the truths described in the Eightfold Path and Twelve Virtues. This wisdom moves the adept to the right decision for each occasion. Humility requires discipline and meditation to avoid wrong decisions in its application.
For instance, when Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth,” he didn’t mean the weak, or juvenile. Rather, he meant those who are able to discern and rise to the occasion, the eaters of the strong meat of truth. These are the ones who surrender to God’s will, pick up their cross and walk!
This is my soul calling you, Beloved. Can you hear me? How can I not express humility when I observe the immensity that surrounds me? It’s awesome vastness is filled with spheres of living light that blink at Earth from their distances! And me, who am I? So tiny, so small, in all this boundless immensity! Are you dreaming what I think is me? Am I heading toward perfection as a reflection of you?
