• by Nathaniel Hansen • I recently entered the Sunburst community as an Explorer in a six-month program meant to acquaint its participants with life at Sunburst Sanctuary. Here I share just a few golden nuggets from my experience thus far.
At Sunburst, the best feelings emerge early in one’s first weeks. Not only are the residents and fellow explorers warm and welcoming, but one also has access to a rich library of texts from a variety of powerful teachers, daily morning group meditations, and some hours of highly gratifying physical labor on the ranch. In addition, when one first enters the gates of Sunburst, one’s blood pressure drops and a sustained sense of calm and peace fills the system. This is important because all of humanity is spiritually weary and in need of soul nourishment.
“How is this possible?” one might ask.
It is possible because the tight-knit family in and surrounding Sunburst hold one another, the land, and the world in a positive bright light. Through daily meditation and prayer, the Sunburst family practices spreading the spiritual Sun’s rays to all souls. This action of channeling light to others is Sunburst’s daily, yet potent, gift. This is important because so much darkness is delivered via media to the human heart; Sunburst counters and cures this with light—first, in the individual life, and then in a larger context.
Anyone on the receiving end of this transference of light at Sunburst knows how wonderful the physical, emotional, and spiritual results can be. A consistent daily routine, along with deep sleep on land that is devoid of city noise, releases hormones into the bloodstream that truly nourish one. This experience is rare, and a true gift.
As one digests the stories and teachings of Sunburst’s founders, and those who inspired them, one feels in the company of true spiritual giants. So many of life’s daily problems and larger issues are quite easily solved when reflecting on these teachings. And, after a full day’s work on the ranch, one may walk over to the well-lit temple for silent personal meditation and prayer. It’s a simple, yet deeply fulfilling existence.
I was recently struggling with a personal issue, and felt an array of difficult emotions and thoughts. One of the long-time residents advised me: “Give these worries up to God, and he will attend to the problem; he can see the macro view.” This guidance brought me such relief. I wasn’t giving up responsibility as much as taking time to reflect next to God, feeling his (and her) all powerful presence.
And that’s just a taste of what it’s like to be here at Sunburst. There are lots of helpful materials on the Sunburst website for those interested. You can also view a spontaneous song that burst out of me while on a tractor in a field here at Sunburst. This song captures all that I’ve written above…and more! I hope you enjoy it!
“A lesson will repeat itself until you learn it.” – Anonymous •
An Invitation to Introspection
From ancient Babylonian times, some Semitic societies have observed a time of repentance during the harvest season. It’s a time to search one’s heart and draw closer to God. For a month the shofar, a ram’s horn is blown each morning to awaken our spirits, inspiring us to search our souls, to ask for and grant forgiveness. This is also a time to visit the graves of loved ones, and to reflect on what we may reap from our past actions.
“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.” – Wayne Dyer
Rosh Hashanah
Can you believe it? Another New Year Celebration! This one is called Rosh Hashanah, celebrated this year on September 7. It begins the Jewish New Year, and a new moon, a new lunar month and year. In the area of ancient Egypt, with Semitic agricultural societies (mainly Jews and Arabs) this time of year marked a new beginning.
Last month our blog noted the Islamic version of this celebration with our article on compassion (August 9). Rosh Hashanah reminds us to be grateful, to be humble before our Creator, to forgive, and to realize there are consequences for our actions.
“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” – Carl Jung
by Greg Anderson • As children, we all had questions. We heard the term God and wondered, “Who is God?” it’s not an unknown question on this planet. It’s been asked by many. And, “Where is he?” and “How do we find God?” These are questions that have existed for centuries.
We enter the path of Self-Realization when we first decide we want to seek God. And Self-Realization is when there is a union between the creative forces of divine Father and divine Mother in our heart which changes us forever. As we work with that union and it consciously resides within us permanently, we call it Illumination.
I believe that’s what Jesus meant when he said, “I and the Father are One.” Cosmic consciousness is what Sunburst’s Founder Norman Paulsen experienced as he followed the life stream of his Divine parents to the center of all creation.
Spiritual experiences are difficult to put into words. Brother Norm said that it took him over 20 years to be able to describe his experience of Cosmic consciousness. Each of our experiences are different just as we each have a different face. No two faces are exactly identical, and the way we perceive the Divine is unique to each of us.
A few years ago when my wife and I sat in our meditation room for evening meditation, I began performing Kriya circulations, counting them as I went along. Suddenly that part of me that was aware was whisked to a different dimension. Here I saw and spoke with those beings from this planet who had reached full illumination. One of them embraced me, and I felt prolonged bliss for the first time in my life.
Suddenly I was back in my meditation room, but instead of being consciously in my body, it was as if I was an observer watching my body sitting in lotus position on my meditation pad. Divine bliss is difficult to describe. It would be like describing chocolate to somebody who’d never tasted it. The best way that I can explain it is: every atom and every electron is suddenly spinning in synchrony, and in between the spaces of the electrons is nothing but love. As I looked as though from above, I could see divine life force circulating through the energy centers of my body and the chakras of my spine.
I also saw my own inner-dimensional tunnel; it was completely flooded with light, rising like a river from beneath me to my heart chakra. I saw rivulets of energy appear and disappear all throughout my body. As I looked above my head, a white string of light connected to the crown of my head. And as it entered through the crown it was like a waterfall of white light moving slowly downward.
When that great light from below met the great white light from above, there was not an explosion. There was an expansion. It was the union of our Divine Father and our Divine Mother in my heart. And as it expanded, waves of light in the color of gold moved out from my body and in all directions three or four feet away from my physical body. I felt connected to God in a very literal way.
Then I felt a hand on my arm. I was back in my body, and Elena was saying, “Are you alright? You were crying.”
My tears were of joy. I witnessed, in my own way, the true nature of our Divine Mother and Divine Father rebirthing, or recreating a new person within my heart. This is a process, and it will continue to be a process as long as I do the things that allow me to grow: as long as I continue to meditate, to live virtuously, and to ask for God’s grace.
At this very moment, YOU are equipped atomically, molecularly, cellularly in this very body, for Cosmic consciousness, Illumination, and Self-Realization. No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, God is within.
Oh Divine Creator, Mother and Father, reveal thyself to me. Live in my heart. Dwell in my spiritual centers. Show me how to find my life stream and ride it home to you. Amen
by Cayce Howe • I love thinking about joy and happiness, but it’s even better when we can move into a realm where we can experience the feeling of joy and the feeling of happiness. Paramahansa Yogananda once said, “If you possess happiness, you possess everything. To be happy, is to be in tune with God.”
It is so often in this world that the external part of life does not give us too many reasons and opportunities to feel joy and happiness. Sometimes it even feels that there is little time to give ourselves that gift.
In a book I read, the author suggested that we take three minutes and spend those three minutes complimenting ourselves continuously. I had never done anything like that and it felt so odd at first, but then it felt really good and I was left with a feeling of positivity. I felt more receptive to the presence of God, as though it had cleared the way and that God could come in and sit with me.
I wonder if feeling joy and happiness is being in tune with God. How powerful is it? And how beneficial is it for just one of us to feel joy and happiness? How beneficial would it be to this great planet for each and every one of us to feel that way? If we have two or three or four people smiling, how beneficial is that for the consciousness of humanity?
Or what if we have an entire room full of people blending our souls together in this feeling of joy and happiness, how would that affect the consciousness here on Earth and how would that allow Spirit to walk through us and to manifest Him or Herself here?As we spend time in quietude and meditation we enter into a place that is limitless; we enter into a place where God’s divine plan can be felt, can be seen and tasted. When we quiet our minds and quiet our bodies, we can slip into this place of limitless beauty.
We can envision a world living in accordance with divine plan and all its’ inhabitants living in tune with our Creator. Imagine the playfulness, the joy and the bliss. As you walk through this beautiful thought world, imagine our own gifts, our own work, that you would offer in such a place. Imagine how divine Spirit would manifest through you, in your own unique way.
As we each do this, we are reaching out to our Creator, and saying that we are empty vessels for the divine plan to take place through us. We are here to help manifest in any way Spirit would like, this beautiful vision, this realm of limitless beauty and divinity and oneness.
Meditation allows us to transcend our worries and concerns, and bring us to a place where we can reconnect with joy, with happiness, and with the will of our Creator. In this way, we have a limitless opportunity to feel and experience the joy that is our divine birthright—what God wants for each and every one of us. We have the tools to not only uplift our own spirit, but the spirit and consciousness of this entire world.
Can we imagine the patience of God,
waiting for lifetimes to be recognized within us?
Waiting, watching, and loving, through thick and thin.
God is always right here,
the Spirit within the soul
that quickens and recognizes Oneness revealed,
inherent and ancient, long standing and pure.
God is always right here.
Security is knowing God loves me, always,
and loving God, always.
When I think of mother’s, I think of the protective, creative force of Mother Nature.
There are so many examples of this, from the mama birds building their nests in my yard, to my friends who are mothers—constantly sending love, strength, care and encouragement to their children.
But the mother’s energy exists in both men and women and can be seen and felt through the heart.
Especially during these pandemic times we find ourselves needing to be reassured that “everything is going to be all right.” And mother’s energy is so good at giving reassurance!
When I think of all the hardships that humans endure in their lifetimes, I am so grateful for the mother figures that stand by, offering their sometimes silent support of what we are going through, and sometimes offering their physical, emotional or spiritual help as well.
Let us all give thanks for this beautiful part of our natures and cultivate it within us to help soften the sometimes harsh realities around us.
The Divine in me, bows to the Divine in you. Namaste
