by Harold Klemp
Yet her view about the next spiritual step was a childlike one. Intuition whis-pered that when a student is ready, the Master appears, and the resulting linkup 18
is a most natural one. After all, hadn’t she already waited years on end to discover the next step to truth after feeling the hand on her shoulder in church so long ago?
What was another month or year?
Jim, however, with all the exuberance and impatience of youth, took a more direct tack. “Eternity now!” he said.
One day he was reading an ECK book, in back of which was listed a phone number. “What are you reading?” said Debra.
“There’s something in it about eternity here and now,” he replied. “I’m going to call the number and see what I can find out.”
A pleasant, cheery voice came on the line. An ECKist told of an upcoming meeting where someone would explain more about the teachings of ECK.
“I’m going,” he told his mother.
Though leery of any religious teaching other than Catholicism, she decided to join him to ensure no one took advantage of her baby. “Mother, please,” he said, “don’t make a scene.” Jim could imagine her throwing angry accusations at the group. He offered a compromise.
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“If you promise not to embarrass me, you may come.”
* * *
So they set out. Near the end of the introductory meeting on the teachings of ECK, a speaker addressed the group. “To give you a better idea of what I’m talking about,” he said, “I would like to invite you all to sing HU with me.” Then, very softly, he and the others began to chant HU.
HU is an ancient, holy name for God.
You can sing it at home. Simply sit or lie in a quiet place and sing HU (pronounced like
“hue”). This age-old song lets the Voice of God enter you as love, Light, or Sound.
The Light and Sound of God are inte-gral parts of divine love known to but a few.
The twin pillars of God’s love, they are the mainstays of the ECK teachings. In fact, the spiritual travelers of ECK ride them out of the body and into the cosmic seas via Soul Travel, like a surfer riding ocean waves.
This method is a direct route to finding love, wisdom, and spiritual freedom.
* * *
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Debra’s mind drifted to a time three years earlier at a Renaissance fair. Astrology and many other paths had exhibits there.
In a little room where people came to meditate stood a crystal bowl. The host had run a stick with a rubber tip along the edge of the bowl, producing a magnificent, soothing sound. It was most beautiful and heal-ing.
* * *
So at this ECK meeting Debra listened to the others chant HU. That sound, that sound! Where had she heard it before?
Suddenly it dawned on her: it was like the soothing sound at the fair. The stick with the rubber tip running slowly around the edge of the crystal bowl had also made this sound of HU, ancient name for God.
She learned that a recording of a HU
Song was available at the ECK meeting. Full of excitement, she bought one. It surprised Jim. “What are you doing, Mother? You never buy such things.”
She told him about the same wonderful sound she’d once heard at the Renaissance 21
fair. She simply wanted to hear it once more.
A Trip to the ECK Temple
Mother and son became members of Eckankar. Soon after, the Temple of ECK
opened in Chanhassen, Minnesota, a sub-urb of Minneapolis. “Let’s drive to Minnesota and see this place,” Jim said.
“Yes,” she agreed. “Maybe we’ll have a great experience there.”
In her heart she knew she would.
This occasion sparked a dim reminder from her childhood, when she’d sobbed on the bed: “I want to go home. I just want to go home.” She didn’t understand what she had meant then, and even less now.
So they drove from the East Coast with a sadly out-of-date map of Minneapolis.
Many changes since the map’s publication had all but rendered it useless. Upon reaching the outskirts of Chanhassen, they asked a young gas station attendant for directions to the Temple of ECK.
“Never heard of it,” said the youth.
Back on the road, they tracked an un-22
certain route to the town center of Chanhassen, certain of finding the Temple of ECK nearby. But to complicate matters, dusk had stolen upon them. Then, while heading down the main street, a sense of déjà vu overcame Debra. She braked to a stop in the middle of the street.
“Mother!” Jim said. “What are you doing?”
Frozen in wonder at the wheel, she replied, “I’ve been here before!”
Long years ago, a recurring dream had foretold this visit to a small town with what seemed like a year-round winter. Except for a brief spell that natives call summer, the description fits Minnesota.
In her dreams she had walked past a hardware store, and then she would see the town clock. The scene was always the same.
She’d awake to a feeling of dreams more real than waking life. Yet she’d forgotten them until this very night.
“I’ve been here before,” she repeated.
Traffic backing up behind them forced her to move on. Minutes later, they found the Temple of ECK near the edge of town.
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This ECK Temple is a very special place. It’s an outer symbol for the holy temple of God within the heart of all people.
Visitors to it often remark upon a presence—a very definite, loving, divine one.
The temple reflects and resonates with the Light and Sound of God, and many people mention this sense of being in a unique, holy place.
The Great Experience?
Parking the car, mother and son entered the ECK Temple and took seats in the sanctuary. Debra waited in quiet expectation, wondering, When will I have my great experience? Even as the thought arose, a soft voice from nowhere said, “Well, what do you want? Do you need to get run over by a truck?”
Already she’d forgotten the déjà vu of minutes ago.
* * *
Someone once asked me, “How do
people in ECK usually find truth?” He meant: does it hit like a bombshell?
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Yes, it could be an experience to deeply stir the emotions and feelings. Yet more often its subtlety slips past people. So they miss it. Within the hour, Debra had had a marvelous experience of locating the actual town from recurring dreams years long gone. That was the “great experience.”
Great skeptics and doubters often go farthest on the path to God. Someone may ask, “Is there hope for me? I don’t buy this God stuff.” No problem; take your time, for all seekers must proceed at their own pace.
But one truth I can give you is the word HU, and the spiritual exercises to find God. Yet the success of these depends upon you. Can you spend a few minutes a day to open your heart to the Holy Spirit? To do the spiritual exercises with love and passion? To give your whole mind and heart to such a self-discipline for a few moments?
If the reply is yes, you are bound to make progress in your quest for the secret laws of life. Today’s mysteries will no longer be mysteries tomorrow.
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A Few Sounds of God
After Debra became a member of
Eckankar, she learned the meaning of a buzzing sound she’d heard for years. That sound is but another of the Sounds of God.
It’s like a swarm of bees and originates on the Etheric Plane, region of the subcon-scious mind. This plane lies beyond the Mental Plane and is the highest of the spirito-material worlds. Beyond it is the Soul Plane, first of the true spiritual worlds.
She noticed this buzzing sound from the Etheric Plane because it was the level of consciousness she’d gained in past lives.
Her next spiritual step was the Soul Plane.
Early on in this life she’d reconnected to the Etheric Plane, as evidenced by this buzzing sound.
There was another sound.
This one was like the high, piercing note of a lone musical instrument. Though it didn’t hurt the ear, it rose higher, soaring beyond the range of human hearing, lift-ing her to new spiritual peaks. This piercing note? Still another mode of God’s Voice.
All who hear such divine sounds find a 26
purification of spirit and the blessings of the Most High. A breath of true liberty.
The Voice of God is the Holy Spirit in Its twin manifestations of Sound and Light.
The more significant of the two for us is the Sound.
TV and the print media give wide cov-erage to the light that people often report after a near-death experience. The Light is often the earlier of the two manifestations to appear, so more people remark upon that aspect of the Holy Spirit. The Sound many times comes later.
Our focus here is on the Sound. It may be like a heavenly choir, a magnificent or-chestra, or perhaps a Gregorian chant of medieval times. Again, Its echoes include such stirrings of nature as distant thun-der, the rustling of leaves, the chirp of a cricket, the soft breathing of a lover, or the mewing of a kitten.
The Sound of God lifts you to new spiritual heights.
Every holy sound corresponds to a plane or subregion of God, to blend with your exact spiritual level. These sounds, 27
listed in many of the ECK books and dis-courses, are like signposts. A given sound is a valuable clue to the level of consciousness you reached in a past life or reflects your divine station now.
This lifetime is a precious chance to reawaken to your true destiny. The path of ECK is the next leap to unraveling the secrets of life.
The Voice of God
What are the Sound and Light of God?
What do they signify?
The Light and Sound are the Voice of God, the expression of God’s love for us.
They comprise the whole of God’s love. Together, they are what religion calls the Holy Spirit.
In speaking of the Light, we say, “Yes, there is such a thing as the Light of God.
It’s a thousand times brighter than any sun, or it may be softer than the light of a golden moon.”
The Light of God illumines your entire being, inside and out.
Other Sounds of God on the inner 28
planes may be like musical instruments, birds, choirs, machines, the ocean, high-pitched whistles, a murmur or crescendo of wind or water. Maybe the tinkling of joy-ous laughter. All these are holy sounds.
A word to help open your heart to God’s love is HU. It is an old, revered name for God.
Real Love in Light and Sound Some who hear ECKists tell of the Sound and Light of God think of familiar terms like grace, faith, or love. But careless use has robbed these words of their true meaning.
The Sound and Light of God are the essence of the Holy Spirit instead of a description of Its attributes, like grace, faith, or love.
They are the real thing.
The Sound and Light of God are actual Light, which shines, and Sound, which echoes throughout all worlds. They uphold life.
For many seekers, the Light appears first in one of Its many forms. Often It comes in the dream state. Some see It as a blue light in the shape of a candle or globe, as a yellow or pink light, green, violet, or white light. White, for example, reflects the 29
purity of God’s love; blue shows the love of the Mahanta, also called the Inner Master.
Yellow is a pure spiritual color. Pink, an indication of God’s Light touching your emotions or feelings at the Astral level.
Whatever the color, It is one of the many signs of God’s love for you. It is an assurance of divine grace.
It is a transforming presence for one and all.
So what do you think? Is life just a random walk? Is your spiritual life at the mercy of chance? Or is our life a spiritual path in line with some natural order or rhythm, as Debra found?
* * *
The spiritual travelers of ECK roam the cosmic worlds. They discovered their own proof about life as a journey guided by a divine hand and now exist within God’s Sound and Light. So may you. The great-est of the spiritual travelers was once a seeker, perhaps like you.
And what is there to gain? A certainty of direction in life—and love.
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Here’s a spiritual exercise to try if you want to experience the Light or Sound of God:
Shut your eyes and look into the Spiritual Eye. (It’s between your eyebrows, in the center of your forehead.) Sing HU (like
“hue”), an ancient name for God, one of the most powerful words for spiritual uplift-ment I can give you.
As you sing HU, listen for a holy Sound.
It may come in any number of ways: like the sound of a rumbling train, a singing bird, buzzing bees, a mellow flute, or even soothing guitars. It brings joy and wonder.
The holy sounds are the creative action of the Life Force, the ECK, as It moves at-oms in the invisible worlds. The Sound to reach your ears resonates with your state of consciousness.
While singing HU, imagine the holy Sound of God cascading over you, like a water-fall of sparkling pure waters. It is cleans-ing the blemishes of spirit. This Sound Current may also impart an insight into your 31
past behavior that is the root of a current problem today.
The Sound opens a secret path to the joys of love and grace. You find peace, joy, and spiritual freedom.
You are at a crossroads. Will you take a bold look at the Light and Sound of God as the ultimate spiritual guide?
If yes, then you are ready for the beautiful and powerful teachings of ECK. They offer the most direct route to wisdom, power, and freedom. And to love, the rich-est gift of all.
Let’s get started.
For free information, with no obliga-tion, you may reach us at:
· www.Eckankar.org
· 1-800-LOVE GOD
· ECKANKAR, PO Box 2000,
Chanhassen, MN 55317-2000 USA.
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Glossary
Words set in SMALL CAPS are defined elsewhere in this glossary.
ECK.
EHK The Life Force, the Holy Spirit, or Audible Life Current which sustains all life.
ECKANKAR.
EHK-ahn-kahr Religion of the Light and Sound of God. Also known as the Ancient Science of SOUL TRAVEL. A truly spiritual religion for the individual in modern times. The teachings provide a frame-work for anyone to explore their own spiritual experiences. Established by Paul Twitchell, the modern-day founder, in 1965. The word means “Co-worker with God.”
ECK MASTERS.
Spiritual Masters who can as-
sist and protect people in their spiritual studies and travels. The ECK Masters are from a long line of God-Realized SOULs who know the responsibility that goes with spiritual freedom.
HU.
HYOO The most ancient, secret name for God. The singing of the word HU is considered a love song to God. It can be sung aloud or silently to oneself.
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LIVING ECK MASTER.
The title of the spiritual
leader of ECKANKAR. His duty is to lead SOULs back to God. The Living ECK Master can assist spiritual students physically as the Outer Master, in the dream state as the Dream Master, and in the spiritual worlds as the Inner Master. SRI Harold Klemp became the MAHANTA, the Living ECK Master in 1981.
MAHANTA.
mah-HAHN-tah A title to describe the highest state of God Consciousness on earth, often embodied in the LIVING ECK
MASTER. He is the Living Word. An expression of the Spirit of God that is always with you.
PLANES.
The levels of existence, such as the Physical, Astral, Causal, Mental, Etheric, and Soul planes.
SOUL.
The True Self. The inner, most sacred part of each person. Soul exists before birth and lives on after the death of the physical body. As a spark of God, Soul can see, know, and perceive all things. It is the creative center of Its own world.
SOUL TRAVEL.
<
br /> The expansion of consciousness.
The ability of SOUL to transcend the physical body and travel into the spiritual worlds of God. Soul Travel is taught only by the LIVING ECK MASTER. It helps people unfold 34
spiritually and can provide proof of the existence of God and life after death.
SOUND AND LIGHT OF ECK.
The Holy Spirit.
The two aspects through which God appears in the lower worlds. People can experience them by looking and listening within them-selves and through SOUL TRAVEL.
SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ECK.
The daily prac-
tice of certain techniques to get us in touch with the Light and Sound of God.
SRI.
SREE A title of spiritual respect, similar to reverend or pastor, used for those who have attained the Kingdom of God. In ECKANKAR, it is reserved for the MAHANTA, the LIVING ECK MASTER.
For more explanations of Eckankar terms, see A Cosmic Sea of Words: The ECKANKAR Lexicon by Harold Klemp.
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For Further Reading and
Study
Past Lives, Dreams, and
Soul Travel
Harold Klemp
What if you could recall past-life lessons for your benefit today? What if you could learn the secret knowledge of dreams to gain the wisdom of the heart?
Or Soul Travel, to master the shift in consciousness needed to find peace and contentment? To ride the waves of God’s love and mercy? Let Harold Klemp, leading authority in all three fields, show you how.
The Art of Spiritual
Dreaming
Harold Klemp
Dreams are a treasure. A gift
from God. Harold Klemp shows how to find a dream’s spiritual gold, and how to experience God’s love. Get insights from the past and future, grow in confidence, and make decisions about career and finances. Do this from a unique perspective: by recognizing the spiritual nature of your dreams.
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A Modern Prophet
Answers Your Key
Questions about Life
Harold Klemp
A pioneer of today’s focus on
“everyday spirituality” shows you how to experience and understand God’s love in your life—anytime, anyplace. His answers to hundreds of questions help guide you to your own source of wisdom, peace, and deep inner joy.