I like to think of you as a champion for ECK when you care enough to make the ECK teachings available to seekers.
“Nala,” from Lagos, Nigeria, was out and about one day, running errands. She’d also brought an ECK booklet with her. When she stopped at a newsstand, a young man spotted the ECK booklet. Yes, she was an ECKist, to answer his first question.
Yes, she’d also loan him the booklet.
And yes, they did worship in the area. Where? She gave him the address. But he was a no-show at the next ECK discussion class.
Two weeks later, Nala was debating what to wear to the ECK service that day: dress or ECK T-shirt and slacks? A strong inner prompt said, “T-shirt and slacks.”
As she was weaving her way through the crowd, the young man she’d given the ECK booklet hailed her. He hadn’t been able to find the discussion-class address. So they arranged to meet at this very spot the day of the ECK discussion class, and she’d personally take him to the meeting. That’s what the strong nudge was all about. He wouldn’t have recognized her in the dress.
Today, he attends the class regularly.
And seekers come in all sizes. “Pam” learned this while sitting a booth at an Edge Life Expo in town. A feature of the booth was a wheel with ECK topics visitors could spin to select a topic at random.
Two boys, around ten or twelve, asked to spin the wheel. After spinning it, one of the boys was uneasy with his selection. So he spun the wheel again. Disappointment still etched his features. Pam asked, “What did you want to land on?”
“Dreams!” he declared.
“Do you have dreams?”
The youth grew frenzied. “Yes, I dreamed a bear bit my arm.” He showed her where he got bit.
“Did you wake up then?”
Disdainfully, as if she should have known better, he replied, “The bear bit me. I died!”
“Oh, you were there,” Pam said, catching on quickly.
Still so excited he could hardly stand, the boy confirmed her observation. Somewhat at a loss because no parent was with him, she simply said, “Cool!”
“That’s what my mom said too.” Before leaving, he took the booklet ECK Wisdom on Dreams.
This exchange completely filled Pam’s heart. She observed that this Soul was on Its way home to God, and she’d been fortunate to witness a leg of that journey.
Switching to another of Pam’s experiences as an ECK champion, she told of a recent back problem that had her on the floor, unable to move. As she lay there, she wondered, Why did this have to happen on a work morning? There has to be a reason. Someone has to benefit, either me or someone else.
When the pain in her back had finally eased, she called her chiropractor and got right in.
As she entered the doctor’s office, there stood a man who had on occasion delivered mail to her house. They’d lightly spoken a few times over the past half year about ECKANKAR. And she’d given him a book. After they greeted each other, he said he had a little more free time now and suggested they meet sometime to talk about ECKANKAR.
This “chance” meeting gave her a better understanding of her own quest. She’s become more aware of the love from SUGMAD, and she is actively looking for expressions of how it appears in everyday life. The reason for her back problem that particular day was now crystal clear: she was to be a champion for ECK.
The above stories will also refresh your own understanding about the novel ways the ECK reveals Itself every day. Be sure to look for them.
—Sri Harold Klemp
Start your week by declaring yourself a willing champion for ECK. See what opportunities each day affords you as the ECK takes you up on your offer. Every encounter holds a spiritual story.
My body fell asleep after I chanted HU at bedtime, but the HU stayed awake.
For the entire night I was hearing a beautiful rolling HU.
Soul doesn’t sleep.
Everything was calm and peaceful.
Heaven is Here and Now.
I was addicted to this HU.
Sweeter than ever, all I wanted was more HU.
Suddenly I woke up.
Early morning daylight has interrupted my attention.
I stretched my hand to turn off my HU CD player that was supposedly booming all night.
Not so fast.
My HU CD player wasn’t playing at all.
I didn’t even plug it into the electricity to start with.
Surprise!
A realization dawned on me that the most powerful force in the universe is HU.
HU therefore cannot be restricted by time and space.
The Dhunatmik Sound of Heaven is doing Its thing!
A night with the HU is a night with the MAHANTA.
Thank you MAHANTA for your visit, in the form that I could handle.
The MAHANTA and the HU are Omnipresent.
The MAHANTA and the HU are One.
For the Ocean does not roll without Its Sound.
“Only those who love the ECK, and listen only to the music of the heavenly worlds, will enter into the true Kingdom. “
—Shariyat Ki Sugmad, page 81.
Thank you MAHANTA for everything.
In the recent Mystic World the phrase “reluctant Vahana” jumped out. I smiled because that phrase resonated with how I sometimes felt. I resolved to try not to get bogged down by my mind.
I’m a better , more carefree Vahana when I am my love-directed self, Soul and awareness flows, I listen to others and more naturally interact and can share my love of ECK in terms that resonated with life around me.
A lunch time walk with a co-worker then is filled with exchanges of Spiritual wisdom from both of us.
A drive is sprinkled with my thoughts of gratitude for a beautiful sunrise, the sights of nature. I greet the patch of bamboo, thank the road for holding up my car, thank clerk at the counter for sharing a hilarious TikTok video of her two 2-year old grandchildren being DJs.
Being a Vahana is joyous when you simply let Love flow through your actions.
Life’s full of simple spiritual encounters, Golden threads connected us.
To be a Vahana or to be just a chela.
I have shared this dream experience before; but it bears repeating.
Early in my encounter with the ECK teachings, I found myself amongst a multitude of people walking towards a mountain in the dream state.
Somehow I got ahead and could see this very bright light shimmering above. Excited, I screamed my discovery to all around me as I turned and faced the multitude. Well, surprise, surprise! None but me saw anything of the sort. None reacted like they heard my exclamations or saw my excitement. For all they cared, I didn’t exist. Perplexed. Bewildered. I mean how could they not see what I saw so clearly? Sum total: no one believed me. Unsure of what next, I fell silent then I woke up.
That experience has shaped my interest in vahana activities for many years . In the years that followed, I preferred just being a non-active Eckist in Eckankar activities than being a vessel for the message of the ECK to seekers. Who will believe me when I speak of, or share the glorious truth and wonder of the Eck? Better to be the silent HU whenever and wherever I can, I reasoned. This reticence extended to participation in Satsang classes for years until recently. But thankfully, it didn’t affect my enthusiasm for group discussions during light and sound worship services and active participation in workshops and roundtables participation at seminars.
There, amongst fellow ECKists, I feel in my element and won’t hesitate to make contributions twice or more if opportuned.
So what was that about? Low self esteem? Lack of confidence? These days, it appears some of that confidence has found its way back. Now, I can share the Eck with seekers and ready souls I am either close to or comfortable with (not total strangers).
I don’t know whether other ECKists experienced similar challenges at the start of their vahana volunteer work or how they rose up to the challenges. Where then did my new “cautious vahana confidence come from? It came from listening to the Mahanta’s tips and guidance on how to be an effective vahana – letting the Eck take charge, watching and listening for opportunities to be the HU for others, paying attention to seemingly meaningless nudges as we prepare to step out of our comfort zones (homes or workplaces), being ready to give love when needed by others in the service of the SUGMAD, to share the golden tongues of wisdom with ready souls who have been waiting to hear in order to get started on the journey back home to God. I do not pretend that this comes easy all the time. But with practice and patience, we drop our old fears and inhibitions. We get to be instant-ready vahanas
The year of the Eck Teacher beckons. Catch the wave in gratitude to the Mahanta for the opportunity to serve all life.
My vahana work is placing an eck wisdom book in the little library boxes in my city – on streets around my neighbourhood. I go on Friday to put another book again and again with different topics. So far I have seen the previously placed books are not there. hence I presume these books are taken by some needy person who need to learn about eck and mahanta as once someone helped me know about Eck.
Thank you Mahanta
I enjoyed this article very much.
I thank the MAHANTA very much.