I like to select stories from you and others that see ECK chelas facing challenges and making the best of them.

That can-do spirit has lofted us along these first fifty years. Let’s keep with it.

Stories chosen for telling are to inspire you. Or help you gain insight. Names are altered so the storyteller is spared the nuisance of having to brush away compliments or, worse, admiration. They get in the way. The story tells of an individual aided by the ECK, the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ, past some opposition.

The insight gained is worth the exercise.

“Pat” is an ECK leader. One recent night had been the first night of an ECK Easy Way Satsang class. She was the Arahata.

But she had feelings of uncertainty about her role. Was she really the best one to teach? Most of the class members were linked to her by long-term family relationships or decades of friendship. How would such a class go?

Doubts, doubts, and more doubts.

Class began. Since each member held a special place in Pat’s heart, she had reason to wonder if these bonds would hamper discussion of the ECK teachings.

To her surprise, the chelas probed and explored the subject matter with lively enthusiasm. Quite a difference from her expectations. They asked the basic questions a longtime ECKist is likely to take for granted.

Teaching the class put such a glow on Pat’s evening, and it lasted several days.

As the class had proceeded, Pat realized how much she herself was learning. How many lifetimes, she wondered, had it taken for her to reach the blessed heights of being an Arahata?

Next day, back to the bumps of living. Her daughter, a member of the Easy Way class, sent a text message. She’d been let go from her first professional job. Overcome by sorrow, her daughter didn’t feel like talking about it. Understandable.

Yet Pat was relieved. Despite her own pain at her daughter’s misfortune, she also knew Soul has Its own lessons. The bright side was that her daughter was in Satsang class, so perhaps the Master’s words, love, wisdom, and guidance would help her navigate this turning point.

Life is full of them.

Will we ever get used to them?

Considerable time has passed since Pat’s report. By now, something has likely replenished the void left by the job loss. Something. A new opportunity always opens before us.

What will we make of it?

Pat, like you, often feels the weight of her responsibilities. She then turns to a spiritual exercise for support.

During an especially vexing time, the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ met her on an ocean beach. She confided, “I’m overwhelmed at times being an ECK leader.”

“Come,” he said simply.

He led her into the water. As a wave rolled in, he took her hand and helped her surf on top of it, without even a board.

“An ECK leader needs to learn how to be on top of the water and let the current carry him. The energy works for us. If we’re in the water, the waves of emotion are bringing us up and down, repeatedly. See?”

Words of wisdom.

Challenges and opportunities.

—Sri Harold Klemp

In every occasion of doubt or challenge, the Master reaches out his hand to you. Take it with confidence.

As an ECK leader, you are helping others to recognize the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ’s hand. An example of this is waiting in your day. It may or may not seem to have anything to do with ECK. But you will know the truth.

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