The Germans say, “Sturm und Drang” (storm and stress). This term recalls a play by Friedrich von Klinger and became a tag for the later rebellions of the Romantic era. Liberty for individuals, then, dethroned the royal scepter. It was an age of unbridled passions, storm and stress.
Sturm und Drang speaks of the high and low tides of living, like soap operas on TV. People are enthusiastic players in their own “soaps.” Yet they quickly complain of the script and their miscast roles in the production.
Would anyone with full knowledge of another’s karma even want to trade places?
I think not. The troubles of each are ancient patterns chosen by the Lords of Karma, because the resolution of salvation lies within them. Soul plays out lifetimes in such soaps, eventually earning the chance to direct Its own destiny when It gains spiritual liberty.
Soul is then free to come and go in the worlds of God.
Free! Free to delight in God’s love. Free to learn, unfold, and serve Its Maker. Free to live as It pleases. Free to just be.
Spiritual freedom is the invisible carrot beyond a donkey’s Sturm und Drang. Yet he is ever reaching for it. He plods on. Driven by whims of wind and route, the poor creature may not turn from an ordered course.
What’s the donkey to do?
What do people do? How do they handle the things they can change and those they cannot? Some complain, others smile and endure. Which of the two gains most spiritually?
An ECK leader meets every possible combination of both the cheerful and the sullen, the noble and the base, the builder and the parasite.
Over time you will see many episodes of people’s Soaps of Life playing in your area. How to manage the resultant storm and stress?
Your benefactor the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ, the Living ECK Master is your on-call confidant, your spiritual counsel. He can show how to restore calm to troubled waters, Sturm und Drang. So ask him. He’s always with you. Listen closely, for he speaks in your heart. Keep it open to his love.
He is the Spiritual Traveler, a knowledgeable and trustworthy guide. His footsteps have trod all the high places; yet he, too, once languished in Kal’s darkest prisons, in deep despair.
Freedom? He now lives and breathes the very air.
He and you, his loyal disciple, follow a divine directive. It is to inspire others to begin the journey to the heart of God, here and now. Show them how to rise above the Sturm und Drang via ECK.
Love is the source of your ability to inspire others. Do the Spiritual Exercises of ECK. Meet the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ in privacy.
Help with the ECK intros, discussions, and ECK Satsang classes. Tell seekers by word of mouth.
Then the healing oils of ECK may soothe those who despair in these times of Sturm und Drang.
—Sri Harold Klemp
Every conflict enfolds a blessing of increase. It may be of strength, wisdom, compassion, surrender, acceptance, restraint, or detachment. Or any other quality of Soul.
Examine a recent case of troubled waters in your own world. What you gained from it will help you share the gift of true freedom with others.
“God’s real power and love are not in the Bible, nor in the polished doctrines of man. Truth is in the Word (Sound) of God. Each of us must someday become the Sound and Light, for in them alone is found the way to God.
That is the road to Mastership.”
—Sri Harold Klemp,
Autobiography Of A Modern Prophet, page 459.
A most recent case of troubled waters in my world. This is fresh. So too are the gains I got from it.
About 15 hours ago, I arrived at a Airport, preparatory to commence a three legged 24 hour journey. With all documentation in place, bags packed within limits, I envisaged a smooth boarding process and a restful flight.
Earlier, I surrendered the journey to the Mahanta. A moment of despair when my hope of a companion to the Airport wasn’t available, was set right with an Eckist”s agreement to take me to the airport in his car.
We arrived at the Airport in good time and I, walked right smack into troubled waters! The flight has been cancelled! No notice, no advice. Confused. That’s when the Mahanta took charge! (actually, a second time without my knowing!)
Earlier, immediately after disembarking from the Eckist’s car that brought me to the Airport, I made my way away from the airport’s entrance towards a bus facing away from the airport with people and lots of luggage waiting to enter. Why I would approach this vehicle instead of entering the Airport, I couldn’t tell. However, an indirect enquiry about the bus’s destination soon got me turning around to the airport’s entrance.
As the uncertainties of what steps to take in the aftermath of the flights cancellation unfolded, I received unsolicited help from different kind souls who gently directed me to the Airline’s Check-In Counter and officials who in turn shepherded me to – please for it! – the same bus I approached the moment I arrived at the airport (Yes! the same one facing away from the airport that I approached immediately on arrival at the airport!)
Destination? A **** rest place for all passengers booked on the cancelled flight at the airline’s expense!.
Now, did I say the love received was unsolicited? How forgetful of me not to remember that I surrendered the journey to the Mahanta before I set out!; that rather than get angry,, raise hell on learning of the cancelation like other pained passengers around me were doing, I remained calm, unconsciously waiting for the Mahanta to take charge, to take control!
And now, for the icing on the cake! At the rest place, I got preferential assistance to settle in – all with dinner served in my room!
What else can I say, but “Thank you, dear Mahanta!”
“Freedom is impossible for one who does not recognize that the flow and ebb that pass through the Mahanta to the world are guaranteeing him a safe journey through the lower worlds.”
Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, book 1, page 39
Thank you Mahanta for Sturms und Drangs.