In light of this wonderful new cycle, First of the Golden Years, and all the amazing new changes you have brought forth, what would be the most important spiritual idea or principle to share with chelas, so they too may catch this new wave of Light and Sound?
Happiness!
Think of all the love and happiness you and other chelas find in knowing the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ is always with you. The world has plenty of dark places, but the love and happiness you carry inside you lifts up all who need a smile.
Every person is an ECK chela, no matter what religion they pursue. So we serve them, God’s children—as we are too.
You are a happiness child. Isn’t it grand?
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I have been wondering about ECK leaders and their Facebook pages. My Satsang Society has one, and I have a personal one with “likes,” and it is a way to keep in touch with friends and family. Do you see this as in any way detracting from my position as an ECK leader?
I have used my personal Facebook page to invite friends to our Sound of Soul events and other ECK events, and it works very well. If it is something I should not be doing, I will gladly cancel it.
You are using today’s electronic communications to good purpose. Methods of telling people about ECK will continue to snowball.
Today and tomorrow, our golden age to let others learn of ECK.
Look at all the opportunities now. Let’s catch the wave. Our predecessors could only dream of all the advantages of communication we delight in. Imagine, talking to Souls on the other side of the globe. Or in space (if they’d only give out their number).
It’s a remarkable lifetime. You’ve earned it. Use it well.
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With the aging of our chela population, it appears that there is an ever-greater percentage of H.I.’s. However, the chela population has not increased that much. What is the spiritual significance of this? Where does this lead?
Yours is an important question that needs to be addressed. I am glad you asked it.
Paul Twitchell introduced ECKANKAR to the world in 1965. The timing was anything but chance. The can-do spirit engendered during World War II had all but died in the ensuing two decades, a casualty of materialism, the “good life.”
Into this spiritual void swept the Wind of Change, the ECK. And with that, adventurous youth. The can-do attitude of the war was reborn as the youth broke free of society’s rigid codes. They hit the road in brightly painted cars and vans, curious as to the possible wonders around the bend. They were seekers.
Paul tapped into this youthful energy. He enlisted the aid of youth amenable to the ECK teachings. These youth were like bees: pollinators, able missionaries.
ECKANKAR’s rolls exploded.
This rapid growth also brought out leadership problems. So Paul offered early initiations to chelas who were actively taking the ECK teachings into their communities.
I was one of these fortunate chelas. Paul offered to give me the Second Initiation a year early, but I declined his offer. There were still a few spiritual loose ends that needed to be tied up. I would have been uncomfortable moving on yet. Later, I understood that Paul’s offer was a test, to see whether I wanted the glory of a higher station, or what?
Many early ECKists fell by the wayside. They could not handle the greater spiritual forces unleashed by their early advancements. It needed more discipline than they wished to expend.
So where is today’s spiritual pulse?
In general, the adventurous youth of the 1960s and 1970s are history. Many youth now stay in their parents’ home into their thirties. Or they are “eternal students.”
Security and comfort: the two watchwords of people who will, in time, learn that life guarantees neither.
The Kal, negative, force is successful when it slows or stops humanity’s mobility, in terms of physical and mental movement. Is not that the very condition of slavery? That is our society’s state today. It will take a thunderclap of outer events to jar society from its spiritual doldrums.
An upheaval will come when the ECK and the Kal go head-to-head on the battlefield of awakening.
All that aside, and yet not, there are many, many Souls ready for the teachings of ECK. Our role is to find new ways, along with the old, to make the teachings relevant to them.
We can do this. Are we not endowed with an unlimited means of creativity? Of course!
Support our missionary programs. Suggest new methods to us that work for you. And remember to tell your friends, family, and coworkers about ECK. There is much we can do now.
—Sri Harold Klemp
See with the eyes of the Mᴀʜᴀɴᴛᴀ, and inwardly acknowledge each person in your day as an ECK chela. This exercise will open your heart and your Spiritual Eye in a new way.
You can practice this as a Friday fast if you like.
Every person is an ECK chela, no matter what religion they pursue. So we serve them, God’s children—as we are too.
so inspiration.
In these days more lights shine in the world.
there is more facilities than before for all of us to flurish
and we are more connect to each other, to the mahanta, the living word than before
such a bless
“It will take a thunderclap of outer events to jar society from its spiritual doldrums. ”
-Sri Harold Klemp.
Years ago, I lived in a high crime neighborhood as a college student. By coincidence, I heard that Eckankar could help me prove the existence of heaven.
So I started chanting HU privately and got my proof within a month.
One night after chanting HU, I stepped out of the house for an urgent errand. On my way back, I saw neighbors outside our apartment building.
They told me that some men who were standing next to me were indeed armed robbers. I didn’t know that!
Earlier that night, I had been in the proximity of those armed robbers without knowing who they were.
My neighbors watched from a distance as I walked into the lion’s den.
Surprisingly, the armed robbers didn’t say a word to me.
One of the robbers glanced at me from his motionless posture as I passed by him.
In retrospect, I noticed that their victims were pushed into a bus to avoid the police.
I heard some chaotic noise inside that bus.
A painful cry from one of their victims bothered me. But I didn’t look. I had to mind my own business and trod out of sight.
After this experience, my neighbors started asking me questions about Eckankar. I told them the little I knew.
Who can put ECK into words?
“We learn most from our troubles, not always from the good times.
It helps to know this world for what it is-good and evil.
The Mahanta’s love helps you avoid many of the hard times and find the good. ”
-Youth Ask a Modern Prophet About Life, Love, and God, page 75.
Thank you MAHANTA for everything.
In my profession, I work with people who are experiencing difficulties in their lives. I am bound to follow a code of ethics which does not permit me to have a personal relationship with them. However, I can still offer spiritual help, but not in an open manner that mentions ECKANKAR.
My dog is a very open-hearted Soul. In my experiences with him I noticed the happy and enthusiastic response I got from him when I said uplifting and encouraging things to him in response to his actions and behavior. A simple sincere comment like “thank you” or “good boy” brought a big smile and tail wag.
Whenever I can I give the same compliments or comments to my clients. I tell them the positive things I have noticed they have done. Some don’t respond, but some do and they tell me thanks for noticing. Some have hit bottom and have become overwhelmed. I offer suggestions for one small step they can take now. I tell them that I have the easy job of simply giving them a framework to move ahead. The tough part of doing falls to them, so they are the ones who deserve the credit for having the courage and determination to find their way out of their situation into something brighter. It is an honor to work with those who are finding their way to happiness.
Enjoyed this summary. Especially appreciated the clarification about how today’s youth differ from the 60s and 70s youth; and also the appropriate use of social media tools to mention Eckankar.
A Happy Chela
Many takeaways, of which this is everly uplifting: I am a happiness child.
Happiness! A golden gift and companion in the midst of a seemingly endless life of stress.
Often times, to sit back and observe the happiness of a child express what the Mahanta refers to as the joy of living as it explores its space on tottering steps gives me a lift.
I don’t really know why, but I think it’s good and of great benefit to cast aside our worries whenever we can and embrace the gift and joy of life.
Thank you, dear Mahanta, for yet another nugget of golden wisdom.