Experiences in the Light and Sound
1. A Soul Travel Visit to the Other Worlds – Robert Scott Rochek
I had a Soul Travel experience at the 1986 Eckankar International Creative Arts Festival in New Orleans. Now I know that the Mahanta’s presence is always with me. But it’s still up to me to let go of the small, physical state of consciousness and allow the God-self to unfold within me.
I was attending a workshop on how to visit the Temples of Golden Wisdom on the inner spiritual planes. As we were led through a visualization technique, I consciously met Wah Z and Tibetan ECK Master Rebazar Tarzs near the Temple of Golden Wisdom in the city of Retz on Venus.
The Soul Travel experience began with a faint scent of sandalwood. Suddenly I was standing on a white-marble path surrounded by flowers. As I glanced to the left, I saw a golden light laced with glowing violet. Wah Z was there, and he introduced me to Rebazar Tarzs. The Tibetan ECK Master looked penetratingly into my eyes and said, “Now your true journey into the worlds of God shall begin. Will you submit to my guidance and do as I say?”
“Yes, Sri Tarzs, I will!”
“Will you abide by the word of the Mahanta?” he asked.
I turned to Wah Z and said, “Yes Mahanta, I will!”
Then Wah Z told me to step into the swirling light. As I did this, the brilliant gold-and-violet light spiraled up and around and through me, penetrating every cell.
“Now you are filled with the Light and Sound of ECK,” declared Rebazar. “All will be well with you!” He led me up the steps of marble into the Temple of Golden Wisdom.
Wah Z was by my side as I entered a small room to the right of the main chamber. It was brilliantly lit from within by golden-white light. As I moved toward the light, I saw a rectangular marble pedestal about two feet wide and three feet high. Atop it rested a transparent glasslike container, filled with glowing script in an unknown tongue. It seemed as if one could read from this form of the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad via energy imprints of Light and Sound.
On closer inspection, the writing seemed to be moving — alive and changing within the box, which was filled with a fluid, viscous substance. Telepathically, Wah Z told me that this Shariyat wasn’t read like words on a page. Rather, one simply touched the box with one’s hands, and waves of Spirit-filled Sound and Light were transmitted directly into the chela. This was a most astounding realization to me!
Meanwhile in the physical body, I was sitting in the workshop writing furiously, with one eye on the inner and the other on the page before me. As I placed my hands on the Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, this is what was transmitted, as I experienced and recorded it:
“The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad is the condensed Sound and Light of ECK in a form that is tangible and can be understood by beings while in the inner planes. It is the actual wisdom of Sugmad (God), that part of the vibrations of ECK which that particular section of the Shariyat represents. This is why one can touch one of these forms of the Shariyat and have the vibration, or wisdom, of that particular Shariyat transmitted directly into him — Sound and Light being what the Shariyat really is.”
But the most important part of this Soul Travel experience came after I returned again to the workshop. The speaker asked if any were willing to share their inner journeys. At first I was hesitant, but the Mahanta let me know that it would be for the greatest good to tell others, and I did. As I stood to speak, the students nearest me passed a microphone, so all could hear. I realized that they had accompanied me to the pedestal of the Shariyat. Now they were eager to hear of my experience and confirm their own inner journeys.
As I read the messages given to me, many faces lit up. I felt we were joined together on this path of the Golden Heart.
After the workshop a young man came up to me with his eyes agleam. He had often visited this same wisdom temple but had been frustrated in his attempts to read the living Shariyat as if it were an ordinary book. Because I had been allowed to help others learn, I experienced such gratitude and love from this Soul. He had finally learned the secret of placing his hands on the surface of the Shariyat, so now the ECK within it could flow to him via the Golden Heart. He gained something he’d wanted for a long time, and by being a channel for ECK, I gained more than words can ever express.
I was shown how the greater experience of spiritual worth came from giving — not from the little self, which continually demands to receive. I looked forward to each moment in the nowness of Eternity with the Mahanta, as I unfold in conscious awareness of Divine Spirit and the God-self within me.
2. From Psychic Healer to ECK Traveler – Marion White
Some of us are born into this life with a sensitivity to the invisible levels. When I was young, I began my adventures in the inner, invisible worlds, yet it was many years before I was ready for the teachings of Eckankar.
As a small child I was frightened of the dark. Colors came zooming out of the darkness, making weird noises. But as I lay down to sleep each night, I became aware of a man sitting on a chair beside my bed. I knew I was safe because of his presence, and he did not frighten me, even though I could see right through him.
Over the years he became my companion in the sleep state, and we traveled together to marvelous places. I visited blue-skinned people and saw a tunnel that looked like a temple of Egyptian design. During these travels, I began to learn the lessons that would prepare me for meeting the Living ECK Master years later.
An early step in my spiritual development was an ability to see the future. One of my friends, Janice, played a game where she would jump from wall to wall in the gardens on our street. I could foresee her slipping and cutting her right knee. I warned her to stop, but she would never take any notice.
One day I saw a vision very sharply and begged her, “Janice, please do not jump that wall today. Today is the day you are going to slip.”
“Pooh,” said Janice. She jumped, slipped, and cut her right knee.
That was the day I lost all my friends: they thought I was a witch. I was almost eleven years old at that time, and I quickly learned to keep my predictions to myself. I found that if you can see into the future, friends are very happy to hear about the good things that may happen to them. But they do not like the bad tidings.
Another step in my spiritual journey came in my teen years. My father had bought me a budgie, a parakeet. I named him Timmy, and this bundle of sky-blue feathers soon made himself a pampered member of the family. But in his seventh year, he had a stroke which paralyzed one side of his body. He lived another day and night. Oh, how I prayed that he would recover.
Then I realized how selfish I was being, I prayed to God and asked if He would take Timmy to heaven. But before my feathered friend left, I wanted to say goodbye.
That night I went to sleep with the prayer on my lips. In the early hours of the morning I was gently awakened by a monk dressed in a dark brown robe. A golden light radiated around him, and his kindly face lit my bedroom with a soft glow.
He said, “Come. It is time; you must say farewell to your little friend.”
I followed him downstairs and picked up Timmy to say good-bye. He held on to me tightly with his good foot.
Then the monk said, “You must go back to your room. Time grows short, and Timmy must be prepared for his journey ahead.”
So I put Timmy back in his cage and went back to my room. After a while I felt a cool breeze pass over me.
We buried Timmy’s body in the garden later that day. I cried for a week. At the end of the week the monk came back and woke me again. “Timmy cannot rest with you upsetting yourself like this,” he said. “It has been decided to let you visit him.”
Before us appeared the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. It was filled with all sorts of animals and people of every color and race, all smiling and at peace. Timmy was flying about in the trees.
Timmy made me understand that all was well with him. I was not to be sad about his passing. Although his physical body was dead, in spirit he was very much alive.
Then the monk said to me, ” You must return to your home.” And so we turned and walked along a bright beam of light. When we arrived back in my room, the monk faded away.
The following morning, I was at peace. An important understanding had come to me. I knew now that we do not fade away into nothingness when we make the long journey home.
Many years later, when I was thirty-three, I began looking in earnest for my path to God. I decided to become a healer. My inner voice told me I would have to learn how to generate love within myself, and I was given instructions.
As I worked on expressing love, I suddenly discovered I could see people’s auras. While waiting for the bus one day, I watched some people on the other side of the road. Some people’s auras were gray and narrow, while others were bright and wide.
As my inner sight developed, I was able to see disease manifested in the auras of different people. One day a man who sat next to me at work got up to get himself a cup of tea. On his right sleeve, in line with his elbow, was a dark mauve stain. I said, “Ron, you have put your elbow on a rubber-stamp pad. It’s stained dark mauve.”
He looked and said, “No, I haven’t.”
“Yes, you have,” said I, looking again.
He got his cup of tea and returned to his desk. When he passed by again, the stain had disappeared. I later learned what it had been: he mentioned he had had a very painful elbow. This sort of inner sight went on for several years. For a time I found it very useful in my work as a healer.
I soon joined a spiritual church. As a vehicle of healing, I visualized the love of God flowing through me to others, and many got well. But other healers in the church resented this. People got better too quickly, and they were left without any patients. They asked me to leave the church, which I did. I then joined a spiritual development group run by a well-known medium in southern England.
After three years, I discovered I had become the channel, or source of spiritual power, for this group. I could not switch it off, nor could I control it. It was ruling my life and exhausting me. This was the last hold of the psychic worlds on me. I was now ready for the next step.
A friend had given me a book called The Tiger’s Fang, by Eckankar’s modern-day founder, Paul Twitchell. Reading the descriptions f his inner journeys to the different levels of heaven was like coming home. Here were the world of blue-skinned people and the Egyptian-style tunnel I had known as a child. Someone else had experienced the same adventures!
I wrote the current Living ECK Master, Sri Harold Klemp, for help with my problem involving the spiritual development group I had become involved with. Shortly after, Sri Harold freed me from this group on the inner, invisible planes. I was then able to retire from the outer group. I was now ready to become a member of Eckankar and did so in August of 1984.
Psychic healing no longer holds any appeal for me. Now if people ask me for healing, I keep a detached attitude. I tell them that if they are meant to be healed, God will heal them. It may come through a doctor or some other person, or it may come in ways they do not recognize. Sometimes I suggest they contact the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master for help. All it takes is an open mind and a sincere inner request to him for guidance.
I’ve found that one can serve as a vehicle for God by simply listening to another’s troubles. It is not necessary to unwittingly take on their karma through laying on of hands or other psychic means. If Soul has been awakened via the daily Spiritual Exercises of ECK, listening in a detached way to another’s problems often allows Divine Spirit to touch them as It will. People will sometimes tell me their woes while waiting at the bus stop or riding the train. Afterward, they say how much better they feel!
Subtle spiritual experiences such as these happen in my daily life now as well as in my dreams. With the Spiritual Exercises of Eckankar, I am learning how to consciously slip into higher states, to work in harmony with all life. ECK has already taken me much farther than my psychic experiences and studies ever could have.
3. A Ride Through the Universe – Richard J. Roberts
In the fall of 1971, I was a junior in high school and a very interested, active member of a fundamentalist Christian church. However, I continually argued in Sunday school. Always striving for the truth, I often poked holes in the logic of my teachers.
One day, a missionary from Nicaragua visited our church. He spoke through an interpreter. Someone asked him about Spirit. He said, “Spirit? That’s not important. What I need is money for my project.”
When I heard that, and exploding awareness raced up my spine, through my neck, and literally knocked me blind. Spirit was much more important than money! I left my body and shot through the roof of the church, crying out, “If God exists, show me the Holy Spirit now! I cannot tolerate such untruths!”
An inner voice soothed me, saying, “Things will be alright.” I didn’t answer, but I did calm down.
Later that evening several students and I stood around the parking lot of the church discussing the speaker’s talk. As the others chatted, I noticed a dark, swarthy man walking towards us from the service station across the street. Two thoughts flashed into my mind: This man walks like a king; and if he walks any nearer, where am I going to run? I mentally mapped out escape routes, but forced myself not to act on the impulse to flee.
The man boldly stepped up into our circle and asked, “What are you discussing?” I turned and said, “We’re talking about matters of Spirit. Do you have any observations?”
He calmly answered, “Yes.” I can’t remember what he said, but I do recall there was no way to argue with him. He answered each question with unassailable logic. He punctuated his words with quick movements of his hands, and his dark eyes flashed with animation. Little did I know that this man was none other than the great Tibetan ECK Master, Rebazar Tarzs.
Dimly I heard the man say he had heard me arguing in class that day. “The way you argued and handled yourself was extremely good. I liked what you said,” he said simply.
Then he invited me to come hear a speaker. He emphasized that the speaker wasn’t a preacher. “He won’t try to change your religion; he won’t try to sway your thinking. He’s not into hypnosis, and he’s not into the occult. Come listen to him,” he beckoned. Because this speaker would be discussing matters of Spirit, I decided to go.
I followed the man with flashing eyes across the street and down into the basement of another church. The room was furnished very plainly with a table and some wooden chairs. The speaker was introduced as a writer named Paul Twitchell. The first thing I noted was that he spoke with a Southern accent. I had always tried to hide my Southern accent because it was put down by friends. Paul Twitchell, the modern-day founder of Eckankar, acted as if his accent didn’t matter.
He asked us to hold our questions until the end of his talk because he was recording it for future use and reference. I was a bit miffed at this. I wanted to argue and question him. I was ready for a knock-down, drag-out battle for spiritual truth.
As the talk went on, I became disappointed because it was clear he was not somebody I could argue with. He simply stated things as truth. He didn’t qualify it or quote any holy books. He had no references, no bibliography, nothing.
At the time, that bothered me greatly. How can you assail such a viewpoint? Everybody left, but I kept thinking he had a glimpse of truth. Maybe he could show me how to seek it too. We talked until he offered me a ride home.
I rode home Paul that night in a yellow, ragtag Volkswagen. Paul was in the driver’s seat, and the man who had brought me to the talk was in the front passenger’s seat. I sat in the back.
As we were pulling out of the parking lot, I stuck my head between the two front seats and looked at both of them. I asked, “Why do I feel like Arjuna in The Bhagavad Gita?” Rebazar ( as I later came to know the man in the passenger’s seat) laid his head on the window and held his sides with his arms, stomping his feet on the floor and laughing, silently laughing until tears came to his eyes. “Do you know what I mean?” I continued. “I feel like Arjuna — the seeker of God whose chariot was supposedly driven by the reincarnation of God, Krishna!”
On the way home, Rebazar initiated a conversation about the possibility of a Living ECK Master existing on this planet. I said, “No, there’s no way I could believe in such a person.” Rebazar indicated that the person was not himself, but rather Paul. Somehow, as I looked at Paul, he didn’t fit my image of a Godman.
Stunned, I sat back in my seat and feebly joked, “Home, James.” Again the image of Arjuna flitted across my mind. Still, I could not understand it.
Rebazar continued laughing and talking, at ease with himself and Paul’s evident discomfort. I couldn’t figure Rebazar out and asked him how he earned his living. He said, “I build houses.” I found it difficult to understand how a carpenter and an intellectual writer would have much in common.
The next thing I knew, a sound filled the air. It was like standing right next to a speeding freight train. The swirling, windlike sound swept me up, and the entire world began spinning. I was above the car, looking down at my weak body in the backseat. Briefly, I tried to remember if I’d drunk anything that evening. I was worried that someone might have slipped me a hallucinogen. I tried to focus my thoughts, but they just faded into a jumble.
When I finally got the strength to turn in my seat and look out the window, I saw that there was no road. There was just blackness, with stars. All I could think was, Oh, my God, it’s full of stars!
I sat back and thought about what I needed to survive right at the moment. “Air,” I decided aloud. ” Try to breathe deeply.” Then the Sound started again. I heard everything — birds chirping, flutes, and violins — but the strongest sound reminded me of a spaceship being launched. The pressure on my eardrums from these inner sounds was incredible, almost to the point of pain; but it felt good, too. The strange thing was that my outer ears were still picking up the conversation in the car perfectly.
I tried to speak at one point, and it came out sounding like a foreign language. I’ve got the Holy Spirit, I thought. I’m speaking in tongues. It was funny because I was thinking in English, but it came out in a jumble. I remember Paul took me on a tour of the planets. After seeing the moons of Jupiter, the next thing I knew we were turning onto Sunrise Boulevard, just two or three blocks from my home.
I was pale and in a cold sweat. Literally drenched in sweat, I hadn’t a clue as to what was going on. Rebazar was laughing, but gently, gently. We pulled into the driveway, and I moved to jump out. I nearly fell on the pavement because I was so disoriented and weak from the experience. Rebazar looked out the window, and his eyes locked with mine. “I’ll see you later,” he said.
At that point in my life, Rebazar began appearing in my prayer meditations. He was the first man I wanted to pattern my life after. I learned many spiritual principles through Rebazar in these daily contemplations.
Paul kept in contact with me, too, for awhile. He asked if he could send me letters of encouragement and explanation once a month. But I decided not to study the Eckankar discourses from Paul at that time.
It wasn’t until 1977 that I finally made contact with Eckankar. I’d come to a point in my life where nothing seemed right. I sat down one day in deep contemplation and traced my dissatisfaction with life back to that fateful meeting with the bearded man with the strange, flashing eyes. I decided then to embrace Eckankar as my own true path to God.
The experience with these two ECK Masters gave me an unshakable faith in the force of Divine Spirit. It speaks to me today through the Inner Master known as Wah Z, Sri Harold Klemp. Eckankar has given me undeniable strength and knowledge. That’s why I’m now in training to be more like these ECK Masters — a spiritual swordsman for the Sugmad.
From the book Earth to God, Come In Please… Various Authors © 1991 Eckankar
Available here: https://www.eckbooks.org/items/Earth_to_God_Come_In_Please_Book_1-105-4.html
