Soul Travel With the Spiritual Exercises of ECK
Soul Travel is a valuable skill that can be learned by almost anyone who is willing to invest the time and patience. It is a bridge over the gulf that divides the human from the spiritual consciousness.
Soul Travel is a natural progression that is developed by the Spiritual Exercises of ECK.
A chela in Africa lay down in bed, covered his ears with pillows, and listened to the ECK Sound, which was like a sibilant, rushing wind in the distance — but still very close and within him. Soon, he felt a sucking motion at the top of his head, but he was not afraid. He then felt himself totally withdraw from his physical body and hover in space over the bed.
"The whole of this space was lighted with shimmering atoms and bright giant and small stars," he said. He looked at himself and discovered he was in the radiant Soul body, very youthful and full of energy and power.
Then he sang "Sugmad," a name for God, in a gentle lullaby. In that moment he realized that all of the atoms and stars were part of him. As he sang quietly to himself, an energy vibrated continuously and flowed out from him to sustain all things and beings in this unending universe of stars. He felt mercy and love for all beings in this universe of light. He experienced a great Sound flowing from his center, touching and giving joyful bliss, life, and power to all in his universe. This left him in spiritual ecstasy, because of the act of giving.
The ecstasy returns to him even now in his physical state. This was an experience of brief homage paid to the Sugmad (God), and it has enhanced his life in every way.
This experience began as Soul Travel, but it went beyond that and ended as a spiritual journey to God. A touch of God is not the Sugmad in ITS fullness, because the God experience, all at once, would devastate the individual, causing a setback for many ages.
The classic Soul Travel experience is leaving the body in full awareness and having the Light and Sound of God flow directly into the Soul body. But some people have done that in earlier incarnations and have no desire to go through the ABC's of spiritual school again. The Mahanta may give them a few brief refresher Soul Travel experiences, and from then they go on to seeing, knowing, and being. This phase of experience in ECK is the ECKshar consciousness. To see, know, and be are the qualities of Soul that are at the forefront of attention in the Soul Plane and above.
Beginners in Soul Travel usually stay close to the body. The Mahanta or his designee will help the individual get above the human state of consciousness and take a short journey in the near Astral Plane. These experiences may include the awareness of moving out of the body, going through ceilings or walls, and flying into a blackness. A patch of light glimmers at the edge of the blackness, and the novice Soul Traveler emerges into the light, which is a world of light.
Here he may walk city streets that closely resemble those on earth. The people, however, are busy with duties that are unknown on earth: welcoming new arrivals that have died on the Physical Plane and are ready to resume their lives on the Astral, guiding people who have come to the Astral Plane by chance during a dream, and serving the spiritual hierarchy in many other things that are routinely done to make life go on in the worlds of God.
Soul Travel is a means of hearing the Sound and seeing the Light of God, in a way which cannot be done in the human body. The Sound and Light are the wave upon which Soul rides back into the kingdom of heaven; they are the twin aspects of ECK. When an individual has gone through the phases of visions, dreams, Soul Travel, and the ECKshar consciousness and is an experienced traveler in all the regions of God, then he receives the enlightenment of God. This is God-Consciousness, and nothing more can be said about it here because words fail.
A Spiritual Exercise to Train the Imagination
The imaginative faculty within yourself is like a muscle. You're going to have to train it day after day. What you are actually doing is learning to become aware and observant of yourself in a different state of consciousness.
One way is to go to different places in your imagination. Maybe you'll want to re-create a plane ride: I'm sitting in the airplane seat. What do I see? What do the people look like? What happens when i walk down the aisle? What is on the food tray?
As you go through the day, you'll find yourself looking at objects and making mental notes, because that physical information about the dresser or the clothes in your closet will be helpful when you sit down in your chair and try to visualize it for Soul Travel.
The Power of Love
As dramatic as classic Soul Travel experiences are, it is just as exciting to recognize the presence of God's love in your everyday life. This expanded awareness is another benefit of Soul Travel and the Spiritual Exercises of ECK.
A woman I'll call Ann was having a difficult time with her husband, whom I'll call Thomas. He did not like the fact that Ann followed the practices of Eckankar, which, of course, included the Spiritual Exercises of ECK. So anytime she tried to do the spiritual exercises, he would come in and disturb her. She would sometimes go to a far corner of their home, or she'd try it at different times during the day. But their schedules were such that they were home together most of the time. And Thomas would always interrupt her.
Ann, however, was patient. She never said anything, but she often wondered, What can I do to help him understand the beauty and treasure I've found in the teachings of ECK? How can I ever get him to understand this?
She asked the Mahanta, the Inner Master, "What can I do to help my husband understand why I love the ECK?"
Ann went to an Eckankar seminar, and while there she attended a workshop titled, "Recognizing God's presence In Your Everyday Life."
At the workshop she began sharing experiences from her own life. Apparently the audience enjoyed it, because they were laughing. Warm, encouraging, supportive laughter. She felt like she belonged. These people understood.
At the end of the workshop, she had the answer to her question of how to talk to her husband about ECK. She realized that she could talk about the coincidences that occur. That she could do.
During the weekend, she had been looking for some little gift for him, because she loves Thomas very dearly. But she couldn't find anything until it was time to leave for home. Then, following an inner nudge, she found herself in the hotel lobby. Ann stood there wondering, Well why did that inner nudge tell me to come here? Then she saw a light coming from around the corner. It belonged to a little shop that was still open. Up on a shelf, she saw some old CDs. She looked through them, and there was an old album by the Platters from the 1950's. They were a very popular singing group back then. Ann had only five dollars and some change in cash, so she knew the gift could not be a very expensive one. And guess what—the CD was five dollars plus tax. So she bought it, put it in her luggage, and flew home.
Thomas picked her up at the airport. On their way home he told her about something very important and heartwarming that had happened to him. He has an act in a club, and during one of his performances, there was a surprise guest. The man had come to the club to enjoy dinner and a show, and after wards he made himself known to Thomas. It turned out to be someone Thomas had performed with many years ago. This man had gone on to join the singing group, the Platters.
An didn't have time to tell him about the gift because his story took the whole ride home. When they got inside, she reached in her bag, and pulled out the CD, and gave it to him.
Thomas just stood there, his eyes wide open and his mouth hanging open too. As she began to laugh, he said, "It's this thing between us."
"It's what I call the work of Holy Spirit, the ECK," she said,"This is more than a coincidence. You can see that. The ECK did it for a reason." And suddenly Thomas had an insight to what this path she practiced was all about.
After that, Thomas was much more open to her practicing the Spiritual Exercises of ECK. And at last report, he disturbed her much less than what he had before.
Well, such is the power of love. On both sides — Ann's love for her husband, and his love for her.
I Know Where It Is!
"Fred" tells of an experience that told him there was something to Eckankar, HU, Soul Travel, and maybe even the Spiritual Eye, although he wasn't a member of Eckankar.
Fred and his wife, whom I'll call Paula live in Canada. Paula originally came from Germany, and after they'd become settled in Canada, they went back to Germany to get her belongings.
When they were ready to start packing up her things, Paula said," You take care of everything in the office and mark the boxes Office. Take care of the files and whatever else you find in there."
So Fred went to it and put everything in boxes. In a short while, there were rows and rows of boxes stacked to the ceiling. After they'd been at this a day or so, Paula said,"Oh by the way, did you happen to see this certain file?" She described the file and said she needed it.
Fred said, "No, I don't know anything about the files. You just said pack them; I didn't read them." But Paula insisted, "We're just going to have to find it."
All these Office boxes were mixed in with the rest of the boxes. So as they had time, they pulled boxes down and looked for the file. This went on until the night before the moving company came to pick up the boxes. At this point Paula said, "I know how we can find it."
"What?" he said. By then it was late at night, and poor Fred was so tired.
Paula said, "Come in here to the couch. We'll sit down and do a contemplation."
"What?" he said again. Paula hadn't talked to him too much about contemplation or anything.
"We'll sing HU," she said.
Fred had heard about HU, the holy name for God, just one time before. But he was too tired to argue. So he sat down on the couch with his wife, and she said,"Put your attention at the Spiritual Eye, which is just a little above, and behind your eyebrows."
They sang HU. Fred felt a slight pressure up there. Then suddenly, just as clearly as a slide projector throwing a picture up on a white screen, he saw the box. He saw the row, and he saw where it was in the row. They came out of contemplation and he said to Paula,"I know where the box is."
They went into the room, and Fred located the box in the second row, third box back from the wall, at a certain height. Paula started digging into that box, and Fred said," You'll find that the file is upside-down in the box. That's why we couldn't find it before."
Paula found a file that was upside-down. She pulled it out, and it was the very file they had been looking for all that time. They were both astounded.
Fred's first thought was, Well, maybe this was just partly something in my subconscious mind. "That's where it was dear; it was in my subconscious mind," he said.
"But you didn't open the file," said Paula. "You didn't even know what it was."
"That's right. You're right, dear," said Fred.
After all, what's a husband to say?
But he got to thinking, You know, she's told me about Soul Travel and Eckankar, and maybe there's just something to it."
May I See the Face of God?
I'd like to tell you about Kristy. Kristy has written to me many times in the past and has often mentioned Misha, her beautiful Siamese cat.
He's got this quiet way of walking; he's like a ghost, moving very quietly. Kristy will be working at her desk; then the next moment, right on the sofa next to her is Misha. Kristy never hears him come. He'll appear in the kitchen; suddenly, there's Misha, just to be near her. He's a very dignified cat, very stately. He has these piercing, penetrating, loving eyes.
One day Kristy was going to do a spiritual exercise. She sat down, and this one question came. It had been through her mind a couple of times before, and she had always forgotten about it.But this time it came: "May I see the face of God?"
So this time, in contemplation, she dared to ask the Inner Master, "May I see the face of God?" She had the courage to ask.
Kristy sat there quietly, listening for anything, looking on her inner screen. Looking, listening. Then she heard this funny little sound. She listened, and it wasn't a sound from the inner planes. It was some sound out here. Strange,she thought,I've never heard that peculiar sound before. What could it be? It couldn't be Misha. Misha walks like a ghost.I never hear Misha walking anywhere. Misha just appears.
So Kristy focused her attention, got rid of all those little thoughts that try to take a person's attention away from the Third Eye—that little place back by the pineal gland in the middle of the head. She looked there, her eyes shut, and crowded out all these outside noises and distractions. She heard that sound again. She wondered, Shall I peek?
She opened her eyes, and sitting right in front of her, and looking right into her eyes, was Misha. He was just looking at her: wise, eternal, so full of love. Kristy looked at him and thought, If ever there was a huge symbol of love, it was Misha. And what is God? God is love. So in answer to my question, May I see the face of God? I hear this little sound; Misha makes this little sound he's never made before. I open my eyes and realize then that the love of God is all around me, as near and dear as Misha.
So Kristy laughed and laughed, because it was like a divine joke to teach her the truth— to help her through the illusion of "Where is this face of God?"
Kristy saw truth. It's all around you. The Light of God is in every person. Enjoy the good in others. Overlook and forgive the negative where Soul needs to polish.
An Advanced Spiritual Exercise to Explore the Levels of Heaven
A spiritual exercise that will be of help in the dream state and also with Soul Travel is called the Formula technique. It can help you reach any level from the Second to the Fifth planes.
You may want to go to the Astral Plane, which corresponds with the emotional body, to find out why there is an emotional bond with another person.
The third level, the Causal Plane, is where you find the seed of all karma created in the past and learn about the past lives that influence you today.
The Mental Plane is where the mental processes originate, where inspiration and ideas may be found in whatever field you are interested in. At the top of this fourth level is the Etheric Plane, which corresponds to the sub-conscious or unconscious attitudes that motivate you.
Then comes the Soul Plane, the level of Self Realization, the first of the true spiritual worlds.
Sometimes you may have an experience on the inner planes and wonder whether it happened on the Astral, Causal, or Mental Plane.
It can be tricky to distinguish the difference. Many of the experiences on the Mental Plane and the Astral Plane, for instance, are similar enough that sometimes you can't tell on which plane they occurred. It would be nice if someone held up a brightly painted sign in the dream state: "You have arrived on the Astral Plane." But you can't count on it.
The Formula technique is like a visitor's pass to the other planes. It can even be used by a first or second initiate to visit the Soul Plane.
This spiritual exercise, which takes about fifteen or twenty minutes, is done at bedtime. It's very simple, and it goes with the sound of HU, a holy name for God.
To reach the second, or Astral, Plane, use Formula Two. Chant HU two times, then breathe deeply two times. Repeat it again—chant HU twice, then breathe deeply twice. Then do it again, chant HU two times, breathe two times.
You don't have to set your timer, because all of a sudden you will know that it's time to stop chanting and go to sleep. If you do the spiritual exercise lying on your back, just roll over, make yourself comfortable, and very gently hold the thought Formula Two in mind as you drift off to sleep.
Going to the third, or Causal Plane, the plane of seed karma and past lives, is equally simple with Formula Three: Chant HU three times, and breathe deeply three times. Repeat it again—three HUs, three breaths. Keep doing this until you know within that its time to quit. As you go to sleep, very gently, without becoming locked on it, try to hold the thought of Formula Three.
You can aim for the Mental Plane by chanting four HUs, taking four deep breaths, and falling asleep with Formula Four lightly in mind.
To visit the Soul Plane, chant HU five times, breathe five times, and gently think Formula Five.
If you wake up and remember something that happened on the inner planes, try to write it down right then, because you'll probably forget most of it by morning.
When writing the experiences in your dream journal, you will find it helpful to write at the top of the page which formula you used, to help you remember what you were trying to achieve that night. Then add the date, and write down the experience. Eventually you will develop a feel for which plane you should be working on that evening.
Once you have any degree of success with this Formula technique, you will start to see a different texture to the experiences on each plane. Try to see if there is a thread that runs through them. In one way or another, Soul will try to come through to give you what you need to know for your spiritual unfoldment.
Writing these experiences down as they come is a most difficult discipline. But if you can get in the habit, you will find the full spectrum of you life slowly opening to you, like the petals of a flower.
From the book, The Call of Soul © 2012 Eckankar – Sri Harold Klemp
