The Transforming Power of the Spiritual Exercises of ECK
Beyond prayer is contemplation.
Contemplation is a method that enables you to begin to go out and actively explore your inner worlds of your own being. It is different than meditation, a passive state in which the practitioner goes within and quietly waits for the light.
If you have never used contemplation or a spiritual exercise before, and you would like to compare it to prayer, then pray in the evening before you go to bed, and try a spiritual exercise later. You can look to Jesus or anyone else when following the instructions given for any spiritual exercise given in this book. Try it for yourself and see if there is a difference in how prayer works for you and how a spiritual exercise works for you.
Gaining Spiritual Strength
Many years ago i read the story of Milo of Croton, who became known as the strongest man in his country. He began to build his strength by walking the streets of ancient Greece with a baby calf perched on his back. With each passing day the animal grew a little bigger, a little bit heavier. But because Milo kept up the practice everyday, Milo barely noticed it. His strength increased proportionately, so that at no point was the weight too much for him to carry. By the time the calf was a full sized bull, Milo was acknowledged as the strongest man in Croton.
This, in effect, is how the Mahanta helps the student of ECK to build strength. It starts with a little bit of truth, given each day, like carrying a baby calf. Then you get a little bit more and a little bit more. As you move on in the initiations of Eckankar (sacraments that mark spiritual awakenings), you grow increasingly stronger, until finally your spiritual strength becomes more than anyone could imagine.
Milo liked to challenge other men by closing his hand around a pomegranate and daring anyone to take it from him. Others would try to pry his hand open, squeezing and pulling on his fingers with all their might. Only when they finally gave up would he release his grip. He'd hold out his hand to display an unbruised pomegranate. This feat not only proved his great strength, but also his ability to control it.
Spiritual strength is not the kind that needs to be shown off; one can be gentle or weak in the body yet strong in Spirit.
The Spiritual Exercises of ECK give you confidence in yourself. You learn that you are Soul, you are eternal. Then you know with certainty that you live forever, that death cannot destroy you.
The spiritual exercises work similarly to physical exercises. If you want your body to be strong and healthy, you've got to swim or run or do something to keep fit. For the Soul body, you do the Spiritual Exercises of ECK, a form of inner communication, also called contemplation.
These spiritual exercises link you with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which is seen as Light and heard as Sound. The inner Sound is the Voice of God calling us home. The inner Light is a beacon to light our way. All the Spiritual Exercises of ECK are built on these two divine aspects of the Holy Spirit.
A Change In Consciousness
Myra had two grandsons. On Saturday morning, they came over to visit. "Mark" is the older; he is thirteen. "Jimmy" is eleven.
Myra loves them dearly, so she joyfully greeted them. But then she said," But it's just about time for my spiritual exercises. You're free to stay out here or go to the den and watch cartoons on TV." They said,"No. No. We want to do a spiritual exercise with you." Myra said,"OK."
They all went into her bedroom and sat on her bed. "All right," she said, " look for the Light, and listen for the Sound. Look into your Spiritual Eye."
It wasn't five minutes before she heard snickering. Myra opened one eye. She's been around. She peeked. She saw her younger grandson, Jimmy, sitting with his hand covering his mouth, laughing. At the same time, Mark, the older boy, was whispering in one of those stage whispers, meant for Grandma's ears,no doubt. "She's making it up," he said, " She's making it up."
This aggravated Grandma. She said," You all get out of here and let me do my spiritual exercise." She's from the South, and she doesn't mess around.
Laughing and snickering, the boys left the room, and Myra sat there by herself. She likes her special HU sessions because of the love that comes through from the Mahanta. She feels all this love. So she settled in and began the spiritual exercise.
She was just getting into it, when she heard a very gentle knocking on the door. She opened her eyes, rolling them to the ceiling, and said,"What is it?" Mark, the older of the two, crept in, knowing he shouldn't be doing this. He said, "Can I do your spiritual exercise with you? Can I sing the HU with you? It calms me down and makes me feel better." "OK." said Myra. "But this time I'll walk you through it with an imaginative technique. And you can take it from there."
So Mark sat down. And, as Myra tells it, "Like an old hen with one chick, I put my wing around his shoulders, and we started to sing HU."
After awhile Myra became quiet. Then she described aloud the scene they were to visualize. She said,"We're walking on a beach. Feel the sun's warmth on your body." She took him through this spiritual exercise very nicely, step-by-step.
"Notice the wind blowing a breeze that plays with our hair. The silky sand is squishing between our toes. Notice the smell and sound of the waves rolling into shore to kiss the sand at our feet." Very much the poet.
"And look," she said. "There's a sailboat appearing on the horizon. Look, it's coming to shore, and there's the Mahanta at the tiller."
She described climbing into the boat, and the Mahanta sailing the boat to an island with a beautiful crystal castle on it. The Myra stopped talking and they sat quietly. They were listening, listening still on the edge of the bed.
Then Mark said to her in a soft voice," Uh, Grandma what color is that light?"
Myra's very down-to-earth. "What color do you see?"
"White."
"That's the best," said Myra.
"Hush," he said, "It's still there."
But Myra knew her moment to strike, and she replied softly, "Now am I making it up?"
Mark, trying to keep what he's got in his inner vision going, said, "N-o-o-o." No, she wasn't making it up; it was true.
Something was changing in Mark. Just like that — a change in consciousness.
Use Your Creative Abilities
Use your creative abilities to go a step further. Experiment with the spiritual exercises, and try new things. You're in you own God-worlds. I've gone to different extremes, trying very complicated exercises i developed for myself, dropping them when they didn't work anymore.
It's like a vein of gold running through a mountain. You're on it for awhile, and then the vein runs out and you have to scout around and find another one.
Are you learning something new everyday from what you're doing? Are you getting insight and help from within? This is what you ought to be working for.
You can try any of the following spiritual exercises to get you started.
A Simple Spiritual Exercise To Try
Try this simple spiritual exercise to help you see and hear the two aspects of God, the Light and Sound.
Go sit somewhere quiet. Sit or lie down in a comfortable place. Put your attention on your spiritual eye: a point just above and behind your eyebrows. With eyes lightly shut begin to sing a holy word or phrase, such as HU, God,Holy Spirit, or Show me Thy ways, o Lord. But fill your heart with love before you approach the altar of God, because only the pure may come.
Be patient. Do this exercise daily for several weeks, for a limit of twenty minutes each time. Sit, sing, and wait. God speaks only when you are able to listen.
There is more to the pursuit of God than luck.
Monkeys of the Mind Technique
When your mind jumps around you can visualize your thoughts as monkeys jumping around.
See what you can do to make them calm down instead of being mischievous. You're working with an imaginative technique here, which gives you a multitude of possibilities.
Visualize a door that you want to walk through, but you can't because the monkeys are jumping all around in front of it. Say to yourself, I've got to get the monkeys quieted down, then I can go through the door give the monkeys bright, attractive toys with bells, or feed them bananas. You can get so involved feeding the monkeys of the mind that you find that you're enjoying yourself.
Soul is now expressing itself.
As soon as you get them settled down, make a dash for the door. On the other side is the pure golden Light of God.
The monkeys of the mind are merely the guardians of the door. They'll do everything possible to keep you from going through. Once you figure a way to calm them down then you're ready to go beyond into the inner worlds.
Open-Eyed Exercise: Contemplation is Appreciation
Another word for contemplation is appreciation. Think about all the reasons you have to be grateful.
Think about the gifts in your life that have come from God, from the Holy Spirit, that make this life worth living. Think about the adventures that are coming, and be grateful for the strength to meet tomorrow.
Appreciate the gift of life.
True contemplation is a reflection on the blessings of God in your life. It's not complex, there are many ways to do it, and it will enrich you.
A Spiritual Exercise to Combine Contemplation and Dreams
A simple method of moving into the higher states of awareness is to combine contemplation and dreams. Find a quiet place for contemplation. For a period of fifteen to twenty minutes a day, shut your eyes and put attention on your Spiritual Eye. This is the spiritual organ of inner vision. It sits between the eyebrows about an inch and a half in.
Look gently at the imaginary screen between the eyebrows and softly sing Jesus,God,HU,or Mahanta, Wah Z* —is also acceptable.
Look for a blue light on the inner screen. This is the Light of God. There may not be this Light, but you may hear a Sound. The Sound is the other manifestation of the ECK, or Holy Spirit. It can be almost any sound of nature or a musical instrument that you can imagine. The Light and Sound, when they appear, are assurance of your contact with the Word of God.
The second part of this exercise is for the dream state. Prepare for sleep by singing one of the words given above. This is to set into motion an affinity for the Sound Current, the Holy Spirit. For a few minutes, sing the word you have chosen. When you are ready for sleep, imagine that you are walking in a park or watching a quiet sunset with someone you love. A loved one can open our heart and dispel any fear. Love is necessary if one is to enter into the awakened dream state.
Finally, keep a diary of whatever that comes to mind in contemplation or during your dream state. A mutual confidence will develop between your inner and outer selves, and the two techniques above will help accomplish that.
This is a good way to start the dream teachings of ECK.
* – The spiritual name of Sri Harold Klemp, the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master — spiritual leader of Eckankar and inner guide for those who follow Eckankar.
From the book, The Call of Soul © 2012 Eckankar – Sri Harold Klemp
