Mystical Teachings

Dennis Harp published in Mystical Teachings, Physics

Points to Ponder

What You Are

You can live as you choose.

But you can’t change what you are.

And eventually you will choose to learn what you are.

Just Spent a Lifetime Doing What?!!

Overall, at age 18, my NDE was the most magnificent experience in my life, until my experience of an instant of God Consciousness at age 31.

The most devastating, depressing moment of my life was when my brain shut down during my NDE and everything became perfect stillness within a black void, and I realized that life until that moment had been completely hollow, devoid of substance.  There was nothing from that lifetime that I was taking with me.  Later I recharacterized that realization with the question of I just spent a lifetime doing what?!  I had accomplished nothing.  Fortunately, I only needed to suffer that realization for the instant it took to spring into the awareness that I had popped out of my body and entered into what must be heaven.  And I believed nothing could possibly be better than this for 12 years, until I experienced of an instant of God Consciousness, which was infinitely greater.

And in large measure, at the instant of death when we realize we have nothing to take with us from the physical realm, we realize the lie of the Doctrine of Materialism.  Because as long as we believe nothing exists beyond the physical realm, we are denying our opportunity to explore the universe beyond the physical realm.

You never learned how to separate consciousness from the body, and one must learn how to do this to be on the way to being free of the realms of time and space.

God is Smarter Than You

God is smarter than you.  However, as creation stories indicate, God realized individual consciousness couldn’t evolve in an eternal, or static realm, and so, created the realms of time and space where causality is perceived so consciousness can reason and come to understand the structure and rationale of the universe.  The ultimate, inevitable goal was for each individual to eventually return to the eternal realm and share in the consciousness of God.  In fact, there have always been spiritual masters available to train those who are ready for the discipline of contemplation, where consciousness can be separated from our bodies of time and space, and attain realization of the eternal realm beyond time and space.

However, there has never been a literal explanation of how this could possibly be true, so the very few in history who achieved this Enlightenment found their motivation through faith alone, and practiced contemplation sometimes for decades before realizing success.  Of course, spiritual teachings also say Enlightenment can be obtained through Grace alone, which evidently involves focusing on Love to the point where one fully realizes the Love of God within themselves.  But let’s restrict this discussion to those who choose to become sufficiently adept at exploring the universe through separation of consciousness in order to find God.

The good news is that with the development of quantum mechanics, there is a very simple interpretation of quantum mechanics which reveals that the mystical teachings which have been in existence for thousands of years are completely consistent with modern theoretical physics.  In fact, one of the most fundamental principles of theoretical physics, the Correspondence Principle, demands that if two apparently conflicting theories of the universe are true, there must be an interpretation revealing how each theory validates the other. In other words, faith in spiritual teachings alone is no longer necessary.  Belief in physics through a perfectly literal interpretation of quantum mechanics guarantees that Enlightenment is real and within anyone’s grasp.  The fundamental role of science has always been to reveal that when one understands certain aspects of the universe, one can then utilize this to learn to manipulate the universe to one’s advantage.  Spiritual teachings have always maintained that Enlightenment is inevitable.  Theoretical physics now tells us we can dramatically speed up that process.

What to Do in Eternity?

Life, or existence in the Eternal Realm is quite different than existence in the realms of time and space.  It has been often said that in the Eternal Realm there is cause, but no effect.  In the realms of time and space, there is cause and effect, but the effect is not on the states within time and space.  All quantum mechanical states exist simultaneously and eternally.  The only effects are on consciousness, gradually realizing its true nature.  In other words, if one wants to accomplish something of true value, one’s efforts must serve the goal of the awakening of consciousness, which is to become a co-worker with God.

AI

Should we worry about AI eliminating the human race?  I sincerely doubt it.  In my view, the physical realm exists in large measure as a laboratory to work through our personal episodes of poor judgement.  Besides that, whatever our environment turns out to be in any lifetime, one can rest assured it will be precisely what we each need for our evolution. And if AI ruins life on a particular planet, the next incarnation will offer plenty of new challenges.

The Bottom Line

Based on my understanding and experience within theoretical physics and spiritual studies, the ultimate prize is to establish one’s consciousness in the realm beyond time and space.  In a fundamental way, this is a solitary journey, and the journey itself must be experienced by the individual.

If you were to believe in the notion that 10,000 hours of practice makes one an expert at anything, then investing one hour in meditation or contemplation every day might result in Enlightenment in roughly 30 years.  Of course there are plenty of counterexamples to the 10,000 hours theory, and who is to say how much time you have already invested during other lifetimes?  Nonetheless, Enlightenment is not likely to be obtained over a weekend.

And there are very good reasons for this.  The conscious mind seems to adapt best to gradual change.  I remember clearly the first time I experienced a conscious Out-of-Body experience during contemplation.  As is fairly common for me, I tend to lose awareness for a while during contemplation and whatever experiences I have then are without awareness.  Then I pop back into awareness and become abruptly aware of something new and completely different.  So the first time this happened to me, I found myself flying above a beautiful jungle canopy.  This may not seem all that dramatic, but my conscious mind instantly freaked out and immediately put a stop to the experience.  Over time as I had more such experiences, my conscious mind became more familiar with these instantaneous transitions and allowed me to remain aware of OBE activity for longer periods.

It is also important to realize that one’s imagination and reality might need to engage in a sort of balancing act.  There is nothing wrong with using the imagination to mock up a scenario for your OBE evolution.  However, expectations are capable of interfering with some particular aspect of spiritual evolution you might need at some point.  I remember posing the question many, many times why my expectations hadn’t yet been fulfilled.  Eventually I received very clear spoken guidance on this: “What can you accept?”  All of the states I wanted to experience already existed, and all I needed to do was to become aware of them, but my mind was doing a spectacular job of getting in the way.  Spiritual guides exist for fundamental reasons.  They know exactly what experiences we need, while we generally do not. In any case, you are consciousness.  Consciousness is not finite.  You will eventually realize the various truths about yourself and accept them.  This takes time.  The mind is the interface that must be managed throughout this process, and it has been forming its cherished patterns of behavior for many lifetimes.  If change occurs too quickly it might be unable to continue the process.  Remember, time is an illusion.  It is not important how quickly evolution occurs.  It only matters that it happens, but focusing your attention and energy will determine how quickly your personal journey evolves.  Enjoy the ride.

Commentary on God Consciousness

Since the experience of God Consciousness itself cannot be accurately described, I believe it may be useful instead to describe some of its aspects.  Assuming a singular universe, the experience of God Consciousness is the experience of absolutely everything in its static, unchanging state.  As such, this could be described as the one, foundational truth of the universe.  All other experiences and truths are derivative of this one truth and can only be understood within a particular context.  All teachers capable of facilitating this experience for an individual teach exactly the same truth, and this one teaching has manifested throughout history within societies sufficiently tolerant to its message.  The name of the teaching has varied throughout time, as well as attempted descriptions of its substance, which have most recently come to be identified as all quantum mechanically allowable states in simultaneous existence, and all experienced simultaneously in the realm beyond the mind, which is beyond time and space.  The teachers who facilitate this experience exist eternally beyond time and space, and have complete freedom to manifest their existence at any point in time and space to provide their guidance.

This is where all valid teachings of God Consciousness become equivalent.  And this is how you achieve fundamental discrimination among all the spiritual teachings.  Teachings focusing on power, or prosperity, or psychic techniques fall infinitely short of God Consciousness.  However, if they focus on the path to God Consciousness early on, then this might indeed be a true teaching.  And another qualification is whether the teaching has a living master who can meet with an unlimited number of students on the inner for guidance.  Of course a physical, living master is not essential, as there are many masters who no longer run physical bodies but are available for guidance on the inner.  However, the physical existence of a living master with whom you consciously meet in contemplation, bolsters reason and motivation to believe that if that a person in a physical body can attain God Consciousness, then so can you, because they are no different from you.

It seems the entire point of the physical realm is little more than to keep us busy solving an endless series of puzzles until we eventually determine what is truly important.  When one attains God Consciousness, there are no more puzzles.

GodFlix Account

Your account has accessed an extremely limited scope of selections over the past many millennia.  Take advantage of our eternally free offer of unlimited access to the multiverse and beyond.  To upgrade your account, simply engage with a Spiritual Guide capable of facilitating the experience of God Consciousness to hook you up with a wireless, optico-acoustical (light and sound) connection.  The remote control might take a significant amount of practice to master, but the vast array of selections should be more than satisfying while you get used to your new tuner.

Spiritual Wrap-Up

So, you know what you are; Consciousness, which utilizes a mind and various bodies to interact within the realms of time and space.  And you are aware that you will continue to reincarnate in the realms of time and space until you attain a sufficient degree of Enlightenment in the eternal realm beyond time and space.  Such Enlightenment is realized through a contemplative, empirical exploration of the universe by separating Consciousness from the mind and your various bodies.  Understanding these principles allows you to realize that the chain of reincarnation can be broken through your personal effort, begun at a time of your choosing.

However, if it is your decision to attain Enlightenment, it is important to remember Buddha’s saying that Meditation without Understanding is Blind.  Meditation, or Contemplation, does indeed provide the means of exploration of the Universe sufficient to attain Enlightenment, but at each moment, there are an infinite number of choices leading to an infinite number of futures, and how do we know which choices will provide the shortest path to Enlightenment?  In all honesty, the individual does not know which path is best, and so a teacher, a guide is essential.

So how do you pick a teacher?  Perhaps the first consideration is to determine what that teacher offers.  If the teacher speaks only of time and space experiences, then they may well be able to provide guidance to relevant experiences in the lower planes, but likely not sufficient to attain Enlightenment.  And does this teacher not only describe spiritual experiences, but do they also accompany you on the inner to provide guidance?  Only the consciousness of Spirit itself can clearly see the best possible path for the seeker, so for the best possible guidance, look for a teaching which has a Living Master.  One who has made the complete journey, and returns to assist all who genuinely seek God Consciousness.  Such a Living Master is not likely to appear in all of your contemplative experiences, but they are not opposed to making occasional, or even frequent appearances in your inner journeys.

I have found that whether one seeks the treasures of physicality or of a spiritual nature, whenever material wealth or new spiritual experiences are attained, it is only a matter of days until one desires more.  Of course, material gains keep one firmly attached to the lowest manifestations, while inner experiences provide genuine progress to Enlightenment, but it is not until one successfully detaches from the limitations of the mind, allowing Consciousness to experience the entire universe in that eternal instant, that one finally escapes desire altogether, because at that moment, you realize you have everything.  Of course, you have always had the entire universe, but you weren’t yet aware of it.  And to achieve the greatest significance of this event, the gift of Enlightenment must be shared with the rest of Consciousness in the universe, and thus multiplied many times over.  At this point, one takes on the only genuine role possible––that of the Teacher.

How Could a Loving God Allow Such Suffering?

It depends upon your point of view.  While in a physical existence, suffering can be an apparently unbearable burden, often with little to no understanding of its cause.  However, with the release gained through death, suffering can instantly transform into something having no more substance than a fading memory.  The euphoria gained through the loss of the physical body can more than compensate for torture suffered while bound to the physical body.

In contrast, a Spiritual Master’s point of view is from the eternal realm beyond time and space.  Such an individual views all aspects of the realms of time and space for what they truly are, without any need or desire of them.  And that is a static collection of all quantum mechanically allowable states, each with no more substance than an image.  A Master understands that those who have not yet escaped from the realms of time and space are constrained by the mind to experience these states in an apparently causal sequence, offering an abundance of opportunity for suffering. A Spiritual Master always stands ready to assist the seeker in experiencing the truth of the structure and meaning of the universe, but indulging artificial interpretations of an individual’s experience of time and space is counterproductive.  The eventual realization that space-time experiences are illusory can only come from the experience of God Consciousness.

Goldfish

So a dear friend of mine in graduate school once mentioned to me his favorite cartoon where two goldfish in a bowl are having a conversation, and one says to the other, “Well if there’s no God, then who changes the water?”  He was an avowed atheist and I think this was his best argument for the lack of proof of God.  For over 40 years I’ve found this mildly amusing, but never bothered to consider any deeper message, until I was finally struck by a fundamental truth it related.

When it comes to religion, don’t trust any goldfish who has never had an OBE (Out-of-Bowl Experience).  And so, when discussing spiritual matters with others, it could be extremely significant whether they have had a near-death experience, or actually experienced the realm beyond time and space through meditation or contemplation.  Of course those experiences can subsequently be misinterpreted by the mind, and in so doing result in confusion, but experience should always trump conclusions obtained without any experiential basis.

Why is the Universe the Way it Is?

So You’re in the Market for a Universe

TUSPU

So you’re a new God and you’re trying to decide what type of universe to buy, and you come across this description on Amazon:  Self-generating eternal universe with zero maintenance and upkeep.  Just step back and watch it go Bang!  Automatically generates all possible wavelengths, which in turn generate all possible interference patterns.  Now the best feature of this model is that it is quantum mechanical, which means all allowable states exist simultaneously and eternally.  Of course this is a static universe, which by itself will not allow consciousness to evolve.  However, included in the package of interference patterns is the self-generating causality filter subsystem which automatically selects interference pattern sequences which are sufficiently similar to establish the belief of cause and effect within consciousness.  This is the MIND (Materially Inducing Neural Delusion) Subsystem which provides infinite entertainment for consciousness, while gradually allowing it to discern truth from illusion.

Of course there will be a small number of individual Souls which will occasionally develop the ability to separate consciousness from MIND, and thereby create an informational database documenting the actual structure and purpose of the universe, but this will be nearly completely ignored.  The subset of MIND units of consciousness generally identified as scientists will take at least several thousand years to be able to understand and validate the teachings of those who have solved the meaning of the universe.

The static nature of this universe is especially beneficial for dealing with those times when certain populations of Souls get out of hand, making it impossible for significant numbers of units of consciousness to make appropriate spiritual progress.  Since each unit of consciousness is simply watching images in causal sequences, all that must be done for putting any part of the universe back in working order is to simply reset MIND for the affected units of consciousness, give each unit of consciousness a small amount of starting karma, and you’re back in operation.  And with universal entanglement, this ensures the vast preponderance of all units of consciousness will be back on track for their gradual unfoldment.  Nearly everyone believing in the same illusion.  What could be better?

Copenhagen universes with their continuous need for reinflation can instantly bankrupt lesser Gods, so go with the best, TUSPU, The Ultimate Scratch-Proof Universe.  Comes with eternal warranty.

Well, it could be …

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Dennis Harp published in Mystical Teachings

Mystical Teachings

Why Are We Here?

What is the point of myriad existences and lifetimes? The answer comes from a simplistic interpretation of a creation story reduced to its essence.

Existence within space and time is simply God’s version of Distance Education, or Virtual Learning. It doesn’t matter how long this education takes, because time is part of the illusion. The outcome is inescapable. Sufficient experience will eventually ensure that consciousness will discriminate between truth and illusion. And since we are merely viewing a sequence of states as one would view frames of a movie reel, the universe doesn’t even get used up in the process.

Whether one approves of God’s education system or not, the only path to freedom seems to go through and beyond the realms of time and space. And the most straightforward means of achieving this appears to be the development of separation of consciousness from body and mind, under the guidance of one who has mastered the technique.

It is said that when one attains mastership of consciousness, one gains the freedom to choose how to interact within the universe. Physical birth is no longer necessary. Once mastership has been obtained, it is only necessary to manifest a body within any particular realm. The entire universe is available to you, as it is, and always has been for all consciousness.

All of the foregoing exists as a means to understand the true nature of the universe, which allows us to function with complete freedom within it. There couldn’t be a chapter in the Bible about The Big Bang, because the concept didn’t exist when it was written. But now that we have developed a sufficient understanding of quantum mechanics, we can see that an empirical understanding of the universe can only be attained by going beyond time and space.

If you find this to be sufficient motivation for your personal pursuit of Enlightenment, the universe awaits you. But remember, the universe is very large. It doesn’t matter whether one’s initial motivation comes from an NDE, a meditative vision, or perhaps an astral travel experience, one needs sufficient motivation to pursue the ultimate. The spiritual journey is all about personal, empirical experience, but mystical teachings warn us that if our experiences are only within the realms of time and space, the End-of-Life will necessarily result in the continuation of the cycle of reincarnations. Since the realms of time and space are infinite, experience while within them can never be complete. If we choose to have complete spiritual freedom, we must focus our attention beyond the lower realms.

The only way to reliably complete this journey in a single lifetime is to have a guide. And that guide must be completely familiar with the entire path necessary to accomplish your purpose. Such a guide will often be referenced in the materials which follow, so it must be defined as clearly as possible. The guide will be referred to as Spirit.

God is the Source of All, and Spirit is its Voice.

There are many Spiritual Guides who serve as channels for Spirit.

These Guides Dwell in God Consciousness Continuously and are Always Available.

If you are tired of creeping along, lifetime after lifetime, locked within time and space, the focus must shift to the attainment of Universal Consciousness within that lifetime. It can be done, with the attainment of complete freedom as a result.

Mission

Since contemplation provides the means to achieve realization beyond time and space, it is necessary to understand the spectrum of teachings available to explore existence beyond the physical realm, as they are not all equivalent. First, the most common spiritual experiences don’t go very far beyond the physical realm. Many of the spiritual offerings on the web speak of teaching communication with those who have passed away, astral travel, or spiritual healing and the like. These can all be valid and potentially beneficial pursuits, but they don’t take one beyond the realms of time and space. However, even though these out-of-the-body activities might be within the realms of time and space, they can be sufficiently dramatic and euphoric that many feel there couldn’t be anything greater. It took me twelve years after my own Near-Death-Experience to conclude that I hadn’t visited Heaven that day. And no out-of-body experience should be demeaned, as developing facility in leaving the body can be immensely valuable.

However, if you prefer to not be bound to reincarnation, many spiritual teachings agree that only God Consciousness can fulfill that desire. If this is the case, the study you choose should clearly identify this as the fundamental focus of the teaching, and provide the means to obtain it. This will be explored further in the study materials to follow. However, keep in mind that whatever teaching you follow, it should affirm two principal points from the introductory videos:

  • Causal Existence within Time & Space is Illusory
  • Conscious Existence Outside the Body and Beyond Time & Space is Possible, and Provides the Means to Explore the Universe and Attain God Consciousness

As a generalization, any teaching which does not embrace and promote the attainment of God Consciousness is fundamentally equivalent to the acceptance of endless rounds of reincarnation.

Of those teachings which explicitly mention God Consciousness, the Vedanta Society maintains a clear position on the attainment and significance of God Consciousness. They teach that it can only be attained through realization and practice.

Kabbalah, the mystical side of Judaism, speaks clearly, if infrequently, of the experience of God Consciousness. In Kabbalah—Tradition of hidden knowledge, Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi describes the experience: “A heightened physical awareness changes into a psychological lucidity which then transforms into a profound consciousness of the totality of the universe and the Presence of Divinity. One is in direct contact with all the Worlds at once, and perceives both the complexity and the unity of everything. Although the moment may last just one second, it is always unforgettable.” This statement is consistent with first-hand accounts of the event, although I find it puzzling that God Consciousness is mentioned so rarely in Kabbalah.

I have studied Eckankar for over 40 years.  It is a revival of a teaching that is said to have existed throughout time, emerging in different countries at different times in history. It is headquartered in the U.S. and offers courses of study throughout the world. Eckankar acknowledges that there are many paths to God Consciousness, and prioritizes spending as little time as possible in the realms of time and space.

There are other historical mystical teachings which similarly embrace the promotion of God Consciousness and no one teaching will be best for everyone. It is not uncommon for an individual to study more than one teaching before finding the approach which suits them best. And remember that an exalted state of consciousness is attained through empirical means. The experience of such states depends completely upon your willingness to attune yourself to the Voice of Spirit, whether it is channeled through a Spiritual Master who has completed their own such journey, or directly from Spirit Itself.

According to Buddha, Meditation without Understanding is Blind. Going a step further, Life without Understanding is also Blind.

There are 5 questions that must be answered to be able to achieve the most fundamental goals of existence.

What Are We?

Where Are We?

Where Are We Going?

How Do We Get There?

Why Are We Here?

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lum-admin published in Mystical Teachings

Contemplation

Since my practice of contemplation began with my study of Eckankar, all of my comments relating to this will most directly relate to my experiences within this teaching.  Therefore, one should bear in mind that what follows is most closely related to my personal understanding rather than a rigid description of Eckankar’s contemplative program.

Expectations

Upon discovering this teaching, I read all the Eck books I could, as quickly as I could, and this included descriptions of a great many personal contemplative experiences of various Eck masters.  Commonly, as soon as I read each of these accounts, I expected that I should be able to replicate their experience within contemplation.  I did this for quite some time and it didn’t work at all for a very simple reason.  I thought I could judge which experiences I needed, and that was generally unrealistic.  The result was that I eventually accepted that I had very little understanding of how my spiritual understanding should progress, and that rather than attempting to repeat the specific experiences of others, I should start each contemplation by asking my spiritual guide (most commonly called the Mahanta, the inner manifestation of the Living Eck Master) to guide me to experiences most beneficial for my spiritual growth.  This doesn’t mean I didn’t continue to try a few things on my own, but requesting guidance from the Inner Master is generally the best strategy.

Most fundamentally, I believe the reason for this is simply the infinite extent of the universe.  Since the attainment of God Consciousness is considered to be inevitable, there is no concern whether one will attain this state, but only when it happens.  This was highlighted for me one day in contemplation when I abruptly became aware that I was driving a huge truck in a desert that seemed to extend infinitely in all directions.  I was overwhelmed by the pointlessness to go in any particular direction, as it was absurd to believe I could guess the right direction to go.  And this revealed the infinite value of always being able to request guidance that leads to achieving complete freedom throughout the universe in the minimum amount of time.

Chanting

A central aspect of contemplation is the repetition of one or more words aloud or silently, and that these words are spiritually charged.  I do not doubt that repeating certain words can promote spiritual experiences, but I am not aware why these words would have this capability.  However, whether I understand it or not, I can relate that I have found such chanting to be fundamentally beneficial in facilitating separation of consciousness from the body.

Of all the words that are chanted during contemplation, Om, or Aum are probably the most familiar.  For the remainder of this section on contemplation, I will focus on my experiences within the Spiritual Exercises of Eckankar.  They incorporate a number of words to be chanted during one’s contemplation which one can find here.  And since Eckankar has a specific emphasis on the realization of one’s consciousness within the realms beyond time and space, the most frequently suggested word suggested for chanting during contemplation is HU.

Beyond any spiritual significance, one obvious reason for repeatedly chanting a single word is that the mind has a tendency to lose awareness when performing the repetition of such a simple task.  If the task is not to focus on anything at all, as might be the case while falling asleep, then the result might be a simple lack of any awareness for a night’s sleep.  However, if one’s intention is contemplation, one’s inner guide may facilitate realization of whatever experience would be most beneficial at that time.  This inner guide, most frequently the Mahanta, the Living Eck Master, is responsible for facilitating your progress to God Consciousness.  And if this capability seems absurdly unlikely, your reaction is completely reasonable.  However, starting slowly, the Mahanta gradually makes his presence known during one’s contemplation sessions until it is well established that he can communicate with you directly. 

Of course one can chant for an extended period and not become aware of any experience related to out-of-the body travel.  In my own experience, this is most commonly due to my tendency to engage in an ongoing mental conversation within myself, often without even being aware of my inner dialogue.  I found I could largely avoid this obstacle by performing a kind of programming for my unconscious mind where I repetitiously command myself not react to anything happening during my chanting.  Something along the lines of, Whatever happens, do not react in any way.  Always look straight ahead and don’t think at all.”  Of course that is far too much dialogue to be effective, so I would shorten this to something like, “Don’t React.  Don’t React.  Don’t React.  …”  With practice, I found I could largely suppress any reactions in order to sustain awareness while truly astounding things were happening around me.  The more one practices something like this, the greater one’s awareness will become.

A variant of this form of programming can be very successfully utilized to accomplish lucid dreaming.  If one wishes to accomplish various actions in one’s dreams, one might say to one’s self:  “Tonight when I am dreaming, I will remember to look at my hand, and this will remind me to take control in the dream.  I will be able to (fill in the blank, such as ‘Meet with the Mahanta’).”  Repeat this 50 – 100 times per day, and the results could be extraordinary.  Of course this is way too many words for self-programming, so I would shorten it to: Look at my hand.  Look at my hand.  Look at my hand.  … for perhaps 20 or so repetitions, several times during the day.  Initially this took just a few days before I actually gained control in my dreams, and it didn’t take long until the programming was very effective.  I haven’t used this for decades, but it was very productive and enjoyable for quite some time.

And one should realize that spiritual guidance isn’t limited to a special time set aside each day for contemplation.  Any time when you are faced with uncertainty of what action you should take, it is completely appropriate to have an inner conversation with the Mahanta regarding the most beneficial thing you should do.  This might only take a few seconds or minutes for a brief contemplation and it is important to realize that such guidance is always available.

Lack of Progress

If you become dissatisfied by a lack of progress, do not imagine you are the first to feel this way, and please realize there are many years’ worth of study materials available from a variety of mystical teachings, and specifically from the Eckankar website. 

Download a recording of the HU Song from the Eckankar website.

Comments on Other Mystical Teachings

Advaita Vedanta –– Advaita Vedanta recognizes a primary distinction between the realms of time and space (illusion), and the realm beyond time and space, called Brahman.  The founder of Advaita Vedanta, Shankara, describes Brahman as one changeless Eternal Reality.

Ramakrishna declared unequivocally that attainment of Divine Consciousness is not possible without the knowledge of Advaita, or Non-duality.  He said that as long as a man analyses with the mind, he cannot reach the Absolute.  As long as you reason with your mind, you have no way of getting rid of the universe and the objects of the senses—form, taste, smell, touch, and sound.  Sri Ramakrishna repeatedly disparaged reasoning, argumentation, discussion, and futile debate about spiritual matters, because spirituality is a matter of realization and practice—no amount of book-learning can bring the knowledge of God, and no amount of dry discussion without sadhana and first-hand experience can have the final word about God.  Vivekananda said, “This is the watchword of the Vedanta—realize religion, no talking will do.”

Kabbalah –– There is considerable agreement between Kabbalah and Vedanta on a number of points.  Both agree on the structural aspects of existence in that both space/time and eternal realms exist, and that contemplation offers a means to separate consciousness from the body and mind in order to directly experience God Consciousness in the Eternal Realm.  As Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi, a modern teacher of Jewish mysticism describes the experience, “A heightened physical awareness changes into a psychological lucidity which then transforms into a profound consciousness of the totality of the universe and the Presence of Divinity.  One is in direct contact with all the Worlds at once, and perceives both the complexity and the unity of everything.  Although the moment may last just one second, it is always unforgettable.”

Of course there are several other mystical teachings through the ages which have provided spiritual guidance for the attainment of God Consciousness. A representative example would be Sikhism. The first of its leaders was Guru Nanak Dev Ji who was born in 1469 in India. There were a total of ten living gurus who led this teaching, ending with Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who vested spiritual authority in the Holy Sikh Scriptures in 1708 (the Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the combined teachings of all the living gurus). Predictably, the teachings of God Consciousness have manifested at various times and provided the inner guidance to attain experience within the Eternal Realm until the teaching lost viability, to later be replaced by another version of the same teaching when society once again could support its existence. In my studies I have only had time to dig deeply into the teachings of Eckankar, but by definition, God Consciousness cannot change over time.

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