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.
