Ancient Wisdom for Today

ECK ANK AR • PO Box 2000 • Chanhassen, MN 55317-2000 USA (952) 380-2200 • Fax (952) 380-2295 • www.Eckankar.org Dear Seeker of Truth,

The purpose of ECKANKAR is to make God an everyday reality in your life.

It is to tie in the divine teachings with things that go on here on earth.

This gives you a greater understanding of how the Holy Spirit works in your life.

As Soul, you have the God-knowledge within you. My main job is to awaken the knowledge and love for the divine things that are already in your heart. You are Soul. You are a child of God. And your spiritual destiny is to become a Co-worker with God, to spread divine love to all those around you.

We are students in life; the education goes on all around us, every second of the day. Part of the learning comes from the ECK discourses sent to those who are ready for these highest teachings of God.

Before you can improve your life and find a measure of happiness, you must learn to do one thing every day out of pure love. That means, don’t expect anything in return—neither thanks nor happiness. Pick that occasion carefully.

Then, whatever that one act of giving of yourself to someone else is, do it with all your heart.

You need to learn to give, without ever thinking of a reward. That’s how to find the treasures of heaven.

Along with the daily practice of the spiritual exercises, study of the ECK

discourses brings Soul closer to the constant guidance and protection of the Mahanta, the Inner Master, which is extended to all who sincerely love truth.

The enclosed materials may help you decide if the benefits of ECK can meet your spiritual needs.

With blessings in ECK,

Harold Klemp

050632

E Religion of the Light and Sound of God ECKANKAR

Ancient Wisdom

for
Today

How past lives,

dreams, and Soul Travel

help you find God

ECKANKAR

Ancient Wisdom for Today

i

This book has been reviewed and pub-

lished under the supervision of the

Mahanta, the Living ECK Master,

Sri Harold Klemp.

ii

ECKANKAR

Ancient Wisdom for Today

E

ECKANKAR

Minneapolis

www.Eckankar.org

iii

ECKANKAR — Ancient Wisdom for Today
Copyright © 1993, 1995 ECKANKAR

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Eckankar.

The terms ECKANKAR, ECK, EK, MAHANTA,

SOUL TRAVEL, and VAIRAGI, among others, are trademarks of ECKANKAR, PO Box 2000, Chanhassen, MN 55317-2000 USA.

060124

Printed in USA

Compiled by Todd Cramer

Doug Munson

Edited by Joan Klemp

Anthony Moore

Mary Carroll Moore

Text photos by Bree Renz (page ix)

and Robert Huntley (page x)

Second edition—1995

Fifth printing— 2006

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication

(Prepared by Quality Books Inc.)

Eckankar : ancient wisdom for today / compiled by Todd Cramer and Doug Munson.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN: 1-57043-110-8

1. Eckankar (Organization) — Doctrines. I. Cramer, Todd II. Munson, Doug

BF605.E3E25 1995

299’.93

QBI95-20494

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO

Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

iv

Contents

1. What Is Eckankar? ............................. 1

Experience God for Yourself • Eckankar Has Ancient Roots • There Is Always a Living ECK Master • Paul Twitchell Introduced Eckankar in 1965 • The Mission of the Living ECK Master Is to Help People Find Their Way Back to God • The ECK Message Is neither Orthodox nor Evangelical • What Are ECKists Like? • Defining Eckankar

2. Soul Travel ........................................ 13

You Are Soul • A Classic Soul Travel Experience • Worry Less, Know More Love, Feel Energized, Change Bad Habits • Spiritual Exercises Are Different from Prayer and Astral Projection • A Spiritual Exercise to Try 3. Dreams .............................................. 25

Soul Never Sleeps • The Mahanta Is the Dream Master • Dreams Help Us in Daily Life • Dreams Help Spiritual Unfoldment •

Karma Can Be Resolved in the Dream State •

Dream Symbols Are Individual • Dream Characters Represent Aspects of the Dreamer

•There Are Many Levels of Dreaming

•Dreams Can Prophesy • Keep a Dream Journal • The Purpose of Dreams Is to Bring the Individual Closer to the Light and Sound of God

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4. Karma ................................................ 37

The Law of Karma Is Scientific and Logical •

Understanding Karma Can Liberate Us from Being a Victim • You Can Be Free of Karma •

Karma Metes Out Perfect Justice • We Are Responsible • Experience Teaches Us • Spiritual Maturity Comes When We Realize We Are the Creator of Our Own Life

5. Reincarnation .................................... 45

Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences Have Helped People Live Life More Fully •

Heaven Exists on Other Planes • Reincarnation Helps Explain Aspects of Our Personalities • Reincarnation Is a Widely Held Belief •

Soul Is Always Moving Forward • We’ve Been Here Before • There Is a Reason for the Veil Separating Us from the Past • We Often Return to Be with Family and Friends from Before • Past-Life Memory Is Accessible •

The Physical Plane Is a School of Life 6. The God Worlds of ECK .................... 55

Soul Travel Makes It Possible to Achieve God-Realization in This Lifetime • The Soul Plane • Gain Spiritual Understanding from the Temples of Golden Wisdom • The Astral Plane • The Causal Plane • The Mental Plane

• The Etheric Plane

7. Love ................................................... 65

Divine Love Needs No Words to Communicate

• What Can We Learn from Norman about

Divine Love? • Love Is Simple • Know Greater Love through the Golden Heart

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8. The ECK-Vidya ................................. 73

Man Always Wants to Know the Future • All Life Is Cyclical • ECK-Vidya Looks into Soul Records — Past, Present, and Future • This Is a Warring Planet, but That’s OK • Never Use Knowledge to Manipulate Others • Golden-tongued Wisdom • The Waking Dream

9. Solving Problems .............................. 83

The Fine Art of Knowing When to Give Up •

HU Will Help You • Use the Shariyat Technique for Well-Being and Happiness

10. Initiations .......................................... 91

Initiation Links Soul to the Audible Life Stream • How Many Initiations Are There? •

Each of Us Enters Eckankar with a Different State of Consciousness • The Initiation Process • Initiation Pace and Frequency Vary •

Each Initiation Corresponds to a Different Plane of Existence • Consciousness Has to Be Earned Moment to Moment • The Rules

Change from Plane to Plane • The Real Initiation Occurs Inside • Initiations Are Private and Sacred • Each Initiation Is an Invitation from the Living ECK Master to Take the Next Step on the Way Home to God

11. The ECK Masters ........................... 101

The Living ECK Master Belongs to the Order of the Vairagi, Providing Guidance Home to God • Harold Klemp’s Link with a Long Line of Living ECK Masters • You Can Be Free from Fear • We Are Never Given More Than We Can Handle • The Living ECK Master

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Grants Total Spiritual Freedom to His Students • There Is Always a Living ECK Master

• Few Religions Resemble the Spiritual Teaching Given by the Founders • With the Living ECK Master as Guide, We Experience Only What Is Necessary for Spiritual Growth • The Mahanta Is the Inner Form of the Living ECK

Master • The Living ECK Master Is Not

Worshiped • The Living ECK Master Takes on Karma but Doesn’t Relieve It • It’s Natural to Question • The ECKist’s Goal Is Spiritual Mastery

12. The Play of Soul .............................. 111

Eckankar Is a Living Religion • Prove It for Yourself • Understand Who You Really Are •

Become Liberated from Being the Victim •

Life Becomes Miraculous • There Are Many Techniques, and Always the Inner Master, to Act as Your Light through the Darkness •

To Become a Member of Eckankar • Love for and Responsibility to All Life

How to Take the Next Step on

Your Spiritual Journey ................... 119

Through Membership in Eckankar You’ll

Discover • How to Find Out More • How to Purchase Items • For Further Reading and Study • There May Be an Eckankar Study Group near You

Bibliography .......................................... 131

Index ...................................................... 133

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