Inner Guidance (21 page)

“He looked right at Sarah, called her by name, and gave her a personal message for you—so we figured you
must
know him.”

I shook my head and laughed. “No, I don’t know him,” I explained again. “Please tell me the message that Sri Harold gave Sarah. Did you hear it? Did he say anything else about the glasses?”

“Oh, yes,” she assured me. “He said, ‘Sarah, please tell your mommy that I am going to try to get my eyes fixed. I am going to the eye doctor very soon and will get contacts or something. OK? Will you tell her for me?’

And Sarah agreed, of course, and that was the end of it. They hugged, and he walked around the room, greeting the other children with Sarah at his side, and then he left. We thought you were friends since Sarah knew him.”

Humbled, embarrassed, and amused all at once, I understood that Sri Harold had heard me talking to Sarah that night as he stood with us in his inner or Light body. He had heard
exactly
what I’d said to Sarah in our bedroom when she described him, along with the other two ECK Masters, on the evening of October 22, when the Rod of ECK Power was passed.

I had said that if he were a Master, he would get his eyes fixed or something and he wouldn’t be wearing glasses. And now he intended to do just that and had responded outwardly. Our new Living ECK Master had quite a keen sense of humor, it seemed. And he was letting me know that that experience was as real as the outer life and that the Inner Master is truly with us.

I had wanted guidance about the Living ECK

Master—his lofty spiritual role and how he works—and he wanted to make sure I knew without a doubt that he and the other ECK Masters were real and could be there in my room, while they were simultaneously in Inner Guidance_CH 16-21.p65

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the supraphysical world at a ceremony for the new Living ECK Master.

Sri Harold had taken my discourteous and skeptical comments with patience and a light heart. Once again, I was left with the gift of a totally altered consciousness—transformed through the Inner Master’s generous response and my young daughter’s awareness and recognition of the Mahanta.

I have since learned that these unconditionally loving, freedom-giving, and nonjudgmental ECK Masters often work with us inwardly for years before we know they exist. At some deep level, we may invite and receive their guidance and help in our spiritual journey before we are even aware of it outwardly. No request for spiritual tutelage or inner guidance is ever too insignificant for their attention, as long as our hearts are sincere and open.

I
t was on the way home from Chicago that I finally learned the meaning of Sarah’s song. At the seminar, I had discovered that the spiritual name of Sri Harold Klemp is Wah Z. Now I heard the song from a new perspective and realized that for months Sarah had been singing about this new ECK Master and telling me his inner name.

Now as she sang, I could hear it clearly: “He is the Master. He’s Wah Z.” That is what she was singing—not

“He was he.”

For me, the layers of guidance, direction, instruction, and training we are given spiritually is one of the most fascinating and rewarding aspects of the path of Eckankar. I gained a growing understanding of the reality of the ECK Masters and came to feel a deep sense of spiritual liberation. We ask for inner guidance, direc-Inner Guidance_CH 16-21.p65

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tion, and instruction, and the ECK Masters help us in various and unique ways. As we open our hearts to the guidance and love of the Mahanta, this great inner guide, we can receive endless blessings.

I had also learned how important it is that we
ask
for this assistance. If we ask to understand the truth, the answers and experiences will come pouring in to truly grace our lives.

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A Near-Death Experience:

Inner Guidance Saved My Life

Freud felt that dreams are usually highly
distorted because they’re protecting the dreamer
from unpleasant things. But in ECK* we know
that if you open yourself to the Holy Spirit you’re
going to very often get clear inner experiences.

They will tell you in no uncertain terms what to
do with your outer life.

—Harold Klemp

How the Inner Master Works
28

O
ut of the darkness, I saw a red truck barreling down the highway, swerving erratically from side to side. The driver appeared to have lost control completely. The truck careened off the far side of the highway and disappeared over a mound on the other side.

Certain the truck must have crashed, I pulled over.

It was night. I didn’t want to step out onto the pitch-black highway. I left my engine running and turned on the emergency flashers. I sat in my car for a moment

* ECK is the Holy Spirit. Here it is used as a short form of
Eckankar
.

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or two, filled with misgivings, and hoped someone would come along quickly and recognize my flashing lights as a signal for help.

Then I saw the red truck again. Apparently, it had run into the embankment but kept going. Now it had swung back onto the highway. Yet, instead of braking to slow down or stop, the driver seemed to be speeding up.

Zigzagging wildly, the truck suddenly turned and headed right in the direction of my car.

A collision was unavoidable. I had already pulled off the road as much as possible, so I could only hope my sleeping daughter would be spared the greatest impact. On the narrow Indiana highway there was nothing else I could do; the truck was coming too quickly.

This would be a head-on crash.

I braced myself and desperately called to God for help.

T
he trip was in the middle of spring break. I had enjoyed several days of rest and rejuvenation away from the high school where I taught while my three-year-old daughter, Sarah, spent a little time with her dad, Jon, in the next state. We were now divorced but remained good friends.

That day, I went to Jon’s house to collect Sarah so we could enjoy the rest of the week’s vacation together.

I had a spring in my step and was prepared for a great day.

I stayed for a while to visit with Jon. Then it was time for us to say our good-byes and set out for home.

It was growing dark as I gathered Sarah’s belongings and loaded the car.

Sarah was buckled in snugly on the seat next to me.

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Almost immediately, she fell fast asleep, tired out from a full day. Her head gently fell forward, pillowed against the heavy canvas duffel bag in which her father had packed her clothes. Exhausted and sleeping soundly, my little one rested on her large, heavy pillow.

T
he back roads of Indiana were narrow and wind-ing, but they provided the shortest way home. Orange cones marking road construction appeared more and more frequently as twilight came. Soon this route would be a wide, open highway, but for now it was like driving through an obstacle course. I navigated carefully past fluorescent-orange barriers, their warning flashers indicating the more precarious areas of roadwork. With caution, I made my way through the enveloping night.

Nothing, though, prepared me for the red truck. In the final seconds, as it inevitably bore down on us, the last thing I thought I saw was an unconscious driver slumped over the steering wheel.

Then it hit—the large, speeding truck against my small, parked car. The impact was ferocious.

T
he car was thrown down the highway like a toy from the hands of an angry child. My seat broke in half; the back of it flattened and was violently thrust into the rear of the vehicle. The engine and front half of the car trapped my body. Metal and glass hit everywhere at once like shrapnel. My eyes and mouth filled with shattered glass, and blood streamed down my face into my mouth and ears.

I desperately needed to escape the pain of my injured body, but I fought to remain conscious—a mother’s instinct is strong; I wanted to hear Sarah’s voice. I needed to know she was alive. When I finally heard her calling Inner Guidance_CH 16-21.p65

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me, my ears were so damaged that I had to struggle to hear her little, muffled voice. She was not screaming or even crying.

Yet I could not open my mouth to answer.

Unexpectedly, another woman’s voice answered Sarah’s call. I could barely hear her comforting my daughter. Sweetly, she spoke to Sarah, saying, “Your mommy’s hurt, but she’ll be OK. You look just fine. Do you want to come with me, and we’ll get some help?”

Could Sarah have been spared and not badly injured? I was reassured as the woman continued to soothe Sarah while lifting her out of the wreck: “Come on, Honey, and we’ll get you out of here. We will get help for your mommy. Now, what’s your name, Sweetie?”

My heart filled with gratitude because she knew exactly what to do and say. She was a kindergarten teacher, I would later learn—the perfect person to rescue my child.

Sarah told the woman her name, and they left together without speaking to me. Yet I heard Sarah tell her rescuer in a loud, pouting voice, “My mommy bleed!”

The woman’s constant stream of assurances calmed Sarah as they walked away.

As I waited a painful eternity for my own rescue, I suddenly realized I was floating out of my body. What heaven, what peace! Outside my body, the pain disappeared. I floated in joy and love as I rose up, up, and away.

L
ess than twenty-four hours earlier, I had an incredible dream that I recorded in my journal. For several years now, I had been studying the spiritual teachings of Eckankar. I had learned that inner guidance received through dreams can lead us beyond difficulties, provide direction and even prophecy, and open Inner Guidance_CH 16-21.p65

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the door to greater truth and happiness.

I was learning to practice certain spiritual techniques of Eckankar, and my dreams were beginning to provide that most important element in life, the thing most people long for and pray for—inner guidance. I was elated because this enabled me to learn the best course in every moment, to know that I was watched over and protected. This is the grace of God’s presence in our lives.

Dreams are only one facet of the teachings of Eckankar. My dreams often gave me much-needed awareness, coupled with wisdom about how to live my life and how to prepare for the challenges of each new day. But I was also receiving inner guidance in my waking life.

Last night’s dream had revealed clearly that great blessings were pouring into my outer life. It was remarkable. I woke up with my heart racing; I was sure something exhilarating had just taken place or was about to happen. There was no doubt about it. My outer life was about to change, and the result was going to be a great blessing.

This is what I’d written in my journal:

I am standing in the gentle waves of a spar-

kling, aquamarine ocean. The sun is brilliant overhead, but a soft breeze cools the air and sways the palms. I walk toward the sandy beach where my spiritual guide is standing. His smile starts in his eyes and envelopes his whole face. His arms are stretched out to me, palms up.

“You’ve won!” he says happily, and I feel the rush of an ecstatic joy and sense the pure, divine love he has for me. I am wide-eyed; my hands fly to my face like a child with a much-wanted birthday gift.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I exclaim.

Then I ask him, “What have I won?”

“You’ve won the lottery of life!” he replies.

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Tears of delight flood my face as I take his hands and express my deepest gratitude. I do not know what the lottery of life is, but I know I want it.

“Yes! Yes! Thank you, I want it. I want the

lottery of life!” I reply.

Key to the teachings of Eckankar is an understanding of the Inner Master as one who provides guidance, direction, and protection to all who seek it. This Inner Master is a spiritual teacher who serves both inwardly and outwardly as the leader of Eckankar.

During our dreams, with the help of the Inner Master, we may actually experience the elimination of long-standing karma. This is greatly to our advantage, and learning to work with this benevolent guide is an important step in learning to follow inner guidance. This Inner Master, sometimes called the Dream Master, is the Mahanta. He is an inner guide, the Wayshower available to everyone at all times.

My life was going to change in a miraculous way.

And I thought I understood, at least in part, what was happening. Eckankar teaches about the universal spiritual laws, including the Law of Cause and Effect. Each of us, as Soul, has gathered karmic debts that must be resolved as part of our spiritual progress. Somehow, last night, I had taken a big step.

I was liberated. I felt I had paid off a large debt and a new world of wonder awaited me.

T
he morning after the dream, I had a jubilant feeling of liberation that I could only assume accompanies release of a karmic burden. Also, there was no doubt something important was about to happen. I had learned in Eckankar to connect with and deeply trust the Voice of God that brought me inner guidance. In my dream, Inner Guidance_CH 16-21.p65

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