Inner Guidance (4 page)

She took up the challenge at once. This was before personal computers and the Internet, but she had access to a university computer. She could input key phrases and search for a possible author and source.

Many days passed before I heard back from the busy woman. In the meantime, this new form of inner guidance seemed to be in high gear. Hour after hour, additional material presented itself to me, and I offered it to my students. They were enjoying the mystery and novelty of the quotes and the heightened energy in the classroom. The entire group would become hushed as Inner Guidance_CH 01-05.p65

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I wrote on the board while they copied every word into their journals.

When I finally received a call from the librarian, I was not prepared for what she told me.

“I found your quotes,” she announced. “It took a while, but I found that they come from Plato—from the
Republic
, his
Apology
, and his
Letters
.”

Plato? I was familiar with his works only in a most general way. Flabbergasted and at a total loss for words, I simply repeated what she had told me: “Plato?”

“Yes,” she said. “And, if I may ask, I’m just wondering how you came upon all this, without knowing the source.”

“The quotes were given to me with no references,”

I offered as an explanation. A weak sort of truth, but better than no explanation at all—especially since I wanted to continue to receive her help. “As a matter of fact, I have more,” I said. “I was wondering how much trouble it is to do this research. I would be happy to pay you if there is a charge for it.”

“No charge,” she assured me, “and I am very happy to help.”

Concern had turned to intrigue. The quest grew more baffling daily. The answers I now had in my pos-session plagued me with even more haunting questions.

Had others before me experienced this phenomenon?

Who could explain how passages from the works of Plato could be mysteriously funneled through an unwitting schoolteacher to a high-school classroom in Indiana?

And
why
?

At night, I asked God these questions. My dreams were rich sources of insight for me in those days, but no answers came. Only more quotes.

There were other disturbing issues as well. The students were definitely talking about what was hap-Inner Guidance_CH 01-05.p65

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Inner Guidance: Our Divine Birthright

pening in my classroom. Word was spreading like wild-fire around the school. Could these experiences endan-ger my teaching career in any way? I longed to share this remarkable occurrence, yet I was hesitant to reveal to
anyone
the bizarre reality of what was happening, lest I be judged inappropriately.

This school was in the midwestern United States, in an area of very traditional religious teaching. Most of my family were conservative Christians, and I had been raised in a conservative church. I had never explored the greater mysteries of the universe—not even during my university studies.

Neither my students nor I knew what was happening here, and I was too concerned to really talk about it at all. Despite a few powerful spiritual experiences and a growing awareness of my inner guidance, I remained a novice concerning mystical things, a new-comer to this arena.

A nudge was coming through, though: It was time to change all that, to make sure I grew better informed immediately about all things spiritual.

To accelerate my schooling in these unknown realms, I added a Comparative World Religions class to my master’s-degree program to see what I might learn about the secrets of the universe. I took classes in the evenings and voraciously read everything I could find in the area of spirituality and spiritual experiences. I researched other religions, reading about many different beliefs. I read about the extraordinary experiences of famous Christians and little-known saints. I read about the paranormal and phenomenal. Yet my own mystery remained unsolved and unexplained.

I had not yet found the teachings of Eckankar, and nothing quite suited or sounded right; so my search continued.

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As the librarian provided information, I presented the names of the authors and sources of the quotes to my students. Before long, we were studying writings of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, and several lesser-known philosophers as well. The students did not mind the addition of this enriching material to their studies; in fact, they had become quite enthusiastic about it.

O
ne afternoon, a student named Greg asked to meet with me to discuss the quotes. He joined me in my classroom after school. Instead of discussing the philosophy or the authors, however, he wanted to talk about where I was getting the material. I was as evasive as possible.

He stood there, shaking his head, as I tried to dodge a direct answer. Finally, he laughed gently to himself.

“What is it?” I asked. “Why are you shaking your head like that?”

“We know what is going on,” he answered with a grin on his face.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What do you mean?” I was anxious about his challenging approach.

I asked as calmly as I could, “Who are ‘we’? And what do you
believe
is going on?”

Greg’s answer stunned me. “You’re getting that information inwardly, directly in response to the questions that we bring into the classroom.”

“Why did you say ‘we’ a moment ago?”

He remained perfectly calm as he gently confronted me. “There’s a group of us. We’ve been discussing it for a while. We’ve noticed what’s happening. We don’t know
how
you are doing it, but we know
what
you are doing.”

I began to feel a little caged in. I felt drawn to share more with him, yet simultaneously ill at ease. “And what Inner Guidance_CH 01-05.p65

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Inner Guidance: Our Divine Birthright

is it that you
think
is going on?” I asked.

He replied in a relaxed and self-assured manner, telling me what my brightest students seemed to believe was happening. “You’re pulling this information out of the ethers somehow. We don’t know how, but it has something to do with us—with each entire class maybe.

A group of us has realized that if we come to class with a deep question or problem—something that’s intriguing us—your quote will answer it.

“If we collectively decide on a question,” he continued, “your quote answers it even more specifically—not directly, but in a larger way. I just thought you would want to know what we’ve figured out.”

Now I was more baffled than ever. To make my frustration even worse, I was speaking to a student who seemed to know more than I did. I was outmaneuvered by his straightforward manner and cornered into making a full confession. I wanted to know whatever he knew so I could add it to the little I knew and possibly be able to find some real answers.

Greg was a bit of a paradox himself—a popular athlete, he was also very bright and loved philosophy, poetry, and art. I liked him. He was perceptive in class discussions and original in his thinking.

We sat facing each other at my desk. Leaning forward, I sighed and spoke in a low voice.

“I don’t exactly know what’s going on,” I admitted.

“I don’t understand it. I do not know where the quotes are coming from, and even though I now know who wrote some of them and what the sources are, I don’t know how or why I am getting them.

“It’s just happening,” I said, “and I don’t understand it at all. I put my chalk on the board, and they just seem to flow out!”

Greg laughed lightly at my plaintive confession and Inner Guidance_CH 01-05.p65

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the image of a hand and chalk with a life of its own.

“That’s what we thought,” he said, looking at me sweetly.

“You’re not worried about it, are you?”

I admitted that I was perplexed—a little concerned by it all—and asked him about the group that had been discussing the events in my classroom.

“Do any of you have any clues as to
how
this is happening?” I inquired.

“No, but we think that we should start extracurricular research groups,” Greg suggested. “For those of us who already kind of know what is going on, you could give us extra credit for going to lectures and classes where they talk about mystical, spiritual, or philosophi-cal things, and we’ll make reports. We ought to be able to figure it out pretty soon.”

What a brilliant idea! My students were already earning extra credit outside of class for in-depth reports on literature and philosophy that they researched on their own. Since some of them apparently could see for themselves what was happening in the classroom, they could begin to look for answers. We had no idea what we might be getting involved in, but Greg spoke quietly to those who might be able to help, and our research began in earnest.

T
he reports were inspiring but not really fruit-ful. We learned about all manner of things, including many different teachings, beliefs, phenomena, and spiritual paths.

We discovered automatic writing, in which a person channels another being or spirit. I certainly was not

“channeling” Greek philosophers. What we were experiencing in my classroom differed in significant ways from all the information we were gathering in our research.

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My students seemed to believe there was an inner-world library which we were somehow accessing. We were being guided to information that was important to us all, based on what we were studying and what the students were asking. But what kind of a library was this, where you can gain access inwardly and find answers as if by magic?

And why me? And why this group of students? And what was
actually
happening here? And how? We did not know. Each answer only opened the door to more questions.

T
hough I had no awareness of it at the time, I was on an accelerated spiritual study course, leading me directly to the teachings of Eckankar. Soon, I would learn of these ancient teachings and find the answers to my deepest questions.

The spiritual seeker travels his or her own path to God, guided by the Inner Master, the Mahanta. However long it takes, however many roads are traveled, Soul always finds Its way home to God.

But I didn’t know that then. I was only watching this very strange phenomenon take place.

In the classroom, it was as if things were heating up. The energy was astonishing and electrifying, and when the students entered the room, many of them could feel it. Word began to spread, and soon there were many students vying to get into my classes. The room became packed to overflowing, but no one seemed to mind.

The inner circle of students, those who were still doing the extracurricular spiritual research, began to notice something else. Their work was improving—in
all
of their classes. They all felt smarter, sharper, more Inner Guidance_CH 01-05.p65

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inspired; and these students were earning better grades even in their most difficult classes. One of the students called it by a curious name. He said that the students in the class were all being “quickened,” and that term seemed to describe the effect perfectly.

My professional career was just beginning, and my spiritual horizons were opening up rapidly. I could not imagine life to be any more exciting than when I was in the classroom.

I was being opened to a truth greater than I’d ever encountered. As Harold Klemp, the spiritual leader of Eckankar, writes, “If you’re sincere, God’s Voice, the Holy Spirit, will begin opening you to truth.”5

T
he entire process continued to perpetuate the quickening within many of the students and me, aug-menting our comprehension and abilities in ways almost beyond belief.

It seemed we could learn more quickly and easily and had a broader awareness of things around us. Some found that, when it came to taking tests, they somehow knew even more than they had grasped during study and preparation. As they took their steps toward preparation for adult life, they were being inwardly guided to answers and awareness beyond their intellectual knowledge.

Were they being guided by God? Indeed, it seemed we were all being guided by a benevolent spiritual force that brought only good.

“I’m acing math now,” one young girl announced at my desk. “I have never been good at math in my life—

ever! I am not studying more or being tutored, yet suddenly I really know what the teacher is talking about, and I am making good grades!” I was pleased at her Inner Guidance_CH 01-05.p65

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success and the new accomplishments of many of the other students, but the big mystery was still not solved.

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4

A Dramatic Welcome to a

Life-Changing Teaching:

Inner Guidance

Answers the Call of Soul

If you are in agreement with the Holy Spirit,
which is the ECK, you will be guided in the
direction that will take you to the next step.

Whatever you are going through today is

training for tomorrow. You need today to reach
tomorrow.

—Harold Klemp

Cloak of Consciousness
6

A
t the beginning of the new school year, the phenomenon intensified. A student