You Are Soul You are Soul, an immortal being created in the timeless worlds. You existed before birth and endure beyond time and space. God made Soul before the worlds of time and space began. Soul comes to earth from the higher spiritual worlds to add to Its experiences. It inherits many lifetimes for the chance to learn. And learn It must.
Karma Dishes Back What We Dish Out
Why People Are Unhappy
How We Get Here Soul enters this world to pursue a series of tasks, for each is an exercise in spiritual purification. Taken as a whole, these assignments make up one’s destiny. To set the tone for Its mission, Soul enters a new lifetime with a body of strength or weakness, of great intellect or a simple mind, in a popular shade of skin or not, either as a male or a female, into wealth or poverty.
The primal seed for each incarnation exists under the umbrella of destiny, which we also call past-life karma. On a practical level, genetic, cultural, and social elements combine to decide Soul’s place in this world. For people on the lower end of the survival scale, the Lord of Karma alone chooses the time and place of rebirth.
But karmic placement does set other standards for individuals on the high end of the spiritual scale. More of them enjoy a voice in the choice of a human body or place of birth.
The best spiritual opportunity is not necessarily the easiest life. I think many of you will agree that your life has been anything but easy. In fact for many it has been very hard. Sometimes the best way to learn the spiritual lessons is through a life of hardship.
Family Karmic Groups When my daughter was preschool age, she said to me, “Do you remember when we were in Sweden and I was your mother?”
Reincarnation allows people, like you and me, to have a chance to develop the quality of divine love. This opportunity comes through the hardships and uncertainties of life, as well as in the joys and fulfillment of living. Thus we develop the quality of divine love. This love makes us more godlike beings.
Satisfying Your Past-Life Curiosity
You’ve Lived Before, and You Will Live Again
Original sin means inborn guilt. By contrast, the ECK teachings speak not of guilt but of responsibility. People are where they have put themselves.
Perhaps in the next lifetime they will find the courage to say, “What am I doing here? What is the meaning of life?” Eckankar can show all people the most direct route home to God. Yes, there is a quicker exit from the wheel of karma and reincarnation, but most people will settle for a longer, more difficult way home. What about spiritual freedom? It is Soul’s final release from the Law of Karma and reincarnation. The ECK teachings say that to live a karmaless life, one must do everything in the name of God.
The Path of Truth Starts in the Heart Love is the force that returns Soul to God. For the path of truth starts in the heart, and the journey home to God begins with meeting the Mahanta in either a dream or in person. The Spiritual Exercises of ECK give strength and comfort, for these simple daily contemplations give one a stronger bond with the Divine Being. We call the path of ECK the Easy Way.
Making Life Better with an Understanding of Karma
Soul is immortal. It has no beginning or end. It (you) exists because of God’s love for It, which is the whole philosophy of Eckankar in a nutshell. Our mistakes in this and past lifetimes are the polishings of a precious gem in the rough.
Graduating from the Wheel of Reincarnation
When the accounting is done after this lifetime, the Lords of Karma look in the ledger and say, “Hmmm, let’s see. He’s going back for another lifetime because he hasn’t learned how to get off the wheel of reincarnation. But his ledger says he’s done pretty good this lifetime. He’s got some credits coming.” So, this individual gets born into another life. Nice family, life of ease, all sorts of good things. Or if he values education, or a good career, he can have that.
When you see someone who’s carrying a burden of that sort, just remember that even the people who seem to have no burdens at all are carrying burdens of another sort. These burdens are simply called karma—cause and effect. Now Here’s the Good News Where does this stuff come from? From ourselves. And at some point, we can wrap it up. We can be done with it and get off the wheel of reincarnation and karma.
The Second Initiation is a landmark; it means this Soul need never return to earth again. For many people this sounds fine. They’ll say, “If I can just get away from earth and not have to come back to it ever again, I’ll do whatever it takes.” Of course, there’s more to the equation. There are planes above the earth plane that are still subject to karma and reincarnation.
In Eckankar, one aspect of the teachings of the Holy Spirit is Soul Travel. It simply means the ability to travel anywhere as Soul—through the various planes, or dimensions or universes, of creation.
Soul Travel and Spiritual Unfoldment Soul Travel is one of several ways for us to experience the Light and Sound of the Holy Spirit. To draw a fine line, Soul Travel is different from the expansion of consciousness. Soul Travel is part of the whole, while the expansion of consciousness is the whole. Soul Travel is one way the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master may speed up the unfoldment of an individual. Other ways include dreams, the Golden-tongued Wisdom, events in family or business life, or a spiritual realization. Yet each of these is only a part of the expansion of consciousness.
As a spiritual exercise, before going to sleep sing HU, the love song to God, a few times. Then ask the Mahanta to take you to the inner worlds for an experience where you either gain the insight to change conditions or to improve yourself.
Keep a pen and notepad at your bedside to write down any insights when you awaken. Sometimes this is all that’s required to help things work better in the physical world.
A Word before You Sleep If you want a look at your past lives, the word to sing for a few minutes at bedtime is Mana (say MAH-nah). Then go to sleep as usual. This word attunes you with the Causal Plane, the region of past-life memories. Remembering past lives takes practice. But others do it, and so can you.
Spiritual Exercises to Work Off Karma
How to Avoid Daily Karma
First, don’t underestimate the importance of words in everyday speech. Comparative words such as almost, nearly, and pretty near used too often make us seem indecisive to the people we live and work with. Substitute more direct speech. The overuse of demanding words such as should, ought, and must belong in the vocabulary of a person who desires control over others. People sense that and shy away from him. That aversion is karma. Practice recasting your sentences along simpler, more direct lines. You can do this as a spiritual exercise to avoid making more karma. But such modifications as better word selection are really cosmetic changes. Daily karma is resolved best through this one simple change: Say and do everything in the name of God, the ECK (Holy Spirit), or the Mahanta. Then your life will begin to turn around for good.
For a better understanding about the workings of karma, read Dr. Michael Newton’s book Journey of Souls (Llewellyn Worldwide, Woodbury, Minnesota). The knowledge in it should give you a greater degree of contentment.
Always Remember This All the lives you have ever lived were for the polishing of Soul. Like it or not, you are now at a higher and more spiritual level than in any prior incarnation. So look at yourself. Do you like what you see? Keep in mind, whatever it is, for better or worse, it’s of your own making. You are the sum of all your thoughts, feelings, and actions from this life and every lifetime in the past.