Your Stories | ECKANKAR Blog

Apr
26

No Coincidences, Only Connections

Category: Spiritual Experiences, Your Stories Tags: ECKANKAR, Eckankar seminar, Groovebone, hand surgery, Harold Klemp, life after death, Mahanta, Soul, Soul Travel

By Rodney, New York

The day after returning from being the guest speaker at an Eckankar seminar in Trinidad and Tobago, I severed the ligament in my left index finger and a vein in my left hand. As a professional guitarist and music educator, I work with my hands every day. This injury was potentially career-ending.

My hand would not heal on its own. After consulting with an orthopedic surgeon, it became clear that I’d need surgery to ever have a chance of playing guitar again.

My life’s practice is to turn worry into wonder. Rather than worry about outcomes, I began to wonder how Spirit would offer Its lessons and blessings through these experiences. Read More

Sep
28

By John Villemonte

A Spiritual Journey through Pain

Category: HU, Near-Death Experiences, Your Stories Tags: Atlanta Medical Center, Atlanta Medical Center Spinal Trauma Unit, Christopher Reeves, HU, human organ for transplant, near death experience, out-of-body experience, reincarnation

By Joe, Pennsylvania

That had to be a plane, I thought. Nothing else could possibly be moving so fast. Alarmingly the force of the fast-moving object’s impact snapped off my driver’s seat. My car catapulted forward.

I was traveling at about sixty miles per hour on I-75 north of Atlanta, Georgia, and getting ready to exit. A couple minutes prior to impact I saw jets taking off from Dobbins Air Reserve Base. It wasn’t a plane that hit me, though, but an uninsured nineteen-year-old driving an unregistered vehicle. Later, witness reports put his speed at over a hundred miles per hour as he wove in and out of traffic.

The back end of my car moved to the right. The wheels on my Toyota Corolla seemed to grab the road surface as the car began to turn over. I knew how fast I was going. I knew the car would roll in a wild tumble. I absolutely knew that I could not and would not survive. It was without a doubt one of those entire-life-in-a-flash moments. There wasn’t time for any lengthy reminiscing. Read More

Aug
10

By John Villemonte

Letting Go of the Past

Category: Health and Healing, Your Stories Tags: ECK, Harold Klemp. Mahanta, Shariyat, Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad, Soul, Spiritual Exercises of ECK

By Benny, Minnesota

Earlier this year I began working with an exercise from Spiritual Exercises for the Shariyat, Book Two, by Sri Harold Klemp. I love true contemplation of the ECK works and diving into a spiritual exercise over an extended period. Continually working with one exercise in contemplation often reveals hidden aspects that don’t appear at first.

This particular exercise was titled “The Disentanglement of Soul.”

The quote from the Shariyat reads, in part:

“The practice of discipline must now enter into the scheme of liberation of Soul. This is the unfoldment and disentanglement of Soul from every identification It has had on every lower plane in the material or psychic worlds.”

The exercise that follows says: Read More

Jun
8

By John Villemonte

A Love Letter to Dad

Category: Dreams, Your Stories Tags: dream, dreams of loved ones who have died, ECK, forgiveness, how to forgive, Mahanta, Spiritual Eye

By Adelheid, Arizona

The ECK, the Holy Spirit, uses each moment of our lives to teach us spiritual wisdom, to expand our consciousness, and to open our hearts to divine love in often unexpected ways. It is up to us to open our eyes and our hearts to see and to experience.

During my childhood in Germany, my relationship with my father was always challenging. We hadn’t been close, and I hadn’t felt loved. He offered my sisters and me experiences such as little vacations, music lessons, and visits to the theater or a concert. This was unusual for families right after World War II because there was so little money. Yet our family dynamic, on the whole, was not a loving one. I was an unhappy child, lost in a big, unknown world. Growing up was difficult for me. I had major challenges. Then I found Eckankar, which brought me a new point of view. I don’t know how I would have gotten through life if I hadn’t found the teachings of Eckankar and the love of the ECK Masters.

Apr
13

By John Villemonte

The Twin that Said Good-Bye

Category: Life after Death, Your Stories Tags: afterlife, barber, ECKANKAR, karma, karma and reincarnation, leukemia, life after death, love bonds, Soul

By Jack, Colorado

I was to be the cleric for a local ECK Light and Sound Service and thought it best to get a haircut. My longtime barber had translated (passed on) unexpectedly. His shop partner, Cheryl, had cut my hair on occasion, so I switched to her.

When I sat down in her barber chair, Cheryl asked the usual question: “How do you want your hair cut?”

I replied, “Just a light trim” and then added, “I’ll be wearing a suit this weekend and want to look nice.”

Even as these words were coming out of my mouth, I wondered, Why am I saying this?

I was soon to learn the answer. Read More

Dec
9

By John Villemonte

Bonds of Love—a Gift to Always Cherish

Category: Your Stories Tags: ECKANKAR, family bonds, loss of a family member, love bonds, Mahanta

By Ruth, Ontario, Canada

My father was in the hospital recovering from a major heart attack when I was in my early twenties. I was not yet a member of Eckankar, and I was terribly afraid he was going to die.

After crying myself to sleep one night, I was awakened by a group of people at the foot of my bed. I knew them to be relatives who had passed on. My father’s mother was among them, making beckoning motions and appearing to say something. From this I took assurance that, when my father’s time did come, he would be met by those who loved him. There was nothing for him—or me—to fear.

Seven years later, I was married, had become an ECKist, and was preparing to follow my husband to England for his studies. Dad had become increasingly frail, and I knew I would likely not see him alive again. I was sad to go but comforted myself that he would not leave this world without finding a way to say good-bye. Read More

Nov
11

By John Villemonte

The Angel on the Bus

Category: HU, Your Stories Tags: ECK seminar, ECKist, Harold Klemp, Mahanta

By Mimi, Oklahoma

A dear friend and I traveled from Oklahoma to Minneapolis for the annual ECK Springtime Seminar. Unfortunately, due to weather, our direct flight was canceled, and instead we had to take two flights, through Atlanta, to get to the seminar. I had been suffering from an inner-ear/dizziness problem for the last four years, and this was my first trip away from home. So, keeping my energy level and balance intact was critical. By the time we got through two bumpy flights and waited forty-five minutes for the hotel shuttle at the Minneapolis airport, my “low-energy-level light” was flashing red; I was very drained and had an upset stomach. Read More

Oct
14

By John Villemonte

My Life-after-Death Dream

Category: Life after Death, Your Stories Tags: dream, Harold Klemp, Mahanta, near death experience, Soul

By Philippe, Quebec, Canada

I had a powerful dream which lasted only four minutes, but it was an extreme four minutes.

The dream was about my translation, my death. I was sitting on an operating table. The lights were all on, and the room was full of machines that were all turned on. I looked to my left, and my physical body was lying on the table.

Strangely, I wasn’t scared or surprised to see my body. I realized that I was dead, but I wasn’t afraid. On the positive side, I was now free. I then looked to the end of the room. The Mahanta, the Living ECK Master was there, watching me. At his left was a door of light of a magnificent brilliance. He then invited me, with a simple gesture of his left hand, to enter the door of light. Read More

Sep
23

By John Villemonte

The Mahanta Knows My Number

Category: Dreams, Your Stories Tags: ECKANKAR, Harold Klemp, HU, job search, Mahanta

By Peri, Alberta, Canada

The phone rang one day as I was on my way to work in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Normally I do not answer the phone while driving, especially if the call is from an unknown number. But on this occasion I felt compelled to pick it up. The voice at the other end said, “Is this the correct number? A white man gave me this number in a dream last night and said I should call it this morning. Is this the correct number?”

“Yes,” I said, sensing the white man he mentioned must be the Mahanta. Then he began telling me his story, but I had to stop him. “I am driving,” I said. “I’ll call you back in two hours.” Read More