by Michelle Josselyn
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| Many years ago
when I was a young mother at home with 3 young boys I began to have strange
but interesting experiences. Experiences that I had no name for at the
time. Now I know that they were out of the body experiences. Later on I
came to know them as Soul Travel experiences.
Being up at 5 o'clock in the morning with young children I would take a nap in the afternoon along with them. I am not sure what triggered the first experience. I was just about to fall asleep when I found myself travelling at great speed and seeing only light going past me. I wasTERRIFIED and I cried "I am scared, I am scared, I want to go back." In an instant I was back in my physical body. What I had just experienced left me quite unsettled and full of questions. These experiences led to a search through the library for books that perhaps would explain what I experienced. It was my brother Bernard who actually came across 2 books written by a man by the name of Paul Twitchell; In My Soul I am Freeand Eckankar, Key to the Secret Worlds. These books explained in details the experiences I was having and I couldn't put them down. Now,there are dozens of books written on the subject of ECKANKAR. After much reflection I came to the conclusion that this experience was given to me. It was not anything that I did on my own. Why do I think that? Because I didn't experience anything of the kind again until I asked for it, and then, asking that it would not be so terrifying. When I began experiencing being out of the body again, it was only in the vicinity of my house. Then, I believe that I slowly learned to do it on my own. My pet thing was to float above my body, do a somersault and fall on my feet. One day, I decided I wanted to see what I looked like in this wonderful body. I went in front of the mirror and all I saw was a big ball of light (approximately 2 feet around). I let a sound of surprise and suddendly felt myself falling back in my physical body. I experienced this way for many months. Later on after I joined the teachings of ECKANKAR, I began to have experiences with the Light and the Sound. What is ECKANKAR It is a modern day religion. It is called the religion of the Light and Sound of God. Why? It is said it's the only way that the Supreme Deity can communicate with the peole of this world. IT, doesn't have a body or shape as we know it in the human consciousness. IT is LIGHT and SOUND. Therefore, when an individual experiences God, he/she sees God as light and hears IT as sound. ECKANKAR is also said to be a very old religion that had its birth in the the dim of time and has been adapted to the consciousness of our time. A lot of the vocabulary comes from the Sanskrit language. At its head has always been a living teacher or living Eck master. In the older time, the teaching was taught by word of mouth. In 1965 ECKANKAR first became available in the written word.
Another aspect of ECKANKAR is its belief in reincarnation. Soul is in training. The planet earth is a training ground (very similar to a school) and Sould goes from life to life (as man and woman) to experience, to learn lessons. Through this process It matures and eventually reaches mastership. First; Self-Realization, second; God Realization. What does this mean? The end of the round of birth and death (reincarnation) or in another word, Graduation Day? To what? Perhaps to a more exciting world! If you would like to share your experiences you can e-mail me at: mjossely@uvm.edu
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Paul Twitchell was the individual responsible to bring the teachings to
the people in the written form. He was the Mahanta, the Living Eck Master
of his time. He held the Rod of Power, which means that he was a direct
instrument for the Supreme Deity. The passing of the Rod of Eck Power is
always done at midnight, October 22 in the Valley of Tirmer, Tibet. Which
means, that the world is never without a Living Eck Master. In 1970, Sri
(a title of respect) Paul Twichell translated and passed the Rod of Eck
Power to the following Living Master. Sri Harold Klemp is presently the
Mahanta, the Living Eck Master.