Essene Communions with the Infinite

Many "Communions" were received and given by the Essenes. They were prayers but more because they connected one directly to an aspect of the Divine Consciousness. Jesus (or Eashoa in Aramaic) said of the Communions, as recorded in the Unknown Books of the Essene Gospel of Peace (E. Szekely):

"The Holy Temple can be built only with the ancient Communions: Those which are spoken, those which are thought, and those which are lived. For if they are spoken only with the mouth, they are as a dead hive which the bees have forsaken, that gives no more honey. The Communions are a bridge between man and the angels."

I would like to share three beautiful Communions given by Edmond Szekely, an Essene of our time; these are Communions that bring us in touch with the Life-Stream, Sound-Stream, and Light-Stream.

Jesus (Eashoa) clearly spoke of the importance of these particular Communions: "I tell you truly, your body was made not only to breathe, and eat, and think, but it was also made to enter the Holy Stream of Life; And your ears were made not only to hear the words of men, the song of birds, and the music of falling rain, but they were also made to hear the Holy Stream of Sound; And your eyes were made not only to see the rising and setting of the sun, the ripple of sheaves of grain, and the words of the Holy Scrolls, but they were also made to see the Holy Stream of Light. One day your body will return to the Earthly Mother, even also you ears and your eyes; but the Holy Stream of Life, the Holy Stream of Sound, and the Holy Stream of Light, these werer never born and can never die. Enter the Holy Streams, even that Life, that Sound, and that Light which gave you birth, that you may reach the kingdom of the Heavenly Father and become one with him even as the river empties into the far distant sea." (Essene Gosple of Peace, Book 2, E. Szekely)


Edward Szekely's Communions with the Infinite:

Morning Communion with the Tree of Life
(Holy Stream of Life)

Brother Tree - Sister Life

You are floating through the green foliage of a beautiful forest, the sun filtering through the lacy web of leaves, a carpet of velvet green beneath you. You pause before a tall, majestic tree and embrace it. You feel the life-forces of the tree flowing through your whole body. As you breathe deeply, repeat to yourself the word "Life." Soon you will feel the tingling of the life-forces of the tree in your spine, and you can also direct these forces to the areas of your body which need healing. At the end of this communion say: "Thank you, Brother Tree."


Noon Communion with the Cosmic Ocean of Sound
(Holy Stream of Sound)

Mother Sound

You are lying relaxed in a mountain stream, the water flowing cool around you in a direction from head to foot. On both sides of the stream are banks of flowers and grass, and in the distance, shrubs and trees, warm sunlight filtering through the green leaves. Breathe deeply, repeat to yourself the words "Sound, Stream" and concentrate only on the rushing, soothing sound of the flowing waters of the swift stream. Let the sound penetrate your mind and body until you hear in your inner ear the "Music of the Spheres" of Pythagoras. At the end of this communion, say "Thank you Mother Earth for your sounds, healing my body and mind, and lifting me into the presence of the Eternal and Infinite Soundstream."


Evening Communion with the Cosmic Ocean of Light
(Holy Stream of Light)

Father Light

You are floating, floating on the still, untroubled surface of a lake, surrounded by mountains and forest. Above you is the sky filled with stars. It is night, but darkness is dispelled by the thousands and thousands of brilliant diamond-flashes of stars, shining, streaming with Cosmic Light. Breathe deeply, repeat to yourself the words "Light, Light" and concentrate only on the star-filled sky until you will see all kinds of light formations behind your closed eyes. Visualize yourself floating in the Light of the Stars, floating upward, ascending to become one of the Angels of the Heavenly Father.


Note: if you feel disposed to using a Wazifa with these communions, you can try saying:

Morning Communion:  Hayy along with the word "Life";
     Noon Communion:  Wahabo along with the words "Sound Stream";
Evening Communion:  Nur along with the word "Light".

These communions are best done (as are prayers) Morning, Noon and Evening, however, any one of them can be done at any time with benefit!

Light Bearers - Essene Children of Light

The Earth at Night

The Essene Brother/Sisterhood were called "Children of Light". The order was deeply connected to nature, light and was a healing order. Its source is ancient and deeply rooted, according to Edmond Szekely (1905–1979) a modern day Essene and a translator of the Essene Gospels of Peace...

 They lived in the desert, on the shore of an ocean of sand. They came to this burning wasteland because it was less cruel than the persecution they suffered from their fellow man. And in the barren desert they planted a garden which grew and flourished for many hundreds of years.  They guarded among them the most ancient knowledge and the greatest treasure of holiness the world had ever known.

They were the Brotherhood of the Essenes.  Even they were not sure of their origins, so lost in time was the memory of their beginnings. Moses had been one of them, and the prophets of old. The Children of Light of ancient Sumeria were of their blood, and healers and teachers from the ancient time before the Pleistoncene Cataclysm, which we call the Great Flood.  The Brotherhood has always been with us... They sent out healers, and one of these was Jesus, the Essene.


As you commit, consciously, to being a Light Bearer, which you can do by repeating the Self-Initiation of the Light Bearers, you become part of the Essene Brother/Sisterhood of Light - you become one of the Children of Light!

Self-Initiation of the Light Bearer

In service to the Light of Truth,

           In the presence of the Angelic host of Light and all the illuminated souls,

I offer myself to the world as a light bearer.

           May this Light guide me, may this Light protect me,

may this Light make my vision clear.

 

A few additional Light Bearer Tools to help us keep strong in the light

The Pledge: “I pledge to uphold the light of Truth amidst the darkness of human ignorance.”

The Quest:  “I will constantly strive to recognize, affirm and manifest light in my life and in the life of all beings.”

The Invocation:

In The One, united with all the illuminated souls,
I will hold aloft the light of Truth.

Affirmation:

I will manifest light in every action I take;
I will spread Light with every thought I make;
I will give light with every breath I take,
And in so giving, so I shall receive.

Wazifa: Ya Nur (ya-Noor) - Ya Munawwir (ya-MOO-NAW-uhr)

 

Life: A Hall of Mirrors

What you focus upon you become.

You are more what you 'think you are' than you think you are. – Sufi Amin

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The first and the last lesson for one on the spiritual path of awakening is the cosmic law that consciousness is a mirror.

Like a mirror, we become what we reflect. The more constant the impression reflected, the deeper the imprint. 

Hazrat Inayat Khan: “The different minds in the world may be likened to various mirrors, capable of projecting reflections, and reflecting all that falls upon them. No one, however great in wisdom and power, can claim to be free from influences. It is like the mirror claiming, 'I do not reflect all that fails upon me.' Only the difference between the wise and the foolish is that the wise man turns his back to what he must not reflect; the foolish not only reflects the undesirable thought, but most proudly owns to it.” 

Add to this the interaction between mirrors and we find we are living in a 'hall of mirrors'! Reflecting each other, we often think or feel something that is not really us.

Hazrat Inayat Khan: “The heart of man, as the Sufis say, is a mirror. All that is reflected in this mirror is projected upon other mirrors. When man has doubt in his heart that doubt is reflected upon every heart with which he comes in contact; when he has faith that faith is reflected in every heart.”

“When the mind is troubled it is confused, it cannot reflect anything. It is the stillness of mind that makes one capable of receiving impressions and of reflecting them. In Persian the mind is called a mirror. Everything in front of the mirror appears in it; but when this is taken away the mirror is clear. It does not remain. It remains in the mirror as long as the mirror is focused on it, and so it is with the mind.”

The way one masters the 'confusion of self' caused by the ‘Hall of Mirrors’ is by developing strength (not rigidity) and clarity of mind through concentration. By this you can practice watching what is reflected in our own mirror.  When you can do this, you can learn to seperate the impressions that are you from those that are 'not you'.

Hazrat Inayat Khan: “This is the first lesson and the most important lesson that you have to learn in Spiritual work; this is the foundation of the whole of mysticism, that you are able to move your thoughts about as you wish. When you wish to think of a rose, a lily must not come in your thought; when you think of a horse, an elephant must not appear before you; you must keep it away. This teaches you to create a thought and hold it, and to expel every thought that you do not wish to have. In this way you become the master of your thoughts; you train them, you control them; and then you use them for your benefit.


Two poems by Rumi worth contemplating that reveal the spiritual importance of the mirror nature of consciousness (from the book "Rumi Daylight" by Camille and Kabir Helmminski)...

Know the mirror of the heart is infinite.

Either the understanding falls silent,

or it leads you astray,

because the heart is with God,

or indeed the heart is He.

 

 

Those with mirror-like hearts

do not depnd on fragrance and color:

they behold Beauty in the moment.

They've cracked open the shell of knowledge

and raised the banner of the eye of certainty.

Thought is gone in a flsh of light.

 

Practices to Harness the Power of the Mind and Feelings

When the mind and body are restless, nothing in life can be accomplished.
Success is the result of control.  Hazrat Inayat Khan

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Affirmation: My mind is still, my thought is steady, my sight is keen, my life is balanced.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

Use any of these practices to give you the power to become who you are and what you want to be!

1.     Kasab or Pranayama – Develop Balance, freedom, centered emotions

Press your right thumb to close the right nostril, inhale through the left nostril. Feel your energy rising up the left side of the spine, transmuting it as it rises. Press the left finger so that both nostrils are closed; hold your breath 3 – 5 heartbeats. Then exhale through the right nostril, bringing the energy down.

Now press your left finger closing the left nostril, breath in through the right nostril, drawing energy up through the right side of the spinal cord; hold your breath; then exhale through the left nostril, bringing the energy down.

Then breathe in through both nostrils with the energy rising in the middle of the spine; hold the breath, and exhale through both nostrils as you descend. (This is one breath cycle – Repeat 3 - 7 times)

2.     Learning to Visualize –given by Sufi Amin

“Close your eyes and picture yourself in an empty room with a pedestal located in the center of the room. On the pedestal, picture a saucer, and on the saucer an orange. In one’s mind be aware of reaching out and picking up the orange. Feel the coolness of the orange in your hand and then against your mouth; a burst of bitter taste as you bite into its skin and start to remove the peel, thus finding a white skin beneath the peel. Then continue removing the peel from the orange until one half of the orange is peeled. After that, break the orange in half, enjoy the wonderful ‘Orangey’ smell. Oops, a bit of juice spilled on to your hand. Now remove one segment of the orange and put it in your mouth and begin chewing the orange. Let the juice slosh about as your teeth separate the fibers of the orange. Then imagine tasting a second piece of the orange. Okay, that completes the concentration.” 

Note: Notice how the image began to form in the ethers as you brought your sense into play.  This is a secret of the power of visualization - when the senses are used they reinforce the visualization. The stronger the use of two or more senses of perception, the stronger or more powerful is the concentration.  Forming an object or goal or plan, etc. in the ethers is second to the last step of manifesting it on the physical plane!

3.     Visualization – Develop Mental Power through Concentration

Concentration is much easier than we think – try this enjoyable practice, it does not need to take a long time and you can try it almost anywhere.

First with the eyes open, gaze passively upon a beautiful object, like a flower, crystal, tree, or else take in a whole scene of nature. Do not study the object, do not scan its surface, but just passively receive the beautiful impression visually.

Then close the eyes and see the image reflected in the mind’s eye. You may find that you are able to hold it for a few moments and then suddenly you’ve lost it. In that case open your eyes again and recapture it visually, and then once again close the eyes.  Do this as much as you like until you can see it in your mind.

Optionally, when you are ready, let the mental image dissolve into the “feeling” given by the object or scene – how that image or object conveys a feeling, how it speaks to the heart in the language of a quality.  Enjoy this communion until you feel satisfied or tired with the practice.

4.     Watching the Breath – Develop peace, freedom in thought and feeling,

1. Sit in a comfortable spot and let your breathing relax, just let it flow gently, naturally in and out.  Simply breathe, feeling and being aware of yourself breathing, relaxed, gently you are just breathing.  Notice the lungs, the inflow of air through the nostrils, down the throat and into the lungs. Be aware of the exhalation, the flow of air out through the nose or mouth. How far did your breath propel the air from your nose, four fingers, eight fingers, twelve or sixteen fingers? Just watch. Is the air coming in through the center of your nostrils? Does it feel as though it is favoring the top, bottom, left or right side? Be aware. Everything has its meaning.
2. As you become more aware of your breath then just watch the rise and fall of your breath. Is it equal in time between inhalation and exhalation? Is your exhalation longer than your inhalation or vice-versa? Just watch. Everything has a meaning.
3. Now, at the end of each exhalation, count the cycle of breath to yourself. Remember, watch the breath and count it, don’t think, don’t analyze – if thoughts or feelings arise, just keep letting them go by keeping your awareness on the flow of breath gently in and out.
4. When you reach a count of 10 or 15, stop counting and let yourself just float or become buoyant.
5. If thoughts or emotions should creep in, just watch them. Don’t try to stop them, don’t grab on to them just be aware of their rising and falling away like logs floating down a river.

Transmuting Darkness into Light

Often in the course of our lives, particularly when the ‘mirror of our consciousness’ becomes clear from spiritual practice, we start to pick up a lot of heavy emotions in our auras.  We may not even recognize these as coming from outside ourselves and therefore attribute them to “I”:  Why am “I” feeling depressed, angry, confused, fearful, exhausted, etc. 

 

These heavy emotions manifest in our mental-emotional bodies from outside, from there they can sink into our etheric body and finally, even into our physical bodies. The heavy energy or emotion we pick up comes to us because: (a) of an affinity with our own mental-emotional tendencies; or (b) from individuals we are close to such as family, loved ones, a group we are connected with, or even from the city we live in.

No matter where these emotions come from, how we handle them is essentially the same: the first step is to recognize them; the second, to honestly ask if they are mine or not mine, (i.e. coming from outside); and third, to stop giving them life by focusing or dwelling upon them or acting them out. 

There are also spiritual techniques that can be use to disperse, reframe or transmute such heavy emotions. Three of these techniques are given below. 

1. Filling our aura and atmosphere with light – evaporating heaviness

This practice is like the sun which progressively disburses a dense morning fog to bring forth its light into the world.

Relax and feel light coming down from on high through the crown center and radiating out from the third eye like a beacon of light.  Now gently moving the head from left to right repeat the mystic phrase of the Sufis over and over La Illaha, La Illah, La Illah (or if you prefer you can say Nur, Nur, Nur or Light, Light, Light).  You are washing your aura with light, filling your aura with light.  After you wash your aura with light you can also wash the atmosphere around you with light. Do this until you run out of time or feel the heaviness begin to lift. Sometimes you may not immediately feel the change in your aura or atmosphere, growing lighter and brighter, but that does not mean the practice has not worked!

2. Transmuting Heaviness

Through the mouth, Inhale the heaviness in through the solar plexus and feel it rising up the spine to the top of the head; as the heavy energy rises up the spine see or feel it becoming lighter and lighter. It is like the night transitioning into morning at sunrise.  After inhaling the energy up to the of the head, briefly hold your breath and feel all the heaver or darker energy transformed into pure light, like the brilliant light of the sun.  Then, exhaling through the nose, feel that energy of light radiating out of your heart center as Love.

Note: Inhaling through the Solar Plexus produces a fire that transmutes heavy energy like wood in a fire, and in return produces the rising, transforming, radiant energy of light and love. 

3. Manifesting Light

This technique uses two mantric words of power NUR (pronounced NOOR) for light and HAYY (pronounced “Hi”) which means to come alive.  So, with your head very gently moving from left to right repeat 3 times:  Nur, Nur, Nur  – then powerfully say Hayy as your head moves down toward your heart.  

Note: When you say NUR, you are calling and building a presence of light, stronger and stronger with each repetition; then when you say HAYY, you call that light into manifestation:  if you want it to manifest in your aura, then bring it into your heart; if you want it to manifest in a room or building, then feel the light coming to life in the middle of the room or building and filling the whole room as if someone just unveiled a sun.

Each of these techniques requires practice to become proficient, but once proficient you can do them easily on the spur of a moment.  Also, you must have enough concentration to hold the practice and not get distracted.  A light adept can simply manifest and hold light in a situation, or their aura at will, without any technique, the greater the adept the more heaviness they can transmute  BUT each of us can learn to handle what we are given.

Slipping Into Light

These two wonderful practices arose from the collective inspiration of a group Light Bearers.

SLIPPING INTO LIGHT - PART 1

Experience Light Slipping into your body.

Feel the areas of your body where you would normally not be aware of light, such as between the fingers, between the toes, under the chin, in the back of the knees, and elsewhere.  Now relax and be aware of light entering these places of the body… feel the light slipping into the space between the fingers, behind the knees, inside the elbow, behind the ears, and everywhere else it manages to slip in.  Allow the light to slip in to unexpected places of your being.  You find that experiencing light is no longer an active encounter that you must do, but instead a receptive experience of allowing the light to slip in wherever it may.

SLIPPING INTO LIGHT - PART 2

Experience Light Slipping into Hot Spots of the World, Places of Turmoil. 

Think of an area of the world that is in turmoil/suffering and needs peace and light.  Imagine that you are there; become aware of light slipping into unexpected places of that city or country.  Light slips into the hair of the screaming woman who just lost her son or husband; light slips into the tear on a father’s face; light slips into the sand and dirt of the ground; light slips into the metal shimmering in the sun; so on and so forth…. Feel the light increasing and along with it - peace, until you feel a transformation of the location and it’s people, as they are filled with light in unexpected places.  See or become aware of each person in his or her perfection, see the city or country in its perfection.