A spiritual understanding of some ‘hairy’ questions that might be bothering you
You’ll note that many are quotes from books written by Harold Klemp. He is the leader of Eckankar. Where I have not quoted, it’s my personal understanding of the official view.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, my work is in no way official or even condoned by Eckankar. It's not that they have objected to my work, but I've never asked them for approval. As you read elsewhere, Eckankar is a path of freedom. So, as long as I don't misquote them or ask for money for their materials, I understand that I tread a safe path.
Here are the topics covered
- Gossip
- Righteous anger
- Vaccination for COVID-19
- Abortion
- Same sex marriage
- Misuse of power
- Free will
- Salvation
- Can I become one with God?
Gossip
"Gossiping is actually like playing pin the tail on the donkey. Carrying our fears and blemishes like a pin with the donkey’s tail, we walk around blindly sticking the pin in others, when actually it belongs on us. In other words, we lay on other people the shortcomings we find in ourselves.
That’s called gossip, and we don’t do ourselves or anyone else any good by it. It’s a pastime that keeps us so busy talking about things we have no power to change that Soul stays unconscious".
— Harold Klemp, Cloak of Consciousness
Righteous anger
There’s no distinction can be made between so-called righteous anger and ordinary, everyday anger. They both create karma and harm the giver and the receiver. And, as above regarding gossip, when we entertain righteous anger, it keeps us so busy arguing for what we see as right, sending out emails, and commenting on social media, that our distraction hinders our soul development.
"If a person approaches you in anger, chant HU silently within yourself. This has an amazing effect. Keep in mind that you’re not doing it to change the other person, you’re doing it for your own self-protection. It’s not like prayer where you say, God, please make him stop. It’s more like God, please give me strength".
— Harold Klemp, Cloak of Consciousness
Vaccination for COVID-19
This email from the ECKANKAR Spiritual Center in Chanhassen, Minnesota, clears up any misunderstanding:
“We were recently asked if ECKANKAR would sign documents in support of a religious exemption from vaccination.
“ECKANKAR considers it a sacred right for each individual to make their own decisions about their health.
“Therefore, ECKANKAR does not take a position regarding vaccinations or other personal health decisions. We are the Path of Spiritual Freedom.
“This is why ECKANKAR respectfully declines to act on vaccination exemption requests.
“We appreciate your understanding.”
Abortion
The understanding is that life begins when the soul comes to the body at the first breath and therefore the human is not viable until then. Therefore, as expressed above, re the COVID vaccination exemption query, it’s up to the individual to make their own choice.
Misuse of power
"Often people in leadership positions are learning the exercise of power. And the higher they go on earth in these positions, they’re having to learn more about the use and misuse of power. Sometimes these people make big mistakes. Other times they do much good. … Don’t hate anyone because they make decisions that you don’t agree with or because they do things that you feel are wrong. Let them be. … Don’t waste all your good energy burning yourself up with anger. Anger burns. It consumes like a hot fire".
— Harold Klemp, How to Survive Spiritually in our Times
Same-sex marriage
Eckankar has a 'modern take' on this issue. This quote is from a book published last century, and the articles were all transcripts of 1989/90 events.
"A mutual expression of love between two people, whether they are of the opposite sex or the same sex, is a form of divine love trying to express itself through humanity. [In the past] the moral code of religions taught that love between people of the same sex was very wrong. But with the more open consciousness of today, we find that people of the same sex do love each other, and often more truly than do many people of the opposite sex.
So we realize, finally, that love loves, without regard for human opinion and human laws. …We find that whenever a society imposes such rules or moral codes, they proclaim it the law of God; therefore, supposedly, it is for the betterment of the people. … To me, it doesn’t make any difference who a person loves. What should matter the most is how you love. True love does not hurt the loved; it’s that simple.”
Harold Klemp — We Come as Eagles
Free will
"One of the basic principles of ECK is free will. We have to be very careful to allow others their freedom of choice".
— Harold Klemp, Cloak of Consciousness
Salvation
"We don’t talk about salvation in ECKANKAR, because Soul is never lost. There is no such thing as eternal damnation. That concept is a ploy used by the priestcraft to trap Soul into thinking that salvation can only come through doing whatever they decide is necessary".
— Harold Klemp, Cloak of Consciousness
Can I become one with God?
"You do not become one with God, even though you are Soul, a light of God. You become one with the Holy Spirit".
– Harold Klemp, The Slow Burning Love of God
POSTS
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Why I am NOT going to ask you to join my path
"People don’t realize that God has provided all these different religions for a specific purpose"
Post #1
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... and it could just as easily be called 'How I kept ignoring signs'
Post #2
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How I was instructed in my dreams—I got business help with these two dreams in particular
Post #3
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No magic, no spooky stuff—My hope for you is to discover the beauty and power of the meditative experience
Post #4
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My 80-word definition of spirituality—
Speaks for itself; no more to say
Post #5
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A spiritual understanding of some ‘hairy’ questions that might be bothering you—includes same sex marriage, abortion, free will...
Post #6
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A New Year’s Eve that went in a different direction—an example of how Spirit works in our lives
Post #7
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The five 'baddies' in our lives—Could 'not-enoughness' be at the bottom of what many religions accept as obstacles?
Post #8
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How the Pooh Bear stories are sometimes similar to Eckankar’s teachings— a big dose of ‘is-ness’, and Spirit in Pooh stories
Post #9
Do the explanations on this page ring true for you?
If so, you might like to explore Eckankar some more:
Be assured that there will never be any pressure applied to you to join Eckankar.
Did you note that quote about free will on this page? That’s one of the reasons why no-one is going to lean on you to join Eckankar.
For more reasons, consult this post:
Why I am NOT going to ask you to join my path
So this is just an opportunity to look at spiritual growth in what may be a different way for you and/or to take the tools that Eckankar makes freely available to everyone who wants to enhance their spiritual growth, whatever path they belong to.
To explore further, you could look at my info intro, Looking for a Path to Explain the Weird, Cosmic Stuff, here, or take my free 2-week course, Spiritual Growth for Aspies, here, and/or look at Eckankar's website directly.
I’m always optimistic that you have a beautiful, bold personality that may be hidden under a cloak of low self-worth, ‘not-enoughness’, or other hidden self-sabotaging stories. What's more, I’ve experienced that these stories also cloak us from connecting personally with God. I’ve developed my own connection with Spirit, mostly with the aid of my spiritual path, Eckankar, over the past 35+ years.
Some people want you to be cured of Asperger’s. Not me. I want you to love it, love yourself, and relish your strengths and uniqueness. Sounds hard, but in my courses we start with simple steps for you to ultimately reach a state of self-compassion.
:) Elizabeth Jewell Stephens