“Now when those experiences [of vivid dreams] during deep sleep first come to the notice of the student his next task must be to sense them as clearly and vividly as possible. At first this presents great difficulty the perception of these experiences being exceedingly slight. The student knows very well, on waking, that he has had an experience, but is completely in the dark regarding its nature. The most important thing during the initial stage is to remain quiet and composed, and not for a moment lapse into any unrest or impatience. The later is under all circumstances detrimental; it can never accelerate development, but only delay it. The student must cultivate a quiet and yielding receptivity for the gift that is presented to him.” ~Rudolf Steiner

Remembering Dreams and Visions

“Dreams, flashes, and visions can come to us is various circumstances. They usually happen during sleep, but can happen at any time. They almost always happen only when we are very relaxed and receptive.

“In the classic Science Fiction Movie Forbidden Planet, Walter Pidgeon as Dr. Mobius states, ‘What man can remember his own dreams.’ He doesn’t ask it as a question, but states it as if saying ‘no man can remember his own dreams.’ In actual fact, it is a question. The answer to the question is ‘Spiritual adepts, among others.’ The spiritually trained student tends to remember his dreams more than the average person. And anyone can increase their chances of remembering their dreams by simply telling themselves before they doze off, “I will remember the dreams I have tonight.”

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on DECEMBER 5, 2017

“Far sighted were the initiates of antiquity. They realized that nations come and go, that empires rise and fall, and that golden ages of art, science, and idealism are succeeded by the dark ages of superstition.

“With the needs of posterity foremost in mind, the sages of old went to inconceivable extremes to make certain that their knowledge should be preserved. They engraved it upon the face of mountains and concealed it within the measurements of colossal images, each of which was a geometric marvel. Their knowledge of chemistry and mathematics they hid within mythologies. … They wrote in characters that neither the vandalism of men not the ruthlessness of the elements could completely efface.” ~Manly P. Hall

Ever Changing World

“In the constantly changing world of matter, the ancient wise men understood that things happen in cycles. Periods of wisdom followed by periods of stupidity. Periods of rising up followed by periods descent into materialism and the great lie. In addition, they knew that it is the nature of governments, once formed, to act like a living creature concerned with protecting its own existence above everything else. Such governments will oppose anything which they consider to be a threat to their authority. That usually means that they see spiritual schools and spiritual movements as threatening to them.

“Actually, the spiritual schools were not trying to destroy anything except ignorance. In fact, the spiritual schools saw the need for governments to keep those who remain unenlightened under some limited control. Many  ignore a spiritual leader telling them they endanger their immortal soul by their actions. Yet they will listen to a government that threatens to jail them or put them to death for it.”

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on DECEMBER 11, 2017

It is tradition in the Far East to view the first sunrise of the year. It is for good fortune and happiness in the new year. In recent years past, my wife and I would view the first sunrise together from atop our apartment building. We were usually there alone and enjoyed it together in prayer. We have since moved from that apartment and had an addition to the family, so we decided to do it a bit differently coming into 2018.

We found a place about 2 km away that was a mountainside near a college. There would be no school that day so we thought it would be perfect. The morning of, as we drove in that direction, it was clear that others thought that location was perfect as well. There was traffic leading to the one road up the mountain. It got so bad at one point I thought we may miss the crowning of the Sun over the horizon. We finally got halfway up and decided not to risk driving higher and parked at the next available spot. The view would be just as good since there was nothing blocking our view. When we got out of the car the blistering cold hit hard against any bare skin that was uncovered. It did not stop us or the hundred or so of others who found that same location. We rushed to a good viewing spot and I noticed a few buses pulling in that had brought in loads of other people as well.

I began taking pictures and trying to ensure that my wife and newborn son were as warm as they could be. The weather was below freezing. Finally the big moment was soon to arrive, and everyone stared and waited. As soon as a spark of sunlight glanced above the horizon the crowd let out an “aaahhh” as did I. Just then, a short older Korean man rushed past me, barely halting before possibly tumbling down the edge of the section of the mountain we stood on, and he clapped his hands together and began to pray. I held my wife a son and said a prayer as well.

It was amazing to watch a sunrise with so many others there. If only they knew the true beauty and benefit of doing this all the time, the world would be a different place.

by Frank Gadson

“And now it may very exactly be understood by the essences and properties of the Soul, that in this House of Flesh (where it is as it were generated) it is not at home; and its horrible Fall may be also understood thereby. For it has no Light in itself of its own. It must borrow its Light from the Sun; which indeed springs up along with it in its Birth. … And if then the Divine Light be not again generated in the Center, then the soul remains in eternal darkness, … where nothing is to be found in the kindled fire but a horrible flash of fire in which source, also the Devils dwell. …. But if the Soul be regenerated in the Holy Ghost, … then it sees with two Lights, and lives in two Principles.” ~Jacob Boehme

Soul in a House of Flesh

“The ‘House of Flesh’ Boehme is talking about is the physical body. It is where the Soul dwells on Earth, but it is not the true home of the Soul. Its true home is in Heaven, in the spiritual worlds. The Soul is pure spirit and it belongs in a body of spirit living in a world of spirit. Because of the Great Fall, however, it is trapped in a world of matter while our physical bodies live. For this reason, the spirit and Soul are dormant when we come into the physical world and effort must be put into awakening them and nourishing them.”

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on DECEMBER 14, 2017

“How the might of Nature sways
All the world in ordered ways,
How resistless laws control
Each least portion of the whole –
Fain would I in sounding verse
On my pliant strings rehearse. …

And the woodland songster, pent
in forlorn imprisonment,
Through a mistress’ lavish care
Store of honeyed sweets prepare;
Yet, if in his narrow cage,
As he hops from bar to bar,
He should spy the woods afar,
Cool with sheltering foliage,
All these dainties he will spurn,
To the woods his heart will turn;
Only for the woods he longs,
Pipes the woods in all his songs. …

Thus are all things seen to yearn
In due time for due return;
And no order fixed may stay,
Save which in th’ appointed way
Joins the end to the beginning
In a steady cycle spinning.

“Ye, too, creatures of earth, have some glimmering of your origin, however faint and through it a vision dim and clouded, yet in some wise, not withstanding, ye discern the true end of happiness, and so the aim of nature leads you thither—to that true good—while error in many forms leads you astray therefrom.” ~Boethius

Return to Nature

“In the selected verses from one of his songs, Boethius tells us that no matter how wonderful is the captivity in which they find themselves, the birds and lions in cages yearn to be free and return to nature. We may think the bird is happy in his cage, but if let lose it will almost always fly off and not return. Living free in the natural world is more important than being spoiled and cared for, yet captive.

“Boethius is telling us that, in a sense, we are all like that bird. We don’t realize that we are captives in a cage, but that is exactly what the world of matter is. It is an empty world, a world of death and disease, a world of change, and a world doomed to end one day. Deep down, we all yearn to return to our nature, which is spirit, not matter. We know deep down that we have a spiritual nature and we want to return to it.”

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on DECEMBER 14, 2017

“The initiates of old warned their disciples that an image is not a reality but merely the objectification of a subjective idea. The images of the gods were not not designed to be objects of worship but were to be regarded merely as emblems or reminders of invisible powers and principles. Similarly, the body of man must not be considered as the individual but only as the house of the individual, in the same manner that the temple was the House of God. In a state of grossness and perversion man’s body is the tomb or prison of a divine principle; in a state of unfoldment and regeneration it is the House or Sanctuary of the Deity by whose creative powers it was fashioned. ‘Personality is suspended upon a thread from the nature of Being,’ declares the secret work. … The immortal is the reality; the mortal is the unreality.” ~Manly P Hall

Images and Symbols

In an age when many people never visit parks or other countries in person, but instead view videos online, or read the Facebook posts of those who do, it is not surprising that they can’t tell the difference between what is real and what is merely symbols or images of reality. In a sense, of course, an image is a kind of reality. But the reality of a photo of a rose is not the reality of an actual rose. Even if you could make the photo three dimensional and add the scent of a rose, it would still be just an image.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on OCTOBER 31, 2017

“When God has granted you a degree of spiritual knowledge, do not neglect love and self-control; for it is these which once they have purified the soul’s possible aspect, always keep open for you the way of such knowledge.
“Dispassion and humility lead to spiritual knowledge. Without them no one will see the Lord. Since knowledge puffs up, but love edifies, unite love with knowledge and you will free yourself from arrogance and be a spiritual builder, edifying both yourself and all who draw near you.
“Love edifies because it does not envy, or feel bitterness towards those who are envious, … and it unhesitatingly confesses its ignorance of what it does now know.” ~The Philokalia

Love and Knowledge

Love and knowledge do go together. This is especially true when the source of knowledge is not spiritual, but temporal. I’m sure we can all think of people who have gathered great knowledge from universities, and lord over all around them because of it. They have too much knowledge and not enough love. And the kind of knowledge they have is nothing to brag about anyway. It is mostly knowledge of illusion that they think is reality.

To a spiritual person, bragging about such knowledge makes as much sense as someone bragging that he knows every character in every Bugs Bunny cartoon. Or the naturists who brags that he can identify the droppings of over a hundred animal species.

Not only is love required to properly use knowledge, but real knowledge cannot be found without it.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on NOVEMBER 4, 2017

“From indisputable facts … it is evident that philosophy emerged from the religious Mysteries of antiquity, not being separated from religion until after the decay of the Mysteries. Hence he who would fathom the depths of philosophical thought must familiarize himself with the teachings f those initiated priests. … The Mysteries claimed to be the guardians of a transcendental knowledge so profound as to be incomprehensible save to the most exalted intellect. …
“The Mysteries were secret societies, binding their initiates to inviolable secrecy. … Although these schools were the true inspiration of the various doctrines promulgated by the ancient philosophers, the fountainhead of these doctrines was never revealed to the profane.” ~Manly P. Hall

Mystery Schools and Philosophies

Many people study the philosophies of both modern and ancient philosophers. Many are impressed by the great ideas they expressed. That is wonderful. They have much to say that is worthy of our attention in our all too materialistic age.

But when studying the great philosophers it is important to remember that they were rarely the developers of the ideas they shared. They were merely interpreting, or putting into simple language, the teachings of the ancient Mystery schools. Some of those philosophers were students of such schools. Plato is one such example. Some were even secretly teachers in such schools. Such philosophers definitely knew what they were talking about.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on NOVEMBER 8, 2017

“We need to be careful of what we think and talk. Because thought runs in currents as real as those of air and water. Of what we think and talk we attract to us like a current of thought. This acts on mind or body for good or ill.

“If thought was visible to the physical eye we should see its currents flowing to and from people. We should see that persons similar in temperament, character and motive are in the same literal current of thought. We should see that the person in a despondent and angry mood was in the same current with others despondent or angry, and that each one is such moods serves as an additional battery or generator of such thought and is strengthening that particular current. We should see these forces working in similar manner and connection the hopeful, courageous and cheerful with all other hopeful, courageous and cheerful.” ~Prentice Mulford

Thought Currents

I have never thought of it quite that way, but the image created in my head by the phrase “thought currents” is certainly an accurate one. Thoughts are energy. There is no doubt about that. Scientific instruments of today can measure this energy. They do so  well enough to tell when you are deep in thought or when you are mentally relaxed. The thought flowing our from you and others near you create flows of energy. I visualize it as a river with eddies and currents where strong-willed individuals are thinking, or where people are deep in thought, and calm areas where others are doing little thinking. This river flows with many other towards a great sea of thought.

Flowing with Thought Currents

Just as you will tend to flow with the currents in the ocean, so do we tend to flow with the thought currents. Not only o they affect how we think, they can actually affect our behavior and health. . . .

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on NOVEMBER 10, 2017

“One day people will be traveling without ships, trains or planes. They will have a new type of body, shaped and structured differently. They will have a new kind of Light and Knowledge. … Then they will not toil the land as they do now, but sustain themselves in a way unknown to today’s scientists.

“To renovate yourselves, you have to get up early every morning to be able to receive the first rays of the Sun. They carry within them light and elevated thoughts. You may say that the rays of light are nothing more than vibrations oscillations of ether. It is true that light is oscillations, vibrations, but these are life-bearing vibrations.”
~Biensa Douno

Future Travel

Douno says that we will one day travel without the need for trains, planes, or ships. That day is probably a long way off. But even today it is possible with the right training and attitude to engage in spiritual travel. In this way, one can travel a great distance instantly, see what is there, and return just as quickly.

Read the entire article online at spiritsun.net.

Original article posted by HAROLD BOULETTE on NOVEMBER 14, 2017