ECKANKAR, The Light and Sound of God

by Lorry Park

When I was seven, I was just about to fall asleep one night when I heard a high-pitched hum. At first I was afraid, but after looking all around my room, I realized the sound was coming from inside of me. No one had ever taught me about inner sounds; I only knew about the sounds of the physical world, such as the cry of a child, or my mother's voice. As I lay in bed, I soon realized that this sound wasn't going to harm me, and I slowly drifted off to sleep with it as my companion.

I continued to hear the hum for several more days. I never told anyone about it, but I often wondered what it had been, and where it had come from. Twenty years later, a friend gave me Eckankar: The Key to Secret Worlds by Paul Twitchell. As I read Paul's description of Light and Sound as the twin aspects of God, I began to remember the sound I had heard so many years before. At my first Eckankar seminar, I heard people talking about the Light and Sound of God. But it was when they sang HU (an ancient name for God, pronounced "hue"), that I began once more to hear the sound I had experienced when I was seven. In that moment my life changed, because I recognized this Sound of God as a wake-up call for me to listen to the inner guidance and love of God that is always present.

Of all the religions on earth today, the most direct teachings of the Light and Sound of God are found in Eckankar. In order to experience the Light and Sound of God, students of Eckankar practice simple spiritual exercises through which we gain a greater awareness of the constant presence of ECK, the Holy Spirit.

The simplest spiritual exercise is to relax and sing HU. This beautiful love song to God opens your heart so Soul, your true eternal self, can begin to listen to God and make the inner connection with Divine Spirit. You can sing HU to become happier and more secure in God's love and to prove spiritual truths to yourself through your own experiences, including personal experiences of past lives, and karma.

Through the practice of the spiritual exercises, you create greater compassion and love by seeing yourself and others as divine sparks of God. You become a better problem solver through the use of creative imagination and direct contact with God. You learn to take personal responsibility for your own spiritual growth by creating the spiritual experiences that aid you in becoming a vehicle for God's love.

The current spiritual leader of Eckankar is Sri Harold Klemp. He is known as the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master, and provides inspiring and practical examples of spiritual guidance through written discourses and talks around the world. His mission is to help interested people find their own way back to God.

There are several Eckankar Centers in North Carolina that offer further study through classes, book discussions, workshops, and worship services. For more information about Eckankar and Eck center locations near you, please write: Raleigh Eckankar Center, 6001 Chapel Hill, NC 27607; or call: (919) 852-1550; or visit our website: www.eckankar.org or www.eckankar-nc.org.

Lorry Park has been a member of Eckankar for over 25 years and is a member of the ECK clergy. She is an elementary art teacher and has an energy healing and massage therapy practice in Charlotte, NC.