'When the world pushes you to your knees, you are in a perfect postion to pray.'

I came upon this lovely Sufi saying the other day. I hope you like it too. (There is a deep connection between the beautiful wisdom of the White Eagle teaching and Sufi philosophy and I believe that White Eagle himself was a Sufi teacher in one of his many lives.)

So many people seem to be going through particularly challenging times in their personal lives at the present time. I am sure it is part of the opportunity the new Aquarian age energy is bringing for learning greater compassion and understanding of the lessons to be learned through suffering. Although maybe we don't often actually get down on our knees to pray, just the thought of doing so is very symbolic of simple surrender to the Will of God and trust in the love and omnipotence of the Creator of the world. Or, in the terminology White Eagle uses, to be on our knees is symbolic of surrender and acceptance, and an inner saying of 'Not my will O Lord, Thy Will.'

I find these words in our White Eagle book of prayer very inspiring:

'Daily seek the presence of God. Remember every morning as you wake and every evening as you go to rest, that you are held within the love of your heavenly Father-Mother, and you will be upllifted and relieved of all tension. Open your heart to the in-flow of that great Sun-life, till your whole being, body and soul and spirit, becomes charged again and again with divine Life flowing eternally from the heart of God.'

If we can do this after being on our knees in prayer, we will indeed become shining lights to lift the hearts of many!

Remembering Our Loved Ones

This time of year, as the nights get long, and the days short and often dark, (here in the Northern Hemisphere), it is a traditional time for thinking of the other world, and of course Halloween has now become a noteable date for many children and young people. 

 

The Diwali Festival in the Hindhu religion and All Saints in the Christian tradition fall at this time, and are followed soon after by Remembrance day, when nations remember all those who have lost their lives in war.

 

For those with esoteric knowledge, it is a time when the Sun is in the sign of Scorpio, the sign of hidden secrets, and the mystery of life, death and what lies beyond. In the book 'Festivals and Celebrations', White Eagle tells his readers, 'We pray that your inner vision may open to the company of shining ones, friends, brothers and sisters of your spirit who draw close to you at the festival of All Souls.'

 

My mother, Joan Hodgson, passed on into the world of light on 8th October 1995. Although this is nearly twenty five years ago now, I still have a vivid memory of this time, and her joy as she approached her 'death' and, as she said, 'going home' - looking forward to her happy reunion with her much loved husband and partner in White Eagle's work, John, my father. 

 

As I was walking beside the sea, at the time of her passing, just a couple of weeks ago, I was very aware of her walking beside me (as she used to do, in this favourite place we both love). She looked (and is) so young and happy and full of vitality - not at all like the ghosts which are portrayed as part of halloween! 

 

Your loved ones can come very close to you too, especially at this time. It is not the gift of just a chosen few to feel this! White Eagle encourages us all to open our inner eyes, our inner senses, and believe. It is true - really, 'Where there is love there can be no separation'.

Thank You God!

I have a clear childhood memory of the little prayer that we used to sing before meals:

Thank you for the world so sweet,

Thank you for the food we eat,

Thank you for the birds that sing,

Thank you God for everything.

 

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we have been celebrating Harvest time, (and, of course, it is Spring in the Southern Hemisphere), and it is a traditional time for saying `Thank you`, maybe something we forget in these days when food, vegetables and fruit are imported from all over the world!

 

But as I walk in our English countryside, seeing the abundance of nature, my heart is full of thankfulness that our world is so lovely, and so full of such an infinite variety of beauty. I heard a chaffinch singing  happily this morning, and even butterflies still around, bees buzzing in the warm autumn sunshine, and saw so many colourful flowers in gardens and hedgerows. i couldn`t help myself from saying inwardly many times, just simply `Thank you God!`

 

There is a passage of White Eagle`s teaching about thankfulness in 'Prayer, Mindfulness and Inner Change', in which he makes a different point about thankfulness, which I often contemplate too, and want to share now, as I feel it is important when we look out at the many things going on in our world today. He says:

 

'When we sit in the silence and commune with the invisible, we become aware of the praise and thanksgiving flowing from the heart of God. It may seem strange to you to think of God giving thanks, but we ask you to consider this idea of God pouring forth thankfulness. God created the world, the heavens and all things. And God gave thanks when he beheld his creation.'

 

I believe that this is so, no matter what humankind are doing! The gift of thankfulness is healing in so many ways, and our thankfulness is part of our own healing service to the whole of God`s creation, linking in a magical way with the vibration of thankfulness flowing from the heartbeat of all life.

A Night Under the Stars

By chance I was watching a news programme on Saturday and there was a report based on the recent review of our UK National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is the 70th anniversary of our first National Park, but what interested me most was the encouragement being given, particularly to young people, to get out into the beauty of our countryside and `spend a night under the stars`! 

(The report was following straight on from a feature about the amazing teenager, Greta Thunberg, who is doing such a great job campaigning at top level for more awareness and actual action about global warming.)

The new generation of young people, many of whom I am sure are very wise old souls, who are reincarnating with a purpose at this time of great opportunity to advance on the path of brotherhood, are certainly leading the way.

The idea of spending more time outside in nature and under the stars, of course made me think immediately of White Eagle and some of the beautiful teaching he has given us from his American Indian lifetime.

I have his book EARTH HEALER open now, and I read these words on page 67,  in the New Lands Temple on Sunday during our Peace Day:

'Let us worship God in silence under the heavenly canopy of stars; let us commune with the spirits of the air and the fire and the water and the beautiful earth. The peace of the eternal love and harmony fills our being. We receive God`s blessing with humble thankfulness.`

Vision for our Planet

When I was shown this Cree Indian saying recently it had a profound effect on me:

'Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat  money.'

As our beautiful planet faces yet more physical challenges with the terrible Amazon fires and the hurricane in the Bahamas and North America, we seem to be being shown in truly dramatic ways that material aims and gains have severe consequences which have to be faced. A positive thing which is happening is that the media is showing us all with greater clairty than ever before what is going on. Just the other day, I watched a news report about what the pursuit of gain from palm oil is also doing to our forests. What was positive and brought hope was the story, alongside the pictures of what a company only seeking material gain was doing, of another enterprise which had its workers and careful, sustainable use of the forest resources at its heart.

All that is going on in our natural world has made me even more aware of why White Eagle chose to use his North American Indian personality for his teaching through Grace Cooke. The Indians knew how to work in harmony with the elements and angels; they knew how to work in harmony with the earth and the consequences if they did not. White Eagle is helping us work at a deep inner level in a way which is effective. Our work with the Star to 'uplift the consciousness' of all people is working - I am sure of this. Things are changing, people are realising 'we cannot eat money'!

At the beginning of White Eagle's book Earth Healer, this vision by Grace Cooke is given, and encourages us to believe in a healthy future for our planet which we can work towards by radiating the light of that sun/star:

'I saw a great golden sun in the heavens, and it seemed to shine down upon a city, and all the buildings in the city appeared to be made of ice. They seemed to flash all colours in the sunlight and it all looked very hard and frozen. Then suddenly, when it was least expected, the whole thing collapsed - simply melted away and there was a fresh new earth. There were men and women on the earth ploughing and sowing, and it was a lovely day. The birds were singing and there was a feeling of healthfulness and simplicity and cleanliness. A new day had begun with the promise of a new life.'

Silence is Golden

I have just been leading a service in the New Lands temple with Rozita, our deputy mother. The reading of White Eagle's words we had chosen (from Walking with White Eagle in Sacred Places) was about the power of silence. White Eagle says, 'Would that men and women would seek the silence more often, as we used to do in ages past!'

I can remember growing up with the oft repeated phrase from adults around me, 'Silence is golden'. As a child I did not appreciate that - like most children I loved to chatter and run around and make lots of noise! The value of silence has grown on me as I have got older, and maybe also because our world seems to have got noisier. This is not just because of increased traffic (by road and air), but also constant media messages, and the feeling of needing to keep pace with all that is going on 'out there'. And then, there is also what is going on inside our heads, with the added pressure perhaps, of thoughts whirling round and round. We are living in an age of constant information, and it can seem like a merry-go-round that we can't get off! We can, of course, but it may take a very deliberate effort of will. 

So let us follow White Eagle`s age old wisdom: 'Sit in the silence and you will hear secrets whispered to you. Go out on the sunlit downs with the sea rolling upon the shore beneath you, and listen with your heart......you will know how things happen, why things happen and how evolution is preceding. And you will know where the key to the gate of heaven is to be found; you will know how to insert that key and unlock the gates.'

The Power of Pilgrimage

I have been watching a documentary on BBC 2...we are very fortunate to have some really good programmes on our UK television uninterrupted by advertisements....in a three part series entitled 'Pilgrimage to Rome '. Eight celebrities of varying faiths or no faith at all were followed through all the ups and downs, both physical and emotional of their journey on foot to Rome. They followed the pilgrim's way which has been used by pilgrims for many hundreds of years. It starts at Canterbury but these modern day pilgrims began their journey in Switzerland.

Watching this, and the dialogue as the pilgrims walked, prompted my own thoughts about faith. One said 'I don't know what I believe' and another...a non practising Jew, 'I don't know what I am supposed to believe.' So I looked up what I wrote about pilgrimages in the book 'Walking with White Eagle in Sacred Places'. I wrote about how White Eagle encourages us all to go on inner pilgrimages, especially if our health or circumstances prevent physical walking. I explained, 'A pilgrimage is not a holiday; it is a rite of passage during which significant inner transformation takes place. After the pilgrimage your eyes are opened. You see the world differently.'

That was so true for every one of the eight pilgrims to Rome, former believers and non-believers alike. Their journey culminated in a private audience with Pope Francis. By that point they were all open to his loving non-judgemental welcome and blessing. Even those unsure of any spiritual belief at all were touched and changed and I remembered my mum (Joan Hodgson) saying to me when I was quite young, 'Faith is caught, not taught.'

This was truly demonstrated by the way our amazingly inspiring present-day Pope Francis encouraged every one of the eight pilgrims to look at their lives in a new light.