Is Life a Random Walk?

Is Life a
Random Walk?
Harold Klemp

E
ECKANKAR
Minneapolis
www.Eckankar.org
 Is Life a Random Walk?
Copyright © 2001 ECKANKAR
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form by any means, whether
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without prior written permission of
Eckankar.
The terms ECKANKAR, ECK, EK, MAHANTA,
SOUL TRAVEL, VAIRAGI, and , among others,
are trademarks of ECKANKAR, PO Box 2000,
Chanhassen, MN 55317-2000 USA. 210520
Printed in USA.
Fourth Printing—2020
ISBN: 978-1-57043-172-2
Cover photo by Hannah Mende

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Klemp, Harold.
Is life a random walk? / Harold Klemp.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-57043-172-8 (saddle stitch : alk. paper)
1. Spiritual life--Eckankar (Organization) I. Title.
BP605.E3 K559 2001
299’.93--dc21
2001040469

This paper meets the requirements ANSI/NISO Z39.48-

1992 (Permanence of Paper).
 Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Is Life a Random Walk?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Help Me Remember What God Is Like. . 5
“I Want to Go Home” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Voice of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
A Spiritual Exercise to Try . . . . . . . . . . . 38
At a Crossroads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Next Steps in Spiritual Exploration. . . . 43
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

iv
 Introduction

Is life just a random walk? Some

analysts think so about the stock markets.
Perhaps this bias is a spillover from their
take on life. Who knows?
Others, myself among them, say life
follows a natural order. It is predictable.
While history may not repeat in an exact
pattern as to place or time, the present
often is a rhyme to past events.
What do you think?
If you have a strong desire to find a
better, more direct way to God, read on.
The truth you seek may be at your finger-
tips.

1
 Is Life a
Random Walk?

I was in the post office when a

father entered with his young daughter.
The toddler started to run back and forth
in the lobby, clutching a key.
When I went to my box for the mail,
the little girl followed and watched with
an intent gaze as I put a key into the lock
and unlocked it. She seemed fascinated
by the process. It was apparent she had
tried her key in several boxes without
success.

2
 Key of Opportunity
She stood and stared as I relocked my
mailbox. By then her dad had finished his
business and was ready to leave.
Scooping up his little girl, he made for
the door, then turned back and said,
“When you’re that age and you’ve got a
key, the whole world is a lock.”
I thought about it, trying to learn the
spiritual message. It is this: The whole
world is a grand opportunity, a mystery
for a child, something to unlock with a
key, to discover what’s there.
Do you have such a key? How does it
work?

A Search for Answers

Who am I? What am I? Why am I
here? Where am I going? When? And
how?
Questions, questions—but good ones.
In search of answers to these ques-
tions, you come face-to-face with the very
secrets of life and death. You unearth the

3
true knowledge that has eluded the most
learned scholars of mainline religions.
Even now you stand at the foot of a
new ladder of discovery.
What are the ancient teachings of
ECK? What do they involve? Can they
improve your life? Make you a better
person? These are all questions you may
well ask yourself someday. Maybe today.

4
 Help Me Remember
What God Is Like

D uring the mass destruction of

Hurricane Andrew in August 1992, many
people in southern Florida lost their
homes and all belongings. Some ECKists
also felt the bite of its destruction. One
such ECK family accepted shelter with
another family until money from the
insurance company let them set up
housing again.
Their hosts told a story about their
four-year-old girl and a brand-new baby
in the family. Soon after bringing the
newborn home from the hospital, the

5
hosts’ little girl made a request. Could she
please spend a few moments alone with
the baby? At first the parents felt reluc-
tance. Afraid of sibling rivalry, they
wondered if she might harm the infant.
But the four-year-old kept begging them
to leave the nursery and let her stay with
the newborn.
The parents gave in, but only after
turning up the volume on the nursery
inter­com.
(Trust in God, but turn up the inter-
com.)
They listened from another room,
prepared to rush back in if needed. In-
stead of distressed cries, however, they
heard their daughter’s soft voice address
the infant. Her words were like a prayer.
“Baby,” she said, “help me remember
what God is like. I’m beginning to for-
get.”
Many children do, in fact, remember
what God is like—at least until they enter

6
school at age three, four, or five. Then the
memory begins to cloud over. Good
schooling teaches them to be responsible
adults in society, of course. Yet at the
same time a priceless gift is lost—a child’s
understanding of God.

Straight Answers
Whatever your chosen religion or
belief, that choice is necessary for you at
this stage of your journey home to God.
That’s why you hold to it.
Your religion or belief is a valuable
and important part of you because it
reflects all your experiences from past
lives.
Our spiritual heritage is far richer than
a single lifetime could ever produce, the
real reason many enter this life with a
special gift or talent without the apparent
need for learning it. Some kids even
reincarnate with the knowledge of a
foreign language which their siblings lack.
Parents who treat reincarnation as foolish

7
may simply dismiss such a gift with an
airy, “Oh, well, he sure didn’t get it from
us,” and let it go at that.
They have no inkling as to where or
how the child picked up such an ability.

Learning the Spiritual Laws

Whenever I look at a child, I see a
little adult. Mighty oaks from acorns
grow. There’s no impulse to talk down to
children once you realize they are Souls
returned from an older time and place.
They need today’s leg of their spiritual
journey, too, the same as you and me.
Sometimes they reincarnate to wield
the sword of fear or power, while at other
times they come to demonstrate the Law
of Love.
A child of three, four, or five will
display a unique personality, perhaps an
outgoing or adventurous one. But by age
eight to ten, the child may suddenly turn
shy and reserved. Upon reflection you’d
say it isn’t the same individual.
8
 A young child often remembers the
distant past and may well speak of it.
A good question to ask a child of two
to four is this: What did you do when
you were big? You could be surprised if
the child, in a nonchalant manner,
sketches out a past life in broad details.
Recognize it for that.
When people leave this physical life,
they ascend to the next heaven, the
Astral Plane. Some advance to a higher
place, the second or third heaven. The
second is the Causal Plane. St. Paul spoke
of a third heaven. It is one of the regions
in the upper worlds where Souls go to
rest, to learn different facets of spiritual
law—including the Law of Love.
The books of ECK present these planes
and laws in some detail.

How Children Enter a New Life

After a short or lengthy rest in the
higher worlds, we return to earth as a tiny
babe. The body is a new prison of sorts.
9
This containment of Soul is the hardest
part of reincarnation to deal with. In the
last physical incarnation an individual
was perhaps an adult in a well-trained,
functioning body. Now, with baby fin-
gers, he will try to pick up objects but fail
in the attempt. Eyes struggle to focus and
make sense of a blurry world, but for
some time a scene remains a smear of
black-and-white shadings. Months pass,
and a perception of color dawns. Little by
little, the infant’s mind develops in a
heroic way to influence the brain to put it
all together.
In effect, the mind commands the
brain, “OK, now sort out the light waves
and make order from chaos.”
Of course, as our true, eternal Self—
Soul—we exist beyond the human mind.
From the lofty heights of Soul, we flash
marching orders to our mind, which, in
turn, passes them down the chain of
command to our physical brain for execu-
tion. And so the will develops. We thus
move and act. We grow.
10
 With the passage of time, the infant
comes to recognize Mommy and Daddy,
vague forms that begin to register as real
objects. It knows when the bottle’s on the
way, and so forth. A baby thus learns to
put things into categories or files.
Its growing ability to place a thing
into a familiar slot reduces the infant’s
fear, making the world a more comfort-
able place.

* * *
A mother observed the way her young
child characterized things and put them
into categories of his own making. Around
the age of ten months, he began to mimic
certain sounds. Sometime later, the
mother noticed that every time they
passed a body of water or a drinking
fountain, he would say, “Mo.”
One day she figured it out.
She had been teaching him to drink
water from a glass. After each sip, she

11
would ask, “More?” The child had taken
the characteristics of this wet stuff in the
glass and put it into the wrong file. He
thought its name was “more.” So anytime
he saw water, he tried to call it by that
name.
A child learns bit by bit. First on its
agenda is the name of basic things—how
to identify the concrete objects in the
world around him.

How Do I Get God’s Love?

Over time, children pick up the finer
subtleties of getting along with others. If
they have the good fortune of loving
parents, they soon realize that as one gets
love, he must also give it. Love is like
water in that only so much of it fits into a
glass. Before more can go in, some must
be let out. So, if one doesn’t keep giving
out love, “mo” can’t come in.
People often wonder, How do I get
God’s love? You get more of it by giving of
your own to others.

12
 Spiritual School
All in all, earth is a spiritual school.
Designed and set up by God, it lets each
of us, each Soul in this world, learn more
about becoming godlike—becoming
more like God.
The whole purpose of you, me, and
every­one else is to become more godlike. It
is our mission, or purpose, here. It’s the
key to happiness.
People may believe they’re here to
mark time until the trumpets blow on the
last day. At that point, having pursued a
frivolous life, they expect the Lord to
catch them up to some better world, to
let them embark upon a useless and
self-centered existence there too.
No. The true purpose of life here,
there, or anywhere is to become a Co-
worker with God.
Our past lives have brought experienc-
es to polish us in a spiritual way. Like it or
not, you are now the best and highest

13
spiritual being you have ever been in any
lifetime. Take a look at yourself. Like what
you see? Fine. But if you don’t like the face
staring back at you in the mirror, keep in
mind that this reflection is of your own
creation. You are today the sum of all
your thoughts, feelings, and actions in
past lives.
I once said that sincere people who
attend an ECK event—like an introducto-
ry talk on the Eckankar teachings—come
because of some dissatisfaction with their
belief or religion. Otherwise, why would
they be there?
Yet they may be aware only in part of
the pressing nature of their search. But
Soul, the True Self, has heard and is
yearning to go home.
It’s simply a matter of time before a
seeker’s search begins in earnest—perhaps
a week, a month, a year, fifty years, the
next lifetime, or later—it matters not. Yet
this may be the lifetime that a seeker

14
admits, “I sense having lived many times
in the past. I may be the best I’ve ever
been, but I want more. Much more.”

15
“I Want to Go Home”

A child we’ll call Debra, for the

sake of privacy, was born with a valve
defect in her stomach. Doctors were at a
loss whether she would outgrow the
condition. All during Debra’s childhood,
her parents had told people: “Our daugh-
ter was born with a stomach defect. She
doesn’t keep food down very well.”
Negative comments like that added an
extra burden to this poor child’s youth.
One day the problem reached a crisis.
Debra’s parents found her turning blue
and rushed her to a hospital. By luck and
divine grace, she pulled through. The

16
doctors who treated her predicted that
the stomach valve, which they fixed,
would cause no future problems.
Now, Debra’s older sister took a fiend-
ish delight in making fun of her. Soon
after Debra returned from the hospital,
her sister picked a fight. Family rules kept
the older girl from giving the younger
one a physical beating, yet verbal abuse
and name-calling did the job. They left
no visible scars. On that particular day
the younger girl simply got tired of the
hazing and turned on her sister. She beat
up her tormentor. Outraged, the elder ran
and told their father. The wisdom of
Solomon he had not, so he sent Debra to
her room.
Debra was recovering from a serious
condition, her sister had started the fight,
but she’s the one banished to her room.
She lay weeping on the bed, crushed by
the injustice of it.
“I want to go home,” she cried. “I just
want to go home.” In a spiritual sense her

17
heart was saying, “I want to go home to
God because of my unhappiness.”
Each of us is Soul. Once we laughed
and sang in the high heavens of God’s
pure Light and Sound—at play in the
park. But without the discipline or need
to serve others, we (Soul) served our-
selves. So God sent us to earth for the rich
experience of living in a world of duality,
to suffer and enjoy extremes like heat and
cold, wealth and poverty, or love and
hate. It was all to learn the true nature of
love.
That’s our mission. The first big lesson
is to learn to love ourselves.
So when young Debra cried, “I want
to go home; I just want to go home,” her
plea was in a spiritual sense. In her abject
misery the faint, but not extinguished,
memory of Soul’s onetime home flooded in
upon her. She remembered that her true
home wasn’t on earth. She was but passing
through.

18
 Accept Life for What It Is
As Debra heard the sound of her own
words, she snapped from her self-pity and
returned to her human cage, timeless
ages—yet a mere heartbeat—from bliss in
the heart of God.
I am home, she realized.
This time, she didn’t mean her heav-
enly home, but earth. Hard, merciless,
uncaring earth.
“I’m as home as I’m going to get,” she
said aloud. “It won’t get better here. So I
may as well wipe my tears and plan for
the day I’m old enough to leave.” She
stopped crying then. A key realization
had stolen in upon her: Conditions might
stumble along at home, but truth to tell,
they were well within the limits of endur-
ance. This suggested the need to accept
her station in life.
What an important realization for a
child!

19
 The Hand of God
Debra grew up, married, and endured
hardships that led to a budding maturity.
Losing her firstborn son, the marriage
missing a breakup by a narrow margin,
and other such suffering took her to the
brink of hopeless abandonment.
One day, depressed and despondent,
she sought refuge in church. Catholicism
was the faith of her youth. Now she had
hit rock bottom. Inside the church, a
prayer service was in session, and wor-
shippers all around murmured soft
prayers. At that moment, sunk in the
depths of despair, she felt a hand of
comfort come to rest upon her shoulder.
Her eyes flew open in surprise. She
glanced back to bless that gentle Soul’s
touch, but empty air greeted her widened
eyes. No one stood near.
In a way, you could say it was the
hand of God through the personage of a
divine messenger. God Itself—in ECK we

20
neither say Him nor Her—does not
descend into the human theater to move
among people in the normal sense.
Yet the Deity does send spiritual
messengers, often perceived as angels,
saints, and the like. Debra realized it in a
heartbeat. A guardian angel had indeed
placed a hand of reassurance and comfort
upon her.
Debra’s story is a wonderful example
of how you, too, may experience a gentle
nudging from Divine Spirit (ECK) to help
you on your journey home to God.
Even before leaving church, she knew
that a gift of grace had touched her with
a special blessing. This extraordinary
moment of realization was the assurance
of an ancient truth: life is more than a
random walk. A divine presence had
graced her. As a Catholic more grounded
in the physical side of life than the mysti-
cal, she was startled by such a realization
of grace. It’d come through the touch of a
gentle, albeit invisible, hand.

21
 Eternity Here and Now?
The years passed. In time Debra bore a
second son we’ll call Jim. Once grown he
took an interest in spiritual things. Debra
did too, though life’s trials left raw
wounds that begged for more time to
heal. She still exercised caution about
religion.
Yet her view about the next spiritual
step was a childlike one. Intuition whis-
pered that when a student is ready, the
Master appears, and the resulting linkup
is a most natural one. After all, hadn’t she
already waited years on end to discover
the next step to truth after feeling the
hand on her shoulder in church so long
ago? What was another month or year?
Jim, however, with all the exuberance
and impatience of youth, took a more
direct tack. “Eternity now!” he said.
One day he was reading an ECK book,
in back of which was listed a phone
number. “What are you reading?” said

22
Debra. “There’s something in it about
eternity here and now,” he replied. “I’m
going to call the number and see what I
can find out.”
A pleasant, cheery voice came on the
line. An ECKist told of an upcoming
meeting where someone would explain
more about the teachings of ECK.
“I’m going,” he told his mother.
Though leery of any religious teaching
other than Catholicism, she decided to
join him to ensure no one took advantage
of her baby. “Mother, please,” he said,
“don’t make a scene.” Jim could imagine
her throwing angry accusations at the
group. He offered a compromise.
“If you promise not to embarrass me,
you may come.”

* * *
So they set out. Near the end of the
introductory meeting on the teachings of
ECK, a speaker addressed the group. “To

23
give you a better idea of what I’m talking
about,” he said, “I would like to invite you
all to sing HU with me.” Then, very softly,
he and the others began to chant HU.
HU is an ancient, holy name for God.
You can sing it at home. Simply sit or lie
in a quiet place and sing HU (pronounced
like “hue”). This age-old song lets the
Voice of God enter you as love, Light, or
Sound.
The Light and Sound of God are
integral parts of divine love known to but
a few. The twin pillars of God’s love, they
are the mainstays of the ECK teachings. In
fact, the spiritual travelers of ECK ride
them out of the body and into the cosmic
seas via Soul Travel, like a surfer riding
ocean waves. This method is a direct route
to finding love, wisdom, and spiritual
freedom.

* * *

24
 Debra’s mind drifted to a time three
years earlier at a Renaissance fair. Astrolo-
gy and many other paths had exhibits
there.
In a little room where people came to
meditate stood a crystal bowl. The host
had run a stick with a rubber tip along the
edge of the bowl, producing a magnifi-
cent, soothing sound. It was most beauti-
ful and healing.

* * *
So at this ECK meeting Debra listened
to the others chant HU. That sound, that
sound! Where had she heard it before?
Suddenly it dawned on her: it was like the
soothing sound at the fair. The stick with
the rubber tip running slowly around the
edge of the crystal bowl had also made
this sound of HU, ancient name for God.
She learned that a recording of a HU
Song was available at the ECK meeting.
Full of excitement, she bought one. It

25
surprised Jim. “What are you doing,
Mother? You never buy such things.”
She told him about the same wonder-
ful sound she’d once heard at the Renais-
sance fair. She simply wanted to hear it
once more.

A Trip to the ECK Temple

Mother and son became members of
Eckankar. Soon after, the Temple of ECK
opened in Chanhassen, Minnesota, a
suburb of Minneapolis. “Let’s drive to
Minnesota and see this place,” Jim said.
“Yes,” she agreed. “Maybe we’ll have a
great experience there.”
In her heart she knew she would.
This occasion sparked a dim reminder
from her childhood, when she’d sobbed
on the bed: “I want to go home. I just
want to go home.” She didn’t understand
what she had meant then, and even less
now.
So they drove from the East Coast

26
with a sadly out-of-date map of Minneap-
olis. Many changes since the map’s publi-
cation had all but rendered it useless.
Upon reaching the outskirts of
Chanhassen, they asked a young gas
station attendant for directions to the
Temple of ECK.
“Never heard of it,” said the youth.
Back on the road, they tracked an
uncertain route to the town center of
Chanhassen, certain of finding the Tem-
ple of ECK nearby. But to complicate
matters, dusk had stolen upon them.
Then, while heading down the main
street, a sense of déjà vu overcame Debra.
She braked to a stop in the middle of the
street.
“Mother!” Jim said. “What are you
doing?”
Frozen in wonder at the wheel, she
replied, “I’ve been here before!”
Long years ago, a recurring dream had
foretold this visit to a small town with

27
what seemed like a year-round winter.
Except for a brief spell that natives call
summer, the description fits Minnesota.
In her dreams she had walked past a
hardware store, and then she would see
the town clock. The scene was always the
same. She’d awake to a feeling of dreams
more real than waking life. Yet she’d
forgotten them until this very night.
“I’ve been here before,” she repeated.
Traffic backing up behind them forced
her to move on. Minutes later, they found
the Temple of ECK near the edge of town.
This ECK Temple is a very special
place. It’s an outer symbol for the holy
temple of God within the heart of all
people. Visitors to it often remark upon a
presence—a very definite, loving, divine
one. The temple reflects and resonates
with the Light and Sound of God, and
many people mention this sense of being
in a unique, holy place.

28
 The Great Experience?
Parking the car, mother and son
entered the ECK Temple and took seats in
the sanctuary. Debra waited in quiet
expectation, wondering, When will I have
my great experience? Even as the thought
arose, a soft voice from nowhere said,
“Well, what do you want? Do you need to
get run over by a truck?”
Already she’d forgotten the déjà vu of
minutes ago.

* * *
Someone once asked me, “How do
people in ECK usually find truth?” He
meant: does it hit like a bombshell?
Yes, it could be an experience to
deeply stir the emotions and feelings. Yet
more often its subtlety slips past people.
So they miss it. Within the hour, Debra
had had a marvelous experience of locat-
ing the actual town from recurring
dreams years long gone. That was the
“great experience.”
29
 Great skeptics and doubters often go
farthest on the path to God. Someone
may ask, “Is there hope for me? I don’t
buy this God stuff.” No problem; take
your time, for all seekers must proceed at
their own pace.
But one truth I can give you is the
word HU, and the spiritual exercises to
find God. Yet the success of these de-
pends upon you. Can you spend a few
minutes a day to open your heart to the
Holy Spirit? To do the spiritual exercises
with love and passion? To give your
whole mind and heart to such a self-disci-
pline for a few moments?
If the reply is yes, you are bound to
make progress in your quest for the secret
laws of life. Today’s mysteries will no
longer be mysteries tomorrow.

A Few Sounds of God

After Debra became a member of
Eckankar, she learned the meaning of a
buzzing sound she’d heard for years. That

30
sound is but another of the Sounds of
God. It’s like a swarm of bees and origi-
nates on the Etheric Plane, region of the
subconscious mind. This plane lies beyond
the Mental Plane and is the highest of the
spirito-material worlds. Beyond it is the
Soul Plane, first of the true spiritual
worlds.
She noticed this buzzing sound from
the Etheric Plane because it was the level
of consciousness she’d gained in past
lives. Her next spiritual step was the Soul
Plane. Early on in this life she’d recon-
nected to the Etheric Plane, as evidenced
by this buzzing sound.
There was another sound.
This one was like the high, piercing
note of a lone musical instrument.
Though it didn’t hurt the ear, it rose
higher, soaring beyond the range of
human hearing, lifting her to new spiri-
tual peaks. This piercing note? Still anoth-
er mode of God’s Voice. All who hear
such divine sounds find a purification of

31
spirit and the blessings of the Most High.
A breath of true liberty.
The Voice of God is the Holy Spirit in
Its twin manifestations of Sound and
Light. The more significant of the two
for us is the Sound.
TV and the print media give wide
coverage to the light that people often
report after a near-death experience. The
Light is often the earlier of the two mani-
festations to appear, so more people
remark upon that aspect of the Holy
Spirit. The Sound many times comes later.
Our focus here is on the Sound. It
may be like a heavenly choir, a magnifi-
cent orchestra, or perhaps a Gregorian
chant of medieval times. Again, Its echoes
include such stirrings of nature as distant
thunder, the rustling of leaves, the chirp
of a cricket, the soft breathing of a lover,
or the mewing of a kitten.
The Sound of God lifts you to new
spiritual heights.
Every holy sound corresponds to a

32
plane or subregion of God, to blend with
your exact spiritual level. These sounds,
listed in many of the ECK books and
discourses, are like signposts. A given
sound is a valuable clue to the level of
consciousness you reached in a past life
or reflects your divine station now.
This lifetime is a precious chance to
reawaken to your true destiny. The path
of ECK is the next leap to unraveling the
secrets of life.

33
 The Voice of God

W hat are the Sound and Light of

God? What do they signify?
The Light and Sound are the Voice of
God, the expression of God’s love for us.
They comprise the whole of God’s love.
Together, they are what religion calls the
Holy Spirit.
In speaking of the Light, we say, “Yes,
there is such a thing as the Light of God.
It’s a thousand times brighter than any
sun, or it may be softer than the light of a
golden moon.”
The Light of God illumines your
entire being, inside and out.

34
 Other Sounds of God on the inner
planes may be like musical instruments,
birds, choirs, machines, the ocean, high-
pitched whistles, a murmur or crescendo
of wind or water. Maybe the tinkling of
joyous laughter. All these are holy
sounds.
A word to help open your heart to God’s
love is HU. It is an old, revered name for
God.

Real Love in Light and Sound

Some who hear ECKists tell of the
Sound and Light of God think of familiar
terms like grace, faith, or love. But careless
use has robbed these words of their true
meaning. The Sound and Light of God
are the essence of the Holy Spirit instead
of a description of Its attributes, like
grace, faith, or love.
They are the real thing.
The Sound and Light of God are actual
Light, which shines, and Sound, which

35
echoes throughout all worlds. They uphold
life.
For many seekers, the Light appears
first in one of Its many forms. Often It
comes in the dream state. Some see It as a
blue light in the shape of a candle or
globe, as a yellow or pink light, green,
violet, or white light. White, for example,
reflects the purity of God’s love; blue
shows the love of the Mahanta, also called
the Inner Master. Yellow is a pure spiritual
color. Pink, an indication of God’s Light
touching your emotions or feelings at the
Astral level.
Whatever the color, It is one of the
many signs of God’s love for you. It is an
assurance of divine grace.
It is a transforming presence for one
and all.
So what do you think? Is life just a
random walk? Is your spiritual life at the
mercy of chance? Or is our life a spiritual
path in line with some natural order or
rhythm, as Debra found?

36
 * * *
The spiritual travelers of ECK roam
the cosmic worlds. They discovered their
own proof about life as a journey guided
by a divine hand and now exist within
God’s Sound and Light. So may you. The
greatest of the spiritual travelers was once
a seeker, perhaps like you.
And what is there to gain? A certainty
of direction in life—and love.

37
 A Spiritual Exercise
to Try

H ere’s a spiritual exercise to try if

you want to experience the Light or
Sound of God:
Shut your eyes and look into the
Spiritual Eye. (It’s between your eyebrows,
in the center of your forehead.) Sing HU
(like “hue”), an ancient name for God,
one of the most powerful words for
spiritual uplift­ment I can give you.
As you sing HU, listen for a holy
Sound. It may come in any number of
ways: like the sound of a rumbling train,

38
a singing bird, buzzing bees, a mellow
flute, or even soothing guitars. It brings
joy and wonder.
The holy sounds are the creative
action of the Life Force, the ECK, as It
moves atoms in the invisible worlds. The
Sound to reach your ears resonates with
your state of consciousness.
While singing HU, imagine the holy
Sound of God cascading over you, like a
waterfall of sparkling pure waters. It is
cleansing the blemishes of spirit. This
Sound Current may also impart an insight
into your past behavior that is the root of a
current problem today.
The Sound opens a secret path to the
joys of love and grace. You find peace,
joy, and spiritual freedom.

39
 At a Crossroads

You are at a crossroads. Will you

take a bold look at the Light and Sound
of God as the ultimate spiritual guide?
If yes, then you are ready for the
beautiful and powerful teachings of ECK.
They offer the most direct route to wis-
dom, power, and freedom. And to love,
the richest gift of all.
Let’s get started.

40
 About the Author

Award-winning author, teacher, and

spiritual guide Sri Harold Klemp helps
seekers reach their full potential.
He is the Mahanta, the Living ECK
Master and spiritual leader of Eckankar,
the Path of Spiritual Freedom. He is the
latest in a long line of spiritual Adepts
who have served throughout history in
every culture of the world.
Sri Harold teaches creative spiritual
practices that enable anyone to achieve
life mastery and gain inner peace and
contentment. His messages are relevant
to today’s spiritual needs and resonate
with every generation.
41
 Sri Harold’s body of work includes
more than one hundred books, which
have been translated into eighteen lan-
guages and won multiple awards. The
miraculous, true-life stories he shares lift
the veil between heaven and earth.
In his groundbreaking memoir, Auto-
biography of a Modern Prophet, he reveals
secrets to spiritual success gleaned from
his personal journey into the heart of
God.
Find your own path to true happiness,
wisdom, and love in Sri Harold Klemp’s
inspired writings.

42
 Next Steps in
Spiritual Exploration
• Try a spiritual exercise. 
Review the spiritual exercises in this book
or on our website.
Experiment with them.
• Browse our website: www.Eckankar.org.
Watch videos; get free books, answers to
FAQs, and more info.
• Attend an Eckankar event in your area. 
Visit “Find a Location” (under “Engage”)
on our website.
• Enroll in an ECK Advanced Spiritual
Living course.
• Read additional books about the ECK
teachings.
• Call us: 1-800-LOVE GOD
(1-800-568-3463, toll-free, automated) or
(952) 380-2200 (direct).
• W
 rite to: ECKANKAR, Dept. BK36, PO Box
2000, Chanhassen, MN 55317-2000 USA.

43
For Further Reading and Study

ECKANKAR’s Spiritual
Experiences Guidebook
By Harold Klemp
This dynamic, interactive guidebook
from Eckankar can help you validate and
understand your spiritual experiences and find
answers to make your life better. Go to
www.SpiritualExperience.org.

Past Lives, Dreams, and Soul Travel

By Harold Klemp
These stories and exercises help you find
your true purpose, discover greater love than
you’ve ever known, and learn that spiritual
freedom is within reach.

44
 The Art of Spiritual Dreaming
By Harold Klemp
Dreams are a treasure. A gift from God.
Harold Klemp shows how to find a dream’s
spiritual gold, and how to experience God’s love.
Get insights from the past and future, grow in
confidence, and make decisions about career and
finances. Do this from a unique perspective: by
recognizing the spiritual nature of your dreams.

A Modern Prophet Answers Your Key

Questions about Life
Books 1, 2, and 3
By Harold Klemp
A pioneer of today’s focus on “everyday
spirituality” shows you how to experience and
understand God’s love in your life—anytime,

45
anyplace. His answers to hundreds of questions
help guide you to your own source of wisdom,
peace, and deep inner joy.

Autobiography of a Modern Prophet

By Harold Klemp
This riveting story of Harold Klemp’s climb
up the Mountain of God will help you discover
the keys to your own spiritual greatness.

The Mahanta Transcripts Series

By Harold Klemp
The Mahanta Transcripts, books 1–18, are
from Harold Klemp’s talks at Eckankar seminars.
He has taught thousands how to have a natural,
direct relationship with the Holy Spirit. The

46
stories and wonderful insights contained in
these talks will lead you to deeper spiritual
understanding.

Those Wonderful ECK Masters

By Harold Klemp
Would you like to have personal experience
with spiritual masters that people all over the
world—since the beginning of time—have
looked to for guidance, protection, and divine
love? This book includes real-life stories and
spiritual exercises to meet eleven ECK Masters.

35 Golden Keys to Who You Are & Why

You’re Here
Linda C. Anderson
Discover thirty-five golden keys to master-
47
ing your spiritual destiny through the ancient
teachings of Eckankar, the Path of Spiritual
Freedom. The dramatic, true stories in this book
equal anything found in the spiritual literature
of today. Learn ways to immediately bring more
love, peace, and purpose to your life.

Available from your local bookstores,

online bookstores, and www.ECKBooks.org. Or
call (952) 380-2222, or write ECKANKAR, Dept.
BK36, PO Box 2000, Chanhassen, MN 55317-
2000 USA.

48
 Glossary
Words set in small caps are defined elsewhere in
this glossary.

ECK The Life Force, Holy Spirit, or Audible Life

Current which sustains all life.

Eckankar EHK-ahn-kahr The Path of Spiritu-

al Freedom. Also known as the Ancient
Science of Soul Travel. A truly spiritual way of
life for the individual in modern times. The
teachings provide a framework for anyone to
explore their own spiritual experiences.
Established by Paul Twitchell, the modern-day
founder, in 1965. The word means Coworker
with God.

ECK Masters Spiritual Masters who can assist

and protect people in their spiritual studies
and travels. The ECK Masters are from a long
line of God-Realized Souls who know the
responsibility that goes with spiritual free-
dom.

HU HYOO The most ancient, secret name for

God. It can be sung as a love song to God
aloud or silently to oneself to align with
God’s love.

49
Living ECK Master The spiritual leader of
Eckankar. He leads Soul back to God. He
teaches in the physical world as the Outer
Master, in the dream state as the Dream
Master, and in the spiritual worlds as the
Inner Master. Sri Harold Klemp became the
Mahanta, the Living ECK Master in 1981.

Mahanta An expression of the Spirit of God

that is always with you. Sometimes seen as a
Blue Light or Blue Star or in the form of the
Mahanta, the Living ECK Master. The highest
state of God Consciousness on earth, only
embodied in the Living ECK Master. He is the
Living Word.

planes Levels of existence, such as the Physical,

Astral, Causal, Mental, Etheric, and Soul
Planes.

Soul The True Self, an individual, eternal spark

of God. The inner, most sacred part of each
person. Soul can see, know, and perceive all
things. It is the creative center of Its own
world.

Soul Travel The expansion of consciousness.

The ability of Soul to transcend the physical
body and travel into the spiritual worlds of
God. Soul Travel is taught only by the Living
ECK Master. It helps people unfold spiritually
and can provide proof of the existence of God
and life after death.

50
Sound and Light of ECK The Holy Spirit. The
two aspects through which God appears in
the lower worlds. People can experience them
by looking and listening within themselves
and through Soul Travel.

Spiritual Exercises of ECK Daily practices for

direct, personal experience with the God
Current. Creative techniques using contem-
plation and the singing of sacred words to
bring the higher awareness of Soul into daily
life.

For more explanations of Eckankar terms, see

A Cosmic Sea of Words: The ECKANKAR Lexicon,
by Harold Klemp.

51