Enter the temple. It’s really the living room of the Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens (PAL&G) mansion. Yet an intangible sacredness flickers.
The presenter of tonight’s Soul Transcendence workshop, Dr. Pauli Sanderson, a psychologist and co-author of When Are You Coming Home? observes you. Her soft tone suggests that she sees your scars. Inexplicably her mere presence pushes you to believe, “Life is such a bigger game than we can know on a conscious level.”
And the name of the game is Soul Transcendence. So says Pauli. (Despite the degrees and respect she commands, Dr. Sanderson feels too formal for an effervescent enchantress.) “We gain so much when we can bring the question of Soul into the physical plane.”
She asks you to practice what the Buddhists refer to as “Beginner’s Mind.” A Zen-like state practiced by small children. All are innocent. The world is a place of awe.
How do you enter into such a state when fifty some odd years of experience on Planet Earth dictate otherwise? “A willing suspension of belief. It’s a theatre term,” says Pauli.
So you open your mind. The Soul, you hear messages of joy, love, peace, and compassion. Soul Transcendence – finding moments filled with the aforementioned good stuff – is a conscious choice. Pauli quotes the John-Roger, Founder of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness and co-author of When Are You Coming Home? “If you would learn the secret of Soul Transcendence, look only for the good, for the Divine in people and things, and all the rest leave to God.”
You embrace the possibility of a return to innocence. Maybe you can awaken to the virtue hidden by a blinged-out curtain of Maya. Perhaps the screams and suffering – your own and others – are prodding you inward to the silent roar of Love. “Part of the journey of the Soul,” says Pauli “is purposefully connecting to something higher.”
The opportunity is present 24/7. To prove the point, Pauli pairs you up and gives you ten minutes to talk about the “Soul moments that hit you unexpectedly. If you don’t think you’ve had one, make it up.”
You discover that sparks of Soul are found in simple things. One talks about running down a garden path with cousins as a child. Another speaks of meditating with her cat. “Part of the process is acknowledging Soul moments,” says Pauli “It’s a taste of how to tap into something that may be called Soul Transcendence.”
The evening ends with a meditation which leaves you and the rest of the room in a reverent silence. Thunder, lightning and heavy rain threaten outside. Inside you are safe.
When Are You Coming Home? A Personal Guide to Soul Transcendence by John-Roger, DSS and Pauli Sanderson, DSS is available at MSIA.org.
