Fair highlights ‘Light and Sound’ workshop

At this year’s Eckankar Spiritual Fair attendees are invited to experience "Adventures in the Light and Sound of God" through past lives, dreams and soul travel.

The public may drop in at any time during the free event set for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m Sept. 6 on the second floor of the Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.

Founded in 1965, Eckankar is a Westernized, New Age version of a Hindu Sant Mat spiritual tradition. Headquartered in Minnesota, the faith’s worldwide membership is estimated at 50,000.

Nancy Shoop-Wu, a regional Eckankar spiritual aide in Hawaii since 2008, said the Holy Spirit, or Divine Spirit, reveals itself to people through various means, but "when we see the light or experience the sound inwardly, we are receiving a very pure, very direct communication."

Light and sound "are two aspects of the Divine Spirit that have been part of religious rituals and traditions throughout the world," Shoop-Wu said, noting chants and hymns as examples. "Some people experience the light as a flash of blue or white light. This is also the light that many people report seeing when they have a near-death experience."

Eckankar seeks to push beyond human perception by way of spiritual exercises — prayer or contemplation — "that opens our consciousness to God’s love and guidance so that we can make our life better and give love in service to others," she said.

Shoop-Wu, who is also a Hawaii Symphony Orchestra violinist and teacher, is a guest speaker at the Eckankar Spiritual Fair.

Her talk, "Saying Yes to Life," slated for 3 p.m., is about "transformation we all experience when we are willing to go beyond our own self-imposed limitations and step up to the challenges life presents us with," she said.

Among other fair highlights: discussions titled "Recognizing Inner Guidance to Find Your Own Answers," and "Dreams and Soul Travel — Seeing Yourself as a Spiritual Being" slated for 11 a.m. and noon, respectively. Eckankar members Bertram Chock, Cynthia Chock, Mike Sansone and Linda Heaton will take part in the "Stories From the Heart," a panel discussion at 1:10 p.m.

On the matter of dreams, Shoop-Wu said, "In Eckankar, when something out of the ordinary happens in our daily life that has special spiritual significance for us, we call it a ‘waking dream.’"

Regardless of one’s faith or beliefs, she said, "Each one of us is a child of the Holy Spirit — a child of God." Shoop-Wu continued, "This love, this life force of the Holy Spirit is constantly with us. In Eckankar we recognize that Divine Spirit communicates with us constantly through dreams, waking dreams, nudges, insights and the ‘Light and Sound’ of God."

Consequently, she said, "We begin to see why things happen as they do in our life and what we can do to make our life better."

For more information about the fair’s spiritual and roundtable discussions, workshop, videos and displays, visit eckankarhawaii.org or call 735-7719.