Spiritual Exercises

These cards are handed out like business cards to encourage the singing of HU.

The reverse of the card provides information on how to sing HU.

While Eckankar teaches numerous spiritual exercises to members to “give us confidence in ourselves [to] learn that we are Soul, we are eternal,” there are three basic and well-known spiritual exercises: the HU song, dream journaling, and Soul Travel.¹ “Like an athlete trains to improve physical skills, you can improve your spiritual skills with certain exercises,” an Eckankar pamphlet noted. “The Spiritual Exercises of ECK are designed to help you expand your awareness and improve your life. Practiced privately and at your own pace, these exercises can be fine-tuned to meet your personal needs and interests.”² Eckists typically perform spiritual exercises for twenty to thirty minutes each day. It is in "these quiet contemplations one builds a spiritual foundation based on personal experience with the Light and Sound of God…Similar to prayer, the Spiritual Exercises increase one’s spiritual strength and understanding.”³ The main emphasis of all three central Spiritual Exercises is one’s own personal spiritual development.

HU Song

The single, most widespread practice in Eckankar is the singing of HU, pronounced like the word hue, which is a holy name for God. It is understood as the most basic Spiritual Exercise.

The singing of HU is said to open the “heart to the divine love of God.”⁴ An Eckankar pamphlet instructs: “To practice this technique, find a quiet place to sit or lie down. Relax and think about a spiritual quotation or someone you love. Close your eyes. Sing HU silently or aloud for a few minutes, and then listen quietly. You may experience the Divine ECK, the Holy Spirit. Or you may gain a new insight into your life.”⁵ Peter Skelskey, the President of Eckankar, says that HU is “God’s gift to you regardless of your spiritual background.”

Dreams

For ECKists, dreams are a site of communication with God.

“Dreams are a starting point for many who wish to begin the spiritual journey to God and do it in the easiest possible way,” writes Harold Klemp. “Dreams taught me to face myself, let me see the future, and took me to the heavens of God.”⁶ Eckankar offers several suggestions for followers to benefit from their dreams. First, one should make a request by writing down a question or an issue that has been on his mind. Then, one may sing HU before sleeping to connect with the Holy Spirit. Last, upon waking, one is urged to write down any dreams, feelings, thoughts, experiences, or memories from the previous night. Through this exercise, one “may discover that images you first thought were unrelated now make sense and give you clues to the overall pattern of your life.”⁷

Dreams taught me to face myself, let me see the future, and took me to the heavens of God. —Klemp

Soul Travel

Soul travel is a natural ability of the individual to move in awareness beyond the human senses. This happens in moments when one is most engaged in life.

Soul Travel is perhaps the most complex spiritual exercise offered by Eckankar. “ECKists regard Soul Travel as another means to experience Divine Spirit. Soul Travel can be a general expansion of awareness and knowingness or a conscious experience of the heavenly worlds.”⁸ “Soul travel is a natural ability of the individual to move in awareness beyond the human senses. This happens in moments when one is most engaged in life and is the next step beyond dream study.”⁹ The Eckankar literature on Soul Travel describes this process as one that becomes necessary when “we forget who we are. Our physical senses and emotions become overwhelming, and we lose Soul’s spiritual viewpoint. Regaining this viewpoint is called Soul Travel.”¹⁰