Paul Twitchell - Stranger by the River

Available from ECKANKAR

The Art of Spiritual Dreaming

Autobiography of a Modern Prophet

A Cosmic Sea of Words: The ECKANKAR Lexicon

Earth to God, Come In Please , Books 1 and 2

The Living Word , Books 1, 2, and 3

A Modern Prophet Answers Your Key Questions about Life

The Spiritual Exercises of ECK

The Spiritual Laws of Life

The Mahanta Transcripts Series

Journey of Soul , Book 1

How to Find God , Book 2

The Secret Teachings , Book 3

The Golden Heart , Book 4

Cloak of Consciousness , Book 5

Unlocking the Puzzle Box , Book 6

The Eternal Dreamer , Book 7

The Dream Master , Book 8

We Come as Eagles , Book 9

The Drumbeat of Time , Book 10

What Is Spiritual Freedom? Book 11

How the Inner Master Works , Book 12

The Slow Burning Love of God , Book 13

The Secret of Love , Book 14

Our Spiritual Wake-Up Calls , Book 15

How to Survive Spiritually in Our Times , Book 16

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ECKANKARThe Key to Secret Worlds

The Shariyat-Ki-Sugmad , Books One and Two

The Spiritual Notebook

The Tigers Fang

Authorized Eckankar edition

Stranger by the River

Copyright 1970, 1987 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, and VAIRAGI, among others, are trademarks of ECKANKAR, PO Box 2000, Chanhassen, MN 55317-2000 USA.

080627

Printed in USA

Illustrations by Signy Cohen

Third edition1987

Sixth printing2009

ISBN: 978-1-57043-136-4

E-pub Edition 2016 ECKANKAR

eBook ISBN: 978-1-57043-433-4

Publishers Cataloging in Publication

(Prepared by Quality Books Inc.)

Twitchell, Paul, 1908-1971.

Stranger by the river/Paul Twitchell.3rd ed., authorized

Eckankar ed.

p. cm.

Preassigned LCCN: 88-80197.

ISBN 1-57043-136-1

1. Eckankar (Organization)Doctrines. 2. Rebazar Tarzs. 3. Twitchell, Paul, 1908-1971. 4. Spiritual lifeEckankar (Organization) I. Rebazar Tarzs. II. Title.

BP605.E3T892817 1999

299.93

QBI93-21810

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

Dedicated to

GAIL

for her love and

patience

The teachings of ECK define the nature of Soul. You are Soul. You are like a star of God sent into this world for spiritual experience. That will purify you.

Karma and reincarnation are thus primary beliefs in ECK. Your goal in this lifetime should be spiritual freedom. After that, you become a Co-worker with God, both here and in the next world.

Key to the ECK teachings is the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master. He indeed acts as both the Outer and Inner Master for ECK students. The prophet of Eckankar, he is given respect but is not worshiped. He teaches the sacred name of God, HU. When sung just a few minutes each day, HU will lift you spiritually into the Light and Sound of Godto the ECK (Holy Spirit). This easy spiritual exercise and others will purify you. You are then able to accept the full love of God in this very lifetime.

Sri Harold Klemp is the Mahanta, the Living ECK Master today. Author of many books, discourses, and articles, he teaches the ins and outs of the spiritual life. His teachings lift people and help them recognize and understand their own experiences in the Light and Sound of God. Many of his talks are available to you on audio and video recordings.

Stranger by the River is a classic work of spiritual literature written by Eckankars modern-day founder, Paul Twitchell. You might wish to keep this book at your bedside and read a chapter each night . The beautiful rhythm of Stranger by the River will lift you into a higher understanding of God.

For more information about Eckankar, please turn to For Further Reading and Study.

A spiritual exercise to try : As you drift off to sleep, contemplate on an image from the chapter youve read. You may have a dream that reveals an important message to help improve your life. Remember, your dreams are a doorway to heaven.

There was the river.

There was always the river. No matter how many seasons had arched over the rim of time, the river was there, still flowing onward silently and quietly to the sea.

It passed down from the mighty Himalayas where the earth was filled with the dust of those who walked the land.

The water was like the river of God. It was always flowing outward and onward, always a symbol, always going onward to join with the waters of other rivers, and moving onward to the waters of the shining ocean.

The seeker had reached the side of this great river and stopped here to stay. He no longer drifted with the tide of mankind which moved through the world like logs at the mercy of the storm on the rivers surface.

He observed the river again. This was a beautiful land marked by rivers and creeks. The river is joined by the clear water of another before the levee of Srinagar. Separating them for considerable distance is the island which hides a part of the far shore.

He sat on the bank under the sleepy willows, watching the sluggish eddies pass, wondering at his life. He had returned home again, like the prodigal son, but his father was not here to greet him. Sorrow filled him.

Then he looked up and saw the majestic figure clothed in a maroon robe standing nearby. There was a smile on his lips, and great compassion in those coal black eyes. The swarthy face was half-hidden by a short, black beard.

A joy leaped in the seekers heart.

His search was over. Rebazar Tarzs, the Sat Guru, was there to welcome him home.

He was the seeker.

He was like any other man, and it could have been you.

Outwardly, his life was little different from that of other peopleworking, toiling, laboringyet his struggle to find life was deeper and more acute; the pain was greater, the suffering unbearable, and his sensitivity more intense.

Nothing could lift him spiritually, and the responsibility or success which other men had would not touch him. He was the outcast, the lonely, and the dejected, for love had passed him by as there was nothing in his life which love had to anchor upon.

Yet he was always the seeker. The seeker of something that lay continually beyond his reach. Eagerly he sought that mystical something in the heart of a rose, the face of a child, or the tenderness of a woman. He could not find the love that his life was spent in seeking.

His search had carried him across the world and back again to the river, where he sat on the bank wondering if the answer would ever be found, until that day when the Tibetan in the maroon robe came and sat beside him.

Then he saw the light that came from beyond, that grew in an ever-greater, ever-widening circle. And he saw the woman, the slender, long-limbed woman with dark eyes, who stood at the edge of the light.