I’ve noticed that in many religions prayers and questions are directed to one particular person; for example, Christians direct them to Jesus. In ECKANKAR we always ask the Mahanta or ECK Masters for guidance. Why don’t we direct our questions to God?

—Sarah, at age 17,
Minnesota

Dear Sarah,

In ancient Greece and Rome, the practice of worship was much different from the one God that many Western religions have today. The ancients had many gods, not just one.

For example, there may have been a goddess of the hearth, and of love; a god of the fields, of the sky, of thunder and lightning, and so on.

The Old Testament brought the idea of one God to civilization. The name of this God was never spoken.

You’ve noticed that prayers and questions are directed to one being today. Christians address Jesus. ECKists do the same with the Mahanta or another of the ECK Masters. Why not speak directly with God?

You may if you like, of course. Someone is likely to come on your call-in line. But how do you know who it is?

In ECK, we know that Sugmad, the God of Gods, doesn’t get into the noise level of ITS creation. The ECK, the Voice of God, does that, for It is the creative Spirit that nourishes and maintains Sugmad’s vast worlds below ITS home, the Ocean of Love and Mercy.

Most people don’t know the ways of ECK. They must first learn that It speaks, and then, how It speaks. In the meantime, It sends the seeker someone he can understand: an angel, an ECK Master, or perhaps the Mahanta will come. The Mahanta is the ECK Itself. He is both the macrocosm (the universal) and the microcosm (the human, the personal side).

I hope this will help you understand, Sarah.

(from July 2005 Letter of Light)