Yoga, Meditation and the Voice of God

Dr Susan Shumsky is a healer, counselor, prayer therapist, teacher and an author. For over three decades, she has been teaching meditation, self-development, and intuition to students in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Far East.

She received a doctorate in Divinity from the Teaching of Intuitional Metaphysics in San Diego, and has written several books on meditation, prayer, and spiritual healing.

Her books include Divine Revelation, Exploring Meditation, Exploring Chakras, Exploring Auras, and Miracle Prayer.

In a recent interview, Dr Susan Shumsky spoke about her experiences and the books she has written.

How did it all begin? What motivated you?

I have been practicing spiritual disciplines for 40 years.

I spent 22 years in the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of Transcendental Meditation and guru of the Beatles and Deepak Chopra. I was on Maharishi's personal staff for seven years. I was totally immersed in meditation.

When I lived in the ashram, I used to meditate up to 20 hours a day. I would disappear into my room and not appear for up to eight weeks at a time. I observed silence and did not utter a sound for up to four months at a time. I fasted for up to two months at a time. And I observed total celibacy for decades.

After spending 22 years with my eyes closed, I woke up and realized that something was missing from my spiritual experience.

What was missing?

I had been practicing yoga -- the word "yoga" literally means divine union or integration, meaning union of individual Spirit with universal Spirit -- and I was experiencing the end-all be-all experience of yoga, satchitananda, in meditation on a daily basis. This was an amazing experience of what I call the "impersonal God."

But I was longing for the experience of the "personal God."

How did you resolve this conflict?

Happily, I discovered a way to listen to the "still small voice" within -- how to hear the voice of God and how to test and trust whether the message is the real thing.

Also, I learned how to help others to have this profound inner connection.