The pull towards learning and growth is programmed into all of us. And we can all feel it, to some extent, even if we don’t recognise it as such at the time. That pull is designed to lead us “home.” When we stray a little from our innate nature, we receive a tug back towards alignment. It’s not an arbitrary mechanism, it’s a reliably intelligent inner knowing that is woven into our being. It’s calling us to be more, better, bigger, clearer.
Every single one of us came to Earth with a blueprint, a plan. This plan is more detailed than you perhaps realise. It contains what we need to experience in order to better understand who we really are. It also covers who we need to help, and how. We also have to right previous wrongs (which we prefer to call misunderstandings). Most of all we need to demonstrate our growing understanding in our daily lives, to live our truth as best we can.
Whenever we feel the calling to expand our present situation, we are being reminded of that plan. However, that pull doesn’t always lead to an obvious gain in knowledge or felt understanding. Sometimes we confuse the voice of the ego as the voice of the true self, and end up pursuing behaviours that don’t really serve us or others. In following a false path, we can experience dead ends and even more challenge. Many times human beings finish their lives without really getting started on what they originally came to do.
It is often said that no experience is ever wasted, and that is true. Whatever we do, we can always learn from it, and make a different choice going forward. However, the experience of being human doesn’t always feel like we have freedom of choice. The relative density and heaviness of the human condition can make it hard for us to remember our original nature, and our original intent in coming to Earth. Many good intentions contained in the plan get side-lined by what seem like the necessities of survival, and we don’t accomplish what we set out to do.
So how then do we overcome the natural forgetfulness of human life and make the progress we came here for?
We have seen that reconnecting to the bigger picture is crucial in helping to re-orientate our thinking and behaviours towards our true nature and purpose. Even though we carry our own bespoke plan within us, we are all still operating within the great scheme of life, and so our individual plan fits seamlessly into the universal plan. What serves us, serves the whole (and vice-a-versa). That is why it is often said that we must serve others. This is because (genuinely) helping others brings out the conditions necessary for remembering. Any thoughts, feelings, words and actions which come from an illusory, separate self only entrench our forgetfulness. Our plan only and ever contains intentions of good (yes, in every single being – despite appearances). Following those impulses that cause us to be selfish don’t contribute towards our learning plan. They take us in circles, obliging us to repeat our lessons until we finally make a choice in alignment with our nature and our truth.
We reconnect to the bigger picture through study, through practice and through service (concept, practice, application!!).
Study can include reading, but a word of caution for the bookworms amongst you. Although reading is very helpful to provide new information (an illumined perspective, a wider context), it is never a path in itself. Knowledge retained is not the same as knowledge lived. Reading must be accompanied by a practice to allow consciousness to embody the new understanding, and build that understanding into the energy field (individual which automatically becomes collective!).
Study can also include learning material from teachers. Teachers are there to remind you of your truth and help you achieve your plan. If you are studying with a teacher (and you are earnestly applying their teachings), check that you are growing. Sometimes, these things take longer than we would like, but you should be able to see progress from one year to the next. Again, for the guru-junkies, be discerning. Endless shopping for new masters can confuse and dilute well-intended study. A relentless need for new knowledge can be an avoidance for facing and moving through deeper layers of our own discomfort.
Practice encompasses many different disciplines. Physical practice is everything from yoga and qigong to meditative walking to martial arts. It is not the same as physical exercise, although it is possible to make that into a physical practice that supports and integrates your study. Physical practice is designed to build and anchor patterns of increasing frequency energy into our field. The patterns are shaped by our thought forms. To make progress, we need to build new patterns that override our present ones and take us in the direction of our true nature. So that’s why it’s necessary to let your mind dwell in thoughts higher than ego-identity concerns. Thoughts of love, kindness, appreciation, generosity of spirit, compassion, forgiveness, understanding, trust, goodwill, etc., automatically create beautiful, harmonious patterns. Physical practice helps the body be more pliant, to release old patterns and be receptive to new ones.
Meditation practice is a whole universe (and tutorial series) in itself. Whatever your meditation style or format, please consider doing it regularly as part of daily life. Even a few minutes each day can make a difference, although we must be honest with you and say that to really integrate the truth of your being takes dedication. This is because you are seeking to express the beauty of your original nature through the presence of your multi-dimensional being. Almost all of that being (99% of you) is non-physical, so does not run on physical laws. So you need to employ a method of navigation that is compatible with a non-physical reality. Meditation is excellent because it employs consciousness to navigate, and consciousness is designed for this very job. However, we mustn’t underestimate the effect of matter on our consciousness. It creates a constant pull towards forgetfulness. We can educate our physical matter to receive and hold greater levels of our spirit (literally en-lighten it), but it takes perseverance and expertise.
The whole (and only!) purpose of human life is to practise using consciousness to access our true nature and then allow (give conscious permission for) our being to express the nature we have accessed. This is the service life asks of us. That we often get caught up in the human identity and life circumstances of a particular incarnation doesn’t mean that those elements are why we came. There is often a lot of confusion around purpose, that it is somehow more anchored in what we do rather than who we are. The form of our purpose will take care of itself as long as we attend to the essence. That is why a yogini sitting in a cave, cut off from all human contact, can be just as much on purpose as someone working all hours to alleviate the suffering of others.
You cannot tell from the outside whether someone is sticking to their plan. It is an intimate contract between each individual soul and life itself (although there are councils and soul groups involved in overseeing our progress and helping to keep us on track). Some people choose quiet lives with minimal commitments. Others take on the “motherload” of incarnations and heap themselves with challenges to overcome and lessons to learn. Whatever you have chosen for this particular lifetime, your internal GPS is designed to guide you. This is the seed energy we all contain – the source light. It will speak to you through a longing to be all that you are capable of, to expand your awareness, to be steadfast, to have courage, to be of service, to be a bringer of peace and harmony, to shine your light.
May we all answer that call…