CHAPTER 6: Realisation In Action

Link to chapter: click here
Length of chapter reading: 30:37 minutes

This morning, I saw a man at work. This man was very special. I knew that he had agreed, a long time ago, to meet me in this exact place at this exact time to teach me what I was starting to forget. He sat at his desk, the same small space he fills each day, wearing the same uniform I imagined him preparing each evening for the following day. He worked very quickly, his hands very busy making notes and shuffling papers. Each time a patient approached him, he would look up and, from his serious demeanor, he would shed light on the face looking back at him with a warm and patient smile. He knew that he worked in a place where people were afraid to go. He also knew that he had the power to bring them peace, through his eyes, through his smile, and through the integrity with which he dedicated himself to his work. It is through him that I saw God this morning. It is through his nobility and his grace that I was able to remember myself. It is for this that I am grateful today.

“As some, under the idea that law is the opposite of joy, mistake intoxication for joy, so there are many in our country who imagine action to be the opposite of freedom. They think that activity, being in the material place, is restriction of the free spirit of the soul, but we must remember that as joy expresses itself in law, so the soul finds its freedom in action. It is because joy cannot find expression in itself alone that it desires the law which is outside. Likewise, it is because the soul cannot find freedom within itself that it wants external action. The soul of man is ever-freeing itself from its own folds by its activity. Had it be otherwise, it could not have done any voluntary work. The more man acts and makes actual what is latent in him, the nearer does he bring the event yet to be. In that actualization, man is ever-making himself more and yet more distinct and seeing himself clearly under newer and newer aspects in the midst of his varied activities, in the state, in society. This vision makes for freedom.”

I read something about myself recently that has had an impact upon the way that I identify my ‘character’ is the roles it plays. Because of a number of things, including tools provided to us through astrology (the date and time of my birth) and numerology (my name and the place of my birth), I read that I am destined to have many different jobs in this life. My first thought was one of isolation – with so many different roles, I’ll have to attempt to enter into many different tribes, some that will accept me, and some that won’t. The isolation comes from my perception of my fleetingness, the transitory nature of my journey, going from one place to another, fulfilling my role, and then moving on to where my purpose takes me next.

I have already started to realize this destiny. I have identified the distinct transitions from one role to another and I have begun to understand how to see the beauty and richness in what sometimes feels like quite lonely work. It is actually quite a magical dynamic because in one sense, it is isolating – you sense that the experience will be temporary, yet much important work needs to be done. But during that short period of intense service, intimate connections are made between souls, there is a recognition of the higher essence amongst the souls who are connected through these acts of service.

Why have I written about this self-realisation? Because it is through action within this physical world that I learn such great lessons and experience thoroughly hopeful moments of connection and divine recognition – through others of my Self.

Our journey is not one of systematic predictability. We are not meant to follow the path discovered by out neighbor because we know where it will lead. Our journeys are of a much greater purpose. By having the courage to follow a path that we create with each choice we make, we learn who we are. We get to know our Selves. We rediscover the consciousness that we were when we were planning this life; the consciousness that we are underneath the physical vehicle; the consciousness that is in each breath we take. Action is the process through which to rediscover our Selves. And when we rediscover the truth about our Selves, there is no more a need for fear. That is where freedom comes in.

“…the ideas in our minds are constantly seeking opportunities to take on outward form…”

Action is also the greatest desire of our thoughts, but not in the way that many people think. Thoughts are living beings. We can create thoughts. We feed them into life. When a thought ‘comes into’ your mind, it is literally a foreign entity seeking a source of life. If you choose to invest energy into contemplating the thought, repeatedly going back in your mind and thinking about the thought, expanding on it and playing with what it would look like, it beings to grow. The more you invest in feeding it with energy, the more it acquires a life of its own, until one day, it has the power to physically manifest. This is a very powerful area of esoterica. If you are interested in learning more about it, perhaps you would enjoy The Magus of Strovolos by Kyriacos C. Markides.

“The Upanishad says, ‘In the midst of activity alone wilt thou desire to live a hundred years‘. It is the saying of those who have amply tasted of the joy of the soul. Those who have fully realized the soul have never talked in mournful accents of the sorrowfulness of life, or of the bondage of action. They are not like weakling flowers who’s stem-hold is so light that it drops away before attaining fruition. They hold onto life with all their might, and say, ‘Never will we let go ’til the fruit is ripe!’ They desire in their joy to express themselves strenuously in their life and in their work. Pain and sorrow dismay them not. They are not bowed down to the dust by the weight of their own heart. With the erect head of the victorious hero, they march through life seeing themselves and showing themselves in increasing resplendence of soul through both joys and sorrows. The joy of their life keeps step with the joy of that energy which is playing at building and breaking throughout the universe.”

Some of us will receive the gift of coming face to face with one of these joyous souls that live each moment so nobly and to such a full extent that we forget maya’s hold on us and realise the true opportunity we have been given in this life. It is so easy, so very easy to dwell in the sorrow, and the pain, and the misfortune, and the unfairness of this world. These are tools that are meant to confuse us and to distract us from our true power and our true purpose.

I don’t have an inspirational story to share with this quote, but rather one of shame. For you see, I have been caught up in the throws of maya lately, forgetting all about the beauty and glory of this life, and dwelling instead on the suffering. I have forgotten, until now, as I listened to Tagore’s reminder, that there are SO MANY souls waiting in line just to be chosen to come into embodiment. “Why?” you may ask. Well, it simple. ‘Up there’, we prepare. We study, and reflect, and we get ready for the moment when we will be able to come back into this, or a similar world and apply our new knowledge so that we can discover a little bit more about your true Selves. It is through experiences that we create together here that we can get closer to our true Selves. Some of us have seemingly charmed lives, and others suffer the pain that only heroes could endure. It is not for us to judge why. It is not for us to even question whether we are worthy, for that has been decided long ago. All that is left for us to do is to make each moment count. There is joy in every moment. Find it and you will remember why you are here.

“He who thinks to reach God by running away from the world, when and where does he expect to meet Him? How far can he fly? Can he fly and fly and fly until he flies into nothingness itself? No, the coward who would fly can no where find Him. We must be brave enough to say, “We are reaching Him here, in this very spot, now, at this very moment. We must be able to assure ourselves that, as in our actions we are realizing our Selves, so in our Selves we are realizing him who is the SELF of Self. We must earn the right to say so unhesitatingly by clearing away, with our own effort, all obstruction, all disorder, all discords from our path of activity. We must be able to say, “In my work is my joy, and in that joy does the joy of my joy abide.”

Hahaha! This made me laugh. If I had a nickel for all the times I would have wanted to avoid the physical world and escape into the comforts of the metaphysical, I would certainly get a few free coffees by now! It is very tempting not to want to do ‘the work’ and to call our avoidance an act of purification or, alternatively, a quest for pleasure. I’ve heard both arguments, and they’re both equally colorful!

I don’t think ‘killing time’ is a sin if, by this, you mean spending time doing something that is fun, without stress and brimming with pleasurable. It is, however, a great loss if, by ‘killing time’, you are attempting to numb the pain of a life devoid of inspiration and passion. The work of Sir Ken Robinson is certainly a testament to the power of following your passion. His latest book entitled The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, will help many people awaken to this truth. Makes you wonder, once our work truly becomes a manifestation of our passions, what are we going to do with all our days off?! Haha!

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.

William Shakespeare – All the world’s a stage (from As You Like It 2/7)

I seem to remember going through this already. Why the repetition? I didn’t enjoy it the first time around, so could I just skip through it this time?

I’m born again, and I’m in a new body. The body has to learn how to function so I have to teach it how to walk and talk and eat without the help of others. That part is fine for me to accept, although that isn’t to say that I enjoy the process of maturation that will eventually allow me to pull away from these twits I have to share classrooms with and eat apple slices coated with the most ridiculous paste they call ‘peanut butter’.

They treat us all the same. Why? We are at such different stages of development. Some of us even still remember. Why are they doing their best to convince us that forgetting is the way forward?

I’m having difficulty merging into these experiences. I want this stage to be over. I want to be able to start where I left off last time. I’ve passed these lessons already. Why again? I have so much work to do, so many tasks to complete, but I can’t do them until I’m at a level near to the one I reached before I left last time. Why the repetition?

Ah…patience. I see! I suppose I could have forgotten more before coming into this life, so that means that I’m remembering more than others for a reason. Is it to teach me patience? Alright, fine, but is that really necessary at this stage? I have so much work to do and I can’t do it from this infant-state. I remember more than most of the teachers who are trying to ‘guide’ me. Why are they not listening when I attempt to explain to them the error of their ways? They call it ‘imagination’…“Look how imaginative she is!” Why are they not listening?

Yes, I know, physical reality = illusion. So perhaps it’s been about deciphering what part of my perception is Truth to begin with…

I don’t know exactly at what stage of my awakening I have reached to date – perhaps because I’m only looking into one dimension of my existence. In any case, I sense that I have not yet reached the peak of my clarity – I knew more in other lives, I knew how to tap into higher levels of power before. At least I’m at a point, though, where I have gone through the mundane. Is it wrong of me to see the early stages of the soul’s maturation as mundane? When you go through them so many times, how can they not become mundane…?

“Soul age refers to how a person has grown from experience on the planet, not just to how many lifetimes he or she has lived. … An Old Soul starts each lifetime being born as an infant who experiences Infant Soul consciousness and gradually grows into prior levels of consciousness. … It does not work to stick your nose in the air (or your head in the sand) in an attempt to avoid lessons and gifts from the other soul ages.”

Source: http://www.michaelteachings.com/soul_ages.html

While reading this wonderful piece, I made some notes about specific parts of the reading that resonated strongly with me…you can find them below:

“Seldom doing anything they don’t want to and preferring their own unconventional pursuits, they often seek the path of least resistance as far as work, so that all energy can be poured into spiritual development.”

…the times when I have accelerate most quickly up the ladder at work were times when I had to consciously disconnect myself from my more ‘spiritually minded’ activities. Otherwise, I would quickly loose interest in the working world, and simply be intoxicated by the metaphysical…

“If higher education proves necessary in order to teach, less orthodox schools allowing more opportunities for inner exploration will be favored.”

…hahaha! I consciously seek out the most unorthodox higher education route that I can find! Being unorthodox FUELS me…

“Old Souls may explore many religions and teachings, being most drawn to those emphasizing love and to those they’ve resonated with closely in past lives. But being rule-bound or as orthodox as some disciplines require does not usually last long.”

…this has unfortunately been the case for me. I have had the soulful pleasure of bonding instantaneously with certain groups, but found that their rules were too difficult by which to abide. This eventually led to my silent departure…

“However, some people get uncomfortable once they are here with their aridity and lack of emotional warmth and set out to make up for what their personality seems to lack….A similar situation arises after a person has had materially successful lifetimes.”

…I have been torn in these worlds of relationships and wealth lately. One part of me craves emotionally rich relationships while another part needs solitude to explore and develop a connection to the wisdom within. One part of me wants to dive into the consumerist culture while the other finds infinite peace in making the most of what I have…

“A major challenge of the Old Soul period is mastering self-esteem.”

…and I thought self-deprecation was noble!

“It is never your last life until you like it here; essence would never let you off the hook before then.”

…OH MY! I have some work to do!

“In order to even out your past life choices, as an Old Soul you are often in the body of the sex you least prefer.”

…so THAT’s why I so understand the physical being-ness of the opposite sex so much more…

“Third level people do best when they give themselves the space and time to stay home and be alone as much as they want. Respecting their own proclivities and loving themselves just the way they are always smooths the way for more enjoyment of self and life.”

…well, I think I just gave myself permission to stop feeling guilty!

Love and Light!