DESTINY #2

“Everyone has in him/her something Divine, something his/her own, a chance of perfection and strength, however small, a sphere which God offers him to take or refuse. The task is to find, develop and use it.” Sri Aurobindo

“Despise no human and consider nothing impossible,  for there is no person who does not have his hour and there is nothing that does not have its place.” The Talmud

“In every person there is something precious which is in no-one else. And so, we should honor each for what is hidden within them for what only they have.” The Talmud

Both Einstein and Steve Jobs believed in the power of Destiny.

“Be willing to give up who you are – the old familiar – for who you might become, to reach that which is beyond you.” 

Rev. Nachman of Braztlav

Your destiny is the hunt of your life, keep to the scent, follow the spoor.

 

Our guides have access to our Book of Life or our Akashic records and know what our destiny is. They are there to help guide us to our purpose as well as the other things that can assist us on the path. The clues they leave us along the way are like a Bushman tracker after his prey. Sometimes the spoor is lost, and he must go back to the last track to circle around it and pick the trail up again or search for the next one ahead. Our path can be likened to a treasure hunt where our guides leave clues for us to find- usually in dreams or intuitive downloads when we are in a meditative or receptive state. Sometimes they send a clue which seems to take us in the wrong direction but if we did not follow it, we would not find the next clue. This is not unlike a cybernetic negative feedback system and how the body’s hormonal system works - more of a sin wave form, not a straight line. We are often going a wrong or “left” but still later eventually go “right.” We need to not self, or worse still Self-condemn, about being 'lost' when we are just in the process of a tedious and challenging searching. This convoluted dynamic arises out of the cosmic law of free will. Our guides cannot tell us who we are and who we must be but they can nudge us in the right direction or warn us when we take a wrong turn. 

It isn't easy! Many do not find the way.

The Creator does not want us to have a copy cat Destiny - we have to magnify the gift S/He has given us and then co-create with the Divine to help heal the planet.                                                      

God looks not only to your willingness to His call but to your creativity in responding. This honors, and delights Him.

The sages teach that everything is foreseen yet freedom of choice is given.

Destiny is that unique gift we were given by the Creator. Everything is foreseen and preordained by the Creator but not predestined. We have the free will and the freedom to choose not to look for it or try to actualize it.  What we do with our fate (the cards we are dealt in life) and how we manifest our destiny will have karmic consequences. This is one of the reasons we are born again and again.

 “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”            C. Jung

 

You are much more than you know but only what you have learned with your heart does God manifest in you. You are a wave of God’s ocean, a ray of His sunlight, alive with His breath.

It is not enough for you to know your source and substance.
You must be the source and substance.
This is your Soul’s wisdom that surpasses all understanding.

Affirm God’s promise, respond to His offer!
Without your acceptance only the potential exists.
The gift must be taken, trusted and used for its reality to be actualized.

Anything or anybody who does not make you more of who you is making you less of who you are and is not meant for you. There is no staying the same. It becomes a question of spiritual inflation - in other word one is losing ground or one's spiritual 'stock.'

“You must know one thing
The world was made to be free in
Give up all other worlds
except the one to which you belong
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn
Anything or anyone that does not bring you alive
is too small for you” David Whyte

And as for you power what are you doing in the wrong circle?

  DESTINY #1

“S/he who would be what he ought to be must stop being what he is” Meister Eckhart

The Hero/ine’s journey can be a part of finding our Destiny and who we truly are. It can lead us in the right direction but it may take several Hero's journey to help us find this elusive karmic requirement. Many of us never find it.

"The mass of men (and women) live lives of quiet desperation." Thoreau

 The search for one’s destiny has first to do with congruence, when emotions and expression match and behavior arises from the root of our being. When we sing our own song and do not do things for others’ approval. Soul, heart and intellect are congruent. 

“There is only one road that can lead to God and this road is the fidelity to remain constantly true to yourSelf, to change only to accommodate what you feel is highest in yourSelf - not to worry about the rest  that - the road will open up before you as you go.”    De Chardin

Following one’s Destiny is also about trust and surrender. Surrender is about giving in to something much bigger than one's self (as in the little self.) It involves flexibility, fearing less, letting go, being in the flow, not grasping, non-attachment and connecting with the Field and the help it can give us. 

“The universe will reward you for taking risks on its behalf.”     Shakti Gawain

This is not easy. It is also part of the Separation phase of the Hero's journey. We need to take from the past only what we need and leave the rest behind, even those profound teachings of others that can misdirect us.

“Personal insight is more valuable than divine revelation, for if we depend only on the scriptures and the teachings of masters but have no personal insights of our own, all is worthless.”  Rev. Akiva

 Before considering Destiny we need to acknowledge some of the ancient and modern teachings to do with the 

Soul and Meaning        

Both are part and parcel of the search for our Destiny. Martin Seligman, Victor Frank and others stress the power of having Meaning in our lives. They also emphasize that this arises from helping others. Seligman, the father of Positive Psychology teaches that practicing our core or signature strengths can create more meaning as well as well-being (serenity) in our lives. 

"… Do your work, then step back, the only way to serenity."           Tao Te Ching

Frankl who survived the Nazi death camps noted that those who could find meaning amongst the agony of their conditions survived better than others, especially when helping their inmates.

“Once what you are living and what you are doing has for you meaning it is irrelevant whether you are happy or unhappy. You are content, you are not alone in your spirit, you belong.”                        L. Van der Post

What we do not have ourselves we cannot give to others. This is the power of congruence and of Destiny.

“Give all thou canst; high heaven rejects the lore of nicely calculated less and more.” Wordsworth

The good news is that when we give our all for its own sake, not for reason of outcome or any agenda and we are using our core strengths we are in line with the laws of Karma whether its our destiny or not. Buddhism teaches us to take our suffering and make something useful out of it by helping others. The paradox is that this also creates happiness serenity and well being. 

God does not measure results only the trueness of intent and the fervor of effort.

How we serve others also has a lot to do with the crucial healing effects of 'Meaning' in our lives. We have to find our own way, as well as the spiritual practice that can assist us along the path. We cannot come to end of our lives with a plan that others have laid out for us. We will have to come back again to find our mission if we allow ourselves to be misdirected. Congruence with our inner being is vital and not what others think of us.

The Man With a Corpse on His Back 
When you die to the old life you must bury it well or you'll stumble on with the corpse of your old self strapped to your back.  Bury it well and do your grieving. Set right what can be set right with those you hurt and those who hurt you. Give up the souls you've stolen. Reclaim what was stolen from you. Then walk on and don't look back. Others will dig up your corpse, Not only enemies and abandoned lovers, but your very best friends. They'll exhume your bag of bones and lash it to your shoulders to prove you haven't changed. You'll be dragged down and back. You'll need a second wake, a second burial… Robert Moss

 However, when we go beyond positive psychology to the Soul itself, we recognize that: 

We cannot separate the Soul from our Destiny path.

"To thine own Self be true." Shakespeare

"Lad of Athens. Faithful be to thySelf and mystery - all else is perjury." Emily Dickenson

“It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my Soul.” William Ernest Henley

“…put out to sea! Save your boat’s journeying Soul and your own pilgrim Soul, cost what it may.” Dom Helder Camara

DESTINY AND THE HERO’S JOURNEY #3B

INCORPORATION (continued)

The worship most pleasing to God is service to others.” L. Boff

 

The Peter Principle states that we rise to the level of our own incompetence, in other words, “cream rises to the top and then it sours.”

Many of us, because of our ambition or because we are perceived as being highly competent at one thing may logically be graduated to something outside of our inherent archetype. We must have the resolve not to be tempted to leave that sense of flow and aliveness and become mediocre in spite of the compelling perks that may be offered.

 

“Whatever you are, be a good one.” Abe Lincoln

 

Beware the “fall” out of the grace after all you have received and all the hard work you have done. Many lose the way and slip back into old patterns, complacency and the allure of the material. Maintaining a regular spiritual practice is essential to holding to one’s truth, vision or myth. As Campbell says; follow your bliss.

If you are unclear which to choose it is best to focus on spiritual practice and obtaining knowledge for transformation. Knowledge, wisdom and inner practice are the wings that will help you fly to your true purpose.  

 

“When you find your place where you are, practice (or service) begins.“ Dogen

Or you may choose to pursue the spiritual life and the realization of Self through any one of the four yogas; Karma (service,) Bhakti (devotion,) Jnana (spiritual knowledge) and Raja yoga (control of the mind.) Karma yoga is very much in line with the conventional Hero's journey. In the others service to others with that particular core strength will also occur but in a spiritual sense.

 

“May the hero awaken from forgetfulness and transcend all anxiety and sorrow.” The Upanishads

 

We know much more than we think we know and are much more than we believe ourselves to be. We only need to remember. This mean tapping into the “soulular” memory of our Store Consciousness – the accumulation of our past lives and our subconscious memories. We may have a sense of de ja vu and that we have heard these spiritual concepts before or that they are now easily understood and remembered. But this requires us to ...

With all our strength get knowledge.

In this way we can transcend anxiety and the sorrow arising out of fear. At the end of the day and a series of hero’s journeys one comes to realize that the quest is a sacred one to connect with the Higher Self and its greater mission. However, its always about service to others.

“Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water (your work.) After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water (your destiny through service.)“  Zen teaching

 

With time one may find that there are recognizable inner experiences that confirm you are opening up to the spirit world – such as; synchronicity, coherence, a sense of flow or “super-fluidity,” and other intuitive powers. These can occur both in the awake or the dream state. There can even be kundalini-like vibrations occurring during sleep or other awakening experiences during your meditations. 

Validate, savor and honor them rather than rationalize them away and keep them to one's Self, they are sacred. 

Oneness experiences when the Knower, the Known, and the Process of Knowing fuse into one (Maslow’s Peak Experience) or wilderness rapture tell you your energy body is in sync with the cosmos 

but may not tell you what to do about it.

Remember that the paranormal talent or talents that you have – no-one has all of these – will be the one or the ones that your guides and the Great Spirit know to be those most accessible to their messages. 

It is wasteful of your time and theirs to follow those that are not part of who you truly are. Just because some well-informed person tells you that this is the way to go or the spiritual practice to embrace, does not mean either are the ones for you. Be wary of others relating their own epic experiences if they belittle your own.

 

“I implore you to submit to your own myths. Any postponement in doing so is a lie.”William Carlos Patterson

You cannot control result only your actions. You cannot predict outcomes only your choices. 

Do not rely on the hope of results …

“Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and achieve no worth at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea you will start more and more to concentrate not on the results but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself.” 

Thomas Merton

If all else fails do everything for its own sake without having an agenda or an ego-bound motivation including when it comes to helping others. This is good Karma yoga.

 

DESTINY AND THE HERO’S JOURNEY 

INCORPORATION #3A

 

“… The hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow humans.” J. Campbell

 

“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” W. Churchill

 

There are four basic archetypes each with many diverse possibilities. These are:

Healer

Teacher

Warrior or Leader

Visionary or Elder

There are many ways to teach, heal, be a warrior or a visionary. 

The warrior-leader should be a spiritual warrior guiding the “tribe” with wisdom for the sake of the tribe and not him or herself. 

The Visionary can be a sage, elder, crone, guru, priest, shaman, poet, author, artist or musician ... One’s destiny can also be actualized through any of the other above archetypes with the vision to help others.  

 

“A vision without a task is a dream
A task without a vision is drudgery 
But a vision with a task can change the world.” 
Black Elk

 

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs

The insights may be very subtle but vital. They usually are not like lights blazing in the dark. It’s all well and good if they are epic but it is also wise to be careful of these, they can delude you and may arise out of grandiosity. 

If you cannot change what you do, maybe change how you do it.

"Most men (and women) live lives of quiet desperation." Thoreaux

The focus in Incorporation is how best to help others with one's vision, unlike the Warrior's journey. Helping others will helps ourselves find meaning and happiness in our existence.

“At first you must learn to do the humble things and often they are the most difficult to do. In those humble things, be busy about helping someone who has need of you ... and then only will you begin to find true happiness.

 

I do not know what your destiny will be but I know one thing, the only ones among your who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” A. Schweitzer

 

The Creator does not want us to be “a Jack of all trades and a master of none” - but a master of One. The power is in that “one” which will be supported by the Field, your guides and even the Great Spirit who wants a personal relationship with us all.

Seek congruence – who is the real you? The real you is likely to be the one on your hero's during the Threshold. Embracing this one can avoid returning to the old you. Many have talents in all four archetypes making it difficult to know which to choose. There is usually only one core or signature strength where your true, divinely inspired, potential and power reside. The others must serve the one.

 If you have doubts, then head in the direction of the one or ones you want to explore and rule them out by a process of elimination to find the best fit. In time you will know if this is it or not. There is no loss – you have gained knowledge and skills from the experience. 

Attend to needs not wants – simplify. 

Maintain a disciplined and enjoyable spiritual practice or practices to hold to the mission.

Are you marching to the sound of your own drum or that of someone else? Karma does not endorse a copycat destiny.

It is important to take time out and look at one’s current situation after the journey. One could also scrutinize prior warrior journeys to find the grail that may have been forgotten and left behind on the way and also use that or those for any new resolution. 

It pays to have a skillful, trusted witness or witnesses who can listen to your story, embellish and expand it to help you find your archetype. Indigenous peoples had a council of elders for this. Inner practice and group synergism or just one other person can be supportive. 

Now is the time to settle in and not take any serious risks until the experience is reintegrated back into one’s life. Eventually it may even lead to giving up a partner, one’s job or selling one’s house but the supply lines for security must be maintained. Relinquishing one’s basic needs on behalf of higher goals may put one in survival mode which will prevent one from actualizing any meaningful change. 

Many of us will have to learn to live in two worlds; the one that pays the rent and the other that is our mission. 

One may have to carry out one’s true purpose for its own sake without pay back and in one’s spare time. That is perfectly fine as well as good karma.

 If we can find a sense of flow, fluidity even superfluidity and being in the “zone” and with that unique talent, you will – as Thurman says – come alive. This happens when you are using your core or signature strength (Seligman.)

 

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”      H. Thurman

 

After the journey and the sense of knowing or the aha, walk the talk do not talk the walk. Do not put your experiences on the mantel piece for those who do not understand to invalidate or trivialize. To be polite, talk to them about context rather than content in words they can understand rather than those they want to challenge. 

 

 

DESTINY AND THE HERO’S JOURNEY #2

 

THRESHOLD

"A threshold is a point of entry, a new beginning, an opening. A crossing." John O'Donahue

 

The Hero/ine now enters the Sacred Space of the Threshold. It does not have to be in nature but can be the dark night of the soul resulting from loss of a loved one, one's vocation, health or any other catastrophic event which pushes the sufferer to go inwards into his/her sacred space wherever s/he finds it. Nature, however, because of its multiple polarities is a preferred location.

 

“… Fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won …” J. Campbell

 

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
Joseph Campbell

 

“The meeting of oneself is, at first, the meeting of one’s Shadow.” 

C.J. Jung

 

The sacred space is classically numinous and luminous (hence the power of nature.)  During the Threshold we will usually encounter the dark night of the soul when we confront our inner (shadow) and outer fears. We return with the grail of a new awareness to bestow it on those who can benefit.

The “grail” is given by grace or less dramatically, one comes back with an enlightened idea or an aha as how to better proceed with one’s life. For this reason, there are many hero’s journeys, some profound and some more subtle as we slowly fine tune our paths. 

Primal experiences can help us reach another part of our forgotten selves. Sadly we often have little awareness of how much of the hero archetype arising out of our indigenous nature we have lost on the altar of modern-day technology.

“We cannot today recreate the original wilderness human in shape form or habitat. But we can recover him because s/he exists in us. S/he is the foundation in spirit or psyche on which we build and we are not complete until we have recovered him..." L. Van der Post

 

Our teachers include ...

The “Soft Fascinations.” The sites, the scenes, the sun and moon risings and settings, the sounds or the mantra of nature, the smells, aromas and diurnal cycles. One does not have to navigate wild places in order to connect with this "magic of the ordinary." Hard skills are not the focus and should prevail only when absolutely essential. The intention is not to put oneself in a survival situation but to go inwards.

Use any form of spiritual practice to support and balance the encounters that present themselves. These inner techniques include journaling peak events or dreams so as to retain the details of any “aha.” 

Avoid performance behavior and time restraints (if possible.) Five days is optimal to peel away the layers of ego and civilization getting in the way of our Higher Selves. 

Stay inwardly rather than outward directed. 

Avoid the “Need to Know” the cognitive things in order to allow the inner experience to emerge. 

When in an altered state of consciousness, we can connect with and fuse with various metaphors in nature which can guide us; such as power animals, the rocks, the earth, a flower or tree that may have a message for us.

 

To experience the Still Beings of nature one must touch them.
… the Growing Beings - listen to them.
… the Wild Beings - dance with them.
and the Talking Beings - feel with them.

We are all connected, some of all in each.

 

Ultimately when we emerge from the journey we should return to the talking beings and be able to feel with them or relate to them more intimately than before.

“We do not go into the desert to escape people but to learn how to find them: we do not leave them in order to have nothing more to do with them but to find out the way to do them the most good.” 

Thomas Merton

Reentry

This too will pass!

As one emerges out of sacred space one may have a Reentry Depression which can last a few weeks. This state is a testament to the power of the journey as well as the insights both profound and subtle that have emerged. It may be aggravated by the fact that one has to return to the frustrations of ordinary life. Often the harder the home and work circumstances, the greater the depression. Paradoxically this depression occurs in the face of a demonstrable restorative effect. 

The Re-entry Depression seems to be a result of having been in an altered state of consciousness (parasympathetic relaxation response) and upon the return there is a dramatic shift as one is propelled back into a normal state of awareness. The alfa relaxed vibration one has been in on then gives way to sensory and sympathetic nervous system overload on the return and our usual state of being. Spiritual practice is essential during the reentry.

 

Inner Effects 

(especially but not exclusively if performed in Nature)

Being or feeling more like one’s true self.  

An appreciation of awe, oneness, wonder, transcendence – peak or oneness experience, (wilderness) rapture, unity consciousness. 

Humility and a realization that any control one thinks one has over nature (or life) is an illusion. 

 Feelings of connection and comfort in nature. A sense of renewal, and aliveness, feeling less cluttered, more mindful and focused. 

An appreciation of alone time.

Experiencing major life style changes and releasing from addictions of the past from minor to major. 

"We inter-are..." Thich Nhat Hahn

"The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there." Yasutani Roshi

Becoming more pleasant and affable with others.

Previously there may have been a greater sense of duality with nature and other beings and on the return this duality is lessened especially if spiritual practice is maintained.

We are all one, though not the same.

Realizing this is key to the Incorporation phase where we give the "grail" away to others.

The Warrior's journey differs from the Hero's journey. The Warrior at this stage keeps the gift for themselves, their family or the corporation... There are countless warriors, fewer real heroes.