Practicing For Enlightenment

Life is about lessons and evolution. All the people around you, including you are little, future Buddhas in training. Sometimes we are on seemingly huge detours, but let’s just consider this, if we are practicing for enlightenment, what kind of skills do we need?

Well for starters our hearts will have to evolve to a place of unconditional love, forgiveness and compassion. If you translate that into a lesson plan we need to alchemize arrogance, judgment, discrimination, revenge etc. Here are some examples of how a soul might choose to do that:

1. If you were really rich one lifetime, feeling superior to poor people, your soul might sign you up for a few lifetimes of poverty in order for you to overcome that stigma, to train your heart to see the essence of people, instead of judging only their costumes.
2. If you were very racist in one lifetime, you might find yourself part of that race in the future, or you might be the 'victim' of racism in order to grow beyond those beliefs.
3. At times we sign up with souls to 'wrong' us for we want to test our ability to forgive.(Sometimes those lessons backfire and we end up in Centuries long revenge matches 'he had it coming'.)
4. I would never be a corrupt politician; those kind of superior statements are another good way to karmicly draw yourself into the exact position you despise in order to develop compassion for the souls around you.

It is not always comfortable or clear to the ego/personality why we ended up in the circumstances we did, my suggestion is to meditate on what your soul might be learning towards enlightenment, there is always a teaching and I find that I surrender a lot better, when I have a clue of what it is.

Life As A Treasure Hunt

One of my biggest challenges this life has been to have patience for myself and the process of life, especially, when I lack the larger picture perspective, or the direction I was given suddenly changes. I do well with information. If I know where I am going and the pathway has been shown to me, I am willing to put up with a fair amount of discomfort. Otherwise forget it! I will be upset, even if things are seemingly going well.

Unfortunately, I find myself over and over again in situations with little to zero visibility forced to rely on my faith. All I can do in these moments is to put one foot in front of the other until I find the next clue. And of course, use this wonderful opportunity to work on and strengthen my muscles for patience and surrender.

It does appear that many of us are involuntary members of this mystery club called life.

One of the things that helps me continuously is the to look at life as a treasure hunt.

When I admit to myself that I really don't know yet what life has in store for me it is easier to look for the next clue and trust, that I will have all the necessary information, as I need it.

 Maybe my ultimate destination is not the top of the mountain that was pointed out to me, but it was the only thing I could see from the crossroad where I was standing.

Can I be flexible enough to correct my course along the journey when my path changes once I meet the boat on the river?  And when I climb into the boat, can I allow the river to take me to wherever I am destined to go? And while doing so, can I be present in the moment to absorb the gifts of the journey to their fullest?

I am certainly still a work in progress in these matters but I have learned to surrender quicker and to pay closer attention to life, for it always has a way of working out.

In case of doubt, keep walking with a prayer in your heart and the courage to put one foot in front of the other. Life is a mystery! Make peace with that. Your journey will be different and unique and remember; within the abundance of the Universe there will always be another clue.

Enjoy your treasure hunt! You too shall return home one day, that is a promise!