Update Yourself!

Most old souls I work with are stuck somewhere in the past. I mean the past, as in past centuries or millennia, not just a few decades.

It shows itself in form of nostalgia and by giving a lot of power and attention to ancient artifacts, ruins of holy sites, the worship of spiritual rituals from other cultures and the wearing of fashions (native American medicine man, ancient Egyptian high priest, Tibetan monk, African shaman etc).

While there is nothing really wrong with this approach, I still would like to remind you, that if you are one of the souls that is stuck worshipping the past, it might be time to update yourself.

Why? First of all, you most likely already lived the part that you are trying to recreate.

If you give too much power to the past and its form you run into the danger of becoming a bit rigid. The point you might miss is that it is not about the form at all, but rather about the spirit and the energy that runs through it. At times we might give too much power to a form and/or our own past. I.e. if you played a powerful spiritual role in a past life (and here it doesn't matter if it was Tibetan, Native American or Ancient Egyptian to name a few), you might feel drawn to rituals from these cultures more to boost your ego than to get actual spiritual work done. When we practice these we have to be aware of our motivation, because we might entertain the notion of superiority over others (other cultures/religions and souls that is), while not moving an inch closer towards enlightenment.

I believe that God/Divine Source is an infinite, creative energy that continually morphs.

In the moment you try to capture it as a constant, it runs like sand through your fingers.

We have to learn to dance with it, so that it can continue to flow through our hearts and beings. Trust yourself! Find the sacred tools/rituals and objects of today. Make your current home your temple! Send love via Facebook and the Internet. Bless your car and your blender and your washing machine, because collectively it took a long time to manifest these little helpers.

 And remember, God isn't closed minded. Any form will do for divine flow as long as the prayer and intention come from the heart, they will carry more power than any ancient mantra recited a million times from a place of ego.

What does your holy life look like in the modern world?

Ready for your update?

Then go and have fun!

Turning Pity Into Compassion

How often do you look at fellow humans and feel sorry for them?

In a world filled with suffering, it is easy to pity the ones less fortunate.

"Poor fellow, his wife is sick."

"I feel so bad for them, they lost their home/job/partner/investment."

And how easily do you feel empathy and suffer with someone?

"I always experience other people's pain, if someone next to me has a headache I will get one too."

"I have been so depressed, because my sister is going through a divorce."

"The weight of the whole world rests on my shoulders, I don't see how anybody can have a good time."

These are just a few examples of how we might react to events around us from a place of empathy and pity.

At first glance this appears to be a good-hearted and kind way of responding to other's pain and challenges.

If you look more closely there are a number of reasons why you might wish to reconsider:

1. Souls are here to learn (read post: "Becoming a student of life.") Some of the lessons are painful and a lot of people will feel insulted if you pity them, because you are transmitting the message that you don't think they are strong enough to endure or to overcome their challenges. The bottom line is that they chose their challenges.

Can you respect that? By turning pity into compassion you can choose not to suffer with them, or look at them as a victim of circumstances. Instead you might say:

"I can see that the lesson you are experiencing is painful, you have my compassion, I'll pray for you, I will help if I can and if I am meant to. And I believe that you will be OK."

2. By continuously suffering with the world you are missing out on your own journey.

This is a multi facetted reality where many realities are lived out simultaneously.

If you go back to the school example, they represent nothing more or less than different classrooms. None of the classes are wrong or bad, since everyone in the big picture will graduate. So if you deny yourself love, happiness and/or abundance because you feel guilty to enjoy yourself while others are having a harder time you overlook the fact that:

a) They won't suffer less because you are hurting too, au contraire, they might feel guilty that their situation brought you down. Consider holding the frequency (Read post: Learn to hold the frequency!)

b) You miss out on living your truthful karma, there is a high possibility that you'll end up feeling like you missed out on your own life and possibly grow resentful of people in your environment that had a difficult time.

Compassion is a way to be sensitive and to understand our fellow travelers pain without allowing it to color our own experience of life. Our heart can stay open and loving while setting energetic boundaries and knowing that certain situations are not our responsibility; not because we don't care, but because they are beyond our jurisdiction.

So do yourself and others a favor and turn your pity into compassion.

If you have an issue with pity and empathy there might also be a chance of you being a psychic sponge. I suggest you read the post dedicated to the topic, if you haven't already.

How Do You Know What Your Soul Really Wants?

This is a very good question and this post will be an encore to the previous one "Explore your soul brand". (Inspired by the reader comment)

The soul and its journey is the driving force behind your life. At times its choices won't be according to ego or social expectations.

Here are some ways you can tune into your soul (beware, every soul is different, so this by no means represents a complete list):

1. Watch out for the dreams and desires that keep coming back, no matter how often you dismiss them. When you encounter a deep-seated longing/desire, don't go into excuse mode ("This won't work because…!). Instead, play with it. How does it feel if you give yourself permission to entertain the idea? Remember, it's safe to play.  You can always dismiss it later if it doesn't feel like a fit, or you might start looking for practical steps to turn that dream into a reality.

2. When we tap into the soul frequency, our heart opens and we feel excited about our life.  We experience a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

The ego or social direction you take might feel more like duty or responsibility driven and for many souls this will appear plain boring.

3. One of the exercises I like to use is to envision myself in different situations. I become an outside observer and look at self with certain people or at a particular location: I take note of the expression on my face, do I look happy/fulfilled/soulful, or does my demeanor reflect sadness/dissatisfaction/boredom? The answers are already within you; it is mostly a matter of allowing them to surface.

4. Jealousy can give you a good idea about your soul desires. You might respond negatively to someone else who lives the life or an aspect of life you desire for yourself.

When buttons get pushed, don't take it out on the person who pushed them. Instead, look closer to determine which aspects you want for yourself and than start to strategize how you can get there.

5. Allow yourself to be surprised. Sometimes we find ourselves in circumstances with people we didn't expect to enjoy, because they weren't on our ego trajectory. When you find that unexpected bliss, expand your view of self and explore further.

By the same token, you might end up miserable, in a place or situation that you thought was right up your ally. In that case, your ego might have steered you astray. It might be time to right your course.

6a.Take note, of the things that resonate with you! It could be something you read in a book, a comment a person makes, a line from a movie etc. These are clues that will reveal further details if you follow them.

b. Last but not least, look at life as a treasure hunt. The soul will always leave clues, as I said before, these clues won't necessarily satisfy ego expectations, but if you follow them you will align yourself with your soul compass.

Great Reminder

Hi! I apologize to all of you who have been letting me know that you missed my weekly postings.
Things have been a bit hectic around here, but I am planning to get back to my weekly schedule.
Got some new posts in the works.
In the meantime here is a great reminder (one of my favorite poems!).

ITHAKA

As you set out for Ithaka

hope your road is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

angry Poseidon - don't be afraid of them:

you'll never find things like that one on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

wild Poseidon - you won't encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.

May there be many summer mornings when,

with what pleasure, what joy,

you enter harbours you're seeing for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenician trading stations

to buy fine things,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfumes of every kind -

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities

to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you're destined for.

But don't hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so you're old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you've gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey.

Without her you wouldn't have set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean

Constantine P. Cavafy