Those in Alignment with Self (Soul)

Let’s begin at the beginning. Oh, actually we can’t—the soul is immortal, so there was/is no beginning. Okay, so I’ll fast-forward, ignore previous incarnations and just focus on this one. There too, the word “beginning” needs to be qualified, because decision-making—if it’s to be “authentic”—begins prior to assuming a physical vehicle, a body. I’ll be describing my personal belief system in this post, not to proclaim or persuade. I have no agenda, just passing on a soul-sourcing technique that many have found helpful.

If you believe the noises of the world, rather than the silences of your soul, you will be lost.

Neale Donald Walsh, author Conversations with God, screenwriter

I believe that, before we’re born, in concert with others in our soul family, we formulate a “plan” that continues our journey to “realization,” union with God (Source, Cosmic Intelligence, Ground of All Being…). Consideration of the soul is paradoxical: While it’s One with God, fully realized, indivisible, perfect and eternal, it has assumed an “aspect” that’s individual, separate from God, finite and evolving toward wholeness—a return to its divine nature.

Religions and spiritual teachers speak of a “Fall from Grace” that happened aeons ago, when we made the free-will choice to use our creative faculties of thought and emotion in ways that were not based in love. I picture this as myself and all other souls who made this choice, coming to Earth to climb a precipitous mountain called “Love.” Step-by-step it’s the return to wholeness, ONE with God at the peak. The realization attained there, is that we are IT. We’ve been THAT all along.

The pre-birth plan is a kind of prescription that souls “write” prior to incarnation. Based on a combination of lessons to be learned and karmic influences to be balanced, it consists of a series of contexts that will provide us opportunities to take the next step—or several steps—up the mountain, a component of which is primarily the lesson of universal, unconditional love. Once embodied, due to free will, we can adhere to the presecrption, ignore or disregard it—in part or altogether. We’re not required to advance, to grow in consciousness and expand love to all that is, but it becomes increasingly painful to remain on any one step for very long. Eastern spiritual traditions hold that sooner or later, over aeons of incarnations, every soul achieves the summit.

All adversity is really an opportunity for our souls to grow; all adversity is really a form of growing pains.

John Gray, self-help author, relationship counselor, lecturer

The prescribed experiences are revealed to us by the inner voice of “conscience.” Unlike a medical prescription that consists of pills, the pre-birth plan guides us into contexts, not experiences. The ego/mind thinks it’s just making choices, creating those contexts, but that’s an illusion. The various contexts are like college courses on the subjects necessary to advance in consciousness and love, throughout life. None are lectures; all are experiential. Sages tell us that realization can take millions of incarnations—or just one. Some of obvious contexts include the characteristics and circumstances surrounding—

• Parents: The choice of parents, their ethnicity, ancestry, location…
• Body: The choice of a vehicle…
• Birth: Where, when and how to be born…
• Parenting: The process of rearing children…
• Education: Formal or not? Where and when to attend…
• Jobs: Work circumstances…
• Others: Interests, skill development, who we’ll marry (if we marry), where and how we’ll live, friends, health situations, economic and social status through adulthood and the time and circumstances of our passing.

Contexts do not “determine” experience. They are simply the “settings,” within which we encounter both positive and negative opportunities to choose, all of which are designed to develop consciousness and expand love in the direction of realization.

The soul is realized in love.

Phil Cousineau, author, lecturer, scholar, screenwriter

Throughout life we take command, researching, creating, preparing and planning what we want and don’t want, and responding to whatever comes our way. The ego mind needs to feel like it’s in control. And the conscious mind is, because of free will. But as noted, the soul presents the contexts for experiencing the lessons prescribed in its plan. As our true Self, it knows us better than we know ourselves, and guides us unerringly. It’s the only source of information and guidance that’s absolutely true about and for us and can be trusted. That’s because its individuated aspect has only one agenda—the realization of its divine nature. The great mental challenge for us, is trying to ascertain the plan.

Whenever a context appears—like deciding on a college to attend or a person to marry— whether or not we feel like we created it, we’re presented with a choice. Sometimes the choice is obvious or easily seen to be in alignment with our deeper Self. When that’s not so clear and there are many options, there’s a way to tap into the soul’s plan. It’s a brief mental exercise I refer to as a “Gifts Inventory.” By understanding our endowments, what the soul had provided, we can better align with its agenda. What this process reveals is our life’s purpose relative to who we are as a being, and what’s appropriate for us to do in order to authentically learn and contribute. Our unique gifts tell us why we came here at this time, in this place and with this body.

The evolutionary modality of the emerging humankind is the alignment of the personality with the soul through responsible choice.

          Gary Zukav, author The Seat of the Soul

Gifts Inventory (A self-inquiry exercise)

Set aside a time and place where you’re comfortable and certain not to be disturbed by anyone or anything like a phone, conversations or car noise outside. Take a pad of paper and something to write with, sit and get quiet. Do not use a computer. You can have your eyes open or closed, it doesn’t matter. All you’ll do is respond to the following questions. You’ll be asked to make a list. Write your responses in the order they come to mind. You don’t have to do this all in one sitting. And you won’t be sharing this with anyone.

STEP 1: The Questions

1. What are the gifts you were born with?

These are the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual capabilities that you didn’t learn or earn. You awakened to them naturally, like a propensity to play a musical instrument, solve math problems, make people laugh, love animals or draw. Nothing is off limits. Take your time. Make the list as complete as you can.

2. What are the gifts you have learned or earned?

Irrespective of the sources, list the skills, abilities, talents, knowledge or attributes that you acquired up until now.

3. What are your abiding interests?

Some interests come and go. Others sustain over many years. Those are the ones to list.

4. What do other people see as your gifts?

Sometimes we have a talent that others recognize but come to us as a surprise. What complements do you get? “Your meals are amazing! You could have been a chef.”

5. If you could snap your fingers and completely resolve or improve three human challenges, what would they be?

STEP 2: Prioritize

Go back and prioritize your responses to Questions 1, 2 and 3.

STEP 3: Identify your “BEING” purpose

(Follow the above guidelines regarding comfort and non-distraction)

Consider your responses to Question 1. Star or circle the priorities that mean the most to you. Those are the gifts your soul has provided this time around, the exercise of which is necessary for you to fulfill part of your pre-birth plan. Now, write this heading: My Being Purpose. We are human “beings,” not human doings; being is fundamental, primary. It conditions everything else.

Close your eyes and go into a meditative state. With your primary gifts in mind, direct this question to your soul, your deepest inner voice: “What have I come here to be?” Pause, let your mind rest. When something comes to mind, open your eyes and write. Begin a sentence with, “I am here to be… Pay no attention to length, grammar, spelling or if it makes sense. Write all that comes to mind.

If nothing, think again about your gifts and ask again. Still nothing? Put the pad aside. Ideally, take a walk in nature and mull over your gifts—or go about your life. I can almost guarantee that, when you’re least expecting it, an answer will pop into your head. Whenever it comes, write and edit the first draft into one or two sentences, eliminating all words that are unnecessary. What remains must feel absolutely true. This is why you came here and why you’re still alive. I highly recommend that you never share this with anyone, not even a spouse or best friend. You don’t want to get any kind of reaction that could cast doubt on it. It’s among the most intimate statements you’ll ever make, so memorize it and often repeat it to yourself. If you like, destroy what you wrote. Or put it where it cannot be found.

STEP 4: Identify your “DOING” purpose

Afterward, or on another occasion do the same as the above. This time, take an integrated look at your top priorities relative to Questions 2, 3 and 4. I recommend transferring them onto a fresh sheet of paper; the insights come more easily that way. Now, the question to your soul is: “What have I come here to do?” As before, immediately still your mind and write whatever comes. What you’re writing now, is your “Doing Purpose,” what you have come here to do. Again, edit it into a two or three sentence statement that ring true. Memorize it.

STEP 5: Contribution

If you could snap your fingers and completely resolve or improve three human challenges, what would they be? Considering your Purpose Statements, along with your Gifts Inventory, what would be the smallest, most immediate thing you could do to heal or improve what’s going on in the world? Even a thought, a prayer or simply voting from the soul is a contribution.

Because our Being and Doing insight comes from the soul, everything we do that contributes to their fulfillment is supremely authentic, absolutely true to who and what we are and what we’ve come here to do. You’ll note that these act in concert. One accomplishes the other, because authentic behavior completes (satisfies) the whole person. Subconsciously, maybe even consciously, these acts are our unique and precious gifts to the world. When faced with an important decision, we can ask, deep down, which option is in harmony with our Purpose. By knowing why we’re here and what we’ve come to do, it becomes clear which thoughts, words and deeds are—or are not—advancing the evolution of the individuated aspect of the soul.

Our soul is using specific life settings as the stage on which we can play out our process of evolution. Through each event we take the journey of consciousness. We move through the layers of our unconscious self and begin to awaken, moving into a greater conscious realization. We ourselves are the process, the co-creator, experiencing an awakening through the events we call “my life.”

           Isira, Australian indigenous wisdom keeper

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