When the Purpose of Life and My Purpose in this Lifetime Seem in Conflict | Steve Beckow

There are times when the purpose of life and our purpose in this lifetime don't seem to line up.

But with a little more digging they can be seen to.

I can give you an example from my own life.

Life has a purpose. My understanding of it is based on a vision I had in 1987, which long-time readers have heard me discuss on occasion. For an account of it, see: "The Purpose of Life is Enlightenment – Ch. 13 – Epilogue," at http://goldenageofgaia.com/2011/08/13/the-purpose-of-life-is-enlightenment-ch-13-epilogue/

What it showed me was that enlightenment is the purpose of life. It's the one shared assignment that all of us have in life - to know ourselves in our true essence.

Every time one of us realizes our Self, God meets God. For God that's a moment of delight. For that moment, for that purpose was all of life - this divine play or leela - created.

So enlightenment is the purpose of life. Now let's look at where my purpose in this lifetime seems to depart from that.

A person in my position appears to need to turn away from enlightenment and not hanker after it or court it for several reasons.

(1) As a pillar, I've agreed to go last.

(2) As a servant of the Divine Mother generally and a waiter at the banquet of Ascension particularly, I've agreed to eat last.

(3) As a communicator, I have to remain in touch with my readers - both in willingness and ability. That means holding back, visiting perhaps but not staying in the higher states. It also means toned-down or truncated experiences so I don't wander off.

(4) As a financial wayshower, I have to remain in touch with the reality that everyone else involved in finances works in. I need to keep my focus on matters that would ordinarily be thought of as spiritually distracting: money, for the most part.

So I seem to be keeping my attention off many spiritual things to place it on an eminently-worldly thing: dealing with money.

All in all, my agreements and my situation seem to suggest that I must turn aside from enlightenment.

But, if we look closer, we see that that isn't the case.

It isn't even a case of merely postponing because service and detachment are of themselves spiritual paths.

When Bernadette Roberts was soaring through one lofty spiritual experience after another, she passed through a phase that had her keep herself away from society; then she passed through another in which it was vital for her to be socially engaged. (1) Both were part of the overall path back to God.

So it isn't that my purpose in life is absolutely in conflict with the purpose of life itself, any more than taking time out from meditating for lunch would be seen as being in conflict. Having lunch is part of the path; serving others is also part of the path.

(1) As a pillar, though I wait until everyone else is on the train, I still board it.

(2) As a waiter at the banquet of Ascension, I'll still eat a sumptuous feast later. (I suspect I won't be hungry.)

(3) As a communicator, I still get to go up with everyone else - at the group's speed.

(4) As a financial wayshower, I can still practice the spiritual way of detachment. (2) So I'm not left out of spirituality even here.

It becomes a question not of utter denial, but simply one of postponement. For that I get to practice the spiritual way of patience.

The road to enlightenment requires me at this point in time to serve. At some points it requires us to retire from the world and at other points - like Ascension - it requires us to engage.

Footnotes

(1) See for instance Bernadette Roberts, "The Path to No-Self" in Stephan Bodian, ed. Timeless Visions, Healing Voices. Freedom, CA: Crossing Press, 1991. But also the earlier Path to No-Self. Boston and London: Shamballa, 1985.

(2) For me it'll be reflected in a desire for a lack of ostentation - the same apartment building, different apartment; modest car, with a TR-6 sports car in reserve (my one indulgence); modest everything else.

It isn't a question of show. It's a question of the appetites that are awakened by over-indulgence. It's those I don't want to arouse.