More Metaphysical Meanderings

And a personal contract with Spirit

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

One morning, fairly recently, I woke up knowing that I had only consented to another physical lifetime under the condition that I would be spared — this time around — from most of the shit that I had suffered in previous incarnations. If the Powers That Be wanted me to serve again in the flesh, they would have to agree to this. I had had enough.

Despite the moments of joy we experience when everybody in our family is healthy and we are engaged in a worthwhile pursuit, the basic truth of this world, in Buddhist parlance, is that it is a house on fire. To believe that it can offer a safe residence anywhere on a permanent basis is folly.

Even having the assurance of preferred treatment, I knew there were still plenty of illnesses and injuries, twists of fate and injustices which I hadn’t yet experienced — and could. The best I should expect was that this time around would be more pleasant than most.

Ulf Wolf tells it like it is in this Medium article:

[embed]Samsara The Unpopular Viewmedium.com

I am an old soul. I have paid my dues and gone through my initiations. I am still far from perfect, but I have earned my graduation to higher levels of education than the physical.

And yet, there was some service for me to perform here — maybe more than one, since I am still alive following the most difficult and intense experience of this life. So here I was sent.

But I was not thrilled about it. When I came out of my mother’s womb I refused to breathe; I was blue. I am told that the doctor — or some member of staff — lowered me into a pail of ice water. That got me screaming. Prana entered my system, and the system had to live. It had no choice.

Evidently I had not experienced that before!

Welcome to your new life. From here on in, make the most of it.

I began receiving messages at a very early age — 4 or earlier. Gentle internal answers to whatever question I had. It was very natural. Pretty much expected.

And I set myself to paying attention to everything about this place and these circumstances. I quickly learned how to read. And I read a lot.

When my parents sent me to Sunday School, I listened. REALLY listened. The story of Jesus was both new and familiar. It went straight to my heart.

Also familiar were stories from other religions. When I was 5 my mother read me Gift of the Forest by R. Lal Singh and Eloise Lownsbery, about a little boy in India. It contained names like Lakshmi, Rama, Krishna and Gayatri. I recognized them, too.

I mention this in case you were wondering how I knew I am an old soul. My reasons are very concrete.

When I was seventeen Mr. Agnelli, my high school Latin teacher, wrote in my yearbook, “There is little doubt that you will contribute a ‘something’ to this world. But don’t be surprised — though you may be hurt — if the world is not ready to accept contributions such as yours.” In retrospect I think he was experiencing this himself, so he knew whereof he spoke. And he was right! It would take me decades to figure out a way to contribute something that people truly appreciated — teaching Yoga, Meditation and Spirituality — and when I did, the remuneration was emotional rather than monetary.

Some of my past lives must have been as an actor, which I remembered this time around when I was with the Shakespeare Festival of Stratford, Ontario and we toured Europe. I felt very much at home standing on the outdoor stage of Hadrian’s Villa, outside Rome. Spiritually, my experience as an actor in Rep was a marvelous metaphor for the way all of our souls embody multiple characters, lifetime after lifetime. It was the perfect demonstration of the ancient adage, “As Above, So Below. As Below, So Above.”

Another Medium friend, Suma Narayan, has written the following poem, questioning how much free will we really have over our lives:

[embed]Destiny and Free Will Do we choose the path of our life, or does fate?thehubpublication.com

My response: “In retrospect, it has often seemed that my most enthusiastic forays into free will have only served to guide me into the places where my karma had already determined I should go.” To which she replied that the same has also been true for her.

I was sent here to effect certain changes in certain people’s lives. There was no way that a passing fancy was going to distract me from making those contacts.

No matter who we are pretending to be this time around, or how multitudinous the distractions of the flesh, if we came here with an assignment, it will rise to meet us.