Even the best laid plans, with everything in place and set, may not run according to schedule. Such is life, easily planned but much harder to control. Learn to be flexible, to go with the flow, while at the same time be prepared and fully intent for a smooth process. To be open to what comes along, while at the same time to plan for the best, is to be in good balance with what is and with what is desired. To want is natural, but not all that is wanted is necessary. Sometimes something more important is needed. So, with an open and steady heart, prepare to go with the flow!
Jeanne, from her Soul perspective, has advised that all we need in order to advance our karmic intention in this life is present in the material circumstances we encounter in this life. Regardless of the past life incarnations that constitute the deeper fabric of our present life, it is not necessary to retrieve them in memory to reconcile our Soul’s mission in this life.
Too much obsession with past life retrieval can distract one from fully living one’s current, actual, life. In fact, though fascinating and enchanting, past life exploration can, if overly lived in, provide a dissociative distraction from the depths of emotional engagement and challenge needed in the full living of one’s current life.
Recapitulation, or retrieval of all of one’s current life experiences, is the key to cracking the karmic nut of one’s current life. This is aptly verified by the life review process consistently reported in near death experiences (NDE). Retrieving and processing traumatic memory from this life also paves the way to liberation and fulfillment of one’s karmically interrupted current life.
Ultimately, one’s spiritual evolution requires a recapitulation of all of one’s many lives to arrive at the fullness of one’s Soul identity, an amalgam of all those experiences. Beyond that is the greater amalgam of all Souls’ journeys in the cosmic hologram of oneness. Wholeness requires full ownership and reconciliation with all that is and all that was.
As the icebergs melt and the lakes dry up, our material world reveals its hidden human history. The subtle energies of bygone times are no longer frozen in time, they reveal themselves upon the current world stage.
Queen Elizabeth’s passing is the end of an era that is, ironically, reasserting itself upon the current world stage. The Souls of the unsettled departed cry out for attention and resolution, as the Queen recapitulates, in her subtle body, the life of her reign beyond the confines of her royal diplomacy.
The hunger of the Soviet empire to reassert its hegemony over Ukraine harkens back to 1922 when the Soviet Union annexed Ukraine. The rise of racist ideologies in political personalities throughout the world reflect Hitler and Mussolini, prominent dictators of WWII. The polarization among the American populace reflects the unleashing of suppressed energies and ideologies from its own Civil War of the 1860s.
In its current life, the world is facing a potential Armageddon, due to climate change brought on by a reticence to face the truth and acquiesce to the needs of the greater whole. The world ego is being challenged to grow beyond its narcissistic worldview to embrace a true love for neighbor. Souls currently in this life, as well as those subtly departed but still attached, are energetically engaged in the global chess moves of now.
Earth’s karma is forcing an engagement of unrequited energies that are demanding reconciliation. Currently, world ego is struggling to acknowledge Earth’s deepest needs, even as it prioritizes its own comfort and survival. The broader view that acknowledges and actively addresses the imperialist impulses of now, evident in much of the world’s response to the invasion of Ukraine, is a definite advance from ignoring the Nazi purge early in the lead up to WWII.
Hitler’s once crafty rise to power is being deeply reflected in the current challenges posed by the political events on many continents. The American Civil War is being replayed with a vengeance, while its unity, necessary to serve as world leader, teeters on collapse. The current release of anger, in the many tragedies of now, reflects another stage in the grieving process, perhaps unavoidable if we are to achieve the ultimate reconciliation of detached acceptance.
Though we shouldn’t obsess over the past world memories now active upon the world stage, appreciating the deeper restless energies of yesteryear casts a broader view of all that has a stake in the outcome of now. Our focus now should be on facing the truths of now, within and without.
From this position of broad contemplation, past and present included, let us take up, with diligence, the recapitulation of our personal lives, and find true fulfillment in loving all that is and all that was.
Continue your process of balance, equilibrium and calmness in body, mind, and spirit. You can do nothing better for yourself, especially in the tumultuous times you live in, when every day there are things happening that grab your attention and your emotions and cast a dark shadow over your hopes and dreams.
Remain committed to staying focused on maintaining balance and equilibrium, within and without, so that your personal inner world and your personal outer world are calm and productive.
Change is inevitable. All things evolve over time. All things undergo the natural process of a lifetime, both in nature and in human life, changing incrementally every day. Acceptance of change can take a lifetime, but one day it is no longer unseen to even the most avoidant eye. Change is life, life is change. And yet there is something that remains the same, the spirit of everything, which persists throughout all the changes that matter undergoes. And that is what evolves into new life. Pay attention to your spirit as it seeks to guide you each day through the inevitable changes of life. It knows what to do, how to be, and where to go.
Synchronicity is a spiritual encounter in everyday life. Once, a scarab beetle plowed into Jan’s neck as we sat on our deck. It fell to the floor and lay there in a stunned stupor. Jan immediately identified it as a scarab beetle, a rare occurrence for the time of year. We later discovered that the encounter with the beetle occurred at the same time as the death of someone we knew, someone whom I had once animatedly discussed Jung’s experience of synchronicity with a patient involving a scarab beetle, a beetle rarely seen in his environment.
The meaning of this synchronous encounter was obvious: a departing soul sent us an undeniable farewell gift that I alone would unmistakably recognize. From the spiritual dimension contact was made with the physical dimension in a most meaningful and touching way. That’s a synchronicity.
My ego, the soul agent of everyday physical life, was critically necessary for remembering the long ago scarab beetle discussion, but, to truly be touched and taught by the experience, had to humble itself to a higher power, higher than itself. The narrowly rational, doubting-Thomas, typical ego attitude of everyday life has a tendency to laugh off the experience as coincidence, or to inflate itself with spiritual airs for having had the experience.
Since the dominant spiritual dimension of our existence comes to life in our sleep/dream time and is largely lost to memory upon awakening, when ego reawakens to its governance over waking life, synchronicity can be seen as the Soul’s adroit use of physical reality to impress itself upon the ego’s limited knowledge of its greater Self.
Sometimes, synchronous events can seduce ego into recklessly misinterpreting their meaning and inflating itself in its decision making. Stan Grof humbly shared his experience of a celestially romantic relationship with Joan Halifax in his book, When the Impossible Happens, that led to an impulsive decision to marry during a transpersonal conference in Iceland, which was attended by Joseph Campbell and officiated by Huston Smith.
The relationship, or non-conscious relationship, between Joan and Stan lasted very briefly after Iceland. Joan went on to become Joan Jiko Halifax, a famous American Buddhist teacher, founder of, and currently Abbot of, the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, NM. Stan went on to marry Christina Grof with whom he collaborated on the creation of Holotropic Breathwork to gain non-drug induced access to the spiritual depths of the psyche. Both Stan and Joan were humbled and advanced in their relationship with Soul and the language of synchronicity through this memorable coupling and uncoupling.
The lesson of Iceland was for ego to become humbled but not intoxicated by the power of synchronicity orchestrated by the Soul. Ego must also assume 100% responsibility for its decisions in this world. Ego craves union and connection with its higher Soul, or Higher Power, but must retain decision making responsibility in the life it is currently in. Synchronicities may offer numinous spiritual experiences of Soul union, but Soul refuses to do the work of ego: to reflect, think, feel, intuit and decide.
If Soul already knew the answers to the life we are in, how would it benefit from sending us into this life? What would be the point? We are here on a mission of growth, ultimately accrued to the benefit of our greater Soul. Granted, Soul has much wisdom, resource, and power, but it requires of ego to access that guidance and apply it, as feels right for itself. Even if ego is mistaken in its judgment, it will learn and grow from its mistakes.
High Soul uses its power of synchronicity to help ego grow. Sometimes that means being the trickster, as in Stan and Joan’s Icelandic adventure. At other times, synchronicity lends itself to facilitating a meeting of souls, as was the case with Jan and my encounter with the scarab beetle.
Synchronicity can also be straightforward with spiritual guidance, as with the I Ching. Throwing physical coins is correlated with spiritual tuning in and guidance. Yet even the I Ching will become a trickster if ego becomes overly dependent, constantly deferring its decision making responsibility. Sometimes it gives you a totally inappropriate reading, essentially communicating: Wake up! Think for yourself!
In step three of the Twelve Steps of AA, a person in recovery is required to turn over the ego’s decision making to their Higher Power. Bill Wilson, cofounder of AA, was given the Twelve Steps in a direct encounter with his Higher Power during a therapeutic LSD therapy session. The function of step three is to refine and grow ego responsibility by first submitting it to the guidance of its Higher Power.
In the case of an addict, ego’s alienation from its Soul leads to attempts to merge with Soul through the use of excess substance, creating habitual spirit misfires, resulting in addiction. Step three suspends habitual behavior, while ego undertakes an honest life review and prepares to become a mature version of itself, with the support and leadership of its Soul. Eventually, ego is able to take full ownership of its life, and thus its decisions reflect the higher intent of its Soul.
When synchronicities occur, enjoy their numinous welcome but be careful with how you interpret and act upon their apparent insinuations.
Be humble before Soul, but never give up assuming full responsibility for decision making. That’s our deepest reason for being in this life.
