There are many different religions and spiritual teachings but all religions and teachings have one thing in common.   They all teach that there is a “soul” and that the soul is embodied into a physical form during this life and that it lives on after our physical death. Religions also agree that there are consequences after our death which are related to the things we do in this physical life. With this as the general agreement, one question still remains.  Why does the soul have to enter into a physical body and then leave again after the body dies?  Why can’t the soul just remain out of the body forever and avoid all the problems and temptations that plague it during physical life?  What is the purpose of the soul?  Why did it come here?

The answer about the purpose of the soul can be discussed in two different ways. One answer is that the soul has the purpose of guiding the body through a very difficult landscape where the body itself actually can find a purpose of its own.  We can see many purposes of the body, for instance, in term of eating, breathing and growing.  Then we can see the purpose of eventual reproduction of the physical body through birth and the raising of children.  But isn’t there more purpose than just having babies? Apart from the purpose of the body, the soul seems to have a purpose and this is the real question we are here to answer.

In fact, the purpose of the soul is to earn a reward for something that is possible to achieve but only through a physical means. Because of the fact that it is more difficult to do something in the physical world, the soul has an opportunity to accomplish or achieve something beyond its normal opportunities when it is “out-of-the body”. What are those accomplishments that the soul can achieve?  First we must understand the position of the soul when it doesn’t have a body to inhabit.  Free unearned enjoyment as an unencumbered soul certainly sounds great to us but we may have trouble imagining how it can also be an embarrassment when considered in the context of being “unearned” or never struggled for in the physical plane.

An example which might make this more clear is to consider a child who is born to extremely rich parents and is dressed up in perfectly clean clothes and sent off to school.  As he is walking to school, he passes the slums of the city and he sees other boys his age playing with each other in the dirt.  The poor boys cannot afford to go to school like the rich boy and they point their fingers at him and make fun of him for wearing such ridiculous clothes.  “Look at his tie!” they say and laugh with each other and then run off to play.

The child feels embarrassed of his clothing and wants to take it off and go play like the other kids in the dirt.  He wants to be “tough” and “independent” and “able to take care of himself”.  He walks on to school that day but he decides to carry a second set of clothes with him from now on and change into his dirty clothes after he leaves his parents house each morning.  He decides to leave a bit earlier in the morning and he takes a detour into the slums to play with the other kids as if he were “only a poor kid” himself. His plan actually works and he begins to make friends with the poor kids of the slums.

The purpose that this child is after is the same purpose that the soul is after when it enters into a body.  The soul chooses to enter into a difficult environment in order to feel like it is “one of the tough kids” and to feel as though it has somehow “earned its integrity” as an individual.  After playing with the poor kids from the slums for many mornings, the child may actually gain something positive and learn to be more self-sufficient.  He may grow into a stronger person who can protect others or instill confidence in them.  It is possible for good things to come out of this scenario although we all know that it is more likely that the child will end up in trouble in most cases. This is because the soul often forgets itself and gets carried away in the moment.

Although it is certainly dangerous take a detour into the slums, the child would hopefully remember to put his clean clothes back on after 30 or forty minutes and get back on the path to school.  If he missed the entire day, he might get into a lot of trouble from his parents and find himself locked in his room for a whole week. He might even get kidnapped and never find his way back to his parents again. Living in the slums is a lot more difficult than simply playing in the slums and there can be dire consequences if the child decides to leave his parents and forego his schooling altogether.

Nonetheless, there are certain benefits which this child may get from playing with the poor kids from the slums each morning and then returning on his path to school each day.  He may find that he becomes a stronger, more compassionate person after having befriended these other less fortunate children. He may discover that they are only a lot like himself and he may even make a permanent friend who he can invite back to his house one day to meet his parents.

If the soul is successful in this life, it can reach a much greater reward in the next world but this task is extremely dangerous and risky for the soul. It may also become trapped in this world and find it impossible to ever get out.  If it fails to ride the fence between two worlds, it may even be punished for its actions. It is imperative that the soul remember it’s true purpose for coming into the physical world and navigate carefully so as to not fall off its real path. This is the ultimate soul purpose and the opportunity that exists for all of us in the physical world.

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Every one of us does have a soul purpose. It belongs to conditions where we are at present. It belongs to the challenges that we can meet the opportunities we need to act on, the talents we need to nurture. If we get in tune with it and realize it in our life, we will be enriched with the balance, synergy and congruity in a unique way that will make the journey of our lives purposeful, enjoying the little stops and hurdles and setbacks and then again moving ahead.
 
Realizing The ‘Me’ In Your Being:

When we look back in our life and try to decipher what that had been common in our life, which had not changed with changing roles, growth of body and mind. Definitely it is neither our emotions or feelings or dreams or body, it is the sense of ‘me’ or ‘Iness’ or ego.

We will find the ‘Iness’ as relating to all those phases and experiences of life. This sense of ‘me’ or ‘Iness’ is the deepest layer of our consciousness presently. It is the quality to become self-aware of our mind and body and their experiences.

The Four Basic Purposes That The Soul Needs To Align With:

Our activities need to be geared along one or more of the four broad categories to align with our spiritual nature. It is a great wonder to realize that this concept doesn’t limit us in ‘dos-and-don’ts’ morals. It frees us to explore our true soul purpose and to align our activities with our purpose. Our holistic or spiritual nature recognizes that we are a composite being of soul, mind, emotions, energy and body.

The first worthy pursuit for everyone is alignment with universal principles like fairness, equality etc. Second one is related to working and earning money – monetary pursuits. Third category is fulfilling sense desires and emotional desires – hearing, touching, tasting, smelling, seeing and of course sexual pleasure. Fourth category is doing activities that broaden and expand human perspective, evolve our consciousness.

Relax for few moments and try to analyze any of your activity. It will naturally fall under one or more of these categories. Now the question is how to put these ‘universal pursuits’ in context with our own personality and our own specific context. Then we can move ahead and create a balance of these basic purposes without conflict on individual or social or other levels.

How To Create Synergy Of Soul Purpose And Enrich Our Lives:

One of spiritual master best depicts the balance of the four avenues of our focus and energy.

“You are a bird whose body is made of universal principles and there are two wings - one for monetary pursuits and second for sensual and mental fulfilments. These two wings with the support of universal principles make the bird fly toward the goal of spiritual awakening and upliftment.”

Spiritual awakening or evolution is not a small goal that we can put on our planner and assign it short term or mid term or long term value. It is a continuous journey – 24X7X365 – throughout life. We are evolving as a whole. True spirituality doesn’t restrict us from enjoying sensual pleasures, but with it we enjoy them with a larger perspective in mind. Our lives become more streamlined and focused.

Feel the contrast between two passengers who are boarding a train. One is destined to a specific station. He buys a ticket and boards the train. He enjoys the journey, the stations and meals and all the good and bad incidences. The another fellow gets down on each station and wanders here and there, associates himself with various incidences and scenes and forgets about the journey. That is the difference between streamlined, focused and congruent life and it’s opposite.

Discovering Your Individual Soul Purpose And Aligning With It:

Whether we believe in reincarnation or not, we are born with a particular set of instincts, inclinations and we draw many other things in life based on these.

We need to be more silent and introverted and meditative to find out about our talents and passions. We can sense our natural inclinations or talents by our feelings – what we enjoy most, where our mind is transfixed, when we forget time doing something and like.

When we do what we like in alignment with universal principles and pursue other pleasures of mind, we are following our soul purpose. We are leading a spiritual life. We are evolving spiritually. Of course, we can emphasize a particular aspect during some period of day or week or month. And it is a dynamic balance.

John Gray, famous for ‘Men Are From Mars…’ series of books, has described this balance in a good way, “This balance is like when we ride a bicyle. We lose balance to either this side or another but we retain it again.”  We might fall sometimes but when we are conscious of the soul purpose, we become aligned again, we attune ourselves to it.

The one sign of purpose living is congruity among consciousness, thoughts, feelings, emotions, speech and behavior. This congruity makes us peaceful, satisfied, focused and able to draw the resources that support us lead a purposeful living.
 
Finally, get rid of the taboos and myths that we could pursue our soul purpose only by becoming a hermit or secluding us in a retreat or by abandoning sensual pleasures. The key lies in maintaining the balance. We can lead a spiritually balanced life, fully aligned with our soul purpose, right where we are now, enjoying our families, work, relationships and of course challenges. Enrich your life by maintaining the dynamic balance of soul purpose.

“We may turn to God when our foundations are shaking,
only to discover it is God who is shaking them.” 
- Hebrew Proverb

Perception is everything. Everything that happens to you; everything from your past and everything in your future all relies on one simple thing and that is how do you choose to process that which happens to you? The way you choose to process everything that has or will happen to you makes up your entire experience of life. Although this ‘choice’ is mostly unconscious, it’s still a choice and something that you can take control of.

The majority of people are oblivious to this powerful fact, mostly because the majority of our thoughts are shaped automatically by our past conditioning. Most reactions and interpretations are decided in split seconds by our unconscious awareness. Higher awareness on the other hand is a state of mind where you learn to transcend ordinary ‘autopilot’ awareness and where you become more conscious of the illusion of everyday occurrences. Living your life with a higher awareness will allow you to find a deeper sense of meaning in ALL of life and help you to discover your own unique life purpose.

We tend to think that our life purpose only gets defined by our successes and our ‘glory moments’ BUT, even more so does our failures help to define our unique life path.

The one thing that we all have in common is our pursuit of happiness. No one will consciously pursue anything that they believe will make them unhappy, yet there are so many people who are unhappy. Despite their best efforts, very few people get to truly create for themselves the kind of life that they ultimately desire. We tend to curse the ‘bad’ things in life and celebrate the good, but the transforming insight is that any life has many seasons. When you realize that you can start to welcome even the ‘mistakes’ and start to see it as an integral part of life. Regardless of how skilled or resilient you are, you will have ‘bad’ times.

Although we all pursue happiness and the good in life, we need the flipside not only to provide the contrast, but also to help us define what we really want. A rich life; one that is truly fulfilled is not one that is only full of the good, but one that is filled with both. Learning to deal with and even celebrate the flipside of life is just as important as celebrating the joys of life. We tend to think that all the tragedies and setbacks in life can’t possibly be part of our life’s purpose, but in many ways these are the very things that help to define your life purpose and redirect you to your own unique path in life.

In mid winter when everything is snowed under it’s quite hard to imagine a warm sunny day. The same is true when we meet with the ‘misfortunes’ of life – it tends to be really hard to find an empowering meaning while we are going through a tough time. Looking back at your life however, it becomes easier to find and to see a deeper meaning in what you went through. In hindsight we are able to ‘connect the dots’ and see that a divine hand has played it’s part all along. Your purpose in life is not just defined by the big ‘wins’ but also by the setbacks and learning to see this as it happens is a great step in your own personal and spiritual growth.

Your entire life is about spirit unfolding through you and until and unless you listen to this spiritual aspect of yourself trying to reconnects with you, you will continue to feel like something is missing. All of your life is on purpose. But you have to be able to see it in order to use it as a means of sculpting your life and your experience of life.

By embracing it all you can start to hear that silent inner voice that’s constantly trying to reconnect you with your bliss. Maybe the setback is God trying to tell you to move on; to take a new direction to connect to your purpose. When you start seeing your purpose as something that is continuously unfolding in every moment of your life, your entire perspective of life changes.

Think of you higher purpose in life as a big puzzle and every aspect of your life is a piece of this puzzle. If you are only looking for the ‘pretty pieces’ you will never be able to complete the puzzle. Sometimes the seemingly insignificant pieces makes you see the bigger picture. All of it is part of the puzzle. Know that in every aspect of your life there is something greater happening behind the scenes. All you have to do is to be open to this and realize that God’s divine guidance is present in everything. When the foundations of your life are shaking, instead of cursing it, try and look beyond it and realize that there is Someone who is trying to give you an important message: get your life on purpose.

Living your life with a greater sense of spirituality will help you to seeing everything that you are going through as something that you have to go through. You can stop blaming and wallowing in setbacks, and start using everything that comes your way as a tool to help sculpt your soul. Developing a Higher Awareness through spirituality will help you to develop a greater awareness of what’s really going on.

Ask for divine guidance and affirm to yourself that you intend to live your life on purpose. Intend for your life to be on purpose. Then, observe your life. Start to pay greater attention to everything you attract into your life – especially the seemingly insignificant things. Observe all the people that come in and out of your life. Observe everything that happens to you and start to look for that deeper meaning - this will lead and guide you to your life purpose and your own unique path in life.

What is it that’s at the centre of your life? What is it that makes up the main focus of your daily pursuits? For many, this creates a great divide in their lives and as many of our conscious pursuits are only designed to satisfy our subconscious desires. Nowhere is this more evident in the pursuit of happiness. Ironically the majority of people fail to recognize one very important aspect and that is the fact that happiness is a relative concept. Your own happiness and sense of fulfillment is deeply rooted in your spirit and is unique and special to you alone.

The common belief in our culture is that there are happy things to do and that there are unhappy things to do and most of us buy into it – just waiting for the next big happy thing to come along. More than anything this tendency quite literally takes your own well being out of your own hands. (maybe that explains why so many people are ‘victims’ these days)

Living your life on purpose and feeling like you are living the kind of life that you were destined to live is a fundamental part of your own inner happiness. Finding your true calling in life and to express it in all of who you are, is the foundation of living a truly fulfilled life.

In many ways this is the reason why we are all here – to express and experience the highest and most sacred part of ourselves. Discovering your life purpose is ‘deep water’ and only through introspection and maintaining a sense of spirituality about your life can you truly make contact with this aspect of your Self and re-align your Self.

History has left us with many ordinary people who became extraordinary simply because they chose to ‘be’ themselves. These are examples of people who managed to realize their potential by living their lives on purpose and expressing who they really are. These are the people that left behind a legacy and managed to advance humanity by simply being themselves.

So many people feel that in order to be special or significant they have to be like someone else (who might be successful). They key things to remember is that to live your life on purpose does not require you to become something that you are not. It’s simply about looking deep within – looking at your inner most desires, your talents, your passions and then finding ways to express this in service of humanity. Now this does not mean that you don’t have to change. For many it means you have to change every aspect of what your life is demonstrating at the moment.

With this in mind, here are three lessons in living your life on purpose from three great people who managed to somehow do it – people who discovered and lived their life on purpose. Needless to say, they were all people who left behind a legacy and still inspire us long after they have left.
 

Lesson #1
“Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do. With sufficient passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling.” – VINCENT VAN GOGH

So many people go to work everyday only to make a living. Their lives are driven by a paycheck and even though they hate it, they still do it. It’s true that we all have to make our way in the world, BUT you deserve to make a living doing what you love. If you have a full time job, then you will spend approximately 70 percent of your waking life at work.

Regardless what your passion in life may be, you can make a living doing it. There is never a lack of support for your passion, but there is almost always a lack of resolve to take the risk and to step up to the ultimate challenge in life: to live on purpose and to become the kind of person you were destined to be.
 

Lesson #2
“Where your talents and the needs of the world cross lies your calling.” – ARISTOTLE

Every last one of your talents came as part of the package called You. Everything that you are good at and everything that you are bad at are part of your purpose. We all have at least one thing that we are great at – something that’s just effortless to you? By design, these talents speak to us when we express them and often we feel joy when we express them.

When you take these talents and express them to serve humanity, you open yourself up to the abundance of the universe. Expressing your talents for the sole purpose of sharing yourself and your gifts, you are in harmony with the highest power in the universe and (ironically) you will find that this is when the blessings of life start showering down on you.

Don’t hoard your talents. Don’t deny your talents in favor of what you think you ought to be good at in order to be successful or famous. Express who you are and do it only to help, to serve and to give the gift of You to the world.
 

Lesson #3
“I never did a day’s work in my life. It was all fun.”  - THOMAS A. EDISON

Working only to make a living is nothing but slavery. Your purpose will free you. As long as you are doing something that you do not love, you will never get to experience the true meaning of life and the sense of joy that comes from doing what you love.

Life was meant to be a joyful expression of who you really are. When you are on purpose there is no such thing as ‘work’ and you are able to move beyond the usual categories of life where you have to place different parts of your life in different categories.
We all have a life purpose. Think of it not as an ‘occupation’ but rather as an underlying idea that guides your entire life. Think of your life purpose as a guiding light that leads and guides every part of your life. We are all here for a reason. This is unique and different for every, yet it is something that remains illusive for many. Discovering your life purpose is a spiritual process and when you look inside you can start to find a deeper and more meaning aspect of yourself and your life. The reward: a deeply fulfilled life!

“Each man has his vocation; his talent is his call.
There is one direction in which all space is open to him.”
–RALPH WALDO EMERSON

“Why are we here?” is probably one of the biggest mysteries of life and probably one of the most asked questions by anyone with a spiritual awareness. We must be here for a reason since everything in this universe serves a purpose? It’s quite easy to see the purpose of everything in creation from a human perspective looking ‘down’ on everything around us, BUT looking in the mirror to find our purpose as human beings seems to be much harder.

There are many potential answers for why humanity exists and each of these answers which will be equally valid, but on a more personal level your life purpose is something very unique and very special to you and you alone. Deep down inside we all crave to live a full life – a life that feels fulfilled and happy. For most people the idea of living a successful and fulfilled life conjures up images of hard work, sacrifice and overcoming the odds. Although there certainly is merit in all that, on a deeper and more spiritual level, living your life on purpose is all it really takes to be fulfilled.

Living your life on purpose is to follow the path of least resistance. Living your life on purpose is not meant to be a constant struggle. It’s the ‘easy way’ for the easy way is that life path which you are destined for. The easy way does not imply laziness or that you do nothing to fulfill your destiny (although it this might be true for you). The easy way is the way that comes natural to you. Sometimes this road of least resistance is easy and sometimes it’s hard, but it is the path where the entire universe conspires to help and assist you.

In the opening quote, Emerson gives us a great insight about following the path of least resistance: he says that when you live your life on purpose it is that ‘direction’ in life where everything opens up for you. You may have spent a lifetime knocking on locked doors, yet there is one door which will open up the entire world for you. Running your life upstream will only wear you out and create turmoil in your life. 

Each and every one of us have our own unique calling. Emerson refers to the fact that each and every one of us have our vocation and a special talent that will open these doors for us. The challenge is that for the majority of people life consists of making a living and following good common sense: get a good job, marry well and take a holiday once a year.

So many people confuse their vocation with ‘a job’ – with their way of making a living financially to support themselves and their family. For some it even begs the question as to what they ought to do with their life. Your purpose is much beyond all that. In it’s original Latin translation, the term vocation means to ‘be called’. What is it that calls you in life? What is it that brings you joy? What is it that really makes you feel alive?

Deep down inside we all know what calls us in life. However faint that little voice deep down inside, until and unless you listen to it you will continue to feel unfulfilled and like you are not really living the life that you are destined to live. You will always feel like something is missing.

Living your life on purpose is not so much in what you do with your life as it is the way that you are while you live your life. It’s not some spiritual goal to reach some day. Living your life on purpose is about fulfilling and realizing your Self in ALL of your life. Your purpose is your guiding light – always directing and steering your life to a sense of inner peace, joy and fulfillment.

Your purpose is always trying to connect with you and it speaks the language of passion and inner joy. Whenever you feel passionate about something, whenever you feel real joy and a deep emotional connection to your self, then that is your purpose trying to connecting with you. Deep within you is that divine spark, your higher self which is always looking to express and experience itself through you.

Start by getting your mind off the things you think you ought to do to be happy and fulfilled and turn your attention inwards instead. Joseph Campbell said it beautifully when he said “Follow your bliss…” – follow your bliss and get your life on purpose. When you do you will find that doors will start to open for you where there aren’t doors for anybody else.

Each and every one of us have our own unique calling. It is the key to unlocking your own personal door to a life of fulfillment. All you have to do is to follow your bliss and allow your purpose to find you. Stay connected to all those things that bring YOU joy and listen only to your own heart – despite all the millions of opinions and demands that we all get bombarded with.

As you get more in touch with your own spirituality you will start to discover a deeper and more meaningful side to yourself. Getting to really know and expand yourself will help you to stay connected and to live a life on purpose. In the end it is not about demanding any particular path in life, but instead taking the path of least resistance – the path that is your very own.

Discover the 3 ancient spiritual secrets behind living your life on purpose with “The Timeless Lessons In Spiritual Transformation” -  Click here to download this free guide.

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