What Is There In Life?

Recently hubby and I visited his eighty-eight year old grandmother at her rest home. She was physically frail yet mentally alert. We were worried if she could live up to see the birth of her great grandchild. She said to us: ‘Don’t worry! I’ll be there!’ Nana has always been a spiritual person and I have no doubt that her soul will be with us even after she is not physically here.

I promised my nephew when he was about five years old that I would buy him a computer. He had since been looking forward to the day when he got his first computer. Two years ago I bought him a computer as promised as I felt he was old and mature enough (eleven years old) to use it to his advantage. However, the report from my parents is that ever since he had the computer he's stopped visiting them (although my parents live just five minutes walk away) and his school work plummeted. Like many children, he's become addicted to computer games and lost intereset in a lot of other things. He's also grown into a 'fat kid'. From my parents's tone I felt that the computer has become an 'evil' and done a lot of damage to him and his aunty is the person caused it as if I should feel guilty. Do I? I thought about the issue and I know that with proper guidance a computer is a very necessary educational tool for a child these days, especially for a teenager. Whilst my parents and my brother may blame the computer that hindered my nephew's development, I know that a computer in itself is not a good or bad thing for a child. It's the lack of parental guidance and control that has made the computer a 'disaster' to my nephew. But they can't see it that way. As a result I donn’t regret buying this present for him nor do I feel guilty. Besides, who knows he won’t grow up into a normal adult or become a computer genius one day?

Recently, hubby quit his broking business. At the same time he came very close to a job which offered a six figure salary and frequent international travel in a niche financial market. Two weeks later he went ahead and chose to retire (perhaps not permanently but at least for a while) after much consideration and soul searching. There were a lot of tempting things in life that become difficult to resist but he felt his ‘inner calling’ which is to go independent and not working for others. With a baby on the way and more financial demands, it is not unusual for most couples to seek security and stability at this time. Together we've chosen this path as we both believe that although security is important, more important in this short life is to fulfil your dreams and to explore your inner self.

Why did I mention the three events which seemingly have nothing to do with each other? That’s exactly the point. In our daily life many things happen. On the surface they seem to be random occurences, yet they often trigger our emotions, prompt us to think or to make decisions which in turn lead to changes later on. They often become one of the many pieces of jigsaws in life that make us happy or unhappy, fortunate or unfortunate, successful or unsuccessful. What I want to say is: underneath these random occurrences, there lies a grand plan and the plan serves great purposes. There is nothing absolutely positive or negative yet every occurence is a learning opportunity for us. Therefore there is no need to fight, resist, judge or worry. Life is more than what we see, think or experience.

At some point in life, we start to ponder the meaning and purpose of life. We start to ask what else is there in life besides earning a living, looking for a partner, having sex, paying the bills and raising children. We start to wonder if there is any co-relationship between things at all, such as the above three recent occurences to me. For me the answer is obviously yes, as long as you believe reincarnation and the Law of Karma.

Once we begin to accept reincarnation and the Law of Karma, we become more honest, humble, humane, empathetic, loving, peaceful, intuitive and balanced. To achieve this I believe having a personal mission statement to clarify on how I treat myself, my family, other people and how I view this world is a very necessary step. Here is my statement (sorry it’s a bit long):

I am no longer afraid of death, since I know that I have almost definitely lived before and am likely to reincarnate on earth again after an in-between life in a less dense reality.

When someone close to me dies it is natural to be sad. But my sadness is much reduced knowing that he (or she) has not died but continues to live on another plane of existence. I know that he is likely to be with me often, even if I cannot see him. I also know that it was right for him to die at that time according to his fate, which was decided by a higher consciousness. I also know that I will see this person again after my death and/or in a following life on earth. Goodbyes for ever do not exist.

I am tolerant towards all people as long as they do not restrict my freedom and that of others. I tolerate any form of religious practices and other people’s opinions as long as they gives others the same right to express themselves freely. By continually developing from one life to the next, we humans broaden our awareness. I am never arrogant in my response towards other people’s way of thinking. I may have been that way in a previous life, and for that reason I never push my convictions onto others. Every human being reaches his time for broadening his consciousness when it is right for him. Besides, it is clear to me that it is most likely that I will often change, ie, broaden my outlook in my future lives.

I will never discriminate against other people no matter who they might be. I know that it is futile for me to discriminate against someone of the opposite sex since I most likely belonged to that sex at some time myself. I will not condemn someone with a different skin color or of a different nationality or race, since I could easily have been of this color or race at some point in time, or possibly will be in the future. If I discriminate against someone on the grounds of his affiliation I will then have to experience being part of that nation, ethnic group or race in order to broaden my understanding and love for them. I will never look down on other people because they are poor, disabled, unattractive or in some way different, since every person has chosen precisely their circumstances, looks, and their particular disposition in order to learn from it.

I will never envy others, be they richer, more powerful or more respected, cleverer, healthier or physically more beautiful, since they created this learning situation for themselves in their life. They can use these means at their disposal to learn whatever they can in order to grow spiritually. I could possibly have had the same means at my disposal in a previous life or will have in a future incarnation. It seems necessary for us to experience all learning possibilities in order to evolve spiritually.

If I have a child I will give him the chance to develop his talents as long as they are not destructive. I will not force my will on him or attempt to break his, since I know that this child’s past lives have played a major part in forming his present life. He will want to live out his learning programme in his life, which may be completely different to my own. This is why I will respect his individuality. Apart from all this I know that he has been an adult in a past life, possibly even one of my deceased relatives or friends. I would watch carefully whether he mentions anything about past lives. I will not forbid him these expressions or dismiss them as crazy talk. Perhaps this child has been my partner, mother, father or friend in a past life. I also know that it is possible that I could be reborn to my present child in a future life.

I know that I did not choose my partner by accident. I already knew her or him from an earlier life. We decided during our life after death to return to earth to continue learning from each other. Each partnership is a learning situation in the school of life. I wish to make the most of all situations from which I can learn something.

I am able to accept my parents just as they are, since I freely chose them before my birth. They provided me with precisely those conditions that I need to accomplish my specific tasks in this life.

I see people, events and tragic blows which come my way as important pointers, which enable me to learn exactly that which is of importance to me. I allow no envy to develop in me towards others, since they most likely have very different issues to deal with and different means at their disposal for dealing with them. This is why I calmly face my specific life conditions seeing them more as learning opportunities than anything else. I do not complain about them but ask myself what it is I could learn from each situation.

The earth is a school of learning. With each incarnation we learn to be more understanding, more tolerant and above all more loving. If after many incarnation we have become totally loving, then we are free to leave this earthly school having passed our examinations. We will then be allowed to move on to higher universities, where we are taught greater wisdom and deeper love.

I know that whenever I violate love I myself will one day be the one who is treated unlovingly. It is only through this that I learn to be more loving with my thoughts, words and deeds. Everything I do to hurt others will one day hurt me. The Law of Karma that govern this learning process are always just. Unfairness does not exist for me. This is why I don’t put blame onto other people or situations; instead I ask myself what it is I need to learn from a situation in order to balance things out from an earlier life. Nothing happens by chance.

I know that everything in life has a purpose. Nothing is senseless. Everything that comes my way has some kind of meaning for me. This is why I will endeavour to find purpose behind everything that happens to me.

I know that it is entirely down to me how quickly I evolve spiritually. I myself am responsible for whatever happens to me, since all these things are born our of the thoughts I held, words I spoke or deeds I acted out if my past lives. In order to live another life on earth in joy and love I will use my present life to give others much joy and love. I alone am the architect of my fortune. I can hold no one else responsible since I am, was and will be responsible for everything that happens to me whatever that may be.

I see life as a gift, in which each life on earth is an opportunity to develop myself more and more in love and understanding. It pleases me to help others in their development and to allow them to help me on my journey. Therefore I am grateful for each day I am given to learn and discover more about love. I am grateful to be given the chance to turn my consciousness more and more towards the laws of life and God’s love.