The sun must rise within, with equal splendor…

==Greetings! I ask if a conversation can be had around the mystery of personal destiny in the context of these complex times.

What will become more and more important is that persons come to accept their karma with dignity.

==How is one to know whether we are being arbitrarily inquisitve, merely curious, in our destiny choices?

First off, when I say that this acceptance must grow and spread, there is more than mere assent implied. You must think more slowly but deeply. We cannot accept a destiny that we cannot rightly perceive. And that is already a spiritual refinement : to be able to sense when some new twist or direction or encounter fits into our karma, and when it does not, when it is a tempting distraction. So, what does sensing karma imply? It implies knowing thyself. The great mantra of ancient Greek mystery wisdom: Man, Know Thyself! For in truth, your karma is yourself; You are your karma.

==You are recommending something like a regular practice of contemplative instrospection here?

Ah, here one must be careful. The danger exists of falling in love with oneself, becoming infatuated with the intricacies and karmic threads of our makeup. Whenever taking on some sort of skill development aspect of inner work, exert yourself always, always, to cultivate some kind of corresponding moral advancement in your being. Your goal cannot veer too far into the realm of seeking knowledge for its own sake. This will only stimulate your egotism in ways you will be blind about. Remember that humanity’s goals are social in character, and this must be carried in the forefront of your soul. Most of us are only at the beginning of realizing this… so it is good that people are not yet too skilled at introspective contemplations.

==But what do you mean then? How can I proceed?

In the beginning you can try overviewing your biography, even since earliest memories, from the angle of the other whom you have encountered. They who have had significance in your life. But do not be too quick to dismiss considering very casual encounters; these can sometimes be highly impactful later on. Just review your history while thinking about these persons. Go slowly. A few years at a sitting. Think about them as beings in themselves, not simply how they affected your life. Who were they; What did they want or need; What was their inner world like; What were their qualities? Then you can retrace and ask yourself: what was their meaning for me? Was our meeting compelled, or did it seem random? Was choice involved? How did I affect them? As you continue, you will become more observant in this. You will notice smaller things, but important things.

Basically it is like this, ideally: When considering yourself at various ages, be more objective, more outside of yourself, and in a way more critical, taking note of what things you might have done in a better more fruitful way. Try to spot your tendencies and notice when new ones were seeded, or whether these tendencies were perhaps with you from the beginning. These things are hints about earlier lives. Then, by contrast, when considering others whom you’ve encountered, strive to be less critical, more open and forgiving. More tolerant of other external explanations. Even for those who have wounded you.

==That might become very difficult! To be so forgiving…

The forgiveness need not be an emphasis; it may come later. The best forgiveness is not sought after, but simply recognized incidentally one day after many bouts of reflection and other life experiences. Do not be too pious in this exercise! The key is to be objective about it — as though you are viewing a film segment about completely unknown characters.

==I sense value in all you are saying. Maybe I can even believe it so. But there…

Do not believe it! Try it! Form no preconceptions.

==OK! But there still feels to be a great gap, a psychological chasm really, between the achievments, potentially, of such exercises, and any real progress in trying to navigate or positively assist in the tribulations of the world situation.

Listen, you have to try and picture how fantastically different ancient cultures were — how it felt to grow up within them. They were us, remember! We were those souls in earlier times, in different bodies and places in the world, with different makeups and qualities. It is not seen today, even by the so-called intelligentsia, how radically disruptive the phenomena of rampant imdividualism has been for humanity. A thousand years ago all places on Earth, all cultures, were intensely social as compared to now. And going back further things got even tighter, more intertwined, and less individualized. Social norms were imposed by the silent rules of convention everywhere. Interactions were more scarce; some people never saw any part of the world more than fifty miles from where they were born. This new individuality exploded with the prospect of the Renaissance. Actually a century or two before that. And it has increased markedly since then with each generation. It brings a tremendous new challenge in terms of how to interact with others we encounter while still retaining some kind of personal integrity or authenticity to one’s closely held beliefs and priorities. Plus, the technical changes makes it easy now to come into contact with other souls without geographical limit. This is double-edged. It introduces both the possibility of random encounters not driven by destiny but by chaos and whimsy. But it also makes possible more extensive resolutions of past karma with persons not likely to have been previously occasioned in earlier centuries. The opposing powers seek to confuse and frustrate world karma through these means.

==And?

All of these factors, these changes, illustrate the need for and the factual shifting of at least some responsibility for the satisfying of individual destinies from the Gods to the person. And that depends upon increased tact and spiritual judgement within souls. This is a gradual process, although the growth pains appear catastrophic at first. To conclude the observations about the dissolving of unconsciously imposed societal rules and norms from past cultures, individuals are called upon now more and more to develop a moral sensitivity which is active and able to evaluate things on the fly. Thinking and feeling on one’s feet, so to speak. Not collapsing into reliance upon outdated authority strictures which no longer well apply to reality.

==So, there is no thought to collectively purge ourselves of these modern intrusions and return to a more structured and externalized morality and ethics?

No! That choice would be disasterous. In fact, it is disasterous, as we can see it playing out in miniature as globally so-called popularism forces, which are basically a renunciation of responsibilities in the face of the growing chaos and a wishful embracing of more conservative morays from the past and externally dictated by “authorities”, are clashing with the soul forces which want to advance towards something brand new. That new culture involves moral intuitions arising from within. From a drop of spirit seed which is buried in each modern person on the planet, even the most ‘backward’ Papuan tribal citizen. Every person is capable of understanding these things if they look at it and look within themselves with a goodwill.

==It all sounds so earth-shattering. The stakes seem decisive and who would not cower or be undaunted by the enormity of it all? How can I remain steadfast to such revolutionary goals? And how can enough others?

This thing — which you have put your finger upon — is the REAL ‘Faith’ which is required of humanity in this passing moment. That what you feel to be true and appropriate according to your innermost moral intuitions, with your heart well cleansed of any personalized motivations or egotisms, is worthy of being acted upon authentically. And that you ground yourselves, each one, each warrior for the future of evolution, in the certainty that such efforts will be met with the proper spiritual assistances at the right time.

==It may be so. I can well entertain the possibility. But I cannot help but to wish for a clear roadmap.

Then take this ideal for now. A universal measure for all who hold this path dear, and to help orient yourself, is to work towards a radical — I emphasize radical — open-hearted interest in the ‘Other’. Carry this as a basic new orientation within. Cultivate a deep and abiding interest in the other person in whatever situations you encounter. Never forget their inherent divinity! Harbor a minimum of personal agenda in this task, but picture as clearly as you can the inner soul reality which the other is experiencing. This holy aim will protect against the selfishness which our terribly powerful intellects are always secretly promoting. Keep in mind that the individuality which has spread around the planet and is still on the increase was absolutely necessary to permit us to act in freedom and to decide on the basis of love, the love within us which only we can marshall. But this individuality carries the latent toxicity of a consuming selfishness. And the presence of surging contesting selfishnesses in all spheres of the social reality are precisely what is unveiling the global chaos of these present decades. To counteract this, cultivate a radical interest in the other in all circumstances, quite removed from your own concerns. Go with optimism.

_______RS

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