Self State

Q- In the current times of economical, spiritual, emotional and rational difficulty and confusion, how can we really know what we want out of life?

S.D. London

A: From the very beginning of our time, due to the limited amount of knowledge possessed by our species, we have suffered difficulty. We are limited in our knowledge of ourselves, who we are, what we are, how we function, what our capacities and capabilities are, and more importantly what our purpose is. As individuals, or a collective species that does not know who it is, and what it’s purpose is, anything that we may want out of life will always feel somewhat disconnected, irrelevant, and will ultimately cause conflict and pain, both individually and collectively.

Without a definite purpose, which at first requires real knowledge about the self, both individually and more so collectively, our goals will only manifest from our personal and subjective needs. To that end we are passive and subjective beings, ultimately making an effort to fulfill a personality lack. This could be economical, environmental, emotional, educational, or whatever your think you need to do.

There are of course various misconceptions about our purpose here, we are firstly not guests, but responsible service men to the societies in which we live. We each maintain a personal responsibility and accountability to the large and small societies which we inhabit, these are our families, communities and companies. Our progress will depend on the quantity or quality of our contributions to those who we share a common purpose with, those you live and work with and for.

Unfortunately the majority of us believe that life is merely a gift rather than a responsibility. Well we know that we value our gifts from a selfish and consumptive perspective and behaviour. Which means that we would rather indulge in gifts rather than value the service and purpose behind it. Can you see the relationship with our present culture? You can count on one thing, if someone is giving you a gift, it’s with the motive of gaining some sort of ownership over you. Nothing is free.The very basis for our desires, needs, wants and motives in life are based on a limited, subjective perspective. We therefore find the “new age race for happiness” is ironically tainted with great dissatisfaction with life. There are of course many out there selling peace, happiness and love. However there is a condition, that will require you to chase and live for fantasies and dreams, whilst the true reality will pass by you, and you will ignore and fear it along with any responsibilities it may pose at you.

Today our knowledge of ourselves, our history and our multi-dimensional capabilities, will turn what we think we know about ourselves on it’s head. It will also transform what we believe to be our purpose here. Our personal goals without serious consideration, and work on the self, can only be described as a stagnation of what we are, therefore as mindless indulgences manifested in economical, educational and emotional resourcing of whatever spiritual, intellectual, inspirational, material food we hunger and greed for.

In reality what you want can be categorised into what you need and what  you desire, based on your personal development. This also suggests that you can increase your needs by developing yourself. Initially though, you must cover what you need with respect to the environment you are living in, these are your common shelter, nourishment and opportunities, that you will require for living and growth. What you desire is then based on your subjective personality needs, the needs which will counteract what you perceive to be lack in your life.

However on a conscious level, you may realise that what you really want out of life is not to be passively ignorant of it’s horrors, and subjectively indulgent of it’s beauties, but rather to fulfill your purpose, and maximise your potential, you may want to be consciously living with awareness, with the ability to accept presence with all its magnificence and atrocities, and effectively identify where it is,  that you may contribute to the advancement, and improvement of the fulfillment of our collective purpose.

Q – If you have to choose between the head and the heart, what would you choose to make you happy?

A.L. London

A – Happiness occurs rarely for the majority of human beings, this is because they are often in conflict with one another and with themselves. What does it mean to be in conflict with oneself? It means that there is a multiplicity of desires within you and that in satisfying one you are sacrificing another, which ultimately causes you confusion, dissatisfaction and pain.

Your values are the assets that you will assign to the 8 fields which sum up the entirety of the areas of your life, and personal growth which are; body & mind, health & spirit, career & wealth, relationships & community. They determine what goals you have in each field and and how you will achieve those goals. Your beliefs are the rules that you will live  by whilst achieving your values and what you will judge your actions and the actions of others by. They will also determine your boundaries and your limitations in each area.

For each area of our lives, however active we think we may or may not be in that area, we have developed and are living according to our values and beliefs. Often in each area we have developed multiple sets of values and beliefs and sometimes these may be in conflict with one another causing a duality or multiplicity within us. Therefore when we act on them they cause us pain because we are sacrificing one set of values and beliefs for another.

When your centres are aligned, like the mind and the heart, they move forward together, in one direction, with clarity, precision and certainty towards a common goal. Then we can experience true fulfillment and happiness enrich our lives. For the most part the initial common goal of all your centers is self observation, a way of gathering enough data to be able to look at yourself and evaluate yourself objectively.

Like all things happiness will begin in your consciousness. A deep seated gratification for your very existence, for being and for acknowledging your being dwells in your heart, which must be expressed in your own individual way. Through practicing and understanding this gratification, which is an appreciation of your being, you will develop an honest picture of the values and beliefs by which you live and the values and beliefs which truly represent who you are.

In our natural state the bulk of what we think and do is determined by the external world to us. Television, media, schools, peers determine for us by showing us in example who we ought to be and how we ought to live . They educate us on our values and beliefs, the very dear values and beliefs which we hold on to and fight for with our lives, are often determined by external bodies and not by our own efforts. We would have to study ourselves and one another and then evaluate our findings objectively and without judgement before determining our own individual values and beliefs truly.

Instead our brain takes in all the data it is given and we become the things we think about, the dramas and the false ideas, the limited perceptions of our communities and environments and the negative and dark realities that begin to influence who we think we are and the world we think we live in.

The majority of people feel unfulfilled and detached from themselves. They feel a gap between who they are and who they wish to be, this gap is real and it is determined by actions that we take on a daily basis which distance us from ourselves.

If you are not happy, it is because whatever you are doing that is not aligned with your true self, it is causing you to move away from yourself and this distance from the self hurts.

When you are not aligned with your true self, your true desires are not fulfilled and you feel a deep dissatisfaction with the world and yourself in it. This alignment does not occur naturally, this alignment requires a constant work on oneself to become conscious, to re-evaluate ourselves and the world we think we live in and to create a new future for ourselves. It is possible to become completely lost and stuck in this great dissatisfaction for the entirety of our lives. It is also possible to relieve yourself of the great dissatisfaction with the help of those who have done so before you. Ultimately the choice is yours, to get different results, you must act differently.