Tag Archives: Soul expression

Life Plans that Govern Humanity

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By George A. Boyd ©2013

Q: What are key passions that motivate people? What is it that drives them? What is it that gives them a sense of meaning and purpose—a reason why they are living?

A: These dominant passions come to dictate what we call their life plan. A life plan is the overarching schema that defines what is the key objective for their lives, and what guides or directs them.

Much of humanity—we estimate perhaps 97% of humanity—follow one or more of the following life plans during their lives. These life plans provide a sense of motivation and direction, and give them a reason to be alive.

  1. They follow the guidelines of their families or their cultures, and do not deviate from these directives.
  2. They follow the guidelines of religion, and do not deviate from these rules for living, and the moral codes inculcated in this religion.
  3. They seek pleasure, adventure, and entertainment.
  4. They seek to become wealthy, though legal or illegal means.
  5. They seek worldly power, and may go into positions of leadership in business, the military, or the political arena.
  6. They seek popularity, celebrity, and fame.
  7. They seek self-transcendence and spirituality, which they may pursue through the shamanic path of using drugs; through the religious path of prayer, worship, and invocation; or through the mystic path of meditation.

Another small group of humanity is inwardly inspired, and brings their Soul’s gifts into expression. Perhaps only slightly less than 3% of humanity is guided by their Soul in this manner. Unlike the life plans of the great masses of humanity, they are inwardly directed to bring forward the Soul’s visions and creations. These people are the visionaries, the intellectual luminaries, the inspired artists and writers, and the thought leaders of the rest of humanity.

Those that adopt this life plan must surrender, postpone, or sacrifice some of their personal dreams to allow their Soul the time to develop their gifts, and channel their inspirations, creations, and visions. Much dedication is required to enact this Soul-guided life plan; in some cases, the requirements of this life plan become too much, so that they individual retreats into addiction or madness.

The rarest group is those who are guided by the Divine Plan and Purpose. Perhaps less than one in ten million individuals enacts these Divinely inspired life plans—those that do, often become spiritual Masters or Avatars, Prophets, founders of new religions, spiritual recluses, or provide the impetus for world movements.

These individuals sense that they are fulfilling a spiritual destiny that they enact in their personal lives. It is not driven from the desires of the their personality or their spiritual longing; rather, it is sensed as an inner command (Agya) that the Soul directs the personality to carry out.

This life plan requires the highest surrender and sacrifice of personal dreams and desires, and complete obedience to the inner command. They sense the Will of God overshadows them, and directs what they are to do, what they are not to do, and when they are to defer action on something they have been directed to do.

As they enact the segments of this inner-directed plan, they sense that it is unfolding a track through the Superconscious mind. The personality does not dictate what it shall pursue here; rather, it is the Soul that commands, and guides the personality to enact this plan, which is written in the spiritual Plenum.

We encourage aspirants and disciples to meditate on these nine different life plans to determine which of them might be playing a current role in their motivation and sense of direction for their lives, and which might have formerly guided them in other phases of their life. Discovering these guiding passions will give you a clearer sense of what ultimately drives your life, and what gives structure to your desires and aspirations.

Dimensions of Meditation Revisited

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By George A. Boyd ©2017

We can characterize several dimensions in meditation. These different perspectives on meditation are described below:

  1. Vertical ascent – This occurs when attention moves along the thread of consciousness and contemplates focal points. This is the channel selecting capacity of the mind. Classical Raja Yoga utilizes this type.
  2. Horizontal deepening – In this type, attention travels into the unconscious behind the lighted zone of the mind. This provides a conscious experience of the unconscious mind, mediated through practices such as Yoganidra and deep hypnosis.
  3. Depth of meditation experience – This perspective suggests that there are different strata of meditation; slowing down mental activity enables the meditator to access each successive layer. Brain entrainment advocates hold this viewpoint.
  4. Energetic component of meditation – This view underscores the felt sense of joy, bliss, ecstasy, and euphoria that accompanies traveling into deeper bands of the Great Continuum of Consciousness. Kundalini meditations and breathing exercises promote these primary energetic experiences.
  5. Phenomenology of meditation – This focuses on the content that arises at each layer of the mind, the apparent structures that substand conscious experience, the centers of identification and integration, and the conscious essences that perceive them. Vipassana, mindfulness, and Raja Yoga contemplation penetrate the content level of the mind. These same meditations enable prehension of the apparent structures that encapsulate consciousness, which we call vehicles of consciousness. Likewise, contemplation can focus attention on the identification and integration centers, such as the ego and the Self within the personality, and nuclei of identity of the Superconscious mind. Contemplation can also target the conscious essences, the attentional principle, the spirit, and the Soul. We use this perspective in our detailed study of the Great Continuum of Consciousness, the Mudrashram® Correspondence Course; this methodical exploration of the bands of the mind forms the foundation of our meditation courses.
  6. Affective component of meditation – This viewpoint highlights the ongoing exchange of love, encouragement, inspiration, support, and Grace that is conveyed between devotees and the Divine Being they worship. This devotion can be similarly directed to a spiritual Master. This type predominates in Bhakti and Nada Yoga traditions, and in highly devotional and charismatic sects of mainstream religious groups.
  7. Meditation expression – This looks at the outcome of mediation, and how it is used in the expression of the Soul as altruism, advocacy, creativity, or service to others. The Soul’s service comprises the gifts of the Soul that express through the personality and the Superconscious mind to empower, heal, uplift, initiate, engage in ministry, counsel, teach, or guide other beings—these gifts are channeled through the Soul’s faculties of love, wisdom, and power.

We encourage aspirants to become familiar with each of these dimensions of meditation, so they can understand and experience each of them. This will give the broadest facility with meditation practice, and will give insight into the rationale religious and spiritual groups use to justify the particular forms of meditation they select.