Question 1

The Spiritual Cutting Edge

Accepted Answer

Your spiritual cutting edge is the ensouling entity that is animated by the Alaya. The Alaya is the highest octave of the Divine Will that gives life to the Soul. [See the article The Personal Octave of the Divine Will for more information about the different octaves of the Divine Will].

Swami Prem Dayal has said, "The Alaya is like the finger of the Divine, telling you to [do your spiritual] work here."

You when into problems when:

You transform at octaves of being other than your spiritual edge
You begin misaligning vehicles or nuclei of identity, that are attuned with your cutting edge or not

The cutting edge of each individual is clearly mirrored in the Jewel of Alaya center on the Transcendental portion of the Bridge Path. If you don't have access to that center, there are still several ways you can find out.

You can have someone identify it for you. For example:

You can get a reading from someone who can access the Jewel of Alaya (we do this in our Basic Soul Reading)
You can learn about it by taking the Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation (we include a reading in this class that identifies your cutting edge)

You can try to identify this for your self. This will require you to meditate and listen deeply with your intuition.

One method, Atmic Polling, is sometimes effective. In this method you progressively move your attention to each ensouling entity in turn, and feel if the Divine Force is anchored in that entity. You start with the Soul Spark, as is shown in the chart below:

Ensouling Entity	Band of the Great Continuum
Soul Spark	Subtle Realm
Planetary Soul	Planetary Realm
Monad	Transplanetary Realm
Astral Soul	Cosmic Sphere
Supracosmic Soul	Supracosmic Sphere
Soul of the Bridge Path	Transcendental Sphere
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
T7 (Satchitananda)

As you rest your attention upon each ensouling entity, you may feel a force coming down from above, anchored in one ensouling entity as opposed to the others. There should be one, clear distinct signal at that ensouling entity that differentiates it from others.

One drawback with this method is that sometimes, if you have been initiated by a spiritual Teacher in one octave of Being, you may mistake the anchored Light from that Initiate for the Ray of Alaya.

In this case, you may have two very strong signals, and it may not be clear to you which of these are your genuine cutting edge.

Another method would be take the Mudrashram® Advanced Course in Meditation, where you learn to contemplate the Jewel of Alaya directly. Alternately, you may try focusing your attention on the Bridge Path and travel upwards until you find this center for your self.

Question 2

The Soul's Mission

Accepted Answer

There is a range of potential missions of the Soul, which can be divided into those that are driven by karma, and those that are driven by a spiritual calling or election.

These are summarized in the chart below.

Mission	Activity	Transformational Work Performed?
Karmic Retribution	You live through a karmic sequence of events that brings blessings and boons, suffering, or a mixture of happiness and suffering. You usually do not perform spiritual practices other than participating in religious ceremonies and praying.	No
Character Reformation	Because of intense suffering from life experiences, trauma or addiction, you may seek out recovery groups, therapy, hypnosis or healing. You may do extensive self-exploration and inventory to identify causes of your misery and dysfunctional behavior and may actively seek to change the way you believe and act.	Augmenting methods only [See discussion of augmenting methods in the article, Getting Stuck on the Path.]
Service	In this scenario, you may seek to make amends for wrong actions you did in former lifetimes, You will be drawn to serve or help animals or a particular group of people. This can take place in through many different avenues: scientific, educational, therapeutic, medical, political, philanthropic, or religious.	No
Neophyte	Here you will be have an experience that suddenly changes your world view, that creates in you an intense interest in finding out what happened to you. This may take the form of an astral projection experience, a mystical or unitive experience, or altered state of consciousness while on hallucinogenic drugs. This leads to intense study and reading.	No
Aspirant	In this life, you will have an intense longing for spiritual development. You will go to groups and do meditation, and may be initiated by different spiritual Masters.	Yes (sometimes inappropriate transformational methods are chosen)
Disciple	Here you devote yourself to intensive spiritual development, using a variety of spiritual transformational techniques	Yes (intensive acceleration of spiritual progress is typical, whether on the cutting edge or not)
Initiate or Avatar	After having mastered a path or aspect of the Great Continuum of Consciousness, you devote yourself to teaching others to make spiritual progress and reach the same stage of spiritual development you have achieved	Yes (may use Grace-Bestowing Light Immersion to accelerate the progress of others, or initiate others in the use of transformational methods)

Karmic Retribution, Character Reformation and Service missions are predominately karmic-driven.

Neophyte, Aspirant, Disciple, and Initiate missions are ultimately founded upon inner awakening to respond to a deeply intuited spiritual calling. Those that resonate to this inner election actively utilize transformational methods to actualize that calling; karmic driven missions do not.

To understand your Soul's mission, it is first important to understand what it is not.

Mission is different than vocation, which is a sense of calling to a particular career, though sometimes the Soul's mission may influence the choice of career as an avenue of service or expression of the Soul's abilities.

Mission is also different than avocation, which are interests and pastimes freely chosen for leisure time entertainment or hobby. People do become obsessed with their hobbies, become avid collectors or zealous fans; but the sense of obsession that accompanies a true mission is deeper, more profound—it moves you from your very core.

Mission is not revealed in the hallucinations and voices of the madman, in the ravings of the would-be prophet possessed by alleged Divine-inspiration, or in the delirium of the intoxicated inebriate. It comes as a clear knowing while you are rational, sober, and awake, arising from the touchstone of your deepest sense of truth.

When you discover your mission—when your Soul reveals this to you—you will have a clear knowing about what you are here to do. This knowing abides with you, day and night. It guides you, and whispers to you about what you need to do next. When you discover your mission, you also discover your Soul.

Question 3

The Purpose of Spiritual Development

Accepted Answer

Purpose is different than mission.Purpose is the intuition of your spiritual goal; mission is what you live as you move towards this goal.

Purpose is the image of your completion. It is the holy seed at the end of your journey that lets you know you have accomplished all that the Divine has sent your ensouling entity here to do.

Those that are under a karmic-driven mission usually only experience the expressed purpose of the Soul. This is the aspect of the Soul's abilities and virtue that express through the personality. For example, the gifted musician, the entrepreneurial business leader, and the creative inventor may each be inspired by the Soul's expressed purpose.

Those that resonate to an inner spiritual calling—aspirants, disciples and Initiates—experience the intrinsic purpose of the Soul. The intrinsic purpose is a calling to actualize a specific spiritual attainment, or to complete a spiritual work.

For aspirants and disciples, this is called the Path to Liberation. This appears as three tracks:

Service Track – In this track, you unfold your ensouling entity to a discrete nodal point on the path in which you are empowered to minister, heal or teach. Here your ensouling entity becomes fixed at a specific nodal point. However, you are able to use your transformational method to clear karma on the path beyond that nodal point all the way to liberation, but your ensouling entity does not ascend until it has accomplished a specific expressed purpose.
Ministerial Track – In this track, you can purify the path all the way to liberation, but along the way you gain specific powers or abilities. You may, for example, empower an inner form, establish a spiritual throne, or minister through a star or wheel-like structure to assist others. When you liberate this ensouling entity and you move into a new octave of Being, you may continue to use these gifts to serve others.
Liberation Track – In this track, you simply purify the path all the way to Liberation, but do not gain powers, empower inner forms, etc.

For Initiates, who have already gained mastery of one or more octaves of Being, their purpose is fulfilled in serving and assisting others make progress on the path. This is called the Bodhisattva Path. It likewise appears as three tracks:

Avataric Track – In this track, an Initiate takes on the karma of others and does spiritual work to remove this karma. As a result the Initiate gains new abilities and extends ministerial capacities into new zones of the Great Continuum of Consciousness. In the Mudrashram® lineage, this type of spiritual work is referred to as Bodhisattva projects.
World Teacher Track – In this track, an Initiate assumes the mantle of power in an established lineage and performs public ministry, often teaching and initiating multitudes.
Silent Ministry Track – In this track, an Initiate works silently from the higher Planes to uplift humanity and minister to them. They remain anonymous and unknown to the mass of humanity, but may work confidentially with select individuals to prepare them for a specific spiritual mission. Masters of the Hierarchy of Light and teachers in the Mudrashram® lineage commonly adopt this form of spiritual work.

It is my hope that you now have a better understanding of the role that transformational methods play in actualizing your Soul's purpose and what is right use of these methods.

Knowing this, you can focus your search for a path that targets your cutting edge and gives you an effective method to make progress at that level.

Working in this way, you will avoid producing imbalances, steer clear of cultic ensnarements, and accelerate the unfolding of your spiritual evolutionary potentials—optimally using the limited time available to you to maximize your spiritual results.