More on Soul Mates

After reading about Soul Mates, a friend asked me a logical question. Since it is possible to trace our DNA back for multiple generations, how does reincarnation fit into this? Have we repeatedly incarnated in the same blood line, or different ones altogether?

The body is the home of the soul here on earth for the length of the incarnation. The human body is made from the elements of the earth. Each body is newly made for the soul personality who will inhabit it.

Think of a house that is worn out. The occupant vacates and the house is demolished. A contractor comes along and uses any good materials in the new house he builds. An occupant is found and moves in. There is not necessarily any connection between the old and the new occupant at all. The new house contains what has gone before, but it is still a new house. The previous occupant of the old house may well have chosen a new house in the familiar neighbourhood or they may have chosen to find a new house in a totally different neighbourhood or even a new country, depending on what the occupant wants to experience in the new house.

The soul is eternal, the body is finite, but each is made from the elements of the old. Although there is no physical connection between the body and the soul who inhabits it, we often reincarnate near each other in time and place. When we meet others who have travelled with us through a number of incarnations, there is a knowing that transcends the physical, an instant deep connection that can be felt even over the internet.

Over time, we may well have been father, mother, child, spouse or friend to each other over multiple incarnations. That is basically why soul mate and life's mate are seldom the same thing. When they are, we are incredibly blessed.

My Christmas Wish for All

This season always makes my mind turn to those who have no family to celebrate with. Our society has become very mobile and families scatter across the globe, so even those with family are unable to spend the holidays in the warmth of caring family. We who have been blessed with so much love and caring need to share with those less fortunate. I do not mean to give to the food banks or toy drives. These things are important and we need to give to them, but we need to give of ourselves as well.

There is a great need for more mature people to adopt the young people as well as little children. There is also a need to adopt those of your own age who do not have extended family. It works out well for both parties, at least I feel it does. I treasure my extended family by choice, mutual choice. Some are soul mates, with whom I have shared previous lives, some are new to me but I am sure will travel together in future and some are connected for only this lifetime. There are also some who I will not see in person in this life but have formed a tight bond over the internet and some who will visit my life for a short time only. All are priceless treasures.

Don't be afraid to reach out and to respond when others reach out to you. You have much to give and much to learn, both ... we all do. We are all teachers and we are all students. We are all needed. The Creator does not waste, so you can be sure that what you have learned will be of great benefit to others. Your courage, your great desire to do right, your loving heart, all equip you to be of service to the One. We all have a particular path to walk and the tools to do so. Don't forget that.

My Christmas wish for all is that the love and joy of the season is shared with those who need it most.

With Love and Companionship on the Journey
...Z

Soul Mate

People often spend a lifetime searching for their soul mate without an understanding of what a soul mate actually is. As a result, their search is often futile.

In order to grow we must seek true understanding of the words we so blithely banter around. So many people don't do this and a new and improper definition evolves. A perfect example of this happening is the use of the word "avatar".

Original meaning

Definition of Avatar - Spiritual meaning and purpose of avatar
The title Avatar describes a fully freed soul incarnating directly from God on this physical planet or elsewhere. An Avatar fulfills a highly spiritual task in the name of God and returns to God after accomplishing his task. His Love for God and his creation is beyond description and imagination, his faith in God absolute as there is no difference between an Avatar and God.

Avatars are rarely in populated areas and prefer to act in a quiet retreat to peacefully fulfill their task. One of their task often is to teach guru's or potential Gurus, to assure the continuity of God's Divine plan in his creation.

There are but a very few avatars at the same time incarnated - usually only one. There are no Avatar-courses or Avatar-workshops, these are inventions of mankind's fantasy and desire to abuse even the most sacred values for profit. An Avatar always learns from God and never has any other Guru. Only God can be his Guru.

Purpose of an Avatar. By his nature an Avatar leads an entire culture home to God while a Guru leads a number of individual disciples to God.

http://www.kriyayoga.com/english/encyclopedia/avatar.htm

Current usage.

An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(computing) - 58k - Cached - Similar pages

Having been on my own personal Journey for most of my life, I was very familiar with the original meaning. While I was not looking the word changed so much that I could not comprehend, and actually felt it was a kind of sacrilegious usage. For different reasons Soul mate has gone through a similar transformation. When people are unaware of their own spiritual selves, and assume that the earthly existence is all we have, then they put all their hopes into finding that perfect mate. The perfect earthly mate may not be the perfect soul mate. One applies to only this physical existence for however long this life lasts, the other applies to someone who is so close to us that the connection transcends this earthly life and is a part of our true selves.

If we are very blessed, we may reunite with a soul mate in this life. They could be in the form of a partner, relative, friend, a stranger .... whatever. When we come into contact with such soul mates in this life, there is an instant attraction, a sense of déjà vu, a desire to know this person and to have them in our lives in whatever guise they wear in this temporary existence. Because soul personalities tend to reincarnate in a similar time frame, we can meet more than one brother or sister of the soul.

In my own case, I have been extremely blessed by having reconnected with more than one of the soul personalities that travel in a similar time frame as I do. I have actually written about the two sisters of my soul who came and gave me the strength to come back through the mist. Before that incident we had never met in person, only known each other over the internet. The connection we felt was deep and instant. When I first met one of my sisters of the soul in person, she walked into my arms and it felt like we had known each other forever. When the third sister was able to join us in person last summer, the experience was the same for all three of us. When we met in person, it also became obvious that my DH is also part of this transcendent group.

I would wish that everyone could meet at least one of their travelling companions.

Death is Not the Enemy

Death Is Not the Enemy

Fear is. Having crossed through the mist on more than one occasion, I can vouch for the fact that it is a normal part of living.

Pain is generated by illness or injury to the body, which is the temple of the soul in this world. Suffering is caused by desire, clinging to the things of this world, attachment to specific outcomes. Fear is usually caused by the unknown or by a feeling that we will lose what worldly things we have. Fear is also responsible for adding to our suffering.

Understanding and acceptance are lights we can cast into the darkest recesses of our minds and fear and suffering will flee before them. But if we do not grow, we will remain in that dark place of suffering and fear.

Birth and death are normal events in the process we call living. Both are inescapable and rightly so. If we were to avoid these events, spiritual growth would be severely limited. We choose the circumstances of each birth for the potential of experiencing what we need for our continued growth. At death we are able to evaluate our progress and choose the circumstances of the next birth. All things follow a rhythm of birth and death and rebirth.

The Journey is long and speed is not a necessity. It is more important to strive to be aware of the Journey itself, to see the opportunities for growth that appear in our lives. Just as physical evolution happens over a long period of time, spiritual evolution happens over many lifetimes. We must be patient with ourselves. When we fall short of our own expectations, and we will, we need to be gentle with ourselves rather than condemn ourselves for our perceived short comings.

When we take our first trembling steps on this Journey Into Being, we may become disheartened by what we see as slow progress, or no progress at all. However when we persevere, taking our baby steps as best we can, it becomes easier. As we learn the basics and grow stronger, the Journey becomes easier, not easy, but easier. Progress requires striving, but it does not require suffering, or fear. As we learn more, our suffering and fear will ease up and the path becomes easier to follow.

There are tools that we can use to help us in our striving. Learning what we can about the many paths that people follow will help us to define our own path. Meditation helps us to clarify our aims and dissipate the stress we are under in our daily lives. It also helps us to connect with the spirit within us all.

With love and companionship on the Journey

Bittersweet

Bitter Sweet This season is so bad for so many people. It is a bitter-sweet time, with celebrating Christmas and remembering those who have passed before us and those who are fighting for their lives, more so now and in the Spring than any other time. Don't forget to allow yourself time and privacy to shed the tears that heal, holding them back causes a scalding pain that is only relieved by allowing yourself to grieve. I have always found it better to go into the pain and through it to the other side than to try to stifle it and shove it back to be dealt with later. I have also always found being by the water to be comforting and healing. We also have to remember the good things of the Season and be sure to make new memories each year. I wish I could package and send every one of you a sample of the smells in my kitchen right now. My daughter by choice spent yesterday and today with me, doing our Christmas baking together. We are far from done, but the smells and the camaraderie and the joy and laughter are so thick you could cut and serve it. Pity I can not share it as I would like. When my health deteriorated to the point that I can no longer do all the things I used to, I thought my life was over, but I have learned that the old skills and knowledge and stories from another time are also valuable and I can make memories for children that will last them a life time. I can share the magic, and help it to go on and on. I don't need to be physically fit to do this, I only need the will and desire to share. How many of us think that we have reached a point where we are no longer worthy of love and able to contribute to our families, friends and society in general? I did, but have learned so much since then. I have learned that it is important to share myself, not just my efforts. I have learned that people enjoy spending time with me, even if they have to do almost all the work of baking (or anything else) but they value my spirit, my knowledge and lore. Tomorrow morning the girls (ages 8 and 6) will join us for the first of two cookie baking days. This one will be peanut butter cookies and the other one will be ginger snaps. Both batters hold up well to a lot of mauling and still taste great. Both have no egg so our allergic members will not get sick.
Written November 2006
We are in the middle of a snow storm that threatens a foot or more of snow and the girls are going to cut their tree down this evening. Can you think of anything more magical? How many of us know older people who are basically alone in this season but have a wealth of history and experience that they would be so very pleased to share if anyone stopped to notice that they are worthy of attention and consideration. How many of us know a lot of the old ways that we could bring a little of it back into our lives and the lives of our families. Someone told me they were going to take their young brother to a shelter to serve Christmas Dinner with him. The idea of teaching children the value of giving, and particularly giving of themselves is wonderful. Something that is done here, that might be possible in other communities....most small communities have senior citizen residences or nursing homes, where there are elderly people who have outlived their families and really have no visitors or very few. When baking, a lot of us make extra to take to the home for their Christmas dinners. It is usually pretty easy to find out what kind of baking would be most appreciated. Do the schools do anything special with the kids for Christmas? Old fashioned decorations? Pine cone expeditions? Old stories? Any of that? I know that many of them do not get any of the magic at home anymore because the parents do not have it to give. I do not know where the fault lies, in my generation or the next one? but somehow the chain has been broken. We can not make it whole again, but we can mend it enough to give the little ones a chance to see that there is something more, and maybe they will seek it out when they are grown. Sometimes the schools have programs where kids can visit an older person and get to know them in these homes. Sort of a surrogate grandparent thing. It helps the senior and it helps the kids. When kids grow up without contact with the elderly, they almost seem to fear them, or at least the aging process. I wish you all the joys of the season, and the desire to try something old! PS: My granddaughters by choice had a wonderful tree fetching expedition in the middle of the snow storm. Their dad sneaked ice cream and cones into the back of the truck before they went to the woods and after cutting their tree, they had ice cream in the snow. Solo

I Forgot Revisited

January 2007
I had a minor melt-down after the car left us stranded in Bridgewater before Christmas and when it did so again just before New Year's Eve, the melt-down was more severe. It just all got to be too much and I was flooded with a feeling of helplessness that I haven't felt in well over 30 years.
The chimney still needs to be fixed, the kitchen roof needs to be replaced, the barn and shanty need to be torn down for safety reasons. The car problem is intermittent and we can not find what it is so it is not dependable, and our locked in financial situation has no solution. I just could not see a way out. However, one at a time, solutions are being presented to each problem.
In being so involved in the here and now, I forgot that when I do everything I can to be the best person I can be, the Cosmos looks after my needs. It certainly does not provide everything I would like, but it has always looked after what I needed, often just in the nick of time, but I have always had enough to eat, a roof over my head and clothes to wear, in addition to being blessed with so much love and caring.
Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus.
December 11th, 2008
and my, how things have changed. For a start, I am still here and holding my own against all odds.
The miracles since I wrote the above piece are staggering. So often we dismiss the good things, the miracles, and dwell on the negative, sitting on our pity pots in the dark, not realizing we can get off the pot, open the door and walk out into the sunshine.
The chimney has been fixed. The roof has been fixed. Almost all of the materials from the fallen barns are gone. We have a new used vehicle which works very well. I have an electric scooter which allows me more freedom. We were able to go to Quebec in July to spend some time with two ladies who are very, very important to me. We have obtained new financing which will sustain us for some time to come.
Eve after all these years, I still forget to count my blessings, and return to my pity pot far too often.

The Smile

It seems that once I start writing, I can not pass a keyboard.

The Price of Christmas

While watching the Food Channel the other day, I saw a commercial talking about bringing back the magic of Christmas. Before the smile could reach my lips, it continued to advertise a musical gingerbread house for $19.95 as well as singing snowmen, snow globes and other items available at a special price when you buy Hallmark cards.

The magic of Christmas has a price tag and it is $19.95.

A Simpler Time

I have been blessed with the opportunity of experiencing rural life as it was a hundred years ago. My grandparents were second generation settlers in rural north-central Ontario. They spent their adult lives farming, hunting, trapping and making whatever they needed. Use it up, fix it up, throw it out, do without.

In their old age, they moved to the edge of town into a house that the town council had built for my great-grandmother. She had been the first white woman to settle in the area. There was no electricity, no plumbing, and no water on the property. I spent my earliest years with them.

Crossroads

We are at a crossroads. The fate of our world depends on what we do now. The forty nation summit is a first and hopefully the first step in uniting our whole world in a common goal, that of saving our earth and saving ourselves in the process.

We can not go back to a simpler time but if we all co-operate, perhaps we can create a world where ninety percent of the world’s wealth is not in the hands of ten percent of its people, a world that does not wage war in the name of peace, and a safe world we can be proud to raise our children in.

Are we prepared to give up many of the luxuries we have here in the west and work with the emerging nations to improve their standard of living? We also need to make sure that everyone knows our opulent lifestyle can no longer be supported, and obtain the agreement of the third world countries that they can not aim for what we now have.

All must be equalized. We need to reduce our requirements at the same time others accept that they can not achieve what we are relinquishing for the good of the planet. If not, no one will have a comfortable life style. Technology has achieved a life of it’s own, evolving faster than our resources can keep up.

And then I watched the Suzuki Diaries and the smile came back.