Somewhere in the deep recesses of the mind is continuous chatter. The mind is always busy exploring something. A closer look at the internal dialogue will show threads connected to desires within the psyche. These desires relate to unique aspects of the person’s life. The nature would be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. It is the responses of both the mind and the life force to such desires, which propels life.
The mind’s chatter will relate to a current or anticipated everyday situation such as higher education, finding an amazing job, acquiring great wealth, achieving health and longevity, improving physical beauty, visiting far-away places, or finding a soul mate, twin flame or even acquiring the meaning of life. Feelings related to the ego of the person – such as the need to experience power – would be associated with the chatter. These feelings however, often fall in two categories. They are either seeded with fear or love. Choosing based on love, leads in one direction and choosing based on fear, leads in a totally different direction. These define two unique pathways or directions in life which in essence is the dual nature of existence.
The presence of wants or desires offers an opportunity to the conscious mind. It is the opportunity to exercise the free will, and to choose a direction in life. What happens next is the response by the life force. This will be unique to each person predicated upon tradition, economics, or even an innate fear.
To explore this further, consider an example where the wish to feel powerful fills the mind of a person. Perhaps it is a parent seeking respect from children, or someone who wants to be controlling in a relationship. It could also be a boss that bullies, a CEO of a huge corporation demanding results, or even a prime minister or president of a country who wants power over the lives of the people. Innate intentions emerge from such wishes.The challenge in meditation is being able to view this situation with objectivity: find the intention and make a conscious choice on how to respond.
The one with the wish to feel powerful sees only two options:
- Embrace the path of power.
- Choose a different path.
The mind would analyze these options considering pros and cons. On the surface, choosing would seem a simple process. Karmic history will influence the decision. The journey of experiences (defined as karmic history) brought the person to the current situation. This history will influence all decisions. Additionally, emotions often emerge from karmic history. Perhaps the person abused power in the past and it resulted in guilt, regret and shame. The memory of all such experiences are available to the life force throughout eternity. For most, the memory of the events would be vague shadows. However, the emotions such as guilt, regret and shame would resurface when similar situations occur.
The person in the example has the freedom to walk away, forgoing the opportunity to face and overcome the past, thereby allowing fear to dictate their direction in life. The person would also have an innate awareness of the potential the situation offers, realizing with the freedom to choose also comes the opportunity to revisit a situation and relive the deep emotions. With strength, courage and wisdom embraced through meditation, the person would choose to manifest only love and truth, thereby transcending the events of the past. In the case of the parent, only love and acceptance would manifest. The boss or CEO would manage with fairness. The prime minister or president would lead with fairness, love, compassion and justice. All of these actions would transcend the events of the past, forging a new direction in life. This is a path of growth through change.
The free will to choose is the force which navigates life. The simple act of choosing navigates the path that life will follow. Whenever there are inner wants, the responses can lead in different directions. The foundation of duality lies here. There are two choices, two directions and two pathways. One path leads back to the original state. The other follows the current trajectory. The dual nature of life is always present. Meditation will become the compass pointing to the way home, the original state of existence when the journey of life started.