Imagine a young boy has the most amazing baseball season EVER. Every time he's up to bat he hits a home run. He catches every ball in his vicinity and pitches every strike out. He's voted MVP of the end of season and after the final game his mates toss him up in the air to celebrate his amazing achievements. He's beaming with a mixture of of humbleness, joy and pride, not quite believing what he was able to pull off. But he felt like he earned it, he did after all, work hard for it, giving it his all during practices and games.
Then he realizes his parents had orchestrated the whole show.
Some how they had rigged the entire season in his favor. In reality, he hadn't achieved anything. They wanted to "GIFT" him this experience and the MVP award. But he was devastated and ashamed. He hadn't earned the MVP, it was GIVEN.
It is believed by some wisdom traditions that the reason for our existence is to realize our true nature. Before the Universe came into existence there was only a Force that emanated limitless LOVE. This Force was whole and complete with attributes of compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, infinite patience, and peace. Overwhelmed with this limitless Love the Force wanted to share it, but since there was only this One Force, it had nothing to share it with. So out of itself this One Force created vessels with which to share this limitless Love. The point of this creation has been called The Big Bang.
Were it to freely give this Love to these vessels, like the boy, would the vessels appreciate the gift? Or like a spoiled child, who is given everything, would the vessels not be able to realize the value of the gift?
In order that the vessels realize the value of the gift, the One Force decided to give the vessels obstacles, in the form of ignorance of their true nature (Original Sin), with challenges and tools, and the Space and Time to work them out so that they could realize their true nature, as whole and complete, limitless Love.
The tools include intellect, a discriminating power, and choice, the power to choose. The challenges are the experiences, and more specifically, their interpretation of their experiences through thoughts, ideas, and belief systems. When the belief systems are not in harmony with the vessels’ true nature as peaceful, compassionate, tolerant and forgiving Love, they suffer. The work that is required to realize their true nature is first, to realize they have the power of choice, and second, to genuinely chose a perspective that is alignment with their true nature (genuinely, meaning that their soul must be at peace with this perspective). When they find that they are resisting their experiences, by being frustrated, or angry, or jealous.... the tool to use is discrimination. Discrimination allows them to identify the belief system that is out of alignment and causing the suffering, then they use the power of choice to choose an alternative perspective that is in alignment with their true nature and thereby begin to experience the limitless Love that they are.
What if all the vessels realized this was the basis of their existence? What might their world be like?
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash