Ah, Stage Eight! Purpose And Truth.
Stage Eight is a beautiful place. You now have an ideology based on consistent principles that resonate with you, and you have a better idea of the truths in life and in yourself. It’s time now to solidify those truths for yourself and find your calling.
Here is your homework…
- Connect to universal truths
- Let go of knowing
- Connect to the silent observer
- Find your purpose
- Design your future
- See the truth in others
Here is exactly how to do that…
Connecting To Universal Truths
As you read, think and grow, take note of what is common among all beliefs, among all religions, among all political ideologies, etc. – What are the connections or relationships between them?
At first, common themes will be hard to find. For example, political ideologies from the left and the right or religions from different parts of the world might seem so completely different that they have nothing in common at all. The key to seeing the common basis for them all is to stop looking at the level of specific rules, specific beliefs and specific issues and focus instead on principles, and even one level higher than that… focus on the emotional roots of the principles.
For example, Christianity and Islam might seem very far apart. But can we find something common to them both? They both have one deity, and this deity is personified, and they each say we are children of the deity, and in certain portions of post-crusades writings, they both advocate brotherly love for all humanity. Now let’s add in something like Taoism. What is common to all three? Taoism does not have a personified deity, so we will have to move upwards in our perspective and say that they all three suggest there is a single all powerful force which creates everything and we are descended of that one force and that one force is the embodiment of love. They also all say that this one divine force is in our hearts or within us. This is just one interpretation.
Form your own exploration of what abstract truths are at the heart of all religions. Then consider what abstract truths are at the heart of all political ideologies. Then consider what abstract truths are common to all humanity. What do most people want out of life? What do most people worry about?
When you connect with the abstract truths common to all ideologies and all humanity, this does not mean you are giving up your current political ideology, or your current religion. It just means you are recognizing that there is something true at the heart of them all. Each religion and each political ideology and all humans then apply these truths in wildly different ways to make decisions about everyday life and who to vote for. How you choose to apply them might be very different from how someone else chooses.
The more we see that we are not so different, the easier it is to live and let live. It becomes easier to agree to disagree about the particular applications and implications of those truths. If you are not very religious, start there and work your way to the harder topics where you feel most deeply entrenched.
As you find the truths behind all ideologies, and the common desires of all people, write them down and think about them. Let them deepen your connection to others, the divine, your faith, and your principles.
Connecting To The Universe / Divine – Letting Go Of Knowing
Some of us are comfortable with not knowing anything and never asking the big questions. That must be somewhat liberating; but perhaps unsatisfying.
For some of us, simple, findable and somewhat mundane information is comforting. We want to know the future so that we can make better decisions or know how something is going to turn out. Do you like to know what to expect each week? Who is planning what, the details on each and every event, and how it will all play out? That is a lot of expectation.
Expectation is a dangerous form of attachment. Planning for the future is good, but feeling too certain about it is not. You should plan, but you must let go of expecting things to actually go that way. We cannot know the future. Knowing what is happening right now is hard enough. Let go of knowing the future.
Now that you can trust the river of your life, the next step is to trust that the answers you need will come when you need them.
But to be human is to want to know. Once we let go of wanting to know the future, we often evolve to wanting to know the truth. We want to know the truth behind all sorts of things. We want to know how life works and what is on the other side. Some of these questions have answers that are easily found. Some of these questions have answers that take some work (like the answers you will find by working through this roadmap). And some questions do not have answers right now.
If you are academically minded, this can be very hard to accept. The quest for answers is as human as the quest for love and acceptance. This does not mean that we should not seek answers. It means that while you work toward the answers, be comfortable in not knowing yet, or not knowing right now. Be comfortable in the fact that you do not know everything and for right now, you do not need to know. In fact, you don’t know much at all in the grand scheme of the universe and never will. And that is OK.
You will seek the answers to many questions. You will find some answers easily, others answers with work, and some you will never know. And that is not just OK, that is human.
Trusting that the answers you need will come when you need them is the key to letting go of needing to know right now. Let it be. Plan for your own future. Work towards answers to the big questions. Let go of needing to know right now… and strangely, the answers will come, right on time.
A common question at this point is wondering HOW the answers will come? The short answer is that they will come to you as you go about your daily life. Sometimes you will be compelled to seek out an answer online, or seek out a new book to read. You might have a conversation with a friend who will suggest a new book or website or local activity or someone they think you would get along with. Your river will either bring you the answer and put it right in front of your face or it will deliver you the resource that has the answer, if only you will be quick enough to act on it. When you are flowing with your river, you will seem to encounter coincidences that bring you answers as you follow the trail like a detective.
Be open to reading that book, doing that search, attending that local activity or talking to that recommended person. Listen within those results for the whisper of your river taking you where you need to be and bringing you the answers you need. When the answers come, thank your river/universe/divine for bringing that into your life. Feel gratitude for receiving the answer, and more answers will come.
Connecting To The Silent Observer
When you wake up, it’s like someone else is looking through your eyes at you. This is the silent observer. If you have not yet met the silent observer, allow me to introduce you. First, read this to yourself, quietly in your head … “Hello there.” Now, who said that? You might say that you said it to yourself. But your lips did not move and your vocal chords did not make a sound. But you said it. And you heard it. You said it without a voice and you heard it without needing ears. And if you wanted to, you could imagine and relive your past or imagine your future and see it without using your eyes. You just did that.
There is the you that is this body and quite separately, there is the you that speaks and listens and sees without needing this body at all. This you is a combination of the mind and the silent observer. The mind thinks and expresses and imagines and feels. The silent observer observes and directs from deep inside. Can you feel the difference? If you quiet the mind, can you feel something present inside you? Something quiet but very present that observes and experiences this life like a video game player within an avatar? You might call it your soul. It is tempting to call it your true being, but here you are on this earth in this life, in this body with this mind and these energies and this silent observer and all of it together is what it is to be a human being.
You are a physical being, a mind being, an energy being and a silent being, all at the same time. The best results come when we acknowledge and find connection to each of these.
The silent observer is arguably the hardest to connect to because it is … silent. The cacophony of everyday life is so loud that we often don’t connect with this inner being. To connect with the silent observer, first simply quiet your mind enough to feel the silent observer within you. Feel how you are not your body, but you are in your body and you observe your body and you operate your body. Next, Feel how you have a mind. Watch the thoughts and feelings go by like clouds in the sky, but see that you are not your mind; you observe your mind and you operate your mind. So who are you? You are what is left. The essence of you is the silent observer that is here in this life, operating this body, this mind and these energies. Perhaps the silent observer is made of energy too (because it does not seem to be made of physical matter).
Connecting to that self in this way opens up a perspective that you can use to take control of your mind, body and energies and use them like an avatar, to create whatever life you want. Practice being the Silent Observer in your daily life and note the difference in how you react, experience, and think.
Connecting To Your Purpose – Methods For Finding It
Finding your purpose or mission in life is not easy, precisely because it it unique to you. You cannot look at other people, like a menu of options, and expect to find your purpose there. When you look at others and their purpose, you may be looking at a list of what your purpose is NOT. You may need to invent a task, vocation or mission that is completely new to this world – you have never seen anything exactly like it and neither has anyone else. That’s hard because we are not necessarily taught to do that. However, you are certainly capable.
There are a lot of good methods out there for finding your unique purpose. Try them all until you find one that works for you and/or you spot a pattern or connection in the results… here they are:
Free Flow Writing – Get a bank piece of paper or pull up a blank note on your device (whichever will allow you to get ideas down the fastest). Start by asking yourself, “What is my purpose?,” or, “What is my mission in life?” Then, write whatever comes to mind. Just start listing ideas and keep listing until you get to something that makes you cry. An emotional response is the key to spotting the right answer.
Intersections – Write down four separate lists: (1) What you are good at (2) What you enjoy (3) What the world needs and (4) what you can get paid for. Your purpose or mission in life is at the intersection of these four things. Now, your purpose in life may not necessarily be linked to an income. If, however, you are doing this exercise because you want a new career, and you are not yet financially free, then include what you can get paid for.
What Have You Always Done? – In this exercise, you look back from childhood until now and ask yourself what have you always done, when nobody is looking, when you are not getting paid for it, etc. What MUST you do just because you cannot imagine not doing it? What activities are at the core of your being and always have been since your youngest days?
Skills Assessment – Ask people you trust (and who would tell you honestly) to list the skills that you are really really really good at. Which of your best skills gives you joy? How can you invest in and possibly combine those skills?
The Simon Sinek Method – Call a small number of your closest friends (people that have known you a long time). Ask each of them, “Why are you my friend?”. They may have a hard time and need to think about that, to really get to the heart of it. But keep digging and they will eventually have an epiphany about how you make them FEEL or some other thing that you do for their INTERNAL self. This is the value that you bring to humanity. How can you leverage that into a purpose, mission or vocation?
The Tony Robbins Method – Tony Robbins has lots of very insightful methods for everything and this is no exception. When you were very young (3-5 years old), what did you want to be when you grew up? WHY? When you were a teenager, what did you want to be for a career? WHY? When you were in your twenties, what did you want to be for a career? WHY? Thirties?…. keep going until you reach your present age. Then, focus on all the WHYs. What is the pattern in the why? Can you combine the whys into one purpose, mission or vocation?
Sit Down, Shut Up & Listen – In this method, you simply ask for the answer and it is delivered to you. This is also called meditation, prayer, or as Jesse Elder puts it, Cosmic Google. It is wonderfully effective, although it takes some practice. Find a quiet place where you can be alone and will be guaranteed to be undisturbed for a period of time… let’s say 15-60 minutes. Turn off your devices and get your typical distractions as far away from you as possible. Sit down. Quiet your mind by listening to the silence intently. Ask your question; in this case, “What is my mission?,” or, “What is my purpose?”. Wait patiently for the answer and write it down exactly as you hear it – do not stop to interpret it. And don’t dismiss it. Think about how it fits in with what you found from the other methods.
Remember, your result may not look exactly like anything you have seen before, so if it looks exactly like something someone else is doing, you need to be more specific and carry out your mission in a more unique way or by a new method. Get creative!
Connecting To Your Reality – Designing Your Future
The time has come to start designing what you want your life to be like. Why now? At this point, your ideology should be principle-based and therefore stable, your emotional baggage is mostly unpacked, and you are ready to focus on fulfillment and purpose rather than ego and impulse. That is not to say that you should not get that dream car, if you can pay cash for it, but you will find that designs that further your purpose are easily granted, whereas requests that further your ego and insecurities are often denied. As always, be aware of the emotional roots of your choices, because the result will multiply those emotions. Be sure to design from a place of peace, love, joy, adventure or other positive emotions.
This should be a fun and joyous exercise and one you will want to revisit often. Consider all aspects: mental, emotional, intellectual, physical, career, relationships, daily schedule, financial, experiences, opportunities, etc. What does your ideal life look like? Be very, very specific and brutally honest about your ideal life, even if it sounds unreasonable. Many things are easier than you think.
Your ideal life may not look like something your family or friends would approve of. It may not look like the standard definition of success that we are all handed in school. That is OK. Do not design the life that you were told to want. Design the life that makes your soul sing. Design the life that makes your whole being burst forth with energy and makes your heart feel full to overflowing.
Write it all down. This is key. Then, for each element of your ideal life, research what it would take to make it happen. Don’t take any one person’s word on the matter. Study it from all sides on your own, and talk to as many experts as you can find. Then, start making it happen.
Review the process for manifesting from Stage Two and use it here as well.
Connecting To Others – Seeing Their Truth
You have come a long way now and know a lot about the universal truths that drive humanity. You have connected deeply with yourself, the Divine and your reality. You have connected to others in terms of their needs, possibly in terms of sexuality, and certainly in terms of seeing their humanity. Now it is time to see their truth.
When you next see a friend or family member, consciously connect with them. Reach out your energy towards them with the intent to connect. Intend to be open. When you do, ask to be shown their truth. You are putting yourself in their shoes energetically. You will be able to feel their current emotions, and state of mind.
Can you see their truth now? Can you see their heart or intentions? Can you see their humanity? Can you see what stage they are in at the moment? Practice!
Try the same technique as you pass strangers on the street. You do not need to stare at them, just a glance and the intent to reach out and connect with your energy is enough.
If they catch your eye, smile and send them peace, joy or whatever you feel they need… all as you pass by.
Just because you can see people’s truth and intentions, and just because you send them joy and peace, does not mean that everyone you meet will be kind. There will always be people in earlier stages who cannot see your humanity yet and may do you harm. But if you can see the truth of their intentions, you can protect yourself. By connecting with others in this way, you can better understand them, better protect yourself, and better help those in need, all at the same time.
No, you are not reading minds. Humans project their intentions and state of mind openly. We cannot help sending out a signal to everyone around us, detailing our truth. You are just learning to tune in to that, connect to that channel, and send something positive and helpful back.
This is particularly helpful because many people hide their pain and their challenges. Many people suffer in silence. If you can recognize that, you can offer to help, encourage them to talk, or simply send them caring and compassion.
Enjoy this new level of connection and all the good you can do with it!