Excellence Reporter: Mani, what is the meaning of life?
Mani: When I hear this question, I feel a warmth in my heart, not my physical heart but the heart of my being, which I call my Soul. Each Soul is the repository of the essence of many lives and has the ability to recognize what is Good, True & Beautiful. Our Soul harvests life’s lessons and experiences for the joy of evolving in time & space, harmonizing its human nature as an expression of the unending potential of Source.
Our human identity tends to obscure our Soul with the loudness & density of its cravings and aversions, to the point that our Soul is encrusted in a rigidity of who we think we are. This surface or human identity is a construct that we come into, which is formed by our collective evolutionary past. This surface identity is largely a product of forces that we are not always conscious of. Yet in the depths of our being our Soul whispers its wisdom, for it has never lost connection to Source and has the power to guide us out of imagined separation. So, one could say that bringing forward or uncovering one’s Soul gives great meaning to life, as the more we become conscious of our identity and purpose as a Soul, the more joy we find in our service to ‘Life’.
‘Life’ is the conscious delight in our being, what can be called the manifestation of ‘The Source’ or ‘The Infinite Mystery’ or ‘The Divine.’ Our Soul is a spark of the Divine that acts as a nexus for the Divine unfolding. And as Souls, as these individual points of consciousness, we have the potential and ability to consciously experience and express The Divine Will. To illuminate our whole being, so that even our surface personality can partake in the realization that we are not separate from that which we express and experience.
The Divine is that infinite mystery which is both ‘Still & Dynamic’ and yet not limited to either. The mind finds it hard to fathom how The Divine could be both “Still & Dynamic,” because the reasoning mind is unable to gently hold & appreciate paradox. Yet this is our Spiritual inheritance, that as Stillness we are complete, unchanging, without need and at peace. While simultaneously as Dynamism we are changing, birthing, growing and dying.
Our minds can be very uncomfortable with this paradox, that we are both Still & Dynamic, as the mind generally only knows how to choose a side, right or wrong. This can cause one to cling to Dynamic nature and try refute Stillness, the materialist denial of Spirit. Or vise versa, where we dismiss life as an illusion and try to hide in Stillness, the spiritual denial of Life. A whole spectrum of one-sidedness is possible. Yet our Soul can be at ease with its divine parentage of ‘Stillness & Dynamism.’ Then there is no trying to escape the challenges of life or spirituality, for they are not-two. Stillness and Dynamism can be realized to be complementary aspects of that which we are.
Soul Mastery is when we can bring harmony to all the seeming opposites, allowing for The Divine that we are to consciously unfold its endless mystery in and as Life.
So the meaning of life is ‘you.’
You give meaning to life for you can consciously express and experience the mystery that you are. In-so-doing you fulfill the Divine Will to know itself, not out of desire or lack, but for pure Delight.
You are an evolving expression of the Perfection that you already are.
Birthing yourself individually in multiplicity while remaining One, yet not limited to the idea of one.
What a delight, what a mystery that we are.
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~Mani is an Irish-born spiritual teacher. His teachings include meetings, silent retreats, live internet sharings, and online offerings.
Mani’s name has many meanings – It’s aboriginal meaning is ‘Equal.’ In India it means ‘Gem.’ In the Hebrew tradition it means ‘God is with us.’ While in Islam it means ‘Secure, Strong.’ And in Sanskrit it signifies ‘Jewel.’
Mani offers teachings that are free of any religious affiliation yet are a profound invitation to Awaken and Transform.
Mani is the author of ‘Embracing No Other’.
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