Now when I adopted Caroline Myss belief to agree to the terms of a Soul Contract before entering the physical realm of this world, I started to see my life from a bird’s perspective and searched for pivotal moments in my life. This applies whether we accept the concept of reincarnation, or believe in a single lifetime followed by heaven or hell — or neither. Caroline describes one fascinating parallel occurring in the writing of Plato.
In brief, the story concerns a Greek soldier named Er who is left for dead on the battlefield. Twelve days later he awakens on his own funeral pyre, and later tells a remarkable tale of what he observed while he was suspended between life and death. Er found himself in a kind of way station between heaven and earth where souls were passing from one plane to the other. Dead souls were waiting to be judged and assigned to their reward or punishment, while other souls prepared for their journey to earth. Some were old souls returning for another go-round; others were freshly minted and awaiting their first life on Earth.
As Er’s story brought us to one point where the waiting souls are presented with many possible life scenarios, and are advised to choose from these “samples of lives.” Plato informs us that “there were many more lives than the souls present, and they were of all sorts. There were lives of every animal and of man in every condition,” including tyrants. I reflect on this story seeing my own soul having discussion with a team of guides about what needs to be done in order to progress on my soul’s enlargement journey. But the process of returning soul has some protocol to follow.
Before entering life on the Earth plane, however, the souls were led to the plain of Forgetfulness, a barren waste with no vegetation, where they were required to drink from the river of ‘Un – mindfulness’. They then promptly forgot everything that had just happened to them. The reason is obvious: if I know in advance exactly what’s going to happen in my life, I would have great difficulty making decisions or taking actions that are intended to teach me something, often through painful experiences. I might naturally be reluctant to begin a relationship with someone who I knew would hurt me, even though I needed to learn a valuable lesson from that person.
Whether we are ready to take this myth literally or simply as a teaching device of Plato’s, we can use it to gain a higher perspective on our life. From my soul perspective, If I think of my life’s direction as something to which I have agreed, then what formerly seemed like arbitrary or even absurd conditions can be seen in another light. Suddenly, I didn’t see tragedy or failure; I just saw a new milestone on my soul road map that I have agreed to follow. Each event, each person of any significance whom you encounter, has an agreed-on role in your learning experience.
On the personal level, sometimes the learning is difficult because you don’t always surrender to the situation. It takes time for me to see the reasons for it but self-reflection serves me in my soul search. Caroline shared a tip on how to travel “sooner you do, the less painful it becomes.” In time, I might learn to accept each event as it happens without struggling against it and prolonging your psychic — and physical — suffering. Reading this golden wisdom, I got a few flashbacks to my life.
To have a serious illness or injury is difficult enough; seeing it as a punishment or the cruel caprice of fate only makes it harder to bear. The resulting stress will probably also make it worse, and you will take longer to heal or recover.
Naturally, we cannot be expected to see everything immediately, or in advance. But knowing a way of looking at the symbolic meaning of your experiences, I will be better prepared to accept the inevitable changes to your life. Fighting change builds up emotional scar tissue.
Surrendering to divine allows you to accept the changes, and get on with your life.
Excerpted from Veronika’s study materials – Sacred Contracts with Caroline Myss.
YOGA and TRAVEL 