EMBARKING ON THE GREATEST JOURNEY OF YOUR LIFE
Volume 1

The Master’s Story

There was once a man who searched far and wide the world over for love, peace, happiness and the meaning of life. After many years of searching without success, he had grown old and tired, and decided to go home.

One day whilst sitting in deep contemplative meditation, the man was struck by the sudden and profound realization that the elusive love, peace, happiness and meaning of life that he had been looking for his whole life had been there all the while…in his heart. And from then on, the man became a great Master, teaching that the truth is right within our very hearts and there is nowhere else we can go to find it.

The Journey Home

The greatest journey of your life is the journey into your heart. It is going back to who you were at the beginning of your time on this planet, before the mind and the world of thought got in the way. You were born “in” your heart, which is your real Home. But you grew up in your mind. The journey back into the heart from where you came is, “The Journey Home”.

The Master’s story is a story of going back into the heart where one’s true being resides. It is the place where everything you will ever want or need is. It is a long passage where some people will not make it to the end; but if you are one of those who triumphs, it will be the greatest journey of your life.

Here are 7 things to start you off on your journey:

1. You Are Not The Mind

You were not born thinking but born feeling. It can be said that much of your cognitive abilities of thinking, remembering, judging, and problem-solving are a product of your parental and social conditioning. As a result of this conditioning, you are a separate individual with a separate identity from others. This eventually developed into the “mask”, otherwise known as the “ego”, that you wear and present to the outside world.

Many masters will tell you that you are not your mind, that you are more than your mind, your ego, your human-given identity. You are much, much more. And the moment you recognize that you are more than your mind is the moment you begin to set yourself free from the programs and conditioning that you had been subject to since birth.

2. You Have A Purpose In Your Life

The Universe truly loves you and It has a grand plan for you. You are a unique individual in your own right and you have a special talent that no one else in this world has. You count for something. Your first and foremost job is to discover what that something is.

Make a list of your strengths, and see how you can put these strengths to good use to add value to yourself, to others and to the planet. To add value to yourself is to make yourself bigger than who you are right now by acknowledging, displaying and using your talents. To add value to others is to help others experience good things when you use your talents to benefit them. To add value to the planet is to make the world a better place by the use of your talents to add value to yourself and to others.

For example, if you are good at public speaking: speak to motivate others. If you are good at music: play your music to bring joy to others.

3. Your Experiences Are Treasure Troves Of Learning & Growth

Know that we do not “suffer” aimlessly for nothing. Although it goes against the grain of our conditioned understanding, there is reason and purpose for the difficulties or tribulations we face in life. When you have a “problem”, it is no accident. What you need to do is resolve the “problem” and reflect on the experience so that you can learn something from it and grow. The challenge is finding out what the lesson is, learning it and changing your outlook or behavior. By changing your outlook and behavior, you then change the outcomes in your life for better. This is how you have a better control over your life.

For example, you may be presently suffering an abusive relationship which you feel you cannot get out of. This perhaps is rooted in the lack of self-love, where you think you do not deserve better. So until you learn to forgive and love yourself, you will remain stuck in such abusive relationships wherever you go. Leaving the present relationship may only land you with another abusive partner until you learn the lesson of knowing that you deserve better.

Thus life’s unpleasant experiences are really gifts for you to realize that something about you needs “fixing”. Your job is to take responsibility and action to find out what it is you have to fix, and fix it so that your life turns around for the better. If you don’t take responsibility and action for yourself, then do not blame people, events, or situations when you feel unhappy with your life.

4. Be Authentic, Be True, Be Accepting & Be Grateful

Being authentic and true is being your natural self, being who you are at any time and in any situation. It is accepting yourself and who you are without judging yourself or comparing yourself with others.

Being true is also accepting and aligning with your environment. An example is not getting annoyed and complaining about the noise, heat or whatever inconveniences there may be around you. It is loving whatever life offers you and being grateful for them. A serene, accepting attitude like this allows for peace to enter into your life.

You may ask, “How can I improve my life if I accept and love everything that I am not happy with?”

This is where a deeper truth lies. Accepting does not mean that you do not improve your life situation. It does not mean doing nothing to improve and evolve your experiences. What accepting means is simply to be at a non-resisting PEACEful state, or at-ONE-ment, with yourself, your situation and your environment.

5. Trust The Process Of You Becoming

You cannot help but eventually become who you really are, like a bud which cannot become anything else but bloom into a beautiful flower. You are built to become a more and more beautiful version of you through your learning, growth and expansion. So trust and allow the process to take place without resisting.

You resist when you have fear. Take fear out of the equation and you will do fine. Fear is what stops or slows you down from claiming your true self. To drop the wall of fear is not an easy feat for many but it can be done. And once it’s dropped, you will see and experience for yourself the power within you that was hidden by the wall of fear. And that is when you fly and soar to greater heights than where you once were.

Know that you can never be wrong. For every “mistake” that you make in the process of you becoming is another step towards the full glory of your real being. There is no wrong or mistake in nature. Everything that happens, including the so-called “catastrophes” and “disasters”, in nature has a purpose to it. In the bigger scheme of things, everything that happens in nature is merely a step in her elegant dance of balance and perfection. And since you a part of nature you are also a part of that perfection.

Believe that you are greater than who you think you are because in truth, you are. Believe that the Universe is here with you to support and push forward your unfoldment into the greater you.

6. Forgive

Many people have a heart that is closed, wounded and afraid. Some of the fears that a closed heart protects itself from are the fear of being hurt, rejected, criticized or abandoned. On a daily basis, people go through the pains and hurts of relationships whether with lovers, spouses, parents or friends. The closed and wounded heart is a result of the inability to deal with emotional hurts and pains.

If your heart is closed, take positive action to heal your wounded heart. The first thing to do is forgive: forgive yourself for you did not know better, forgive others who have hurt you and seek forgiveness from those you have hurt. Clear yourself of all the stale energies that are choking up the pathways that lead up to the final leg of the journey into your heart.

You will know that you have forgiven the person when you think of the past event and you do not feel the sting of that event in your heart anymore.

7. Open Your Heart

Love – the final act where you are knocking at the door of your heart to complete your journey Home. Love yourself, love others and love life. Love without condition, love without fear. Love without expecting any love in return. Love like the world ends today and as if there will be no more humanity left on earth tomorrow.

Open your heart and keep it open to give and receive the  abundance of love and happiness you are continuously creating, when you love without limits.

Know that if you cannot love yourself, someone or life unconditionally, it shows that your mind or ego is in the way and you are back where you were before – in the head.

The Journey Now Completes And You Are Home

The path to the heart is not a direct one. It holds many twists and turns, and this is one reason why it is a long journey. Like the Master in our opening story, you will have little choice but to “journey far and wide” and you will come back to find that what you were looking for had all the while been here in your heart, your real Home.

During your journey you will encounter many experiences good and bad – none of which are wasted – because your experiences will help you chart a map to navigate the road back to your heart.

You will find that “The Journey Home” is simply a journey within yourself. It may be a long and difficult passage, but it will be the greatest journey of your life.