The Shift from Sheep to Shepherd of Your Own Soul: A Life Purpose Manifesto

By S.L. "Raja" Crumby

As a precursor to a “new world unfolding,” the unsettling undercurrents of rampant change have instigated a shift that is fostering a revolution in consciousness. Its momentum is fueled by an inner discontent, the dynamics of which are tugging at the very fiber of our collective souls. The Shift from Sheep to Shepherd of Your Own Soul - A Life Purpose Manifesto is a work that resonates in rapt accord with the times we face. This shift portends a “spiritual recalibration” that is bent on drawing each of us into remembrance of our unassailable contract with the energies that fostered us into existence. At its crux, it is availing us the opportunity to confront and reexamine what we’ve embraced as immutable; or as our principles, core values and ultimate truth.

Our contract with life is a “commitment to authentic living” that encompasses the higher tenets of each of our roles as cosmic citizens. Consequently, we are each charged with making choices that will either usher us into alignment with the truth of our reason for being, or herd us deeper into the stockyards of sheep consciousness.
In The Shift from Sheep to Shepherd of Your Own Soul - A Life Purpose Manifesto, Raja (Certified Life Coach, Life Purpose Consultant, Singer/Songwriter, and Author) steps boldly into his calling. He avails wisdom gleaned from mastering life circumstance to set a baseline for exploring, disclosing and counteracting the programming and subsequent behavioral patterns that have rendered mass consciousness obliged to being herded as sheep.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781929526024

Book preview

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Chapter 2

A Spiritually Stagnant Sstatus Quo

The insight gleaned from embarking my life journey with conscious intent has delivered me to a space absent doubt that each of us has a purpose and reason for being on earth. I am just as certain that, at some critical point in life, we each yearn or have yearned to plumb the depths of our soul to reconnect with and live from that purpose. Yet, as we find ourselves grappling to adjust to the rate at which rampant change is eroding our comfort levels, many seem to have bartered the pursuit of purpose in exchange for the slimmest hope of survival. Consequently, as the result of having our perceptions of reality and normalcy redefined, our souls are left to commiserate in the midst of heaps of evidence that we’ve lost governance over fundamental aspects of our lives.

Instigated by an impending sense of insolvency or bankruptcy, an inordinate amount of fear seems to resonate from our collective core. The inherent sense of futility that accompanies our continually altered sense of reality does little to support the notion of the purposefulness of the individual soul, and whether that purposefulness confers any true power of self-determination.

Yet, even in the midst of disillusionment, doubt and fear, needful answers are being summoned from the depths of our collective souls. Riding on the wings of the adage that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear, timely and highly relevant responses to these and other pertinent inquiries are pressing through the malaise to anchor themselves at the forefront of our consciousness. This desire for greater self-awareness is evidence of the perpetual thrust of our souls’ quest for mastery. Thus, individually and collectively we are being summoned into alignment with the true intent and purpose of our sojourn to the earth realm. Though most often incomprehensible to our conscious minds, resting at our core - or at the seat of our souls - is clear knowledge of our life’s purpose or reason for being. Considering that most people struggle for a lifetime only to succumb to cluelessness, it’s understandable how the above declaration could easily be dismissed as outlandish - if not absurd. Yet, inherent to the nature of the soul is an urge compelling each of us to search our depths to flush out the requisites of this encoded, spiritual dictate. In fact, if we could learn to think clearly and live freely - absent the undue influence of external programming - we would recognize our soul’s intent as it unfolds in our daily activities.

We would learn to acknowledge its dictate as the lifeblood of our daily quest for the fruitful deployment of our creative energies. We would learn to acknowledge it as the impulse to: work; play; laugh; cry; love; sit in silence; or engage in revelry – all in its season and to the delight and benefit of our souls. Though often faint and largely ignored, the call to this space of clarity resounds with each breath we take in every moment of our lives. Even so, plumbing our depths to apprehend the details of our call to life is an endeavor that fails to capture and retain much of our attention. Conversely, we’re trained to focus on the so called human aspects of existence and the demands their maintenance places on our attention and intention. So, by default, our consciousness and creative energies are consigned to cultivating crops that feed and fuel the arduous and soul debilitating task of one dimensional or external living. This outer oriented life focus obliges us to dismiss the significance of each of the soul’s memos promoting the journey within. Consequently, the process of acquainting ourselves with the dynamics that sponsored us into existence gets skirted to what might be conveniently termed a spiritual version of file 13, or the self-knowledge trash can.

The result of such posturing is that our pursuit of clarity around the questions of Why we are here and what is our reason for being? rarely extends beyond what we take from the residual fallout from the debate between creationists, evolutionists and such. In fact, for many, the notion of a life view anchored from within, and directed from a vision of ourselves as anything more substantial than physical beings is disorienting if not fearfully discombobulating. Though we tend to season our lives with the salt and pepper of religiosity, and garnish them with a spiritual motive; this fear regulates conscious awareness of our life intent to nothing more than the burgeoning content of a soul reduced to serving as a waste container for unfulfilled life aspirations.

A Personal Responsibility

As spiritual beings embarking the earthly path of human evolution, we each bear responsibility for saving ourselves from such a fate. We do so through constructing and maintaining a conduit or channel of conscious awareness through which the intuitively decoded details of our life purpose may flow, take form and gain expression in the physical world. Abdicating this responsibility, by dismissing the occasion to awaken to our soul’s intent, is not without consequence. In fact, the result of drifting in this sea of spiritual listlessness is a quiet yet deep lethargy that fosters an erosion of personal willpower. This lack of willingness to allow our consciousness to become imbued with a level of divine curiosity sufficient to inspire us to live from our core truth has produced a state of collective consciousness that is spiritually malignant. Evidence of this cancerous erosion of spiritual integrity is extracted from our collective embrace of such misconceptions as ignorance is bliss.

Having become seduced by such myths, we submit to living in ignorance as though, ultimately and despite our tendency to ignore that which has been clearly set before us, divine intent will miraculously override our resistance and save us from ourselves. Rather than sweeping us up and having its way with us, our abstinence has produced ample evidence that we are left to mitigate the compromising and tumor-laden effects of this complacency for ourselves. Our level of success can be measured in terms of our collective physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual health. The shift that is occurring in consciousness is one whereby - rather than processing our challenges and obstacles in ways that render us stifled, marginalized, powerless, and deposed - through compassion, our minds, hearts and spiritual eyes are being prompted open. During this time of expansion, we are being urged to embrace the truth and responsibility inherent in our continued presence on earth. Though the emphasis for most is primarily on personal growth or the need for expanded awareness; existing in conjunction with discovering and fulfilling our personal objectives is another equally important, spiritually encoded dictate. This responsibility speaks to each of our contribution to uplifting or positively impacting the energy estate of our earth home and all of its inhabitants.

In that a better you and I make for a better world, together, you and I are consigned to deploy our inherent good or what I’ll term our humanity quotient to support and elevate the collective vibration of goodwill. In essence, we are enrolled to infuse our life experiences and human interactions with torrents of love, compassion and empathy that are compelling enough to outstrip, override and neutralize resident imposing, malevolent vibrations of inhumanity. We are each enrolled to counteract such vibrations as hatred, fear, intolerance and indifference – to name a few. Thus, in no uncertain terms, the fate of our individual quest to live purposeful and fulfilling lives rests equally with how well we service the call to support the efforts of others to draw forth and live from the deeper vestiges of their humanity. As we show up daily to make our influence known, doing well hinges upon the depth of our commitment to embrace all experience and each encounter as the gift of an opportunity to fulfill our purpose. Through embracing, seeking to understand and, ultimately, harmonizing or mastering the challenges we encounter, our lives become both a testament to our commitment to live consciously as well as a model of humanity from which our fellow travelers might draw guidance and strength.

Sadly, the lack of a longstanding commitment to such an ethos is evidenced by the character of the energy environment we’ve created thus far – an environment that is fear-riddled and, thus, anything but harmonious. It’s undeniable that, rather than mutually supported efforts to promote and engender harmony, an attraction to more volatile and combustive manifestations constitutes the predominant pull on our emotional and psychological energies. This penchant plays out on the world stage as well as within the more private dynamics of our interpersonal relationships. It seems that fanning the flames of disharmony and discord is preferable to focusing our conscious intent and will on the task of forging mutually rewarding life experiences. Even so, a quiet though potent urge to align with the higher tenets of our humanity has begun to surface. Egged-on by a much-heralded call to awaken to our inherent rights and responsibilities as cosmic citizens, a spiritual dictate has been invoked to incite the uprooting of longstanding patterns of thought and behavior that have threatened our collective solvency. This revolution, which takes dead aim at stagnancy as represented by incumbent, status quo beliefs and behavior patterns, lies at the crux of a spiritual unrest that is tugging at the creative energies of all sentient beings.

Chapter 3

A Fortuitous Time for Humanity

Though by nature propitious, the subsequent and seemingly unmitigated upheaval caused by this revolutionary surge is instigating challenges that test the limits of what many souls feel they can bear. Evidence of our struggle to properly mitigate the bombardment of energies fueling this change is mounting. The associated stress level can be directly attributed to our current level of collective consciousness, or to the degree to which we are deflecting our responsibility by resisting the call to move into proper alignment. This reaction merely reflects the depth of our psychological and spiritual entrenchment. When met with the energies of resistance and confusion (an unrighteous reaction borne of fear of the unknown), the imposing and seemingly egregious demand to release our attachment to the familiar in favor of realignment with our souls’ dictate manifests as a sense of displacement. This sense of being lost in the shuffle engenders the disconsolate energies of resentment and dissension.

Along with negatively impacting our inner world, these inordinate emotional reactions impact the astral or unseen emotional plains of existence. Once released into the atmosphere they manifest outwardly in civil, economic and relational discord. When played out against a backdrop of fear for our personal survival, this emotional and psychological turmoil and its subsequent dis-ease, violence and bloodletting place an inordinate strain upon our individual and collective humanity. The righteous response to this vexation is to open ourselves to the possibility that our current times and circumstances offer if but a hidden opportunity to spiral upward. Trusting in this potential of a hidden seed of greater benefit is an imperative. It is needful for qualifying us to consciously participate in the cosmic quest to unearth, embrace and extol the tenets and virtues of our higher calling.

Simultaneously, as we open ourselves to these heightened levels of awareness, we must bolster our spiritual immune system. We can do so through honing a penchant for filtering all of our perceptions of reality through the cosmic vision of ourselves as protected by the divinely reinforced will of our souls. Also, rather than focusing on exclusively selfish outcomes, we must commit to questing for outcomes that reflect what is best and highest for all concerned. This shift in perspective, alone, will flush our souls of the residual and infectious effects of lifetimes of processing our experiences and perceptions of others and ourselves through consciousness filters that are clogged with the palpable, malodorous residue of stinking thinking.

We Chose This Time to Rise!

Among the common foibles that derail our attempts at spiraling beyond mediocrity are the subtle roles we play in tipping the scales of human interaction in ways that promote discord. Raising the vibrational frequency on this dissonance requires that our ego attachment to our perception of right and wrong and other limited, self-serving anchors give way to the deeper and yet simpler reality of our connectedness. Thus, the crux of the shift that is occurring in collective consciousness is an occasion to alter our course in a way that aligns us with the highest objectives of our individual and collective souls. Our willingness to take the higher path of releasing our attachment to what we think we know, and the extent to which we are willing to go to prove we are right will forge a clearing for embarking a more direct journey to true self-knowing and authentic self-expression.

Though the prospect of navigating the carnage strewn terrain of our current estate in search of higher ground seems daunting, the key to reviving awareness of our divine rights to self-definition and self-determination demand that we embark such an expedition. The alternative is to continue to meander down a path that unquestionably leads to slaughter. Plodding aimlessly down this path would be tantamount to rendering our hopes for a greater, vitalized, more fully expressed humanity to the killing fields of self-delusion.

There’s a new Shepherd in Town!

As the disruptive tenor of upheaval resonates round about, the personal stress and indecisiveness that often manifest in such auspicious times has become palpable. And though imposing personalities continue to project themselves onto our consciousness as the default purveyors of enlightenment, from a cosmic perspective, it seems as though the sheep are without effective if not compassionate shepherds. Our long-held and lofty expectation of the good shepherd is that he would lay down his life (or his self-serving agenda) for his sheep. Yet our collective hopes for a fuller expression of our humanity are continually rendered subject to the whims and follies of those who excel at exploitation and political, corporate and religious malfeasance. The societal carnage accrued through economic finagling and political infighting provides ample evidence that the good shepherds of the earth realm – those to whom we’ve surrendered an inordinate stake in our right to self-determination – have abandoned these high aspirations along with other key tenets of stewardship. To collateralize their ego-centered power struggles and social-political and economic shell games, many have sold their souls to mammoth corporations and other self-enriching entities.

Using our hopes and dreams as collateral, they have mortgaged the very essence of our existence and that of ensuing generations. Thus, as a result of our own acquiescence, political, economic and other imposing challenges to the pursuit of individual purpose have cast daunting shadows over our collective horizon. Left to meander on the plain, the sheep have fallen prey to the blood lusts of wolves, coyotes, wild dogs, and jackals. To the ear of the shepherd, their voices are but a far-off cry; as they are doggedly pursued, run down and dragged off to the periphery for slaughter. The shock and awe effect of the subsequent carnage has registered a soul-rending impact upon the humanity vested in collective consciousness. Yet, we are slow to respond in defense of the sanctity of the human spirit. The sense is that our capacity for buffering ourselves against similar assault is, at best, marginal. Therefore, it serves us best to do all we can to avoid the line of fire.

As members of the submissive flock that constitutes mass consciousness, having failed to delve to our core to find and anchor ourselves at the center of our being, we are left to aimlessly fend among the ruins in search of a covering for our souls. Cowering beneath a common shroud of fear, while resuscitating our hopes for better days, we relish the occasion to nurse our wounds. The atmosphere of our environs is permeated with an emotional mist that has induced a pensive and uneasy overshadowing for our souls. Yet, this is the space that has been provided for the wool to be removed from our eyes. This is the opening that has been carved out so that we can clearly see to the core of institutional motive, as well as to the core of divine intent.

Though the torrents of upheaval relentlessly pummel the shores of our resolve, our capacity to rise and surmount their imposition remains intact. If nothing else, their indiscriminate buffeting affords the opportunity to reinforce the tattered threads of the common chord of humanity that invests our souls. Never before has it become so clear to so many that we are in this boat together. As rocky as the seascape appears, feelings that our vessel (collective consciousness) has taken on a perilous course and appears to face a dire fate are mutually understood. Though we have obviously suffered substantial wind damage and taken on a great deal of water, we’re far from the point of needing to consider abandoning the ship. All that is required are some significant yet crew-worthy repairs. These repairs are something we can indeed handle. In fact, our presence, here for this particular advent in human evolution, speaks well of our individual and collective grit. Our presence signifies that we each have what it takes to aid in facilitating a much anticipated and much needed shift in collective consciousness. It also denotes our willingness to dispense with jaded and obsolete aspects of our human expression...aspects that have been rendered rank and ragged. As such, they are detrimental to our prospects for ascension. So, as a prerequisite for redefining and properly imposing our will for our future, we are afforded the opportunity to reconvene the huddled masses, and to openly declare our allegiance to the task of totally unleashing our humanity.

We are in the midst of navigating, potentially, the most volatile age in human history. Thus, a call has gone out alerting us to awaken to our souls’ efforts to arise, unearth and embrace the spiritual benefits or growth opportunities embedded in these difficult times. While the direction we take remains a matter of personal choice, the consequences of not choosing wisely continue to accrue and intensify to our collective detriment. Consequently, guidance that revitalizes us by clearly speaking to the needs of our individual soul is sorely needed. As a reminder of the covenant made with the spiritual and ancestral energies that sponsored you into existence, I am inspired to aid in awakening the inherently encoded though seemingly nescient energies of our Spiritual DNA. This spiritually-encoded blueprint contains the memory of our souls’ commitment to consciously participate in propagating a deeper, more dynamic experience of our collective humanity.

The particulars of the roles, tools, talents, and gifts we each bring to bear coincide to form our core energies. These are the qualities that define and fuel our authentic expression. An inherent knowledge of these energies is deeply ingrained within the fiber of our souls. This awareness resonates with what the Universe is calling forth from the inhabitants of the earth realm at this time. Consequently, the code for unlocking this knowledge is revealed with each step taken in pursuit of a greater awareness of our authentic selves. We are more than useless eaters,¹ perennial placeholders or pawns in a global domination chess match. We each possess and are empowered to deploy inherent qualities needful for confronting and rectifying the imbalances that mark our times.

Though most exercise no conscious governance over their use, these divine qualities are free will or the right to choose the direction our lives will go, and the capacity to connect with and follow an inner source of personal guidance. In that we are each pre-wired for success, this guidance is custom-designed to ensure the success of our souls’ journey. Both of these proficiencies are needful to the maintenance and welfare of our humanity. The pursuits of liberty, justice and authentic self-expression demand that we invoke them with the full thrust of our conviction, and thwart any attempt to dampen their intuitive spark. In fact, any such encroachment should be met with an impenetrable divine resolve.

Chapter 4

The Journey Within

As mentioned earlier, collectively, we’ve created a culture where the quests for self-knowing and self-worth are primarily played out in the external world. This pursuit of external validation has herded us down the dead-end street of ego dominance. Unfortunately, we’ve not only remained content to coalesce there, but we’ve claimed this abode as our home. As such, we’ve used our best creative impulses to decorate, appoint, maintain, and promote this space of ego habitation as the place to be. Though we know within our souls that we’ve made our abode in a strange land, our anticipation is that, despite our lack of will, some benevolent force will gather us up and, as though sheep, lead us home - or to our center. Despite clear and mounting evidence to the contrary, we remain attached to this notion of a cavalry assigned to ride in and rescue us from ourselves. Consequently, we’ve exploited the pathway of acquiescence to its fullest extent.

Rather than arriving at a point of reprieve through surrendering to the call of our true nature, evidence abounds that we are rapidly approaching the apexes of spiritual subterfuge, relational discord and material degradation. As a result, the effects of pressing personal, communal and global unrest have converged in a manner that has invoked a graceful yet urgent mandate for our collective souls. Under this time sensitive edict, we are charged with delving to our core to connect with what is essential for our continued coexistence and mutual prosperity. These essential elements are encapsulated in our authentic expression, or the inherent qualities we each bring to bear on the creative dynamics of the collective. They constitute the unique and invaluable patchwork our presence lends to the quilt of cosmic consciousness. Invoked by divine design, when we are each intertwining, or facilitating in the roles we enrolled to fulfill, the pattern of this quilt becomes intricately interwoven for our collective covering.

There is guidance available for weaving the threads required to naturally assimilate our unique piece of this cosmic comforter. It is gained through the not always simple matter of living authentically - or from our center. The more committed we remain to listen to and live in a manner that honors our inner truth, the clearer become both our unique pathway to authentic living and the impact of our gift to humanity. Life has shown that each person experiencing the same event comes away bearing a different imprint. Consequently, they come away sharing a different story. At the basic level of our humanity, the mutually agreed upon and observable facts of the event might compel each of us to embrace the story as a daunting epic. The varying points of departure are determined by how we each filter the experience through our individual consciousness.

Our consciousness is replete with its own cache of cultural, political, racial, religious, and gender-based as well as other deeply-indoctrinated triggers. Rather than in a way that facilitates our soul’s quest to integrate as a unique patch in the cosmic quilt, these triggers oblige us to filter and, thus, spin the thread in a fashion that reflects our current level of consciousness or degree of openness, receptivity and awareness. Most often, the quest for greater awareness is chased into oblivion by our attachment to a localized and marginalized view of ourselves and others. More often than not, this limited view turns us upon ourselves in a way that creates knots that get transposed onto and, thus, binds our collective potential. This fearful processing modality compels us to peer at life through a small and constricted portal that we come to deem as reality or truth. As a result, rather than allow our experiences to compel us to rise, so that we might view the landscape from a higher or cosmic perspective, our penchant is to allow life’s challenges - particularly challenging interactions with others - to tamp down our courage for embarking the higher path.

To the contrary, for others who are having the same experience the script is allowed to extrapolate into a novel that is both life-enhancing and expansive. Unfolding a grist-grinding adventure that embraces life with a sense of purposefulness, gratitude, awe, and zeal; they nudge themselves forward to fully embrace the opportunity afforded by the experience. The result is the conscious creation of a life of accomplishment and satisfaction. As a natural discourse, their lives bestow manifold benefits to others and themselves. And even still, given the same script or grist to grind, the processing tendencies prompted by the consciousness of another may compel him or her to author a production that is nothing less than a horror flick. Obliged to channel his or her creativity into casting the ghosts and other scary characters required to populate his or her vision, theirs is just as powerful a testament to the highly dynamic and acutely creative nature of one’s individual perception of truth.

It is endemic to mass consciousness to struggle with or even denounce the notion of a truth that is more profound, liberating and empowering than the half-baked declarations of the altered ego. Even so, the call has gone out to awaken from our slumber and not only embrace such a reality but to delight in it; particularly since that bedrock of that truth is deposited within your own soul. Consequently, I offer The Shift: From Sheep to Shepherd of Your Own Soul – A Life Purpose Manifesto, as a snooze alert to accentuate the inner and outer wake up calls implicit in these auspicious times. My determination to make it a comprehensive effort has resulted in a rather lengthy reading experience. Since I’m not bound by or particularly interested in convention or daunted by the supposed short attention span of mass consciousness, I chose to remain on task and allow this book space to fulfill its purpose. That purpose is to herald the importance of clearing our consciousness or filter of any impediments to processing our experiences as anything other than the methodical aggregation of opportunities that serve as progressive markers along the path of purposeful living. When seen clearly, regardless of how challenging, each circumstance can be embraced as needful, well-placed and well-timed wake-up calls.

The bottom line is that, simply due to the way we choose to process them, our life experiences can lead us: downward - along the pathway to perpetual misery; or support our commitment to spiral upward - toward life mastery. Thus, the key to mastering life circumstance - in opposed to having it master us - is a matter of processing, or of what we each allow an event or occurrence to mean to us. This magnanimous leap in life perspective requires a level of intuitive surrender sufficient to enable us to clearly discern our ego’s dictates from those of our souls. Obtaining this level of attunement will require that we reorient our lives, or that we begin to honor our spirit’s prompting to live from the inside out.

A necessary key for mastering this level of discernment is in knowing that the ego is obliged to have us remain on alert for occasions to proclaim ourselves victims; while our soul and its life mastery objective demands that we assume the posture – in mind, body and soul – as more than conquerors. Not only do we have the right to choose how we allow events to impact us, but as the essence of Life Mastery, our response ability lies in our penchant for processing the events of our lives in ways that build us up. This ability to respond in ways that build rather than de-construct our sense of mastery over our lives is inherent to our nature. The proper service of its protocol is a soul directive that is foundational to each experience or calling that invests our lives. During this fortuitous season of spiritual recalibration, the proper processing of our life experiences is a directive that forbids us from sleeping through these times of deeply impacting and volatile change.

Redeeming the Time

The world we’ve created is reflecting back to us that we’ve reached the edge of an abyss. In other words, our opportunity to reverse the effects of our deployment of the energies of self-deceit is waning fast. In fact, the consequences for proceeding along our historical path of self-delusion have become both expansive and expensive. At this point in our evolution, we risk the chance of having our temporary states of obliviousness and lack of attentiveness escalate to a permanent and irreversible state of spiritual blindness. Thus, at the crux of these alarms is the need to identify and eradicate the sheepish attitudes, tendencies and behaviors that have historically undermined our efforts to live lives fully fueled by our true nature and purpose. In embracing this timely assignment, the manner in which I share my truth may be viewed by some as caustic, cynical and, perhaps, revolutionary. Nevertheless, I’m clear that, if your determination is to lift the veil of illusory living to clearly glimpse the true intent of your sojourn on planet earth, the insight shared here will, doubtlessly, aid in your efforts.

If your determination is to take the profound leap from merely groping for the truth to seeing, doing and being the truth, I extend a heartfelt welcome. When it’s all said and done, my ultimate hope is that you will become irrefutably inspired to surmount whatever challenges arise to your soul’s quest to live masterfully. My desire is that you become the valuable contributor to the cosmic quilt of enlightened awareness that you enrolled to be. Doing so will require that you make the rightful and ordained transformation from deferring and obliging sheep to shepherd of your own soul.

Chapter 5

What Time is It?

Though change is imminent, its effects are relative to personal circumstances. Yet, there are clear implications that these are auspicious and extraordinary times for us all. In fact, the broad, sweeping nature and accumulated effects of the dynamics that have coalesced to reshape our private and conjoined worlds are unprecedented. So unprecedented are they that some religionists and other prognosticators declare this the oft spoken of end times. Could this indeed be the time that our souls have enrolled to complete a final examination before the last grain of sand trickles through the hour glass, the timer expires and we’re compelled to set our creative pencils (or current level of consciousness) aside? Could this be the age when - before receiving our final grade - we are being brought to terms with what we’ve utilized our God-given energies to create? Or are we simply experiencing the results of spiraling downward after failing, again, to heed the spiritual lessons of a checkered if not beleaguered past?

Whether we have: reached the end of an age; are at the ebb of a repetitive cycle; or somewhere in-between is debatable. What seems clear is that - as though singular grains of a buttressing sandbar consigned to buffet the ebb and flow of a storm-tossed tide – the energy of the times we currently face has presented each of us with challenges sufficient for either proving or disproving our mettle. Due to an aggregation of material resources, you may inhabit circumstances that provide a safe buffer from the brunt of the more visible aspects of this recycling of the energy of our collective intent. These aspects include the economic downturn that has left millions jobless, homeless and grappling to fend-off despair. They also include bearing witness to the health and life force of persons near and dear to us wane and fade; due to the inordinate level of stress that accompanies these weighty times…stress that is accentuated by the inability to afford sufficient health care. If so, I ask your indulgence as I do my part to define the landscape over which masses are compelled to tread.

Confronted with change that strikes so unexpectedly - affecting us to the core of our existence – it’s not uncommon to attempt to take firm hold of any remnants of the old and familiar that we can latch onto. In fact, if you are currently struggling on some level to stay afloat while witnessing your life circumstances altered at a mind-boggling pace, you may prefer nothing more than reinstatement to familiar confines. In exchange, you may be willing to forgo insight into how your current circumstances portend an opportunity to spiral upward to reclaim the true essence and purpose of your life. In an effort to mitigate the effects of having your comfort zones dismantled and familiar buffers and supports summarily stripped away, you may find yourself leaning heavily upon an ideology that trusts things to work out by settling back into normalcy. Thus, you may be content to ignore the call to awaken and seize an opportunity to consciously create the life you were born to live…an opportunity that can only be seized through releasing an undue attachment to the past while questing anew. Or, by contrast, you may be totally attuned to and in alignment with the need to surrender that which you previously valued as irreplaceable. Consequently, you welcome an encounter with the implied benefits of a blind leap into the unknown. Whatever the case, at some level, the story you are about to hear will speak to you - detailing the inherent challenges and opportunities of our times…challenges and opportunities that will test if not tax your desire for true change.

Markers and Milestones

Over the past dozen or so years, with our entry into the new millennium, a clear case can be made that rather than unfold and expand in ways that signal we are becoming braver, stronger, nobler, more hopeful, and more humane; we have experienced a series of debilitating head and gut shots to both our sense of security and belief in our power of self-determination. This assault and our fearful response to it have fostered psychological wounds that have grossly impaired if not severed our connection with our power to envision and create our own reality. In other words, despite our ritualistic demonstrations to the contrary, we have been chased further off center and away from the serenity of the chambers of inner-connectedness with the God of our Being.

Upon using acts of terrorism to administer the initial wounds of gross insecurity to the collective psyche, the grating and pummeling effects of economic instability, health threats and other manipulative maneuvers have delivered subsequent and further debilitating blows. Consequently, we have withdrawn and constricted to what can best be described as defensive posturing. This fearful retreat to the musty, poorly ventilated storm cellar of self-protection has placed us at odds with both the call of our souls as well as our own true nature as co-creators. Our emphasis on self-protection finds us back-peddling into defensiveness, self-coddling and an inordinate sense of detachment. The posturing that sets the foundation for these behaviors reveals a sense of disquiet and desperation that plays out in the form of our addictions to myriad, external stimuli – principally our dependency upon drugs and other intoxicants, as well as an attachment and outright enchantment with electronic devices. As much as it causes us to pull away from each other, the insecurity this defensiveness fosters and shelters is also reflected in our confrontational and, often, rage-filled interactions with others.

I reference this twelve year time line because it clearly delineates a season when the most marked and measurable erosion of our sense of security and power of self-determination occurred across all levels of our existence. On the economic side, consider that when former President Bush took office, in January of 2000:

•  Gasoline prices averaged $1.49 per gallon

•  The federal budget boasted a surplus of some $236 billion

•  The housing market was stable and growing

For untold numbers, keeping pace with the essential costs of living cast them into the same lot as millions who lost their homes due to various inequities and blatant frauds perpetrated by the mortgage industry. Relatively few were forced to choose whether spending their last for food, medication or fuel was more essential to making it through the day. At this point in my writing: the federal budget for fiscal year 2012² is projected to register a $1.3 trillion deficit; the housing market continues to implode to the extent that, nationwide, 531,576 homes (or one in every 248 U.S. households) were subject to a foreclosure filing during the third quarter of 2011³; and, as the overall foreclosure numbers continue to climb the housing picture is growing even bleaker.

As far back as the summer of 2008, we were hustled into feeling a certain sense of gratitude if we happened upon gasoline priced below the $4.00 per gallon mark. It seems that the winter of 2012/2013 finds us subject to a similar hustle. Consequently, overwhelmed by an economic inability to push through the degradation, and with no leveraging ability or leeway to downgrade, people are literally dying from despair. Add to these bleak statistics unemployment numbers that clearly reflect the accumulated effect of outsourcing jobs to countries where the wholesale purchase of human capital reflects more favorably on the corporate bottom line. When you factor in trade policies that offer and inordinate advantage for foreign investment, the inevitability of over 4.7 million US manufacturing jobs being lost⁴ would require very little foresight. During this period, these factors combined to contribute to a national unemployment rate that spiraled from under 4% to over 10%. Estimates have it settling in at a current rate of about 8%.

Where our humanity is concerned, as impositions to our collective civil liberties and human rights have become regulated into law, our quest to free the untapped creative potential that emanates from our core has suffered a similar assault. As though reining in livestock who have roamed and ranged too far and too freely, an invisible though preventative fence has been erected - if but in our minds. It is purposed there to reinforce boundaries that, heretofore, were unconscionable to eyes encouraged to see beyond limitations. These same eyes are now wide with dismay, as the restructuring of the boundaries of our playpen is a clear signal that the walls or laws of captivity are closing in around us. On the surface, our common discomfort can be reasonably attributed to the litany of challenges listed above. As reasonable stressors, it’s acceptable that they would weigh heavily upon on our psyches and, thus, impact our everyday lives. Yet, at the depth of our being is an awareness that the crux of our dilemma does not hinge on soaring gasoline prices, manipulated food markets, the mortgage crisis, or widely fluctuating financial markets.

In our souls, we sense that a shift is being summoned forth from each of us. No, no! Not the shift of your assets into the hands of the oil barons or others who are already fat and frothing from excess. Nor am I speaking of the overly emphasized and cleverly devised illusion of a shift in the global climate, due to human disregard for the environment. It’s without question that, collectively, we have become somewhat derelict in regards to planetary housekeeping. Yet training our attention and resources on the external effects of this neglect while skirting the condition of our collective internal environment (or the source of the negligent behaviors that sponsor those effects) are nothing less than blatant acts of pillage and deception. In essence, these are but hearty distractions, engineered to divert our attention from more critical matters of the soul and spirit.

Even so, as we grapple to absorb and disperse the impact of the variable shock waves that have rippled through and shook our foundations, a clear and unique challenge or opportunity has arisen. That challenge/opportunity is to – once and for all - solve the mystery of our true identity and, consequently, connect with and live from our center or true source of empowerment. Toward this end, the shift that I speak of foretells a recalibration of the very fabric, fiber, content, and intent of our lives. Its dynamics mimic the heave-ho of a tug of war occurring across a bottomless abyss. As though a needful riff to the disconcerting melody of a plethora of faltering financial institutions; its staging provides a much needed opportunity to take clear stock of where our capital investment of core values is deposited. At issue is whether our resident identity, limited self-perception or altered-egos will succeed in dragging us over the edge; or whether we will courageously choose to release the rope and walk away to embark a journey into the unknown. Choosing the former portends willingness to squander our resources in an attempt to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation on an obsolete and fatally wounded paradigm. Choosing the latter portends the willingness to embrace the occasion to facilitate a much needed paradigm shift…an occasion that portends the opportunity to know and experience ourselves anew.

Though riddled with uncertainties and potential hazards, rather than an untenable impasse, this point of deliberation heralds an occasion to clearly navigate a major fork in the road of our souls’ evolution. In that these challenges invite us to delve to our core to ferret out the true source as well as the optimum solution to our tumult, these times and the challenges they afford are gifts engendered by our collective souls’ quest for mastery. They constitute a prime opportunity to awaken and consciously choose to embrace our birthright; which is to spiral upward, and to glory in an unfettered, authentic expression of liberty. As choices go, they also afford the option to continue to allow our primitive survival instinct to press upon our consciousness and to herd us - as sheep. The implications of this choice are clear. They portend a downwardly spiraling path into darkness, disillusionment, captivity, and fear. Though it would constitute the epitome of neglect - in that the mounting carnage has become difficult to ignore or navigate around – free will affords us the option of parading along as though things are normal. Under the seemingly noble auspices of making the best of a bad situation, we can attempt to ignore that which we don’t care to see; hoping that things will - of themselves - shift for the better.

In looking to our past, we have undoubtedly encountered and weathered difficult times before. Therefore, we can reason that this is just another cyclical occurrence. We can assume, again, that political puppetry will, in some way, make all things whole. Yet, even after the election of a new President, four years ago, our hopes that a turnabout would occur through political good will, or that our ills would be assuaged through the benevolent acts of those who, presumably, care and know better for us than we do ourselves have rapidly waned. Implications are that, in the vein of perpetuating a preset agenda, we are obliged to experience more of the same. The fact is that hopes of different results from the same old posturing not only reveal the depth of our delusion but underscore a reluctance to read the writing on the wall. This script bears no need for translation. To the common observer, it openly and emphatically declares the need for the emergence of something more from the humanity invested within our souls.

History has shown that - left to the machinations of the past (such as looking outside ourselves to politics, religion or other institutionalized problem solvers), unchecked and mounting cycles of discomfort continue to grow and foster imminent demise. Consequently, in lieu of turning inward to anchor ourselves, the threat is that our acquiescence will morph into a greater degree of disassociation from our inner source of vitality and from each other. The Source that I speak of is commonly referred to as God, or the conscious, core, creative energy that fosters and supports the existence of all that is. When we are not anchored from our core and living from its inherent, spiritual guidance, we are impaired from utilizing our ability to create, generate and perpetuate the best and highest experiences available for ourselves and others. When living from the outside in, our life orientation and the success it fosters depends upon our proficiency at manipulating external circumstance. Given this orientation, when confronted and overwhelmed by circumstances or entities that are more forceful and presumed more powerful, our tendency is to either defer or become defensive and combative. I refer to this state as living forcefully rather than gracefully.

Being confronted with the inherent limits of this external orientation sponsors a sense of futility, powerlessness and despair. This state is reflected in the rightful disdain we have for the dysfunctional and malfunctioning mechanisms of the political and governmental systems that presume to serve us. Having been seduced by the notion that systems are put into place to ensure our welfare, it’s only reasonable that an ear-piercing, heart-rending alarm sounds when the contrary reality of their ulterior motive starts to settle in. The result is tantamount to the proverbial and rarely welcome rude awakening. An example of such an awakening occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Through elevating procedure above humanity, the cavalry that rode in to, presumably save the day took it upon itself to attempt to subdue, conquer and destroy the wills of all sheep that resisted subjugating the essential needs of their humanity to system demands. After running into walls of restriction or having them close in and topple over us, a level of discontent accrues that causes the human spirit to become overwhelmed by acquiescence or incited to revolt. Though easily projected onto the circumstances or entities with which we have come to a head, these energy estates reflect the consequences of having surrendered our power to the indiscriminate administration of outside forces.

Though we are clear that a seemingly irreparable chasm exists between our humanitarian concerns and the priorities of these systems of pseudo-representation; despite their ineptness, we continue to sponsor, fund and promote them rather than bond together to demand change. At this point in our evolution, though compelled to navigate a narrow passage of seemingly unparalleled hardship, we are charged with outstripping the compliance through fear and intimidation model that underpins these systems. Thus, we are undergoing the last bastions of conditioning that will enable us to muster the strength of will to rise above our penchant for being browbeaten by them and herded into compliance. Toward that end, living gracefully rather than forcefully does not require that we roll over and submit to being forced into compliance with anything that disrupts our right to live authentically. To the contrary, rather than continue to genuflect and surrender our will, as though we are woeful and direction-less sheep, this is our time to storm the gate of the stockyard. Though I am of the belief that such is rarely the case in terms of rightful human interactions, there are times and circumstances where the use of force presents as the best and highest option. Yet, living gracefully demands that, rather than becoming an arm-wrestler whose default response is to meet force with force, the grace that accompanies the commitment to self-awareness, self-knowing and self-mastery beckons that we direct our attention and intention inward, so that our responses will demonstrate an unmitigated capacity for self-determination through self-mastery.

An Opportunity Rising

Considering the pressure of the times, the first order of business is to take stock of any fear surrounding the impact shifting economic and other external indicators are having on our sense of self-determination. It’s important to be mindful that an inability to see a clear outcome and suitable end to our challenges does not equate into powerlessness. In fact, it presents the needful occasion to summon our will power to train our intention, thoughts and actions on creating outcomes that we desire to see. So, whether you can see light at the end of the tunnel or not, take heart. A new dawn is indeed rising. Though illusory to the world of form, a veil has lifted, disclosing unheralded opportunities for a true awakening. This awakening is nothing less than the onset of a clearing in our consciousness. This clearing constitutes the breaking up of the fallow ground, in preparation for the planting, fertilization and irrigation of the seeds of the highest tenets of our humanity.

In esoteric and spiritual circles, the removal of the scales of self-delusion has been the source of great anticipation for some time. In such circles, the year 2012 has borne significance as the time when cycles of 26,000 and 5125 years would culminate. This merging point is heralded as a time when an event in consciousness synonymous with the biblical separating of the wheat from the tares⁵ will occur. At this time, it is anticipated that the consciousness of planet earth will begin to recalibrate in order to support our collective quest to move into mastery. The subsequent upheaval portends an opportunity to maximize the life force invested within our being. Moving in accord with these torrents of change will enable each of us to become liberated from the limitations of a historical, soul-eroding self-perception. This shift in our vision of ourselves will, subsequently, liberate us from servitude to lives driven by fear, fate, circumstance, and the imposing agendas of others.

Everybody’s Searching for a Hero

In times of great change, history has documented the existence of those who have studied cosmic rhythms and patterns for the purpose of positioning themselves as shepherds over a generally confused and highly submissive flock. Time and again, many have capitalized on the anxiety induced by such times to herd humanity into directions that serve their malevolent aims. Representing an authoritative glass ceiling superimposed upon mass consciousness, these presumed experts or good shepherds have positioned themselves as the primal molders, movers and shakers of the reality that underpins, permeates and perpetuates world consciousness. They are the so-called experts, holding sway over the areas that most indelibly impact our daily lives - areas such as: religion and spirituality; commerce and finance; technology; education; politics; law enforcement; and other areas of social structuring. Touting themselves the preeminent experts on human and worldly affairs, through amassed ownership and/or congruent manipulation of the media, these shapers of social consciousness and public opinion have conveniently relieved most of the need and desire to reason and think for themselves. Unlike the common among us, they have mastered the art of patience, as it applies to long-term planning. Consequently, rather than manipulators, many fancy themselves the appointed harbingers of future events.

Exalted as the sages and gurus in their fields of expertise, their prowess for propagating the merits of an allegiance to their take on reality is well codified. Persevering over centuries, they have systematically and ruthlessly embedded, interwoven and deployed machinations of control over every aspect of human life. The end game is to pressure or seduce each of us into surrendering confidence in our ability to create meaningful lives for ourselves. This would leave little choice but to volunteer to have our lives engineered and regulated by their systems. When the essence of life is anchored in the outer world, it is made to seem that our very survival is dependent upon these so-called expert’s interpretations of current and future events. Yet, each of our lives has evidenced the havoc, spiritual chaos and ultimate disempowerment that ingesting this code of dependency ultimately induces.

We have seen the secret lives of presumably resolute and revolutionary politicians peeled back to expose an unseemly underbelly that defies their public persona. We have watched in dismay as highly respected financiers have gutted private pensions and public trusts – egregiously selfish acts that have dismantled the hopes and dreams of millions from all walks of life. We have grown so accustomed to revelations of the underhanded and, often, salacious acts of religious leaders that we hardly lift our heads to lend an ear. Yet even this betrayal of our confidence provides a key element to the ensuing shift. Though, quite often, fostering painful though undeniably needful dark nights for the souls of a loyal and submissive flock, these betrayals serve as suitable wake up calls and, hopefully, stark points of departure for those who license others to map out the course of their lives. Even so, the acceptance and proliferation of the idea that someone else knows our creative essence better than we knows no limit. This self-defeating pattern is matched and superseded by one singular thrust: the willingness of presumed leaders to thwart any attempt to usurp their authority and undermine their influence. Yes, despite the depths of their malfeasance, their sense of privilege and invincibility remains – at least to them and their flock - unquestionable.

History has also chronicled the concurrent existence of souls destined to intercede to insure that these tyrants who fancy themselves shapers of history, are headed-off at the path. The dedicated efforts of these quiet heroes are much needed in times such as these…times when night sweeps, or consciousness blackouts, are instituted, through mass propaganda campaigns and various other means. These calculated assaults are designed to cull the masses in order to weed out dissenters – most notably those who have awakened to the truth of their purpose and reason for being and are inspired to awaken others. The true heroes of our time are neither the prototypical nor mythical sort. They are not the latter-day fulfillment of our desire for a "Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, or a religious savior to emerge and deliver us from the forces of evil. Simply stated, they are each of us, exercising the courage to walk in conscious awareness and unrelenting alignment with the highest potential for our reason for being on the planet at this time.

We are strong individuals of purpose and intent. Yet, more importantly, we are an economy of souls; enjoined and obliged to anchoring and holding the light of spiritual integrity for all humanity. We are cape-less heroes and heroines, committed to focusing acute attention on the need to raise the conscious vibration of all sentient beings inhabiting the planet. We do so by entreating each others’ support of our efforts to serve with love and compassion. In doing so, we stand in the truth that the most precious commodity on earth is not oil, gold, air, or even water. It is the humanity that invests the human beings that inhabit planet earth. As watchmen on the wall and vanguards of a blossoming new relationship with our humanity, our charge is to anchor and hoist a spiritual standard before those forces that - despite their pseudo-humanitarian bent - privately deride and dismiss you, me and the masses as hapless sheep. As exemplified by this excerpt from an episode of the television series Heroes, the opportunity before us is to accept the call to stand up and be counted among the courageous few. It is a call with which we can only resonate when we decide to divest ourselves of our group or sheep mentality, and embark the path of the humanity inspired individual. The quote