Self-made/self-build persons

[maha]

Dear Hari,

I 've heard notion like self-made or self-build person. Somhow it resonates within me with attraction and challenge. Can there be something important behind it? Isn't it that beside moving with a flow, fulfilling our destiny and missions that are already there we still build our future and present experienses, build our life, make ourselves what we meant to be, what we choose to be to fulfill our potential and growth? Perhaps it is related a lot to the process of awareness of our selves, of our essenses, of our plans and decisions for this life that we made in between lives stage? Perhaps it is also about building new structures of ourselves, making new choices for us to be, revising and reconsidering what we are and how we change?

If to approach this issue systemicly on the grounds of scientific metaphysical knowledge, what are the key elements and processes related to building ourselves? If one would start to build oneself or to revise onself from the deepest origins of oneself out into the present and future reality, what would one start with? What stages one would go and would better go? Forming a value structure, choosing one's roles and identities for various contexts? Choosing beliefs to accept, abilities to develop, actions to undertake, surrounding to support? Where would there be a creation, a maintenance and some logical completion of it, stepping into a next cycle?

After all, isn't it that we grow and build even our spiritual bodies, and not only lives on this planet, in this world?

Thank you,

maha

[Hari]

Your two paragraphs refer to two distinct situations. The first rightly assumes that our future development rests upon our present state which is a product of our past experiences. The second seems to raise the hypothetical challenge of creating from scratch a better person.

I think both of these concepts rest on who we are. Since we are all individuated parts of the complete whole (our individuation being practically proved each day as we struggle with differences of opinion or taste), we have to accept our unique fundamental energy as unavoidable. To what extent we are capable of transforming this energy remains to be seen. Obviously, we can transform many things in our lives or the way we respond to events, yet there seems to be a basic format to our consciousness that is unalterable. Does it relate to our tastes, inclinations, and ultimately our basic desires? It is something powerful, something essential, yet at the same time so much a part of what we are it is hard to capture and quantify. This very quality of who we are runs with the flow of our energy through all time, in all places, and in all circumstances. Indeed, it is this unique quality that makes us who we are and gives us the rationale for describing ourselves as individuated.

Considering this, it seems logical to conclude that any development within us will be within the framework of our characteristic essence. To make a long answer short -- all development might be the spirit's attempt to manifest itself clearly, purely, powerfully, and in its full vibrance! Think of life as an attempt to display ourselves -- our essence -- to our fullest capacity by expanding that capacity with our greatest power. Seen in this way, we are all meant to be self-made persons, for we yearn to manifest ourselves in our full glory. The process of doing this can be likened to a construction site where a monumental structure is erected according to the mental and emotional creation of the designer. When we strive to 'make' or 'build' ourselves, we are seeking to manifest and display our inner essence, that unique us that demonstrates our brand of individuation to the spirit whole that glorifies the whole when it is revealed. This process will continue from life to life and within each life. Due to the complex challenges of working within the parameters of different physical bodies and the circumstances within which they manifest, the task remains fresh each lifetime. This demonstrates the rationale for seeking out newer experiences for they encourage us in our never ending endeavor towards the ultimate revelation of our glory where we shine for all to share.

Would we do it any differently were we to be in the position of starting from scratch? Although in reality it is impossible to do, if we were to create the thought model where we wipe our slates clean and start our evolution all over again from zero, could we attain something different than we have now? And even if we could do this in the present lifetime, is there any guarantee that the coming lifetimes would be significantly different than the lifetimes we will anyway face from our present evolutionary position? I think it unlikely. After all, the same forces that are operating now in our lives will operate in all our lives regardless of the mental or energetic history stored within us. Ultimately, we will generally react the same, move in generally the same directions, and create an energetically similar future although in an externally different world, for the basic energy active when we make choices -- our essence -- determines our tastes and inclinations.

The past gives us a stock of experience that modifies our approach to the future. If the past restricts our attempt to better define and display ourselves in the future, then certainly recreating ourselves from scratch would have a beneficial effect. But for how long would there be benefit and would this actually be beneficial to us? What if the past serves an essential purpose of being the catalyst for the very transformation we seek? What if avoiding the past is the worst thing we could do? What if we would lack the power to attain our goals without the encouragement of our failures?

If we were to start over again from a pristine state, would our new endeavor be perfect? If we assume that all actions in the pristine state must be perfect, how do we explain why we are now here? Either we have to accept as perfect our decision to enter into the arena where essence is challenged to evolve, or deny the existence of an original pristine state. If we were never in such a pristine state, why do we assume we can recreate it or that it even exists? We might believe that such a state will exist when we get there, but then we will not be able to accept a thought model in which such a state is the starting point, for in our view it is the end point. If we assume there was a pristine original state, then we have to deal with why we opted for entering into the realm of experiences and growth with all the inevitable pain and hardship such a choice implies. Does this mean our essence demands this experience knowing this is the only way to attain its full glory?

If one assumes we start off in a pristine state, one would expect that one in this state would make all the right choices and thus remain in that state, and would wonder why we are not now in that state? To deal with this, one might think our present existence in a less than pristine realm is therefore nothing but illusion because philosophically it cannot exist, or that there is no superior realm of ultimate origin. If we were not satisfied with these ideas, we could redefine the original state as the eternal, ever existing facility wherein we always have the freedom to initiate experiences, and the non-pure state is within this perfect arrangement and plays an essential role in existence. Those making an endeavor leading them outside the state of pristine essence are usually drawn further into the realm of error, for these mistakes are a required inspiration to guide us towards our goals and are therefore compatible with the universal arrangement. After all, if you were to create a thought model where one starts anew but with our present realization of what not to do and a better idea how to proceed properly, you are practically re-creating the present situation for this knowledge comes from past experiences. The only difference between the ideal state and the present state would be your freedom from the negative effects of the past which hinder your advancement.

Either way, it is better to expand your capacity to accept, respect, and resolve the past, for this enables full access to all our past experiences with the freedom to maximize the future course of action.

[maha]

Dear Hari, thank you very much for this elaborate answer.
Please let me develop it further and deepen my quest.

Either way, it is better to expand your capacity to accept, respect, and resolve the past, for this enables full access to all our past experiences with the freedom to maximize the future course of action.

That is part of my question too, when I ask about where is creation, maintenance and logical completion of phases of our manifesting and displaying our essenses. Isn't it that our capacity to accept, respect and resolve the past in some cases mean exactly our capability to understand when there is no more use to maintain and hold to our past state and when it is time to resolve, or complete it and initiate construction of a new part of the monumental structure which might require us concentrate on other parts of our characteristic essense, i.e. accept other roles, values, beliefs, abilities, actions and surroundings than those we had in the previous phase? I mean, when we face a dead end it may become obvious that we need to change or switch to other parts of ourselves, but what if we wish to have some flash light to see dead ends in advance, or just to know when enough is enough? And how to distinguish the dead ends that are signals of providence from the limits imposed on ourselves by ourselves?

When we erect our monumental structures should we design them? And how to do it properly not just from the point of view of architecture or technical science, but from spirit's point of view? What is important for our spirit in our designs of ourselves and in the way we start, maintain and complete or resolve our constructions, wipe our slates clean or try to revive them, search for new instruments, not knowing what to do with those we have already?

The only difference between the ideal state and the present state would be your freedom from the negative effects of the past which hinder your advancement.

In relation to this what are proper and harmonious ways to resolve negative effects, and even to understand which layers of our past are resolved and which are not and where are they holding us, or where are we holding them, which may be the same, may it not?

[Hari]

I agree with your analysis and the need for transformation. It seems to me that seeing the end of a road is one of the hardest things to do in life; especially if you have been on that road for a long time. I prefer to end up at a dead-end or a brick wall for the finality of it removes all future doubt about the correctness of your conclusion that continuing the path was futile. When there is no other option you never look back and wonder if you made the right choice. I really dislike such looking back for it seems impossible to come to definite conclusions. When you do not see the end of your road but predict it is coming and therefore change your path, your are taking a risk on the basis of your assumption. We always have the possibility to look back and lament while fantasizing about how things could have been different if we had just hung in there a little longer with more faith and self-confidence. Making mid-stream changes when there is no certainty of failure or loss is the hardest thing to do and requires the most courage and self-confidence. Changing when you have no other option is to a large extent easy and painless, despite the devastation. But again, this is my personal opinion.

Those who have the greatest success in politics, finances, adventure, war, love and so on, are usually those who have taken a great risk by committing themselves to an uncertain course of action or change of direction. Usually those who take great risk have the potential for the greatest gain; however, conversely there can be the greatest loss and long-term lamentation and pain. This is life and we have to deal with it.

Then again, simply waiting for brick walls to manifest can be an excruciatingly slow process; so much so that one would rather do anything else than continue in the same rut. In that case, change is welcome despite the result which we can live with by virtue of our memory of being unable to continue. This is another type of relieving dead-end.

Now, you ask about seeing in advance and you link that with self-created restriction versus fate. Interesting. I think no one can definitely see in advance and no one has a flash light into the future. We feel potential, we have previous experience of similar situations, we hear from divine beings, we hear our own hearts, and we follow our thoughts and desires. Sometimes this works well and we pride ourselves in being seers, and sometimes this fails and we condemn ourselves as fools. Ultimately we have to live with whatever we decide and grow from the place where our step landed. In either case it is what it is and we see it as good or bad according to the way our mind and spirit have moved with the event. We cannot finalize our conclusion about an event until we see it within the context of time. Since we do not know how large a context is required to properly determine the goodness or badness of any action, the wise refrain from self-judgment and simply state, 'It was.' This is the only sane conclusion and it is often expressed as, 'I did what I thought was best at the time I did it.'

But where is that sane person who avoids self-condemnation? We all have our own form of madness and it is this madness which moves our spirit to take chances and leave the pack with which we now run. The pack taught us restrictions and we accepted them. Is this not also our fate? What is really the point in trying to distinguish the source of our limitations? What is the point of trying to ascertain if we are reaching a 'real' dead end or a 'mental' dead end? Are we separate from all that we are? If it is a mental creation, with what agency of analysis would we determine this, the mind? Slippery slopes, methinks. Anyway, my point is that although there is little use in trying to find the source of our troubles, we will always attempt it anyway. That is what makes us human and such endeavors are noble in a certain way.

When we erect our monumental structures should we design them? And how to do it properly not just from the point of view of architecture or technical science, but from spirit's point of view? What is important for our spirit in our designs of ourselves and in the way we start, maintain and complete or resolve our constructions, wipe our slates clean or try to revive them, search for new instruments, not knowing what to do with those we have already?

Our designs should be ruled by the principle to become the next greatest version of the grandest vision of ourselves we have ever had. I think this answers your question perfectly. You cannot wipe your slate clean for you can only move from where you are. Therefore, attempt to become the next greatest version of that greatest vision. There is enormous wisdom in this saying.

Hari wrote:
The only difference between the ideal state and the present state would be your freedom from the negative effects of the past which hinder your advancement.[end of quote from Hari]

In relation to this what are proper and harmonious ways to resolve negative effects, and even to understand which layers of our past are resolved and which are not and where are they holding us, or where are we holding them, which may be the same, may it not?

Acch, you are asking me to repeat all the different techniques created that are in their own way effective for different individuals at different times in their evolutionary journey. I cannot do that, neither is it required. Each of us has to seek out compatible methods of healing and continue with them as long as there is a good effect. We then either find another method and repeat the process or we seek out other experiences until we need to continue our therapeutic journey within.