Tough Times Toughen Soul

Singing Streams widen the patient River

     but jutting rocks heave a ramming head butt:

          weave around nipping rocks brave weaver—

               stretch your dreams to dwarf arrogant stars.

Every experience in life, be it sweet or sour, tough or easy, is meant to toughen and strengthen Soul, as we march towards spiritual mastership, blindly or knowingly. To understand much of what goes on in life, we need to look beyond the issue of one single lifetime for every man and woman. We have been around for millions of lifetimes. We are here trying to learn to give and receive love. We are here to learn Divine Love of God, period. In the course of this tough but exciting school of life, we do things to others and have things done to us in return. At the eend of the day of Soul, which is the end of each given lifetime, every material possession shall be left behind. Only the lessons that we learn shall go with us into a new life. These lessons are recorded as memories in the Causal or Memory bank. When we suffer in the hands of another, despite how much we try to claim our innocence, there is always that small voice within our conscience that tells that, we are simply facing ourselves. No one is unjustly punished, no matter how unjust we might appear to have been treated by others.

Anyway, instead of crying for the burdens of life to be taken from our shoulders, we should rather ask, what lessons am i to learn from the tribulation that afflicts me? Be it cancer, deaths in a family, collapse of business, all losses of all kind, etc, the end goal is to toughen us like the bark of an ancient tree. This is because for us to become spiritual masters in the end, to take our hallowed place among the hierarchy of the Spiritual Travellers, we must become rugged and strong, ready to meet every challenge life may throw at us, as we travel from world to world, planet to planet and universe to universe, helping other Souls to undertake the timeless journey up the endless mountain of God.

We are all familiar with the process of heating up gold nuggets to harness gold and turn it into glowing jewellery as well as the tough process of polishing diamonds for them to shine and blind women who will kill for them. Ha! These are all child's play when compared to the tests, tribulations, trials and temptations that each Soul must pass through to become purified and eligible to serve as a co-worker with God. As Soul jumps from being a man in one lifetime to experiencing life as a woman in another, from facing itself in pain and wellbeing, joy and sorrows, riches and poverty, famous and obscure, killing and getting killed, it becomes stronger, wiser and more loving towards others. So every experience we go through is as necessary and important as the dew, rain sun, warmth and air needed to germinate, nurture and grow crops for man's sustenance.

Tough times toughen Soul. Do not wish them away or pray feverishly for hard times to disappear. The good they do for Soul could not be compensated by endless life of ease and pleasure. If anything, wanton life of ease weakens our firm, spiritual muscles and cripple Soul's wings, unless balanced by periods of toil and sweat. Then man becomes earthbound and considers himself all-human. Truth is, you are a spiritual being, an eagle whose home is among the stars. Your destiny is far beyond the clouds, way above the pull of grim gravity. Want to come into your hih spiritual heritage someday? Then learn to fall in love with tough times too. They are blessings. Not curses!