Hi,
I'm Johnny John.
Today I want to talk about what spiritual lessons are.
You see,
We are all born with the potential to be unhappy.
These potentials can be called the negative tendencies of the mind.
The tendency to be angry.
The tendency to be jealous.
The tendency to experience fears in different kinds of situations and experiences.
Everyone are all born different.
That is why in the same situation,
Such as public speaking,
Everyone will experience different degrees of fear,
And some won't even experience it.
The goal of this talk today is to introduce the concept of spiritual lessons to transform our ways of thinking.
To not see that these mental negativities as defects,
As divine punishments from above,
But rather to see that these negative tendencies are the lessons that we have bought into this lifetime to work upon,
So that we can achieve greater spiritual growth.
Again,
This is not a religious or philosophical talk.
My goal is not to change your beliefs,
But rather to give you another perspective,
So that you can see life in another light.
And I will be guiding you through the clues that we can find in the present moment for you to understand what spiritual lessons are,
So that you can develop your own truth.
To understand what spiritual lessons are,
We have to first look onwards to understand who we are.
If one turns their senses onwards and study the world within,
One will discover that the mind is of consciousness energy.
We are consciousness energy.
Our thoughts,
Our emotions,
Everything is energy.
In studying my own suffering states of mind,
I discovered that we are born with an energetic configuration or matrix.
I don't know the right words to use,
But these configurations can push us to experience reality in different ways,
Influencing our biases,
Our preferences,
Our thought patterns.
That is why we are all born different.
Take two people,
Put them through the same life experiences,
And they will all come out differently because of this matrix.
The more I worked with my suffering states of mind,
I began to realize that it's not so much that the outer experiences were creating my suffering states of mind,
But rather the outer experiences were working to bring out the sufferings,
The unresolved negative energies within that needed to be worked on.
So with this,
I concluded that at birth we are already born with sufferings,
Or the energetic configurations that resemble the different suffering states of mind,
And the outer experiences work to bring these out into light.
That's why outer experiences are so valuable,
Because without them we would not know what fears,
What negativities we have.
So this can raise a question,
Why aren't we born perfect,
With a perfect configuration where we won't need to experience this state called suffering?
Why aren't we just born happy?
Why aren't we just born without fears,
With ability to be confident in every situation?
Over the years of working to transform my fears,
Anger,
Impatience and so forth,
I found some clues,
And I would like to use some analogies to help you understand what I found.
Notice the person who goes to the gym,
Would the person be able to grow in strength without some kind of resistance?
Likewise,
If we wish to refine our balance,
Then would we not have to experience imbalances to study it,
Much like a tightrope walker does every day?
Without working with the polar opposite,
Which is imbalance,
The balance remains unrefined,
Undeveloped,
Same as before.
And likewise,
If we were born without impatience,
Then what would be the spark to make us refine patience even more?
My eventual conclusion was that,
The suffering states of mind are the spiritual lessons that we have bought into this lifetime to work on,
To develop ever more self-knowing that all is one,
To develop ever more self-acceptance and happiness.
The spectrum of self-acceptance includes the refinement of wisdom,
Refinement of love,
Compassion,
Forgiveness.
From the perspective of evolution,
To be born perfect would thus be meaningless,
For one will lack the desire to refine that perfection.
For if love was the greater work,
What work would there be if there was no resistance to that ability to love?
For if self-acceptance is the greater work,
Then what work would there be if everything seems one?
If one was born with everything on their plate,
Then what desires would there be to do more work?
Resistance thus is important for a creator who wishes to know more about itself,
To know what it is through what it is not.
Upon pondering on these thoughts,
Perhaps the purpose of the illusions of separation becomes clear.
Perhaps the purpose for the suffering states of the mind then becomes clear.
Perhaps these are the resistances we have created for ourselves to do greater work.
Perhaps these are the spiritual lessons that we have brought into this lifetime to achieve greater growth.
So in the sense,
If you are born with sufferings,
Whether it be a fear,
A disease or a limitation,
Rather than thinking that you are misfortunate,
Why not see it as you being courageous for bringing resistances into this life to do greater work,
To achieve greater growth?
For most people,
The spiritual lessons are easily missed in life,
Because the confusions and illusions that we have created can be so thick that one can simply fail to see the work.
But it's by discovering the spiritual lessons that one can then use them to make progresses on their soul journey.
And these spiritual lessons will be challenging and will take a long time to work through,
Because as we have a lifetime to do the work,
The work will be designed for such a length.
Of course,
A more serious student can finish their homework faster,
But as you know,
Most of us hate doing homework,
And we like to leave them to the last minute,
To drag it out,
To avoid them by focusing on other distractions.
And when we start doing the greater work of addressing our suffering states of the mind,
No doubt we will face a lot of confusions and challenges.
For if they were easy and clear,
Then what can we learn and grow from such a weak resistance?
So do not be discouraged if you face difficulties,
Confusion,
Challenges,
Darkness,
Paradoxes,
For these are the resistances which will allow you to do the greater work.
Trust yourself that you can conquer the challenges that you face in life.
The practice of meditation will be so ever helpful,
Because it will allow you to see the lessons behind the life experiences.
And the inner wisdom that you develop will help to guide you through overcoming the darkness,
So that you can experience greater happiness and know the light even more.
