Our life – an alchemical journey of the psyche

Every moment on this path we call life is a metamorphic renewal. This is how it is and always will be – an alchemical journey of the psyche. A total transformation as we die to our old selves moment-to-moment to emerge in our full glory. Like a flower, the petals must fall for the seed to develop and grow to fruition. Like a caterpillar, it must be dissolved and rearranged before it can fly.

lotus seed pod

The real meaning of transformation

Its real meaning is this – dying and being reborn to a new way of looking at the world and relating with self, others, and the divine spirit. This is what the whole journey of spiritual and personal transformation is all about. Being reborn describes for us a self that is constantly evolving. It must evolve in accordance with the laws of nature. The old must make way for the new. This is the principle of the Tao. Of the cosmos. Of the wheel of samsara.

Like the emerging butterfly from a chrysalis, we constantly die to our old selves as we learn to become better versions of our previous selves. Moment-to-moment, we die and we are rearranged and re-birthed. We learn to see things differently from before as we understand how our minds work. We become more willing to change as we see the merits of change and so we willingly discard old beliefs and let go of values that don’t serve us anymore. We learn to identify and remove our blinkers. We stand apart from the crowd as we realise the true meaning of ‘in this world but not of this world’.

Once upon a time, I found a really fat caterpillar munching away on one of the bushes in my backyard. Day by day, I would check on it to see how it was doing. Day by day, it got a bit fatter till one day, it had sequestered itself inside a chrysalis. Day by day, even though the casing was rather opaque, I could see changes were happening inside. I googled and discovered that the metamorphosis of the caterpillar involved a very profound process. The caterpillar literally dissolves into a DNA ‘soup’ before being reassembled into a totally transformed creature with 6 legs and a pair of wings besides other unique anatomical changes. How amazing is that? And while that is happening, all around that chrysalis, chit shakti ensures that flowers bloom, clouds get laden and rain falls, the sun shines, and a host of things, the 10,000 myriad things of the Tao, will do what they are supposed to do, according to a divine plan.

Harnessing the creative life force

Science tells us that body cells constantly renew themselves. We are a new body every 7 days or so. Our thoughts are also never static. They form a constant stream in our minds. Nothing is truly static. The force that drives this constant process of change is known as chit shakti, qi, prana, or life force. Once we understand how this fundamental creative force works, we will literally change our life as we learn to harness it to work for instead of against us. This is when we learn to take charge of our destiny. Meditation is one major tool we use to get to know and control that chit shakti.

Life will begin to take on a different tone altogether. What used to be important no longer is. Our priorities shift in a major way. We begin to simplify so as to hear better because the inner promptings have begun. Our inner guru becomes more and more present to us. We are urged to ascend, to stretch our boundaries, and to live from higher levels of consciousness. We learn to climb into the pilot seat of the silent witness and run our lives from there. Our soul, and the true self, sits in that high chair. Its job is to remind us to get above the ego.

Mountains and valleys along the way

You will find the ego is about the most pernicious challenge on your spiritual journey. Our reluctance to answer the call for change creates a lot of pain which in itself is also a precious lesson. During those times when the journey seemed the darkest, the pain can be so great and the despair so deep that it will take all you have to stay on the path. But thankfully, it won’t last forever. Once you bend to the wind, learn the lesson meant for you then it’s time to move on to the next lesson. You will emerge shiny and new ready for more. The world is still the same but you know it has also become different. You still live your life, go to work, raise a family, and do all the things you need to do. But now, your inner core is where you have placed your life source. From deep within, your life will spin out according to a design that knows what it is doing. And you trust it totally and implicitly. You are now truly on the soul path.

You feel a total sense of peace, of at-one with the rest. You look at a tree and you are able to say, “Tree, I know how it feels to be like you. You just grow according to the divine plan. You don’t fight it. Rain or shine, you are still you. You don’t fret, whine, or live in fear of being cut you down. Whatever happens, happens, and you are just it. I am you, Tree. You are me.”

“Peace descends and envelopes you in the softest embrace. That’s how it is. Life becomes peaceful when the angst finally stops. This is what the soul path is about. Your life has meaning and purpose and you are at total peace with yourself and the world. This is what I offer you in our work together.”