by Mark Pitstick, MA, DC
Have you ever wondered . . .
1) Are the events that happen while you are on Earth planned?
2) If yes, who does the planning? God? Your soul? Your guides?
3) To what degree are events planned? Are they completely “set-in-stone” or just partially influenced?
4) Do souls always succeed with their plans, or do they sometimes fail?
5) Can pre-planning be changed and, if so, by whom?
6) And—the biggest question—why in the world would souls choose to suffer with illness, disability, death of loved ones, etc.?
If you have thought about these questions, you have lots of company. I hear them almost daily from people around the world, especially those who are experiencing significant tragedy, pain, sadness, loneliness and hopelessness.
It’s completely understandable that they ask these questions. Those who have endured tough changes and challenges struggle to discover if there really is purpose and meaning to life. Or is life just a series of random, chaotic and unfair events?
One couple wrote to me after a horrible event: “Our daughter was murdered and the man who did it was never caught.” A mother wrote: “My son was addicted to drugs for many years and eventually died by suicide.” These are very difficult and heart-breaking events.
I’ve wrestled with these questions for over 40 years. Working in hospitals with many suffering and dying people, including children, can do that. In addition, I’ve worked with many people like the parents above. A person with an open heart on this planet can either find sensible answers, shut down emotionally, numb out with drugs and alcohol, or go crazy.
The questions above are most haunting when you view life from a duality perspective. Dualism is the belief that life is divided, that you are separate from others and the Source of all life. Einstein considered the belief that you are separate from the rest of creation to be an optical delusion. When you believe only what your five senses report, you are trapped in dualist beliefs. You suffer from illusions that warp your perceptions of reality.
Even though your five senses are amazing, it’s a scientific fact that they detect much less than 1 percent of reality. It’s as though you’ve looked at life through a tiny pinhole and then wondered why it doesn’t make sense. The more you see beyond your five senses, the greater your degree of unity consciousness. You enjoy an increased awareness that all life is interconnected, ever-expanding and never-ending.
Here’s another way to look at it. Life can be viewed as either:
1. meaningful and purposeful, or
2. chaotic and random.
If it’s the former—and there’s good evidence for that perspective—then from where/whom does the meaning and purpose stem? Some find peace in the answer that those come from selfless service to others. Others feel that the “meaning and purpose department” is staffed by an all-knowing God. Still others prefer a model that our souls choose events that will result in optimal growth. Each of these answers is like a blind man’s description of an elephant. They’re each true, but only partially so.
Whenever discussing big questions like this, it’s important to realize that everyone is unique. There’s no “one-size-fits-all” answer that will be accurate and satisfactory. Likewise, life before and after an earthly incarnation varies greatly—it’s not the same for everyone. Here’s an example: What if someone asked you, “What is it like on planet Earth?” You have only experienced a very small fragment of the entirety of life here and that experience is greatly shaped by your beliefs and what you focus upon. There are over 7 billion humans and probably that many different answers to the question, “What is life on Earth like?”
The same problem exists with general answers to questions about afterlife, pre-birth planning and other “spiritual topics.” That’s why wise ones teach with stories, metaphors and parables.
There’s a story about a traveler who arrived at the outskirts of a city. An old man was sitting in the shade and the traveler said, “I’m looking for a new place to live. What’s it like here?” The old man paused and asked, “What was it like where you came from?” The traveler said, “Oh it was awful. People were negative, selfish and ignorant. I was so glad to leave there.” The old man replied, “It’s pretty much that way here too.” At that, the first traveler continued on to find a better place to live.
A few hours later, a second traveler approached the city and asked the same old man, “What’s it like here?” The old man answered, “Tell me what it was like where you lived before?” The new arrival beamed, “Oh, it was wonderful. The people were so nice and peaceful. They went out of their way to be friendly and follow the Golden Rule.” The old man smiled and replied, “It’s pretty much that way here too.”
This lesson is especially vital for the topic of pre-birth planning.
The maturity of the soul involved affects the degree to which pre-birth planning (PBP) is wisely designed and carried out. All souls, it seems, develop goals that they hope to reach during an upcoming “physical” incarnation. And this planning is always assisted by the Light and their spiritual support team. However, depending on the degree of soul evolution, that guidance may or may not be followed.
Let’s consider two extremes.
Beginner souls are just learning their way around the block, so to speak. They may not even ask for, let alone follow, wise guidance from their angels, guides and the Light. Once on Earth, they may completely ignore the little guidance they did absorb. They may totally go off plan and, as a result, their lives are chaotic. Lives like this make it seem that there is no soul planning.
Advanced souls, on the other hand, understand the importance of seeking wise guidance and following it to the best of their ability. They know about the Law of Attraction and are mastering application of that in the most difficult circumstances. As a result, they are quite adept at successful planning and fulfilling of their soul’s missions. Lives like theirs strongly reflect how soul planning can ideally work.
Many times, a soul does not fulfill its plans. The “One Mind” knows those probabilities and factors and understands that perfection exists in all aspects of Life. Do you participate in that? Do you consistently believe and demonstrate that?
Spiritually transformative experiences (STEs) awaken you to a greater reality that helps all life events—even the sad and bad ones—make more sense. STEs can be triggered by: near-death experiences, after-death contacts, out-of-body experiences, birth or death of loved ones, mind-altering drugs, encountering a miracle, religious/ spiritual revelatory experiences, or a close encounter with death or violence. STEs can also occur spontaneously without any identifiable cause, thereby supporting the notion that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
Centering practices that can facilitate STEs include: spiritual study and fellowship; meditation; deeply loving a person or pet; drumming and chanting; service to others; quiet time in nature; sacred lovemaking; crafts; and inspirational artwork, literature, or theater. These help quiet the mind and strengthen an inner knowing that there is much more to life than meets the eye.
The more you know that you are one with All That Is—now and forever—the less important the six questions above become. You may be curious, but you don’t ask them because you are motivated by fear. You know that life is a never-ending, albeit often-changing, dance of energy. The more you glimpse this bigger picture, you more you realize that your earth experience is a totally safe, meaningful and magnificent adventure amidst forever.
Glimpsing that you—and everyone else—are indestructible, interconnected and eternal beings of spirit/consciousness/energy removes or greatly decreases fear.
A dualistic perspective creates needless melodrama. The more developed your unity consciousness, the more peace, joy, comfort and hope you will feel.
However, some people aren’t ready for a discussion that goes beyond dualism. And so, as I answer the questions above, I’ll often use some dualistic language that implies you are separate from your loved ones, your spiritual support team, and Universal Intelligence. But you’re not.
My answers to the questions comprise 14 pages that can’t be shared in this article. You can read them in Foundational Article for Healing & Transformation #25: Did My Soul REALLY Choose All This? on the left lower part of the SoulProof.com homepage.
Mark Pitstick, MA, DC is an author, master’s clinical psychologist, holistic chiropractic physician, frequent media guest and workshop facilitator. He is Director of The Soul Phone Foundation, Vice-President of Eternea, and board member of Helping Parents Heal. Mark can help you know and show that—no matter what is going on around you and even though it may not seem like it at times—this earth-experience is a totally safe, meaningful, and magnificent adventure amidst forever. Visit www.soulproof.com for free articles, newsletters and radio shows with top consciousness experts.