As just another generation passing through we are nothing; but when we understand our purpose, then we know our value.
If we do not perceive that our lives have a purpose or that we are living in alignment with that purpose, then our lives will not be given a value, even by ourselves. We may have a liking for certain experiences and an affection for certain personalities; we may even say that those who we love, give us a purpose, but our lives over all will not be considered purposeful; and death will be something to be feared.
It is a sense of purpose in living that draws the sting out of death.
Most people who consider that they are spiritually aware would say that they know that they have a purpose; but they do not know what it is and so they are not able to live in alignment with it. Mostly they are not doing much of anything at all, which is usually a source of suffering and disappointment to them. Mostly they are looking at purpose in the wrong way.
Purpose is not an activity like teaching or writing; that is a function. Purpose is knowing how to use energy constructively. A function merely serves as a frame, and most functions will serve us in this way provided we are one with that purpose and our use of time and energy is informed by it.
If we are at war with the requirements of that function no matter how exalted it may be considered, it will not permit us to live purposefully.
A purpose will stretch us; it will require us to be steadfast, courageous, resourceful and humourous because these are the qualities that develop the spirit of man.
Living purposefully requires no special circumstances. We can develop spirit in the most mundane of circumstances (and lose it in the most rarified). What matters is that we believe in the value of our undertaking, not for itself, but for the opportunity to live as if it does matter, because this way we give our best, for its own sake, without being identified with an outcome. Spirit requires our best. Our best is something quite different from the idea of goodness: our best is giving an exceptional expression of what we know how to do well.
All of us should know what our best is and be prepared to express it whenever we need to generate new opportunities. By offering our best, we demonstrate that we are investing in life and so spirit (which expresses itself through life) will invest in us. In another age this activity would have been described as making propitiations to the gods.
We do not please anything except the self-important personality with displays of solemnity, pomposity and angst. We can be serious about something without making it into a big deal, still less a drama.
Our sense of what is purposeful has to cover all eventualities. It has to enable us to engage with difficulties, seeing them not as problems, but as challenges. Otherwise we will fall into the trap of viewing as purposeful only that which we consider is going right; and dismissing as aberrant what we judge to have gone wrong; when, in fact, these latter circumstances are the very occasions that need to be met with courage, steadfastness and humour.
The swings of the disciple from enthusiasm to despondency are the consequences of the emotional responses elicited by the various stages in the unfolding of any undertaking. The initiate, who has the task of giving an example of purposefulness, will hold steady, regardless. That is not to say that he will never back down nor change direction, but he will never lose his sense of purpose and his actions will be informed by this.
Spiritual will and purpose are the reverse sides of the same coin. Determination is the lowest aspect of will; the highest is the joy experienced in taking up the challenge to give our best without needing to succeed. It is this, which gives value to our lives and it is this opportunity that 2012 offers us.
As just another generation passing through we are nothing; but when we understand our purpose, then we know our value.
The Koruna Project is an opportunity to give our best, based on what we understand and upon what we are making ourselves available to learn. It gives a purpose to those who are involved. Those who assume it as a survival strategy are missing the point entirely. We are doing what we are doing whilst we live because it is the best we know how to do in the circumstances.
