Soul Guides – HOW?

‘A leader emerges from within himself’, one matches his inner perception with the outer situation ! Be it Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa or Mahatma Gandhi.………..Mohandas Gandhi in his 20s with a law degree would have been beaten if he refused to ride on the running board of a stagecoach in order to make room for European whites. No matter what the ticket said, he was forced to vacate the first class tier. The young Gandhi looked around & perceived discrimination. He felt that the situation was intolerable. With his mind, he analysed that a new tactic- ‘Civil disobedience’ could only change things. With this, he committed himself to a vision of FREEDOM, no matter whatever be the PRICE !

Potential leaders are taught to use their minds to analyze various hypothetical scenarios. These leaders all saw & perceived the same thoughts as countless others witnessed – Apartheid in S.Africa, Slavery prior to Civil war in America, Colonial domination in India to the latest Anti-corruption big wave triggered by Anna Hazare’s leadership. But the only difference is that these leaders went deeper in commitment from their core of being of ‘How to elicit a new response?’ & ‘How to turn a new vision into the hardcore REALITY.

A NRI, Deepak Chopra is well-known for his books on mind-body-soul relationship, many of his books are New York’s best sellers which is worth mentioning. His words were highly inspiring.

Nobody can deny that these leaders are great souls themselves. Being in constant touch with the soul engine is the secret of great leadership. That is the place where you will locate deep insight, creativity, imagination & profound intelligence. When we know what is happening at our very core of our being, well that is when, what we bound to give becomes just limitless.

To be truly insightful, looking & listening must occur at four different levels – Body (look & listen-purely from our sense based knowledge & experience), Mind (stage of analysis to judgment), Heart (stage of taking that as deep & right feelings) & lastly Soul (incubation – a time to see it happen with ‘wait & watch’ for the moment to unfold that dream to see ‘Who really am I’ ). This incubation is the time where that profound & infinite intelligence nurses & guides one’s vision, adapting it to our needs & everyone around us.

In other words – LEADERS – Look & listen, Emotional bonding, Awareness, Doing, Empowerment, Responsibility & Synchronicity which is like the road map not only for leaders but even to realize & unravel one’s goal or life’s hidden purpose. Doing is literal effort with persistence & tenacity despite of any obstacles & setbacks. Empowerment is soul’s power to forge ahead despite of any criticisms or appraisals which arise on the way. Responsibility is living by the ideals with a strong integrity considering all the risks which might arise on the forge. Synchronicity is a mysterious element from the underlying universal field of consciousness that all great leaders harness, which is the ability to create good luck & find invisible support that carries one beyond the predicted outcomes to a higher plane than ordinary people.

He briefs out to figure out one’s ‘Soul’s Profile’. One has to simply figure out for themselves with the very first responses which should guide your true purpose in life & hence lay the foundation towards overall development along those lines. These are the set of Qs–

–What is my contribution in life?

-How do I feel when I have a peak experience?

-What are the qualities that I look for in a best friend & my associates?

-What are my unique skills & talents?

–What are the qualities I express in a personal relationship?

-Who are my real heroes & heroines? (from history, religion, mythology & fiction…)

Now using the key word answers one has developed, he would ask us to write a brief profile of our soul. Keeping this profile handy, the next step he phrases is to define one’s personal vision without much worrying about its logic or its feasibility of implementing the new ideas. He mentions to be true to oneself, no matter if the people feel it’s impossible or lament on it. A perfected ideals with a well focused purpose awakens the unseen powers of the soul. It might be that one might have envisioned it with a few steps towards it or already on their way towards that achievement. The point is to clarify oneself as to what kind of world you envision & how you see yourself in it with a day dreamy picture of performing as ‘What you will be doing & How’?

With the perfected ideals & vision, a succinct statement of one’s mission of the lifetime can be drawn. And this mission should become both one’s conscious & sleep which feeds enthusiasm ( en-theos – Greek words as ‘in God’, which means you must look your inside) & inspiration (Latin rooted word which says ‘to breathe & spirit’). A one word crystallization of such a mission statement could be ‘freedom’ (Mahatma), ‘serve’ (Mother Teresa), ‘evolve’ (Darwin), ‘equality’ (Martin Luther King Jr)…. The key is that these hit buttons of one’s purpose is the true listening to one’s true self & the very first requirement for anyone who aspires to lead from the soul. Once that mission develops in one, that itself drives in finding the right situations, place, timing to people & associations to go for the next step, which is fulfillment of one’s purpose in life.

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Leading from the Soul – HOW?

In 1964, Mandela fell a victim of sabotage & taking part in anti-Apartheid activities. For his fortune somehow he escaped death sentence but instead received life sentence, where he spent behind the bars in a remote island near Cape town, S.Africa for a long 18 yrs. He had no bed to sleep, he was given most meager of rations & allowed a letter, visitors twice a year. He was made to perform hard labor in a limestone quarry. How did the great leader emerge from such inhuman conditions? He emerged after 27 long yrs, a transformed man, still firm in his intentions, but having renounced violence & having transcended the pitfalls of hatred & bitterness. Guided by his enlightened consciousness, the African National conference shifted its emphasis away from black domination & toward the creation of a united country that included all races, with malice to none.

Where did the personality in stem from ? It all sprang from his ‘awareness (consciousness)’ which is the source of insight, nurturing, inspiration & transcendence – all attributes that emerge when our awareness expands. It is available to everyone. The very seed of greatness were planted in us the very moment, we were granted consciousness. If we follow the inward path using clarity & truth as compass points, the outer world helps in responding to our intentions.

Awareness is our consciousness & simply is boundless. It brings light to every aspect of life. If it remains constricted, everything else will be too. Once it expands, everything does. Nothing has a greater power of transformation than our awareness. It isn’t the same as thinking. We do make our decisions intuitively, and later apply logic & reason to justify our choices. We use much more of our awareness than we realize. Consciousness delivers the following personal attributes in that order –Centeredness, Self-motivation, Coherence, Intuition-insight, Creativity, Inspiration & Transcendence.

As long as one is centered, awareness is stable & secure. One is unshakable in any crisis. One’s mindset is prepared to face the situations as it comes. Perhaps, the most simplest way to be centered is concentrate on own’s breath sounds or the heart beat paying close attention for few mts, this body awareness puts one back to being ‘self ‘ & hence our consciousness to deliver the directives of the soul. The aim here isn’t to listen to the heart beat but be in contact with the heart as the center of our emotions. Self-Motivation is short lasting as an impulse, however Inspiration lasts long. Hence everyone should have a role model – be it Gandhi, Buddha, Krsna behind their aim & purpose. It is a good practice to surround ourselves with the images of our role models, which acts a strong drive to us in doing things. The transcendence is when people reach enlightenment through spiritual discipline. This aspect of our consciousness brings liberation. It is like ‘serve-share wisdom’ & become a community in spirit. Consciousness has these innate qualities, once we cultivate them, we automatically expand it to lead & serve. The ultimate goal of awareness is to be transformed for a better & larger good.

Awareness program can be reached in short following the steps – stop struggling, always listen to your inner voice, meditate to reach the inner core of the awareness, test limits, remain centered, look beyond personal beliefs & gather info, value inner peace with clear-cut intentions.

It is always a must to have an inner talk – How do I feel ? How do they feel? Emotions are the invisible allies of successful vision. Anyone working with positive emotions will be able to unfold the potential of everyone around them. One should aim at forging emotional bonds, often instinctively & without a conscious agenda. Emotional freedom stems from being free of guilt, resentment, grievances, anger & aggression. This gives positive signals around & we can connect with people around easily. Only when in clarity, can one trust himself emotionally & have others trust you. To reach a point of clarity, it’s useful to be centered, witness, express & share feelings taking responsibility of one’s true feelings.

There is what is known as ‘limbic resonance’, a primal mechanism that entrains two brains – its emotional centers (amygdala – limbic cortex) fall in sync, which leads to sharing biological rhythms, like sensing even the other person’s heart beat & breathing just like the mother watches her child keenly & closely. The same mechanism remains in adults too & we can entrain with others at a deep biological level, includes sharing the openness of emotional freedom. Emotionally speaking, we come across only 3 situations with people – those we can fix, those we can mend & put up with, those we have to leave & run away from. It is the art of emotional intelligence to fix most things instead of getting frustrated of putting too much & walk out. For a higher guidance & fulfillment, spiritual intelligence is always there, which gets us in touch with love, compassion, joy & inner peace. These values are trans personal & belong to the humanity as a whole. It is simply finding of ‘who you are’ at the very soul level – Exploring deep within ourselves by Meditation on the breath or Prana-Jyothi (heart beat).

Now comes the action, that is ‘DOING’. Actually doing is different when one is guided by the core. It turns into ‘non-doing’, or simply becomes just ‘allowing’ the times & events to unfold as the way it is meant to be. It is the most powerful way than literally doing or ‘struggling’ in life & we do accomplish more this way. The actual doing still unfolds despite of any obstacles or set backs with a much deeper commitment at the core level. I am a strong believer of this ‘Non-Doing’, don’t force too much & let the situations unravel on its own. Our life will still work fine if we don’t control it. It will flow, unfold, grow & evolve. By allowing, one becomes the witness to what our core really wants, that trust meshes the situations perfectly. The non-doing becomes natural as it is all tied with our ‘Consciousness’, which has the organizing power, quantum leaps of creativity, moves naturally in the direction of growth & even creates order out of disorder. In simple words, leading life from the core means doing what is right from the level of being, grounded in awareness, all our actions are supported by the universe. It is good to allow events to unfold by non-doing but at other times to leap into action.

Speaking of ‘Empowerment’- It is the fruit of success. Doing & having power go together, since without the power to sustain our life vision through struggles & resistance, one’s vision will wither away. Our beliefs are compatible with spirituality. At every source, there exists a field of infinite possibilities & packaged with every possibility is the path to achievement. There exists darker side of the power too- its shadow of ego – greed, envy, anger, fear & aggression. One has to learn to defuse it by integrating the dark into light, which is the power of wholeness. If one lacks this power, vision just remains inert. And power comes with these qualities – it accumulates, it rises to fall someday, it can corrupt. To reverse these qualities of the power, one has to renounce personal power to trans- personal power. This universal power is based on empathy, compassion & detachment & is found in everyone. Power corruption stems from negative influences of the shadow, which when turned into trans personal omits this possibility. So, before the ego (shadow) undermines one, it is better to be grounded oneself in trans- personal power for a greater good as the qualities of this t.power closes that gap & translates into powerful loyalties. This universal power is based on the pillars – Trust, Stability, Hope & Compassion.

Being Hopeless is the most tragic turn in life. It is that intangible as it rests upon belief. At the soul or core level, the future is always open because unseen possibilities can always awaken. The tools for building hope are guidance, direction & most importantly, faith.

Responsibility – Core values should be to take responsibility for one’s evolution along with the others as evolution is an unstoppable force. It benefits both one & others.

Synchronicity– It is that ‘mystery’, miracle or the unseen intelligence or support as good fortune or luck, which comes as favors supporting one’s vision on the forge ahead towards achievement. It is just a meaningful co-incidence bringing people, situations right at the place & time for making the success possible. Perhaps, say ‘Good will’ as we notice that happen in the case of Mandela or Anna Hazare as a trigger to make it a Policy or Bill. In spiritual terms, every visionary is on a personal journey. Each need that one fulfills, for himself & the mass, is a stepping stone to liberation.

This is a detailed description of the earlier blog ‘Leading from the Soul’ expanding the depths of LEADERS as a mnemonic. Look & Listen (sense acquired knowledge & experience) is applying the awareness knowledge derived from the senses, cross check & examine as thoughts & then felt as true feelings at the heart. This true feelings are the reflections of the Core, as to what it really wants you to realize as the purpose or goal in life to ‘serve’, ‘teach‘, ‘heal‘, ‘entertain or amuse’……..

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