CREON NOTES – November 2019

Much is made of the subject of reincarnation. This is a mostly misunderstood term referring to lives that an individual has previously led and many people believe that they have been this person or that person in a previous life as a way of explaining certain attractions and repulsions that they experience in this life.

The sense of who you are in your current lifetime is informed by all direct experience which you take from your family, education and the culture into which you were born. The sense of “I” that you have as a result of this pertains to the ego part of yourself with which you identify and which is an aspect of your thinking mind. Thoughts are habitual and people think the same thoughts and have the same mental reactions day after day, until awareness prevails which allows you to change some of your thinking. The sense of “I” comes from the personal ego which is constantly being shaped and reinforced, for good or bad, with each experience. The ego is newly formed with each lifetime and does not reincarnate.

So what is reincarnation? At the level of soul, the part of each individual which is timeless and knows no birth or death, there is unbroken connection spanning time and space to the Source. At physical birth soul takes on human form with all its limitations and constrictions and is mostly dominated throughout the lifetime by both the individual and the collective mind. Ego is essential for survival in your world, without it you would wither and become invisible to yourself, let alone everyone else. It is through ego that personal drives are established and maintained. Ego in its truest form is what keeps you going. Many people confuse the term “ego” with pride but these are two very separate and distinct aspects of the mind. Pride is a highly personalized form of self indulgence based on a belief in being better or more worthy in some aspect of life, than others. In an individual with a healthy ego there is nothing wrong with having a sense of pride with regard to some particular achievement, but it is experienced more as a moment of happiness which includes the life around them. In a less healthy ego personal pride is experienced as being separate and superior in some way. The ego is the part of mind (Will) that drives the accomplishment in the first place.

The sense of “I” or ego cannot and does not reincarnate. However, the experiences an individual goes through will leave their footprints on the soul in terms of knowledge and understanding and this is what carries forward after death, at which point earthly mental attachments also diminish. Soul is forever connected to Source and without the body is automatically able to experience itself in a more expansive way. The sense of separateness and disconnection all but disappears but individuality is retained to the extent it is desired. Knowledge of other life experiences are easily retrieved but it is the soul and not the most recent human personality that registers this understanding. Soul of itself does not judge and have opinions, it is the human mind that does this, and when it does, it makes up its own stories.

It is not uncommon for people to have a sense of having lived before in a certain place or at a certain time and these experiences may well bear weight. If this is the case the best thing to do is to bring this sense to the heart center and allow the mind to become quiet. Become present with this feeling of recognition and if there is anything to be gained from this experience it will soon surface. Allowing the mind to take over and dominate with its judgements, spinning tales about what might have happened, will only take away the essence of understanding the experience promises to bring.

Whilst studying “past lives” may be an interesting occupation do not forget that as a point of consciousness you are more developed in this lifetime than you have ever been before. All the opportunities any individual needs are available in this lifetime and cannot be recreated from a previous one. From a personal mental standpoint you may not like the idea of a former lifetime, but from the soul point of view all is regarded equally, with compassion and detachment.

While many things might matter to an individual personality what matters most to soul is love. As ego drives the personality through human life so it is love that drives the soul. We use the term Love in its broadest sense, including but not restricted to personal and emotional love. You cannot change your thoughts by using your will and your thoughts may not be loving. The indwelling soul has the power to observe those thoughts and with its natural ability for compassion and awareness, reduce the stranglehold those thoughts have. Soul is not separate from mind and expresses itself through the mind if allowed to do so. However, for many individuals the mind becomes so dominant that the healthy ego drives are submerged and love becomes diminished. This results in unhappiness for the Self and also others.

Human conditioning through the ages

has allowed the mind to take a superior position of importance, and while this is all to the good for invention and discovery, it does not support the heart nor acknowledge the power of its wisdom.

It is right that you should love yourself and wish yourself well. To serve yourself best in life take time to listen, with a quiet mind and an open heart, to the callings of your own soul, the deepest inner part of you that knows all about you and has the ability to guide you. Allow the choppiness of constant mental disturbance to abate and there you will find peace.

Whilst religions and other spiritual practices may support your sense of love and faith, it is ultimately up to every individual to find their own way through the restrictions of human conditioning. Know that there is untold support for every person in this endeavor, much of which is unseen but whose works are revealed in the magic of miracles both large and small. Have gratitude for all that you have, and compassion for your suffering. Most of all hold to the knowledge of your own eternal soul which can never cease to be nor become separate from That which creates It.