The Soul’s Purpose

The greatest get out clause in the game; “I never asked to be born”.

“I never asked for any of this”. But, in shamanic terms the understanding is precisely that; you agreed to enter the world. The suffering you experience now is the price you pay for being born. That’s exactly the deal! That’s Karma….. Would you rather be dead…. ?

No, we have an instinct for survival and that is our primary drive. When we entered the world we also agree on a contract to live according to a set of directives and principles. Our drive and will to survive are evidence of our desire to be able to keep this contract. This is the entire concept. We agree to fulfil our purpose. But what is the purpose? Plainly it is our soul.

The concept of soul in shamanism is more complex than in other religions. In shamanic thought, the soul can be multi-faceted. An individual depending on their character, nature and potential, can possess or manifest multiple aspects of themselves; others only one. It is possible for the soul to migrate to the underworld prematurely, this is soul loss. In this instance, the shaman can be called upon to attempt to recover or retrieve the soul of the person from the netherworld by carrying out a journey there and calling them by their name. The soul is complex and gives rise to our own complexity.

The nature of the body-soul is that it is on a journey, with a distinct birth and death, the passage of our lives from beginning to end. On life’s journey you will be called to make many decisions. The nature of reality, is that all things are destined to be. But in the sense of our free will, with limited foresight, we make choices as to how we are going to deal with these instances of our existence. If we deal honourably, kindly, with these questions, giving the answers that we agreed, in the space of the unborn, then we are fulfilling our potential. If we deal miserably with the world, in life cheating, and acting in opposition to our own ‘soul’ then we can be said to have lost our purpose! Purpose and soul are so intrinsically linked, so as to be indistinguishable from one another.

This “intent” is accepted on entering the world. When we are far from our purpose there is misery, pain, and suffering. This is ignorance and darkness.

The promise we were set to keep; will it be achieved or not…?

The choice is ours as to whether we choose to reach for this potential of becoming an authentic version of ourselves, and manifest our purpose through our will.