Sacred Contracts part 2- Finding Your Purpose

 If you read my earlier post about Sacred Contracts and are wondering how to figure yours out, I offer you this.

One encouraging fact is that even the masters weren't born with an awareness that they had a pretty major Sacred Contract. For example, Abraham was to be a father of nations, yet he had no inkling of this till he was in his 90s or somewhere abouts. Moses was to lead his people out of Egypt. It seems pretty clear from the record, that he had no idea about that and essentially asked God, "Are you sure you have the right, guy?" Others who were prophesied in the scriptures were Christopher columbus--he was contracted to discover America, and Joseph Smith, contracted to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the Earth. Joseph's life was predicted in both the Bible and Book of Mormon. In the book of Mormon he is mentioned by name.

"And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father." (2 Nephi 3:15, Joseph, Nephi's brother is speaking)

When you study each of these men's early lives, you see that they had no clear path to begin with. You also see, that they were uniquely prepared, even if at the time, it didn't make sense. For example, Moses was a Hebrew, but he was raised in Pharaoh's court. So he had an understanding of how to deal with the Egyptian royalty.

Another thing to note is that even after they learned their purpose, or part of it (our full contract usually comes piece by piece) they still had times where they struggled and doubted and wrung their hands.

There is much we can learn from these and other ancient prophets and archetypes. It seems that even Jesus Christ may not have had a full understanding of his mission on earth when he was young. The scriptures say that he grew "from grace to grace" and that he "grew in wisdom and understanding."

So how do you know what your mission is whether you are doing what you contracted to do on this earth?

In my experience, my own and that of friends and family and clients that I have watched, God nudges us and give us hints in various ways.

Open visions
These are what the scriptures describe--being carried away in the spirit and seeing or experiencing things often with an angelic person as a guide. These can happen in dreams, in hypnosis, while driving. Once you get used to this state they can happen more and more.They really do still happen.

Visitations
Angels still visit the earth. In fact, they are all around you. Your guardian angel doesn't leave you. It is possible to receive not only angelic aid in terms of crisis but also angelic visitations with information. If you do receive an angelic messenger, make sure to run the angelic messenger handshake test set forth by Joseph Smith in D&C 129.

Dreams
When we sleep, and all of our other organs are somewhat restful, our spiritual organs can work better. Not all dreams are prophetic or important. Many dreams are a way of venting the stress of the day. Most dreams come in a symbolic language though, and you have to learn to speak that language. Keep a dream journal and go back at times and see if you don't understand some of them a bit better with perspective.

Conversations with others
I once had a priesthood blessing wherein I was advised that God would give me the inspiration I sought in dreams and through conversations with others. Immediately following this blessing I became VERY attentive to what others had to say. I was a rapt listener. And indeed, I was having a conversation with my friend's husband about Les Miserables (he was reading the book) wherein he was giving me a very long synopsis (I had have forgotten most of the plot). I had no idea my friend's husband was even a book reader type, but he was explaining it to me with such passion I had to listen. He was amazed at how the main character had returned love for evil again and again so many times. He said it made him want to be a better person. That night I woke from a dream and wrote some things in my journal. The next morning I remembered nothing about the dream but I had written two things and one was Les Miserables. I only now realize, 6 months later, that one of the lessons I contracted to learn in this life was how to return love for evil.

Another time, after I started this blog, I had no idea what to even blog about. It was kind of all over the place. I knew I didn't want to talk about birth any more, but I didn't have a niche. Then a friend, after I taught her how to meditate, said I should blog about meditation. Of course. I just didn't see it before.


Priesthood blessings and Patriarchal Blessings
In the LDS church, a righteous priesthood holder can speak for Jesus Christ and bless others. In reality, he is supposed to be the mouth, the voice. The blessing should be inspired. I am lucky to have known some wonderfully inspired men who have voiced blessings for me.

A Patriarchal blessing is something you get once in your life, and it is thought to be somewhat prophetic and a kind of guide to your Sacred Contract. (They are recorded and written down and you can read them throughout your life.) To be honest, they are often still pretty vague. Until you get there. Then you realize that they are not. My patriarchal blessing said that I would be a teacher among the young people and indeed a teacher among others.... that I'd be called upon to share my ideas and experiences with others and that many would be uplifted by the things I would say. I had no idea what that meant for a lot of years. Since becoming a Kundalini Yoga Meditation teacher, I have no doubt I am on the right path and that sentence makes sense.


Thoughts and impressions
Standard personal revelation type stuff. Sometimes these impressions can even be thoughts of discontent. I was very discontented with my career situation in 2009 and I think that all this thoughts eventually led me to search for something new. 

When I decided to do a Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training, I knew plenty of places that it was offered in LA, but never felt drawn to any of the teachers. One day, I felt like I should get on the internet and just figure it out and commit to a training. As soon as I logged on I saw there was one starting in 2 weeks and it was a teacher I didn't know, but who I instantly felt was right for me.

Unexplainable passions for things
If you have always wanted to take belly dancing classes, you should probably take them at your next opportunity. I have not always wanted to take belly dancing. I have always had a love of words and writing and had already put in 10,000 hours of writing practice before I was 26 years old. So there you go. Writing was definitely part of my contract.

Words that come into our mind and heart
And sometimes audible voices. I heard an audible voice in answer to my prayer of what to do with my life. It said "Go to hypnotherapy school. Get online right now and find a school and figure out how you are going to pay for it." I found a school and started two weeks later and it was all paid for.

Many people "hear voices" in their minds while meditating or in the shower. Most of the inspiration for The Gift of Giving Life came in the shower.

Sometimes the words that come into my mind are funny. They will be a line from a movie or something, but they are the answer I was waiting for. This is one way I know they are from God. Satan doesn't have a sense of humor.



De javu
My theory on dejavu is that it is God's way of letting us know we are in the right place at the right time. Then my friend told me of her patriarchal blessing that said that at times when you are just going about daily life and have a feeling like things have happened before, God's way of saying all is well and you are on the right path. Kinda cool. Not fact. But I like it.

Our Pain
One of your best ways to discover parts of your Sacred Contract is by looking at your pain. What is causing you grief or pain. It might be a person or a cause or a body part. These things are gold mines for excavation into our contract.

There are many more ways to discover your contract, and Carolyn Myss suggests using archetypes, which I love and I will probably discuss in the future. Archetypal imagery is powerful and the Hero's Journey is a series of imagery journeys that I always use with clients who want to "figure out their path." But I'll save that for another post.

One last thing I wanted to add. Answers sometimes take a while. The audible voice I heard that told me to go to Hypnotherapy school came after six months of praying and begging for a direction. But now that I look back, it was perfect timing. Had I gone sooner, I wouldn't have met a few very important people that I'm sure I was contracted to meet. Whatever the timing, you can be sure that if there is a wait, it is because God is making sure every is safe for take off.


Feel free to comment or share your own experiences.