In fact, every human being is born with all the means and resources necessary to attain the goal. And each spiritual aspirant can learn how to use their resources skillfully and efficiently. On everyone’s journey to Self-realization, the power of thought is the practical tool by which one can distinguish what ought to be done from what ought not to be done. Through the moment-by-moment power of thought, one increasingly comes to know the nature of the Supreme, the purpose of life, and the ever-present means to achieve it. As seekers of Truth earnestly contemplate who they are, from where they have come, what selfless service is being asked of them, and ultimately, where they will go when the body is no more, it is this reliable power of thought that can expand their spiritual awareness—until they awaken to the resolution of all the mysteries of life.

The stream of all life may change its course, it may be manifest or unmanifest, but it never stops. It keeps flowing until it merges and becomes one with the ocean of pure, Supreme Consciousness. Traveling in the eternal stream of life, each of us has already known innumerable life states. The stream of life is filled with lessons to be learned through one’s countless births and deaths.

The only way to become free of that cycle is to begin examining life from a higher perspective; a higher consciousness. For that spiritual work, the individual seeker must humbly employ the gifts of discrimination, willpower, and Divine inspiration—gifts that expand the currently limited perspectives of the Ego, Senses and Unconscious functions of the mind.

To go beyond the rounds of birth and death, one must acknowledge the transitory nature of the sense objects of the world, and contemplate the limited nature of the satisfactions derived from them. No doubt, sense objects can be a source of joy for human beings, but much of that joy exists in the seeking, and not the attainment of them. Once the desire for them is fulfilled, the Ego, Senses and Unconscious portions of the mind soon become bored and dissatisfied again, and begin a new search for other objects.

Understanding the ever-changing nature of worldly objects and the tendencies of the senses and mind can help spiritual seekers refine and deepen their perceptions, and hasten their awakening. Then equanimity and freedom arise in the heart. The wisdom born of such experiences inspires spiritual aspirants to change the course of their lives, and they begin exploring the real possibility of a full awakening to lasting peace and happiness—in this lifetime.

Throughout this ongoing process, priorities and lifestyle choices undergo many changes. In response to the growing power of the seeker’s enhanced discriminative decision-making, spiritual desires begin to consume all lesser desires and loosen the mind’s attachments to old, painful thoughts, speech, and actions. And it is through this expanding inner purification and heightened spiritual awareness that the earnest aspirant awakens to an enlightened state of being—all by Divine Grace.