Sometimes living our life purpose and executing the tasks associated with it can become a little blurry, particularly if it differs from our occupational roles. We may have spent much of our life fulfilling a role in a corporate or similar environment characteristic perhaps of self-imposed high standards, lofty expectations, driven by results, immense motivation, sincere commitment, unwavering determination and more. These personal standards and traits can sometimes unintentionally be expected of others as well, and more importantly they can filter into our spiritual roles. Spiritual roles however tend to be designed and structured somewhat differently from corporate roles, particularly around job specifications, performance management and measurement.
Although there may be some similarities between the two roles the spiritual one is distinct for it’s unique, individualised path aligned to the personal journey of each person. The manager navigating the spiritual team is also on his/her personal journey hence he/she is only required to perform their specified task and move on. Members of the team accept responsibility for their tasks and are accountable for their performance. It is pretty much a transformational, self-managing system.
There are however some spiritual pathways where the leader walks the path and members follow. The leader navigates, guides and steers based on his personal experiences, acquired knowledge, wisdom and spiritual accomplishments. The leader leads and members follow hence members inevitably traverse the journey of their leader as opposed to their own. There is no judgement in this if one is fully aware of their choice and is happy in pursuing it.
The siddha path however offers the opportunity to learn from experiences of others, translate it into personal knowledge, formulate wisdom and use discernment in discovering the self and one’s purpose. It encourages spiritual independence, self-management and the pursuit of bespoke relevant outcomes to advance one’s unique journey. To this end the spiritual leader will disseminate various different seeds and continue with his/her own journey. Each individual will respond to the seed/s that resonate with them.
To this end the one disseminating the seeds (knowledge, wisdom etc) is tasked to only sow the seeds. One cannot make them germinate. Each individual will respond to the seed relevant to their unique journey and the time taken for each seed to germinate will vary. For example apple seeds take 2-3 weeks to germinate and 2 to 8 years to bear fruit, mango seeds typically germinate within 1 to 3 weeks and can take 5-8 years to bear fruit , cocoa seeds take 12 to 18 months to germinate and 3-5 years to produce beans and the buccaneer palm can take 18 months to germinate and reportedly decades to reach maturity.
The spiritual journey is incredibly arduous, often soul stretching, mind bending and life wrenching hence one may come to the fold, fall off the spiritual wagon, leave to re-learn lessons, acquire more knowledge, shed baggage, encounter more challenges, take time out to heal or seek to understand themself or life better. This takes time. It takes as long as it takes and differs from person to person. Their seed germinates and grows only when they are ready. It cannot be hurried. When they return to the spiritual path they are more inclined to stay, grow and thrive.
We would love to see others on the spiritual path learn, advance and reach their goals; which stems from our measurement of growth within our linear time frame. However, we are reminded that only the present exists. There is no past, no future, therefore time is irrelevant. Once seeds are sown, the task is done, they will germinate; we just don’t know when. Regardless, at some point the fruits of labour will be seen from wherever we may be and a bountiful harvest will prevail.