Self-realization, on a spiritual level, means getting in touch with who you are as an Eternal Soul. It is not about expressing all your talents and abilities so you can make a nice, comfortable life for yourself. Many people think that maximum self-expression in the physical plane means self-realization. They believe that if they just get all the stuff, toys, goodies, and praise from others they will have achieved self-realization.

It does feel very bad when we are not given, or do not take, the opportunity to express our unique gifts. Many people are fortunate to be able to do this, while others feel that they are failures at life. They didn’t get the break, were born too poor this time around, or feel they have no real talent that makes them stand out.

But there is not grading system in the field of self-realization. You don’t get an A for always getting what you want. And you don’t stay in a static state of self-realization for the rest of your life. It is an ever-expanding field of awareness. It is a context rather than a set of activities that lead to the accomplishment of a goal.
​
When you have found who you are as an Eternal Soul, you will be self-realized whether you are a homeless wanderer or an opulent banker. For in the realm of the Spirit, all material things are impermanent and therefore does not fit in with what is really eternal: Our Soul, which can never be destroyed.

Many humans would like to think that life makes sense. That there is a beginning, middle, and end. They believe if they just follow all the rules they will be rewarded at the end of their lives and everything will be revealed to them: The meaning of their struggles, losses, and heartache.

Then many people look at their lives and think they blew it. They missed their chance to have a great or perfect life because of their faulty decisions and character traits. Or they didn’t grab the golden ring when it was dangling right before their noses. They blame themselves and everyone else because they did not construct the ideal life. They did not create the final draft that would be approved by: God, cherished institutions, and belief systems.

“There is no final draft,” means we cannot get it wrong and our Souls are eternal. Each life is on a path that unfolds at it own rate, has its own lessons and revelations. And if we feel we blew it this time around, we have the opportunity during our next birth to continue with the growth of our Souls.
​
Our lives are in a constant state of change. Our Souls remain constant yet ever changing at the same time. This paradox is difficult to grasp yet it is at the root of why there is no final draft. We are not here to earn good grades and pass the exam for, fundamentally, we are eternal and constantly flowing energy fields.

Nothing is a coincidence. It all happens because something happened before it and is happening with it. So many things are operating at the same time when we think something is just a coincidence.

But I wouldn’t say it happens on purpose. I would rather say, “It is inevitable that anything happens and everything is dependent on everything else.”

Some people would like to impute meaning to why things happen to them. They personalize the Universe. They were bad in a past life and that is why they slammed their hand in the car door today. The human mind feels better when it can make a story out of what happens. But in doing so, it is limiting its view of what is really going on.

What is really going on is far more than our limited minds can grasp. Forces that we cannot see that are operating all around us. Physical forces such as gravity, laws of motion, and magnetism as well as spiritual forces combined with our own choice. Who put you there when you slammed your hand in the car door? If you don’t move your hand fast enough many laws of physics come into play. And it hurts.
​
When we look at life with the eyes of the Soul, there are no coincidences and there is no specific purpose for every little thing that happens to us. But there is an overarching purpose for why we are here. It is a soul-chosen purpose to grow and expand in our ever deepening love of the Universe and all its complexity.

I wouldn’t say there is no mind, but rather that our ego mind is delusional and leads us down an unhappy path if we let it. It is hard-wired into us as a survival mechanism and allows us to perform tasks and accomplish goals, so we think it is our friend. But it is not an instrument for achieving inner peace—which always involves living in and loving the present moment.

The problem with this ego mind is that it cannot live in the present moment. It does not recognize presence. It can only cycle between memories and anticipation about future events. That is where is causes us problems. We have pleasant memories, but the painful ones are the ones that shape our lives and our decisions the most. We can hope for wonderful things in the future, yet worry horribly that they won’t come about.

This is where practices, such as yoga and meditations come in. People want to tame this torturous mind and they have found that such practices help with the erratic river of their thoughts. These disciplines help people rise above the maelstrom of mind activity.
​
If we engage in practices because we think we are going to get better in some future state, we are missing the mark. Practices such as watching our breath or spiritual dance are on point when we do them because we love doing them. Not because one day they are going to make us a better person, or we will be able to manifest everything we want in this physical life.

Twin flames have existed eternally, so to say they are gaining popularity is an understatement. I prefer to take the word “concept” out of the question and substitute it with “recognition.” Then I would reword the question to be:
“Why is the recognition of twin flames becoming a topic of worldwide interest?”

The answer to this question is because people have actually met their twin flames and wonder what just happened to them! It is an earthshaking experience and leaves no doubt that you have just met your own soul in another body.

This is slightly different from soul mates, who are companions through many lifetimes. The existence of twin flames validates the uncanny feeling of meeting yourself exactly but in a different form. People who have not met their twin flame or even their soul mate may feel a bit incomplete. They may go on to live and love but their whole world is rocked when they encounter their twin flame.

Some people want this experience and seek to learn more about this fascinating phenomenon. So many relationships are shallow, based on appearances and silly concerns of the ego. People are seeking more than “Am I Hot or Am I Not?” hookups that are all about the body and leave them feeling empty inside.
​
People are hungering after the Soul in general, even if they cannot put it into words. This is the reason for the upswing in interest in twin flames.

I recognize true wisdom for me because it works. If it doesn’t work, it isn’t wise—it is foolish. This is true for me on many levels:

All the sayings, such as, “A stitch in time saves nine” are practical. It really is true that if you don’t mend the little hole, a bigger one will appear. You can’t argue with that. It doesn’t work if you spend all your money on beer when the rent is due. It works when you pay your bills on time. That’s easy to understand, though many people ignore this kind of wisdom.

But then there is deeper wisdom. This is not as easy to recognize. I am talking about the words that come from prophets, mystics, philosophers, and holy people. Now you must look within your soul to see if those words resonate and bring a deep sense of knowing and peace. They must reverberate within your own consciousness.
​
If you are not ready for wisdom of this kind, it will sound like so much talk. You might even parrot the words but they have not taken root in your heart. Wisdom is a partnership. It doesn’t exist on its own. It needs a receptive heart to take it in and receive its benefits.

It’s more like, “Can humanity save nature?”

Unfortunately for this planet, people have been exterminating much of nature since the Industrial Revolution with its smoke-belching factories. We paved over so much of the grassy lands of the world, poured poisons into the waters and air, and have driven many species of animals to extinction. But even before that, we were creating deserts by overgrazing our herds and disturbing the land in other ways.

Since it appears that so much our our approach to nature is to tame and exploit it, why would Nature even want to save us if it could? We need to respect nature first and then maybe it will save us with its bounties of foods and everything we need to thrive. If we don’t respect nature, we will be extinguished from this planet. It will reject us in a roundabout way.
​
Other life forms may survive our toxic relationship to nature. Perhaps they will evolve to be more intelligent in their approach to their environment next time around. They might observe Nature and seek to understand the profound lessons all around us displayed in the beauty of the world.

Both soul mates and twin flames are very rare. They do not occur in every lifetime. Here are the essential differences:
Soul mates have been with each other from lifetime to lifetime and cycle through many different roles with each other. They are brought together to complete something left undone in a past life. Often there is a spiritual lesson involved.

Some soul mates are difficult for us because we need to clean up our karma with them. Not every soul mate brings peace and love. Nevertheless, you will always recognize your soul mate. Sometimes you can be in different locations on the planet and may not encounter them. When you meet them you will know!

Twin flames are actually the same person’s soul split off into two bodies. This configuration is much rarer than the already rare soul mate. They share many of the traits of soulmates, such as finishing each other’s sentences, thinking the same thing at the same time, and sharing many uncanny characteristics.
​
Sometimes twin flames can even be born at different times but still be twin flames. That even throws more complexity into the mix. For example, I know a twin soul that recently incarnated as a baby in California. Her counterpart will be born in Texas in a few months. Many things account for this and they are beyond our human comprehension.

Most people don’t really care about Immanuel Kant nowadays and he is considered to be irrelevant. Part of the problem is that his language is difficult. He creates his own terms and defines them. So it requires a commitment on the part of the reader to care enough about his terms and learn them. Then to go on and decipher his philosophy.

But actually, Kant is a genius, a brilliant thinker, who has much to offer anyone who is trying to figure out why should we be good, how can we be good, what is good, and is there such a thing as evil?

I doubt that many people think about picking up his Critique of Pure Reason for fun weekend reading. No one is going to take his Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals to the beach for a leisurely day of reading in the sun.
​
Therefore, he is relegated to university studies and often thrown in with other philosophers as a historical example. But he is still has so much to offer. And it is intellectually satisfying to delve into the workings of the mind of a genius.