As we grow spiritually, our personal will seeks more and more to become one with Divine will. This is the nature of the journey home, and it provides us with increasing opportunities for healing at greater depth.

As awareness of the lessons we need to learn increases, so, too, do the life circumstances increase which embody these lessons. It is a matter of consciousness expanding and awareness becoming more profound so that, little by little, we come to cherish each moment to bring us exactly what we need  in order to heal and grow.

This expanding recognition of the perfection behind the timing of events and the teaching that accompanies them has an ever-increasing impact upon our awareness. More and more we come to trust life to show us how to heal the wounds of the past.

Our attunement to life's teachings does not mean that we look to our lives to literally present us with the person, place, or experience from the past that requires karmic healing. Rather, the essence or quality of the spiritual teaching we seek is presented to us in a form that resembles past unresolved dilemmas or that stirs up feelings similar to those we have felt before. In this process, wounds and limitations of the past can be healed without necessarily having the exact conditions of the past duplicated. Our experience of the resonance of past and present as it moves again and again into our consciousness with its familiar themes and emotional reactions, allows us to go deeper into the karmic lesson to be learned. At each occurrence, we can either choose to ignore the lesson, or we can embrace it more fully and with greater awareness. Eventually, the moment comes when complete healing takes place.

That this is possible is not just a function of our openness to experience, though this is key. It is also not just a function of our intention to heal the past, though this, too, is crucial. The healing of the past in the present becomes possible through a combination of openness to experience, intention to perceive meaning related to our unresolved difficulties, and God's light moving through us as a result of our calling upon it.

Whether we describe the process of calling out as prayer, alignment, or just asking for help, it is an essential ingredient which makes possible the full integration of life experience, learning, and our conscious awareness.

Both our inner life and our outer life provide the content for karmic healing. In either case, the greatest challenge is often to reduce or eliminate the tendency to project onto others the idea of causation for our difficult emotions. This is especially true when dealing with old karmic patterns where it feels most probable that the external situation, relationship, or event is actually causing us to feel badly.

Eliminating projection begins to happen through trust and through a willingness to entertain the possibility that we are capable of responding in a different way to the same situation, even though in the moment we do not know how. When we hold an openness to the possibility of change – of acting in a more neutral or positive way at a time of difficulty, it often has the effect of softening the familiar reflexive response we tend to give. This reflexive tendency is especially pronounced when an alternate reaction is not apparent to us.

When we trust life to bring us what we need, when we stay emotionally present to what is arising within us, when we look for new ways of perceiving a situation that we feel we have been in thousands of times before, we construct the optimal internal and external conditions for healing the past.

Difficulty extricating ourselves from responses based on old karmic patterns may continue for a while as purification proceeds, and it is important at all times to remain trusting. Yet sometimes, despite our best efforts, mounting frustration impels us to follow the impulse to work out our conflicts with others prematurely, before adequate time for self-reflection has taken place. These premature attempts at conflict-resolution may offer superficial relief, but generally do not really resolve a difficulty since they do not reveal or deal with the deeper emotional issues involved.

The rush to resolve things quickly in relationships is often rooted in addictive process. Addictive process, growing out of fear and our sense of being alone and vulnerable, is perpetuated by our projections onto others which we then emotionally react to. This is compounded by our difficulty containing these reactions within ourselves. Such tendencies need to be observed and held in check within ourselves as we move through the purification process.

Our ability to heal karmic patterns grows as we commit ourselves to the way of purification. As we do so, patterns which perpetuate negative karma can be more easily seen and overcome. Along the way, however, there is an ongoing need to recommit ourselves to the inner work of self-reflection and alignment so that blame and projection onto others do not remain a motivating force.

Often, it is possible to exercise wisdom by temporarily withdrawing from a situation that brings up strong emotional reactions in order to realign with Divine perspective. After pausing, we can then return to the situation with new clarity and insight.

Taking space and time to be away from a disturbing emotional event is frequently both necessary and useful in order to refocus ourselves on our self, the place where all healing first needs to occur. As we purify, the process of attuning to the fundamental truth within us and the truth within each situation becomes easier and more natural. Eventually, it becomes more possible to release blame and to love others more fully.

Love and truth become more and more linked as we heal the past and transform into our spiritual identities.

Love for ourselves makes us more willing to see and to accept the truth of who we are and to not have to reject any of our parts. Similarly, love for others leads us to accept the truth of who they are as well, beyond their limitations.

Conversely, accessing more truth as we live from our deeper nature helps us to love more and to forgive more. Since truth at these deeper levels is always positive, as we become more truthful, we also become more knowing, more compassionate, and more loving. We see the mistakes we have made, the negative qualities we have carried, and the self-rejection that we have lived with, and recognize these to be based on fear, shame, and confusion about the source of our limitations.

As we view ourselves with greater truthfulness, we see errors we have made in our attempt to deal with these limitations. Yet, we also understand the original pain that gave rise to these errors. In this way, through compassion built on truth, we learn to forgive ourselves.

No matter what the surface layers of our personalities reveal, as we descend beneath the surface, we find a fundamentally positive core. This is the core of our innocence, the core of our soul-essence. To see the truth of our deeper being is to forgive the mistakes we have made and to look at them with compassion and tolerance instead of with self-hatred.

Forgiveness begun through a process of seeing clearly and loving deeply can be demonstrated in our daily lives. This occurs as we learn to separate action or words that we object to as wrong or hurtful, from the person performing the action. We can learn to maintain a moral consciousness regarding actions, but to release judgment concerning persons who are always in a learning process with respect to their own consciousness and capabilities.

True forgiveness involves remembering that all souls are continuously learning. Their words and behavior reflect the level of consciousness they are at, and the degree to which karmic healing has taken place.

There is a common reaction that occurs as we attempt to live life with more love and forgiveness. This reaction is often one of distress, and it can be felt when we discover not love within ourselves, but the absence of love. The heart that seeks greater purity, feels deeply sad in the presence of its own limitation.

In order to love freely, we cannot love from a place of emptiness or of despair. This would be like a glass that is half-full trying to fill another glass or glasses. Sooner or later, the contents of the half-full glass would be emptied and there would be nothing left to pour out. The same is true of inner emptiness which results from present and past experiences of deprivation, both emotional and spiritual. Inner emptiness, regardless of the cause, cannot produce love. What is required is the healing of this emptiness so that there is substance and content to pour out to others.

How can inner emptiness be healed? There are many ways, but all point to the need for nourishment in the form of love; all call for the power of a great love to enter oneself in order to fill and heal the empty places. In unusual circumstances, a personal relationship might do this, although this would be true only on a temporary basis. True and lasting healing of emptiness needs to come from within, from our relationship with God's love and with our essential selves. True healing takes place through continuing the process of prayerful alignment with Divine love so that in the immensity of that love, the empty places of the heart can be filled.

The commitment to living in love and truth is an ever-deepening one and moves us in the direction of becoming what we are - souls created in the image and likeness of God. What this commitment requires is the steady practice of aligning in the heart with Divine love, truth, and forgiveness, so that we can seek and find these same qualities within our ourselves. As love and truth expand within us, we become better equipped to participate in the healing of others and to take part in the healing of the planet as well.

Efforts to live more consciously and to heal our pasts inevitably lead to dramatic changes as we begin to live in God's reality with greater love and truth.

Situations and relationships that cannot sustain our changes, often become outmoded as they fail to contain the fuller expression of who we are. As this happens, we need to be able to let go where letting go is called for, and to endure the emotion of loss when this appears inevitable. We also need to be strong enough to tolerate the judgment, hurt, or resentment of others who, as they see us changing, may wish to keep things the same.

Those who cannot grow with us as we change, due to their inner fears, often feel that they cannot remain with us. This sad fact is a not uncommon part of the transformational experience and requires courage and honesty in order to face the life circumstances that may need to be altered or let go of. Over time, as karmic patterns are healed and cleared away, our relationships begin to develop greater integrity and harmony. Relationships that were formerly founded on the basis of karmic attachment, can now be based on the principles of 'resonance' and 'right relationship.'

'Resonance' in our relationships with others, involves a feeling of spiritual kinship, and is generally based on a sharing of common spiritual values, feelings, and purpose. Often, it is felt in the heart, with little on the external level required to support it. More and more, as we purify, we find those others with whom we resonate. We recognize them by an internal sense of knowing and belonging, rather than through any external guideline.

Similarly, 'right relationship' is based on the convergence of the truths two people share. Each is in harmony with the other, and each feels him or her-self to be recognized and seen by the other at the deepest levels of their identity. 'Right relationship' is a goal to be sought in all relationships - with other persons, with the earth, with non-human beings, and with God. In each case, we can seek to relate from the deepest part of ourselves.

When it happens that situations or persons we have known cannot be in right relationship to us, at least not in the present, we experience loss and pain, but know that the truth of our path and of our growth must be honored. In the midst of this pain that we hold in our hearts is the knowing that what is truly loved can never really be lost. What is truly loved remains forever in the heart, even though time and distance may separate souls for years or for a lifetime.

Conscious relationships begin with the honoring of all of life as sacred, and the recognizing of all persons as souls. Upon this foundation we extend all that we can of love, truth, and forgiveness to others, no matter how well we know them.

From the most unexpected chance encounters with strangers, to our most intimate relationships, in our treatment of nature, and in our interaction with non-human life forms, we hold all of Creation to be sacred and worthy of our commitment to act towards it with love.

Being conscious in our personal relationships often confronts us with the challenge of learning how to relate to the energies of light and darkness in others compassionately and respectfully, while preserving our own harmony and balance. As we purify, the experience of knowing how to do this becomes clearer and easier as the light within us strengthens.

Yet, the process of remaining free of judgment often continues to be a challenge as we perceive unhealed dark energies in people, often on a daily basis. To remain emotionally centered and non-judgmental in these situations takes time and patience. Principle Seven, with its description of energetic healing, can continue to help us as we seek to embody the principles of containment, detachment, self-forgiveness, love, and truth. These principles also apply to those times of distress we experience when we encounter repeated patterns of darkness within ourselves that are not yet purified.

It cannot be overstated how important it is to allow time to pass and space for retreat when confronted with the awareness of inner darkness or darkness within another. The compulsion to engage in projection, usually in the form of blame, is a powerful coping mechanism of the ego. Space and time are needed to re-center when the impulse is very strong.

As we learn to be more conscious in relationships, it becomes easier to discern when energies of darkness are coming from within ourselves, and when they are coming from another person. When we encounter outer darkness, common reactions are to feel sickened or repelled, then reflexively to seek control, to withdraw, or to become combative. As we become clearer within ourselves, it becomes more possible to anchor and stabilize ourselves in the light while dealing with the darkness in others. We can then remain calm in the presence of turmoil, and innocent in the face of anger. This is accomplished through the continued process of alignment with God's light. In the presence of that light, we ask that all that blocks love and truth from flowing between ourselves and another be removed and healed.

The growth of consciousness also allows the growth of deeper levels of commitment toward others, commitment stemming from our willingness to honor life and to treat all beings with love. For many of us, more superficial forms of commitment, rooted in our unconsciousness, were all that we knew prior to our healing process. These commitments were more often based on fear than on love. As healing proceeds, these commitments can give way to a more genuine kind of loyalty based on love and on the growing awareness of right relationship.

At times, we may need help in learning how to break the old patterns and fashion the new kind of commitment we seek. For when we operate out of karmic patterns, the propensity for self-delusion, denial, and fear-based behavior is strong. It is therefore often useful to ask for the help of others in accessing inner truth.

Increasingly, the principle of spiritual resonance will provide the foundation for the development of more conscious and committed relationships. As these unfold, we will come to view all who are brought into our lives as sanctified helpers for assisting in the completion of our karmic healing and for the expression and unfoldment of our Divine purpose.

Here, it may be said that all relationships can become sanctified through our conscious honoring of them; all can be healed so that they contain pure expressions of our love.

The expression of sexuality in relationships can reunite with the deeper expression of love and sacredness. Marriage can become a vehicle for each one serving the other in love, as well as a vehicle for both serving God together. Spiritual partnerships within marriage, between parent and child, or among friends, can exist to mutually support each soul in fulfilling their Divine purpose on earth.

What will underlie and define these relationships is the bond of spiritual resonance at their core, a resonance which forms the basis for joining and for spiritual communion.

Beyond karma as a vehicle for learning lies both greater responsibility and greater freedom. When we take leave of our habitual unconscious reactions to life, based on soul history, we open to a new awareness of choice, based on love and inner truth. This new consciousness draws us to circumstances and people that will help us with the unfoldment of our Divine purpose - a purpose aligned with our soul's choosing and with God's will.

Beyond karma, the movement of the embodied soul reveals Divine intention and Divine love. Such movement simultaneously fulfills the soul's plan for the highest level of personal fulfillment, while at the same time participating in God's plan for the creation of a holy planet.

Beyond karma, we ultimately return to a state of oneness with sacred reality - to that primordial state of consciousness known as the Garden of Eden. Here, in the Garden, the individual soul is no longer separate from Divine reality, but knows itself to be in perfect attunement with that reality. The self that flourishes in the Garden is not a separated observer of life. but rather is immersed in the unity of Divine life and 'ordinary' life, seeing in both the highest expressions of God's presence as it infuses all that is.

The abundance of life within this sacred reality is what we, as a collective humanity, are moving toward, and it is this life that will continue to transform us and establish the new foundation for a sacred human family and a sacred and holy earth.

"Can we, who seek love, find the love in our hearts that will outflow even where there is no need being expressed, and especially no need for our love? Can we feel our desire to love so strongly that we allow it to radiate out and bless others before they ask for our blessing, knowing that this is what each heart desires, even when it is not saying so out loud?"