Responsibility - Your Original Purpose
Photo by Vi Tran

Section 26

Responsibility

For you to receive the maximum benefit from this work―or anything in life for that matter―it is important that you give your full attention to it. Once again, make yourself comfortable and minimise all distractions. Take a few slow breaths, in... and out. Relax. Be as still as you can inside. And simply listen.

 

One of the most powerful behaviours you can adopt to enlighten yourself and take your rightful place as an empowered and delightful human in the evolution of this Universe, is your willingness and ability to be fully responsible for your life. So what does it mean to be responsible, and why is it so powerful?

 

First, and this is an important distinction, the use of the word ‘responsibility’ here is about you being responsible for your life, not you being responsible for or about anything or anyone specific in the external world. You might and often do feel or choose to be responsible for certain things in your life; for example, looking after your children, not speeding on the highway, or telling the truth on your tax return. But this is not what I am talking about. I am talking about your ability to take full responsibility for the way that you experience the world. And by full, I mean everything that you experience, every aspect of your life, in every moment, with no exceptions or excuses.

 

This often seems to be ‘a tough pill to swallow’ for many people. And without a complete understanding of yourself as the creative Being that you are, it is also a reasonable deduction. But it is not the truth, and it is a very limiting conclusion to make. Until you can come close to, or be sufficiently open to, the truth that you seek, then the egoic mindset of our times will entice you to play some kind of ‘blame game’, with a tendency to hold external causes accountable for the state of your life and the world. The reason for dysfunction and discontent, this mindset would argue, is poor government, greedy corporations, or lack of resources. There is, of course, no limit to finding fault in the ways of the world or others, but rarely is there an awareness in people that the state of the world at any given moment might have something to do with them.

 

It is interesting to note that people are generally quite happy to take responsibility for their lives and the world when everything is going well. ‘I have worked hard for this, I deserve it’, they might say, or ‘I have learned how to manifest what I want, I am a powerful creator’, or even ‘I have been good, I am blessed, God is on my side’. But what about when things don’t go so well? How often is the same proud claim made then?

 

Let’s face it, you don’t have to be very wise or courageous to attribute good fortune to yourself or your blessed state when everything is going well. A better measure of wisdom and courage would be how well you can take the same responsibility for dysfunction and unpleasantness when you experience it.

 

So why is this so? Why do you have to take responsibility in this way if you wish to be free, happy, and take your part as a valuable player in life?

 

Now that you are familiar with the Origin model and the nature of this work, you may well know the answer to this question already. If there is only life, the One Consciousness behind and within everything, and this is the essential nature of what you are, then it follows that everything you experience must somehow be an expression of this Creative Consciousness. Therefore, to not take responsibility for your life experiences is to basically deny your own power as a creative Being.

 

This blatant lack of responsibility is a major contributing factor to the increasing feelings of disempowerment that so many people feel today. You may have heard it said that with great power comes great responsibility, but perhaps a lesser-known, more valuable truth is that with great responsibility comes great power.

 

It is wise and liberating to be fully responsible for your life, for all the joy, insight, revelation, or power that you ever feel as a result of living your life, no matter the external stimuli that may seem to be the cause. Similarly, it is equally wise and liberating to be responsible for any disturbances that arise. Because whatever you experience in life is yours, no one else’s.

 

Taking this work as an example: if it was universally and fundamentally true that what I am presenting here is inspiring (or disturbing, or however you might like to judge it), then everyone would have the same experience of it. Clearly this will not be the case, and in fact I have no idea how this information will impact upon my audience. I do know, however, that it will be different for every person, because the work is only a mirror: it is a piece of existence, and existence is nothing other than a sense perception of the Earth psyche, the inner world. In this way, whatever a person experiences with respect to it, or with respect to the world in general, can only ever be a reflection of their own inner world or state. Therefore, whatever you see here is a reflection of your own inner state. It can be no other way.

 

To take responsibility for your life, then, would be to see that whatever your experience of reading this material, it’s all about you. If you see any truth or wisdom here, then it is yours. If you have any disturbance, then it is yours also. And it is quite likely that you do experience some degree of disturbance when reading this work, because this is the practicality of becoming enlightened when it comes down to it, which is what we are here to do. The purpose of this work is to help generate an enlightened state and effectively achieve something of value, not just have a nice discussion about a few things and then go our separate ways, unchanged. This is a deep dive into the psyche―your psyche―and if you stay with it, it will speak to and energise the very depths of your Being. Consequently, there is great potential power here. Your power. And the energy of this will burn out, or dissolve the blockages within you, if you are ready and willing for that to happen. This ‘burning out’ is the cause of any disturbance―it is the emotional and psychological death of the ego, as we discussed in the section 'Personal Growth and Evolution'.

 

Some of the clearest, but ever-so-subtle, evidence that indicates the general lack of responsibility people take for their own lives today can be found in the way they express themselves when sharing information about their experiences. Awareness of what I am about to say, combined with the ability to refrain from doing it, is a powerful way to begin taking more responsibility for your own life, and hence empower yourself. 

 

Have you ever noticed how people use the word ‘you’ when sharing information about themselves? For example, somebody might be sharing information with you about their experience of losing a job and finding a new one, and they might say something like this, ‘You know, when you lose your job you feel terrible at first. But then, after a few weeks it gets better, and you realise that there are new opportunities. And then, when you start a new job it can be so overwhelming. You don’t really know what to do and you are worried that you are going to perform properly’. Communication of this kind is very common. If you have not noticed it before, watch out for it now. 

 

Why do we speak like this? The experience being shared belongs to the person sharing it, not their audience, as the word ‘you’ in that context suggests. In the above example, it is completely possible―responsible and healthy―for the speaker to substitute every ‘you’ with ‘I’ or ‘my’. The same sharing would now look something like this: ‘When I lost my job, I felt terrible at first. But then, after a few weeks I began to feel better, and I realised that there are new opportunities. And then, when I started my new job it was so overwhelming. I didn’t really know what to do and I was worried if I was going to perform properly’. 

 

By using the word ‘you’ instead of ‘I’ when talking about yourself, you subtly avoid taking full responsibility for your life. Further, you implicate your audience, and are unconsciously endeavouring to manipulate them to think or feel the way you do. The next time you become aware of people talking like this, turn your attention within and feel what is happening. You may feel a pull on your energy, a slight discomfort, or a contraction of your Being. Conversely, observe what happens within when listening to somebody who fully owns their experience: there is ease and space around receiving the information. There is an expansion of being, a willingness to open and share. More energy, more love, is generated. From your side, be mindful of the words you use when sharing your personal experiences with others. Observe the difference in your energy when you consciously own what you are saying by using the words 'I' and 'me' instead of 'you'. 

 

These are interesting and empowering exercises. To be able to speak and own everything that you say through the wise use of language is one of the most empowering behaviours you can adopt. 

 

To take responsibility for life by owning all your experiences and not holding someone or something else responsible for them, is to begin to turn your life around and direct it towards the power and lightness of natural Being. Of course, there will be times where it will be extremely challenging to take responsibility for what is going on in your life. But what other choice do you have? Holding anyone or anything else responsible for what is going in your life will never get you where you really want to go. When life is extremely challenging, it may be helpful to tell yourself something like this, ‘I don’t understand what is going on at all, but I take full responsibility for my experience of it. One day I may understand, but until then I trust that somehow, everything is ok’.

 

Taking responsibility for your life is a great challenge, but one that pays enormous dividends. And in these days of quick fixes and fast tracks to everywhere, this honesty to life is the real deal. It is an approach to living that will transform your life, dissolve your problems, and set you free. But please, don’t just take my word for it. If you are genuine in your quest to live a better life by whatever measure that may be for you, then please try what we are talking about here, and see for yourself. Do your best to see and accept that it is you, as an extension of the One Creative Consciousness, who creates the experiences you have. Leave your rational and doubting mind out of it, as best you can for the time being. Simply take responsibility for it all … and watch what happens …

 

This is a very powerful life practice. But it is most important that you don’t go looking for, or expecting, any specific outcome from living like this; just be mindful of what happens in the following moments, days, or weeks of your life. If things begin to change for the better, then the fact that taking responsibility was the cause will have been demonstrated to you; it will be the truth for you, your truth, the truth. If it doesn’t work, nothing is lost except perhaps a little of your time in trying something new. Either way, please do not accept or reject this information at face value. To do so would mean that you have chosen to believe or disbelieve me, either of which is unhelpful if you want to discover the truth and be free. This is a major point, and the subject of the next section.