As a human passes through the stages of life, growing, maturing, and eventually dying, the stages are
reflected through major lesson plans as defined by The Path to Healing. The five major lesson plans
begin at birth and follow the student until death. Each of the major lesson plans will reflect one
of the
Life Lessons: Repression, Denial. Here is a tabular summary of the five major lesson plans.
| Major Lesson Plan | Age | Brief Description |
| Infancy | Birth – 1 | There is no defined major lesson plan during this time. The infant is influenced by nurturing and environmental influences. |
| Early Childhood | 2 – 7 | There is one mandatory major lesson plan that is activated and most likely an optional one as well. (Quartenary lesson) |
| Development | 8 – 27 | The Development major lesson plan (Tertiary lesson)
is largely responsible for shaping the person’s personality and world view; it is the architect of the not-self. Almost everyone has a Development major lesson plan but there are exceptions for some who do not. If there is no Development major lesson plan for an individual, the Early Childhood mandatory major lesson plan continues to be active in the Development period. |
| Maturity | 28 – 42 | The Maturity major lesson plan (Life Lesson#2)
Building on the Development major lesson plan, the Maturity mandatory major lesson plan becomes the focus of the adult throughout the rest of life. |
| Student? | 43- Rest In Peace (RIP) | The Student? major lesson plan (Life Lesson #1)
is the most crucial, for it consists of all lesson as brought forward by the Teacher based on the student’s desire to learn. The question mark following the title of Student is meant to communicate that this stage is not reached by everyone in which case the Maturity major lesson plan continues until death. Many people choose to not learn about the self and prefer to live their life without awakening and pursing the path of the inner journey. This is of course a choice that is honored and accepted by the Teacher. |
The Infancy ‘Major Lesson Plan’ is not really a Path to Healing defined and predictable lesson plan.
It begins at birth and lasts until about the second birthday. This is the period of time in which
the infant is most vulnerable and is receiving vast amounts of information about its environment
which influence its responses to that environment. The kinds and quality of nurturing given by the
baby’s caregivers contribute much to its nascent world view, for example, “Am I in a safe
environment that provides love, food, and protection, for I cannot care for myself?” or is the
infant’s environment characterized by indifference, unpredictability, or even violence? The other
major factor influencing the infant’s world view is its physical environment. Does the baby have
birth defects that hamper its early maturation? Is its actual physical environment conducive to
being healthy and safe? There are of course innumerable aspects to all things that the infant
experiences during these two years. Suffice it to say, that unlike the other major lesson plans,
the period of Infancy is not codified with well defined, predisposed behaviors based on its place
and time of birth as is the rest of The Path to Healing system.[Although influence of the lesson
plans are experienced even during this developmental stage, the new personality begins to form
without the burden and baggage of the composite self which will arrive by the age of 2.]
The Early Childhood Major Lesson Plan(s) consist of a mandatory plan and an optional plan, the latter
being present for many humans as chosen by the Soul and the Teacher. Both, if the optional plan is
present, are active around the second birthday and will begin to reflect the individual’s world view through
childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, giving way to the Maturity major lesson plan around
the 28th birthday. Since there are mostly two lesson plans at play during this time, it is helpful
to remember that the characteristics of both plans are likely to intertwine during lesson
presentation. It is worthwhile for the student to separate which behaviors belong to the mandatory
lesson plan and which belong to the optional lesson plan. The optional lesson plan becomes less
influential in the student’s life when the 8th birthday is reached; however, the mandatory lesson
plan will influence the student’s behavior throughout the rest of the lifetime. Another point to
keep in mind is that although the optional lesson plan may be diminished, it is possible that
another component of The Path to Healing will be of the same line number as the optional lesson
plan, for example if the student has the line 2 optional lesson plan of Denial and the Communication
lesson plan of Ignoring, also line 2, then there will remain a strong line 2 influence on the
student’s behavior. It is wise and helpful to make the effort to understand the influences of all
of the life lessons to better understand the machinations of the not-self’s behaviors.
The individual energies that fuel the Early Childhood mandatory major lesson plan are those of
samskara.
They are part of the
composite self. Energies of these lives come into
the new life around the second birthday. In the following years these Samskaric energies will cause the
student to reenact previous lifetime experiences without having conscious knowledge of where they
originated. This explains why students often have behaviors that seem completely unrelated to this
life. A proclivity towards violence may exist although the student’s life is full of love and absent
violence. The predisposition to violence comes from a failed past life or lives. This can be very
confusing to the student who attempts to relate their negative behaviors to events in this current
life. It behooves the student to understand the behaviors and characteristics of their Early
Childhood mandatory lesson plan and note those that are not a part of the current life and thus
are rooted in the past.
The Development Major Lesson Plan is an optional lesson plan that, if present…and it is for almost
everyone, becomes active around the 8th birthday and is a major force through the age of 27. The
Development major lesson plan is largely responsible for shaping the person’s personality and world
view; it is the architect of the not-self. Almost everyone has a Development major lesson plan
but there are exceptions for some do not. If there is no Development major lesson plan for an
individual, the Early Childhood mandatory major lesson plan continues to be active in the Development
period. When viewed from the perspective of aging, the Development major lesson plan covers a very
wide range of human experience from childhood through early adulthood. This is the period when the
student gains most of their formal education and embarks on the beginning of building a career or
life away from their parents. It is little wonder that the major outline of the student’s world
view and future plans is developed during the period.
The Maturity Major Lesson Plan begins around the 28th birthday and may be in full force for the rest
of the lifetime. It is the focus of the maturing adult and reflects in the behaviors of the
not-self.
The energies that fuel the Maturity Major Lesson Plan and become active around the age of 28 are
based in the current life.
Given that this period of 28 through 42 years of age is the beginning of career acceleration, the
student is gaining in career advancement, wealth, power, and influence. There is much more
opportunity to make choices which increase the student’s materialism and focus on the external
world making it much harder to refocus on the inner journey and achieve
awakening. It is of value
to also recognize that there are now several different life lessons in play and the sorting of what
belongs to which life lesson becomes even more confusing. Most humans are not concerned with
giving the inner journey much thought if at all. This is the time of intimate relationship, child
rearing, material success, and life seems that it will go on forever.
The Student? Major Lesson Plan period begins with the 43rd birthday. It is a time often described with
the label, “mid-life crisis.” It is not a surprising descriptor. The Student? major lesson plan is
the most crucial of all of the lesson plans, for it consists of all lessons as brought forward by
the Teacher based on the student’s desire to learn. The question mark following the title of
Student is meant to communicate that this stage is not reached by everyone in which case the
Maturity major lesson plan continues until death. Many people choose to not learn about the self
and prefer to live their life without awakening and pursing the path of the inner journey. This
is of course a choice that is honored and accepted by the Teacher.
The Student? major lesson plan will find the ‘potential’ student faced with all manner of lesson
presentation that seems to come from out of the blue and often with devastating effect.
Just when life seems to be an unfolding rose of great promise, disasters come forth. The death
of parents, failed marriages, failed jobs, economic hardships due to debt or bad investments,
failure to progress in the chosen field of endeavor, and on and on. This is of course in proportion
to the person’s curiosity and stirrings of feelings about the inner journey and it catches the
attention of the Teacher who begins to test the student to gauge the desire to learn. It is often
the time of the
Dark Night of the Soul, also triggered by the Teacher to further test desire and
qualification to learn. If the person has no interest in the inner journey, no interest to know
and heal the self, then they will continue forward with the Maturity major lesson plan and will
likely continue to have success in the material world. This choice is accepted and honored by the
Teacher.
On the other hand, if the student experiences a Dark Night of the Soul, awakens, and begins seeking
a teacher, then the Teacher begins to teach through the presentation of lessons which provide
the opportunity to begin to know and heal the self. The path is long and arduous and there are
many, many lessons to learn. Each lesson learned and behaviors changed from negative to positive,
is a step further along the path along which it becomes much more difficult to prove intent,
desire, faith and trust to move further.
Information about the specific major lesson plans is found at these links:
1.
Repression
2.
Denial
3.
Shame
4.
Rejection
5.
Guilt
6.
Separation