It is indeed a long and arduous journey pursuing a path that will return the self to the state of divinity that was experienced prior to entering this dimension. The common man is unable to embrace that this journey is desirable, for from the outside looking in, it is filled with misery, sacrifice, pain - the joys of this world tarnished, no longer desirable; rather, the self is focused upon removing the layers that have been placed, creating the burden that now hides the true self belonging to the consciousness.

Lifetime after lifetime, the composite shifts, changes, and is provided with challenge, pleasure - both new experience and old, that which has been experienced in previous lifetimes; it is the experiences of previous lifetimes, profound experiences of joy or abject misery that linger, surrounding the new self, drawing or repelling the new self to or from experiences in the current lifetime. Those consciousnesses that awaken and determine that the self is ‘fed up’ with this life, ‘sick and tired’ of existing within this dimension, are those who have endured many lifetimes of lessons that have typically been failed, preparing the self for the lifetime when success can most likely be tasted, if only the consciousness can awaken to the self’s true potential.

Illusion colors all things, including the student’s purpose. Why am I here? Why have I returned to this hell? Why must I experience so much pain, such difficulty? When will joy be tasted? When will bliss be experienced? The Teacher observes the student and is unable to answer these questions, for it is not known how the self will respond to the lessons that must be provided, that must indeed be learned before forward progress is experienced. The self who has achieved an understanding of the self’s purpose, of karma, is the self that recognizes the lesson, the presence of the lesson – not necessarily the definition of the lesson. This student will then approach the lesson by measuring, “Why am I here? What am I to learn from this experience? How can I do so without damage to myself or to another?”

Failure to recognize that all lesson presented to the self is necessary and need be welcomed – for it is the welcoming that provides the perspective that is needed in order for the student to see that which is truly being presented, that which the self need recognize, that which the self need then act upon. The typical student views lesson as challenge, views lesson as abhorrent, hating every moment of the presence of negativity, failing to see that the Teacher has called forth energies that have been created by the self and stored within the body for myriad reason - to enable the self to learn the lesson, to understand the experiences that came prior, and to then release the energies that were created by the self when the same lesson was failed previously.