Important Encounters Are Planned in Advance

Today is Monday, October 21, 2013.

"Important encounters are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other."  –Paulo Coelho

Today's quote is one way to express a very common belief among New Agers.  Underlying it is a concomitant belief in reincarnation.  This is the idea that Soul is an eternal entity that does not experience death in and of itself, even though the bodily form that it interfaces with does eventually pass away.   Soul has much to learn in order to be able to serve the Creator to Soul's full capacity, so It is granted a succession of physical lifetimes, each one specially designed for the individual to learn whatever it needs to learn at the time.  Each lifetime, then, is an individual course of study, filled with practice exercises and problems to solve, a few experiments to do, and lots of pop quizzes and mid-term tests.  

As Dr. Michael Newton has explained in his books, Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls, we are generally accompanied on our journey through our various lifetimes by other Souls in a group.  The groups seem to be rather loosely-formed, with some Souls entering and others leaving the group as necessary.  Some Souls are leaders of their groups.  The whole group never seems to incarnate all at the same time, but certain ones in the group do agree to come into our earthly lives to work out some issues with us, to teach us something, or to be taught by us. 

Often, these Souls show up in our lives as members of the same physical family, as our spouses, or as close friends or business associates.  Occasionally one will show up as a teacher or mentor.  People report having a feeling that they have met the person before, or that they've known the person all their lives, even if they've just met in this lifetime. They feel an instant closeness; they feel comfortable around the person.  This is often the case when two people meet and say that they fell in love at first sight.  If there is a very strong attraction between two people, it is extremely likely that they have in fact had some previous earthly lifetimes together.

The opposite is also true.  When we feel an instant repulsion for a person, it is often a sign that the person is someone we have dealt with before, in another guise, and that we still have some issues to work out with the person.  People who are able to look into their past lives often find that the person who has just cheated on them, for example, is someone that they, themselves, cheated on in a previous life.  Sometimes we are able to come to some resolution of the issue in this lifetime, and other times, the test is to be able to walk away from the argument without creating more negative karma for ourselves.  Perhaps the lesson is simply to give up our need to be "right" all the time, or to have the last word. 

I've met a number of people over the years who are most likely in my Soul group.  Some of them I feel a little closer to than others, but that's natural.  I've been fortunate to be able to resolve karma with a couple of them, and that feels really great, like a stubborn puzzle piece that finally clicks into place, or a weight that magically lifts off our shoulders.  

Look around you and list five people who have had the most impact on your life, keeping in mind that the younger you are, the more chance there is that you may not yet have met all of your Soul group mates for this lifetime.  These people can be anyone, but they will definitely be someone who knows your name, so not a famous person (unless you are good friends with a famous person).  The people may no longer be in your immediate surroundings; they may have moved away, or they may have already returned to the Worlds of Spirit. What have you learned from each of these people?  How have these people caused you to change for the better?  What have they learned from you, and how have you helped them go through their own changes?   :-)