Circle of Life

Circle of Life
When "The Lion King" was released years ago, the movie script or story line, and the words of the song Circle of Life were special to me in a certain way. The full meaning took some time for me to realize and recognize. Unfortunately for me it too some significant life experiences and hardships to comprehend them and come to an understanding of them. For the early years of my life, I believe I possessed a certain level of innate spiritual knowledge; though I found I lacked the understanding or the wisdom of that knowledge.
As the song so accurately says, "There's more to be seen than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done." Regardless of one's beliefs on life, the opportunities and choices we face each and every moment of life generates another series of new opportunities and choices. However, the path we choose is entirely up to us, and resting upon those choices is the level of understanding and wisdom that we can gain through growth. That growth comes from experiencing life a new each and every day.
Some may choose to argue semantics of a circle or a spiral or a helix of life, by stating that life has a beginning - birth - and an end - death - whereas a circle has no beginning or ending. However we choose to look at it, each choice unwinds a little more of our path of life, and more new experiences. Others may point to life as merely the point where we step onto the circle of life and which direction we begin to follow in our journey in this earth walk. Again we can argue whether there was a life before this one, and whether there will be one after this one, but I ask does it really matter? What is important in right now, this moment, because once it has passed you can never live it again.
Is there an answer? Maybe, maybe not. Obvious is that this present human existence has a beginning and an ending. There are many teachings that deal with aspects of existence, before or after this present one. Based upon personal beliefs and faith gained through knowledge and understanding and wisdom. We all possess the consciousness to seek the expression of our full potential. The choice is ours to take. Do we experience each moment fresh, with a new breath, taking in or absorbing all there is? Or do we experience each moment shaded by a previous event or experience? That is not to say we do not base or make judgements on new experiences based upon passed events or knowledge and wisdom gained from them. But rather to not allow those to cloud our fresh experience.
That potential, innate within each of us is manifested when we recognize that it is within us, and we begin to take steps along the unwinding path, or searching out how big is this circle. Through potential there is growth. A seed that falls on concrete has less potential to grow than does a seed that falls upon soil. Yet the seed that falls on the concrete still has potential to grow, but is going to need external assistance to get to where it can grow.
At the beginning, I alluded to the words of the song Circle of Life. While many I'm sure have listened to the words, I wonder how many have actually heard them. Life is a path unwinding before us, each moment of every day. A journey on a path unwinding represents the potential for an always changing and dynamic journey. However we may never experience that unwinding path if we continue to follow the internal dialogue within ourselves and the dictates of society surrounding us.
For unless we stop the internal dialogue, we will only continue to view and experience life from the same vantage point that we always have, over and over again. We will go through life something like listening to a single song on one CD playing over and over again. Some may experience life through one dogma or teaching, akin to listening to the same 16 or so songs on that one CD. But in order to fully experience life we must be willing to listen to all the CD's available to us, kind of like putting an unlimited number of CD's in the player and putting them on the random play mode. Ideally it would be akin to putting all life's knowledge through the ages on CD's and putting them in the old style jukebox and playing the in the random mode. That is not to say that we must accept everything we hear as our own personal truth, but it is rather to allow our individual potential, that wisdom innate within us to discern what we need, and then let that which we do not to just pass away.
In my humble perspective, once we are able to stop the internal dialogue, the repeat sequence of our pasts, we are then able to see life with a new perspective and vantage point. For even if our daily routine is repetitive, there is enough in everyone's daily routine to become aware of something new each and every day.
Walk in Peace & Love,
Silver Eagle, The Path of the Eagle
October 29, 2003