Life: A Journey And A Teacher

Penultimate week, the participants at the three-day seminar organized by Eckankar, Religion of the Light and Sound of God at the Temple of ECk, Port Harcourt, stood back and took a fresh look on the experience of living.

Apparently, life is a jigsaw puzzle, a mystery. To many, life is a succession of sorrows, tears, sweat, and struggle.

To others, the life we live here on earth is only the preparation for a greater, joyful one in heaven.

Yet to some others, the driving force for living is the possession of wealth and acquisition of power, influence, and fame.

But the seminar, which had as its theme, “Life: A Journey And A Teacher” focused on the spiritual nature of man and the purpose for which he came into existence. The seminar featured inspiring talks, stimulating workshops, and relaxing creative arts.

Some of the main programme talks were The Journey of Soul, Mahanta- My Teacher, My Guide, Life Has Taught Me So Much, God’s love for Soul, Discover Spiritual Gold in Your Dreams. Others included My Journey – So Far So Good, Opening Your Heart to God’s Love Everyday, and What Past Lives Teach Me  About My Life Today. And some of the workshop topics were God Consciousness in Everyday life, What Can  Life Teach Me, Your Family, God’s Great Gift to You as Soul, Unfolding in the Light and Sound of God, and Soul Travel to Reach the Worlds of God.

The presentations by the speakers and facilitators were loaded with gripping stories about the journey of life. Drawing from their personal experiences, they showed clearly that he who opens his heart to the free flow of the love of God will unravel the mysteries of life, learn, grow, and be wise. As stated by the spiritual leader of Eckankar, Sri Harold Klemp. “When love fills our heart, it becomes the awakened heart. We suddenly see and understand all there is to know about life itself, that it is good, that it is necessary, and that we exist because God loves us”.

Strictly speaking, the seminar was a pilgrimage of the heart. It provided an opportunity for about 800 Eckists and non-Eckists at the event to contemplate on several issues of life and share their intimate experiences with both old and new friends from various walks of life across the country.

So for the three days of the seminar, the expansive Temple of ECk glowed and bubbled with the electrifying smiles, joy, and love of the participants.

The high point of the seminar was the theme talk presented by the representative of the spiritual leader of Eckankar in Nigeria otherwise known as Regional Spiritual Aide (RESA), Mr. Francis Omidiji.

In his talk, Mr. Omidiji, likened the journey of life to a trip. He said that any person who undertakes a trip is exposed to new experiences. He said that each time he goes on a journey, he studies a lot, and learns a lot too. Better still, anyone who is on a journey must be prepared to face challenges. As the journey of life takes us far over the earth and beyond and far into time, we meet crossroads. In the words of Sri Harold Klemp: “When you travel the road to God, you venture into uncharted territory. Sometimes, a crossroad will appear. Which direction do you take? Decisions made in the smallest parts of your life can affect the success of your journey.”

Mr. Francis Omidiji gave tips on how we can make our journey successful. According to him, such virtues as love, humility, selfless service, and spiritual discipline are some of the values we need on our journey back home to God.

Apparently, it is not the distance a man covers nor the number of years he endures pains, sorrows, or vicissitudes of life that makes his journey successful. No. Our success on this journey of life begins with the recognition that we are true children of God whose primary mission in this world is to give and receive love. Many reach this spiritual truth only when they have exhausted their needs of prestige, power, fame, wealth and other material possessions.

This is what makes the journey tortuous. Because it takes many years of birth, death and re-incarnation for the lessons of life, the lessons of love to sink in, and for man’s eyes and heart to open to the values of soul-chastity, forgiveness, contentment, detachment, humility, joy and God consciousness.

And our teachers are many on this odyssey. They include our parents, siblings, or relations, colleagues, husband or wife, children, friends, foes, strangers and others. Each teaches us the good or hard lessons that propel us to the next stage of our journey. So if we are to get the required training as the journey of life takes us to unknown places, we must not limit the channels through which the lessons may come to us. We should accept the teachers or lessons whether they coincide with our prejudices or our ideas of self importance or not. And let us not be too proud to accept help or love from others or become insensible to share our blessings with our fellow creatures. We must learn to give and receive love; to be grateful for the gift of life because gratitude opens new vistas for abundance and fulfillment.

Our journey through life may take many turns but the different lessons it presents teach us about the fullness of God’s love.