Knocking on Heaven's Door

Mama take this badge from me
I can't use it anymore
It's getting dark, too dark to see
Feels like I'm knockin' on Heaven's door

Knock-knock-knockin' on Heaven's door

Mama put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore
That cold black cloud is comin' down
Feels like I'm knockin' on Heaven's door

Knock-knock-knockin' on Heaven's door
Guns N' Roses, Kocking on Heaven's Door

A spiritual awakening process is exactly like that. One day you wake up and suddenly can't do the activities you have been doing all your life. What used to give you meaning suddenly feels like a ruthless ego struggle. All you can do is to put your badge and your gun on the ground and amidst all the darkness, you suddenly knock with good faith on Heaven's door. A friend of mine did that a while back; from one day to the next she quit her job because, as she put it, she couldn't handle the negative energy at that place anymore.

Sai Baba of Shirdi was more a God than a man based on the descriptions of eye witnesses at that time. Yet, one day he wanted to spiritually advance one of his disciples so he took on his karma and consequently fell violently sick. The doctors of the town declared that he had only a few more hours to live when suddenly he requested a glass of water, poured it over himself as a symbolic act of cleansing, got up and gave the lecture he was scheduled to give.

The point is that you will always experience your ups and downs independent of what you do and independent of what your spiritual development might be, but the more you follow your purpose- driven path, the easier the going will get for you and the more meaningful and beneficial the impact will be for all parties involved, even in your down phase. In the case of my friend, she now heals people instead and helps them discovering their spiritual path as a spiritual coach which is much more uplifting and purposeful than her previous occupation. She still experiences down days though given that she steps right into the paths of her struggling clients, but that is a worthwhile price to pay if you can help your soul siblings advance on their spiritual journeys.

A spiritual path is a demolition course. Life knocks on the armor of the 'I' that you, and the environment you have been born into, have so carefully crafted over decades. But when the chink in the armor is found, a little targeted knock takes the entire structure down and all the King's horses and all the King's men can't put it together again. This is a blessed day indeed despite all the darkness that surrounds you. At that moment you will surely stumble on your purposeful path and soon enough you will be knocking on Heaven's door. If there is one certainty in this Universe it is Matthew 7:7: 'Keep on knocking and the door shall open'!