March 2010 article review:

The Gift: Living a life of purpose and meaning by Stephen Cope
Stephen Cope is director of kripalu's Institute for extraordinary living (IEL) and author of "yoga and the quest for the true self" as well as "Wisdom yoga". Please visit Kripalu's archives to read the full article at www.kripalu.org

in this article The Gift: living a life of purpose and meaning, Stephen Cope begins with the question  - Do you have a clear sense of purpose in life?
Naturally this question is dear and near to my heart as I am passionate about helping my clients awaken to their life purpose.
Stephen speaks about the "jiva mukti", which refers to the soul awakening in this lifetime , to living on all cylinders of body, mind and spirit ,  to being a fully alive human being.
This may help us better understand WHY so many of us are driven by a desire and a need to awaken to our life purpose and to indeed discover our life purpose in the first place.
The author, then delves into yogic philosophy and discusses how we are each born with a unique gift and that fulfilling this gift is the doorway to leading a fulfilled life. Yogis believe that life is seen as an opportunity to realize our unique calling, our "dharma" .
With so much suffering going on around us and everyone being challenged in different areas of their lives, this certainly warrants closer examination.
The article then discusses how the yogic concept of "Indra's Net" explains why pursuing ones dharma is not a selfish, self centered act but rather is the glue (or the jewel) that  keeps humanity alive. We all know that we are part of a bigger whole and this concept, similar to what scientists have now discovered with the quantum field theory or what esoteric seekers understand about the crystalline grids that surround the planet, help us understand that we each play an instrumental role in the well being and health of the planet.
The crux of the article discusses Stephen's discoveries, made at the IEL , about taking responsibility for this gift. They are :
1) the gift requires practice,
2) the gift is often paired with a wound
3) fully actualizing ones gift often requires a sacrifice.

None of us like to make sacrifices and none of us like to be reminded of our wounds. However, perhaps we will be better equipped to find the gratitude and the joy in life when we accept the wound and accept the sacrifice that goes hand in hand with finding fulfillment. So let us take the time to discover our unique gift, to develop this gift so we can accomplish what we came here to do at our soul's level and above all, to not feel guilty about it. As Indra's Net explains it is in the highest interest of humanity that we each  follow our soul's yearning to discover our gift or if we have already discovered our gift, to follow our soul's yearning to develop it.

Please visit my dictionary in the learning section of the website for more information on the Sanskrit words in bold and italics. 
Lots of love and happy reading,
Nicky