Primary role patterns

We can say that there are typical roles for
men and women which we can find through all ages and in all cultures. These
roles are connected to profession and the position in society and in family. So
just imagine the diversity of professions, the various positions in society and
in family. The point now is that these roles offer a specific frame for
personal development including the way of thinking, feeling, perceiving oneself,
others and the world, and of showing behavior. Further on, these roles come
along with specific experiences which have effects on yourself and on others.

Let´s examine a few examples for a better
understanding.

Imagine that you are born as a woman in a patriarchal
culture. Your role is clear. Low level of education, preparation to be a good
wife and mother, early marriage, fulfilling your role, accepting the dominance
of men and husband, raising many children, being passive, doing what your
husband tells you, hard work. This incarnation makes you fit into the
expectations of society and husband. You have no own will, all decisions are
made by your parents, then by your husband. You learn to be a good mother, a
good cook and to be good in managing the household. You learn to accept, to serve,
to follow, etc. Certainly, you develop good skills in this, but you lack of
everything else. In another life, the roles might have switched and then you
are the man, with young wife, many children, having to work, enjoying freedom
while keeping his wife at home. Then you know both sides.

Imagine that you live as a monk for your
whole life. There is nothing else than the monastery with your brethren and
your spiritual work. Daily meditations, Mantras, events, etc. You learn a lot
about being selfless, serving others, true brotherhood, spiritual practice. But
you have no idea about worldly things, about women, family, business, etc.

Imagine you are a beggar. You are busy the
whole day with asking people for money, with looking for food, etc. There are
no other topics, just survival. You feel left alone like rubbish, no friends,
no family, nothing but you enjoy a specific freedom which others do not know.

Imagine you are a commander in a special
forces team. Every day, you go to and beyond your limits. You are always ready
to attack, to kill, to die. You and your time are one unit. No one could ever
separate you. Together you manage the hardest challenges. True brotherhood. Fighting
is your life. Fighting under all circumstances, even if you have to sacrifice
yourself.

Imagine you are a politician, always
talking a lot, presenting yourself in public, feeling important, smiling for
self-marketing, making a lot of money. And maybe you feel like a whore and a
fraudster behind your smile and perfect appearance. You are in a position of
power and people who have even more power and money pay you to work for them
like a puppet on strings.

These were just small examples which show
that the role we play due to profession and social status have great impacts on
our personal development and behavior. A beggar perceives the world in a
different way than a businessman. A businessman has different goals than a
monk. A man of power shows a different attitude and behavior than the married
woman in a patriarchal society. All these roles offer different experiences and
different patterns of thinking, feeling, perception and behavior.

Now, the point is that we all go through
such roles in our countless incarnations to develop in personality, to balance
our character and to become complete.

So far, this might be good or interesting, but
it comes along with problems. Big problems arise from the imbalanced and bad things
we do to others and to ourselves, one-dimensional behavior, extreme behavior.
Further big problems arise from the change of roles from one incarnation to the
next incarnation. When you are conditioned as a monk in your last incarnation
and now you are meant to live and work as a businessman then this takes a lot
of effort as you still have the old patterns in your personality as a monk.
These are the difficulties in life which we all experience.

Now, a therapeutic, meditative approach for
healing and positive changes would be to detect such patterns in yourself. For
example, you might detect role patterns of a knight, of an engineer, a Buddhist
Lama, a high priest, a shaman, etc. in yourself. These roles are connected to
very specific characteristics and abilities in you, also to ways of thinking,
of solving problems, of feeling and of behavior. And then you can examine these
things and work with them consciously. You will be able to understand what you
miss and why, what would be good and useful and what does not work today.
Indeed, it is a comprehensive introspection. Know yourself!

In general, all these roles offer something
positive and at the same time something negative. The positive qualities,
values, skills, etc. need to be appreciated, while the negative aspects need
correction and healing. And in fact, we all need a lot of healing and
balancing. It is the main key to spiritual progress and happiness in life.