Alignment is one of the three foundations of self-mastery, next to achievement and purpose. It grows as you develop Relationships, Heart, and Spirit, the areas of your inner world. When your life is in alignment, you find your gift and create a life you love.
OVERVIEW
Alignment is your inner world, combining the areas of Relationships, Heart, and Spirit.
Connection, creativity, and awareness will lift each other and create alignment. You then find your gift and create a life you love.
Without alignment, whatever you achieve does not reflect who you truly are. It’s better to live your own life and fail than to succeed in someone else's.
ON THIS PAGE
What is alignment?
Alignment is the first of the three foundations of self-mastery. It is formed by Relationships, Heart, and Spirit, the three areas on the left side of the Map of Life. Together they create your inner world: your connection with people and nature, your capacity to feel and create, and your relation to spirit and soul. When you create alignment, you find your gift and live with love.
The stronger each is developed, the more they will lift each other up. Heart lies in the middle of this triad, and the tendency is therefore to use its capacities for either Spirit or Relationships. But ideally it is used for both. When the Heart opens, both your sense of belonging and meaning can deepen and unfold further. Each area carries an essential part of a life you love.
In turn, growing either Relationships or Spirit develops the Heart, whose passion can then be directed toward the other area. Alignment is ultimately a quest for greater love. It carries the internal, or feminine, or yin aspect of your life. If the triad is sufficiently developed, the unique gift you're meant to contribute reveals itself.
What we all want in the end is love. Although simple in nature, developing it is complex, because it requires the relation between three areas. To love is to deeply relate to life. Bonds with people and nature, dreams and passions, faith and meaning, all help you find your gift, so you can live your authentic life. Alignment and love are the opposite pole of achievement and freedom.
When your life is not your own
As a general principle, many people achieve outer success while lacking love. The three foundations of self-mastery are different modes of operating, and each requires different skills. If you achieve anything that is not aligned with who you are, you hurt yourself and create an emptiness that cannot be filled with success. In turn, too much alignment can keep achievement at bay, and that leaves you stuck.
Fear is therefore prevalent throughout society. Without alignment we do not commune with spirit and our soul, nor do we deeply feel and express who we are, or create deep bonds with both people and nature. Perhaps this is too great a task for many, because it requires the full realization of three areas of life. Without alignment we live a life that's not truly ours.
It is common to only develop one or two areas, because the Heart opens toward either people or spirit. Many spiritual seekers lose touch with all of their old relationships, and many who develop bonds with people and nature inevitably face the death of these relationships. To love the sacred and soul, yourself and what you create, and the world is challenging.
How to create alignment
Relationships, Heart, and Spirit all need to be developed and combined in order to create alignment. Often it is best to develop the weakest area first, but this is not always the case. The Heart occupies the central position on the Map of Life, while Relationships sits lower and Spirit higher. Therefore, strengthening the Heart makes it easier to develop the other two.
If the strongest area is either Spirit or Relationships, the natural course is to use one's awareness or connections to open the Heart. And from there, one continues into the lower or upper pole of alignment. If the Heart is strongest, one can intuit which pole should be developed first. In the rare case where all three areas are underdeveloped, it is best to start with the Heart.
Alignment is your capacity to love. Without awareness of the sacred, the heart, and relationships, the zest for life diminishes. The internal world is not one of striving and success. One needs to learn how to relate to others, to deeply feel, and to realize one's sacred nature. Because these areas carry a feminine quality, people with a feminine core often find alignment comes more naturally.
When you live in alignment in the world, the gift reveals itself. This is the unique place in the web of life that you're meant to occupy. Your gift is discovered, not created. It always carries a mixture of people and nature, passion and dreams, and spirit and soul. You're meant to contribute to the world, and that necessitates the ability to connect, create, and be aware.
Map of alignment
Find your gift and create love.
Three areas of alignment
Relationships
Relationships covers connection, bonds, and belonging. Connecting with others is fundamental to the process of individuation. If developed, Relationships brings belonging and joy. If neglected, this area leaves you alone and disconnected.
Relationships is the lower pole of alignment and sits below the Heart. Without the capacity to feel from the Heart, one's relationships will not be able to deepen. In turn, through good relationships the Heart opens and develops further.
Tension between Relationships and Spirit is common. To deepen relationships, one often needs to move away from the sacred. Yet connection can be of a spiritual nature. These experiences are rare, but when they occur they can form extremely deep bonds.
Heart
Heart covers creativity, passion, and dreams. The capacity to feel deeply is essential for everything we create. When your Heart opens, life will not become easier, but it will be more magical. If your Heart is closed, you will live in fear.
Heart sits in the middle, between Relationships and Spirit. Once the Heart is developed, the gravity of one's passion usually pulls toward either Relationships or Spirit. The task is to find balance between opening to the sacred and connection.
The Heart can also be turned upon itself. It is rarer for this area to be developed as a goal in and of itself, usually in the case of artists. To be consumed with love, not for God or for people, but for the act of creating, is a wonderful experience. To learn to love oneself is a great skill.
Spirit
Spirit covers awareness, faith, and meaning. It is the source of consciousness and your connection with something far grander than yourself. By developing this area you discover your true self. If this area is neglected, life becomes utterly meaningless.
Spirit is the upper pole of alignment, and therefore an open Heart helps you to grow spiritually, while an underdeveloped Heart will limit your capacity to experience the sacred. In turn, spiritual experiences can open the Heart wide.
Solitude and distance are often required to grow spiritually. Relationships often present incredible challenges on the spiritual path. Yet, it is possible to use these bonds as doorways toward the true self. The drama (good and bad) of relationships can ignite spiritual growth.
Best books on alignment
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1
The Journey of Soul Initiation
Bill Plotkin
A roadmap for discovering your soul’s unique gift.
2
We Will Be Jaguars
Nemonte Nenquimo
A leader and protector from the Amazon.
3
The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran
Perhaps the most beautiful poetry ever written.
4
The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho
A fable about following your dreams.
5
The Overstory
Richard Powers
A story of nine people whose lives are changed by trees.
Common questions
Alignment is your inner world, creates love, and helps you find your gift. Achievement is your outer world, builds freedom, and manifests your gift. The task is to balance alignment with achievement to live your purpose.
If you feel that the life you're living does not reflect who you are, then you're misaligned. The experience of achieving external success can leave you empty and ignite a re-evaluation of your life. This can open the door to one of the three areas of alignment.
You need to find your unique gift and place in the world. Developing the Spirit, Heart, and Relationships areas creates this alignment. When you truly know who you are and can share it freely, you can live your most authentic life.
The human self is complex and situated in a web of relationships both within your own life and the outer world. When you create alignment by developing the three areas—Relationships, Heart, and Spirit—you'll discover the unique gift you were born with. You then understand your place in the world.
Too much of anything is not good. Alignment that is out of balance with achievement will leave you stuck. Unmanifested potential is utterly worthless to the world. The alignment will then be unsustainable, and one or more areas will collapse.
