#386 Living in alignment with our Dharma (higher purpose), with John Lawyer.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION
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John Lawyer  0:00  
It was this very dark thing over time it starts to wear on you starts to kind of wear you down and kind of eat you up. And I think kind of being part of that darkness seen that kind of darkness. I think it helped me see more light in the world. And so it helped me learn about the contrast between light and dark and there's balance in the universe.

Agi Keramidas  0:21  
You're listening to personal development mastery, the podcast that empowers you with a simple and consistent actions you need to create a life of purpose and fulfilment. I'm your host, Agi Keramidas. And this is episode 386. Today we are discussing living in alignment with our dharma, our higher purpose. By listening to this episode, you will understand the importance of aligning with your authentic life mission. You will learn about stepping out of the societal matrix and the unconscious life and you will discover for practical tools to foster a stronger connection with your spiritual self. Before we dive into this fascinating conversation, if you enjoy listening and appreciate what we're doing here, the simple quick favour I'm asking of you is to click the subscribe button. Now let's get started. 

Agi Keramidas  1:28  
Today, I am delighted to speak with John Lawyer. John, you share a riveting tale of transitioning from military accolades to spiritual awakening, you act as one of several guides for Kishar, a nonprofit online spiritual community for people to explore their own unique spiritual path. You are passionate about guiding individuals to discover and align with their higher purpose, navigating the journey from societal conditioning to conscious self awareness. John, welcome to the show. It's such a pleasure to speak with you today.

John Lawyer  2:12  
Thank you, I appreciate you having me on. And thank you for that wonderful introduction.

Agi Keramidas  2:16  
As I was telling you just before we started recording, I'm very excited for this conversation and we will explore among other things, we will explore higher purpose and the Art of Living aligned with your dharma. And as more before we go this, can you share a pivotal moment from your transition from you know, a military career to becoming a spiritual seeker. But for

John Lawyer  2:48  
for me, it was, you know, for being involved, you know, go, you know, joining the military straight out of high school and being at war for the first 12 out of 15 years of my adult life, you know, me part of that military industrial complex it was it was this very dark thing over time it starts to wear on you starts to kind of wear you down and kind of eat you up. And I think kind of being part of that darkness seeing that kind of darkness. I think it helped me see more light in the world, which is I think a really great thing. And so it helped me learn about the contrast between light and dark and there's balance in the universe and

John Lawyer  3:29  
that we have choices about whether we look into the dark or look into the light, you know,

Agi Keramidas  3:35  
was there any let's say milestone transition something because you know, they are those two things are very it I'm not sure what that is smooth transition is that don't think that it was so what what tipped the scale? What would you know, made you decide that you no need to change? Well,

John Lawyer  4:00  
I was I worked a lot I was really dedicated to my job when I was overseas in combat zones. And I worked 100 110 hours a week, seven days a week and for years on end. And so eventually it was not I think eventually it was wasn't sustainable. I burnt out completely. I kind of like supernova. And I didn't have anything left. And so when I came home I didn't know who I was I was kind of completely lost because I was this person right that did this, like what I thought was this important thing. And I didn't know who I was outside of that. And I was kind of addicted to war you know the the like, excitement and adrenaline of it all the excitement of my job. And so when I came home I was kind of lost for like seven years like just kind of wandering and trying to heal and I realised over time that time actually helps heal. And I did I got into a little bit of mindfulness, I got into a little bit of of that. And I didn't fully commit to it. And I wasn't really on a spiritual path. And at that time of coming back and kind of being lost was definitely part of, of the journey that I had to take, and just figuring out what the world's about. And then COVID happened. And that was different. And that started to make me think a little bit differently, just the way that I looked at the world. And then I actually I had, I was only 39. But I had shingles on the left side of my face and in my eye. And I actually lost some vision in my left eye. And that was a pretty important event. Because it was pretty, pretty significant. And it was because I was so stressed, I think, is probably what happened. And even though I lost some vision in my left, I think I gained vision from a spiritual sense. So I think that helped probably pushed me into that moment where I had this like profound understanding, or, you know, kind of awakening that was like this, like, kind of instant thing one night where I kind of saw the universe as one whole thing.

Agi Keramidas  6:14  
Did that just happen? Or was it a result of some practice or anything else?

John Lawyer  6:21  
No, I was just laying in bed late one night, my wife was asleep. And it just hit me like a bolt of lightning. It was kind of Eureka, you know?

Agi Keramidas  6:31  
When you Eureka, yeah, I suppose doesn't even begin to describe it. What seems after that's, I mean, what was the the biggest thing that you changed after that? That night? That was different?

John Lawyer  6:46  
My whole life changes. I mean, I, yeah, everything changed. I changed the way that I changed the way I ate, I changed the way I slept, I changed, you know, basics. But I mean, I changed the way that I saw the way I stopped arguing with strangers on the internet. I stopped arguing with family at Thanksgiving and Christmas. And I got out of politics, I didn't I don't care about politics anymore. And it was very much a loving kindness that we're all is one thing, we're all made up of the same stuff. We're all tied to whether we're humans, or plants, or animals or rocks. You know, we're all tied together. Through we're all startups, we're all energy. And so I am I started to meditate every day. And I, I knew that I kind of knew what my purpose was, I knew I wanted to go out and help people help themselves, like, find their wholeness inside, whether they knew it was there or not, because it's there, even if you don't know it.

Agi Keramidas  7:50  
Thank you, and you said purpose. So John, let's let's talk about Dharma, then our higher purpose and knowing what it is, I suppose it's a good starting point for this conversation. Sure. Tell me a bit more about this. I

John Lawyer  8:11  
think we, I think each of us has a unique higher purpose in this universe in this world. I think that it can change over the course of our lives. And I think the first question we have to ask ourselves is, do we know what that purpose is? No, do you know in some people say, Well, I don't know what it is, how do I find it? There's different ways like, what do you love to do? What do you what do you need to do? What do you want to do? What? What do you get excited about waking up and doing the next day? You know, what's that? Maybe other people can help tell you what lights you up when you're doing it? And then when you know what it is? If you haven't even if you just have an essence of it? Is that higher purpose that dharma aligned with how you're living your life every day? Is it aligned with your day to day? routines and habits is, is it aligned with your job? That's a huge one, right? Is my purpose aligned with what I'm doing for work? Because we spend so much time working. Because suddenly if you're if you're working in something that's aligned with your higher purpose, and you're happy about it, you're joyful. You're like, Oh, I get to go to work. And for me, because if you're, if you're not happy with what you're doing in life, every day, if you're not aligned with your purpose, then you're you're obviously not going to be in a good place, but neither are the people around you. So you've got to you know, when you lift yourself up, you lift up yourself, but you lift up the whole world around you.

Agi Keramidas  9:41  
And rising tide lifts all boats, for sure. We'll, I'll talk about won't speak about alignment or living in alignment with your higher purpose in the moment. There was something you were saying about know how. So my question was How do we know that we actually know that this is the the higher purpose? You did mention? Some, you know, following your, what lights you up you said and things like that? Is there? Are these stepping stones towards that is? Is it that and how does one really know? I suppose my question makes sense.

John Lawyer  10:28  
No, it does. Yeah, that's all part of it, I think a lot of it is, if you really want to look into what your purpose is, part of the process is also quieting things around you. We, we have a lot of background noise in the world, we have all this stuff that we're we're listening to our phones, or our streaming, you know, all this stuff, our computers. And so if you can just quiet the background noise in our mind, our mind and ego that is thinking in giving us thoughts all the time, it's trying to keep us alive, it does a really good job of keeping us alive, right? But, but it's over performing. And it's throwing all these thoughts, feelings and emotions at you that maybe you're not processing or that are racing. So it's quiet in that background noise outside of you. And then when you can quiet that, that mind and ego inside of you and say, Okay, what's the real voice? What's, what's the voice of me, outside of all these things that society has given me, you know, my parents gave me my, my teachers gave me my community gave me and told me that I had to do this, and I couldn't do that, or I should do that, you know, all these things. And, you know, you get you get rid of all that you stripped that away, then you start to ask that question, Who am I? And I'm not my name, I'm not my job. I'm not my hobbies. I'm not my relationships. So who am I? And what am I? What do I want? What are my values? What are my beliefs? And then then things start to come into focus?

Agi Keramidas  11:57  
If you enjoy this episode, can you think of one person that would find it useful and share it with them, I'd really appreciate it, it helps the show grow. And you will also be adding value to people you care about. Thank you. And now let's get back to the episode. It is that that self introspection and that journey, we call it a journey of self exploration. Because, as you know, many people, if you ask them, Who are you and the head to answer that question not by what they do, or where they come from, where do they live? But actually, the actual question, most people would have a very hard time to answer that question. And no one can answer that. For us. It takes indeed, the practice to look inside whatever that involves, and it's just an expression to look inside. But you know, the the inner work, if you want. I wanted to come back quickly to what we're talking about. Let's say we know, and we understand the, our higher purpose, then it is a matter of aligning our life or align it in our day to day life, which sometimes it can be more challenging. What's one, give me one practical piece of advice that the listener can take to, let's say, come more in alignment with their higher purpose in their day to day life?

John Lawyer  13:46  
Sure, I think a smaller one is, are you doing something every day that honours what your higher purposes? You know, you got all these all these things that kind of pull at you in life, the you know, you got kids and job and bills and all this stuff. But when you get rid of all that, like, are you doing something every day, to make sure that you're living that authentic purpose that is yours, even if it's even if it's not possible to quit your job and pursue this one thing that you want to do? Are you doing something every day to honour that and get in touch with it? Because that will grow? So I think it's you know, starting is starting is this amazing thing? Is that the journey of 1000 Miles first step thing, you know, it's it's cliche, but it's true.

Agi Keramidas  14:32  
It's true. It's so true. I loved what you said, Are you doing something every day that honours your, your higher purpose? Tell me a bit more about this?

John Lawyer  14:45  
Yeah, it's this delicate thing. It can be something that takes five minutes, you know, for me, I knew what my higher purpose was just as an example, I knew my higher purpose. You know, when I kind of had my moment I knew my higher purpose was to create the This nonprofit online community where people could kind of have authentic, meaningful connection. So how can I honour that? Every day I did something to make that happen. Even if it was only five minutes, and some days, it was 12 hours, you know, but some days, it was only five minutes, but it was every single day. And that's honouring yourself and there's no nothing better in the world that you can do. And honouring and taking care of yourself that is greater than taking care of anyone else. Or, you know, because you're not good to anybody else. If you're not honouring yourself.

Agi Keramidas  15:33  
I'm very glad to hear you said that you said it in exactly the this way. You know, you said every day, even if it's five minutes, but it's every day. And this aligns, John very much with my mission with the podcast, which is to inspire, to inspire, or it's one thing to empower, that's really the word I was looking for, to empower. With the simple and consistent actions one needs to take to master themselves and create a life of purpose and fulfilment. It's, it's this everyday thing that many don't realise it's not one huge thing that, you know, the magic pill that will change everything. It's lots of small actions, or behaviours or ways of thinking or whatever else over and over and over. Yeah, it's it's a journey, isn't it?

John Lawyer  16:27  
Yeah, it absolutely is. And, and that's, I think what, it people can't really wrap themselves around that sometimes because it feels like work. And I think maybe at first, it's hard. But it makes your life easier. So it can be hard to start. But these things because no one's going to come save you. No one's ever going to come make you happy or joyous, they're not going to make you have more health or have more wealth, none of that, like we have to do it for ourselves. And

Agi Keramidas  16:57  
that's a big realisation for many people to to assume responsibility, ownership of the life that we are not. Life is not happening to us, like we are, you know, something that moves around at the whims of life. We just were creators of it. Talking about this, you, let me ask you, I heard you talk about the stream of unconsciousness. And, you know, society's pull into that you mentioned something earlier before, but tell me a little bit more about the importance of understanding, you know what this is and realising that maybe we're in it not, maybe we are in it.

John Lawyer  17:51  
Yeah, that the stream of unconsciousness is this idea. It's what I call it, but it's like, society has all these things they want you to be and do. They want you to get on a conveyor belt, and they want you to go to school, get a job, be part of the system, and not question anything and live the status quo. Live what everyone else is living in almost this way as almost kind of like a zombie. It can be kind of semi warm thing, it can be something that, you know, I'm watching TV, I'm doing this stuff, it's I'm just kind of in this this like habit of this kind of greyed out kind of mundane thing. But if you stop and you step out of that stream of unconsciousness, get off that conveyor belt and look around. It's a very colourful world all around you is very beautiful. And then you can decide who you are. You can decide what you want to believe what you are. Separate from everything that you've ever been told, and decide, I'm going to approach life with this open mind and decide what works for me. And what works for Person A isn't going to work for person V, it's gonna be different. And that's okay. Of course,

Agi Keramidas  19:06  
you know, then the next natural question, because it's so nice to hear you say it like that. But how does one step out of this pool of because a stream of unconsciousness also implies that we're not conscious that it is happening. So can you give me one or two? Again, let's say practical physics to help, you know step out of, of this, or the matrix. It's called another way. Yes, they're the same thing.

John Lawyer  19:40  
No, yeah, matrix that yeah, it's I think it starts with awareness and intention. You have to think to yourself, as I'm moving through my life each day, each moment, am I in that moment? 1am I living that moment? If I not, am I not tied to the past? If I let that go, am I not tied to the future and have angst idea about that. And am I aware and intentional about where I am, where I'm headed, what direction I'm pointed. So awareness intention are these powerful things. That again, they can sound like they take a lot of work. But when you start becoming aware and you start being more intentional, it actually will make your life easier. Because then you're living for you. And not for anybody else. And not not for anybody else's purpose. He's like, it's kind of like, people talk about main stories syndrome sometimes, like it's a bad thing, but like, you have to look at it from a different perspective. Be the main character, be, have main character syndrome, write your own story. Don't Don't live someone else's story. Live, live your own story.

Agi Keramidas  20:45  
Awareness and intention. That's so, so important. A, John, tell us about KeyShot. Your spiritual community what what? What inspired the creation? And what's the name? What does the name signifiers

John Lawyer  21:05  
the name is the Sumerian Goddess of Mother Earth, or Gaia. So you know, and the name also has a double meaning of representing the line on the horizon, which is, I think, that beautiful journey we're all on even if we don't know it, we're all on a journey. And, you know, I wanted to create this with our other co founders, I want to create this nonprofit space where like I said, in the digital age, I still think there's a space for authentic, meaningful connection, just like you and I are having right now online, and we can make that choice to reach out and connect with people, we don't have to have this lonely journey where we're by ourselves. And I want a place where people can share their journeys, where I can share mine. And we can practice our individual beliefs, philosophy, faith, whatever you want to call it, side by side, but it doesn't have to look the same. You know, you can practice what you want, I can practice what I want, we can talk about it, we can ask questions, we can seek answers together, but still be empowered within ourselves to live the truth that we're meant to live? And, and how do we then? And that's why I like your podcasts. But how do we then take that spiritual path, an idea and concept? And how do we align it with that crossroads of the real world? Because most of us aren't going to be monks in the Himalayas. Right? So how do we live that every day?

Agi Keramidas  22:32  
Yes, and that, I suppose it's also a misconception for many people that spirituality has to do with being a monk in the Himalayas or a priest or whatever spirituality is what we do with our every day moment, right? These moments create our life and whether we follow what we were talking about earlier, the highest path or the purpose or, or not, so spirituality permeates everything. So it's, it's not in the monastery that it happens, it can happen everywhere in the office in yours, I don't know where any interaction with anywhere. And, you know, now that we talked about the term spirituality, I would like to hear your, your thoughts about, let's say the commonalities, but also the differences between spirituality and personal development. So I'm very curious to hear what you think.

John Lawyer  23:39  
That's a great question. For me, the spirituality is about a connection to the oneness of everything and the connection to something be beyond our, our physical and kind of mental self. And I think it's, it's intricately connected with personal development. I think anyone can be spiritual atheists, scientist, you know, spiritualist, someone who studies or follows religion, artists, creative types, because that's all to me that all that's all very spiritual. And if we're in touch with that soul, that spirit part of us and we align that with our body, and our mind, then our mind body solar alignment, we talked about this holistic approach, right mind, body, soul, and health. And so I don't think that we can necessarily live our fullest life in the personal development sphere, building habits, building routines, reaching goals, if we're not in touch, to an extent with that idea of our place in the universe. I believe we are the universe so that makes that that easy for me, because I think our place in the universe is that we are the universe. But, you know, I Think for each individual, they have to decide what their place in the universe is. And that then that helps their habits that helps their routines that helps their lifestyle, their job, their relationships, their sleep, all this stuff.

Agi Keramidas  25:12  
He says, a particular practice that you recommend, or even that comes to you now that we're talking about this on, let's say, going deeper into one's spiritual journey. And I know it's a general question. Yeah.

John Lawyer  25:34  
I think that's going to differ for individuals. But I think one thing that works is meditation. And meditation can be anything, it doesn't have to be, you know, cross legged on the floor, or anything could be meditation could be anything. So it's, it's that introspection. And there's, I think there's also beyond that there's conversations with yourself, where you're kind of having a more self inquiry and introspection that can involve journaling, you can talk to yourself through writing. I think there's affirmations I think there's spoken, the verbal word has this great power. If you if you speak to yourself in the mirror out loud, that's power. You'll live that if you're doing that you'll live that you'll do whatever it is that you tell yourself to do, or that you say, I'm going to do. And so there's, you know, I think building a ritual or building a routine or a habit that ties you in, you know, all spirits, you know, all ritual is, is this bridge between our concrete existence and our spiritual self, that self with a capital S. So those are some ideas that people can start with.

Agi Keramidas  26:39  
Thank you. And I really liked and I will take it back, because you mentioned, you know, meditation, journaling, mirror work or, but it was the routine that the, you know, the repetition, whether we were talking earlier about, you said do it every day, even five minutes, and I was saying, you know, the simple, consistent actions it is. Somehow, I felt like I needed to emphasise that for one more time, because it is so important. John, I have a couple of last quick questions to ask you to wrap it up. But before I do, please share with the listener, how can they connect with you, and also a little bit more about the Kieser? Community?

John Lawyer  27:36  
Sure, you know, we're we're a nonprofit, spiritual community online, where people can kind of come and have conversation with each other, we have events, and there's meditations and teachings and people can kind of take what they want, and also offer individual spiritual guidance and coaching as well. It's a warm place, and it's friendly, it's at keyshot.org, it's K AI sh ar.org. And that's kind of the entrance to the community and stuff. And they can find our socials, we have a pretty cool YouTube channel as well. So that's who we are.

Agi Keramidas  28:10  
That's great. Thank you. And so that ABS tube quickfire questions that I now that I'm thinking about it, though, and I will share this with you, I don't usually say that, but I have been now that I think about I have been asking these questions for almost four, four years now. And they kind of remained at the end of the podcast. So that's just my own self reflection, now that I realise it. And the first one is, what does personal development mean to you?

John Lawyer  28:47  
It means taking care of myself. And being there for myself and loving myself, I think it's about being the best version of myself that I can be for myself.

Agi Keramidas  29:00  
And, hypothetically speaking, if you could go back in time and meet your 18 year old self, and what's one piece of advice you would give him?

John Lawyer  29:09  
Oh, that's a great question. Um, I would say keep being kind, and, in Follow, follow your natural universal intent and intuition.

Agi Keramidas  29:22  
That's great. John, I want to thank you very much from my heart for this wonderful conversation we had today I believe, apart from it was very enjoyable. But apart from that, I believe there were some deep into important messages that went through some, you know, I'm delighted that we had that. I want to wish you all the very best with your mission and you're fulfilling your highest purpose. And before we get into To conclude, what I would like to end with some parting wisdom or something actionable emerging from the conversation because I always believe it is good to be actions are the things that will change, not the theory. So, what's one piece of advice or one sibling practice that the listener can incorporate into their life today or tomorrow?

John Lawyer  30:26  
I would say slow things down, you have more time than you think. So use that use that time. Don't chase perfection and love yourself.

Agi Keramidas  30:38  
And before I end today's episode, an open invitation to you listening right now. I invite you to find me on social media and send me a direct message about anything you prefer. You can tell me who your favourite guest has been so far, or who you would like me to interview next or what topic you would like to hear. So drop me a line and I look forward to chatting with you. Until next time, stand out don't fit in!