我一直相信自己有前生。有时候，我的梦中会出现一些匪夷所思的景象，当我醒来时，我可能会感到困惑茫然，情绪激动，甚至烦躁不安，但是很少感到害怕。虽然我从来没有像有些人宣扬的那样明确地接收过任何关于我众多前生（假如我能够相信自己已经有不只一个前生！）的信息，我确实相信，我们的梦，是一扇通往接通另一个世界信息的门，不管这另一个世界在那里。

 

所以，当我阅读《这一生为何而来》这本书的时候，我感觉好像在和一个更有灵性的，善解人意的年长友人倾谈。

 

作者安思列麦克雷奥德是一个苏格兰的灵媒。他在经历了生命中无数漫无目的的困惑挣扎以后，终于在十多年前找到自己的使命，将生命专注于研究和探索灵魂。

 

为什么我们如此不同？

你是否曾经问自己这个问题？在这本书里，安思列说因为我们拥有不同的灵魂年龄和灵魂性格，即魂龄和魂格。

首先，我们不只是一个身体，一张脸和一个生理年龄。我们是灵魂。我们（或者我们的灵魂）来到这个世界是为了学习成为一个人。为了学习，我们需要转世，魂龄随着每一次的转世增长。

我们的魂龄一共可以分为十个等级。作者认为，几千年前我们作为一个一级的灵魂来到这个世界，当我们有一天达到第十级离开这个世界的时候，我们有可能已经经历了120-150个生命轮回。

一级到五级的灵魂是年轻的灵魂，六到十级是老灵魂，而每一个级别的灵魂都有其独特的魂格和优缺点。

第一级灵魂是崭新的灵魂。和学步的婴儿一样，他们试图避免任何陌生和复杂的事物，包括现代世界。我把这个级别的灵魂叫做“小村民”。想想非洲的部落居民，北美印第安人如爱斯基摩人等等。

 

在第二级灵魂的眼里，这个世界非好即坏，非黑即白。虽然他们当中绝大多数都是虔诚狂热的宗教信徒，他们对于宗教的需要更多出于被保护的目的而不是灵性沟通的需要，而且只有他们相信的那个上帝才是真正的上帝。我想绝大多数童话里的人物，以及那些为耶路撒冷争夺不休的犹太人都属于这个级别。

第三级灵魂是“好公民”。比起之前的两个等级，他们更都市化。他们努力工作，希望自己的一举一动都可以获得社会的认同。记得在奥林匹克运动会或是世界杯这样的国际赛事期间那些把自己的国旗插在背囊上，车窗外，房子前，当然还有涂在身体或脸上的那些人不？我相信这些都是典型的第三级灵魂。

第四级灵魂比第三级要更复杂一些，但是他们很有可能是典型的“伪君子”。他们在自己的家里和社区里，奉行很高的大的标准，因此是所谓的“社会典范”；但是同时，他们自己在私下的行为，可能正是他们谴责自己的孩子或者同辈的，比如赌博，酗酒，吸毒。英国作家罗伯特路易事蒂文生笔下的Jekyll医生和Hyde先生也许是第四级灵魂最好的例子。

 http://s15/middle/85f7f85cxb1c99cbb1dbe&690Instruction: Living the life your soul intended" TITLE="《这一生为何而来》-The Instruction: Living the life your soul intended" />

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http://www.ufcw400.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde1-277x300.jpg

 

第五级灵魂激进而充满野心，是天生的领袖。亚历山大大帝，拿破仑，希特勒，乔治布什以及美国历任大多数总统都属于这个级别。有趣的是，我发现本书作者特别提到那些喜欢做面部和身体整容术的人都是这个级别的，也就是说大多数名人自动就是第五级灵魂!

 

第六级到第十级灵魂是“老魂”，这些级别的灵魂关注的不再是外界的标准和要求，而是他们内心的世界。他们从渴望了解生命的意义开始，近阶到渴望了解某一个生命的价值-他们自己的生命。

第六级灵魂质问一切。他们要求公平-对自己，对他们周围人的公平。他们会成为工会主席，罢工的组织者，社会工作者等等。

 

第七级灵魂是艺术家，诗人，作家，音乐家，发明家和天才。文艺复兴时期盛产这样的魂灵：米开朗基罗，列奥纳多达芬奇，提香，唐纳泰罗，等等，等等。他们是我们的文化和文明成为今天这个样子的原因。

这些灵魂充满创意和创造力，但是他们也会因为过于沉迷于自己的世界而有神经质的倾向。想一想梵高切掉自己的耳朵你就明白了。

这个级别的灵魂不止是创造者，他们同时也是鉴赏家。他们热爱生命中一切美丽美好的事物：丰盛美食，陈年醇酒，华衣美服。我想很多服装设计师和大厨师肯定也都是这个级别的，我相信《潜水钟与蝴蝶》里的Jean-Dominique Bauby也绝对是一个七级灵魂。

 

八级灵魂不像七级那么傲世独立，并且他们虽然同样善于自省，却不至于过度自恋，八极灵魂通常是出于良善意图而建构的政治派别和组织以及慈善机构的成员。我认为大卫铃木，加拿大最著名的环境保护主义倡导者，和保拉培冈，这个知识丰富，敢于暴露化妆界黑幕的美国女人，《请带着我去化妆品柜台》一书的作者，都是八级灵魂。

 

我把九级灵魂叫做“瑜伽修行者”。他们对几乎社会和外部世界了无兴趣，而是把自己所有的能量都用于自我修行。他们过着平静安宁甚至是与世无争的生活。这个级别的灵魂，当然不会对社会产生任何危害，但是他们也许同样不会对其有任何贡献。那些古代的东方僧人道姑，隐居于深山老林的修行男女和那些现代的深入浅出的印度瑜伽修行者，都是九级灵魂。

 

第十级灵魂是圣人和觉悟者。他们对于人世间令我们困惑的一切—包括我们自己—都豁然了悟，因而获得了内心彻底的自在和祥和。他们变得无私，甚至无惧于死亡。耶稣，释迦摩尼佛，乃至于美国灵性作家DR. Wayne Dyer, 都是十级灵魂。

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光是知道我们灵魂属于什么级别显然是不够的，为了彻底了解真正的自我，我们还需要知道自己是什么样的灵魂-我们的魂格。和魂龄一样，作者把魂格也分成十种：

-The helper：帮助者

-The caregiver：照顾者

-The educator：教育家

-The thinker：思想家

-The creator：创造者

-The performer：表演家

-The hunter：猎人

-The leader：领袖

-The spiritualist：灵性主义者

-The transformer：改革者

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I’ve always believed that I have previous lives. Sometimes something very strange happen in my dream, and when I wake up, I can feel confused, excited, annoyed, but seldom scared. Although I’ve never received any unmistakable messages from any of my past lives (If I can believe I have more than one of them already) like someone else who claimed to have had, I do believe dreams are doors to the information from somewhere out of our this life, wherever it might be.

Thus when I read the book The Instruction: Living the life your soul intended, I felt as if meeting and talking to an old, understanding friend who is more spiritual than I am.

 

The author Ainslie Macleod is a Scottish psychic who had experienced a lot of frustration and waste in his life until he finally found his calling as a psychic more than 10 years ago, and decided to devote his life to studying and exploring everything about our souls.

 

Why are we so different?

Is this a question you’ve asked yourself? In this book, Ainslie said the reason is because we have different soul ages and soul types.

First of all, we’re more than a body, a face and a biologic age. We’re all souls, and the reason we-or our souls come to the world is to learn how to be a human. In order to learn, we have to reincarnate, and get older with every reincarnation.

There are altogether 10 levels of soul ages. And according to the author, several thousand years and many lifetimes ago, we come into the world as a level I soul, and at the end of Level 10, we might have something like 120-150 lives behind us.

The level 1-5 souls are young souls while the level 6-10 souls are old souls, and each soul age has its own unique characteristics or advantages and risks:

-Level 1 souls are brand new souls and like toddlers, they try to avoid anything that’s new and complicated, including the modern world. I will call this level “Small villagers”. Think of people in African tribes, North American Indians (like Eskimoians);

 

-Level 2 souls see the world in terms of black and white, good and bad and although they are mostly devout religion followers, they want religion for protection rather than spiritual connection. And only the god they believe in is the real God. I think most of characters in fairy tales belong to this group, as well as those Jews fighting for Jerusalem.

 

-Level 3 souls are “Good citizen”. They are more urban than previous souls, they work hard and wants to have social approval in almost everything they do. Remember seeing those people who put their national flag on top of their backpack, out of their car, in front of their house and of course on their body(to wear)faces at those worldwide events like World cup and Olympics, they are most likely level 3 souls? I believe these are typical Level 3 souls.

-Level 4 souls are more complicated than the first 3 levels but they can be typical “Hypocrites”. They have high moral standards in their homes and community, and thus can be “social models”, but at the same time they may be doing just things they accuse their children and their peers of, like gambling,alcohol abuse, drug addiction, etc. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of English writer Rorbert Louis Stevenson is perhaps the best example of Level 4.

 

 

-Level 5 souls are aggressive and ambitious, and they are born leaders. Alexander the Great, Napolean, Hitler, George W. Bush and most of other American presidents are at these levels. One thing I found very interesting here is the author mentioned those souls who want face lift and boob jobs are all of these levels. So It seems most celebrities automatically are level 5!

 

Souls of Level 6 to level 10 are called old souls, and all these levels are not so concerned about the external standards and requirements but rather their own internal world. It begins with the desire to understand the purpose of life and gradually transforms into a desire to understand the purpose of one particular life: their own.

 

Level 6 souls question everything. They want more fairness for themselves and people around them. They can be trade union leaders, strike organizers, social workers.

Level 7 souls are souls of artists, poets, writers, musicians, inventors, and genius. Renaissance is a time when lots of such souls were born, Michelangelo, Leonard da Vinci, Titian, Donatello, etc, etc. They are the reason why our culture and civilizations are what they are today.

These souls are creative, innovative, and can be so self-absorbed that there is danger of neurosis. Think of Van Gogh cutting his ear.

The souls of this level are not only creators, but connoisseurs; they love everything beautiful in life, like gourmet food, vintage wines, and stylish clothes. I think a lot of fashion designers are chefs must be this level, too. And I believe Jean-Dominique Bauby from Movie Le Scaphandre et Le Pallilon is absolutely a level 7 soul.

Unlike level 7, level 8 souls are more connected to the society, and although they are self-inspectors, they are not overly obsessed with themselves. They are usually involved in political parties, organizations and charities that are established with good intention. I think David Suzuki, the most famous Canadian environmentalist, and Paula Begoun, the author of Don’t go to the cosmetics counter without me, the American woman who is knowledgeable and brave enough to expose the dirty facts of cosmetic industry, are both Level 8 souls.

I’ll call Level 9 souls “The yogis”. They almost have no interest in society and the external world, and focus most of their energy on their self improvement. They live a quiet, peaceful and in many ways very passive life. Souls of this level, certainly don’t do any harm to the world, but they may not contribute anything to it either. All of those ancient Asian monks and nuns, gentlemen and gentlewomen who went to live in the mountain and those modern Indian yogis who choose to do the same are level 9 souls.

Level 10 souls are the saints and enlightened ones. They have understood everything they need to understand about life and themselves, they have total peace and tranquility, they become selfless, they are not even afraid of death anymore. Gandhi, Christ, Buddha, even Dr. Wayne Dyer, the American spiritual writer, are level 10.

It’s not enough to just know our soul age. In order to completely understand who we really are, we need also know what kind of souls we are. Like the soul age, the soul types can be also divided into 10 types:

-The helper

-The caregiver

-The educator

-The thinker

-The creator

-The performer

-The hunter

-The leader

-The spiritualist

-The transformer

Soul type	Focus	Traits
Helper	Service	Dedication, Stoicism
Caregiver	Nurturing	Empathy, Loyalty
Educator	Teaching	Erudition, Eloquence
Thinker	Knowledge	Restraint, Rationality
Creator	Creativity	Sensitivity, Idealism
Performer	Communication	Passion, Playfulness
Hunter	Activity	Determination, Practicability
Leader	Authority	Charisma, wisdom
Spiritualist	Improvement	Compassion, Spirituality
Transformer	Unity	Inspiration, Love

 

According to author, most of souls are defined by two influences rather than one, with one of them dominant. For example, Nelson Mandela  and John Lenon are both Level 10 spiritualist with Leader influences.

 

After knowing who we really are by knowing both our soul age and soul type, the next question will be: WHY ARE WE HERE? The author  again said there are 10 different missions for different souls:

1.    Mission of change: people with this mission can make incredible marks on the world, but it also has a strong internal aspect. If you like to read self help books, the author said you have “Change” in your mission.

2.    Mission of exploration: These souls want the maxim opportunity for having real world experience. The people who want to climb the mountains ”because the mountains are there”, those who want to go to the South Pole and North Pole, the astronauts all have this mission. The English business man Richard Branson is perhaps the most interesting explorer.

3.    Mission of examination: These souls can examine internally to investigate their thoughts and actions to give their life meaning, and if their focus is external, they will have the thirst for knowledge and desire to understand the world. Philosophers, writers, academics, scientists become what they are because of this mission.

4.    Mission of flow: The purpose of this type of soul is perhaps the best, or the easiest. They come here to accept everything as is, and take life as it comes.

5.    Mission of control: When a mission of control is focused internally, it gives people the need to have a huge say in their destiny. They won’t want others to make decisions on their behalf, or telling them what to do. And when it’s focused outwardly, they have the need to run things.

6.    Mission of connection: For people with this mission, touch is as essential to their survival as oxygen. According to statistics, over 80% people have connection as their primary mission.

7.    Mission of avoidance: They are the opposite to people with mission of connection. Tranquility and solitude are most important for these souls. But the danger is they tend to isolate themselves too much from others.

8.    Mission of healing: Healing is a common mission for those in the medical, caring or teaching professional. Mother Teresa, a Level 10 Hunter type, and Florence Nightingale, a Level 6 helper, both have this mission. Outwardly, it’s achieved by making others better. Inwardly, it’s about healing trauma from this lifetime and ones in the past.

9.    Mission of reliance: They come here to depend on other people. I think these souls are the luckiest souls (or they need to be very lucky to really fulfill their mission, finding someone they can rely on). Every time when I see someone in wheelchair on the street, I feel sorry for them, but now I have a different thought. Maybe that’s their mission in this life.

10. Mission of love.

 

The second part of the book becomes repetitive, confusing and even a little bit overwhelming for me. For example, those 10 desires and 10 challenges are somewhat overlapping, and besides, why is it necessary to say no to all of our desires like wealth, health, attraction, particularly if some souls’ mission is to be rich, a healer or a performer?

Also, I found the author’s recommendation of how to find our soul age, soul type, soul mission, our fears and desires, etc. are not so practical. He suggested that we go into a meditative state and ask for help from our spiritual guide. I’ve been meditating for many years and tried it and didn’t have the fortune to talk to “my spiritual guide”, and what about people who don’t like meditation or don’t know what meditation is? Does that mean they can never find their mission in this world? I don’t think so! And I truly think by reading the description given by author, anyone with basic understanding will have no difficulty finding the answer. After all, it’s our own soul.

But I still think this is a great book and I feel very grateful about it. It makes me understand who I really am—A level 7 creator and thinker, and why I am the way I am: Why I am so obsessed with beautiful things and why ugly things, people and sceneries always make me feel so depressed; Why I love the company of books and music so much more than that of people; Why I’d rather be alone than making friends with people who like to ask you ”what’s up, buddy?” or “What’s going on?”, or such meaningless small talks like English people’s conversation of weathers. I love to be with myself, and I’ll always choose solitude over friendship, any friendship. I’ve been frustrated, and confused about myself, but now I know why.