Julia Griffin - author Home About Writings Contact us
25th May 2025
The following was written for The Persimmon Tree online magazine, with a few additions since posting.
While material legacies might be helpful, meaningful or life-changing, what of legacies for the mind? Are they a gift for us to learn from, something to touch us and steer our direction of thought and action if we choose?
If we imagine our lives as tapestries that are part of the design of an overall tapestry, we would see the legacies of all people's lives: hardships, mistakes, joys, and successes. This rich carpet of threads interwoven, each with the other, sometimes reaching quite far, sometimes close by, with different colours and different effects, all have value and purpose, with the opportunity for learning in this never-ending design.
Is the value of our knowledge and learning experience simply for the duration of one life? It seems reasonable and logical to think that the value of all our learning is not lost when we die and that it is equally purposeful for us, having completed our lives, while potentially benefiting those we leave behind. Have we been here before and retained the memory of our past from which to draw strength and wisdom, even though we will likely not have access to our past while living a life on Earth, because it would be confusing and possibly disturbing? We might then ask, 'Who am I?', 'Where have I come from?'.
What if we have left other legacies from other lives – a gift for the benefit of others while retaining the memory of our learning in a part of us that lives on? I have long held the belief that there is something richer and deeper within each of us that contains knowledge and wisdom and has eternal life. I would call this our spirit, our mind, where we will find the answers to live our lives with purpose and fulfilment. Each life we take is to learn and progress as a spirit, the memory retained like a pearl on a necklace, unique, separate and eternal within our minds. Our unique spiritual heritage would therefore contain the memory of many lives from past civilisations and more recent times, some short, some long, some seemingly more difficult than others depending on our spiritual age. We could view this experience as an eternal weave, part of the overall tapestry of our Universe and our own individual evolvement as a spirit, a spirit with a creative mind, unique and purposeful. Made by whom? Perhaps a force beyond our imaginings.
If we thought we might have been here before, that there is a reason and purpose for all things, and a part of us that has great value might live on eternally, how can we draw on this experience and innate wisdom to help us learn from the lessons in this life? If we quieten the brain, which I see as part of the physical body, like a computer, then the thoughts and visuals that might come to us can help us in many ways. Meditation is a beneficial tool to help us train our brains to be quiet for a period of time. It not only helps us physically but also helps us feel more peaceful and perhaps find some clarity about ourselves or issues that concern us. From our minds we can find truth, reason, logic and simplicity, which are all missing from this hectic, noisy, stressful and fast-changing world. It is also from our minds that we find the creativity to express ourselves in whatever medium we are drawn to, and depending on our age, spiritually, the depth of knowledge and wisdom will show in our output. The fruits of our creative inspiration will not only be a part of our minds forever but will also be a wonderful way to leave a legacy, something of ourselves and our experience for others to learn from.
Finding the truth about our structure and a sense that part of us lives on after death could resolve many problems in our world, giving people hope for the future and a reason for living. With a certain acceptance that life is about learning and that everything happens for a reason, would this not help us come together with more tolerance and understanding? This reality could bring about equality instead of conflict, and a curiosity to learn from each other. Surely this would motivate us to bring about change in this 'University of Life' that leads to a more peaceful world that is back in balance, with a fruitful, wholesome legacy for our children to enjoy and from which to learn.