Is Earth a School?

YouTube: Is Earth a School?

J Douglas Bottorff

Is Earth a school? The consensus among modern spiritual teachers is yes, Earth is a school and we’re here to learn specific spiritual lessons, overcome challenges, and evolve, operating under the idea that life experiences happen for our growth, not to us. This view assumes the soul is evolving and the challenges our earthly experience offer prompt new growth at the spiritual level.

If we accept that, because the soul is already complete, and that soul evolution is not a viable factor, is there another way we can think of Earth as a school? Yes, there is. But the lessons Earth offers have nothing to do with soul development. They have more to do with environmental adaptation. How does an unlimited, infinite being adapt to and live successfully in a material environment?

Because we want this earthly life to make sense, we want to have a purpose that explains all the ups and downs we experience. Assuming everything that happens to us is an opportunity to advance the soul is a way of bringing meaning to an otherwise confusing turn of events. We may conclude that, at the soul level, the universe is trying to teach us something.

But here’s the catch. The soul is not a separate entity being instructed by the universe. The soul is an integral component of the universe. The universe does not need to learn how to be a better universe. The soul does not need to learn how to be a better soul. The soul needs to learn how to live successfully within the confines of a restrictive body and environment.

Think of it this way. You want to learn to scuba dive so you take classes. The purpose of this schooling is not to make you a better person. It’s purpose is to make you a good diver. Likewise, the purpose of this earth school is not to make you a better soul. It’s purpose is to teach you, a spiritual being, how to live successfully in a material environment.

I do not believe we were sent here because our soul had things it needed to learn. I believe we came here for the same reason a person would sign up for diving lessons. We wanted the experience of “diving” into this material dimension.

Earth to the soul is like a body of water is to a diver. The diver learns his or her equipment so they may explore the body of water. We learn how to navigate this earthly experience, not for the purpose of soul advancement, but because we want the challenge. Our success or failure in this body has no bearing on the condition of the soul. Perhaps if we grasp the freedom this gives, we’ll respond with greater joy to the challenges life throws at us.