Some say when we are born we are pure and in "rememberance of God". We can see the angels around us and they play with us - ever watch a baby? They grab at things we adults can't see, and they laugh and cry at seemingly invisible somethings - those are the angels lovingly teasing them. It is when we begin "growing up" or growing away from that purity that we begin to learn the ways of the world from our parents and our surroundings. Some also say that when young children or babies die or are killed they become angels. When I was six years old I was in a very bad auto accident - got hit by a loaded dump truck and was bounced around in the back seat (we didn't even have seat belts in cars back then) and fractured my skull (ok, no wise cracks about why I am the way I am lol). Just before the truck hit us, I saw it coming and I knew it was going to hit us. My only thoughts/impressions were: "well, we have to die sometime". I had no fear whatsoever and I could "remember" where I was before I was born. I was totally at peace, even as a six-year-old. That experience was not taught to me by anyone - it was something that was with me before birth and still strong in my heart.
Sometimes external influences set us on a certain path, sometimes internal influences can also set us on a certain path. I believe the Soul "knows" what it wants, where it came from, and where it needs to go (or return to), and begins to seek a way to proceed. That searching can lead people through many paths and some get lost along the way while others zone in on exactly what they truly need.
Case in point - I was raised a Christian but during my teens felt an overpowering urge to study Tibetan beliefs. I was reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead in high school, listening to Japanese kyoto music, sitar music, and practicing meditation. I studied macrobiotics, Zen, Hinduism, yoga, martial arts of several styles, and everything in between; yet none of these could satisfy my yearning for something more. They all had a beginning and an end; they didn't take me where I knew I needed to go. Obviously none of this was influenced by my parents, although relatives and ancestors were missionaries in the middle east and brought back prayer rugs for decoration. A great aunt taught art in the middle east and I have paintings of Mt. Arafat and similar pilgramage sites - almost a precusor for my "final" path into mystical Sufism which is what has filled my heart and stopped by searching all over the planet. In a way, those influences were subtle. Yet it was and is the inner promptings that have guided my heart and have set the sails on my ship.
Perhaps it is similar events that prompted Mr. Seagal to his path; we never really know yet we usually find what brings peace to our hearts
