We hear it often in the language of development; we say it frequently on Portals; but what does it mean practically to think of a human as not being a “one thing” or singular life? Each of us is multiple lives. Does it really make a difference?

Yes, it can. We clearly have one physical body, but with several important areas or domains of energetic and life focus. Each of these lives develops its own strengths and intelligence, which integrate to form a coherent whole — the flow of our development journey. The more conscious we are of our multiplicity, the more our multiple lives can support each other and our overall growth and learning.

It begins with what we call the first octave, or life one — our survival and safety; octave or life two is our learning and growth; and octave or life three encompasses our larger purpose and spiritual awareness. They aren’t separate or static, but dynamic patterns that interact to form  ever-changing new configurations.

If we don’t feel safe in life one, for example, we can’t fully engage with the higher octaves; inspiration or the flow of new intelligence in life three can open our eyes to new possibilities in octaves one and two.

A deeper exploration of the many facets of the three octaves of life was a key component of the recent Portals event The Post-Guru Quest: Unlocking the Three Octaves of Life, a part of the Current Openings series. We bring together here two excerpts from the post-guru quest event, which include the international participants sharing their experience and insights with Aviv Shahar and David Price Francis.

In The Post-Guru Quest Event and The Three Lives Event, Parts 1 and 2 (above), they ponder the inquiries that would continue to reveal the natures and intelligence in each octave of life. In The Post-Guru Quest Event, Part 3 (below), they contemplate the virtues in each octave, as Aviv and David expand the understanding of our multiple lives in our ongoing growth and transformation.

This conversation is part of the continuing Portals discovery into what is emerging on the frontiers of human experience in this time of profound change. Information about upcoming special events can be found on the Events page. Also visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.