In this life process, in terms of the way in which we operate in analysis, were looking at a number of things in Design. Basically, the life is lost in what we call “characteristics.‟ The goal in life is to transcend characteristics and to find one’s true role. Now, characteristics are the domain of the Bodygraph. In other words, when you look at your design, you’re looking at your characteristics, that is, your differentiated characteristics.

The whole challenge for you in your process, the only way in which you can leave or transcend the Bodygraph and approach your purpose correctly, is you have to deal with the characteristics. The whole theme of, and the teaching of, Human Design is that we teach strategy and authority in order for a being to come to grips with the power of characteristics in their life, and to ultimately be able to transcend them by operating correctly as themselves.

The reward for transcending your characteristics is that you find your role. One of my favorite analogies or metaphors is that I like to use the concept of the movie. If you’re looking at characteristics, what you’re really seeing are those beings who are in the frame of any scene, but have no part. In other words, they are simply characteristics. They may be loud or slow, they may be this or that, they may be characteristics but they don’t actually have a role. These are the kind of people who never say anything in a scene; they’re simply in the background

But the moment you have, within the context of this metaphor of the movie, somebody who is more than characteristics, in other words they are given a role; its only when you have a role that purpose is possible. When you look at any frame of any film, when you look at the background characters, you cannot imagine what their purpose is. You can’t imagine their purpose because all you’re getting is characteristics; you’re not getting their role. And it is only through role that purpose can be achieved.

~ Ra Uru Hu