Choosing your path or being chosen

[earl]

There are so many spiritual paths available, traditionally religious and otherwise-so many "truths." Wondering how many of you believe that the path at least for you was a matter of thought-beliefs made sense to you-and how many walked onto a path because it "felt right," a more intuitive route. I often wonder which is the more reliable means of "choosing." I guess for me, a person who believes that nearly every truth of Man can only be partial, I don't believe I can think my way to the path that is meant for me. My path has to find me as much as I find it and , if i'm going to allow myself to be chosen, seems like I can't consciously do all the choosing. Guess I'll continue to attempt to listen to my intuitive heart, (though not to say I have a strongly honed intuitive ability ), 'cause my head sure isn't going to ever figure it out. Gosh, sure would be nice to have a bunch of certainties, though, wouldn't it? Take care, Earl

[path_of_one]

Interesting... I'd have to say I didn't choose my path as much as I just am my path. I can be rather intellectual, and I study and ponder on all the various religions in the world, but at the heart of my spirituality is simply my experience of God. From these experiences throughout my life, I have constructed a loosely organized understanding of my deeper self, my relationship to God and the world, etc. But it is not very much like a religion. I have beliefs, but they are always open to reinterpretation as I have new experiences in my relationship with God. I'm very high on the "intuitive" end of personality traits, so that may have a lot to do with it. My spiritual path, for me, is so deeply a part of who I am that I cannot really imagine choosing a religion through rational thought. I don't think that doing so is wrong for others, but for me it would be very non-sensical. I would have to deny my own personality and life experiences in order to do that, which is something I don't even feel capable of doing. I'd imagine for those people who are very rationally minded, it would be just as difficult to fathom having a spiritual path based purely on intuition and experience.

[earl]

Thanks for your thoughts, path-of-one. About that "being your path," seems as if I recall that the phrase came from some buddhist-currently dead or alive I do not know that the path comes into being with the simultaneous walking of it-i.e., foot hitting ground makes it a path-just wish I could find smoother ground! While I don't believe any one person has the Absolute truth, I do believe there is a Truth meant for each person. To me, all mystical/meditative paths, be they of traditional Christian variety or not that assist an individual to become less self-centered in both the theistic and buddhist sense of the word "self," allow one to better become aware of what our own Truth is and better embody it. It enables us to accomplish what Meister Eckhart stated: "All God asks of you is to move out of yourself and let God be God in you." I think those moments when we do so, we discover at least little niches of our truth & our path-here I soar into my own metahpysical beliefs-portions of our soul that while containing the energies of the "One True God," do His work in and through a myriad of ways, each as unique as a snowflake. The only way we fail God is by failing to be true to our souls-God's blueprint for this life.Bless you and all here. Earl

[dauer]

I guess my path is clearly the one of my origin, that is Judaism, and religiously when I was little my home life, relating to religion, was absent enough, that picking up another flavor of Judaism hasn't really meant leaving something else as much as it meant finding a place I'm comfortable, though I think I still have a bit more wandering to do.

Dauer

[Lightkeeper]

I think my path chose me. Staying open leads you to wonderous places.

[truthseeker]

Well said, LightKeeper. I think my path chose me as well.

I know Christianity more than anything else but I have often been left unsated when I am consulting my religion about life's situations. I said it so many times - no one organization holds all the truth. It's like the blind men and the elephant.

[Awaiting_the_fifth]

They tried so hard to make me follow their path until I chose instead to follow no path. It was many years before I stumbled across a path which "felt" right.

[Faithfulservant]

For me there is only one path.. whether it was chosen by me or for me... Im grateful that Im on it.

[mee]

"Lead me in the path of uprightness."—PSALM 27:11Your word is a lamp to my foot, and a light to my roadway -PSALM 119; 105 So i am on the narrow road that leads to everlasting life
whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it MATTHEW 7;14


And your own ears will hear a word behind you saying: "This is the way. Walk in it, YOU people," in case YOU people should go to the right or in case YOU should go to the left ISAIAH 30;21

Good and upright is Jehovah.That is why he instructs sinners in the wayPSALM 25;8 So as a good for nothing sinner i am taking the road to life

[earl]

Obviously, for me, I believe that a spiritual path must fit the individual & the process of "fitting," seems to me to be in part an intuitive process. I thought for those who might be inteested in a bit of guidance in that regard to assist them in finding their path or being found I'd post a link to a short piece by an intuitive/psychic & board certified psychiatrist, Judith Orloff, re guidelines to nurturing your own spiritual path-good common sesne ones at that!

http://www.soulfulliving.com/positive_energy.htm

take care, Earl

[ISFP]

i feel it works both ways. in many people it seems there's a will towards spirituality, something in them that responds to the transcendent and meaningful and seeks it out. on the otehr hand, i know of many examples where people have described feeling guided on their spiritual path (e.g. "i felt like God was calling me through Islam").

i can say i've experienced both influences on my spiritual journey, and i'm not done yet!

[earl]

Part of my take on religion/spirituality is based on Jungian thought. So, for instance the thinking of Lioenl Corbett in such books of his as "The Religious Function of the Psych." Jungians such as Corbett speak of the "soul" as being the function of the psyche which translates Spirit into incarnational realities-sort of a psychospiritual DNA. So, to them, whatever is "numinous," a term they like to use meaning that which creates awe, wonder, essentially lifts us out of our mundane ego-bound world, is the form of spirituality or avenue to the Divine that an individual is "suited for." In his words, "The problem of the resonance between our personality and our true spirituality is crucial. We cannot be forced into a spiritual tradition that is not in harmony with our nature." So, he/they would say that such channels of numinosity are mutlitudinous and can take the form of tradtional religion or not or even not typically be seen in spiritual ways such as arts or physical activities. As in Yoga, there are many ways toward divine realization-devotional, service, knowledge, meditative, etc. If 1 assumes it was the Ultimate/"God" who "created" that soul, than as I was getting at in a recent thread in Monotheism regarding whether " Does God creates unbelievers?," "God" must indeed intend there to be many pathways of relative truth to lead back toward the One Truth.
Take care, Earl

[Flutter_Fli]

I believe that my religion found me and in a way I also found my religion, because my whole life I have been introduced to different religious structures because my mother believes that people have the right to worship any gods/goddesses that they so choose. So one day I was on the internet ( iwas 12) and for no reason at all I typed in witchcraft and in doing so I found my religion of wicca that I never knew existed. It fits me so perfectly that it is indescribable.