This blog is posted to answer questions from a comment by Arch on Part 2. Since Blogger would not allow me to post a comment after his, and I could not work out why!
His Question:
Is calling an internal or an external thing? Meaning do you regard it as something God asks of you, or is it something you choose to do? I guess the two are not exclusive, but I'm wondering if you have a different name for something God asks of you and something you feel compelled to do?
My answer:
Hi Arch,
The calling I feel in my heart, and 'know' in my soul, is a very internal reaction. It is based in calmness, peace and healing (though, having ego, I might not always react that way). All of us were created through the energy of love and curiosity. In other words, we appear to mirror our creator. Given the right circumstances, humans are capable of incredible Love; and when we are of a balanced mind and emotions, we become incredibly creative .. in a million different ways.
Created from love, we express love (give out the vibes/energy) when we are happy and satisfied, and the opposite when we are not. When we 'live' our calling, we share that love with the world in many forms, some more obvious than others. If you are Christian you might call it God's love; the Wiccans see the Goddess' love .. and then there is the 'wisdom' of Buddha or Confuscius, each of whom taught love in different ways. Here, then, is a very stong central theme .. Love.
A calling is something that satisfies our internal need to give love through external action. A person called to serve God might do so by praying all their waking hours. The act of praying answers an internal need, the external action might answer someone else's need to believe that people are capable of sacrificing their lives in prayer for others, or some other way, although they might also think them completely nuts. The Love the praying person is expressing through their prayers may change the foundations of the world, or a grieving person's heart .. and we might never know it, and nor might the person praying .. but change happens anyway. Remember the comment about the butterfly.
We were created with the gift of free will. We have the right to say no, and to control our own destinys, so I do not believe that God has asked me to do anything except be myself. I try to serve humanity in the capacity I was created to achieve. I know this from the peace it gives my soul. It is my choice to listen to the 'still quiet voice' that sometimes says 'write this' and sometimes says 'Ama, sit on your hands' (in other words, reconsider that paragraph or thought LOL). I follow because I want to, I am never 'compelled'.
In my opinion, a person may define God as anything they like, as long as they are at peace with their decision. My son says he is a Jedi .. that's fine with me.
May the force be with you,
Love & Peace
Ama
Showing posts with label Buddha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buddha. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Are we pawns or willing players?
My daughter once explained to me what a player is .. someone who dips into life, rather than commiting to it, or anyone. That's the polite version, anyway. Dips into life - doesn't commit - doesn't stay for the long haul, doesn't try when things get tough. Easier to walk away, change job, change location, change clothes, change friends, change spouse or partner, even change your name and start again .. only to repeat the whole thing, because we learn nothing from turning our backs on challenges and running .. the challenges follow us, in one form or another - until we stop and confront them and stop being 'players'.
The other side of the coin are pawns. Life is so tough 'for' them (you might know them as their other name 'victims'). Everything always goes wrong. Everyone hates them, does things 'to' them, doesn't do what they want them to do .. makes life hard. And they are not responsible for any of it. You've heard the reasons that are really excuses. Once again they are players .. not pawns. There are no such things as human pawns, because God/Spirit gave us Free Will, and there are very limited circumstances that take away our right to choose. And even then, our actions usually set up the circumstances. Don't know what I mean? How about a graphic example, political prisoners become prisoners because they choose to defy their leaders. Sometimes they do this for the greater good, but often they are only doing it to satisfy some 'want' within themselves ... even the greatest of them, whose motives seem so pure, could be trying to manipulate an outcome that backfires on them.
Manipulation .. yes, even they are players - for players try to manipulate others to suit themselves. You could say I am being cruel, or overly judgmental, but look at the world around you, where are the great people now .. mostly they are dead. These generations of ours seem to have forgotten how to be 'great'. We venerate footballs who can't keep their clothes on, the notoriety makes them more popular? And the drug dealers who admit their crimes are still talked about in the media as if they are suffering some fate worse than death in their Asian prison .. for the addicts its a fate worse than death. If the drugs were not available anymore, there would be no addicts. But, people become addicts through choice, and people become drug runners through choice also. And where are the bosses, who paid them so much money when they succeeded with the deliveries, when they needed bailing out of gaol .. ? More players.
Who are your heroes? I admit to having none. Oh no, that's not entirely true. I have a few whose words of wisdom have touched the hearts of so many people - you know them - Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi .. all of them were human, all of them defied societies expectations, and all of them left a legacy of wisdom that we can dip into anytime we feel the need to 'play'. And there are so many others, poets and muscians, simple people and cranky old nuns. Did we listen when they spoke, do we now?
Funny how the angels say to me, when they want me to do some serious work for them, "Ama, come and play". Who took the words, and the world, and twisted it in knots.
And how do we untwist it again?
I'll start with me ...
I am neither a pawn nor a player. I will walk the path of Light to the best of my abilities, watching my step so that I don't 'tread on anyone's dreams' (WB Yeats), watching my tongue so that my words will 'harm none' (the Wiccan way), and watching the love and joy dance lightly on my heart.
Try it .. you might enjoy the sensations.
Love & Light
Ama
The other side of the coin are pawns. Life is so tough 'for' them (you might know them as their other name 'victims'). Everything always goes wrong. Everyone hates them, does things 'to' them, doesn't do what they want them to do .. makes life hard. And they are not responsible for any of it. You've heard the reasons that are really excuses. Once again they are players .. not pawns. There are no such things as human pawns, because God/Spirit gave us Free Will, and there are very limited circumstances that take away our right to choose. And even then, our actions usually set up the circumstances. Don't know what I mean? How about a graphic example, political prisoners become prisoners because they choose to defy their leaders. Sometimes they do this for the greater good, but often they are only doing it to satisfy some 'want' within themselves ... even the greatest of them, whose motives seem so pure, could be trying to manipulate an outcome that backfires on them.
Manipulation .. yes, even they are players - for players try to manipulate others to suit themselves. You could say I am being cruel, or overly judgmental, but look at the world around you, where are the great people now .. mostly they are dead. These generations of ours seem to have forgotten how to be 'great'. We venerate footballs who can't keep their clothes on, the notoriety makes them more popular? And the drug dealers who admit their crimes are still talked about in the media as if they are suffering some fate worse than death in their Asian prison .. for the addicts its a fate worse than death. If the drugs were not available anymore, there would be no addicts. But, people become addicts through choice, and people become drug runners through choice also. And where are the bosses, who paid them so much money when they succeeded with the deliveries, when they needed bailing out of gaol .. ? More players.
Who are your heroes? I admit to having none. Oh no, that's not entirely true. I have a few whose words of wisdom have touched the hearts of so many people - you know them - Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi .. all of them were human, all of them defied societies expectations, and all of them left a legacy of wisdom that we can dip into anytime we feel the need to 'play'. And there are so many others, poets and muscians, simple people and cranky old nuns. Did we listen when they spoke, do we now?
Funny how the angels say to me, when they want me to do some serious work for them, "Ama, come and play". Who took the words, and the world, and twisted it in knots.
And how do we untwist it again?
I'll start with me ...
I am neither a pawn nor a player. I will walk the path of Light to the best of my abilities, watching my step so that I don't 'tread on anyone's dreams' (WB Yeats), watching my tongue so that my words will 'harm none' (the Wiccan way), and watching the love and joy dance lightly on my heart.
Try it .. you might enjoy the sensations.
Love & Light
Ama
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