- When you know your about to be born -

at one point i was convinced that we have no choice. i realized that the person i am today is a result of the choices and events of my past and i can not change the past so i can not change who i am today. that maybe true to a certain extent but the person that i am today might have difficulty making a decision. the person i am today can be tempted but not take the bait. in the moment i have a choice - the person i am is usually more likely to make a certain choice depending on my past, but this is still my choice. i believe in destiny and that in this life i have limited choices. the fact that my parents made life very difficult for me is part of my karma and destiny - because of them i can not do certain things in life or my options are limited. i was born into a life with only so many options but i do have options.

the natural laws of the universe will eventually have an effect on us all. people who do bad things will slowly start to realize that they only make life harder for themselves as they turn themselves into better people - or does the universe turn them into something. people eventually learn at some point whether it be this life or the next that if they make certain choices that their life will benefit so it is only naturally for us to eventually all make similar choices in life. our environment works in a way that pushes us in a certain direction - ascension. in a way i guess you could say there is no choice because no matter what we will all end up at the same place at one point or an other and therefore none of it really matters anyways but i can not look past the fact that we are all individuals with our own unique experience.

this is my life and i am unfolding or going with the natural flow of things in my own way. because the way that i experience life is different than you it is safe to say that we all have individual choice. if we didn't really have choice we would all be very much the same people and that would be very boring.

this is a very interesting debate and i don't think anyone will ever know for sure. although i say that we have control i also realize that i have little control over how my life will turn out and i am ok with that. basically i think there is free will and destiny - one can not be without the other and each one effects the other.

 

"the natural laws of the universe will eventually have an effect on us all. people who do bad things will slowly start to realize that they only make life harder for themselves as they turn themselves into better people - or does the universe turn them into something."

im pretty sure that my whole belief in karma just went down the drain this week.
i've been living a very happy loving life....this is the best time i can honestly say that i've ever had just being happy and nice to everyone...

in spite of all that....i just got hit with some really heavy shit. on top of all that, everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong and im on the verge of bankruptcy cuz i have no moneyzzzz lefttttt.....i had a pretty huge savings from working when i was a minor saved up and now it's totally gone. just 2 days after i start college to try and make a better life for myself too.
this is why i was talking to mara about making a forum for things like this in case anyone was wondering.

but...i don't think we are punished or rewarded in this life. i think that things just happen. although it was bizarre that so many bad things happened to me at once, I can't think of a single reason I deserve them...i Have really been living to the best of my ability. Im pretty bummed out though life SUX.

 

If we do have free will, then it is to either choose ego or to choose no ego, as in, letting go and letting life take you wherever it wants to take you, and love usually takes you to these places.

If you have free will, then it's the choice to either stand still or to move about and live life.

To either let go and let the ride of life take you over, or to fight against that ride, in which case will be very unhealthy for your body, mind, and spirit. If you let go, then you embrace love, almost automatically. Your decisions become automatic, but your consciousness is looking over your life and is enjoying the ride. Decisions are filled with love and the spirit, and you go into a blissful state of existence, the existence that we should all strive to achieve. Just let the ride take you over, like cosmic waves flowing through you.

"Be a master to your will, and a servant to your conscience." If we have free will, then it is the choice for either or, and that's all. The choice to have personal ambition of letting go and improving on yourself, or to force the life that you THINK you need and want. God knows what you want, allow him to provide it to you.

 

Truth be told!

 

i agree with you up until the last bit...

life doesn’t just fall into your lap, you have to follow your dream. i am a musician only because i wanted to play the guitar. if i just waited for that guitar to fall into my lap i would never have learned how to play. i had to see someone else playing guitar to know that i wanted that enjoyment in life and make the conscious decision to buy a guitar and learn how to play. this is only one example/metaphor for why you might want to look at it a little different.

like i said i agree with most of what you are saying but that last statement ("God knows what you want, allow him to provide it to you.") is limiting, confusing, misleading and just wrong.

some things in life don't come so easy. some times you have to work long and hard achieve things in life.

you know what you want and god will provide it to you if you are willing to do what it takes to get it.

 

sometimes we have to accept what seems unfair. i know what you are getting at - i am with you in this dilemma - my life hardly seems fair given the wonderful person i have been. i am sure if you try you will find a few lessons to be learned you will find them. maybe you need this to happen so that you can become stronger or better with your money and life. trust me, i went through fucking hell and i am a far better person for it. at the time i could not understand how i deserved it and even now it makes little sense. all i can say is that i am thankful to be the person i am today and i could not have done it without first going through hell.

i hope that helps my friend.

 

i am thinking that we could use the psychedelic spotlight section of psychedelics. http://hipforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=502 it says "will the spotlight shine on you?" ... well this could be the spotlight shining on you. speak about yourself and ask questions about things in your life as if you are an important person in the world of psychedelics because you are an important person in the world of psychedelics, everyone who does it is. psychedelic drugs effect every part of ones life which makes everything in your life relevant. as many people view your thread the psychedelic spotlight will indeed be shining on you.

i wonder what the mods think?

 

That's not what I really meant by that statement. I did include personal ambition, so you keep moving forward with what you want, but at the same time if life knocks you up the head and takes you to another direction, don't be alarmed. Also, that is what I meant by either standing still or keep moving.

At one point I thought I wanted to be a psychologist, so I went after it. After a while, I noticed that is not what I enjoyed so I started studying something else. That is pretty much what I meant. If I continued forcing myself to study psychology because I thought that it would be 'good' for me to strive for it, then I would be miserable. You have to go after something you want, of course, but many people go after something that is completely against their personality because they think that is what they want. People are scared that their career may not make them enough money, and it shouldn't be about how much money you make, but whether or not you enjoy what you do - Not many people can just let go on that. Everyone has meaning and purpose in life, and that's what I meant by let God guide you (if you let him.) It's about choosing a more natural life for yourself, instead of going against it - A more natural life is a happier life.

Also, for example, many people force themselves to become doctors, because they think that they 'owe something to the world.' I don't believe anyone owes anything to anybody - I don't think people understand where you obtain freedom, because freedom is obtained from within. Also, I am not saying people shouldn't strive to become doctors. But only do it if it is natural for you to pursue it - Who wants a bunch of incompetent, bitter doctors taking care of you?


Success is the pursuit of happiness, not what you have in your wallet. I know that sounds corny and cliche. But honestly, not many people actually understand that statement. I meam, REALLY understand it and become aware of it.

 

Wow, I was going to get into the Kundalini, but it appears as though we have become stuck upon free will! Which, to be honest, was expected (shame on me for assuming) being that, as I stated, control is the most delusional screen of maya and to rid oneself of it causes the most confusion, fear, and bewilderment. As well as the most bliss, harmony, and acceptance but these are the eternal aftermath.
Im going to attempt to break this down to the most simple explantion my simple mind is capable of forming. So bare with me here friends lol.
Everything in life, not just bad things, not just good things, and not just both, but EVERYTHING in life, wether material or personal, is a product, created for one reason, delusion. Life is a game, a false, temporary form of entertainment (why is Nature so beautiful?) in which we are played like the pawns we are. You can either look up and realize that there is a divine hand playing your role out, or you can blindy take part in the game, obsessed with winning. But what do you really win? How can you know anything more than your board and your personal peice, and how 'different' it is than the others? There is no difference, it's the same thing, your soul, my soul, Jesus' soul. All personal ambitions that result in higher phsycial levels of attainment are distractions. For example, 3xi, you said you wanted to learn how to play guitar so you did. So have I. What does playing guitar really bring to your life? The joy of sharing music with loved ones, the fun of playing in a band, the hope that someday you might make a career out of it (trust me, very few would refuse the money if offered), etc. Will playing guitar ever bring you eternal happyness? Can you play guitar in your grave? Look at it in this light, the mind needs fulfillment, like the body needs to stuff itself with food for nutrients, and like a car need's gas to move. But the body stuffs itself and becomes unhealthy, and a car polllutes the nature of the atmosphere, and for what? Temporary, satisfaction! Call it what you want, satisfaction, fulfillment, stuffing, whatever. Why do people play RPG video games? Why do people smoke cigs? Why do people drink beer, or smoke pot or have children or fall in love or go to work or buy cars or play guitar or write books or anything? For satisfaction, either on a personal level or on a mass human level but the result (which never comes) is the same goal. But you can never have satisfaction, because the mind, more specifically the ego, will always tell you "I WANT MORE!" and you can never satisfy your evil twin.
God, however, and the Soul, are simple, plain, normal, perfect, eternal. And the satisfaction that comes from a liberated soul is never tempted because it is the top, the bottom, and everything in between. It is Life. -

 

Man, right after I wrote that, I ripped open a fruit rollup and teared into it like there's no tomorrow. Apparently, I have much work to do yet!
Namaste kids -

 

Nice

 

LMAO! damn man....they aren't gonna quit makin 'em.

 

Bump! and the bells and lights go wild

 

in response to the very first and second post...

I was thinking about the whole issue of working the physical material world to get some better condition and how it's ultimately futile as the material world all fades away and none of it stays with you

But its not really my want to get something physically achieved that makes me work at it, it's rather just the awareness of how much cooler and more enjoyable the physical experience could be that makes me keep working at it. I have no real physical 'endpoint', just a bunch of recurring loops that make me meddle with physical. Improved physical, temporary, situation is the wake I leave, not my goal. My goal has always been the same. You know, the intuition to perfectly align angles and colors in the non-physical existence does carry over to the physical existence.