in this subject of God. i dont mean that guy upstairs.. i'm more tlaking about my beliefs. what i believe in. i dont like to use the word religion. like what religion i am, becuz to be honest i dont relaly believe in a single religion. i mean, a part of me does believe that maybe there is THE god upstairs, but then again, i believe in karma, and that's part of another religion. so i guess maybe, i believe in my own religion, and in my own 'god'. i've been reading a book called "converstations with god for teens" and in it i found a good question that i've wondered for a long time..
IS MY LIFE CONTROLLED BY FATE?
IS OUR DESTINY PLANNED OUT FOR US?
Absolutely not. Never. Your life is controlled by you. You do. You are making those choices right now. The problem is you don't know that you're going it - or how.
You come into your life intending to experience your Self in particular ways, for particular reasons. You are a consciousness and an Awareness before you come into this life. That is you exist as an entity, as a Being, prior to your birth.
After deciding how it is that you would like to use your life, and what you wish to understand and experience, you pick the exact and perfect people, places and things with which to accomplish that.
YOU MEAN WE PICK OUR OWN PARENTS?
Yes. And your parents pick you. This is, at a very high level, a joint decision. In fact, it's true of the coming together of all people.
No one meets anyone by accident.
WHY WOULD I HAVE PICKED PARENTS WHO ABUSED ME?
Each soul picks the right and perfect people, places and events with which to create the opportunity to fulfill the soul's agenda, which is different in every case, and, so, cannot be commented on in general terms.
Perhaps a soul is seeking to experience itself as that quality of divinity known as forgiveness. Or perhaps it is seeking to acquire the compassion of help other people who have been abused, later in life.
There are countless reasons why the soul might call a particular cirumstances or person to itself.
THEN THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A "CHANCE ENCOUNTER"?
There is not. Do you imagine that a universe which designs something as intricate and unduplicated as a snowflake produces something as random as a "chance" encounter?
I THOUGHT THERE MIGHT BE "RANDOM CHANCE" IN THE UNIVERSE, YES.
There is not. Everying is occuring in perfect order. If there was "random chance," then things would be out of control. What kind of God would allow things to get out of control?
SO YOU ARE CONTROLLING AND CREATING EVERYTHING THAT IS HAPPENING?
I did not say that. I said that I would not allow things to get out of control. Yet I am not doing the creating. You are.
the first question was whether or not i create my path. i've always wondered that. i mean, i've thought before that maybe they've already laid out my life plans and that I am just living it. like... an analogy would be that i dont make the rollarcoaster, it's already made. i just ride it. that question lead to another one. the one about choosing parents. i was in disbelief when i first heard about it. why would i ever choose MY parents?! but upon reading about choosing parents who abused their child... that's the worst combination right? but that response made some sense. i know an author who wrote about how he survived his abuse. and i suppose because of that he can write these inspiring books. so i guess, for reasons unknown yet, i've had my reason to choose my parents. that question lead to the question about chance encounters. i've dwelled on this subject as well. in some ways that doesn't add up... but in others it does. i dont know how it works yet, but i'm sure it works someway. and maybe it's better left unsolved...
WHY CAN'T I STAY OUT AS LATE AS I WANT? WHAT'S WITH "CURFEWS"? I DON'T GET IT! WHY AM I BEING TREATED LIKE A CHILD? WHY CAN'T I BE GIVEN THE FREEDOM TO GO WHERE I WANT TO GO AND DO WHAT I WANT TO DO, AS LONG OR AS LATE AS I WANT TO DO IT?
Freedom is not something that others give you. Freedom is an essense of Who You Are.
You're asking why your parents can't give you the freedom that you want, and I'm saying that you already have that freedom, beacuse it is inherently who and what you are.
If there is anything that you are not being or doing, like staying out past curfew, it is beacuse you have chosen not to.
I HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO? THERE'S A SWITCH. IT'S MY PARENTS WHO ARE STOPPING ME.
No, its you who are stopping youserlf. Do you think there are no children who have not remained out longer than their parents wanted them to? Or, for that matter, run away from home at 14, 15, 16 and never gone back?
SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT I SHOULD DELIBERATELY DISOBEY MY PARENTS, OR RUN AWAY FROM HOME, ARE YOU?
Of course not. I'm saying that you should exercise your freedom to do as you choose - but to notice that you are doing the choosing.
i just found that part pretty good, and definitley true. the only reason we wouldn't disobey them is out of fear... or either that you, dont fear them and you're being nice.. which ever the reason, if you listen to your parents, it's not because you have to.
WHO ARE YOU?
Who am I not?
I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS.
It means, there is no one, and nothing, that I am not.
YOU MEAN, YOU ARE EVERYTHING, AND EVERYONE?
That's what I mean, yes.
EVEN THE BAD PEOPLE, AND BAD THINGS?
There are no "bad" people and no "bad" things, only people and things that you have called "bad."
THAT'S THE SAME THING.
To you, it is. To me, it isn't.
NOW WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
It means that we have different values. It means that we have different understandings. It means that you have made judgements, and I don't make judgements.
GOD DOES NOT MAKE JUDGEMENTS? BUT I THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT GOD DID
Well, the human race has been thinking that for a long time, but it's not true. It's one of those misunderstandings I've been talking about. It's an illusion. The illusion of judgement. Followed by the illusion of condemnations...
YOU MEAN, YOU REALLY DO NOT JUDGE? YOU FORGIVE EVERYONE, NO MATTER WHAT THE SIN?
I do not forgive anyone. That is the first thing you must understand about me. I will not forgive you, ever, for anything that you do.
Once you are clear about this, you will be able to interact with me in a whole different way.
I do not forgive anyone because there is nothing to forgive.
YOU MUST BE KIDDING!
No. Forgiveness is only required when someone has been hurt or damaged. You cannot hurt or damage God.
I CAN'T HURT YOU? DOESN'T IT HURT YOU WHEN I SIN?
No. Any more than it "hurts" you when you see a toddler "sin" by doing something he is not "supposed" to do. Do you feel "damaged"? Do you feel hurt?
NO...
Of course not, and neither do I. You cannot injure me in any way. I am All, I have All, I will always be All. There is nothing I need or need you to do, or not do, something, I do not need you to be, or not be, something, I do not need you to have, or not have, something.
I do not need you to worship me, or fear me, or love me.
BUT YOU DO NEED US TO OBEY YOU, RIGHT?
There is nothing I need from you, therefore, nothing I am asking you, therefore, nothing for you to obey.
Do you think I am up here making up rules for you to follow, regulations for you to adhere to? You are making those up.
Since I cannot be injured in any way, I have no reason to ever feel angered or upset. "Forgiving" you for something you have done is unnecessary, beacuse nothing you have done could ever injure me, and for retribution or "justice."
Even your own courts have held that you must prove injury before you can seek justice. If the court holds that you have not been injured by another, that other will not be punished "just for the hell of it"! Now if your own human courts would not do this, why would I?
...
BUT HOW CAN I EVER ERASE THE BAD THINGS I'VE DOWN FROM YOUR JUDGEMENT BOOK, SO THAT ALL WOULD BE FORGOTTEN AND I COULD START OVER?
There IS no "judgment book." That's what I'm tyring to tell you all here!
I am not Santa in the Sky, making a list and checking it twice so that I can find out who's naughty and nice. That is not Who I Am. That is not what I do.
It may be a suprise for most humans to learn that there is no such thing as right nad wrong. There is only what works and what doesn't work, given what it is that you are trying to do.
HOW CAN THAT BE? ISN'T KILLING WRONG? ISN'T CRUELTY WRONG?
If killing is wrong, if cruelty is wrong, what about wars, what about hitting someone who has broken into your home and is taking your baby?
THAT'S DIFFERENT THAT'S SELF DEFENSE
Oh, so you mean that there are situations in which killing and cruelty are not wrong.
WE DON'T CALL SELF-DEFENSE KILLING OR CRUELTY. WE CALL IT SELF-DEFENSE.
Changing your terminology does not change your actions. It merely justifies them
ARE YOU SAYING THAT WE SHOULD NOT KILL OR INFLICT INJURTY IN SELF-DEFENSE?
That is not what I am saying, and that is for you to decide, not me. You are creating your own reality with such choices. There and other decisions that you make about your species and how all of you will live together is what you create the world as you know it.
The point being made here is that Absolute Right and Absolute Wrong do not exist. A thing is "wrong" only beacuse you say it is wrong, and a thing is "right" for the same reason. And human beings change their minds about what they say is right and wrong all the time, depending on circumstances.
just some stuff to think about I guess.. good points in it..
I got my CDs just a few minutes ago! yay!! I can't wait to listen to them... but now i'm wondering how i'm going to pay for it. -_- oh well, i'll dwell on it later. as long as my parents don't know about it just yet... well i gtg to that driving school right now so i can drive for 2 hours with some instructor. wish me luck, i'll tell you how it goes!
*~AnNa