A rampling on gifts

[robink]

I was sitting at my computer today when the following thought popped into my mind “we are offering you a gift, why not accept it?” The events that followed inspired me to write a poem…

Here in the west we are accustomed to working hard for what we want. Our culture is based on effort, struggle and achievement. Feelings of great accomplishment together with fear of loss…

What does it mean to possess something as a gift? To be given the infinite. Where are the feelings of attainment? Not; of accomplishment and possession? Not. Our ego can’t hold on…

If we are truly gifted with everything, what need is there for effort? No need to try when gifts are free. The will withers away, true acceptance is the death of the will.

It was a gift of peace, not an attainment, no effort to maintain, ever present, self withering away…

RK

[TwinDragon]

That's beautiful, thank you for sharing! I've come to the same conclusions myself.

I've found that, with grounding there's no effort in doing anything, tools are given as they're needed, and everything just flows without trying to do anything. Like I read somewhere, I think maybe Mystress wrote it; Spirit/Goddess doesn't try anything, it/she simply does. Effortlessly and with or even *in* perfection...

I never understood those that say we have to work hard to get what we want... If something is ment to be, it will simply happen on it's own, without effort.

Welcome to this tea room!

-Sara

[Mystress]

There is a bible parable, from the sermon on the mount that is often misunderstood.

Matthew 6:25-34
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the (pagans?) run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

   Some people take this to mean you can sit on your ass and the world owes you a living. Not on.

  Consider the lilies and sparrows, they are not unemployed! They have work to do and a place in the harmony of the ecosystem, and no ego at all to want to do or be anything else!!  They don't stop being what they are, doing the work they are given to do by their place in nature.  Both do sow seeds too, lilies their own seeds and sparrows pooping berry seed in fertilizer packets all over. They do this work without even thinking about it so far as we know!~

  On the level of the material, there is no free lunch, energy not created or destroyed, just flowing. Everything is bartered, exchange of goods or gifts or energies.

  I believe we all come in with some gift to offer the world, to pay our way, so to speak... we may never know exactly what that gift is (don't let ego get ahold of it!  Remain uncertain of purpose instead of attaching to ideas about it) but if you release ego desires and stay grounded, you are in the flow and will live your purpose anyway... and everything else flows.

  There is *nothing* in FST about virtues of poverty. Poverty is not a virtue!! Instead there is maslows hierarchy of needs: you need to care for the body basic needs of food shelter safety before the mind is free of the base survival fears enough to grow spiritually.

  Goddess is a Goddess of abundance, She makes millions of sperm where only one is needed, hundreds of apples where there isn't room for one more tree.  The cedar tree in my backyard drops enough seed each year to reforest all of BC!

  Yet nothing is wasted either.. fallen apples food for many creatures large and small. Seeds return to compost and the cycles start again. 

[robink]

Hi Mystress,

Creatures of nature live day to day, but they seem more free and living in harmony than us humans in a synthetic society. Feels like we have strayed so far and life has become so much more difficult than perhaps nature intended! Many people feel trapped one way or another, having to conform to a sick socio-economic culture.

Virtues of poverty…

I went through a phase a few years back of feeling trapped and trying to unplug. Quit my job and made plans to move into my tent on a mountain top so I could sit on my ass, meditate and go hiking all the time. Live on basically nothing. Didn’t work out very well, slapped down and dragged back to the world kicking and screaming. When I look back it was hilarious!

The way I learnt to deal with the situation was not to care anymore about what I did outwardly in my life. Still earnt a livelihood, just not resiting, or caring about having to earn a livelihood. But it’s still easy for detachment to turn into withdrawal. I admit that I’m still pretty withdrawn, but now trying to be more fully “in it” or “in the world”.

I agree that everyone has a gift to offer the world to pay their way, but sometimes your gift or what you are good at isn’t always what your most passionate about and what your most passionate about isn’t always of interest to the world.

Blessings,

Robin