08-20-2012, 09:44 AM
An excerpt from what Xradfl wrote:
Let's go outside channeled material for a moment. In Daoism's portrayal of the STO path the catchphrase is "effortless effort." If we are to take effortless effort as one of our spiritual maxims (I'm not saying you should; let's treat it as a hypothesis), we have not one concept but two working together. If you get stuck in effortlessness alone, one succumbs to a lazy passivity, whereas if one strays into effort alone, one will be hardheaded and have pathological ambition. The two have to balance, which is something the seeker has to find for him/herself. People often forget the "effort" part and get stuck in effortlessness as a spiritual ideal which can deaden them.
Think of "going with the flow." We all want to do that. But life is not always a lazy river; it includes rapids and obstacles. To go with the flow, then, is sometimes to find the most efficient route to paddle, not always to float. But this can be done with the trust that such an efficient route exists, and that by scanning the river with one's eyes in a relaxed but alert way, one will find it. Skilled kayakers can therefore make it look effortless to shoot a stretch of rapids because they are sensitively attuned to the current and the lay of the obstacles, and act with concerted, sometimes strenuous effort in order to seize opportunities.
Other analogies: Consider Olympic judo artists who practice a style of martial art renowned for its efficiency who nonetheless spend hours building large muscles, for when pulling power is needed to seize on an opportunity. Also consider the analogy of the spiritual balancing process being like burning a log in a fire - the process is automatic once it catches fire, but it can be accelerated by rotating the log with a stick.
My personal suggestion would be to continue the process of emotional balancing as the channeled entities suggest, but to just keep in mind which side of effortless effort you may be biased toward, and possibly make a deliberate effort to assume the opposite point of view for a time (if applicable). In my experience emotional balancing has always needed periodic effortful kick-starts.
Quote:The problem that I run in to is that at some points, if I'm to have faith in my higher selfs path, it feels like I'm forcing the issue thus reenabling an already estalished pattern of impatience that I have come to realize.
So with that said, to have complete faith in your intended path, are you supposed to just sit back and allow your intended path to simply jump into your lap or is there some sort of benefit to having ambition to improve ones life outside of the spiritual path?
Let's go outside channeled material for a moment. In Daoism's portrayal of the STO path the catchphrase is "effortless effort." If we are to take effortless effort as one of our spiritual maxims (I'm not saying you should; let's treat it as a hypothesis), we have not one concept but two working together. If you get stuck in effortlessness alone, one succumbs to a lazy passivity, whereas if one strays into effort alone, one will be hardheaded and have pathological ambition. The two have to balance, which is something the seeker has to find for him/herself. People often forget the "effort" part and get stuck in effortlessness as a spiritual ideal which can deaden them.
Think of "going with the flow." We all want to do that. But life is not always a lazy river; it includes rapids and obstacles. To go with the flow, then, is sometimes to find the most efficient route to paddle, not always to float. But this can be done with the trust that such an efficient route exists, and that by scanning the river with one's eyes in a relaxed but alert way, one will find it. Skilled kayakers can therefore make it look effortless to shoot a stretch of rapids because they are sensitively attuned to the current and the lay of the obstacles, and act with concerted, sometimes strenuous effort in order to seize opportunities.
Other analogies: Consider Olympic judo artists who practice a style of martial art renowned for its efficiency who nonetheless spend hours building large muscles, for when pulling power is needed to seize on an opportunity. Also consider the analogy of the spiritual balancing process being like burning a log in a fire - the process is automatic once it catches fire, but it can be accelerated by rotating the log with a stick.
My personal suggestion would be to continue the process of emotional balancing as the channeled entities suggest, but to just keep in mind which side of effortless effort you may be biased toward, and possibly make a deliberate effort to assume the opposite point of view for a time (if applicable). In my experience emotional balancing has always needed periodic effortful kick-starts.
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